Zesty Cookies

 

Welcome back, today I wanted to share some baking I’ve been doing. I find baking therapeutic and would love to dedicate more time to it at some point. I used a recipe from The Hungry Student Easy Baking book by Charlotte Pike, it’s great for cookies, traybakes, cakes and much more. (Page 91.)

I edited the recipe a little, for example I added sultanas instead of chocolate chips for a healthier option. Because of this change, I think these would be a suitable breakfast snack. The sultanas add a touch of natural sweetness, along with the zestyness of the orange peel.

There was an extra step to the recipe which was leaving the dough in the fridge for an hour before cutting out shapes with cookie cutters. This gave me a chance to wash up and have a sit. I used a drinking glass for a perfect circle but you could opt for other shapes if you wish.

The zestyness of the orange and sweetness of the sultanas came though in the end result. They had a lovely texture, just a little bit crumbly. If I feel like using the recipe again, I might mix things up and try lemon zest and nuts or something.

What do you like to bake? 

Do you have any baking book recs for me? :-) Xx

These are a few of my favourite things #12

 

Books:

Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life by Beth Kempton

Wabi Sabi is a Japanese concept that is very difficult to define. Beth does a great job of teaching her readers about what is means, including philosophical ideas about life and imperfection. She breaks down her thoughts and experiences into chapters such as living with nature, acceptance and letting go, cherishing the moments and more. 

Her beautiful journal describes the customs of Japan and she includes advice to live a perfectly imperfect life. I found many of her ideas very moving and the authors experiences of Japan jumped off the page. If you are looking to tune back into yourself, and simplify while learning what’s important, I would recommend this book. A truly sensational read.

Cinnamon Spice & Warm Apple Pie: Comforting Baked 

Fruit Desserts for Chilly Days by Ryland Peters Small

This is a baking book covering autumnal bakes and desserts. Examples include crumbles, cobblers, puddings, pies, etc. The recipes looked really promising and I’m now buzzing to make a crumble or pie. The pear and chocolate crumble looked amazing in particular.

Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella

Thoroughly enjoyed this and it was something a little different for me. Sylvie and Dan are working on their marriage, they have two beautiful girls but need something to respark the magic between them. I really warmed to the characters and humour.

100 Top Games Apps Made Easy by Julian Richards

I picked this up to get some ideas on what games I could play on my phone (or a tablet). The book had a range to suit different preferences such as arcade, adventure, puzzles, trivia, etc.

Each page was laid out well and included all sorts of relevant and helpful information. I mostly looked at the free games, and there was a good number of options.

The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle by Alison Inches

This is an excellent children’s picture book, educating its readers about recycling in a fun and engaging way. The story is told like a diary from the point of view of a character going through different stages of plastic, starting as crude oil and ending up as a recycled plastic.

Of course, we can’t rely on recycling. Planet earth is running out of resources but I learnt some new terms such as polymerization which is the change that happens to crude oil when it’s being made into plastic. I liked the authors perspective and can see children learning a lot. I think it’s important to look at problems from all angles so read other books too!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle by Rebecca Rissman

This wonderful book puts a positive spin on how waste is affecting our planet. There are lots of interesting ideas and stories of people making an impact. Some of my favourite ideas include giving employers their own mini bin to make their consumption of waste more apparent. 

Encouraging paperless schools, using tablets instead. Educating people about reusables as well as upcycling. This book was great and I would recommend it to those interested in making a difference. The pages were set out nicely, making it pleasing to read.

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A.Milne

This is the second book in a series. The story of Pooh and his friends is a so quaint and adorable. It was first written in the 1920’s and you could feel while reading that it’s a classic that has stood the test of time. I found myself laughing at the characters humorous moments.

Lifestyle/Miscellaneous:

Non-Fiction November on YouTube

I’ve been really into following some book youtubers who are taking part in non-fiction November. If you don’t know what this is, it’s a month of reading more non-fiction throughout the month. It’s like a book club, with prompts, and many book enthusiasts have been sharing their reading. Type it into YouTube to see for yourself.

