Snickerdoodle Cookies

Hello all :) Lets get to the point and talk about one of my favourite topics, cookies. Cookies are just plain ace, I love them all...maybe not those with dried cranberries or cherries in..but thats just me, and they arn't very common, and lets be fair I would probably devour them anyway, so I stand by my original statement. Anyway, I baked these pillowy soft lovelies on a friday to take with me camping that weekend. I have always loved the look of snickerdoodles, cinnamon definitely being a favourite spice of mine, and planned on making the more 'classic' version using cream of tartar. However I found myself craving them the other day and sadly no cream of tartar on hand...so I wandered over to the ace site Joy of Baking (if you have not checked it out before you really should, its simply full of reliable, gorgeous and rated recipes) who had just the snickerdoodles I was looking for! They also point out that baking powder is equivalent to baking soda + cream of tartar, so it made me feel a little less bad for making the newer version!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

  Hello all :) Sorry I am not posting quite as regularly as I would like, I have had lots of little bits n bobs going on now I have moved house (as well as a little bit of celebrating/chilling time too!) so it seems to take forever to just complete one post. Had a busyish couple of weeks, my graduation ball being one event which, despite the fact it was mainly a fairground outside in rather windy-rainy weather, was lovely! 

 I have made a couple of things since the rather gorgeous Oreo Cheesecake, but due to the camera dropping incident and the fact my phone camera struggles in the low-light conditions of late I didn't have anything decent I could show you. One of these bakes was a divine chocolate-coconut concoction which I can't wait to make again to show you, it was amazing!

Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Oh do I have a treat for you today! :) I have to say, I have always steered pretty clear of making my own chocolate chip cookies. Im not entirely sure why, but I would say its down to the fact that my first few attempts (a long longgggg time ago) produced overly sweet poor imitations of bakery cookies which just didn't float my boat. These however, putting my Gran's ginger biscuits to one side, I am pretty darn sure are my favourite cookie discovery to date. I am rather proud of them I have to say!

Brandy Snaps

Brandy Snap's - they are an absolute classic and I truly believe they are a great last minute dessert to master that can be whipped up faster than any other cookie with only one dirty saucepan, a lazy bakers dream :) They can be customised to your hearts desire and, although it admittedly took me pretty much until my last batch to perfect the method, now I know the tricks they really are soooooo very easy to make. We ate them ALL the day I made them, so I made another batch the morning after as we are greedy Welshies and second time round, now I knew what I was doing, resulted in 15 uniform tubes (much better than my first go which resulted in 3 pretty ones, 4 passable ones, 3 slightly fat rejects, 1 pretty cup, 1 reject cup and 3 that we just should talk about) 

In all seriousness, if you have shied away from trying them before now I assure you, they are so much fun and you can definitely make these!

Oh yes, and they are SO VERY ADDICTIVE :)

Peppermint Crisps

Today I have for you a genius little recipe. It's a no-bake, deceivingly impressive, utterly moorish cookie thats perfect for after dinner or, lets be fair, any time! You really must make these right now and then love me forever, seriously.

There is many a recipe out there for homemade after-dinner mints, and even though I am a masssiivee fan of them and their creamy peppermint filling (mmmm), I do like a bit of a crunch in my cookies and as soon as I saw these knew they would be a winner. Im not sure it it's really right to call these a cookie but Im not sure what else to call them! Maybe just lovelies. Minty lovelies.

Pecan Pillows

Ok...this is big news...there may just be a new contender for my favourite cookie! No disrespect Gran, your's will always be top of course :) But these give me serious pause for thought!

I realise this is my second stuffed cookie recipe in a row, but there's something about that hidden middle that makes me feel like an excited kid again. Especially when you don't warn the happy receiver (as long as you know they don't have a nut allergy in this case...that would be less fun..) and have that excited little internal 'I know a secret that you are about to find out and love me forever' dance whilst expectantly watching their face for a reaction...yes I do this every time, and no it never gets old for me!

