Cinnamon blondies

If I were American, I’d probably call these ‘snickerdoodle blondies’. Because if I were American, I probably wouldn’t have got to the age of 24 without having ever eaten, seen or been near a snickerdoodle cookie – as it is, I thought it would feel a bit fraudulent making blondies in their name, which is why these are simply cinnamon blondies.

They were super easy to make and turned out really well. Although they look a bit cakey in the photos, they had just the right amount of fudgyness to definitely be a proper blondie rather than just a cake bar.

In fact, I may make this my go-to blondie recipe, as the cinnamon sugar topping could easily be left off and any number of add-ins thrown in.

The thing I like most about them is that they aren’t dripping in buttery grease, which is what put me off blondies for about a year after my first disastrous attempt!

Now all I need to do is actually go make a snickerdoodle cookie!

Cinnamon blondies (recipe adapted from Baking Bites)

Makes 16 small squares

• 115g butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 120g plain flour
• 100g white chocolate, chopped
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1tsp cinnamon

Beat the butter and sugar together until well creamed. Add in the egg and vanilla and beat again, then fold in the flour and white chocolate chips. Spread the mixture into a greased and lined 8×8″ square baking tin, then mix together the remaining caster sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly on top. Bake at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool then cut into squares and serve.

Gingerbread chocolate souffles (GF)

I remember bookmarking this recipe when the first series of Eric Lanlard’s Baking Mad was shown (back in the not-so-good old days of my unemployment, when it was acceptable to spend four hours or so a day watching cookery shows) but have only just got around to making them now, thanks to a set of ramekins I was given for my birthday.

I think for a first ever attempt at souffles they turned out ok, although my ramekins look a bit wider than the ones in the picture  which might be why they aren’t quite so risen – although the before and after shots prove there was a bit of a rise!

I cooked them for 11 minutes as directed, but they were most definitely not ready after that long so I gave them another couple of minutes (I was using an oven thermometer as well so not quite sure what went wrong…)

They might not look all that impressive, but they certainly tasted it! I love chocolate and ginger together, and the added cinnamon worked really well – I would definitely make these again!

Gingerbread Chocolate Souffles (recipe adapted from Eric Lanlard, posted by Delicious Magazine)

Makes 4 souffles

• 15g butter
• 60g caster sugar
• 105g plain chocolate
• 3 small eggs, separated
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• Extra melted butter and caster sugar to prepare the ramekins

Brush the ramekins with melted butter, and sprinkle with caster sugar to stop the souffles sticking. Melt the chocolate, butter, spices and vanilla in a bowl over simmering water (my chocolate mixture seized, but heating in the microwave loosened it up again). Beat in the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture, and whisk the egg whites and sugar in a separate bowl, until they form meringue like stiff peaks.

Stir in a third of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture to loosen, then gently fold in the rest. Divide the mixture between the four ramekins and bake at 180 degrees for 11-13 minutes – they should be well risen with a slight wobble. Serve with cream, clotted cream or ice cream – all would be delicious!

Chocolate chip cinnamon cake

Want to know how good this cake is?

I made it twice in three days. That’s right, the pony and I ate 12 squares between us in two days, then I made another to take into work which was devoured in one day.

I’ve been having a bit of a love affair with cinnamon recently – it never hugely appealed before but these apple and cinnamon cupcakes totally changed my mind.

This cake is really moist (some would say undercooked, I would say ok – more for me) with a delicious crisp sugary topping, with delicious chocolate chips in every mouthful. Seriously, what’s not to like?

Chocolate chip cinnamon cake (adapted from Bites out of Life)

Makes 12 squares

• 60g butter
• 150g caster sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 220g vanilla yoghurt
• 180g plain flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 150g chopped chocolate, I used a mix of milk, dark and white
• 50g caster sugar
• 1tsp cinnamon

Grease and line an 8×8″ square cake tin. Beat together the butter and 150g sugar until light and fluffy, then add in the egg yolks one at a time. Fold in the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the yoghurt (dry mix, yoghurt, dry mix, yoghurt, dry mix). Whisk the egg whites until they hold their shape, then fold into the cake batter.

