Chokladbiskvier

These are the weirdest little biscuits - apparently a Swedish staple! They feel very festive to me, little bite-size almondy chocolate treats!

So they have three main parts - a meringue base, a buttercream filling and a chocolate glaze topping. Making all three parts is a little time consuming but none of the techniques are particularly difficult and they are the loveliest little moresels when they're done.

According to my Swedish insider, you find these all over Sweden in little cafes. Bite size, crunchy and smooth and deliciously sweet!

Mint Oreos-Ish

So, my favourite, favourite, favourite things in the whole world are mint oreos. Before that, it was Mint Yoyos (sadly, discontinued). And my favourite things that I make are my mint brownies and peppermint squares.

Sensing a theme? The quickest way to my heart is pairing mint and chocolate and giving  it to me.

So, it’s quite hard to get a hold of mint oreos in the UK. Once I spent £7 on a pack from a London deli, and I regret NOTHING. And in all honesty, that is a good thing. Do you know how many packs I’d eat daily if they were readily available? Doesn’t bear thinking about. I got 2 packs for Christmas last year and I ate them ALL before New Year's and that was with strict rationing.

But, once in a while, I like to treat myself. And I looked up how to whip up a batch for myself.  These are incredibly moreish and delicious, with all the flavour of a mint oreo, if not the exact texture – these are soft rather than crunchy. They are kind of like a "whoopie pie." The best part is that you can decide how much filling you want.. Quadruple-stuff oreo anyone?  YES. For me, I will continue on my search for the perfect mint oreo recipe, but until then, these will make a very delicious mint chocolate biscuit recipe.

I could have iced them a little prettier, but I was really hungry

Chocolate Chip Cookies - THE BEST EVER

I’m so happy/excited/giddy!!!

I’ve just found the best recipe for chocolate chip cookies! I make a lot of cookies. A LOT. Cookies were one of the first things I ever learned to bake, and I baked them all the time.

I experimented through the flavours, and finally found the ideal chocolate version – peanut butter chocolate cookies which are flavourful, with perfect texture. And they just LOOK good, like real, proper cookies. I have made plenty of “plain” choc chip cookies, and I’ve never come close to that texture or look. So, I hunted.

..And hunted, and hunted. I read a lot of blogs, lured in by descriptions of perfect cookies that never just measured up to my expectations. I experimented with melted butter, non-melted butter, different sugars, different ratios of sugars, different leavening agents, chilling them beforehand…

But. Here we are. The perfect cookie.  I’m really happy right now, and it doesn’t even feel silly to care this much about a biscuit.

Ready, set, BAKE!

Shortbread- Mary Berry Style

Oh, it's autumn you say? TIME TO SPEND THE LONG DARK NIGHTS BAKING!

Oh my goodness, shortbread is my nemesis. There are just some things I can’t get my head around cooking, stuff that just NEVER comes out how I want it to:

-The first is the most shameful: mashed potatoes. Mine are all at once thin AND lumpy.  It’s not hard. And I am Irish. But still, no dice.

-The second is more of a group of things I fail at: toffee/caramel/fudge. Can’t do it. I follow the instructions to. the. letter and still I just can’t make it do what it needs to. There have been some super disasters in this, to the point where I just buy the pre-made banoffee toffee stuff when I need to. DON’T LOOK AT ME!

-And finally: shortbread. My paternal grandmother makes the most perfect, melt in your mouth, flavourful, crisp shortbread that the world has ever seen. My mother makes shortbread that is close to perfection. And I just can’t measure up to it..

Until Mary effing Berry came into my life. This shortbread is rather different from the ones I’ve known before, it’s thicker and softer, but still just delightful. If you’re keeping track of my ideal afternoon tea tray, add these bad boys to it.

Oat and Chocolate Biscuits

Mary Berry strikes again! This time, I’m adapting her recipe for some short oat biscuits. They are crunchy, and rolling the biscuits in the oats give a great texture to the outside.

The recipe makes A LOT of medium-sized cookies, I got about 36 in total. Great for whipping up for a party or picnic.

I added the chocolate (about a quarter of a square) and ginger, instead of the suggested glace cherry (that was just a bit too vintage, sorry Mary). And I think that worked out well, these biccies are ever so slightly dry, and the chocolate nub just improves the whole thing.

I also decided to do a white chocolate and coconut version, by adding coconut to the oat layer, and using amazing white chocolate with coconut that I picked up on my holidays in France.

Heavenly!

I should have known that the white chocolate would melt utterly into the cookie, instead of keeping its shape like the milk and dark chunks. 

Pretty!
 

A bit splotchy...

Yes, they're kind of ugly, but still taste goooood!

Nutella Cheesecake

Or, supermarket own brand chocolate hazelnut spread cheesecake. Cordon Bleu!

This baked cheesecake is very simple and utterly delicious. And, if you get the swirls done right, impressive-looking too! It's also easy to prepare ahead of time, as it needs to chill in the fridge before serving.

Now, I used to dislike cheesecake. It was a simpler, and less calorific time. Then I went to New York. And, well, do I need to go on? This recipe is very reminiscent of a white and dark chocolate cheesecake I bought in a little deli there (and pretty much ate right then and there on the street) and I'd been looking to recreate it, but with something that made it a bit different. Then I remembered that I would walk through fire for a spoonful of Nutella, and this cheesecake became a reality. 

Now, my favourite part of cheesecake is the biscuit base. So I may have kind of doubled the base relative to the topping. Feel free to half the base ingredients if you do not share my love of crumbly buttery biscuit. You sadist.

Valentine’s German Biscuits

What makes them Valentine’s, you ask? Well, like many people around this time, I made something heart shaped and called it day.

These biscuits are so incredibly delicious. For me, they evoke going to the bakery as a child and being allowed to pick out whatever I wanted. Of course, I picked the largest thing I could see – two round pieces of shortbread-style biscuit, sandwiched together with strawberry jam and liberally covered with white icing.

This is my version, so I’ve made them heart shaped in an obvious attempt to make them themed to the season. The last few times I’ve made them, I used a great circular cutter with a serrated edge to really make them similar to the retro ones I remember. I also love the addition of a cut-out so you can see the delicious sticky jam underneath.

This is a fairly easy recipe to make, but you will need plenty of flour on the board to make it anywhere near possible to roll and cut out the dough. Apart from that, it’s a breeze, and the shapes are infinitely customisable. Once I get some more icing skills, I’m making penguin ones.