Afghan Biscuits

An Afghan biscuit is a traditional New Zealand biscuit which contains cornflakes and chocolate, topped with chocolate icing and half a walnut.  The origin of the recipe and name is unknown but apparently it's a Kiwi classic. It tastes like a cross between a brownie and a cookie and I particularly like the crunch of the cornflakes. They're really easy to make and quite addictive to eat so I'm sure I'll be making more of these! 

I'm entering this to AlphaBakes, a monthly blogging challenge where we select a random letter from the alphabet and bake/cook with it. I am hosting this month and Caroline from Caroline Makes will be hosting next month. The letter for April is 'A' for Afghan biscuits. 

 They ran out of small boxes of cornflakes so I had to get the super size one! 

 mixing the flour, cocoa powder and cornflakes

 ready to go in the oven 

 waiting to be iced

 add a small teaspoonful of icing on top

 and finish with half a walnut 

Makes approximately 35 biscuits

For the biscuits

200g butter

100g caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

185g plain flour

4 tablespoons cocoa powder 

60g cornflakes

For the icing

125g icing sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

15g butter

2-3 teaspoons hot water

walnut halves to decorate

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Grease and line 2 baking trays
• Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add the vanilla extract. 
• In a separate bowl, sift the flour and cocoa powder and mix together.
• Stir in the cornflakes and mix. 
• Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture and mix well.
• Use a small ice cream scoop to place even sized scoops of dough on the baking tray spaced apart.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes. 
• Allow to cool completely before icing.
• Make the icing by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl. 
• Place a small teaspoon of icing on top of each biscuit and finish with half a walnut. 

Smiley Face Jam Cookies

I got these super cute cookie cutters as a gift recently. I was really pleased as I'd been debating about buying them for myself. I've used them twice now and I'm sure I'll get a lot more use out of them! I used a simple sugar cookie recipe and sandwiched the cookies with jam. I thought of making a buttercream filling as well but ran out of time. 

The cookie cutters are really easy to use and make perfect smiley faces :) My tips are to chill the cooking dough before rolling and cutting then chilling them again before baking to prevent spreading of cookies when baking. I didn't chill the first round and the cookies expanded quite a bit and filled up the gaps of the face. It only needs 10-15 minutes in the fridge. 

 I had fun with the cookie cutters. I used an offset spatula to lift the cookies on to the baking tray. 

 ready to go in the oven 

 boxed and ready to go 

Sugar cookies

125g butter

125g caster sugar

1 egg

2-4 teaspoon vanilla extract

250g plain flour

• Preheat the oven to 175C.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add in the egg and vanilla extract.
• Finally stir in flour and mix well. 
• Knead dough until smooth, wrap in cling film and chill for about 20-30 minutes. 
• Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut using cookie cutters. 
• Place on a baking tray and chill briefly for 10-15 minutes.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
• Allow to cool completely. 
• Sandwich the cookies with jam or a filling of your choice. 

Clotted Cream & Strawberry tart and cookies

I'm sure you've noticed that I love entering baking/blogging challenges so when I saw the Best of British Challenge on Chocolate Log Blog who is hosting this month I could hardly say no! Fiona from London Unattached and Karen from Lavender and Lovage came up with this brilliant challenge that will run for 6 months. Each month, a county or region around the UK is selected. To enter, blog about your interpretation of a recipe or dish from that region. The challenge is sponsored by New World Appliances and there is a prize of a £50 Amazon voucher. 

This month it's Cornwall and the first two things I thought of were clotted cream and strawberries. A quick search on google led me to a company that produces clotted cream and strawberry cookies but no recipe so I decided to make my own! It's a variation on a shortbread and I think the proportions still need some tweaking but I was quite pleased with the final result. 

In addition to the flower cookies, I also decided to make some mini tarts filled with clotted cream and fresh strawberry. These cookies/tarts are quite rich as they have butter and clotted cream but were absolutely delicious! There is a faint hint of strawberry in the cookie - I think I will have to add more next time.  Personally I preferred the tarts as I loved the 'extra' clotted cream and fresh strawberry. 

I'm also entering this to Tea Time Treats hosted by Kate from What Kate Baked and Karen from Lavender and Lovage as the theme this month is summer fruits. 

