Ugly Bars . . .

This is another gem from my Big Blue Binder. I have so many cookbooks that I sometimes forget my Big Blue Binder is there . . . but then I rediscover it again and I wonder why I ever use any other cookbook! It is that full of tasty little gems!



Beautiful little treats like these Ugly Bars . . . I'm not even sure what the original name of them was, that is long lost . . . so is the source . . . my kids christened them Ugly Bars, coz they sure ain't pretty, and that's what we have always called them!



They are proof positive that delicious doesn't have to mean pretty or complicated . . . some of the tastiest things to make are the easiest.



I always enjoyed making these because I always had the ingredients in the house to make them. White chocolate, peanut butter, rice crispies, mini marshmallows and chocolate chips.



They all work together to create something that is unctuously, sinfully rich, and crunchily moreishly scrumptious!



mmm . . . mmmmm . . . snuffle snozzle . . . mumble . . . rumble . . . Oooops!! Sorry it's not polite to talk with your mouth full . . . is it?? That is one tasty mouthful! I dare you to eat just one!



*Ugly Bars*
makes one 9 inch square pan
Printable Recipe

How could something so utterly ugly taste so fantabulous??? It's a mystery to me, but a delicious one!

12 ounces white chocolate chips
45g smooth peanut butter (1/4 cup)
100g rice bubbles (3 cups, crisp rice cereal)
75g of mini marshmallows
3 ounces mini chocolate chips, divided (1/2 cup)

Butter a 9 inch square cake tin. Set aside.

Place the white chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl. Melt using 30 second bursts of heat, and stirring each time. It should only take about 2 minutes maximum. Don't let the chocolate overheat as it will seize up. (Don't let any water come in contact with it either.) Add the peanut butter and whisk together until they are completely amalgamated. Let sit for a few minutes to cool down to lukewarm.

Measure the rice bubbles, mini marshmallows and 1/2 of the mini chocolate chips into a bowl. Mix together well. Pour the white chocolate mixture over top and stir quickly together. Press lightly into the prepared pan, using lightly buttered fingers. Don't compact them too much.

Place the remaining chocolate chips into a small microwavable bowl. Heat for 30 seconds in the microwave. Using a small spoon, stir to melt and then drizzle the melted chocolate all over the bars. Allow to set completely before cutting into bars. This will take anywhere between 20 minutes and half an hour. Store in an airtight container.

Baking Mad with Peanut Butter Blondies!

I looooooove to bake!! (No surprise there!) And if there's anything I like more than baking it's watching a program on the telly about baking. I'm very excited to let you know that on the 5th of March, 2012 on Channel 4 at 12:05 pm the second Series of "Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard" begins!

This new series runs for four weeks, every week day and sees Eric . . . the guru of all things sweet, beautiful and baked . . . at home in his own kitchen creating quick baking recipes along side of his signature glamorous desserts. I think the new series will easily appeal to bakers of every kind from the novice to the expert.



Each episode is 30 minutes in length and will also feature three members of the public who will come to his cooker school, Cake Boy, to demonstrate their baking skills and take part in a "Bake Off!" (I cannot imagine the pressure they must be under!) It promises to be a beautifully produced series which balances inspiration with information, engaging the viewer to try new things to add to their baking repertoire.

This show is sponsored by Bakingmad.com, a wonderful online baking community of over 100,000 members sharing a wealth of information, recipes, hints, tips and advice on everything to do with baking!



I was asked ahead of time to take part in a special challenge. I was given the choice of one of the full collection of recipes that Eric will be making in the 20 episodes to bake at home myself! I did not need to think twice about accepting the challenge. I already own Eric's first book and know first hand how scrummy his recipes are.



I chose to bake the Peanut Butter Blondies recipe, which I baked today and boy oh boy, are they ever moreishly scrummy indeed! Just imagine it . . .



