Nutella Nanaimo Bars

This month's AlphaBakes is the letter 'N'. I started thinking about 'N' recipes and decided on Nutella which I love.  I've baked a lot with Nutella and wanted something a little different so when I came across these Nutella Nanaimo bars, I knew I had to make it immediately. I've seen Nanaimo bars on the blogosphere but have never made it myself. It's a no bake dessert bar named after the west coast city of Nanaimo in British Columbia. It usually has a wafer crumb base layer topped with a layer of custard flavoured butter icing and covered with melted chocolate. These of course contain nutella and have an Oreo cookie base. It's sweet and buttery and nutty and oh so naughty. One compliment I received was that "these taste like little explosions of heaven in your mouth". It's perfect for the upcoming festive season as it's quick and easy to make and you can make them in advance. 

I'm sending this to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and co hosted by myself on alternate months. The letter this month is "N" and I hope I get bonus points for my double N entry ;) 

 making the biscuit base 

 adding lots of lovely Nutella 

 cooked biscuit base 

 Nutella layer 

 add melted chocolate 

 ready to eat 

Recipe adapted from Sweet Twist of Blogging

For the base

2 packs of Oreo double stuff cookies (or regular oreo cookies)

60g caster sugar

50g cocoa powder

115g butter, melted

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

[I wanted to add some chopped hazelnuts but didn't have any in the cupboard]

For the filling

40g butter

110g icing sugar

300g Nutella

1 tablespoon double cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping

140g dark chocolate

10g butter

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Grease and line a square baking tin. 
• Place the Oreo cookies in a food processor and blitz until it resembles breadcrumbs.
• Place in a large bowl and add in the remaining ingredients.
• Mix well then pour into a square tin.
• Press down gently and level the top. 
• Bake for approximately 15 minutes.
• Allow to cool. 
• To make the filling, beat the butter and icing sugar until it forms a paste.
• Add in the Nutella, cream and vanilla extract and mix.
• Pour onto the cooled base and level with a spatula. 
• Place in the fridge to chill.
• Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
• Stir occasionally and once fully melted, remove from the heat.
• Pour the melted chocolate on top of the chilled filling, tilting from side to side to get an even coating.
• Cover and chill for a few hours before serving.

Peanut Butter and Golden Oreo No Bake Squares

I love Oreo cookies and there are quite a few recipes using Oreo cookies on my blog. My favourites are the mint oreos and peanut butter oreos which I can only buy in America or at a huge cost and effort in UK. I was ecstatic to find out that Oreo have launched 2 new flavours in the UK and they are available in most major supermarkets. The flavours are Peanut Butter and Golden Oreo. I saw them at Asda recently and they are only 50p a pack! I couldn't help myself and bought a few packets so look out for more recipes!

I was sent 2 packs each of Peanut Butter Oreos and Golden Oreos to try. The Peanut Butter ones have the classic chocolate biscuit and a peanut butter filling whereas the Golden Oreos have a sweet golden biscuit and a vanilla creme filling. I love peanut butter but I actually prefer the golden oreos to the peanut butter oreos. Go figure! 

 Golden Oreos and Peanut Butter Oreos 

I decided to make a quick and easy no bake recipe with the oreo cookies. I'ts based on my mini peanut butter oreo cheesecake recipe which I said was the best dessert I've eaten! The base is made of peanut butter oreos which is filled with a cream cheese, peanut butter and cream filling and topped with a Golden Oreo. It's absolutely delicious particularly if you like peanut butter. It's really simple to put together and only requires 6 ingredients. 

 I used my individual brownie pain and placed strips of parchment paper in a cross fashion so it's easier to remove the squares later. 

 This recipe only makes 10 squares - this is the peanut butter oreo biscuit base 

 Fill with peanut butter filling 

 Top with a Golden Oreo

Makes 10 squares as shown

1 pack peanut butter oreos (14 biscuits)

10 golden oreo biscuits

50g butter, melted 

180g cream cheese

90g smooth peanut butter

70g caster sugar

90mls double cream

• Prepare the individual brownie pan as shown. Alternatively you can use a large rectangle pan and cut into squares. 
• Blitz the peanut butter oreos into crumbs or place in a sealed bag and bash with a rolling pin.
• Mix the cookie crumbs with 50g melted butter. 
• Place 1 - 2 tablespoons of cookie crumbs into each square and press down. 
• Place in the fridge to set whilst you make the filling. You can also put it in the freezer if you are in a hurry.
• To make the filling, beat the cream until stiff and set aside.
• Next, beat the peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
• Add in the beaten cream and stir. 
• Spread an even layer of the filling on top of each cookie base. 
• Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.
• Before serving, place a golden oreo on top of each square. 