And to the one ingredient challenge hosted by Nazima from Working London Mummy and co-hosted by Laura from How to Cook Good Food.  The theme for June is strawberry.

As strawberries are in season, I'm also entering them to Simple and in Season created by Ren from Fabulicious Food and guest hosted this month by Laura from How to Cook Good Food. 

On to the recipe..... 

 Fresh strawberries, clotted cream, butter and freeze dried strawberries (I found it in Waitrose) 

 Mix the butter and clotted cream

 Adding the freeze dried strawberries at the end - such a pretty colour but turned brown after baking :( 

 I used my mini tart tray

 and cut some flower cookies 

 fill with clotted cream

 top with a fresh strawberry

 my new mini cake stand :) 

 cookies... 

.. or tarts? 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

100g butter, softened 

100g clotted cream

100g caster sugar

200g flour

50g cornflour

5g freeze dried strawberries (I would recommend using the whole tube which is 10g for a stronger strawberry flavour)

• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• Mix the butter and clotted cream in a medium sized bowl. 
• Add the caster sugar, flour and cornflour.
• Mix well. The dough will be slightly wet and sticky at this point.
• Stir in the freeze dried strawberries. 
• Chill the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes until firm.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut using cookie cutters. 
• To make the mini tarts, I used a round cutter and pressed the dough into the mini tart tray. 
• Bake in the oven for approximately 8 - 12 minutes (the mini tarts needed an extra minute or two). 
• If you made the tarts, fill with a dollop of clotted cream and top with a fresh strawberry.

Check out Rodda's 101 excuses for clotted cream if you have any left over!

Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored by Rodda's or anyone else. All opinions expressed are my own.

Viennese Whirls

I know I said I'd finished blogging about my Jubilee bakes. Well not quite and I promise this is definitely the last one :) I baked this during the Jubilee weekend and served them with my Jubilee Vanilla Sponge Cake. They were more popular than the cake and I've had repeat requests to make this again and again! 

These biscuits are little, bite sized buttery, crumbly goodness which literally melt in your mouth. It has a vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam filling and tasted absolutely divine! I won't tell you how many of these I ate :) 

I used a recipe from BBC Food which worked well for me. Mine don't look as good as theirs but it definitely tasted good!

I'm entering these to AlphaBakes which I'm hosting this month as the letter is 'V'... for Viennese Whirls (and Vanilla buttercream!).  AlphaBakes is a monthly challenge hosted on alternate months by myself and Caroline Makes.  We choose a random letter from the alphabet each month and the idea is to bake something that features that letter as either the main ingredient/flavour or name of the bake. You have until the 25th June to join in this month so get baking :)  

 I couldn't find my big star tip so I used my regular one and made mini whirls :) 

 The piping mostly held its shape after baking although they are a little overdone! 

 Pipe vanilla buttercream on one half and add a small teaspoon of strawberry (or raspberry) jam to the other half

 sandwich together and enjoy :) 

Weekly Bake Off : Apricot Swiss Cakes

It's been a while since I've baked with the Weekly Bake Off where the aim is to bake a recipe chosen at random by Amy our lovely host, from Mary Berry's 100 Cakes and Bakes. The chosen recipe is announced on twitter (@weeklybakeoff) every Monday and you have until Sunday to send in a picture of your bake via twitter. 

Apricot Swiss Cakes were chosen this week. I decided to make these late at night after a particularly stressful day as I needed something to cheer me up.  They were quick and easy to whip up but I do need to practice my piping skills! The cakes retained some of the 'swirl' shape which I was pleased about. I didn't have any apricot jam so I used strawberry and raspberry jam which is what is used traditionally.

I would call these biscuits rather than cakes as it has a really soft, buttery and crumbly texture similar to shortbread and absolutely delicious with the jam in the middle. You can use any type of jam with this. I am definitely making these again as they are really easy to make and taste great! Plus they look really cute and are perfect with a cup of tea. 

 pipe the mixture into the paper case 

 slightly overcooked... oops! 

 add a small teaspoon of jam in the middle. I forgot to sprinkle icing sugar! 

