Banana & Chocolate Cookies

If I ever write a recipe book I think I'll call it "Recipes to Make Your Home Smell Fabulous" and I've already got the first recipe right here.

The recipe in question comes from Hungry?, a book I reviewed earlier in the year and I'm still using on a regular basis.  I've been wanting to try these for ages but, until this week, never quite managed to have all of the ingredients in the house at the same time.  They were definitely worth the wait though.

They're quite unusual, being wheat and egg free, and have a more cake-like texture than normal cookies but don't be put off as they taste great, especially when they're still warm from the oven.  Plus, as I mentioned above, while they're baking your kitchen will filled with the deliciously comforting aroma of banana and coconut.

Banana & Chocolate Cookies
(adapted from Hungry? from the Innocent Drinks people)

3 ripe bananas
100g/4oz butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or the seeds from 1 vanilla pod
2 large handfuls porridge oats
100g/4oz ground almonds
100g/4oz unsweetened desiccated coconut
a handful of raisins or chopped dried apricots
a pinch of ground cinnamon
100g/4oz milk or plain chocolate, chopped into small bits (or just use a bag of chocolate drops)

1) Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas mark 4.  Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper (you may need two).

2) In a big mixing bowl, mash up the bananas with a fork then add the melted butter and vanilla and give it a good stir.

3) Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the chocolate, and mix well. Fold in the chocolate pieces.  It probably won't look quite as firm as normal cookie dough but don't worry.

4) Spoon the mix onto the baking sheets, using about 2 teaspoons per cookie.  Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, until golden. (The original recipe suggests leaving space for them to expand but mine didn't grow that much).

5) Leave to cook on a wire rack for a few minutes.  They're best eaten while still warm but will also keep just fine in an airtight container for up to a week.

Makes about 25

Blondies

I came across this recipe one Sunday afternoon when I was looking for something to satisfy my baking urge. It was the first recipe I found that I actually had the ingredients for and it had been on my to-do list since I unwrapped my cookbook du jour, Nigella Kitchen, at Christmas. I've never made Blondies before partly because, for some reason, I had always thought they would be a bit plain and uninteresting. How wrong I was!

These ones in particular turned out to be so delicious that I've already made another batch since I made the first one. The recipe includes a whole tin of condensed milk which gives them a lovely toffee-sweetness, porridge oats add substance and chocolate chips complete the picture. These come highly recommended from me!

Blondies

(adapted from Kitchen by Nigella Lawson)

200g/7oz porridge oats

100g/3 1/2 oz plain flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

150g/5 1/2 oz soft unsalted butter

100g/3 1/2 oz light muscovado sugar

1 x 397g can condensed milk

1 egg

170g packet dark chocolate morsels or chocolate chips

1) Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4 and line your square cake tin with foil.

2) Combine the oats, flour and bicarb in a bowl

3) In another bowl mix or beat the butter with the sugar until pale and creamy, then beat in the condensed milk followed by the oats, flour and bicarb mixture

4) When these are well mixed, beat in the egg, and into this relatively thick mixture fold the chocolate chips

5) Dollop the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth it down with a spatula, then cook in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes. When ready it will be quite a pronounced dark gold around the edges and coming away from the tin. It will look and feel cooked on top, though just beneath it will seem frighteningly squidgy. But it firms up as it cools in the tin, so to end up with the requisite chewiness you have to take it out of the oven while it feels a little undercooked.

Makes 16 pieces

Forever Nigella - A New Blogging Event

Well here we are, two weeks into the new year already. I've taken a couple of weeks off from blogging while I tidied away all the seasonal bits and bobs and generally cleared my head ready for the year ahead but now I'm ready and raring to go again.

So, I'm kickstarting the new blogging year by participating in a new blogging event. While looking through the UK Food Blogger Association forums I was delighted to discover that Sarah from Maison Cupcake had made the excellent decision to start up a monthly challenge to celebrate Nigella Lawson's recipes called Forever Nigella.

It's no secret that I am a big Nigella fan and one who loves her books AND her television programmes. OK so a lot of people think that her shows are just too OTT for words and I admit that a black satin dressing gown wouldn't be the first choice of kitchen attire for most people but who cares? Her recipes WORK.

