Mini Chocolate Egg Cookies

Easter candy here in the UK is boring. I’m not saying this to pick a fight or be rude. It’s just all chocolate. Jelly beans aren’t a thing so no big bags of Brach’s jelly beans or Starburst of Jolly Rancher flavoured jelly beans.

Peeps aren’t a thing, I mean I understand why because Peeps are pretty gross. Unless they are like a couple days old and a bit chewy. Even though they aren’t my favorite they are at least something different! The American in me needs variety!

All the UK has is chocolate. Numerous different variations on a plain hollow chocolate egg. Boring. I lie there are hollow chocolate bunnies too. Don’t even get me started on how over hyped and sickly Cadbury Creme Eggs are.

Now that I got that all out of my system I can confess that my one secret Easter indulgence is the mini egg. A solid chocolate egg covered in a candy shell.

It was when I was browsing the seasonal shelfs at my local grocery store chain that I came across micro chocolate eggs. Of course I bought two bags to put into cookies. If you can’t find micro mini eggs then I’d buy the regular ones and bust them up. Busting them up might help take the edge off of the disappointment in the lack of variety of Easter treats.

With added white chocolate chunks, I thought it would complement the pastel colors of the candy coating on the chocolate eggs.

Mini Chocolate Egg Cookies
150g soft unsalted butter
125g soft light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, fridge cold
1 egg yolk, fridge cold
300g flour
½ tsp bicarb of soda
100g white chocolate chunks
200g mini/micro chocolate eggs

Heat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3 and line a baking sheet. Melt the butter and leave to cool while you weigh out the sugars in a big mixing bowl. Then add the melted butter and beat until combined, followed by the vanilla, egg and egg yolk, beat until light and creamy. Add the bicarb to the flour before gently mix in the flour in 3 or 4 parts until just combined. Fold in the white chocolate chunks and mini/micro eggs.
Using an medium ice cream scoop or 1/4 measuring cup scoop out the cookie batter and place on the baking sheet a few inches apart. (keep the batter in the fridge between batches) Bake for 15-17 minutes depending on how chewy you want them to be! They should be a very light brown on top! Cool for a few minutes before eating!

notes: recipe adapted from Nigella’s Kitchen - I entered these cookies into the monthly blogger challenge Treat Petite hosted by The Baking Explorer and Cakeyboi.

Brazil Nut Chocolate Cookies

I like chocolate covered Brazil nuts. It was only natural that I should then make chocolate cookies and put Brazil nuts in said chocolate cookies.

I know I am not the first person to think of putting Brazil nuts in chocolate cookies. However it was the first time I put this combination together and it was delicious!

There seems to be a lot of stresses on being the first to do something. It starts at such a young age. Not that long ago I had my youngest throw a tantrum because her sister went down the stairs first.

This was first thing in the morning and I was standing in the bedroom door half awake trying to reason with her that it doesn't matter who is first because the end result will be the same. They will both be down the stairs.

Whatever logic I was trying to instil in her that morning wasn't working. My patience having reached its limit, I yelled to her sister get up here and walk down with her. The reasoning being that that way they would both be “first.”

It’s kinda like that with these cookies. Someone else may have made chocolate cookies with Brazil nuts before me AKA going down the stairs first. However once the cookies were baked the end result was the same we had cookies! AKA we all ended up at the bottom of the stairs.

So that we are all at the bottom of the stairs here’s how I made these cookies…

Brazil Nut Chocolate Cookies 

200g dark chocolate

100g butter, room temperature

100g caster sugar

150g light brown sugar

2 large eggs

130g plain flour

50g cocoa powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

¼ tsp salt

100g dark chocolate chunks

150g brazil nuts, chopped

Heat the oven to 160C fan/180C/gas mark 4 and line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a simmering pot of water. Leave to cool.
Beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until just combined. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, bicarb, and salt together before adding half to the butter mixture. Once it’s incorporated add the rest of the flour mixture. Once it’s all combined mix in the melted chocolate, before folding in the chocolate chunks and brazil nuts.

Using an ice cream scoop scoop out the batter and place them on the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges get a little crispy. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before cooling completely on a wire rack. Enjoy!

notes: Today is the first of a new year for all of us! I still like to go on social media at midnight to tell my friends in America that the New Year has arrived. It’s my way of bragging that I am in the New Year first! This recipe is adapted from The Boy Who Bakes by Edd Kimber. AKA or also-known-as.

Not Everyone Likes Cake Shortbread

I have a friend who doesn't like cake. I’m cool with it, not everyone has to like cake.

I don’t judge.

However I wasn't going to let her birthday go without baking her something! That is something I am not cool with.

To make a long story short she said that she liked shortbread.

I have never made shortbread in my life. It’s just typical she’d ask for something I had never made before. That doesn't mean I was unwilling to try.

Shortbread always seems Scottish to me. That is if baked goods had nationalities. Which some of them do and is a whole other topic for another day.

Anywho, I thought I would slightly adapt Sue Lawrence’s, she’s Scottish, shortbread recipe from her Book of Baking, by adding chocolate chunks.

It turned out well! It had a nice buttery taste and melt-in-your-mouth texture. I managed to successfully make shortbread! I do think I like my shortbread slightly thicker so next I will be playing around with tin sizes!

My friend was very pleased and said it was really good! Which is what I like to hear! 

Chocolate Chip Shortbread

225g/8oz/2 ¼ sticks of slightly salted butter, softened

100g/ 3 ½ oz/ ½ cup golden caster sugar/superfine sugar, plus extra for dusting

225g/8oz/2 scant cups of plain/all-purpose flour

100g/ 3 ½ oz/ 1 scant cup cornflour/cornstarch  or farola or rice flour

100g/ ½ cup milk chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/gas2 Lightly grease a Swiss Roll Tin (23x33cm/9x13in).