Moist blonde brownies . . . flavoured with chunky peanut butter . . . stogged full of white chocolate bits and toasted walnuts (my idea to toast them, coz well . . . toasted nuts just taste better in my opinion!) . . . and topped with more white chocolate bits, some more toasted walnuts and a drizzle of dark chocolate!



A delicious concoction that smells absolutely fabulous when baking . . . and is oh-so-difficult to resist sinking your teeth into once they come out of the oven . . . but do be patient . . . you will want to wait until you have dressed them with all of the extras!



I dare say I wouldn't have to ask one of you twice if you'd like one would I??? I thought not!!!



*Peanut Butter Blondies*
Makes 12
Printable Recipe

Adapted from a recipe from Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard.

100g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing the tray (7 TBS)
150g crunchy peanut butter (3/4 cup plus 1 TBS)
1 tsp vanilla extract
175g golden caster sugar (15 tBS)
1 free range egg
75g white chocolate, plus extra to decorate (1/2 cup chopped)
75g toasted walnut halves, chopped plus extra to decorate (2/3 cup)
125g plain flour (1 1/4 cup)
1 tsp baking powder
dark chocolate melted, to decorate
white chocolate chips to decorate



Preheat the oven to 170*C/ 325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter an 8 inch square tin with butter and line the base with baking paper.

Cream together the butter and peanut butter until creamy, using an electric hand whisk at medium speed. Beat in the vanilla, sugar and egg until light and fluffy. Chop the white chocolate and stir into the mixture along with the chopped walnuts.

Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and fold in using a large metal spoon. Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tin, smoothing over the top.

Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until it has a nice golden crust but is still fudgy in the middle.

Allow to cool in the tin. Decorate with white chocolate chunks and walnut pieces and drizzle over some dark chococolate. Cut into squares to serve. Store in an airtight container.



If this fab recipe is any indication of the quality of baking which will be showcased during the airing of this series, I, for one, will be following along with great anticipation each week day for the duration of the series!



Here's a teaser! Some of the recipes that will be presented during this series are such delicious sounding concoctions as Blueberry Bakewell Tart and Key Lime Pie to name but two.

Don't forget to tune in on Monday, March the 5th at 12:05 PM on Channel 4 here in the UK. In the meantime why not check out Baking Mad.com.

You can also follow them on Facebook Twitter and YouTube.

Many thanks to Nancy and Baking Mad.com for affording me with this delicious opportunity!

Sticky Toffee Pudding Bars

One of the most famous desserts here in the UK has to be Sticky Toffee Pudding . . . basically a date cake, with a lucious sticky rich caramel like toffee topping . . . largely to die for.



One might argue that the cake itself is not all that bad for you . . . as it is chock full of dates . . . and dates are full of iron and fibre. But alas . . . there's also a pretty healthy portion of butter in there too . . . so not exactly all that good for you, but as a once in a blue moon treat . . . they are quite, quite . . . ok.



Well, it's more than ok actually . . . ITS FABULOUSLY DELICIOUSLY DECADENTLY OK!!
Pardon my shouting . . . I lost control for a few seconds . . . ahem . . .



These are incredibly moist, moreish and TO - DIE - FOR . . . but don't take my word for it. Make them . . . NOW . . . seriously, I mean it! Would I lie about something like that??



*Sticky Toffee Pudding Bars*
Makes about 18 bars
Printable Recipe

These lovely little bars are incredibly moreish and moist. I bet you can't eat just one!

250g ( 1 1/3 cups) pitted dates, chopped roughly
1 tsp baking soda
215g unsalted butter, divided (a scant cup, 9/10 to be exact)
185g ( 1 1/2 cups) self raising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
90 ml (1/3) cup milk, divided
Frosting:
2 TBS soft light brown sugar, packed
90g (3/4 cup) sifted icing sugar
90g (3/4 cup) chopped toasted walnuts

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Lightly grease a 9 inch square baking pan and line the bottom with parchment baking paper. ( make sure it hangs well over two sides so that you can just lift the bars out to cut when finished)

Place the dates into a saucepan with 200 ml of water ( about 7 fluid ounces). Bring to the boil, and then reduce the heat and allow tos immer for about 10 minutes, gently. Make sure the water doesn't completely evaporate. Add the baking soda, and set aside to cool.

