Category: Easter

Cookies, Easter, Spring

Oatmeal Cookies 3 Delicious Ways

by JessieLeave a Comment on Oatmeal Cookies 3 Delicious Ways
An easy, one-bowl Oatmeal Cookies recipe with three flavour options to choose from – peanut butter & choc chip, carrot cake or white chocolate raspberry. Which will you choose?
Oatmeal Cookies

3 delicious Oatmeal Cookies flavours to choose from

  • Peanut butter chocolate chip. Flavoured with peanut butter (smooth or crunchy) and milk chocolate chips.
  • Carrot cake. Flavoured with cinnamon spice, chopped walnuts and grated carrot.
  • White chocolate raspberry. Flavoured with freeze-dried raspberries and white chocolate chips.

Can’t decide which to choose? Divide the mix-in ingredients by 3 and make 4 of each flavour!

Oatmeal Cookies

How to make these Oatmeal Cookies

Go from mixing bowl to first bite in less than an hour with this recipe!

  1. Beat butter and two sugars together. This recipe uses a mix of white caster sugar and light brown sugar to improve the texture and flavour.
  2. Mix in the egg and vanilla. 1 large egg and 1 tsp vanilla is enough to add richness and flavour to the cookie dough.
  3. Add the oats and flour. Use old-fashioned jumbo rolled oats for the best cookie texture. Instant oats just won’t cut it!
  4. Fold in the mix-ins. Depending on the flavour you choose, throw in the mix-ins and fold them into the cookie dough.
  5. Roll the cookie dough into balls. Use 2 heaped tbsps of cookie dough per cookie and roll into balls.
  6. Bake for 12-14 mins. Look for golden edges but a soft under-baked middle.
  7. Leave to cool for 15 mins. This is super important! Resist the temptation to move (or eat 🙊) the cookies before they’ve had time to cool otherwise, they will fall apart.
Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies
Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal Cookies 3 Delicious Ways

An easy, one-bowl Oatmeal Cookies recipe with three flavour options to choose from – peanut butter & choc chip, carrot cake or white chocolate raspberry.
Print Recipe
Total Time 30 mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine Baking
Servings 12

Ingredients
  

Oatmeal cookie dough

  • 160 g Unsalted butter soft at room temperature
  • 100 g White granulated sugar
  • 150 g Light brown sugar
  • 1 Large Egg at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 100 g Old-fashioned jumbo rolled oats
  • 150 g Self-raising flour

Peanut butter chocolate chip add:

  • 150 g Peanut butter smooth or crunchy
  • 100 g Milk chocolate chips

Carrot cake add:

  • 1 medium Carrot grated
  • 100 g Walnuts chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon

White chocolate raspberry add:

  • 100 g White chocolate chips
  • 75 g Freeze-dried raspberries

Instructions
 

Start by making the oatmeal cookie dough

  • Preheat your oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
  • Line two large flat baking trays with greaseproof paper.
  • Beat the butter and two sugars together for at least 5 minutes either by hand or using an electric mixer.
  • Mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
  • Now add the flour and rolled oats, and fold together until combined.

Add the mix-ins

  • For peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies: Add the peanut butter and chocolate chips, and mix together until combined.
    OR
  • For carrot cake oatmeal Cookies: Add the grated carrot, chopped walnuts and cinnamon, and mix together until combined.
    OR
  • For white chocolate raspberry oatmeal cookies: Add the white chocolate chips and freeze-dried raspberries, and mix together until combined.

Roll the cookies

  • Take two heaped tablespoons of cookie dough and use your hands to roll it into a ball. Place on the baking tray.
  • Repeat this step until all the cookie dough has been used up. Leave about 5cm between each cookie so they have enough room to spread out. I normally fit 4 cookie balls on each baking tray and bake them in batches.

Time to bake! 

  • Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown around the edges but the middle is still soft.
  • Whilst the cookies are still warm, use a large round cookie cutter to gently scoot them into a perfectly round shape.
  • Leave to cool and firm up on the baking tray for at least 15 minutes.

