Chocolate Easter Egg Nests

This is a really quick and easy no bake treat for Easter. I love eating these but have never made my own so decided to give it a go this year. It's cornflakes set in melted chocolate, golden syrup and butter and topped with mini eggs. They look really cute especially in colourful cases. I've made 3 batches of these already and may make more for Easter.

I'm sending this to The Biscuit Barrel Challenge hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... which has the theme of 'fun' this month. These are really fun to make and eat and the kids can join in the fun of making them. 

I'm also sending this to Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and Kat from the Baking Explorer.
The theme this month is 'Spring into Easter' and these definitely scream Easter.

And to Calendar Cakes hosted by Rachel from Dolly Bakes. The theme this month is Easter Bakes.

It's also perfect for Dead Easy Desserts created by Sarah from Maison Cupcake and hosted by Michelle from Utterly Scrummy Food For Families. These no bake treats are ready in under 30 minutes excluding chilling time. 

 cornflakes, golden syrup, chocolate, mini eggs, butter 

 mix the cornflakes into the melted chocolate mixture 

 Place into fairy cake cases and top with 3 mini eggs 

 Set in the fridge for a few hours or overnight 

Recipe from BBC Food recipes 

200g chocolate
2 tablespoons golden syrup
50g butter
75g cornflakes
36 mini eggs

• Line a 12-hole fairy cake tin with paper cases.
• Melt the chocolate, golden syrup and butter in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water.
• Allow to cool slightly. 
• Stir in the cornflakes until it's completely coated in the chocolate mixture.
• Divide the mixture between the paper cases and press 3 chocolate eggs into the centre of each nest. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight until set.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Golden Syrup Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

The lovely people at Tala sent me a selection of Xmas baking goodies to review. This included cupcake cases, Christmas silicone chocolate mould, holly leaf plunge cutters and Christmas tree cookie cutters. I decided to make gingerbread cupcakes with chocolate gingerbreadman and candy canes and some cookies.

I'm not a fan of gingerbread or ginger but I know I'm in the minority so in the spirit of Xmas and sharing I made these cupcakes to give away. Most of the recipes I saw online have similar ingredients of treacle, dark brown sugar, ginger and spices. I chose this recipe from King Arthur flour which had good reviews.

I made a golden syrup cream cheese frosting with cinnamon as I thought it would pair well with the sticky gingerbread. The frosting tasted heavenly! The feedback I received from the cupcakes were that "It's Christmas in a cupcake". The cake is moist and sticky and full of ginger and spice. The frosting complemented the cake very well and everyone was amazed by the decorations.

The chocolate moulds were really easy to use - melt chocolate, pour in the mould and leave to set. They were easy to remove with no breakages. I sprayed them gold which really brings out the detail. The cupcakes cases are sturdy and strong and does not become transparent after baking which I was really pleased about.

Check back tomorrow/weekend as I have a very exciting project to share with you using the tree cookie cutters and a giveaway from Tala.

I'm sharing this with several challenges this month :-

AlphaBakes which I am hosting this month and co host with Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter this month is X and we are accepting any Xmas related bakes. These apparently are Xmas in cupcake form so I think it's perfect.

Tea Time Treats hosted by Kate from What Kate Baked and co-hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is Festive Food Gifts and I think these would make a great festive gift.

Calendar Cakes hosted by Rachel from Dolly Bakes and co-hosted by Laura from Laura loves Cakes. The theme this month is Jingle Bell Rock. These definitely rock! :)

 Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and co-hosted by Kat from the Baking Explorer. The theme this month is Happy Holidays.

Four Seasons Food hosted by Anneli from Delicieux and Louisa from Eat your Veg. The theme this month is Party Food and these cupcakes would be perfect for any party.

Let's Cook Christmas Party Food hosted by Nayna from Simply Food.

The Spice Trail: Cooking with Cinnamon hosted by Vanesther from Bangers & Mash.

Secret Recipe Club Holiday Treats Party

Cooking with Herbs hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is cooking with Herbs and Christmas spices so I think my cinnamon in the frosting will qualify.

Recipe adapted slightly from King Arthur Flour
Makes 14 cupcakes

For the cupcakes

206g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
113g unsalted butter, softened
106g dark brown sugar
170g black treacle
2 medium eggs
125ml water

For the frosting 

60g butter

200g cream cheese

175g icing sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons golden syrup 

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the decoration

150g plain chocolate, melted

Edible gold spray

• Preheat oven to 175C. 
• Sift the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
• Beat butter, sugar, black treacle and eggs in an electric mixer until pale and smooth.
• Add 60mls of water to the butter mixture and mix well.
• Add half the flour mixture and continue mixing.
• Add remaining water followed by flour mixture and mix well. 
• Spoon into cupcake cases and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool completely before decorating.
• To make the frosting, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth in an electric mixer.
• Add in the icing sugar and continue mixing.
• Add in the golden syrup (you may want to add more depending on taste) and ground cinnamon and continu mixing until smooth.
• Make the chocolate decorations by melting 150g plain chocolate and pour them into the moulds. Allow to set in the fridge or freezer until firm. Gold spray optional. 
• Use a round tip to pipe frosting on the cupcakes and decorate with a gold chocolate gingerbreadman or candy cane.

