Gingerbread Cookies

Deciding which treat to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve was always a big deal in our house. My brothers insisted on a can of Guinness whereas l loved to pick the special sweet treat. We went from mince pies to Lemon drizzle cake but my favourite has to be gingerbread cookies. If you happen to have a little time on your hands this year, why not try these super easy gingerbread stars. They're delicious dipped into a mug of hot chocolate or dunked into a glass of ice cold milk. 

Ingredients

100g Light Muscavado sugar 

125g Butter (softened)

1 Egg yolk 

125ml Golden Syrup

1.5 tbsp Ground ginger 

1 tsp Mixed Spice 

1 tsp Baking powder 

375g Plain flour 

Method

1) Preheat your oven to 180C/350F/ Gas 4 and line your flat baking tray with greaseproof paper.

2) Cream the butter and sugar together in the electric mixer. Once pale in colour, add the egg yolk and golden syrup and beat again. 

3) Sieve the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger into a separate bowl and combine. Add this to the wet mixture and beat again. 

4) Empty the moisture onto a lightly floured worktop and knead the dough until combined (add more flour if needs be). Roll the dough out and using cookie cutters of your choice, cut the dough and bake for approximately 10 mins until golden brown in colour. 

5) Allow the cookies to cool while you prepare the icing by combining ten tbsp of icing sugar with three tbsp of water. Pipe the icing onto the cool cookies on a pattern of your choice. To colour the icing, add a few drops of food colouring to the mix. 

Millionaire's Squares

So last week in work I baked the Toffee Shortbread slices which I absolutely LOVE. But, I was really disappointed when I finished that I didn't get to gobble one up. So when I got home I decided that I had to make something similar. I didn't use the same recipe as they use in work, instead I adapted BBC Good Food's recipe for Millionaire's Shortbread. Here goes...

Ingredients

FOR THE SHORTBREAD...

250g Plain Flour

75g Caster Sugar

175g Butter (softened)

FOR THE CARAMEL...

50g Butter

50g Margarine

100g Brown Sugar

3 tbsp Golden Syrup

2 397g tins of Condensed Milk

FOR THE TOP...

100g Milk Chocolate

100g Dark Chocolate

Method

1) Preheat your oven to 180C/ 350F/ Gas Mark 4 and line an approx. 13 x 9 inch swiss roll tin with grease proof paper

2) For the shortbread, put  the flour, caster sugar and butter in a bowl and mix with your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs

3) Continue to knead the mixture until it takes on a doughy consistency 

4) Press the shortbread mixture into the baking tin and prick a couple of times with a fork

5) Bake it for 20 mins and when done, leave it to cool in the tin

6) For the caramel, melt the butter and sugar together in a pan

7) When combined, add in the golden syrup and the condensed milk and stir continuously

8) Bring the mixture to the boil and then allow it to simmer for 5 mins until it becomes thicker

9) Pour the caramel over the layer of shortbread and leave it to cool for 5 mins and then refrigerate for 20 mins

10) When the caramel is ready you can begin to melt the milk and dark chocolate together in a bowl over a pot of simmering water

11) When combined, spread the chocolate over the caramel and refrigerate for another 20 mins

* For best results, leave the tray in the fridge over night before slicing *

I didn't leave mine over night and they cracked and crumbled.
They still tasted delicious but they didn't look quite as nice!

Banoffee With a Twist

My brothers started their Leaving Cert exams this week so for a bit of study aid and to say good luck I made them their favourite dessert. My brother Ryan especially had been asking me to make it for a while and I never seemed to get around to it. I always call it banoffee with a twist because traditional banoffee pie either uses Digestive biscuits or shortbread whereas I like to use Bourbon Creams and I add a little Khalua liqour to give it a kick. This dessert's a little time consuming, but believe me, its well worth it :)

Ingredients

FOR THE CRUMBLY BISCUIT BASE...

600g Bourbon Cream Biscuits

60g Butter

2 tbsp Khalua Coffee Liquor

FOR THE STICKY CARAMEL...

3 tbsp Golden Syrup

50g Butter

80g Brown Sugar

FOR THE REST...

2 Ripe Bananas

Whipped Cream (as much as you fancy really)

Flake Bars or Chocolate to grate

Method

FOR THE BISCUIT BASE...

1) Grease an 8 inch round tin with melted butter and line the bottom part with grease-proof paper

2) Melt the butter in a large bowl over a saucepan of simmering water

3) While the butter in melting, crush the bourbon biscuits, leaving a few medium sized chunks

4) When the butter is fully melted, add the Khalua followed by the crushed biscuits and stir well

5) Empty the mixture into the greased tin and flatten with the back of a spoon - make a slight hollow in the middle of the tin

6) Refrigerate the tin while you make the caramel 

FOR THE CARAMEL...