Each month a theme will be set, and for the first month of this blogging challenge the theme is "Seasonal Sensations". Hmmm, well I discovered the Forever Nigella challenge about a week ago so unfortunately my desire to bake something Christmassy has been packed away with the tinsel and all the leftovers have been eaten. No matter though - I have stuck to the theme by taking two recipes from Nigella's Christmas book but they are just the sort of thing I want to eat at this time of year when excess is something I'm trying to avoid.

The first recipe is a fairly simple one - Antioxidant Fruit Salad. Sometimes simple is good though and this combination of mango, blueberries, pomegranate and lime juice is wonderfully refreshing and full of flavour. This is delicious for breakfast with some natural or greek yoghurt or with something a little more substantial, which leads me on to my second recipe.

The second thing I made (and I decided to make both as they are both simple recipes but go so well together) is a Cranberry, Almond and Honey Granola. I love granola and make it often and this one caught my eye I because of the dried cranberries which are my favourite dried fruit. The warm flavours from the cinnamon and honey are complemented by the slight sharpness of the dried cranberries and the almonds and seeds provide great texture.

Now I'm afraid that the rules of this challenge are such that I'm not allowed to post the recipes being used unless I've changed more than two of the ingredients (which I haven't). This is to encourage as many people as possible to go out a buy Nigella's books - an idea I heartily endorse!

Thanks again to Sarah for hosting this new challenge. I'm already looking forward to next month's.

Parkin & Cinder Toffee for Bonfire Night

OK so I really should have posted these recipes before November 5th but nevermind! Ah well. Hopefully you'll remember them when you come to plan your Bonfire Night parties next year.

First up we have Parkin. A classic autumnal cake, originating in the North of England and traditionally eaten on Bonfire Night. It's very similar in many ways to gingerbread but with the addition of oats. The ginger, treacle and syrup mix together to make the most fabulous smelling cake - no need for any fancy scented candles when you're cooking this one. It tastes great too and is all the better for being left for a few days before cutting into it.

Parkin

(adapted from a recipe in Good Food Magazine from years ago)

1 egg

3 tbsp milk

175g/6oz golden syrup

100g/4oz black treacle

85g/3oz light muscovado sugar

225g/8oz butter

100g/4oz medium oatmeal

250g/9oz plain flour

2 rounded tsp ground ginger

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1) Preheat the oven to 160c/gas mark 3/fan oven 140c. Grease a deep 23cm/9inch square cake tin and line with greaseproof paper. Beat the egg in a small bowl and stir in the milk, then set aside.

2) Put the syrup, treacle, sugar and butter in a large pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted. Remove from the heat. Mix together the oatmeal, flour, ginger and bicarbonate of soda, then stir into the syrup mixture, followed by the egg and milk. Combine well to give a batter-like consistency.

3) Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 50-60 minutes until the cake feels firm and a little crusty on top. Leave to cool in the tin, then turn out and peel off the greaseproof paper.

4) Wrap the parkin in clean greasproof paper and foil and leave it for at least three days before you cut - this will allow it to become much softer and stickier. The parkin will keep for up to two weeks.

*********

The second recipe today is for Cinder Toffee. Or Honeycomb. Or Hokey Pokey. Or that stuff you find inside Crunchie bars. I'll leave you to choose your favourite. Whichever you go for this stuff is deadly! In an addictive, super-sugary, keep-your-dentist-on-standby sort of way. And deadly simple to make too - the actual cooking part took me a mere 5 minutes or so.

I really recommend you try this one but don't blame me for any fillings!

Cinder Toffee

(adapted from How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson)

200g caster sugar

4 tablespoons golden syrup

1 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda

1) Grease a 21cm square tin generously with butter.

2) Off the heat, mix the sugar and golden syrup in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, then put over a medium to low heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes (this is based on a 20cm diameter saucepan). The mixture is ready to come off the heat when it's a thick bubbling mass, the colour of rusty caramel - no darker.