Disclaimer: I was sent the items above to review free of charge. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. I paid for all the ingredients myself. 

Peanut Butter Granola Bar

I felt like making granola bars one weekend. It's not something that I regularly bake but I decided it was a good way to clear out my baking cupboard as I could put in a combination of seeds, nuts and fruits all of which were sitting in my cupboard gathering dust. I often buy ingredients in case I want to make something or it's on offer and sometimes I forget about them or change my mind and they end up sitting there for ages. So this recipe is slightly made up based on ingredients I had available but you can easily adapt this your tastes. 

The bars were really tasty and I got lots of compliments about them. I love the peanut butter in there and the mix of fruit, nuts and seeds make it seem healthy. Definitely a good on the go snack or lunch box treat. 

I'm entering this to Tea Time Treats hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage this month and co-hosted by Kate from What Kate Baked on alternate months. The theme this month is Flapjacks, Oats and Tray Bakes.

I'm also entering this Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. The challenge was started by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla at Fab Food 4 All inviting us to share our frugal food recipes.  This recipe is a great way to use up bits of dried fruit, nuts and seeds that you have lying around in your cupboard. It's probably not cost effective if you had to buy all the ingredients separately as seeds and nuts are generally on the expensive side. However, I didn't have to buy anything to make this recipe as I had everything to hand so I think it fits the bill for credit crunch munch.

I'm also entering this to a new blogging challenge called Treat Petite. It's hosted by Kat from The Baking Explorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi and the idea is to submit any sweet treat that's individually portioned and not a big cake. The theme this month is 'No Theme' so anything goes. These are perfect bite sized sweet treats! 

 brown sugar, crunchy peanut butter, honey, golden syrup, oats, dried cranberries, flaked almonds, roasted chopped hazelnuts, seed mix

 I also had an opened pack of this pineapple and papaya mix so I added it in as well 

 Love the colours! 

 Melt honey and butter 

 toasted granola 

 make the peanut butter mixture 

 drizzle with chocolate before serving 

100g butter
100g honey
480g oats
100g flaked almonds
100g toasted chopped hazelnuts
60g seed mix (pumpkin, sunflower, hemp seed, linseed, sesame seed)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
100g dried cranberries
145g pineapple & papaya mix
100g crunchy peanut butter
125mls golden syrup
70g soft brown sugar
50g dark chocolate (optional) for drizzling at the end

• Melt honey and butter in a small pan.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.
• Pour melted honey and butter mixture over the dry ingredients and stir well.
• It should be a dry mixture at this point.
• Spread out thinly over 2 lined large baking trays and bake for about 10-12 mins, stirring half way until lightly toasted and slightly browned. Be careful not to burn your granola at this point!
• In a medium sized saucepan, melt peanut butter, golden syrup and brown sugar. 
• Transfer cooled toasted granola into a large mixing bowl.
• Pour over the peanut butter mixture and mix well.
• Press into a large rectangle tin as shown and allow to set completely. (I put mine in the fridge for about 20 mins)
• Drizzle with melted chocolate if using. 
• Slice into large squares and serve. 

3D Dinosaur Gingerbread Cookies

My brother got these 3D dinosaur cookie cutters for his birthday and asked me to make some gingerbread cookies. I dutifully obliged and we had fun putting them together. I've never made 3D cookies before and to be honest was a little dubious but was surprised at how well these turned out. His colleagues claim it the best gingerbread ever and they also had fun putting it together and eating it. 

I used a recipe that I'd used previously and made a few gingerbread people as well which the dinosaurs 'attacked'. There are 3 other dinosaur cutters and they also come in a safari theme - giraffe, lion, elephant and hippo which look really cute. Definitely going on my Christmas wish list unless someone wants to get me a belated birthday present....

I'm entering this to Treat Petite. It's hosted by Kat from The Baking Explorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi and the idea is to submit any sweet treat that's individually portioned and not a big cake. The theme this month is 'No Theme' so anything goes.

 simple store cupboard ingredients 

 roll out dough and cut out shapes then bake 

it's a 3D T-rex dinosaur! 

 T-rex eating a gingerbreadman

 Anxious family looking worried and deciding if they should run or not 

 There's a lot of dinosaurs here!

125g unsalted butter, softened
110g dark brown sugar
2.5 cups plain flour, sifted
1 egg yolk
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
4-6 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp mixed spice
270mls golden syrup

• Preheat the oven to 160C
• Beat butter, sugar and egg yolk in a bowl until smooth
• Stir in the remaining ingredients until its mixed properly
• You may need to add a little more golden syrup if the mixture is crumbly
• Knead the dough on a floured surface and roll it out to approximately 5mm in thickness.
• Cut shapes using cookie cutters
• Place on a baking tray and bake for approximately 8-10 minutes until they are brown
• Cookies will harden once cool

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.