Disclaimer:  I was sent Peanut Butter Oreos and Golden Oreos for review purposes. A positive review was not required and all opinions are my own. This is not a sponsored post. 

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Oreo Pie

Hi everyone. Sorry for the long absence. It's just been crazy busy lately with lots going on. I will be posting less for the next few months until things settle down but will still continue to co-host AlphaBakes with Caroline. I do appreciate the loyalty from my regular readers and still enjoy reading all your posts when I can. 

I've been wanting to make this for a while so I'm really pleased that I got the chance recently and I can tell you that it was well worth the wait. It's a very rich, decadent dessert and you only need a small slice. It has an oreo biscuit base, covered with homemade caramel and topped with rich, dark chocolate ganache and a generous sprinkling of sea salt. It's a no bake recipe but it does take some time as each layer has to set before you put the next layer on. I used Hans Sloane Ecuador 70% chocolate beads and it worked beautifully in this recipe as it gave the pie the rich, dark chocolate taste which paired well with the sea salt flakes and caramel. If you use a sweeter chocolate then the pie will be too sweet and you won't get the lovely contrast.

I'm sending this to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter this  month is O for Oreo cookies.

Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy from Supergolden Bakes.

Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too.

Tasty Tuesdays hosted by Vicki from Honest Mum.

 only 5 ingredients required - brown sugar, double cream, chocolate beads or chocolate chips, butter and oreo cookies 

 oreo cookie base 

 making the caramel 

 caramel is almot ready!

 look at that lovely caramel 

 the smudge is from the cling film before the caramel set 

 luckily it's covered in a thick layer of chocolate ganache 

 served with fresh raspberries and raspberry ripple ice cream 

Makes 1 large 10 inch pie

For the base
2 packs of 154g Oreo cookies
100g butter

For the caramel
260g light brown sugar
225g butter
120 mlsdouble cream

For the chocolate ganache
250ml double cream
340g Hans Sloane Ecuador 70% chocolate beads

To serve
Sea salt flakes
Fresh raspberries
Raspberry ripple ice cream

• Start by making the oreo base - place the oreo cookies in a food processor and blitz until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Add the butter and pulse briefly.
• Spread the oreo base on the pie tin and smooth out the top making sure that the base goes up the side of the dish as shown.
• Place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to set.
• In the meantime, make the caramel by placing the butter and brown sugar in a medium sized pan.
• Heat gently over a medium heat until bubbles start to form. 
• Remove from the heat and leave for 1 minute.
• Gently whisk in the double cream and continue whisking until the caramel is smooth.
• Set aside to cool for at least 15-20 minutes.
• Take the oreo base out of the freezer and pour the caramel layer on top.
• Return to the freezer for 20-30minutes to set.
• Make the chocolate ganache by gently heating the cream until it just bubbles.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate beads.
• Continue stirring until the mixture is smooth.
• Remove the oreo pie from the freezer and pour the chocolate ganache on top.
• Refrigerate until set.
• Before serving, add a generous sprinkle of sea salt on top of the pie.
• Slice and serve with fresh raspberries and a scoop of ice cream. 

Disclaimer: I was sent some Hans Sloane drinking chocolate beads for review purposes to create a recipe. A positive review was not required and all opinions expressed are my own. This is not a sponsored post.

Lemon Posset with Fresh Strawberries

Hurrah for Friday! It's been a long busy week and I'm really looking forward to the weekend. This is a really quick and easy dessert to make. I had some leftover double cream that was near exipiring so I did a quick search on google and came up with lemon posset. This is actually something I wanted to make for my New Year's Day Afternoon Tea but I never got round to it. I also had some fresh strawberries in the fridge so I did a mini layered dessert with fresh strawberries, lemon posset and more fresh strawberries. It was really zingy and fruity and felt quite refreshing despite the cream in there. 