3) Take off the heat and quickly whisk in the bicarbonate of soda and watch the caramel foam up in an opaque golden cloud (mine didn't foam up that much but it didn't seem to matter). Pour into the waiting tin and leave to set. This will take a few hours. When cold you can set to it with an implement of your choice (I used a rolling pin) and bash it into pieces.

Granola

As with a lot of things, I have a tried and tested recipe for granola that I return to time and again. However, my recently acquired cookbook, Home Cooking by Rachel Allen contains a new version that seemed worthy of my attention.

This has turned out to be a lovely alternative. My previous go-to recipe, which you can find in Tessa Kiros' gorgeous book Apples for Jam, is somewhat different as it doesn't contain any fruit but contains more sugar and honey which helps it really stick together and makes it great for snacking. This version, however, has a finer texture which makes it better designed for eating with a spoon as a proper cereal with milk or yoghurt. I've been enjoying it all week with stewed rhubarb and greek yoghurt. Good healthy stuff.

Crunchy Granola

(adapted from Home Cooking by Rachel Allen)

The following recipe makes about 1.5kg which is a LOT! It does keep for a couple of months in an airtight container but I decided to start out with a half-sized batch which turned out to be plenty for my purposes.

125g/4 1/2oz butter

150ml/5 floz honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

500g/1lb 2oz rolled oats

50g/2oz pecan nuts, roughly chopped

150g/5oz hazelnuts, roughly chopped

75g/3oz pumpkin seeds

75g/3oz sunflower seeds

50g/2oz golden linseeds

100g/3 1/2oz dessicated coconut

300g/11oz mixed dried fruit such as dates, figs, apricots, raisins, prunes, the larger fruit chopped

1) Preheat the oven to 170c/325f/gas mark 3

2) Melt the butter, honey and vanilla extract in a small saucepan over a low heat.

3) Mix the oats, nuts, seeds and coconut together in a large bowl. Pour in the butter/honey mixture and stir together really well.

4) Divide the mixture between two large baking trays and spread in an even layer. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, tossing every 5 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave on the trays until completely cool, stirring every now and then.

5) Once completely cool transfer it to a large airtight container and mix in the dried fruit. Store at room temperature for up to two months.

Spicy Prune & Apple Muffins

This recipe comes from another new addition to my recipe book family - Home Cooking by Rachel Allen. I know some people aren't keen her, particularly her television programmes, but I quite like her and have found all her books well presented and appealing. As always I made a bee-line for the cake recipes and chose this one to start with. This recipe appears in the breakfast section, which is fine by me - I'm always happy to have an excuse to have cake for breakfast. Having said that, these definitely fall into the "healthy cake" section thanks to the wholemeal flour, oats and large quantities of fruit.

I'll definitely be making these again. The wholemeal flour makes for a pretty dense cake, but the prunes and apples add enough sweetness and flavour to make the muffins taste good. They keep well too.

Don't be alarmed by the instruction to fill the cases to the top by the way - these muffins are not big risers.

Spicy Prune and Apple Muffins

(adapted from Home Cooking by Rachel Allen)

275g/10oz plain wholemeal flour

50g/2oz rolled oats

125g/4 1/2oz soft light brown sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tso ground mixed spice

175g/6oz pitted prunes, roughly chopped

1 eating or cooking apple, peeled, cored and finely diced

250ml/9 fl oz buttermilk

50g/20z butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs

1) Preheat the oven to 200c/400f/gas mark 6. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.

2) Mix all of the dry ingredients together and stir in the prunes and apple

3) Mix the wet ingredients together and then add to the dry ingredients, taking care not to overmix (I found mixing in all of the dry ingredients a bit of a trial as there didn't seem to be quite enough liquid - in the end I added the rest of my 284ml pot of buttermilk which seemed to do the trick).

4) Divide the batter between the muffin cases, filling them almost to the top. Bake for 20 minutes until golden and firm to the touch.

Chocolate Snowballs

A little while ago I had a sudden craving for a long unused recipe. When I was young we made these quite a lot but it's been many years now since I last made a batch. They are called Chocolate Snowballs but the nuts and coffee provide the more dominant flavours. I suppose you could call them a truffle of sorts and are great served after dinner but they're not so rich that you wouldn't be happy giving them to children aswell (although beware of those nut allergies!).

