3 nut butter chocolate cookies with marshmallow

The cookie monster is back! This is an absolutely delicious cookie which incorporates all of my favourite flavours. The base is a chocolate and 3 nut butter cookie with the addition of peanut butter chips and hidden marshmallows inside. I felt like baking cookies one evening and had a look in the pantry to see what was available and this is what I came up with. I overbaked my cookies a little but luckily the marshmallow was still ooey and gooey as you can see! It has a dark chocolate base paired with saltiness from the nut butter and peanut butter chips and sweetness of the marshmallows.

I'm sending this to the No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary as I used up the end of a jar of 3 nut butter and opened packs of mini marshmallows and peanut butter chips.

 adding the lovely nut butters

 adding peanut butter chips 

 place a small scoop of cookie dough on a baking tray and flatten it. Top with mini marshmallows. 

 Cover with another flat disc of cookie dough and press together 

 melted marshmallow inside!

Makes approximately 20 cookies of the size shown

113g butter

50g brown sugar

50g caster sugar

125g three nut butter (use any nut butter as an alternative)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

125g plain flour

50g cocoa powder

100g peanut butter chips (you can also use white chocolate chips or plain chocolate chips)

approximately 100 mini marshmallows (I used about 4-5 per cookie) 

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
• Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
• Add in the nut butter and egg.
• Stir in the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda.
• Finally add the peanut butter chips.
• Place a small scoop of cookie dough on the lined baking tray and flatten with your palm to form a disc. Repeat with the rest of the cookie dough.
• Place 4-5 mini marshmallows on top of each flattened cookie dough. Cover with another piece of cookie dough and press to seal the edges.
• The cookies look quite large so allow enough space for spreading between each cookie before baking.
• Bake for approximately 10 minutes.
• The cookies will still be soft when you take them out of the oven but will harden as they cool on the sheet. 

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes and a review

I am hosting this month's AlphaBakes which is the letter "H". Frankly, it's a bit of a relief as the last 2 letters have been slightly tricky being "K" followed by "I". In case you missed the late announcement, there is a lovely prize for 1 lucky winner selected at random this month. It's a copy of 500 cupcakes by Fergal Connolly & Judith Fertig sponsored by Quarto Publishing. 

I decided to select a recipe from the 'H' index for my Alphabakes entry this month. There's 21 recipes under 'H' some of which are variations on the same recipe. There were a few interesting ones but in the end I decided on these hot chocolate cupcakes as I've been craving chocolate.

The book is a lovely sized hardback with 288 pages including index. It starts with a brief introduction which covers basic equipment and ingredients, making and decorating cupcakes, serving ideas and cupcake gifts. The chapters are then divided into

• Classic Cupcakes
• Fragrant and spiced cupcaes
• Chocolate cupcakes
• Decadent Cupcakes
• Celebration Cupcakes
• Cupcakes for Kids
• Cupcakes for special diets
• Designer Cupcakes

All the cupcake recipes fit onto 1 page with a one line summary followed by ingredient list and methods. The instructions are simple and succint.  Most of the main recipes include a picture but there isn't a picture for each recipe. Each recipe has variations listed on a separate page. For example, these chocolate orange cupcakes pictured below are a 'main recipe' 

The variations page looks like this and the variations for chocolate orange cupcakes include chocolate orange marshmallow-centred cupcakes,chocolate orange & vanilla centred cupcakes, white chocolate & vanilla cupcakes and chocolate crystallised orange-centred cupcakes. I particularly like that there is a little picture at the top corner of the basic recipe the variations refer to just in case you're not sure.

The hot chocolate cupcake recipe that I chose was actually a variation of their morning latte cupcakes. The instructions were to prepare the basic cupcake recipe (for morning latte cupcakes) but to omit the coffee flavouring in the icing and to sprinkle chocolate sprinkles on top of each cupcake.

The cupcakes themselves were delicious. It's a plain vanilla sponge topped with a thick chocolate icing. It's quite a fudgey consistency which  was easy to spread. It was then topped with marhsmallow fluff and finished with a dusting of cocoa powder. I couldn't find my mini mallows which would look good on top. Initially I thought the cupcake should be a chocolate cupcake but it works better this way as you can taste the chocolate and the marshmallow separately. It's quite messy to eat as the marhsmallow fluff is extremely sticky but it's really tasty.