I'm sending this to No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. I used up leftover cream that was near expiring and some fresh strawberries for this recipe.

 cooking the lemon posset 

Recipe from BBC Good Food 

600mls double cream
200g golden caster sugar
zest and juice of 3 lemons
fresh strawberries (optional)

• Place and cream and sugar in a large saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has melted.
• Simmer gently once the mixture is bubbling and turn off the heat.
• Add the lemon juice and lemon zest and stir.
• Allow to cool in the pan before dividing into serving dishes.
• Chill in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
• I placed a layer of chopped strawberries followed by the lemon posset and more fresh strawberries. 

Passionfruit and Cream Cheese Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs

Happy Friday everyone! Life has been so crazy and hectic lately I'm really pleased that it's a long bank holiday weekend. There's lots planned for the weekend but at least I get to have a lie in and hopefully a chance to bake a few Easter themed treats. I saw this recipe on pinterest and immediately bookmarked it.  Last year I baked chocolate easter eggs with a twist which I also baked back in 2012 so I wanted something a little different this year. This recipe was perfect as it's a really quick and easy no bake treat which looks very impressive. 

You need to get hollow easter eggs - larger eggs will be easier to work with as you can just spoon the filling in. I bought these mini eggs so I used a piping bag to fill the eggs. The cheesecake mixture is really quick and easy to make and tastes great on its own. My favourite part is the 'yolk' which is a passionfruit and apricot curd. I also made some chocolate spoons to go with the eggs using my chocolate spoon mould. 

I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month. 

Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Eplorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Hello Spring. 

Tea Time Treats hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Jane from The Hedgecombers. The theme this month is Chocolate! 

We Should Cocoa hosted by Choclette from Tin and Thyme. The theme this month is No Bake which is really fortuituous as I made these before finding out what the challenge was for this month. 

The Biscuit Barrel Challenge which is guest hosted by Alexandra from The Lass in the Apron on behalf of Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme this month is candy so I'm hoping that these ready made easter eggs will count! 

Food Year Link Up hosted by Charlotte from My Recipe Book.

Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too

Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy at Supergolden Bakes

Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes. I bookmarked this as soon as I saw it and patiently waited until Easter to try it out.

Let's Cook for Easter hosted by Nayna from Simply Food.

 chocolate spoon moul, cream cheese, double cream, apricot jam, butter, passionfruit and mini chocolate eggs 

 making the 'yolk'  (This is a double recipe which is why the amount looks more than stated) 

 cut the tops of the chocolate eggs. I left the foil wrapping on so that the eggs don't melt into the container and make a mess. Plus it's quite nice unwrapping the egg and eating it. I used a quails egg tray to hold the eggs. If you have larger eggs then a regular egg carton should suffice. 

 Fill with cheesecake filling 

 Pipe the 'egg yolk' on top 

 This is a half filled chocolate egg (well one that I broke but waste not want not) 

 Happy Easter! 

Recipe from raspberri cupcakes 

Makes enough to fill 18 mini eggs plus extra to eat

For the cream cheese filling 

150g cream cheese

30g icing sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

125mls double cream

For the 'egg yolk' 

1 passionfruit - sliced and sieved to get the juice only

1 tablespoon apricot jam

15g butter 

For the chocolate spoon (optional) 

chocolate from the tops of the chocolate eggs

approximately 75g milk chocolate 

• Prepare the chocolate eggs by peeling off the top bit of foil and cutting the tops off with a sharp knife.
• Place the eggs in a suitable tray and place in the fridge.
• (I melted the tops of the chocolate eggs plus some extra chocolate to make my chocolate spoons so there was no wastage) 
• Make the 'egg yolk' by placing the pasionfruit juice, apricot jam and butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. 
• Whisk continuously until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. 
• Allow to cool completely then place in the fridge to set. 
• Now make the cream cheese filling by placing the cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and beating until it's smooth and fluffy. 
• Beat the cream in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form.
• Scoop the beaten cream into the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth. 
• Place the cream cheese mixture in a piping bag and pipe into the chocolate shells.
• Place in the fridge to set for about 15-20 minutes.
• Place the chilled 'egg yolk' mixture in a piping bag and pipe on top of each filled egg.