Tag Archives: Homemade

Caramel stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Yields 12

Ingredients

  • ½ cup butter, room temperature
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • ½ cup cookie butter spread
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla paste, or extract
  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1Tablesppn milk powder
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 4oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or chocolate chips
  • 12 caramel candies

Method

  1. Line a cookie sheet with baking parchment and set aside until needed
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until creamy
  3. Mix in the egg, followed by the cookie butter spread and continue mixing until fully combined. Add in the vanilla paste (or extract) and again mix to combine fully
  4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, milk powder, salt and whisk to combine
  5. Gradually add the combined dry ingredients into the sugar/butter mixture. Mix on medium/low speed until fully incorporated
  6. Fold in the chocolate chunks, or chips. Mix until well mixed through the dough (I find here it easier to fold by hand rather than using a spatula or spoon. It just depends on what you’re more comfortable with)
  7. Cover the dough with cling wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour
  8. Near the end of the cookie chilling time, preheat your oven to 325°F
  9. Using a medium cookie scoop (2 tbspn apx) shape the dough into 1 inch balls- you should have at least 24 in total
  10. Place a caramel candy between two cookie dough balls and squash the dough together to reshape into a larger cookie dough ball. Place the balls of dough about 3 inches apart on the pre-lined cookie sheet
  11. Bake at 325°F for 18-20minutes. The cookies will spread slightly spread and be domed where the caramel candy is. Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool on their baking sheets for 5 minutes. Stud with additional chocolate chips if wanted. After that, transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely*
  12. Serve and enjoy! Cookies will keep in an air-tight container for up to one week

*The caramel centres will become firmer as they cool. If you want a softer, gooier centre, microwave the cookie for about 15 seconds,

Lemon & Lavender Sugar Cookies

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Makes 48-52, dependent on cookie cutter size

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 teaspoons dried lavender flowers
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon zest
  • 1 small Tonka bean finely grated
  • 1-2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 2 sticks butter
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 egg white, beaten

Method

  1. Combine the sugar, lavender, lemon zest, and grated tonka bear in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until combined
  2. Cream together the butter and 1/2 cup lavender sugar mixture, until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the flour and salt. Beat until combined, and dough starts to become crumbly. Add 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice until the dough comes together
  3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out the cookies using your preferred cookie cutter. I used 1 1/2 inch fluted and plain circular cutters for bite-size cookies. Carefully transfer the cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet using a spatula.
  4. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes. Roll out the leftover scraps, and repeat with the dough
  5. While the cookies are chilly, reheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Brush each cookie with beaten egg white, then sprinkle with the remaining lavender sugar
  6. Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven for 12-13minutes or until just lightly golden on the edges. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely
  7. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Rose & Orange Olive Oil Cakes

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Makes 16

Ingredients

Cakes

  • 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt 
  • 1 cup granulated sugar 
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice 
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 3 large eggs 

Glaze

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons rosewater

To decorate

  • Dried rose petals

Method

Cakes

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease mini loaf pan* with baking spray
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt
  3. In a separate medium bowl, combine the sugar, and orange zest. Rub together for a few minutes to release the orange natural oils. Add the orange juice and whisk together until the sugar is fully dissolved. Whisk in the yogurt, then the eggs and finally the olive oi
  4. Gently whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients
  5. Pipe or spoon the batter into the prepared mini loaf pans, taking care to fill them no more than halfway full. Bake until the cakes are golden, spring back to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 22-25 minutes
  6. Let cool for 30 minutes, then remove the cakes from the pans to a cooling rack and let cool completely, about 20 minutes more

Glaze/ To Finish

  1. Combine the powdered sugar, milk, rosewater in a bowl and mix until a smooth paste forms
  2. Dip the tops of each loaf into the glaze, allowing any excess to run off. Place on a rack set over some parchment paper. Sprinkle tops with dried rose petals and allow to fully dry and set
  3. Serve and enjoy

