This month’s bake over at Sweet and Simple Bakes was a recipe for Double Chocolate Cookies that no true cookie lover would be able to resist! I found this recipe to be wonderful and one that I will definitely be making again and again whenever that fix for double choc cookie arises. If you would like to recreate these wonderful cookies, you can find the recipe here.
Perfect accompaniment to a cold glass of milk!
I would like to apologize for not having blogged much recently, it's been a busy time for my family and I recently. My beautiful baby niece Maya arrived into the world on Sunday 8th June at 7.34am!! She is absolutely precious and looks just like my sister.
A great portion of my life is spent baking with bananas, especially when they go ripe, as I hate to throw away food and my boys would much rather me make up some home-baked goodness that they will no doubt enjoy than to see good ripe bananas go to waste. This recipe is excellent when time isn’t on your side, you won’t believe how quick they are to mix up and bake! In no time you have delicious yummy muffins to enjoy at breakfast or an afternoon snack.
Banana White Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
3 very ripe bananas
125ml vegetable oil
2 eggs
250g plain flour
100g caster sugar
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
150g white chocolate (or butterscotch or dark chocolate morsels)
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6 and line a 12-bun muffin tin with muffin papers.
Mash the bananas and set aside for a moment.Pour the oil into a jug and beat in the eggs.
Put the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a large bowl and mix in the beaten-egg-and-oil mixture, followed by the mashed bananas.
Fold in the white chocolate morsels, then place equal quantities in the prepared muffin tin and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
Pasta plays a big part in our weekly meals and I often love trying out and introducing new pasta dishes to our table. I had some lovely Italian sausages begging to be used in the fridge, so my loyal friend Google went into action to find me the perfect pasta recipe to incorporate those yummy sausages into. I came across this recipe on Myrecipes, where it immediately caught my eye and I knew this was the one! This pasta dish is simple and quick to make but its pure comfort food and just the kind we love. I added a splash of red wine and oregano for that added flavour and let it simmer for longer. If you love your pasta and are looking for an easy quick meal that your family will appreciate then look no further. My son and hubby really enjoyed and loved this dish and so did I. I will definitely be making this again and again!
Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomato, and CheeseIngredients
1 (1-pound) package uncooked ziti (short tube-shaped pasta)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 pound hot turkey Italian sausage links (I used pork Italian Sausages)
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 (14.5-ounce) cans petite-diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Cooking spray (I used butter)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded fresh mozzarella cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain the pasta, and set aside.
3. (I added 1 tbsp of olive oil to the pan.) Remove casings from sausage. Cook sausage, onion, and garlic in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Add the tomato paste, salt, pepper, and tomatoes, and bring to a boil.
4. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes (I simmered my sauce for 25 minutes), stirring occasionally.
5. Combine cooked pasta, sausage mixture, and basil. Place half of the pasta mixture in a 4-quart casserole coated with cooking spray or butter. Top with half of mozzarella and half of Parmesan. Repeat layers. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until bubbly.
I had to post this pic of my beautiful princess Coco. This is how I sometimes find her, on her back in all her fluffy glory! Yep, she definitely has a good life ;o)
After having a break from baking last week I was sure my boys were starting to miss their home-baked goods and I couldn’t have been more right! The Apricot Seed Bars I made yesterday have been devoured in less than 24 hours; do you reckon they missed my baking? So being the good mummy and wifey I have baked them these Apple & Cinnamon Muffins. I wonder how long they will last?! I am sure they will be a great success, they really are wonderfully delish. If you have some spare apples sitting in the fruit bowl, this is the perfect recipe to make use of those apples. These muffins are beautifully moist from the grated apple and personally I think apple and cinnamon flavours work great together. I love how the topping adds that extra crunch. This muffin recipe is a "must try".
Apple & Cinnamon Muffins
It seem's like ages since I last baked or blogged. Sorry for not having been around much lately but recently I have been feeling run down and lost my baking mojo. I woke up today and decided that I had to bake something for my boy's who have missed my baking. So this morning whilst drinking my cup of tea I came across these Apricot Seed Bars, an easy and rather healthy recipe that I've had bookmarked. These bars are packed full of dried fruit, seeds and home-baked goodness. They would make a perfect energy snack if you’re hiking or biking or just need an energy boost fix during the day.
These blueberry squares are light, sweet and luscious. They make for a wonderful breakfast, dessert accompanied by cream or an afternoon snack with your tea/coffee. The recipe is from yet another of my newest books (yep courtesy of Amazon), The New Good Cake Book by Diana Dalsass. A book full of mouth-watering recipes, from sumptuous cakes to reduced-fat cakes and sections on biscotti, bar cakes, and cakes for special occasions. The only down-side to this book is the lack of photos but the recipes are simple and sometimes I like the idea of picturing in my head what a cake will look like as I read the recipe!
Fresh Blueberry Squares
Ingredients
Topping:
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter, softened
Cake:
3 eggs (large)
1 cup sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 ¾ cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups blueberries, rinsed and dried
To make the topping. In a small bowl, using your fingertips, mix together all the topping ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350oF/180oC.
Grease and flour a 9” x 13” baking pan.
To make the cake, in a large bowl, beat the eggs. Gradually beat in the sugar until the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Beat in the melted butter, then the vanilla and buttermilk.
