Tis still the season to eat Christmas biscuits!

Christmas has been and gone, all far to quickly, many apologies for being away from the blog so long, was tasting some delicious and festive food and becoming far too fat from all the portions of Christmas pudding that were shovelled onto my plate. Added to which having two roasts in two days can take it out of you a bit, although this year I will try to eat a wider variety of food, I promise..

Although Christmas is over, the festive season is still upon us and this is now the time to try experimenting with all those recipes that you always wanted to but were too nervous to before. However this precise recipe is not hard, and it's still going to keep a little bit of Christmas spirit going in your home. You can even have them with a glass of mulled wine (or maybe even two...)

Your going to need:

200g self raising flour

100g butter, make sure its in cubes
100g light brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon (a little goes a long way)

1/2 tsp ground ginger (optional)

1 egg, beat it lightly

12 clear, boiled sweets

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 c. Put the flour and butter in the food processor until it looks like breadcrumbs. Then pop in the sugar and spices and mix again. Put in a bowl and add an egg and then stir until it all comes together. Knead gently until it is smooth and then put onto a surface that has been lightly covered in flour. Roll to about 3-4mm, thats roughly the same thickness as £1. Cut into stars with a cutter and then spread evenly onto a baking pan. If you want to add a glass effect in the middle simply cut out a circle in the centre of the biscuits and put in a boiled sweet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. Decorate with icing sugar. Easy!

Everyone loves peanut butter!

One of my favourite magazines ashamedly is 'Love It!', for the simple reason that it includes a small selection of delicious recipes each week, all of which I want to make and eat in half a second flat! So I've decided as it's near Christmas to include maybe one or two tasty treats that can be made very quickly (if you don't count the preparation) and are so moreish that its probably best to make more than one portion!

This recipe is for good old peanut butter cookies which are perfect for being shared around a blazing fire on a cold December afternoon.

Ingredients:

110g butter (make sure you let it soften a bit before you use it)
110g caster sugar
100g brown sugar
3 tbsp smooth peanut butter
1 egg, beat it lightly
150g plain flour
3-4tsp baking powder


Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 c, and beat the butter for a few minutes until its smooth. Add the caster and brown sugar and then whisk for about 5 minutes until its a creamy substance. Now add the peanut butter and the egg.
Get another bowl and combine the plain flour and the baking powder. Add the butter/sugar mixture and form into a smooth dough. Wrap in plastic film and chill in the fridge for about 3 hours.
Line a baking tray with powder and shape the dough into about 24 balls. Arrange them on the tray allowing a space of about 5cms. Bake in the oven for 10 mins. Allow to cool and demolish!

Happy National Brownie day!

Today to my excitement I found out that it was National Brownie day, the idea being that you make brownies and then give them to someone else!Fat chance! So here instead is a recipe for you to make your own brownies and demolish them all yourself, why share when you can scoff!

Ingredients:

100 grams dark chocolate

110 grams butter

225 grams sugar (sounds like a lot but you know you love your brownies chewy and gooey!)

100 grams walnuts (to be honest you don't actually need to use walnuts if you'd rather not, however I do feel that putting walnuts in makes for a chewier and tastier consistency)

2 large eggs, beaten

50g flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 c then chop both the walnuts and the chocolate into small pieces (try not to eat them all before you start baking). Next you need to melt the chocloate and the butter on a low heat (do you realise how gorgeous that smell is?) Mix the butter, chocolate and sugar in a massive bowl and add the beaten eggs into the mixture. Then get another bowl and mix the salt, the flour and the baking powder all together. Stir well so that the mixture is nice and smooth and then put the micture into a baking tray which you can quickly grease beforehand. Bake in the oven for about half an hour but it is a good idea to keep having a peek as you don't want the brownies to go too hard. They should be chewy and sticky in the middle and crispy on the outside. Leave for a few minutes and then cut and.... well you know the rest - dig in!