Autumn Photography

This autumn I’ve been particularly prolific with my photography, capturing some autumnal scenes. Click here to view one of my photo diaries. I might make a part two.

Which of these books did you find most interesting?

Have you been following non-fiction November too? :-) Xx

Mary Berry Frugal Fruit Cake

Hope my readers are doing well. It feels a while since I shared a baking post. I had a long period of time earlier in the year of baking quite regularly. At the moment, I’m waiting for things to get back to normal after a kitchen reno but baking has been on my mind. 

I made this fruit cake in the summer, and it was one of my most successful bakes of the year. I used my trusted Fast Cakes book by Mary Berry. I was fairly new to making fruit cake but this recipe was good for beginners. I included butter for some indulgence, so in the end the cake tasted very nice and not at all frugal. I can see myself making this again, I enjoyed the baking process as well as the final result.

Have you ever made a fruit cake?

What are your favourite things to bake? :-) Xx

Autumnal Baking: Cocoa & Coconut Cupcakes

It’s been a while since I’ve put a baking post up so I’m pleased to be back with one. I was baking quite a bit over the summer and then other things got in the way a little bit. I’ve made cocoa cupcakes a number of times now, and one of my go-to recipes is from my Fast Cakes book by Mary Berry. Cupcakes are easy to whip up in no time at all.

Desiccated coconut is one of my favourite baking ingredients, I just love the taste and texture as well as adding a bit of natural sweetener. I added a small amount of the desiccated coconut to the mixture as well as some on the top of the cakes just before going into the oven. They turned out pretty well, the rich cocoa and sweetness of the coconut came through.

Have you been baking recently?

What is your favourite thing to bake? :-) Xx

Summer Fruit Crumble

Hope my lovely readers are well. I’ve been baking much more this year and it’s been helping me stay positive. I made this summer fruit crumble a little while back now. In my adapted recipe, I included a tin a peach slices, a fresh banana and some frozen berries. I’m more used to crumbles in autumn and winter so this summer adaption was fun to create. I used a basic crumble recipe, without rolled oats, and decided butter would be best for extra indulgence. It went down well with family too.

Do you like crumble?

What is your favourite crumble filling? :-) Xx

Sultana Walnut Cookies

After a break, I’ve got the baking bug back! I found this recipe in Mary Berry’s Fast Cakes baking book which I mention from time to time on my blog. What’s great about this book is the instructions are simple, but there’s quite a lot of variety without too many ambitious bakes, therefore being great for beginners. Chapters include every day cakes, chocolate bakes, family fruit cakes, biscuits and cookies, especially for children, and so on. I recommend both the book and this specific recipe included.

This particular bake was a quick, yet fun one to make. It’s a basic cookie recipe, while adding sultanas and walnuts as the name would suggest. The final effect came our quite doughy like scones which isn’t such a bad thing. They lasted a couple of days for desserts at meal times and went down well. You can pick up Fast Cakes online or at The Works.

Describe your perfect biscuit in three words!

Have you been baking recently? :-) Xx

Bunny Shaped Scones for Easter

Easter seems to have crept up on us rather quickly. I’ve been doing quite a bit of baking recently, but just not feeling like making it into a photo opportunity. I made these scones a good while back, and they are a very simple recipe which I will chat a little further about.

I used a basic scone recipe from my Cakes and Cookies for Beginners baking book. Scone recipes are all fairly similar, and so they are easy to find anywhere online. I put some sultanas into the mixture, you can too. Cherries, cranberries or chocolate chips work nicely also.

To make them look more Easter themed, I dug out my Easter shaped cookie cutters which I think I bought last year in a discount shop. They include bunny, chick, and egg shapes. I’ve seen The Works and eBay stock a lot of inexpensive Easter bits such as this.

There are other ways of adapting, for example you could dip half in chocolate or decorate with icing sugar and sprinkles. My family seemed to enjoy them without any extras, and they are a yummy treat while still being moderately healthy.

Have you been baking at the moment?

