Fudge and white choc chip cookies (recipe) + #recipeoftheweek 30 March – 5 April

30 March, 2013 By 6 Comments

Fudge and white choc chip cookies

I think I want to eat one…all the time. It makes me go ‘mmm’ every time – JD, 5

It’s Easter as I write this, which means we’ve been in the kitchen cooking up all manner of sweet treats. These big, chewy biscuits are flavoured with vanilla and packed full of big chunks of fudge and white chocolate. They are good. Really good. Here’s what to do – it’s a lovely easy recipe for kids to get stuck in with.

Ingredients

  • 130g margarine (we used Clover)
  • 60g golden syrup
  • 160g caster sugar
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • 1 medium egg
  • 235g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 100g white chocolate / large white chocolate chunks
  • 50g fudge / fudge pieces

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, beat together the margarine, golden syrup and sugar with a fork until fluffy
  2. Beat in the seeds from the vanilla pod, then the egg until well combined
  3. Add the flour and the baking powder and mix well with a fork
  4. If you’re using whole chocolate, chop it into large chunks – we cut each square into four
  5. Chop your fudge into similar chunks (we used fudge chunks sent previously for review by Sugar and Crumbs)
  6. Stir in the white chocolate and fudge pieces
  7. Form into 1.5-2 inch balls and place 2-3 inches apart on a baking paper lined baking sheet – you should get 10 balls in total – then squash them down by about half into fat discs
  8. Bake at 180C (160C fan assisted) for 10-12 minutes until they just start to go golden at the very edges – the idea is to get them out before they’re browned so that they stay chewy when cool
  9. Allow to cool slightly - they’ll be puffy when they first come out and then sink down flat and firm as they begin to cool – and then put on a wire rack to cool completely

Do try these if you can. They are so, so yummy and really fun to make.

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Breakfast on the go: McVitie’s Breakfast Biscuits (sponsored review)

14 February, 2013 By 1 Comment

Breakfast Biscuits - a review

Biscuits for breakfast?! – JD, 5

The idea of not eating breakfast fills me with horror. I cannot function properly until I've eaten.

When I used to work away a lot, there were occasions I'd stay up in my hotel room, working into the early hours on a presentation to be delivered the next day, then crashing out and waking just in time to make some final tweaks, wash, dress, check out and shoot on to the tube to be in the right place at the right time. On those days, missing breakfast hit me hard – and I'd have to grab a snack en route: a sugary muffin, a flapjack or even some sushi (yeah, weird but needs must!)

So for those who are not too emotionally attached to breakfast, I understand the need for a quick alternative to sitting down at the breakfast table.

Actually, McVitie's reckon that almost 4 billion breakfasts are eaten out of the home every year, so they've brought out McVitie's Breakfast Biscuits to address that need.

So what makes these biscuits healthier than scoffing digestives at your desk? Well apparently McVitie's have used their 120 years of baking expertise, to design a biscuit made with wholegrain porridge oats – known to release energy slowly – and fortified with vitamins D, B, Iron and fibre.

There are three flavours to choose from; Red Berries, Oat & Honey and Apple, Sultana & Cinnamon, which you can now get for a promotional price of £1 in Tesco and Asda or half price in JS.

I've tried the red berry variety (packed into my bag for a long train ride to an early morning meeting) and they are definitely tasty – like a slightly drier version of a fruit laced digestive – and I'm a fan of the packaging, which means you can just take what you need, wrapped in packs of four, without ending up with bag full of crumbs.

They work particularly well with a cup of tea and a banana and they're also surprisingly filling – after trying these, I actually managed to avoid scoffing all the biscuits on the boardroom table that morning (for once).

McVitie's Breakfast BiscuitsSo what do you think? Can you function without food first thing in the morning? Would you try these new biscuits? And which flavour appeals most?

Check out the Facebook page www.facebook/mcvitiesbreakfast or follow @McVitBreakfast on Twitter for more ideas for dealing with breakfast on the go.