Spread half of the cake mix into the prepared tin. Mix the 50g sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle half of it over the cake. Sprinkle half of the chocolate chips on top of that, then dollop on the rest of the cake mix, using a spatula to spread it into an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar and chocolate chips on top, then bake at 180 degrees for approximately 35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Leave to cool, then cut into squares and serve.

Cinnamon rolls – Fresh From the Oven

As much as I love to bake, yeasted products are not my forte.

I’ve only started baking my own bread in the past year, and to be honest I just don’t find it as exciting as sweet baking so I don’t do it as often.

I’ve decided that in order to be a more rounded baker, I need to focus a little more effort on breads and yeasted goods. For that reason, this month I joined Fresh From The Oven, a blogging group baking their way through the world of breads, one loaf at a time.

The October challenge was cinnamon rolls – a nice easy one to ease me into it!?!

I don’t have a clue what I’m doing with sweet yeasted rolls, so I followed the recipe to the letter, apart from substituting sultanas for apples as i had a glut to use up.

Every stage of the process was completely new to me, and as with all breads it was rather time consuming – but well worth the effort!

The icing on top is a stroke of genius – they make the rolls sticky, sweet and moist, and help to keep them fresher for longer.

All in all, I think that for my first Fresh From The Oven challenge I did a pretty good job – the photos don’t do them justice!

You can find the original recipe for cinnamon rolls at Things We Make - give it a go!

National Cupcake Week – apple and cinnamon cupcakes

I’m not quite sure how it gets decided that there will be a National Cupcake Week, but not for one minute does that stop me jumping on the bandwagon and getting my metaphorical baking hat on.

It was pretty easy to decide what type of cupcakes to make, after I was gifted with a lovely bag of apples fresh from my bosses garden…

I found this recipe on What The Fruitcake?! and decided to go with the basic sponge, but skip the caramel filling and swap the cream cheese icing for a brown sugar cinnamon buttercream. As I had lots of apples I also make caramelised apple slices to go on top, which give them a nice bit of colour!

I warn you, these cupcakes smell AMAZING when they are baking and it took a lot of willpower to stop myself devouring them the minute they were baked.

I took these into work and also to visit some family, and everyone seemed to like them. I maybe went a bit over the top with the cinnamon dusting, but I think it’s a good balance to the sweetness!

Apple cupcakes with cinnamon brown sugar buttercream:

For the sponge (recipe from What The Fruitcake?!)

• 1 cup of peeled, cored and finely diced apples (this worked out at 2 small apples for me)
• 45g butter
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup apple sauce
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg

Beat together the butter and both sugars until creamy and smooth. Beat in the egg, then half the apple sauce. Mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and nutmeg and sift half into the batter. Mix well, then add the rest of the apple sauce. Beat until combined, the fold in the remaining flour mix and chopped apples. Divide between 12 large cupcake or muffin cases and bake at 180 degrees for approximately 18 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

For the icing

• 125g unsalted butter
• 125g light brown sugar
• 125g icing sugar
• 2-3tsp cinnamon, plus extra to dust

Beat together the butter (softened) and brown sugar until well mixed. Sift in the icing sugar and beat for a further 5 minutes, until really light and delicious. Add in the cinnamon to taste, then spread on top of the cooled cupcakes. Dust with a bit more sieved cinnamon.

For the caramelised apples

• 1 small apple, cored and cut into 12 slices
• 10g butter
• 1 tbsp caster sugar

Heat the butter in a saucepan until melted, then stir in the sugar until dissolved. Add in the apples and keep stirring until they caramelise, maybe 5 minutes. It seems like it’s going really slowly then all of a sudden they turn golden, so keep a close eye and keep stirring! Tip onto a plate to cool then use to top the cupcakes.