Place 185g (8/10 of a cup) of the butter, the flour, vanilla, baking powder, eggs, and 75 ml (1/3 cup)of the milk into the bowl of a food processor and mix together in short bursts for 1 minutes, until well blended. Add the dates and pulse again to blend. Do not overprocess.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

To make the frosting combine the remaining butter, the brown sugar, and remaining milk into a small sauce pan. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar. Add the icing sugar and mix together well. Spread over the cooled cake mixture and sprinkle with the toasted walnuts.

Cut into squares to serve.



In The Cottage today, a simplified Chicken Tetrazzini.

Everything But The Kitchen Sink Cookies and The Cookiepedia!

I was recently contacted by the people representing Quirk Publishers and asked if I would like to review a new cookbook, The Cookiepedia, by Stacy Adimando. I didn't have to be asked twice! I love cookbooks and I love cookbooks that are about baking even more . . . and I love cookie cookbooks MOST of all!!



True to their word it was pushed through my mailbox just a day later. I was surprised! It arrived very quickly. I couldn't wait to get stuck in.



At first glance it's a very attractive little book, with a delightfully whimsical cover. It almost reminded me of the paper bags I used to bring my lunches to school in, except much prettier! I love the colours and the way it feels in my hands. Plus it has a lovely sturdy wire lie flat binding, which I really liked. I hate it when I am using a cookery book and it keeps closing on me.
It's also chockerblock full of beautiful hand-drawn illustrations which spoke to the artist in me, lovely photographs which spoke to the glutton in me, and most important of all . . . very scrummy looking recipes! They've even made provisions for you to add your own notes to the various recipes, enabling you to make them your very own.



It's deliciously divided into sections:

• The ABC's of Cookie Baking
• Buttery Cookies
• Chocolaty Cookies
• Fancy Cookies
• Fruity Cookies
• Spicy Cookies
• Nutty and Seedy Cookies

The only problem I had was in choosing what to bake first! Featuring over 50 classic recipes, which the Author has put her own twist on . . . recipes which include such tasty favourites as Snickerdoodles, Gingersnaps, Rugelach and dozens of others I had a really difficult time making up my mind which one I wanted to feature.



I finally chose Everything But the Kitchen Sink Cookies. These were humongous and included . . . well . . . everything but the kitchen sink!! It looked like a fabulously tasty way to use up some little bits and bobs that I had in my larder, that were not enough, in measure, to make anything on their own with, but were just perfect for this recipe! After reading the list of the author's add ins, I was sorely tempted to go out and buy a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos because they sounded, oddly enough, like an incredible addition . . . but I resisted temptation and stuck with what I already had on hand.



I was so very pleased with the results. You can see what I used as my sweet and savoury add ins at the bottom of this post. I ended up with more than one and a half dozen moreishly scrummy cookies that are almost too dangerous to have around.



The author is Stacy Adimando, who is the current deputy lifestyle editor or Everyday with Rachael Ray, and is also a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education and a weekly contributor to Serious Eats. All in all I think she should be very proud of this first book of hers. I, for one, love it and I am sure it will be very popular with anyone who loves baking cookies and is looking for something that is at once familiar and yet at the same time quirkily different. This book has immediately been placed in the section of favourites in my vast cookbook collection.



In short I highly recommend! Many thanks to Mat at PGUK and Quirk Publishers for affording me this wonderful opportunity, and also to Stacy Adimando for having written a beautifully tasty book, full stop!

Available for purchase at most booksellers, both online and off.



*Everything but the Kitchen Sink Cookies*
Makes a dozen and a half very large cookies
Printable Recipe

What can I say . . . very moreish!!