To see all the excellent entries to the weekly bake off, click here

Recipe is from Mary Berry's 100 Cakes and Bakes page 71 

Syrup Crunch Cookies

I saw these on one of my favourite blogs, the caked crusader and knew I had to make it and to make it soon. It contains most of my favourite ingredients and the perfect opportunity presented itself when we had a celebratory breakfast for a colleague who was getting married. I thought the cornflakes and oats would make it very 'breakfast-ty'! It's really more-rish and I had quite a few as they came out of the oven! Someone commented that it tastes like it should be part of 1 of your 5 a day but clearly it's not! I'm definitely making these again and again.
I'm off on a short summer break but will be back with more baking goodness soon :) 

250g unsalted butter
200g condensed milk
175g golden syruo
175g cornflakes
175g porridge oats
250g plain flour
100g custard powder
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

• Preheat the oven to 180˚C
• Line 2 large baking sheets with baking paper.
• Place the butter, condensed milk and golden syrup in a large saucepan and heat gently.
• Stir occasionally until the ingredients have melted and evenly combined; they should be runny.
• In a separate bowl crush the cornflakes by hand – you don’t want them crumbed, just broken up a bit.
• Stir in the oats, flour, custard powder and bicarbonate of soda.
• Stir the dry ingredients into the wet mix in the saucepan.
• Scoop heaped tablespoons onto the baking sheets, leaving a gap around the biscuits for expansion while baking. 
• Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden.
• Leave to cool, on their baking sheets, on a wire rack. They will be soft on leaving the oven but will firm up as they cool.

Rocky Road

This month's we should cocoa challenge is surplus stock or leftovers.  Two things immediately sprung to mind - rocky road or compost cookies/bars.  I then saw this post on ultimate rocky road and decided that it had to be rocky road hummingbird style with a little me flavour :)
I had a lot of leftovers from the festive baking as I bought way more than I needed as usual.  I also didn't quite bake everything I had planned to for the festive season. I still have dates that I bought for last month's we should cocoa challenge but decided against using it this time. Look out for a future date recipe though.
A picture speaks a thousand words so it's probably best to illustrate the ingredients that way. The 2 large slabs of dairy milk chocolate were initially for a chocolate fountain at my friend's new year's eve party but everyone was too full and drunk for it to even materialise.  I had marshmallows, nuts, dried cranberries and chocolate chips leftover from baking various things during the festive period. I seem to have a bit of everything leftover so this recipe was perfect! The rich tea biscuits I had in the cupboard and the maltesers were for a malteser cupcake which is still on my to bake list.  I have to admit I did buy the chocolate bars after reading the recipe.

Ok now here's a secret.... I'm not a huge fan of rocky road but I'm a total convert now.  I usually use Nigella's recipe when I make them but I have to say that these are seriously amazing!! You really, truly have to try them. I brought them to work and they disappeared by lunch time!! I have to echo Steven of Adventures of a foodie and proclaim these the ultimate rocky road. The plus side is it's a no bake recipe. It's so simple and quick to make, I'm actually making these again tomorrow as I still have a lot of leftovers to use up!

 melt chocolate 

 bowlful of goodies! 

 I thought it looked a bit plain so... 

 .. I added some rainbow sprinkles 

 large, chunky rocky road 

 the crunchie bar is my favourite bit 

This is the actual recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook

1.4kg milk chocolate, roughly chopped
8 regular sized chewy, filled chocolate bars of your choice, roughly chopped (eg snickers, mars, crunchie, etc)
100g marshmallows
180g chocolate-coated malt honeycomb balls (Maltesers)
100g dried apricots, roughly chopped
100g raisins
100g cornflakes
100g chocolate vermicelli

a 33 x 23 x 5 cm baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper

• Put the milk chocolate in a large saucepan over medium heat and heat until melted and smooth, stirring occasionally. 
• Put the chocolate bars, marshmallows, honeycomb balls, apricots, raisins and cornflakes in a large bowl and pour in the melted chocolate. 
• Mix with a wooden spoon until everything is well mixed and the dry ingredients are evenly dispersed. 
• Press this mixture into the prepared baking tray, using a  tablespoon to flatten and compress it.
• Sprinkle the chocolate vermicelli all over the top.
• Leave to cool completely then cover and refrigerate overnight.