And the source of this recipe - Delia? Nigella? A food magazine? Er no. Although it pains my inner food snob slightly I can reveal that this recipe was, in fact, sourced from...

...a Mr Men Annual circa 1985.

What can I say. Judge me when you've tried them!

Chocolate Snowballs

(adapted from...ahem...a Mr Men Annual)

100g/4oz porridge oats

100g/4oz soft margarine

75g/3oz caster sugar

50g/2oz chopped mixed nuts

3 tsps cocoa powder

1 tsp instant coffee

icing sugar

1) Mix together the oats, margarine, caster sugar, chopped nuts and cocoa

2) Mix the coffee with 3 teaspoons of cold water. Add to the mixture and stir together

3) Roll the mixture into walnut sized balls. Sieve some icing sugar onto a plate and rolls the balls in it to coat.

Plum, Apple and Almond Crumble with Amaretto Cream

I love crumble of all types and in all weathers. They're pretty easy to assemble, even if you suddenly fancy one at the last minute, and the presence of the fruit makes them practically healthy too (just don't think about all the butter and sugar!).

This particular recipe is a cut above your average crumble, which is not too surprising at it comes from In the Mood for Entertaining by Jo Pratt. Instead of plain old apple, there's a few plums thrown into the mix and the crumble topping is tarted up with some oats and flaked almonds. All in all a very nice combination.

And then of course, there's the Amaretto cream. Oh, the Amaretto cream! I'll just say that it was lucky we had guests otherwise I would have eaten the whole lot myself, straight from the bowl. What was left of it also went very well with some fruit salad the next day.

Plum, Apple and Almond Crumble

(adapted from In the Mood for Entertaining by Jo Pratt)

For the filling

600g plums, stoned and cut into wedges

450g eating apples, peeled cored and cut into bite-sized chunks

25g soft brown sugar

grated zest of 1 orange

3 tablespoons apple juice

For the topping

125g softened unsalted butter

150g plain flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

a pinch of salt

75g flaked almonds, crushed lightly in your hands

40g rolled oats

100g soft brown sugar

1) Pre heat the oven to 200c/fan 180c/gas 6

2) Toss the plums, apples, sugar, orange zest and apple juice together. Tip into an ovenproof dish about 1.5 litres in capacity

3) Lightly rub together the butter, flour, cinnamon and salt, then stir in the almonds, oats and three quarters of the sugar. Keep it fairly chunky and crumbly

4) Scatter the topping over the fruit and then sprinkle with the reserved sugar. Place on a baking tray and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. If the topping is becoming to golden cover loosely with a piece of foil. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes.

The writer says that this serves four (albeit generously) but I can only assume that she was referring to four people who hadn't eaten for a week as we were left with close to half of it at the end of the evening. Not that I'm complaining mind - I do love cold crumble!

Amaretto Cream

275ml double cream

3 tablespoons amaretto

1) Whisk the cream until it is just starting to thicken

2) Stir in the Amaretto and continue to whisk until it forms soft peaks.

3) Serve in a bowl alongside the crumble. Seriously.....stop sticking your finger in it - it's not hygenic.

Caramel Oat Bars

Otherwise known as Millionaire's Shortbread but with a slight adaptation. Where Millionaire's Shortbread has a base of - yes, you've guessed it - shortbread, this version includes the added bonus of oats. This is a change I wholly approve of - it makes the base lighter and crunchier and adds to the contrast with the soft caramel and chocolate.

If you have any leftover condensed milk (I have yet to find a 175 tin of the stuff) and were wondering what to do with it then you might want to take a look at these oat bars or this fudge - you can always halve the quantities!

Caramel Oat Bars

(original source of recipe long forgotten)

Base

100g/4oz butter or margarine

50g/2oz caster sugar

75g/3oz plain flour

75g/3oz porridge oats

Caramel

175g/7oz can condensed milk

100g/4oz butter or margarine

50g/2oz soft brown sugar

vanilla essence

Topping

100g/4oz chocolate, melted (you can use dark or milk chocolate depending on the level of sweetness you're after)

1) Grease a baking tin approximately 30 x 18cm (12 x 7 in)

2) Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, stir in flour and oats to form a stiff mixture and press into the tin

3) Bake for 20 minutes at 180c/350f/gas 4

4) Meanwhile, melt the butter, condensed milk and brown sugar in a pan over a gently heat. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Add vanilla essence to taste and beat well. Pour evenly over the cooked base and leave to cool.

