Fold in the Flour ...

What with the 'Merry Christmas' ribbon, I'm a little late with these, I know. I made them on Christmas Eve as a last minute bake. I thought they would be perfect as a little home-made gift for some friends. And as it happens, they taste really good. So ignore the ribbon. They are perfect at any time of year. The cranberries meld beautifully with the pistachios and white chocolate. I suppose, with their red, white and green vibe, they could be the perfect Welsh cookie for St David's Day. So maybe I'm in fact early? Cranberry, Pistachio and White Chocolate Cookies Ingredients (makes 16) 75g softened unsalted butter 75g golden caster sugar 75g soft light brown sugar 1 medium egg 1 tspn vanilla extract 175g plain flour 1/2 tspn baking powder 60g dried cranberries 60g pistachios, chopped 60g white chocolate chips Preheat the oven to 160 Fan / 180 Conventional / 350 F / Gas 4. Line a couple of baking trays with baking parchment (or ju...

When I first started blogging back in December, one of the blogs that inspired me to do so was Sarah Trivuncic's  Maison Cupcake . Sarah started blogging in 2009, and her blog quickly developed into a way of exploring the world of baking. Now, in 2012, it has become one of the most well know food blogs in the UK and June saw the release of Sarah's first book, Sweet Bite Sized Bakes , one of the Bake Me I'm Yours series. This is on my 'want, want, want' list. To celebrate the launch of the book, the publishers organised a Bake Swap on their website BakeMe.com ; if you signed up you would be paired with a partner to swap some baked treats. Hopefully, you might just find a friend, too. The bakes had to be posted on or before 2 July. I was paired with Emma. The email announcing this didn't give me any other details (other than her address), so I spent some time pondering what I could make, for someone I didn't know, didn't know what they liked...

It's amazing what you can add candy to. Practically anything. And that can only be a good thing, right? Do you remember the Red, White and Blue Peanut M&Ms I mentioned on the post about the Jubilee Royal Velvet Cake ? Well, this is where they put in an appearance. OK. Where some of them put in an appearance. OK, so this is not really a Jubilee recipe, but if you are looking for a quick and easy recipe for your Jubilee Party, that tastes great and has a touch of the ol' red, white and blue about it, then this is it. You can simply chuck everything together and bake and in a matter of 15 minutes you will have some pretty awesome tasting cookies. Peanut and Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients (makes 16) 75g (3 oz) softened unsalted butter 75g (3oz) caster sugar 75g (3oz) soft light brown sugar 1 medium egg 1 tspn vanilla extract 175g (6oz) plain flour 1/2 tspn baking powder 100g (4oz) peanut M&Ms (I used the limited edition red, white and blue) 50g ...

These little cookies may not look much, but be warned, they are addictive and so easy to make they could form the start of a serious addiction (Mike take note!). They are packed full of dried blueberries, rolled oats and chocolate chips, which give a lovely chewy texture alongside an intense hit of chocolate cookie dough. I can only say 'Yum!' They are adapted from a recipe in Marian Keyes' book, ' Saved by Cake '. I didn't have all the ingredients so played around a little. I also like my cookies chunky, so altered the method slightly.   This is the first recipe I've tried from the book - but there are lots to tempt you. I'm a big fan of Marian Keyes' novels ('Anybody Out There' is one of my favourites) so it was interesting seeing how she tackled a recipe book detailing a love of baking which developed from her own personal battle with depression. Her writing style is very comfortable and comforting, and this would be a great book f...

Sooo, it's still the school holidays in Cardiff this week, and the spectacle of two ravenous teenagers rampaging around the house foraging is a fairly regular occurence. In an effort to stave off hunger, and boredom, Ben and I decided to revisit one of his favourite - and easy peasy - recipes for chocolate chip cookies. It's taken from a cookery book I bought him when he was about 7, and first starting to want to help Mummy in the kitchen. These have seen many, many outings over the years, and Ben and I have made them together every time (admittedly, quite often with me fighting my kitchen control freakery, but I am trying to mellow, honest). One memorable version of these invoved Ben wanting to use pink food dye. The resulting pink cookies with brown spots were fairly reminiscent, for those of you who remember, of Mr Blobby. Eating one felt, on one level, so wrong, yet on another, so right. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, don't wo...