Biscuits for Mum!! {Guest Post}

Mother's Day is only a week away! It's another holiday where everyone is told to buy their mother this or that, but sometimes making a gift is even more special. Holly Arnold, recipe editor @ goodtoknow has contacted me again to share with you her fun and flavourful biscuits she's created for Mother's Day!! 

Biscuits are a perfect way to show your mother you care! Just make sure you or someone else is willing to clean up the mess in the kitchen after you're done! Down below are some amazing ideas for different flavours, shapes, and decorations! 

Before you go... if you have a family recipe that has been passed down to you, from your mother and you think it's amazing- why not send goodtoknow Recipes your mum's best dish & win!! You have until 12th of March to send it in!! Can't wait to see all the entries!! ~Lisa 

Biscuits for Mum 
By Holly Arnold, Recipes Editor, www.goodtoknow.co.uk

I never fully appreciated just how versatile biscuits are until we spent a day creating  new Mother's Day biscuits for goodtoknow.

A simple, vanilla biscuit recipe can be decorated, shaped and flavoured in so many different ways - the only thing holding you back is your imagination!

Flavours

A basic biscuit dough (flour, egg, butter and sugar) can withstand extra flavours. Chunks of chocolate, fudge, even popcorn (trust me, it works!) add a extra burst of flavour to the mixture. Try hiding a raspberry inside some cookie dough for a delicious hidden centre.

Shapes

We asked ourselves what do you give your mum on Mother's Day that would be much better as a biscuit - and voila, the Mother's Day biscuit card was born! If you give your biscuit dough about 20 mins in the fridge to cool, it can be kneaded and shaped into almost any creation you can think of.

Decorations

We have our good friends at Dr Oetker and Lakeland to thank here! Sprinkles, food gels and gold shimmer spray, there is a product to turn every crazy idea you have into a reality. Our flower pot plants were dreamt up when we saw these incredible muffin pots.

So why got give a go yourself? You'll be surprised how much fun you can have with plain old biscuits!! See all 17 of our new Mother's Daybiscuit creations.

note: Happy Mother's Day!! Treat your mom to something nice on Sunday ... like biscuits! ;0) 

True Blood Martini!! {weekend baking w/Janet}

Martini: 

6 ounces vodka
2 ounces triple sec or flavored orange liqueur
8 ounces fresh squeezed blood orange juice (2.5 blood oranges)
8 ounces cranberry juice 

Shake ingredients, with ice, until well mixed.  Pour into martini glasses. Garnish with a blood orange slice, if desired. Makes about 6 servings.
 

I added a TRUE Blood label to my carafe.

This series on HBO is terrible. The acting is bad, so bad it's almost comedic. Actually, it IS funny, so that's why my friend and I watch it. The martini's have made the series even more enjoyable! ;) 

The HBO series is based on Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series. The series is a good, easy, entertaining read, but as usual the book is better then the movie. I mean the books are better then the series! . ~Janet

Parmesan Shortbreads! {hummingbird bakery Home Sweet Home}

These were perfect for wine night with my Mum/Mom friends last Saturday night! They are a bit spicy which one friend wasn't expecting and therefore was not very keen. But overall I think they went down okay. 

I'll have to say too that I wasn't jumping for joy over them. Which is why I took so long to post them. That and since I took pictures of them at night the pictures aren't that good. However my 5 year-old ate the few that were left over with no complaints! 

If you have yourself a copy of the hummingbird bakery's Home Sweet Home you can try these out for yourself. Although I am probably going to stick to the sweet stuff from here on out. 

I haven't baked a lot recently. With so many baking books, I'm not short of recipes. I am short of people to eat what I bake. Have a few quick and easy recipes to try this week. Next week, I'm planning a much needed coffee morning with my mum friends to try some coffee I had sent to me to review. I will probably bake something to go along with the coffee. Then I finally spent the rest of my Lakeland's vouchers on a swiss roll tin, so should probably make a swiss roll! In March I've joined up to my local Clandestine Cake Club. The theme is Bake me a ... Song. My inspirational song is Savage Garden's Cherry Cola. Have so many different ideas of how to execute a cherry-cola cake. I can't wait to share with you what I finally decide.

So, a bit slow at the moment, but planning a few things already for this weekend! If you have the hummingbird bakery's Home Sweet Home, what have you tried so far?? 

notes: Home Sweet Home review; Peanut Butter & Jam Pinwheel Cookies; Lakelands; Clandestine Cake Club, Savage Garden- Cherry Cola 

Cadbury Dairy Milk Flapjacks!! {best loved recipes series}

Does anyone subscribe to 30 best loved recipes?? It seems like there is always a baking collection to be collected. They always lure you in by having the first issue priced at 99p. Which to be fair is a bargain. I didn't end up subscribing and even though my local supermarket giant seems to be getting them in weekly I haven’t picked any more up past the first 99p issue. Which included Cadbury Dairy Milk and Lyle’s Golden Syrup.

My first thoughts when browsing through the books was that they didn't really offer anything new. But that’s coming from a food blogger who owns over 30 baking books and around 20 cookbooks. It’s a bit out of control really. After a second look through there are actually some different ideas of using the product that it’s so simple I wouldn't have thought of it. Sometimes simple ideas are the best tasting. I was more inspired by the Lyle's Golden Syrup as it has sweet and savory recipes.

However what I do find annoying about the series it’s self is that online they don’t tell you what’s been out and what might be coming out next. I've seen a McVities Digestive, French’s Yellow Mustard, Bonne Maman, Sunmaid Raisins, Cathedral Cheese, Marmite (I may be making this one up, but if it hasn't been out I’m sure there will be).

