Chocolate Brownies

These are a favourite of my children.  My youngest one is finishing primary school this week and goes to an after school club there.  He wanted to take some brownies to share with the other children and also give to the teachers for a gift.

First I creamed together soft, light brown sugar and butter.

Then I beat in the eggs and folded in some plain flour, baking powder and cocoa.  Once these were all well combined I added some chopped up dark chocolate for extra flavour.  If you prefer you can add white or milk chocolate, dried cherries, fresh raspberries or a combination of these.

On this occasion I made extra mixture so I had enough for one big tray of brownies and 3 smaller ones to give as gifts.  The trays for the smaller gift brownies are made of coated cardboard and can be used to bake the brownies – they are excellent.

The finished brownies have a glossy slightly crunchy top with a moist sticky inside – yum!

Cinnamon and Sultana Bread

I’ve made this bread to have for breakfast – it is lovely with butter and honey, either toasted or just as bread when it is really fresh.

First I made a sponge (a mixture of yeast, water and flour – and in this case sultanas) which I left to prove for about 4 hours; whilst I got on with other jobs.

I then added more flour, some melted butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon and brought the mixture together to a smooth dough and kneaded it.

When the dough had risen I divided it between 2 tins and left it to rise again and then baked it.

The resulting loaves were slightly burnt on the outside; I’m having trouble with my oven at the moment – the fan oven element has stopped working so I’m having to bake everything with just heat from above.  However the bread is really tasty – I’ve already eaten 2 slices!

Cheese and Leek Pasties with a Marmite Crust

These are for our lunch boxes – we will eat some tomorrow and I will freeze the rest.  If I didn’t make things like this the boys would eat ham or Marmite sandwiches every day.  I try and keep some pasties, sausage rolls and pizza wheels in the freezer so I can vary what they have each day.

I made some short crust pastry with 600g of plain flour, 150g of butter and 150g Trex.  Then I cut out 12 circles with a 15cm diameter.  I brushed each of these with a warmed mixture of Marmite and water.

For the filling I mixed together 500g grated potato, I finely chopped leek, 200g grated Red Leicester cheese, 100g fresh breadcrumbs and 1 egg.  I shared it equally between the pastry discs then wet the edges with beaten egg, drew the edges together and crimped them.

I egg washed the pasties then baked them at 160C/140C fan for 50 minutes.

I wish you could smell them – the house smells like a Cornish pasty shop!

Toll House Cookies

I have made these Toll House Cookies for the boy’s lunch boxes.  I try to give them homemade food so they get a fairly healthy diet.  These cookies remind me of the time I spent living in America.  They are crunchy and last well in a airtight tin.

Ingredients
75g porridge oats
150g butter at room temperature
175g icing sugar
175g plain flour
50g custard powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
30ml milk
100g dark chocolate cut into cubes

Method

1.  Put the oats in a blender and process until the oats are a fine powder
2. Beat the icing sugar and butter together until they are light and smooth
3. Add the oats, flour, custard powder, vanilla, milk and chocolate chips and mix to a soft dough
4. Split the dough into two pieces and roll into two sausages about 20cm long and 5cm in diameter
5. Roll each log in cling film and chill for 30 minutes
6. Preheat the oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3
7. Line two baking sheets with baking paper
8. Cut the dough into discs 1-1.5cm thick and place on the baking tray about 3 cm apart – they may fall apart when cut, if they do just press them back together
9. Bake for 23-30 minutes until golden, cool slightly on the tray and then place on a cooling rack

This recipe is based on one by Dan Lepard in his book Short and Sweet.  I often double the recipe and freeze two of the logs of raw dough so I can make some biscuits on a day when I am really busy.