My verdict - This is a cute little book which is perfect if you are new to baking but there's also some lovely recipes for the advanced baker. I like the layout and presentation of the book. There is also a large variety of recipes and I know I will be using this book again and again. My only negative as always is that there isn't a photo for each recipe. It will make a great gift for a baking friend and I would have happily bought this book for myself. 

As mentioned I'm entering this to AlphaBakes hosted by myself this month and co hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter is 'H' for Hot chocolate cupcakes. Remember to email your entries by 25th November and you will be in with a chance to win a copy of this book. 

I only managed 11 cupcakes with my batter 

 ready to be iced

 the icing looks a little messy but it's quite thick so it's difficult to spread evenly.

delicious marshmallow fluff 

Update 17/11/14

Recipe from 500 Cupcakes by Fergal Connolly & Judith Fertig. Published by Apple Press. Reproduced with permission. 

For the cupcakes

225g unsalted butter

115g caster sugar

225g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

For the icing & decorations

100g plain chocolate, roughly chopped

60g unsalted butter

100g icing sugar

215g jar Marshmallow Fluff or 200g mini marshmallows, melted

18 craft pipe cleaners or chenille sticks (I didn't use these) 

• Preheat the oven to 175C/350F/Gas Mark 4. 
• Place 18 paperbaking cases into muffin tins. (I only managed 11 cupcakes of size shown)
• Combine all the cupcake ingredients in a medium bowl and beat with an electric whisk until smooth and pale, about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Spoon the batter into the cases.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Remove the tins from the oven and cool for 5 minutes.
• Remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.
• To make the icing, gently heat the chocolate and butter in a small, heavy saucepan, stirring until melted.
• Remove from the heat and beaat in the icing sugar.
• For each cupcake: Ice the top. Pipe or spoon marshmallow fluff on top of each cupcake. Double the pipe cleaner and insert both ends into the side of each cupcake handle to form a 'handle'. 

Disclaimer: I was sent a review copy of 500 cupcakes. A positive review was not required and all opinions expressed are my own. This is not a sponsored post. 

Chocolate Marshmallow Muffins

These were originally meant to be chocolate marshmallow cupcakes with a milk chocolate frosting and mini marshmallow topping. However, when I was baking this quite late at night, I discovered I only had about 30g of icing sugar left and it was too late to go out to get more.  As this does not have icing, I feel it's wrong to call it a cupcake hence chocolate marshmallow muffins. 

I used a chocolate sour cream cake recipe that I've used previously. I debated about how to incorporate the marshmallows and in the end decided to put 2 large marshmallows at the bottom of the muffin case before filling it with cake batter. What I didn't know but should have guessed was that the marshmallow would rise during baking and give a toasted marshmallow topping. Result! To be honest, these were so good on their own they didn't require any frosting. The cake was moist and chocolatey and the toasted marshmallow on top gave extra sweetness and gooeyness to the cake. 

I created this recipe for this month's We Should Cocoa challenge which is guest hosted by Rebecca from Bake N Quilt. She chose the theme marshmallow and chocolate. The challenge is run by Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog. 

 I bought micro marshmallows for the cupcakes but I'm sure I'll find another use for it. 

 cook butter, cocoa powder and water 

 whisk in the eggs

 followed by the sour cream 

 place 2 large marshmallows on the bottom of each cupcake case 

 cover with cake batter until almost full 

 toasted marshmallow! 

 I also made a medium loaf cake with the remaining batter which is covered in melted milk chocolate (I prepared it for the icing) and sprinklses 

Makes 12 mini cakes and 1 medium loaf as shown.