I choose to try out the Cadbury Dairy Milk Flapjacks. They turned out okay. I didn't have the right sized pan and I think I baked them too long as the edges had to be completely disposed off. The middles were perfectly chewy and yummy though! Enjoy!

Cadbury Dairy Milk Flapjacks:

200g Cadbury Dairy Milk broken into pieces

100g butter

100g demerara sugar

1 tbsp golden syrup

150g rolled oats

50g dried apricots, chopped

50g sultanas

Pre-heat oven to 160C/325F/gasmark3. Line a 20cm square tin with greaseproof paper. Melt butter, sugar, and syrup slowly in a saucepan. Once melted stir in the oats and both dried fruits. Pour into prepared tin and pat down flat with a spatula or something. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely. Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once cooled spread chocolate on top of bite sized flapjacks. I just dipped mine it was a bit messy, but hey it tasted good. I chilled mine in the fridge for a few.

notes: best loved recipes site; Oh and if anyone has subscribed to the series I would love to know what your favorite book is so far. I might order a few back issues!! 

Peanut Butter & Jam Pinwheel Cookies!!

These Peanut Butter & Jam Pinwheel Cookies were a huge hit this morning when I took them to a friends for a play-date! Enjoyed by the kids and mothers! They were super easy to throw together.

If they are made in the evening the dough can rest over night and once cut they bake in 10-12 minutes. Easy and super tasty!

 If these cookies are any indication of the rest of the recipes in this book my friends, family, and I are in for some really amazing treats!

If you are desperate for this recipe it is located in the hummingbird bakery Home Sweet Home. As it was just released I won't be sharing the recipe here at the moment.

notes: buy the book: Amazon UK & USA (kindle edition only)
update (later today) I googled these cookies and found the recipe here!

the hummingbird bakery Home Sweet Home!! {book review}

I have been anticipating this book for ages! I love Cake Days, first book was just okay, but Cake Days was amazing. Everything I baked from it turned out exactly as I expected it too! So, it was no surprise to anyone that I pre-ordered this one the minute Amazon allowed me too! 

The Hummingbird Bakery is mostly cupcakes with a few other treats on their counters. Their books allow them to show what else they can do. Home Sweet Home is broken down into categories of type of bake: Cupcakes; Cakes, Cheesecakes, & Roulades; Cookies & Biscuits; Pies & Cobblers; Traybakes; Sweet Treats & Classic Puds; Savouries.

Here are some of my must bakes:

Jaffa Cake Cupcakes* (picture)

Chocolate & Coconut Cupcakes

Eton Mess Cupcakes

Crème Brulee Cupcakes

Rhubarb & Custard Cupcakes

Sweet Dough Lemon Loaf

Chocolate & Cherry Cheesecake Swirl Cake

Cookies & Cream Cake

Banana & Brazil Nut Loaf

Pumpkin & Cream Cheese Roulade

Peanut Butter & Jam Pinwheel Cookies (picture)

Soured Cream Pie

White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Pie (for Glen^)

Chocolate Custard Squares (Nanaimo Bars)

Apple & Almond Bear Claw Pastries

Parmesan Shortbread

Cheese Straws (picture)

This book has definitely lived up to my expectations and I can’t wait to get baking from it. The American influences are evident and are only a good thing! My only gripe is the Mallow Cups (page 252). I am an American and I can tell you Mallo Cups are not biscuit marshmallows covered in chocolate. They are a creamy marshmallow filling covered with a chocolate and coconut cover. I love Mallo Cups, been ages since I've had one. I think I will have to adapt this recipe to make real Mallo Cups! ;0)

I also love how cupcakes are not their only focus. Don’t get me wrong there are some amazing looking cupcakes in this book, but I am really impressed with the variety!

notes: *See my Jaffa Cake Doughnut War and myobsession with chocolate & orange!

^ Glen is my brother-in-law who loves white chocolate & macadamia nuts together I made him these cookies (at bottom of post)! Mallo Cups!! Where to buy Home Sweet Home: Amazon UK & USA (kindle edition); Sainsbury’s (at the moment is only 7.49 in store it won't be at this price for long so grab it now!); the hummingbird bakery if you're lucky enough to live in London you can grab one at any location!

update: Made Peanut Butter & Jam Pinwheel Cookies: they were a big hit! Very yummy!! Made Parmesan Shortbreads not 100% sure I liked them.... 

Mickey Mouse Chocolate Sugar Cookies!!

The littlest member of our little family has just turned 3! I knew I would do something Mickey Mouse, because she’s a fan. About a year ago I purchased an expensive set of cookies cutters, from the Disney Store, that had a Mickey outline, glove, and star. Basically I thought it about time I used them.

As I was referring to the tried and tested sugar cookie recipe (from Sprinkle Bakes by Heather Baird) I took notice of the variation at the bottom. Chocolate Sugar Cookies! Then it occurred to me that if I used the chocolate variation I would only have to decorate the bottom half of the cookie. After this revelation I chucked the star and glove cutter!

I love baking, but decorating isn’t something I have a lot of patience for. So, to further make my life easier I used a pre-made icing/gel in a tube. Red of course! Then after icing Mickey’s shorts on I doted them with 2 white chocolate coated sprinkle things? Not sure what to call them?

So, here they are! Enjoy!! Baby.... ahem... my Big Girl baker did!! 

notes: Heather Baird is the author of the blog and book titled Sprinkle Bakes the recipe I used can be found in her above mentioned book and there is a recipe on her blog, but it’s different then the one in the book. I bought my cookie cutters from a Disney Store. Last year Baby Baker had Blueberry Cupcakes!!