Notes

Store your Oatmeal Cookies in an airtight container, at room temperature, for up to 4 days.
Keyword Cookies, Oatmeal

Autumn, Blondies, Easter, Spring

Carrot Cake Blondies

by JessieLeave a Comment on Carrot Cake Blondies

Flavoured with warming spices, filled with chopped walnuts and swirled with cheesecake – these carrot cake blondies are absolutely divine!

Why you’ll love these carrot cake blondies

  • Ease – There are no technical skills needed to make these blondies. Just mix together the blondie ingredients, mix together the cheesecake ingredients, layer them up in the baking tin, swirl together and bake. It’s that simple!
  • Flavour – warming spices, creamy cheesecake and deep caramel undertones from the blondie mixture. This is a winning flavour combination.
  • Texture – Imagine the texture of a fudgy brownie combined with the moisture of a slice of carrot cake. Dreeeeeamy! The chopped walnuts also add a lovely crunch throughout.

Top tips for baking success

Leave the blondies to COOL COMPLETELY for slicing. This is the most important step in the recipe.

The blondies will still be a little raw when you take them out the oven, don’t worry this is a good thing as they will continue to cook as they cool down. But if you try to cut into them whilst they are still warm they will fall apart and end up looking like a hot mess!

Leave them in the baking tin for at least 4 hours to let them cool down completely. Or if you’re short on time, pop them in the fridge for two hours to set up. You can always bake them the night before and leave them overnight in the baking tin covered with foil – this will give the flavours chance to develop and produce the best texture.

More blondies recipes you’ll love

Carrot Cake Blondies recipe (makes 12)

Ingredients

For the blondies:
170g unsalted butter
220g light muscovado sugar – I used Billington’s
1 teaspoon vanilla extract – I used Nielson Massey
2 medium eggs, at room temperature
200g self-raising flour – I used Allinson’s
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
¼ teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
100g chopped walnuts
1 large carrot (approximately 150g)

For the cheesecake swirl:
50g caster sugar
120g full-fat cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 medium egg yolk, at room temperature

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C and line an 8x8inch square baking tray with greaseproof paper.
  2. In a large bowl, melt the butter either on the hob or in the microwave until it turns to liquid.
  3. Add the light muscovado sugar and mix until combined.
  4. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix again until combined.
  5. Now add the flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg and cloves and fold everything together.
  6. Grate in the carrot and add the chopped walnuts. Fold into the mixture and set the bowl aside.
  7. In a separate bowl, mix all the cheesecake ingredients together until smooth. Set aside.
  8. Spoon two thirds of the blondie mixture into the baking tin, spreading it out into an even layer.
  9. Now drop spoonfuls of the cheesecake mixture on top, followed by the remaining blondie mixture.
  10. Using the tip of a knife or a skewer to swirl the two mixtures together.
  11. Bake for 25-30 minutes until risen, golden on top and the edges are started to show small cracks.
  12. Cool completely in the baking tin for at least four hours, or overnight for best results.
  13. Once cool, lift the blondies out using the greaseproof paper and slice into 12.

Your carrot cake blondies will keep at room temperature, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.

Easter

Cadbury’s Mini Egg and White Chocolate Cookies

by JessieLeave a Comment on Cadbury’s Mini Egg and White Chocolate Cookies

Soft baked cookies filled with crushed Mini Eggs and chunks of white chocolate.

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Ingredients (makes 12 large cookies)

100g unsalted butter, soft at room temperature
50g granulated sugar
75g light brown sugar
1 medium egg + 1 egg yolk, cold from the fridge
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
150g self-raising flour
2 bags of Cadbury Mini-Eggs (180g), crushed into pieces (I used a wooden spoon to bash them)
100g white chocolate, chopped into chunks

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.

In a medium bowl cream the butter and two sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, crack in the eggs and mix together (don’t worry if the mixture has split, this is normal!).

Add the flour, chopped white chocolate & 100g of the crushed Mini Eggs and fold everything together until all ingredients are combined and a sticky dough has formed. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and place in the fridge for at least an hour/up to 3 days (the longer the better as your cookies will become super soft and chewy).

