Author: Emma Hawkins

Cinnamon Spiral Cookies

Cinnamon Spiral Cookies

I’m back! Recently I’ve been so busy that I’ve been working solely from other people’s recipes rather than creating my own, but today I found some time to start being creative again, so here we are!

My family are obsessed with cinnamon buns so part 2 of why I haven’t been creating new recipes recently is because I’ve been making so many cinnamon buns for everyone that we’ve forgotten other bakes exist. But today I thought it was time to branch out from one swirly cinnamon thing to another – biscuits! These are a bit quicker to make than buns as you don’t have to wait for anything to rise, but you still get a sweet cinnamon morsel and they’re more aesthetic than your average digestive, so what’s not to love?

I used dairy free margarine to make these as my Mum’s dairy free, but I’d recommend using block butter if at all possible as it’ll make the dough a lot easier to work with when rolling. If you are working with marg two tips are….

  1. Try cutting down to 1/2 an egg by whisking up a whole egg in a small bowl and then trickling in a little bit of it to the butter-sugar mixture. Marg has a higher water content than block butter, so by cutting down the amount of egg you use you’ll be able to cut down the liquid content in the dough.
  2. Give yourself more time to chill the dough before rolling and slicing – the firmer it is the easier it’ll be to work with (though make sure it’s not actually frozen because that’s even trickier to work with!)

At the end of the day though, they’ll taste good whatever. Mine ended up coming out in all shapes, sizes, and colours – but they all taste great so job done! (I always think it’s good to have a range of sizes when baking individually-portioned things as it means you can choose a treat based on how hungry you are etc!)

Recipes

Makes around 30

Time: 1 hour (plus chilling time)

Ingredients

  • 225g butter
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 375g plain flour
  • 1tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1tsp ground ginger
  • 1tsp ground mixed spice
  • ½ tsp salt

For the filling

  • 75g butter
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 3tbsp ground cinnamon

Method

  1. Beat together the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon in a bowl until pale and fluffy.
  2. Add the egg and beat again until combined. Then add the flour, spices and salt and stir to bring it into a dough. Leave in the fridge until needed.
  3. Next mix the ingredients for the filling in a small bowl until smooth. The mixture should be soft enough to spread easily.
  4. Divide the biscuit dough in two. Roll one part into a thin rectangle around 50x20cm. (I find doing this between two pieces of clingfilm helpful!)
  5. Spread a thin layer of the cinnamon filling over the dough, leaving a 1cm boarder along one of the short ends.
  6. Roll the dough up from the short end with the filling going to the edge to make a tight roll.
  7. Repeat this process with the other block of dough. Then place both rolls on a baking tray (or plate) lined with baking paper, cover with clingfilm and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes. (You want them firm enough to slice easily, but not frozen solid).
  8. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
  9. Take the rolls out the freezer and use a sharp knife to cut slices about 0.5cm thick.
  10. Place the slices on the lined baking trays and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

Sticky Parkin

Sticky Parkin

I’ve been wanting to make this for so long and so it was really exciting making it today! Parkin is a traditional Yorkshire cake eaten around bonfire night and I can totally see why. It’s warming, tasty, super easy to share around and quick to make!

Recipe

Makes 16 pieces

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 220g butter
  • 250g golden syrup
  • 110g dark brown sugar
  • 210g self raising flour
  • 100g porridge oats
  • 4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp mixed spice
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 large eggs

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 9×9-inch square cake tin with butter and baking paper.
  2. Put the butter, golden syrup and sugar into a large pan and place over a medium heat. Stir every now and then until melted.
  3. In a large bowl mix together the flour, oatmeal, ginger, cinnamon, mixed spice and baking powder.
  4. Slowly pour the melted butter mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
  5. Whisk in the eggs until the mixture is even. Then pour the mixture into the lined tin.
  6. Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown and springy to the touch.
  7. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. Cut into 16 pieces and enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

Spooky Brownies

Spooky Brownies

It’s almost Halloween which means it’s time to start bringing out the spooky bakes! These mummy brownies are super easy to throw together, delicious to eat, and perfect for sharing!