5) Spread melted chocolate over the cooled caramel and mark with a fork. Leave to set before cutting into squares.

A recipe to keep you going....

The redesigning of my kitchen is now well under way which is fabulous but does, however, leave me without a kitchen to call my own at the moment. Fortunately, my parents in-law have very kindly allowed us the use of their house while they are on holiday, which is much appreciated, however I find there is something rather unsettling about trying to cook in someone else's kitchen! Even the simplest of tasks take more time than they should while I search for things that I could find blindfolded in my own kitchen, or suddenly find myself without a particular ingredient that I would usually take for granted. As a result my baking and creative cooking have been somewhat put on hold for the time being.

To keep my little blog ticking over in the meantime I thought I'd post about a recipe I made recently and put aside on the "to blog about" pile. This is a great muffin recipe, one of my favourites in fact. They are pretty healthy, quick to make and, unusually for muffins, they keep for ages. Oh, and, thanks to the energy-giving oats they'll definitely "keep you going" too - I love them for breakfast or as a mid-morning snack.

Feel-good muffins

(from Good Food Magazine February 2003)

175g/6oz self-raising flour

50g/2oz porridge oats

140g/5oz muscovado sugar (regular caster sugar also work just fine)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 egg, beaten

150ml/1/4 pint buttermilk (a mix of half milk and half natural yoghurt works just as well)

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 tbsp sunflower oil

175g/6oz stoned prunes, chopped

85g/3oz pecans

1) Preheat the oven to 200c/gas 6/fan 180c. Line a muffin tray with 6-8 muffin cases.

2) Put the flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl and mix together.

3) Beat the egg then stir in the buttermilk, vanilla and oil. Lightly stir the egg mixture into the flour.

4) Fold in the prunes and pecans.

5) Divide between the muffin cases then bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden. Serve warm or cold.

Two lovely oaty recipes

I often find that a bowl of regular cereal isn't quite enough to see me through until lunchtime so I've been on the lookout for some healthy snacks that will keep me away from the chocolate. I came across this first recipe when flicking through Nigella Express and it sounded like just the thing.

Breakfast Bars

(adapted from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson)

1 x 397g can condensed milk

250g rolled oats

75g shredded coconut

100g dried cranberries

125g mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)

125g natural unsalted peanuts

1) Preheat the oven to 130c and grease a 23 x 33 x 4cm baking tin.

2) Warm the condensed milk in a pan

3) Mix the dry ingredients together, add the warmed condensed milk and mix

4) Spread the mixture into the tin and even the surface.

5) Bake for 1 hour and remove from the oven. Leave for 15 minutes before cutting into squares.

These get a big thumbs up from me. They taste great, are easy to make and are pretty healthy too.

While I had the oats out I remembered a favourite recipe from Jamie Oliver. When the weather starts to brighten up and hot porridge becomes less appealing I like to make this for breakfast instead.

Pukkolla

(adapted from The Return of the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver)

8 large handfuls of porridge oats

2 large handfuls of ground bran

1 handful of chopped dried apricots

1 handful of chopped dried dates

1 handful of crumbled walnuts

1 handful of chopped hazlenuts, almonds or brazil nuts

This part can be made in advance and kept for ages. Mix together and store in an airtight container.

You can, of course, put pretty much whatever you want into this. My combination today included oats, bran, sunflower seeds, pumkpin seeds, linseeds, chopped prunes and chopped apricots.

The night before you need it put some of the above in a bowl (once made up this will keep for two or three days so you can put a few portions in), cover with milk and mix in 1/2 a grated apple per portion. Place in the fridge.

In the morning remove the bowl from the fridge. The mixture will have softened and thickened up so you might want to add a bit more milk. Serve with honey, yoghurt, chopped banana, strawberries, raspberries...whatever you fancy really.