1) Put the butter, and sugar into a pot on high and stir until the butter has melted

2) Add the condensed milk and the golden syrup to the mixture and stir continuously until the mixture starts to bubble 

3) Turn the pot on to simmer and stir every now and again - you will notice the mixture thickening

4) After 4 minutes the mixture should have thickened enough

5) Pour one thin layer of caramel over the biscuit and leave the rest to sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients

FOR THE REST...

1) Slice the two bananas and spread them over the layer of caramel
2) Pour another layer of caramel over the bananas
3) Leave the banoffee to cool for 20 minutes in the fridge and then spread the whipped cream on top followed by the crushed Flake bars or shredded chocolate - for the best results, refrigerate over night before eating

I always make to to leave a little extra caramel to eat with icecream seens
as you have to wait until the next day to try the Banoffee !!! :)

Chewy Chunky Cookies

So this weekend I wanted to move away from cupcakes, cakes and slices and try something different. I had some ginger chunks and left over Smarties from last weeks caramel squares, but, I didn't really think they'd go too well together. I eventually decided to try out a new chewy cookie recipe I found in the paper. I made two batches - one Chunky Ginger and Dark Chocolate lot & one lot with Mixed Chocolate Chips and Smarties :) So here goes...

You will need..

480g Plain Flour (sieved)

Half tsp Baking Soda

Half tsp Salt

180g Butter (Melted)

250g Brown Sugar

120g White Caster Sugar

1 tbsp Vanilla Extract

1 Egg

1 Egg Yolk

480g (ish) of Chocolate Chips or fillings of your choice

THIS MAKES APPROX. 18 COOKIES

Method...

1) Preheat your oven to 165C/ 325F /Gas Mark 3

2) Sieve the flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl and leave to one side

3) In a separate bowl, with a food mixer, cream the melted butter, caster sugar and brown sugar together 

4) When nice and creamy, add in the egg, the egg yolk and the vanilla extract (the easiest way to separate an egg is to crack it in half drop the yolk into one side and then back into the other until all of the white has ran off)

5) Finally stir in the chocolate chips/ smarties/ nuts/ ginger (whatever you like really :)

6) Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and put a tbsp of the mixture on the tray fro each cookie

7) Place them in the oven for 15 to 17 minutes 

Leave the cookies to cool on a wire rack so they set before eating :) 

STICKY GINGER CHUNKS

Smarties Covered Caramel Biscuit Squares

So I spent the majority of this Sunday at a Wedding Fair in a local hotel and while I was there, I couldn't resist sampling some delicious chocolate biscuit cake made by a local cake-maker from 
Cakes by Jonathon. But, one small sample wasn't enough for me - I decided that I was definitely heading for the kitchen to make some chocolate biscuit cake when I arrived home. However, I didn't have a huge amount of digestive biscuits so I had to stick my thinking cap on. I decided to go for these Smarties Caramel Biscuit Squares instead so I still had something chocolaty and biscuity to munch on - Yummmmyy :)

So, you will need...

FOR THE CRUMBLY BISCUIT BASE

250g Milk Chocolate or Plain Digestive Biscuits (crushed)

3 tbsp Golden Syrup

100g Butter 

FOR THE GOOEY CARAMEL MIDDLE

397g tin of Condensed Milk

100g Butter

100g Soft, Dark Brown Sugar

FOR THE SMARTIES COVERED CHOCOLATE TOP

2 tbsp Butter

250g Milk Chocolate

100g Dark Chocolate

4 Funsize Packs of Smarties (for decoration) 

You can really use whatever you like to decorate
or nothing at all :) 

Method...

FOR THE CRUMBLY BISCUIT BASE

1) Line a deep baking tray with greaseproof paper and set it aside while you make the biscuit base

2) Melt the butter in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water

3) When melted, add in the golden syrup and stir

4) When that's combined, add in the crushed digestive biscuits and stir well

5) Empty the base mixture onto the lined tray and press it down so it occupies all of the trays space

6) Refrigerate the tray while you make the caramel

FOR THE GOOEY CARAMEL CENTRE...

1) Melt the butter in a pan on simmering heat

2) Add in the sugar and stir continuously

3) Pour in the condensed milk and continue to stir - the mixture should bubble and will begin to take on a caramely consistency, but keep stirring until it thickens

4) When thickened, take your tray out of the fridge and pour the caramel over the biscuit base

5) Refrigerate the tray again while you make the chocolate topping

FOR THE SMARTIES COVERED CHOCOLATE TOPPING...

