Chewy Ginger Nuts

I bought a tin of dark treacle ages ago when I had a craving for Jamaican ginger cake and then it just sat sadly at the back of my cupboard, unused.

But then I was spending a Sunday trawling through my recipe books for inspiration and I found a killer recipe for chewy ginger biscuits. I made a few subs to get my treacle in there and they came out PERFECTLY. Really soft but with crisp edges. Sweet but dark. Ridiculously flavourful. Hella delicious.

I love a crackle-top cookie!

Bake and enjoy! They are perfect for a little snack, but I am also picturing a dessert featuring them slightly warmed, with vanilla ice-cream on top and then drizzled with chopped nuts/honey and thinking that would be INCREDIBLE.

White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

So, I have a feeling that this is going to be a bit of an experiment. 

I came upon the idea of these cookies while trying to recreate the famous cookies from Van Stapele Koekmakerij in Amsterdam. These cookies were worth the 20 minutes I queued for them - you can spot the shop a mile off due to the queue. It's set in a tiny little shop on a narrow street and they only serve one thing - fresh, soft, super chocolately cookies. And the unusual thing about them is the huge nugget of white chocolate right there in the middle.

I amended this recipe from some that I saw online, and I love the idea of using a little bit of espresso powder to bring out the chocolate flavour. And, if you like cakey cookies then these are perfect. I prefer mine with a bit more of a squish and I need to find a bigger piece of white chocolate to go in the centre, so I will continue to experiment for *my* perfect version of this cookie but these are a cracking biscuit all on their own.

Peanut Butter Cookies

CONFESSION TIME. I forgot 2 fundamental aspects of this recipe because I was too busy watching Love Island. The chocolate chips and the rolling in sugar part before you bake them.

Remembered the sugar for these ones...

It is what it is.

I remembered near the end so I rolled a few in sugar, and I scattered sugar over the hot-from-the-oven ones.

Really, it’s just a personal preference because they’re great both with and without. They have that really satisfying texture with the crinkly top and I have found my new favourite cookie recipe! Next time I’ll be less terrible and try them with chocolate chips too, but the important thing is the base cookie recipe which is PERFECT.

Makes about 16-18 cookies

Vegan Coconutty Oaty Cookies

I am always up for a baking challenge, and I fancied taking on the challenge of feeding my vegan colleagues at work! I feel bad leaving them out when I bring in my baked goods, so I put my mind to finding some easy vegan recipes. There are a ton of dairy free spreads out there, so that isn’t hard, but eggs are somewhat ubiquitious in baking, and therein lay the difficulty.

Countless google searches and I found an interesting recipe to build on. But I admit, I was sceptical. I didn’t think it was possible to get such chewy and amazingly light cookies without eggs being involved somehow. But these are a damn revelation. Perfect chewiness, easy to make, taste amazing. Win win win.

You know how Phoebe brags that she makes the best oatmeal raisin cookies in the world (but she doesn't make them very often because she doesn't think it's fair to the other cookies!) - well these are those cookies. They look unassuming but they pack a punch!

Makes just over a dozen chunky cookies

Sweet & Spooky Gingerbread Skulls

Happy Hallowe’en everyone!

I re-use this gingerbread recipe every couple of weeks. It’s delicious, and it is so easy to work with. Just a dream come true in biscuit form. So I am using it here with just a few flavour tweaks.

I wasn't really going for "spooky"

You don’t have to use skull cutters. If you are more of a free-hand person, then you could cut out circles and then ice those without the “guidelines.” And even if you use cutters which come with cut out indents, you aren’t forced to copy those shapes, you can always get creative and add your own patterns over the top.

I have a slight obsession with holiday baking. And there is something hugely therapeutic about icing buns in an intricate and ridiculously detailed manner. This is how I spend my Sunday evenings and it’s so much fun. Edible hobbies are the best kind.

Spooky Cookies

I am having SO MUCH FUN.

I love Hallowe’en. Everyone should love Hallowe’en. It’s spooky and fun and has some of the BEST songs. If you’ve never listened to Werewolf Bar Mitzvah then stop what you’re doing and watch it on Youtube. You won’t be sorry. I’ll wait.

Right, back to the matter in hand. Delicious biscuits! I tried a new recipe for the “sugar cookie” biscuit base upon which my pumpkins rest. And I re-used the best gingerbread recipe in the world and repurposed them for the season – as scary skeletons! The cookies are lovely and soft which is how I like them, but feel free to cook for slightly longer and roll out slightly thinner if you prefer a thinner biscuit. Also, feel free to make the skeletons with the plain biscuit recipe below, I just had a hankering for gingerbread too (greedy)!

I’m gonna hold my hands up. I’m not the best decorator. I get impatient and I’m not a good at drawing and really I’d rather just have the foodstuff in my mouth. But I tried really hard. I asked my honest-to-a-fault boyfriend if they looked like a 4 year old made them and he said, “no, they’re way better than that. ..Like a 12 year old maybe.”

FRIGHTENING!

Anyway. This is the most fun I’ve had in the kitchen in ages. I’ve eaten 4 cookies and I feel sick and accomplished. Come, join me.

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!