8 ounces of unsalted butter at room temperature (1 cup)
7 ounces caster sugar (1 cup)
3 3/4 ounces soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup packed)
1 large free range egg, plus 1 egg white
2 tsp vanilla extract
8 1/2 ounces plain flour (2 cups)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fine sea salt (1 tsp kosher)
1 cup of your favourite sweet add ins (peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, dried cranberries, sultanas, coconut flakes etc.)
1 1/2 cups of your favourite salty snacks (corn chips, tortilla chips, potato chips, pretzels, peanuts, etc.)

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 6. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the eggs and continue to beat until well combined on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as need be.

Whisk together the soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Add to the wet ingredients in two batches, mixing well each time to fully incorporate.

Pour your sweet mix ins into the bowl. Break up the salty snacks as necessary and dump those in as well. Use a spatula to mix all together. (It should like quite full of bits, but that is a good thing!)

Drop by 2 heaping tablespoonsful onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between each one. Bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time, for about 16 to 19 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.



Other tasty add ins:
Honey roasted nuts
whole espresso beans
cupcake sprinkles
white chocolate chips
tortilla chips
cheese puffs
toffee bits
yoghurt raisins
asian snack mix
wasabi peas
chocolate shavings
breakfast cereal
cool ranch doritos
granola
salted corn nuts
chocolate covered peanuts



What I used:
Cinnamon chips
white chocolate chips
dried cranberries
salted potato chips
salted macadamia and cashew nut mix

Caramel Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies

We had the missionaries over for supper yesterday. I just love feeding the missionaries and I think they enjoy coming over for a meal as well. I usually try to cook them a tasty treat from home, or a cosy meal like their mum would cook for them. Yesterday it was some tasty Bacon Chops and Macaroni and Cheese. Of course I threw in a few vegetables and some salad and buns. They were well chuffed.



For dessert I baked some strawberry tarts, which went down a real treat and then, when they were ready to leave I presented them with a bag of these delicious cookies!



They were over the moon!



Delicious buttery chocolate chip cookies, stogged full of chocolate chips and then filled with a tasty square of milk chocolate filled with gooey caramel. What's not to like about these!!



I was actually very happy that I had the missionaries to give these too. They are far too dangerous to have around the house for very long. I managed to eat three of them in the afternoon . . . and that was with a mouth that was frozen from having been to the Dentist! (They were THAT good!) I couldn't help myself.



Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, and OH SO SCRUMDIDDLYUMPTIOUS! Resistance is futile. Totally futile.

*Caramel Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies*

Makes 24 large cookies
Printable Recipe

Delicious chocolate chip cookies filled with a caramel surprise!

3 ounces butter, softened (1/3 cup)

3 ounces white shortening (1/3 cup)

3.5 ounces caster sugar (1/2 cup)

3.5 ounces soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup packed)

1 large free range egg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

7 ounces plain flour (1 1/2 cups)

6 ounces milk chocolate chips (1 cup)

3 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips (1/2 cup)

1 family size caramilk chocolate bar, broken into squares

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 6. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Cream together the butter, shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Shape dessertspoonfulls of the cookie batter around squares of the caramilk bar to completely enclose. Place several inches apart on the baking sheets.

Bake for 10 to 11 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time. They are done when they are set and golden brown on the bottoms and edges. Remove from the oven. Allow to cool on the pans for several minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Oh so scrummy!

Resist the temptation to eat while hot as the caramel can burn.

Chocolate Strip Cookies (Biscuits)

I know, it's highly unusual that you see chocolate baked goods in my kitchen and rarely to never that you would see them two days in a row! With a chocolate hating husband and an ever expanding waistline, it's not something that I bake very often.



I wanted to bake some cookies though, for a friend and her three daughters . . . and . . . as anyone with a speck of intelligence knows . . . chocolate speaks to a woman's heart in a very special way!



