Baking Sundays: Triple Chocolate Brownie Cookies

The nights are getting colder, the clothes are getting cosier and there's Christmas music playing on the radio. There's no denying that Winter's arrived, and I for one am ready to embrace it in all its frosty glory. Is there anything better than cosying up by the fire, big jumper and fluffy socks on, watching your favourite Christmas movie with a hot chocolate and delicious freshly baked cookie? Well I can't provide you with a fire and you'll have to bring your own socks, but I can promise you that if you keep reading you'll discover an utterly delectable triple chocolate cookie recipe.

 I was going to call these my 'Better than Millie makes' cookies, because well, they are. However when my sister told me they were like brownies in cookie form, I though that described them perfectly. Cooked for just the right amount of time, these cookies are crunchy on the outside and gooey and chewy on the inside- just like any great cookie should be.

This recipe is a variation on a go-to milk chocolate cookie recipe I found a while back. I've playing around with it, trying out different combinations and flavours and this is the one I feel really needs to be shared. You can thank me later. 

You simply cream together your butter and sugars, before adding the egg and vanilla and combining with the flour cocoa powder mix till you get a mould able dough. Though I've added milk and white chocolate chucks (hand cut for than more rustic feel), you can feel free to throw in whatever you like! Smarties, Rolos, toffee- add in a little bit of what you fancy. Cookie's are meant to be fun, so embrace your inner child.

The key to getting these cookies just right is all in the baking time. Too short a time and you'll end up with heated cookie dough on your hands (although lets be honest, that's delicious too), and too long in the oven and they'll be all crunch and no chew. I find 10 minutes to be just the right amount of time. They will continue to cook after you take them out- so don't be alarmed if they look a little soft. Follow my guidelines, but feel free to go out on a limb and take them out a bit earlier/latter- we've all got different tastes in cookies.

Oh, and one last thing, do have some cookie dough before you put them in the oven, but try not to eat it all before it's cooked!

Triple Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Makes 12

125g unsalted butter, softened

125g caster sugar

100g light brown sugar

175g self raising flour

50g cocoa powder

1 egg

1tsp vanilla extract

100g white chocolate chopped

100g milk chocolate chopped

Preheat your oven to 170°C/ 340°F/ Gas Mark 3 and grease and/or line a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until it takes on a light fluffy consistency. As you're using brown sugar, the mixture won't reach a pale colour.

Add the egg and vanilla and mix until fully combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and cocoa powder.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Stirring until your mixture begins to stiffen and resemble a dough. Once the flour is fully combined add in your chocolate pieces and stir in until evenly distributed. 

Rolls your dough into walnut sized balls and place on your baking sheet. Ensure to leave space between them as they will 'grow' in the oven.

Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or for desired length of time.

Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

These cookies are delicious eaten cold or warmed up in the microwave for a few seconds to get that chocolate all nicely melted again.

Enjoy!

x

Baking Sundays: Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes

Oreos and chocolate cake. I challenge you to find a more perfect and utterly delicious pairing. 

When I first read about chocolate Oreo cupcakes, I knew I had to give them a go. With a crunchy Oreo biscuit base, moist chocolaty cake and a creamy Oreo frosting- they sounded delicious. When Jamie and I first tried them, some time back at the beginning of last year, I was on a super strict gluten-free diet. And while I could easily make the cake gluten-free, the same couldn't be said for the Oreos. So no cupcakes for me.

This time round however I'm definitely a lot more lax when it comes to avoiding gluten- I do it when I can, but sometimes (too often these days) I throw caution to the wind and tuck in to a lovely gluten- filled treat. Such is the crazy life I lead. Having said that, I did only manage to get hold of one cupcake before my family demolished them all. Probably for the best.

I've been feeling pretty downright poorly lately. I've had a lot of problems with nausea and I often don't feel like eating. This to me is a completely new, unknown sensation. Even at my sickest, I've normally got a strong appetite and nice bar of chocolate to keep me going. So on Sunday, when I was feeling marginally better, with something of an appetite in tow, I decided it was about time I got baking. And so this super easy chocolate Oreo cupcake recipe was born.

When I've made these cupcakes before, I've stuck to a recipe I found online. However this time, not feeling up to much complicated baking, I devised my own recipe- based on the simplest chocolate cake recipe I know. Unlike my Death by Chocolate cakes, these ones are on the classic 6:3 ratio, making them super easy to make, from start to finish. They use only cocoa powder to give them their chocolaty taste and they only require items you're likely to already have stashed away somewhere.

The Oreo-ness usually comes from both the hidden cookie at the bottom and the crushed up biscuits in the icing. This time however we also added some crushed Oreo's into the cake mixture itself. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure it added much and I'm not sure I'd do it again as it produced a cake slightly denser than I would've liked- but try it for yourselves! Perhaps do half with crushed Oreos and half without (you won't need to change anything else in the recipe) and see which you prefer.

Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes

Makes 12

Cakes:

85g Unsalted butter

85g Caster Sugar.

85g Self- raising flour

3 Medium Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla extract

3 tbsp Milk

16 Oreos (4 are to add directly to the cake mix)

Icing:

100g Unsalted Butter

250g Icing sugar

30 ml Cream

Half a pack of crushed Oreos

Preheat your oven to 180°C/ 350°F/ Gas Mark 4 and line a cupcake tray with 12 cases.

Place one Oreo into each cupcake liner.

Chop your remaining Oreos into small pieces and set to one side.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until it reaches a light, fluffy consistency and a paler colour.

Begin to add your eggs and flour to your butter and sugar mix. Beat in the eggs one at a time, with each egg accompanied by a spoonful of your pre-measured flour- this will help prevent curdling. 

This is followed by adding all the remaining flour in one go, folding it into the mixture (in a figure of eight). If you beat it too hard, the mixture will not rise as well.

Once your mixture is fully combined, you can add in your liquid ingredients. Gently beat in the milk and vanilla until fully combined.

Finally gently stir in the Oreo pieces until fully combined.

Divide your mixture equally between the 12 cases, being careful not to over fill.

Bake your cakes in your preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops bounce back and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and tray, and place on a wire rack to cool.

For the Icing:

Beat the butter in a large bowl until softened and smooth. Now add the icing sugar and continue to beat until light and creamy. From here you can add your cream, vanilla and crushed Oreos and continue beating until fully combined.

Feel free to add more icing sugar if the icing becomes too thin, or more cream if it is still to thick.

Ice your cooled cupcakes in whatever manner you so desire and feel free to decorate with whatever you have to hand!

Enjoy!

Alice

x

Baking Sundays: Death By Chocolate Cupcakes

For a cake lover like myself, it really doesn't get much better than a classic beautifully fudgy, chocolately chocolate cake. Therefore finding that perfect chocolate cake recipe has been like finding the holy grail. I've searched high and low, in old cook books and new, magazines and phone apps and just about every corner of the internet for a flawless recipe that would produce a cake that'd be be, quite simply, delectable. But what's the secret to a faultless chocolate cake... cocoa powder or dark chocolate, sour cream or milk, muscovado sugar or caster? I've tried them all, but nothings been quite right. Nothing's been wow!

That was until I stumbled across this recipe from Sally over at Sally's Baking Addiction. Her chocolate cake was just what I'd been looking for- light, fluffy, moist and immensely chocolately- it was perfect. This has been my go to recipe for quite some time now.- it's one I love to bake up for special occasions and guests always love it. Follow the instructions and this cake is utterly flawless and exceptionally delicious- trust me, you shall never want for another chocolate cake recipe again. 

Baking Sundays: Delicious Chocolate Brownies

Since I returned from uni,  my sister's been incessantly requesting that I make her a batch of brownies (she'd do it herself but they'd only burn). Today I caved in and boy I do not regret it! I mean look at them in all their gooey glory... they're delicious. 

 I love a good brownie, and I'm not gonna lie to you, these are not exactly guilt free. They aren't secretly sugar free, I didn't find an alternative to fat and they're obviously stuffed full of chocolate, but don't we all deserve a naughty treat once in while? 

Clockwise from top left: Ingredients all ready to go, frothy whisked eggs and sugar, finished brownie mix, end result

They're super quick and easy to make and trust me, oh so satisfying. Just melt a little butter and chocolate, whisk up some eggs and sugar, and mix it all together with a touch of flour and cocoa powder and voila! your brownies are ready to bake, filling your house with that lovely brownie smell. And as if this wasn't bad enough for me already, I went and over indulged, making this gorgeous salted caramel sauce to pour alllll over the top. I recommend it- it's seriously good.

So give them a go, you won't regret it ;)

How can you resist?

Baking Sundays: Classic Vanilla Cupcakes (GF)

Gluten-free and perfectly pretty

Sitting opposite my dietitian during our first consultation she uttered the words no cake lover wants to hear -'Your health would benefit from a gluten free diet'. Great. As if it couldn't get any worse, M.E had now stolen away my favourite guilty pleasure. In that moment I was sure my life long relationship/ obsession with cake was over.

Boy was I wrong. Now I'm gonna be honest with you, I wasn't strong enough to be completely gluten free (I wasn't ready to give French baguettes and Dominos pizzas, basically); but I do try my best to eat gluten free about 80-90% of the time. But one thing I have been determined to do is find a gluten free cupcake recipe that works for me, so that I can enjoy my guilty pleasure slightly less guiltily.

I've tried many recipes from around the internet but have settled on a slight adaptation of my tried and tested vanilla cupcake recipe.  If  you're somewhat of an experienced eater in the gluten free field, you'll be aware there nothing ever really really tastes like the real thing. However these little lovelies are about as close as it gets- my ultra picky family demolished them without even questioning whether they were 'normal' or not... which is a good sign, trust me.