Recipe

Makes 15

Time 1 hour

Ingredients

For the Chocolate brownie

  • 165g butter
  • 1210g dark chocolate
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 210g caster sugar
  • 45g plain flour
  • 150g white chocolate, roughly chopped

To decorate

  • 100g white chocolate
  • Some edible eyes for cake decorating (if you can’t find any you can make your own out of white and black icing!)

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Grease and line a 15×15 cm baking tin with butter and baking paper.
  2. Put the butter and dark chocolate into a bowl over a pan of simmering water and leave to melt.
  3. Take another bowl and whisk the eggs until pale and fluffy with an electric whisk. Add the sugar and continue to whisk until it leaves a trail when the whisk is taken out.
  4. Fold the chocolate into the eggs, sieve in the flour and add the chopped white chocolate. Fold everything again until combined.
  5. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and bake for around 20 minutes until a crust has formed on top and it feel slightly firm. Set aside to cool.
  6. Put the white chocolate for the decoration into a glass or metal bowl and place over a pan of simmering water. Leave to melt.
  7. Pour the melted white chocolate into a pipping bag and leave to cool a little (until the chocolate isn’t too runny).
  8. Place two eyes on each brownie and then pipe random lines all over them to make them look like mummys. Leave the chocolate to set and then enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

Cinnamon Pear Porridge

Cinnamon Pear Porridge

I’ve never really been a porridge person but I’ve recently been craving wholesome comfort food packed with autumnal flavours and before I knew it I’d made this! Cinnamon and ginger porridge topped with chopped fresh pear, chopped pecans, chia seeds, almond butter and honey!

Recipe

Makes 1 bowl

Time: 10 minutes (plus soaking time if you want)

Ingredients

For the Porridge

  • 200ml almond milk (or other milk of your choice)
  • 50g porridge oats
  • A pinch of cinnamon
  • A pinch of ginger
  • 1 tsp honey

Toppings

  • 1 small pear
  • 50g pecans, chopped
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1 tsp almond butter
  • 1 tbsp honey

Method

  1. Put tall the ingredients for the porridge into a bowl and stir to combine. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight (or for at least 4 hours).
  2. Uncover the oat mixture and put it in the microwave for 2 ½ minutes on full power. Tip the porridge into a serving bowl and give it a little mix.
  3. Quarter and core the pear. Then cut it up into small pieces.
  4. Arrange the pear on top of the porridge, followed by the chopped pecans and chia seeds. Finish with a dollop of the almond butter and a drizzle of honey over the top. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

Jumbo Jazzies!

Jumbo Jazzies!

My feed has been getting a little brown/yellow recently so I thought I’d make something more colourful! I’m currently on holiday with my family and a family friend, Anne, who suggested these look a lot like those little chocolate pic-n-mix sweeties which are called jazzies, so these are officially ‘Jumbo Jazzies’!

Recipe

Makes 12

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 125g butter
  • 175g light brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 50g cocoa powder
  • 150g plain flour
  • 100g rainbow sprinkles ( I used 100s and 1000s)
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C and line two baking trays with baking paper.
  2. Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat together until smooth.
  3. Add the egg and beat until combined.
  4. Add the flour and cocoa powder and beat again to get a soft dough.
  5. Weigh the dough and divide the weight by 12 so you know how much each ball of cookie dough need to weigh (mine was 56g each). Then portion out each blob of cookie dough to this weight and place, well spaced on the lined baking trays (I put 6 cookies on each tray).
  6. Pour the 100s and 1000s into a bowl. Take one of the cookie balls and roll it in the sprinkles until covered all over. Place the cookie back on the baking sheet and repeat with the rest of the cookies.
  7. Bake for 10-12 minutes until they’ve spread out and are just starting to crisp round the edges. Leave to cool and then enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x