1) Put the butter and both types of chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir 

2) Once fully melted, pour the chocolate mixture over the caramel layer and spread evenly

3) Sprinkle the Smarties or topping of your choice over the chocolate and refrigerate for at least an hour before attempting to slice

When the hour has passed, take the tray out of the fridge,

remove from the tray & slice.I usually slice them into small 

squares as these can be really filling, and then you can 

always go back for seconds :) 

Brought the last one to college today and ate it while
studying - Yummmmyy :) :)

Gooey Caramel Biscuit Squares

We had loads of left over biscuits at home from Christmas (all the ones that nobody really likes) so, instead of leaving them sitting there for ages, I decided to make something with them... I was going to make an ordinary biscuit cake but I felt like making something a bit different. I saw that we had a tin of evaporated milk and decided to go for gooey caramel slices covered in chocolate...

INGREDIENTS

For the Biscuit Base...

500g of Biscuits of your choice (I used anything and everything: Digestives, Nice, Fox's Creams & more)

100g Butter

250g Milk Chocolate

2 tbsp Whipping Cream

2 tbsp Golden Syrup

METHOD
1) Line a baking tray with grease-proof paper
2) Crush the biscuits (easiest way is to put them in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin)
3) Place the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir until melted
4) When melted, remove from heat and stir in the cream and golden syrup
5) Then add in the crushed biscuits and mix
6) Empty the mixture onto your lined tray and flatten
7) Stick it in the fridge while you make everything else (leave it for at least half an hour before pouring the caramel on)

INGREDIENTS
For the Caramel...

400g (1 tin) of Condensed Milk
200g Brown Sugar
200g Butter

METHOD
1) Melt the butter in the pan with the brown sugar
2) When melted and combined, add in the condensed milk and stir continuously as it starts to bubble
3) The consistency will start to change. When it gets thicker, turn off the heat and keep stirring (it shouldn't be too runny)
4) Pour the caramel over the chocolate biscuit base and refrigerate again

 Melt 400g of Milk Chocolate in a bowl over a pot of 

simmering water and spread it over the caramel 

and refrigerate again for at least 2 hours before eating.

Malteaser Chocolate Biscuit Cake

I came across this recipe one morning on Cake Recipe.co.uk and I thought it looked delicious! I make my own Rich Chocolate Biscuit Cake but I said that I'd definitely try this one because it looked a little different and because I LOVE Malteasers!!! So here goes...

Image from TheCakeRecipe.co.uk

INGREDIENTS

100g/4oz Butter
200g/8oz Chocolate (dark works best approx. 60% cocoa solids)
3 tbsp Golden Syrup
225g/9oz Digestive Biscuits (crushed)
225g/9oz Malteasers

1) Melt the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a bowl over a pot of simmering water
2) Add the crushed digestives and mix
3) Add the Malteasers but don't stir too much as not to melt them
4) Pour the mixture into a small baking tray lined with grease proof paper
5) Refrigerate for at least two hours
6) When cool, lift the baking paper out of the tray and cut the cake into squares on the paper and enjoy!!!

Banoffee Crumble

I absolutely LOVE Banoffee and if I'm out for dinner its almost always what I'll order for dessert. I usually make a traditional round Banoffee Pie, but, I thought I'd try something new and make a Banoffee Crumble in a glass as a sort of a crumbly, sticky Yummmmyy dessert.....

Its a really simple recipe - the most work you'll have to do will be crushing the biscuits - well and making the caramel of course. So here goes....

INGREDIENTS

(Makes roughly 4 glasses)

BISCUIT CRUMBLE
200g Digestive Biscuits
60g Butter

CARAMEL
25g Butter
3 tbsp Brown Sugar
200g Carnation Condensed Milk (half a tin)

FINISHING TOUCHES
2 Large Bananas (sliced)
250ml Fresh Cream (Whipped)
2 Flake Bars (or regular chocolate grated)

1) Melt the butter in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water

2) While the butter is melting, crush the biscuits by putting them in a food bag and using a rolling pin

3) When the butter is melted, add the biscuit to it and mix

4) Remove the bowl from the heat and leave to sit while you make the caramel.

5) Melt the butter in a pan on a low heat

6) Add the brown sugar when its fully melted  (make sure to continuously stir the mixture)

7) Add the condensed milk, turn up the heat and bring the mixture to the boil

8) Leave the mixture to simmer for 2-3 minutes

9) Turn off the heat but leave the mixture on the ring while you prepare your bananas and cream

10) Chop the bananas into thick circles

11) Whip the fresh cream

12) Crush the Flake Bars or grate the chocolate

13) Spoon some of the biscuit crumble into each of the glasses, followed by some banana, then by some caramel and after that the cream

14) Repeat this once or twice more and on the top layer sprinkle the crushed Flake or your grated chocolate

You could always try it in a jar rather than a glass like in this image from FingalFoodie