Festive Hot Fruit Salad

I hope you’ve all had a lovely Christmas day and have been tucking into lots of wonderful treats. So with this in mind I have a perfect, healthier choice recipe that might go down well with friends and family on New Year’s Day or anytime around Christmas. I based it off the hot fruit salad recipe in my Easy Peasy Sweetie Pie baking book by Mary Contini with a few Christmassy tweaks.

I first chose an attractive oven proof dish, and lined the bottom with banana slices. Next I cut thin slices of apple and arranged them neatly over the top of the banana. Clementines always remind me of Christmas, I peeled one of these and placed the segments on top of the dish in a decorative fashion. I lightly sprinkled cinnamon, and mixed spice over the top of everything, making sure to evenly distribute it. Then I put the dish in a preheated oven for about 25 minutes at 190˚C.

This was my first attempt at this specific recipe, I found the spices and clementine made the dish super festive and tasty. The cooked bananas at the bottom were particularly delicious. One of the easiest recipes I’ve done, I hope you try something similar!

Do you have any New Year’s Day foodie traditions?

Are you tempted you to try this recipe for yourself? :-) Xx

Christmas Morning Breakfast Cookies & Merry Christmas

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish my readers a Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a good year ahead in 2020. Today I have a little festive recipe for you. Basically these are chewy oat and sultana cookies which in my mind would be perfect for Christmas morning breakfast.

The original recipe was from The Hungry Student Easy Baking book by Charlotte Pike, which I modified ever so slightly by switching sugar for sweeter and adding a little bit of desiccated coconut.

After trying them, the oatyness and coconut really came through. I made them fairly small, so you could easily have two or three. I recommend making biscuits if you get the chance as they are a quick bake.

Have you done any festive baking?

What do you like to eat for breakfast on Christmas morning? :-) Xx

Christmas Baking: Gingerbread Men Shaped Scones

Merry Christmas to my readers, and wishing you all the best for 2019. I made this bake in autumn and I thought I would finally share it with you. I liked the idea of making gingerbread men shaped scones, as it’s a bit different and fits the Christmas theme. I used a basic scone recipe, and cut shapes from the pastry with a festive cookie cutter. I got a pack of different sized cookie cutters last year from Wilko, and they’ve been great for a variety of bakes.

After drawing a smile I used sultanas to create the eyes and buttons, I did this as neatly as I could, although I think for next time I would press them into the dough just a touch more. The toasted sultanas added extra flavour and a little crunch to the scones. You can make any size scone and use any shaped cookie cutter, the choice is yours.

Will you be baking over Christmas? 

Are you looking forward to the festivities? 

:-) xXx

Christmas Baking: Christmas Tree Mince Pies

It’s time to get festive, Christmas is coming! Today I wanted to share with you a baking project I’ve been working on. Mince pies are a staple this time of year so my Mum and I made some from scratch. Normally we bake separately but we joined forces for these and I was pleased with how they came out. My Mum made the mincemeat and I made the pastry.

I searched for a healthier alternative recipe online and found this one which we used as a guide. Before I’ve made mince pies with ready made pastry so it was interesting making it myself this time. I used a Christmas tree cookie cutter to cut out a pastry shape for the top of each pie. Overall they were so tasty!

Do you like mince pies? 

Have you ever made your own? :-) Xx