Disclosure: this is a sponsored post. We were also sent some biscuits to sample. All posts are my own thoughts in my own in my own words.

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Peppered cheese biscuits (recipe) – perfect with sparkling wine

20 December, 2012 By 5 Comments

peppered-cheese-biscuits

I’m glad you made double the amount – Mark

Today, as part of the ‘A Mummy Too cooks with’ series, I’m bringing you a lovely, simple recipe for savoury cheese biscuits from Cat of Yellow Days.

These are so easy and quick that they’re the perfect snack to whip up for unexpected guests. And, as Cat says:

These biscuits could be really easily adapted using different types of cheese, adding flavourings like a bit of mustard/paprika/cumin or putting ‘bits’ on top like some rosemary and garlic salt. What ever you like really. They are fab with a glass of wine or with some dip.

We decided to double up the amounts (as Cat told me they keep well) and add a generous helping of cracked black pepper to ours. The heat means they are just delicious with sparkling wine.

Here’s what to do:

Ingredients

  • 200g plain flour
  • 100g butter
  • 100g mature cheddar
  • 2 egg yolk
  • 1 tbsp cracked black pepper
  • 1 tbsp milk

Instruction

  1. Put the flour and roughly diced cold butter in the food processor and pulse until it crumbs
  2. Add the finely grated cheese and pepper and pulse again
  3. Add the yolk and pulse again. If it doesn’t come together into a dough, add the milk and pulse again until it comes together
  4. Knead into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes
  5. Roll out on a floured surface to about 5mm (they will puff up in the oven) and cut into squares (or whatever shape takes your fancy)
  6. Place on a greased, floured baking tray and bake at 180C (160C fan assisted) for 10-15 minutes until just golden brown
  7. Cool on a wire rack

We were delighted with these biscuits. The heat from the pepper comes through strongly and goes beautifully with cool cheese and bittersweet cranberry jam, but of course, it you you’re not a fan of lots of pepper, simply reduce the amount included, or cut it out all together.

So, what does Cat make of our efforts?

I’m so glad you liked them. The simplicity of the measurements means they are one of the few things I can bake without having to refer to the recipe so we make them quite often. I’ve added a variety of things over the years but haven’t tried just pepper and now you bring it up I can’t think why I haven’t done that before, it’s a great simple addition. The cranberry jam looks delicious and very Christmassy so a perfect accompaniment for this time of year.

Excellent. If you’d like to take part in ‘A Mummy Too cooks with’, please read the details of how it works and then get in touch.

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White chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

9 April, 2012 By 11 Comments

They’re a bit like yummy flapjacks – JD, 4

We were going to make flapjacks this weekend, but we were out of golden syrup, so instead we made oatmeal cookies with white chocolate chips. They’re light, crumbly and they smell amazing when they come out of the oven.

This easy recipe for kids makes about 40 cookies. It’s based on Mary Berry’s oat cookies, but with several tweaks and changes.

Here’s what we did:

Ingredients

  • 250g  unsalted butter / dairy-free spread
  • 300g golden granulated sugar
  • 2 medium free range eggs
  • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp soya milk (or normal milk)
  • 280g porridge oats
  • 220g self-raising flour
  • 100g white chocolate chips / vegan chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Put the butter / spread in the microwave in a large bowl for bursts of 10 seconds until well softened but not melted
  2. Stir in the sugar with a fork, then whisk until the mixture is fluffy
  3. Whisk together the milk, eggs and vanilla extract, then whisk into the main mixture
  4. Stir in the flour, oats and chocolate chips until well combined
  5. Dollop heaped teaspoons of mixture onto an oven dish at least 1.5 inches apart
  6. Bake at Gas Mark 4 for 12-15 minutes, until just colouring
  7. Cool briefly on the tray, then transfer to a cooling rack with a spatula

Let me know if you try it.

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