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Sift in the flour and corn flour mix until just combined. Then add the chocolate chips give it a fast mix to combine, but do not over mix!

Tip into the tin and press it down until it is level. Use a fork to prick holes just like when making pastry.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a pale golden brown.

Gently dust over some sugar before cutting into squares. Leave for 5-10 minutes in the pan before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.

notes: FYI: Sue Lawrence is publishing a new baking book called Scottish Baking this summer! I will probably be buying that as I have a couple of her books that I really like. Sainsbury’s have recently republished her Book of Baking exclusive to Sainsbury’s. I am sharing this information because I thought it worth sharing not because I was told too or paid too. 

Elvis is Alive!

He isn't alive in the same way as you or I are alive, but he has maintained a form of immortality. As long as his music/movies are still around and people still listen/watch it, then he is living through all of us.

My parents had a full collection of all his music, so I grew up listening to Elvis. My favorite song is Kentucky Rain; it was on all my mix tapes before Napster arrived and then it was on my mix CD’s.

Anyhow I used to get funny looks when I had my "old" country Elvis songs were mixed with my dance music. I like variety!

The fact that he has had a cupcake named after him as well gives him a form of immortality! 

He was known to like a fried peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich from time to time. 

These cupcakes aren’t fried, but they are a delicious banana cake topped with a chunky peanut butter frosting and a cheeky candied bacon slice in between the cake and frosting!

The amazing Elvis toppers are printed on edible rice paper with edible ink, they are suitable for vegetarians and are gluten free!!

I received them from the lovely website Birthday CakeTopper, they have a wide selection of full cake and cupcake toppers and if they don’t have what you’re after then you can just ask! UPDATE 2017 -They no longer exist. 

Elvis Cupcakes:

190g plain flour

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp baking powder

¾ tsp bicarb or soda

pinch of salt

114g butter, room temp/cubed

60g dark brown sugar

60g golden caster sugar

½ tsp vanilla bean paste

2 medium eggs

2 bananas, mashed

Preheat the oven at 180C, line a muffin tin with cupcake cases. Sift the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Beat the butter and both sugars until pale and fluffy. Scrape down the sides as needed. Add the vanilla paste and one of the eggs, mix until combined before adding the second egg.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the mashed banana give it a quick mix before dividing between the cupcake cases.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, cakes should be a rise golden color and a skewer should come out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Chunky Peanut Butter Cream:

130g butter, room temp

300g golden icing sugar

3 tbsp milk

60g chunky peanut butter

Beat the butter until fluffy, then add half of the sugar and a tablespoon of milk. Beat until smooth, then add the rest of the sugar and milk. Once it’s all incorporated beat in half of the peanut butter then fold in the rest it gives it a nice peanut butter like swirl in the frosting.

Candied Bacon

Brown sugar, enough to coat the bacon

3-6 slices

coat the bacon in the brown sugar and bake for 20-30 minutes in a preheated oven of 200C

to finish:

Elvis Cupcake Toppers

Place half or more candied bacon slice to the top of the cupcake, hold down with a little bit of the frosting. Then pipe or spread the rest the frosting on top before adding the cupcake toppers. Put them on and press down carefully!

notes: Toppers were provided for this post, please see my contact/policy page for more information. I put them in a Hawaiian type case for his role in Blue Hawaii! While I was baking the cupcakes I listened to an all Elvis all the time radio station on my radio app!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies!! by Indiana Baker

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies:

Use your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe; like this one minus the filling!
Add peanut butter chips and chocolate chunks.
Bake for 10-12 min until golden brown; baking time may differ from your cookie recipe because of the added chips and chunks!!

These are so good and favorite in my house!

~Janet aka Indiana Baker

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes!

taken from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes and can be found on her website

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Put butter and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the milk. Stir in chocolate chunks with a rubber spatula.
3. Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each muffin cup. Bake until pale golden and a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire racks; let cool completely.

Today was Mini-Baker's 4th Birthday! So, of course I baked! I changed my mind about her birthday cake a couple of days ago. I originally was going to do a rainbow marble cake to go with Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Then because more recently has become obsessed with Cookie Monster (who can't love a monster who eats cookies?) I decided on Martha Stewart's Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes from her Cupcake book.

However they didn't turn out right. I knew the batter looked funny, but since I had followed instructions I went ahead and baked them. The chips sank to the bottom and they had a weird top similar to the Irn Bru cupcakes. The bottoms were greasy and although the skewer came out clean they looked a little under done. I served them up anyway (they were edible) but I felt the cookie cupcake with Cookie Monster was a bit lost.

weird top

greasy bottom

chips stuck to the wrapper and cake looking soggy

what they should have looked like: took a picture of the book

I was annoyed; this is the second time Martha's recipes from the Cupcake book didn't work out for me. At first I thought I might have converted the butter wrong, but didn’t see how? Then it hit me. Egg sizes. I swore I remembered reading somewhere that UK and US egg sizes weren't the same.
After an online search I found this on Nigella's website (page has since been removed): it says that a UK large egg is a US x-large egg. So, for my cupcake recipe that calls for 3 large eggs I used 3 x-large eggs. That explains it! Well, the problem was solved just not in time for Mini-Baker’s birthday. Now I know when using US recipes to be more aware. However not all was lost! See my next following post on Puppy Chow!

note: I found this image of Cookie Monster online and just printed it out. Cut circles out of blue paper and taped them on to colored craft sticks. Then glued Cookie Monster's image on top!