Has Easter inspired you to get creative too? :-) Xx

Winter Baking: Special Baked Granola

Hope you are all well. Today I’m back with a simple, delicious recipe that’s perfect for this time of year. It’s a recipe I’ve adapted slightly from one I found in my Easy, Peasy Sweetie Pie baking book by Mary Contini.

The original recipe is called crunchy munchies, with includes rolled oats, desiccated coconut, nuts, seeds, sultanas, sunflower oil and honey. I added all of these except the honey, and felt it was not necessarily needed if you didn’t have it in the cupboard, or wanted something less sweet. I added a few choc chips instead.

Basically mix all the ingredients together in a bowl except the sultanas, and then spread the mixture evenly onto a lined baking tray and place in a preheated oven. Add the sultanas afterwards, and voila!

We had this with yogurt, which worked nicely. It can also be used as a crumble topping, which I’m keen to try as I think the desiccated coconut would add something different to the taste. It keeps well in an airtight container, so you can have a bit at a time too.

A copy of the recipe is here, if you want to know the specifics for making it yourself. You can also buy the Easy, Peasy Sweetie Pie baking book here.

Have you been baking recently?

Is this a recipe you might like to try for yourself? :-) Xx

Autumnal Baking: Rhubarb Crumble

Crumbles are perfect for this time of year, and one of my favourites to bake as well as eat. If you want to get into the spirit of baking this autumn, a crumble is a good place to start as there is not a lot of preparation.

I’ve been growing my own rhubarb over the summer for the first time, and decided to use it here. You can add so many types of fruit to a crumble, and it you are trying to more economical there’s nothing stopping you using either bought or canned fruit.

This dish went down well in our family.

Let me know what your favourite crumble filling is!! :-) Xx

Autumn Bake With Me: Choc & Hazelnut Cookies

It’s soon going to be the beginning of autumn! I love baking this time of year; it’s one of my favourite pastimes all year through but there’s something so cosy about it in autumn.

I’ve done a couple of bake with me posts previously but today I’m sharing chocolate and hazelnut cookies. I used the toll house cookies recipe from Mary Berry’s Fast Cakes baking book as a guide but tweaked it a little, adding hazelnut’s, raisins and swapping sugar to a sweetener.

These cookies came out pretty well, the combination of chocolate, nuts and raisins worked nicely. Also on another note my Mum bought a reusable baking sheet, which I used here; I recommend them if you are wanting to be a little more eco-friendly.

Hope you are all doing okay.

Leave a link to any of your autumn related posts and I’ll try and give them a read.

Speak soon! :-) Xx

Spring & Easter Haul

Wishing you all a lovely Easter which is upon us in a couple of weeks. Spring always cheers me up after those dark winter days. I have a haul to share today with some themed bits and pieces I’ve accumulated over the last couple of months. A new shop called One Below opened up in our local town recently, it’s very much like the pound shops you get and they had a few interesting things in. These Easter cookie cutters for a pound seemed great value, and I really like the cute shapes included. I had my eye on these pastel silicon cake cases in Wilko for spring baking, they are reusable and so much better for the environment.

I was low on shampoo/conditioner and looking for a budget friendly option, I’ve been really pleased with this Co-op offering which I’ll be doing a review of fairly soon. I’ve been a bit low on some basic clothing items recently, one being pyjamas and bought two pairs in Peacocks. The designs are so lovely although, I might do a little altering, as the sizing is just a tad off. Lastly I picked up a red beret, which I’m hoping to get a lot of use out of. I tend to wear a lot of beret type hats, I like the style of them and are great for the season transition as I can just pop one on if it gets a bit cool.

What I bought:

One Below

Easter cookie cutters £1.00

Wilko

Pastel silicon cake cases £2.50

Co-op

Co-op red raspberry shampoo £1.00

Co-op red raspberry conditioner £1.00

Peacocks

Choose to shine pyjama set £14.00

Super soft floral pyjama top £10.00

Super soft floral pyjama bottoms £12.00

Red beret SALE £6.00 £3.00

Do any of these items interest you?

Have you bought anything spring or Easter related lately? :-) Xx