Once chilled, take approx. 1 tablespoon of cookie dough, roll it into a ball and place it onto the baking tray (do not flatten it out as the cookies will expand in the oven). Repeat this for all 12 cookies, leaving roughly 2 inches between each one. Press the remaining Mini Egg pieces into the tops of each cookie balls.

Bake in the oven for 11 minutes until the edges are a light golden brown but the middle still looks pale and underdone. Remove from the oven and leave to completely cool (the cookies will continue to cook as they cool so it’s important not to overbake them in the oven).

Cakes, Easter, Spring

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

by Jessie1 Comment on Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Two layers of moist carrot cake, sandwiched together with cream cheese frosting, dusted and cinnamon and sprinkled with chopped walnuts. A classic bake, perfect for your Easter Sunday celebrations.

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Ingredients (makes  a two layer 8inch cake)

300g soft light brown sugar
4 medium eggs, at room temperature
300ml sunflower oil
150g self-raising flour
150g wholemeal self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
300g carrots, grated
Zest of a large orange
100g walnuts, chopped
100g sultanas

For the cream cheese frosting:
150g icing sugar
70g unsalted butter, soft at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
100g full-fat cream cheese, cold from the fridge
Cinnamon, for dusting
20g extra walnuts, to decorate

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line two 8inch round baking tin with greaseproof paper.

Start by making the cakes. Put the sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla extract into a large mixing bowl and beat until all the ingredients are well mixed (don’t worry if it looks slightly split). In a separate bowl combine the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and orange zest.

Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry and continue to beat until everything is just combined (be careful not to over mix). Finally, fold in the grated carrot, sultanas and chopped walnuts.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins, tapping them lightly on the side to remove any air bubbles, and bake in the oven for 35-40 mins until the cakes have turned a golden colour and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave to completely cool before removing the cakes from the tins.

Now make the cream cheese frosting. Beat the butter, icing sugar and milk with an electric mixer for a couple of minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the cream cheese and fold together until just combined. Be careful not to over do it, as it can quickly become runny.

Spread half of the frosting on top of one of the cakes, place the other on top and repeat. Finish by dusting the cake with cinnamon and dotting the walnuts on top of the cake.

Cakes, Easter

Triple layer Chocolate Easter Cake

by Jessie4 Comments on Triple layer Chocolate Easter Cake

Triple layer chocolate cake, sandwiched together with white chocolate buttercream and decorated with Mini Eggs and Malteser Bunnies. Perfect for Easter weekend or as a way to use up all the leftover chocolate.

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Ingredients (makes one 8inch, 3 layer cake)

For the cake:
280g self-raising flour, sieved into a bowl
70g cocoa powder
350g caster sugar
350g unsalted butter
6 medium eggs, at room temp and beaten together in a jug
2 tablespoons milk (optional)

For the white chocolate buttercream:
250g unsalted butter, at room temp
280g icing sugar
200g good quality white chocolate

For the topping:
2 packs Mini Malteser Bunnies (8 mini bunnies)
1 pack Mini Eggs

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line 3 x 20cm/8inch round baking tins with greaseproof paper.

In a large bowl cream the unsalted butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Now pour in a third of the beaten eggs along with a tablespoon of flour and mix. Repeat until all eggs have been mixed in.

Add in the remaining flour and sieve in the cocoa powder, now fold the mixture together until fully combined. If the mixture is looking too thick, add the milk and mix together to loosen it.

Divide the mixture equally between the cake tins, smoothing out the tops with a knife and tapping them on the side to release any air bubbles. Now bake the cakes for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to completely cool.

To make the white chocolate buttercream first cream the butter until fluffy and pale in colour. Sift in half the icing sugar and beat together until combined, now sift in the remaining icing sugar and beat together until light and creamy. Finally melt the white chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Once completely melted add to the creamed butter and sugar and fold together.

Spread a third of the buttercream on top of one of the cakes. Place your second cake on top and spread another third of the buttercream on top. Place the final cake on top and spread the remaining buttercream on top.

Finish the cake by placing the Malteser Bunnies around the edge and filling the middle with Mini Eggs. Cut into 8-10 slices and enjoy!