I found a recipe in one of my Pillsbury cookery books for a chocolate strip cookie. I love strip cookies. They are so easy to make. I've made vanilla ones with strawberry jam in the middles before and some delicious Mincemeat crumble ones . . . they're all very good, and easy to make as well.



These chocolate ones looked really scrummy, with a rich chocolate batter . . . stogged full of chocolate chips and white and dark chocolate drizzles over all. There was no scrummy jam filling the middle though . . .

I like jam. Especially on, in or around biscuits! (cookies)



And so, even though these cookies were not going to be with me, I decided to fill the middles with Morello Cherry Preserves. Coz . . . you know . . . I would never feed anyone else anything that I didn't totally think was incredibly scrummy myself!



I think the end result was quite, quite pleasing. They went down a bomb.



*Chocolate Strip Cookies*
Makes 4 dozen
Printable Recipe

Scrummy chocolate cookies, stogged full of chocolate chips, cherry preserves and a drizzle of white chocolate. Very quick and easy to make!

8.5 ounces plain flour (2 cups)
2 ounces unsweetened cocoa powder (not drink mix) (1/2 cup), sifted
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
150g of caster sugar (3/4 cup)
85g of soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup packed)
6 ounces butter, softened (3/4 cup)
2 large free range eggs
12 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
about 6 TBS morello cherry preserves
To drizzle:
4 ounces white chocolate, cut into bits

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line two large baking sheets with baking parchent. Butter the parchment lightly. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Sift together the flour, salt, cocoa powder, and soda. Stir this into the creamed mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Shape the dough into 4 (12 inch) long logs on the baking sheets, leaving lots of space in between them for spreading. Using your thumb, make a shallow trough down the middle of each. Spoon the cherry preserves into the troughs.

Bake for 14 to 18 minutes in the heated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the centre of one of the logs comes out clean.

Remove the baking sheets to a wire rack to cool completely.

Carefully melt the white chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. (Don't allow the water to touch the bottom of the bowl, not to get into the chocolate or it will seize.) Drizzle this over the cooked cookie logs. Allow to set completely before proceeding.

Once completely cooled and the white chocolate has set, cut the logs diagonally into 1 inch wide strips. Store in an airtight container.

Cranberry, Pecan and White Chocolate Flap Jacks

Oh, I am so very annoyed with myself. I told myself the other day that I wasn't going to bake anything scrummy for a while . . .



I wasn't going to bake anything that I couldn't resist stogging into my cake hole for a while . . .



I wasn't going to bake anything so scrumptiously moreish that I would find it hard to resist for a while . . . and then what do I do???



I go and create something so moreishly, decadently, scrumptiously magnificent that NOBODY would be able resist it!!




I know . . . I'm one bad puddy tat! But then again . . . I can't stay mad at me for long.

One bite and you will be in flap jack heaven. Buttery, sweet, nutty and oh-so-very hard to leave alone. Resistance IS futile.



*Cranberry, Pecan and White Chocolate Flap Jacks*
Makes 12
Printable Recipe

Sweet and scrummy. Just perfect for those times when you want a little something to give you some extra energy.

5 ounces butter, plus extra for greasing (1/2 cup plus 2 TBS)
200g of porridge oats (2 cups)
25g of dessicated coconut (1/4 cup)
50g light muscovado sugar ( generous 1/3 cup packed)
5 TBS golden syrup
6 ounces toasted pecans, broken into chunks with your hands (1 1/4 cups)
2 ounces dried cranberries (1/3 cup)
100g bar of white chocolate (about 3 1/2 ounces)

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 7 by 11 inch baking tin and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

Melt the butter together with the sugar and golden syrup, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to cool.

Stir together the oats, coconut, pecans and cranberries. Pour the cooled butter mixture over top. Stir to combine well. Break up 2/3 of the chocolate into bits and stir into the mix. Press into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and mark into squares while still warm. Allow to cool completely, then cut all the way through. Melt the remaining white chocolate and drizzle it over top of the bars. Store in an airtight container.