250g plain four
45g cocoa powder
60g dark chocolate pieces
225g butter
1 cup water
300g sugar
2 eggs
1.5 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

24 large marshmallows

• Place the butter, cocoa powder, chocolate and water to cook over a medium heat.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, bicarbonate of soda and sugar together.
• Carefully add half the melted chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk. 
• Add the eggs one at a time and continue whisking. 
• Then add the sour cream and vanilla extract.
• Place 2 marshmallows in each cupcake case. 
• The cake batter is quite liquid so I'd recommend pouring it into the jug and pouring the cake batter into each cupcake case until it's almost full.
• The marshmallows may float but not to worry. 
• Bake for about 18 minutes or until the marshmallows are toasted and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Tiffin or refrigerator cake

I've been baking mostly healthy treats this month but I did promise a few naughty treats as well. This is so easy to make but oh so naughty. It's a refrigerator cake or tiffin and it's a really simple no bake recipe which you can easily prepare in advance. I used digestive biscuits, rich tea biscuits, marhsmallows and mixed fruit and nut. I gave these away as gifts and they were very well received.

I'm entering this to Dead Easy Desserts hosted by Sarah from Maison Cupcake as these take less than 30 minutes to make excluding chilling time.

150g milk chocolate
150g dark chocolate
100g butter
150g golden syrup
100g mixed fruit and nut
140g digestive biscuits, lightly crushed
140g rich tea biscuits, lightly crushed
100g mini marshmallows
50g raisins or dried cranberries

*note you can use any combination of fillings that you like - fruits, nuts, seeds, biscuits, honeycomb. Just ensure there is enough chocolate mixture to cover the filling

• Melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. 
• Remove from the heat and stir in the other ingredients.
• Pour into a square tin and level with a palette knife.
• Allow to set in the fridge for a few hours or preferably overnight.
• Cut into squares and enjoy. 

Nigella Christmas Cornflake Wreaths

This is a Nigella recipe which is simple yet effective. It's a fun project to do with the kids and they will absolutely love these as it's sweet and crunchy and cute! The Christmas sprinkles add a lovely festive touch. It's a no bake recipe that can be made up to a week ahead. It will also keep in the freezer for 3 months.  

I'm entering this to a few challenges this month

AlphaBakes which I am hosting this month and co host with Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter this month is X for Xmas Cornflake Wreaths.

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.

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.

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.

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

Biscuit Barrel Challenge hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme this month is Quick and Easy. These are not technically biscuits but they'd easily fit in a biscuit barrel :) 

Family Fodies hosted by Louisa from Eat Your Veg and Vanesther from Bangers & Mash. The theme this month is Kids Christmas and I'm sure most kids love cornflakes. They will also have fun making these with you.

Dead Easy Desserts hosted by Sarah from Maison Cupcake. This can definitely be prepared in under 30 minutes, excluding chilling time.

Secret Recipe Club Holiday Treats Party 

 cornflakes, mini marshmallows, vanilla extract, butter, sesame seeds, christmas sprinkles 

 Melt butter, then add marshmallows 

 add in crushed cornflakes and sesame seeds 

 shape into wreaths and add some christmas sprinkles 

Recipe is taken from Nigella Christmas page 210. If you do a google search for Nigella Christmas Cornflake wreaths, you can find the recipe online. 

Homemade Hot Chocolate on a stick for Macmillan Coffee Morning

Today is the World's Biggest Coffee Morning which is Macmillan's biggest fundraising event.  In 2012 115,000 people signed up, raising a record £15 million. I'm sure there's one near you so if you're not hosting your own, please support this great cause. 

Unfortunately I am away in Chicago this year so won't be baking up a storm as I usually do for this great cause.  However, I made sure to leave something for my colleagues to sell at the Macmillan Coffee morning stand. It had to be something that would keep for more than a week so I decided to make some hot chocolate on a stick with mini marshmallows. I made these previously for Christmas one year and they were a huge hit. This time, I used my dariole mould and packaged them nicely in cake pop bags and cute ribbons and gift tags. They look really cute and I hope that they will help raise money for Macmillan. 

 lollipop sticks, dark chocolate, mini marshmallows 

 melt chocolate and pour into a suitable mould. Add mini marshmallows on top so they will stay in place as the chocolate sets. Refrigerate for about 10-15 minutes then place a lollipop stick in the centre. The chocolate should be semi-set at this point and the stick will stand up on its own. You can also use a teaspoon. 

 Once completely set, remove from mould

 

 My little note :)