*I use a 10 x 15 inch, 8 cavity mini-loaf pan

Blue Cheese, caramelised pear & crispy prosciutto pizza

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feat. Cow’s Creamery “Blue Moo” cheese

Makes enough dough for 2x 12inch pizzas; toppings for 1x 12inch pizza

Ingredients

Pizza Dough (makes enough for 2x 12 inch pizzas)

  • 1 1/3 cups) warm water
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 3 ½  cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 2 Tablespoons cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Topping (for 1, 12 inch pizza)

  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 4 oz thinly sliced prosciutto,
  • 5oz Cows Creamery “Blue Moo”, soft blue cheese
  • 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 large Bosc pears, cored and sliced, ½ inch thick
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • ¼ cup chopped walnut pieces
  • ½ cup fresh arugula

Method

Pizza Dough

  1. Whisk the warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer.
  2. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes
  3. Add the olive oil, salt, and flour. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes
  4. Beat the for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready
  5. Lightly grease a large bowl with oil. Place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with oiled cling wrap. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes or until double in size
  6. Preheat a pizza stone in a 500°F oven for 20-25 minutes

To prepare the toppings

  1. Finely chop garlic and heat in the olive oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, being careful not to allow the garlic to burn. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool
  2. Simmer the balsamic vinegar to reduce the volume by about half. It should thicken slightly. Set aside until needed
  3. In a large skillet, melt the butter and brown sugar together over medium heat. Add the pears in a single layer and cook for about 10 minutes turning once, to caramelize the pears. Remove the skillet from the heat and set aside until needed

To finish and bake the pizza

  1. When the dough is ready, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide the dough in half. (If not making 2 pizzas, freeze half of the dough for another time. Stretch the dough into about a 12-13inch round
  2. Place the dough round on a wooden peel that has been well sprinkled with cornmeal. Make sure your pizza is sliding on the cornmeal base before adding your toppings
  3. Brush the garlic olive oil from earlier all over the center of the dough
  4. Add the Cows Creamery blue cheese in about 1 teaspoon sized pieces along with arranging  the pears and prosciutto. (Keep the ingredients in a single layer as this helps the pizza crust stay crisp and cook quickly) Sprinkle over the walnut pieces
  5. Shake your peel to make sure the pizza is not stuck. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone
  6. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until the bottom is evenly brown and the top cheese begins to brown slightly. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Slide off you pizza stone to serving board
  7. Sprinkle over the fresh arugula and drizzle with the balsamic reduction
  8. Slice, serve and enjoy!

Leprechaun Bait

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Ingredients

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  • 2 cups Chex cereal
  • 1 cup pretzel mini-twists
  • 1 cup. Lucky Charms cereal
  • ½ cup Lucky Charms mallow pieces only
  • ½ cup green candy covered chocolate ( M&M’s or similar)
  • ½ and ¼ cup funfetti or white cake mix*, divided
  • 12 oz. white candy melts**, melted
  • ¼ cup green, or rainbow, sprinkles

Method

  1. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment/ waxed paper and set aside until needed later
  2. In a large bowl combine the Chex cereal, pretzel mini-twists, Lucky Charms cereal, Lucky Charms mallow pieces and green chocolate candy
  3. In a separate bowl combine the melted white chocolate and ½ cup cake mix, stirring to combine
  4. Immediately pour the chocolate/cake mix mixture over the dry cereal mixture and use a spatula to combine.  Add the remaining ¼ cup of the cake mix and the sprinkles and stir or toss again to combine until thoroughly coated
  5. Spread onto prepared baking sheet in a single layer and top with some extra sprinkles if you like. Leave on the baking sheet until set and then break apart into small clusters. Serve and enjoy!

*Before using the cake batter mix, treat it in the oven by spreading it on a lined baking tray and toasting it at 350 F for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Once cooled, use as per the recipe above. One thing to note is that the sprinkles in the cake mix may discolour a little or melt a bit. More reason to add those extra sprinkles!

***White chocolate chips may be used as well but your final coated popcorn won’t set as hard or be as crunchy.