In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the egg mixture, stirring until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the blueberries over the batter. Sprinkle the topping over the berries.
Bake the cake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool. Once cooled cut into squares. 
Tonights meal consisted of oven baked seasoned chicken breast with an all time family favourite of cashew nut rice. This rice dish has so many wonderfully combined flavours, such as turmeric, ginger, coriander, cayenne pepper and lemon. What I love about making this dish is after an initial simmering of 15 minutes, the dish is finished off baked in the oven for 30 minutes, leaving me some time to sit back and catch up on blogging or the afternoon tv soaps. This rice is very versatile, personally I have used it as a stuffing for chicken, hot side dish and is just as nice served cold for a buffet/BBQ.
There is nothing better than the post man delivering a package from Amazon with new and exciting cookbooks. This morning I was the lucky recipient of such a package, after my latest instalment of Amazon late night shopping! One of the books I received is Bars & Squares more than 200 recipes by Jill Snider and where I found this great recipe. The book is packed full of recipe after recipe of amazing sweet delights, it is definitely a book that will encourage you to get in the kitchen and bake. I have already seen so many recipes that I want to try but this recipe really caught my attention, blondies with apples just sounded amazing and brown sugar frosting!! Who could resist? I am sure they are going to be a big hit in our home.Apple Blondies with Brown Sugar Frosting
Blondies:
2/3 cup butter, softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chopped peeled apples
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (i did not add nuts)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
Brown Sugar Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk or cream
2 cups confectioner's sugar
Blondies:
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture on low speed, mixing until blended. Stir in apples, cinnamon and nuts, mixing well. Spread evenly in greased 9x13 pan.Bake in Preheated oven at 350 degrees until set and golden, 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on rack.
Brown Sugar Frosting:
In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Bring mixture just to a boil then remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm. Stir in the confectioner's sugar, mixing until smooth. Spread evenly over bar. Let stand until frosting is firm enough to cut. Cut into bars or squares.
I wanted to share this pic of my beautiful Madison sleeping, he has such a purr-fect life!
I walked into the kitchen this morning and took one look at the ripe bananas in the fruit bowl and they were screaming out, Banana Cake! I had some sour cream in the fridge too so I decided to search online for a cake combining both ingredients, it didn’t take me long and I found this yummy recipe on Baking Bites. I love Bundt cakes; they make an everyday plain cake look elegant and perfect for this marbled effect cake! The cake has a light moist texture, from the wonderful combination of the sour cream and bananas, with the chocolate adding even more of a perfect balance of flavours. This is definitely a great cake to whip up when ripe bananas are screaming to be used.
I recently became the lucky owner of The Best of Better Baking.com Book by Marcy Goldman (thanks to Amazon!). The book features 175 recipes, all fail-safe and each one delicious. I came across the recipe for Fudge Granola Bars and immediately was mesmerized by the long list of wonderful ingredients, only imagining what a delicious granola bar would be born. I couldn’t have been more right, I’ve made granola bars before but these are really something special! The only ingredient I was missing was sesame seeds but nonetheless these bars are so more-ish and filling but best of all they are full of fudgy chocolate goodness!
Fudge Granola Bars
Makes 12-16 bars
Ingredients
½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
⅓ cup honey
⅓ cup of firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups granola
5 ounces semisweet or milk chocolate, chopped
½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
¾ cup chopped dates or dried cranberries
⅓ cup chocolate-covered raisins
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
⅔ cup whole pecans
2 ½ ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped, melted and cooled, for drizzling
Preheat the oven to 350oF/180oC. Line the bottom of a 7 by 11-inch brownie pan or a 9-inch square pan with parchment paper and spray the paper with non-stick cooking spray. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl, stir the butter, honey, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla together. Stir in the granola, chopped chocolate, coconut, dates/cranberries, raisins, cinnamon, salt, cocoa, flour, sesame seeds, and pecans until blended. Pat the mixture into the prepared pan. Place the pan on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake on the lower shelf of the oven for 20-24 minutes, or until the top seems set, the edges seem dry, and the centre is just a bit jiggly. Let cool completely on a wire rack, then freeze or refrigerate for 1 hour. Cut into squares. Drizzle with melted chocolate and let the chocolate set (or refrigerate to set the chocolate).
I have been passed on this really lovely award from my special friend Rosie from Rosie Bakes a Peace of Cake. Thank you so much Rosie, I'm so touched and I love you just as much! You've been a really good friend to me and I can always count on you. If you have not had the pleasure of visiting Rosie's blog then I urge you to pay a visit, she is one very creative, talented lady! Her cakes and bakes will have you drooling.
Looks like summer has arrived and with that arrives BBQ season! This evening we are having our first BBQ of the year, with my father in law coming over. I know he loves his cakes and desserts and although I have been suffering with a cold and generally feeling run down this week, I didn’t want to let him down and not have a home-baked dessert waiting for him. I remember coming across this recipe a while back on the BBC Good Food website, perfect for a quick and easy dessert when short on time and energy. This pie has a wonderful mixture of a ginger nut biscuit base, combined with a zingy citrus topping to get your taste buds tingling. I have a feeling my father in law won’t be leaving this evening without a doggie bag (Tupperware).
