Double Choc Chip Cookies

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies, well what more can I say! Highly indulgent for those days when you want a serious chocolate fix. What I love about home baked cookies is the rustic look to them, the rough and uneven edges and no perfect circles, not to mention the divine aroma the wafts around your home whilst baking!

So go ahead and indulge yourself, bake and then sit back with a cup of tea and forget your cares, while you savour every bite of this decadent piece of chocolate heaven! :)

Ingredients

125g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
150g Plain flour
1 tspn Bicarbonate of soda
125g soft butter
75g light brown sugar
50g white sugar
1 tspn vanilla extract
200g dark choc chips or chunks
100g white choc chips
1 egg

Method

1. Pre heat oven to gas mark 4.
2. Melt chocolate over a pan of simmering hot water, make sure glass bowl is not touching water. When chocolate has melted remove and allow to cool.

3. In a bowl sieve all the dry ingredients, flour, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda. set aside.

4. In another bowl cream together the sugars and softened butter till light and fluffy. Then slowly add the melted chocolate. Continue to beat till well combined.

4. Add the vanilla extract and egg and beat together.

5. Now begin to add dry ingredients bit by bit.

6. Next add choc chips and mix well with a wooden spoon until dough comes together.

7. Now using a tablespoon or ice cream scoop, scoop up and place on a baking tray with a lined baking sheet. Spread them out, make them in batches if need be, do not cram them all onto one tray, give them room to spread.

8. Bake for 15-18 mins. No more, do not worry if they look under baked, they need to be gooey from inside.
9. Leave to cool for at least 1o mins before transferring to a cooling rack.

10. Enjoy with a glass of cold milk of cup of tea!

Bil-hana wa ash shifa'a! :)

Gooey chocolate cake

  بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Rich chocolate cake!

This chocolate cake is probably the most rich I have ever eaten! It is made without using any chocolate, only cocoa powder. It is definitely not one to be eaten often! However if there is a call for something rich moist and gooey this is the cake for you!
Here is what you will need.

Ingredients

1 cup of plain flour
1 cup of granulated sugar
pinch of salt
2 tbsns of unsweetened cocoa powder
113g butter
1/2 cup of boiling water
1/2 cup of buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 tspn bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tspn vanilla extract

For the icing 

1/4 chopped hazelnuts or nuts of choice
113g butter
2 tbsn unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tbspn milk
1/2 tspn vanilla extract
200g icing sugar

Method

1. Sift dry ingredients into bowl
2. Melt butter and add cocoa powder and mix, add water and boil for 30-40 secs.

3. Add the chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix well using a whisk.

4. In a small bowl mix the egg, vanilla extract and buttermilk.
5. Add this to chocolate mixture.

6. Pour into lined baking tin, 6 inch or 7 inch tin would be good for this cake.
7. Put into oven at about 180 degrees Celsius for about 25-30 mins.

8. For frosting melt butter in pan and add cocoa powder and mix for about 30 seconds. Turn off heat.
9. Add to this pan the vanilla extract and milk and icing sugar, then add your chopped nuts, mix well.

10. When cake is cooked leave to set for a few minutes then pour over the frosting. Leave to set for about 20 mins and serve warm or with Vanilla ice cream.

Rich and gooey and chocolate cake.

Enjoy!!

Healthy Breakfast Muffins

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Running around getting children ready in the morning, lastminute.com link book signings, a trip letter that they just pulled out of their school bag all crumpled up in need of an urgent signature, creased up P.E kit that that you spent late Sunday evening ironing! Leaving you very little time to have a healthy well balanced breakfast, so you grab anything and rush out of the door! Sound familiar?? :)

Well here is a breakfast muffin that you can make well in advance for such chaotic mornings. Jam packed with amazing ingredients that will help sustain blood sugar levels and keep you satisfied up till lunch. :)

So here is what you will need.

Ingredients

2 eggs

2/3 cup of brown sugar

1 tspn vanilla extract

3 riped bananas (1 cup) 

1/2 cup of homemade applesauce 

3/4 cup of milk

1/2 cup of ground flaxseeds (Also knows as linseed)

1/2 cup of ground dried sea buckworth berries ( you may omit if you cannot find)

1 cup wholewheat flour

1/2 cup of oats

1.5 cups of oatbran

1.5 tspn baking powder

1.5 tspn baking soda 

1 cup of fresh raspberries

2/3 cups of dark chocolate chips

Applesauce 

To make 1/2 cup of applesauce you will need:

3-4 medium sized sweet apples
3/4 cups of water
1/4 cup of sugar (optional, if apples are sweet i would omit this part)
1/2 tspn cinammon (optional)

Add all ingredients to a pan, cover and cook over medium heat for 30 mins until the apples are soft enough to mash. 

(This applesauce is delicious on top of yoghurt and cereals such as oats and porridge)

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to gas mark 4.

2. Add all the wet ingredients into a bowl and mix with hand mixer.

3. In a separate bowl add all the dry ingredients and mix well.

4. Then bit by bit add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix by hand as not to over mix.

5. Grease muffin tray with butter and fill each one by 2/3.

6. Bake for around 15-20 minutes.

7. Remove and leave to cool.

Delicious moist breakfast muffins.

Flaxseeds are a source of healthy fatty acids, and fibre, as well as being high in antioxidant's. Studies show that flaxseeds can help lower risk of diabetes. So why not grab a bag from your local health store. Grind the seeds before consumption as whole flaxseeds sometimes pass through undigested. So grind away and sprinkle over your cereal in the morning or add to soups. :)