First Day of School

Yesterday was Jen's first day of class at UCL. Knowing how first days can be, I decided to surprise her with some blondies when she got home. I made these the same way as our party blondies, but added some xanthum gum (a gluten free baking essential) to keep them from crumbling. I think she liked them - there's nothing like home baked sweets after a hard day!

Recipe: 

115 g butter, softened 

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup dove's farm gluten free plain white flour

1 teaspoon xanthum gum

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

Preheat oven to 190 C. Butter a square baking dish, line it with baking parchment and butter again. Allow the baking parchment to hang over the edges (you will use it as a handle to lift the blondies out once they're cooked). Whisk together the butter and sugars, then add the vanilla and egg. Add the flour, xanthum gum and salt. Mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips, walnuts and coconut. Bake until golden brown and a knife comes out clean, 30-40 mins. Let them cool a bit in the dish, before lifting them out by the parchment. Let them cool completely before cutting into squares. Enjoy!

The Party Spread

On Saturday night we had our first successful party! For our housewarming, we made Double Chocolate Cookies and Blondies (we also made artichoke dip and had some other non-baked goods, but I won't talk about those here). The cookies were like a chocolate explosion in your mouth - soft and chewy, just as a chocolatey cookie should be! The blondies were delicious as well - we added chocolate chips, walnuts, and coconut. 

Double Chocolate Cookies

Recipe:

50 g butter

450 g good quality dark chocolate, chopped

2 eggs

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup dove's farm gluten free plain white flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 170 C. Melt the butter and half the chocolate together on the stove until smooth (to avoid burning, you could also set a heatproof bowl over a small pot of simmering water to melt it). In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract.  Gradually add the flour, salt and baking powder. Pour in the butter/chocolate mixture. Lastly, add the rest of the chocolate and stir to combine. Place on lined baking sheets in heaping teaspoonfuls. Bake for 10-15 mins until the tops of the cookies are cracked. Let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before trying to move them. Enjoy!

Guest Chef: Lorna

Coconut Blondies (that were really more like brownies) topped with whipped cream. The recipe called for white and dark chocolate, but the white chocolate at Tesco had gluten in it, so we made these just with dark. They turned out really well! 

Christening the Kitchen

When Jen arrived to London, we clearly had to do some baking to start the year off right! We decided on Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. They were a good choice - chewy, peanut buttery, with just the right amount of chocolate goodness. Needless to say, they didn't last long in our kitchen!

Recipe:

225 g butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

2 2/3 cups dove's farm gluten free plain white flour 

1 teaspoon xanthum gum

2 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

75 g dark chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 170 C. Whisk the butter and sugars together in a large bowl until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each. Mix in the vanilla extract and peanut butter. Add the flour, xanthum gum, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Mix until a dough forms then add the chocolate. Place on lined baking sheets in heaping tablespoonfuls. Bake for 10 mins. Let the cookies cool a bit before moving them from the tray to a cooling rack. Enjoy!