Please click any photo if you wish to enlarge it :)

Raspberry Cheesecake Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

That's one lengthy name huh! I think they should just be called delicious, or spectacular, or maybe more suitably 'pain in the behind cookies'...because life has a cruel sense of humour and these cookies are so scrummy but I have never before cursed at cookie dough balls so much in all my life! I'm not going to lie to you, if you are looking for a quick fix treat to quash that niggling need for something sweet, this most certainly ain't it! But what you do get for all your hard work is the love child of a deeply chocolatey cookie with a fruity creamy cheesecake, thats one sexy offspring.

Imagine the smile on unsuspecting guests faces as they take their first bite, the initial sensation is of the crisper sugar-coated cookie edges and an unexpectedly intense chocolatey rush. Then you sink into a soft, smoooooth, subtly berry tinted filling that contrasts beautifully. Truly addicting let me tell you! Oh and they are just so pretty :)

Sadly these really are the most fiddly sticky downright stubborn things to make that I have ever experienced, kinda backwards as I was expecting the Almond Tart to be the pain in the derriere not these cute innocent looking things! I learnt some tricks along the way to make the process a little less expletive-inducing and will include these in the recipe/notes below. The problem is the dough really is not made for stuffing, it's a pretty soft mix that does set up alright after a good chill but as soon as you start to roll it in your mitts it attaches itself to everything! Then try locking in a blob of liquidy filling in the middle of a squished sticky ball, its a learning curve I can tell you!

Gran's Ginger Biscuits

Isn't it funny how any hand-me-down recipe simply has to be pre-fixed with the original 'creators' name; Aunt Sally's Apple Pie, Mum's Pasta Bake...Gran's Ginger Biscuits. They are not just ginger biscuits, god no! They are Gran's ginger biscuits and it would feel wrong to call them otherwise! These are my family's favourite biscuit by far and of course hold incredible sentimental value, being the first biscuit I ever learnt to make with my extraordinary Grandma and proceeded to make pretty much every friday (unless the afore mentioned Butterfly cakes made an appearance) up until she very sadly passed away in 2007.

She was an inspiration; a talented, SO so intelligent and sharp lady with incredibly strong morals. Aged 92, she still played the organ for the Church every Sunday, baked prize-winning cakes with the Women's Institute, knitted gorgeous blankets for charity and took me with her to play bingo every Thursday :) amazing until the very end.

But these are not just our favourite munchies for sentimental reasons, they are absolutelllyyyyy divine. They may not look like much, but they are gorgeously crisp (we are definitely what ive read are called 'anger eaters' in this house, preferring a satisfyingly crunchy snack, although I hope this doesn't reflect on personality...!) and have a flavour that far exceeds their modest exterior, every bite resulting in an oh so warming and comforting envelopment of spice that only a perfectly balanced gingersnap can give. Oh yes, I don't think ive mentioned...they are PERFECT for dunking :)

Chocolate Bourbons

Selection tins of tea-time biscuits are a dangerous thing for awful decision makers such as myself, most often resulting in one of every type being greedily gobbled up. Whether your biccie of choice is the delightful custard cream, a jammy dodger, digestives, chocolate chip, 'Nice', or good old traditional shortbread there is one that is the childhood favourite of many, and that is the bladdy brilliant chocolate bourbon

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

I've had a busy couple of days, moving out of my Uni house yesterday (end of second year already...where on earth does time go) and I got my exam results too, managed to get into my third n final year hurrah! This past year has been really tough, I don't know if I should go into details as maybe a food blog isn't the right place to go into the in's and out's, but I truly don't think I will have a harder 365 or so days in my life again. I try to look on the bright side though and think that if I made it through that year (and managed to pass those blasted exams!) then I can make it through anything. Anyway, im going to avoid rambling today (or try to at least..i suffer from the waffling disorder) and get to the bit you are interested in :)