Window Cookies

You might want to impress your guests with these simple but gorgeous looking cookies. Everyone will want to know the recipe and you'll be the star of the night. These cookies are really a great New Year's treat and children will love them.

I saw these cookies a few days ago on the Christmas Market while going to work. I was curious how this beautiful colored 'glass' is made and after a little chat with the lady selling such cookies, she confessed it consists of candy. Of course, I had to make them at home and after a few failed attempts, I managed to bake some perfectly looking window cookies.

The thing is, you have to make a thicker dough as usually, approximately 2 centimeters is best. If you make too thin cookies, the candy melts out of it and you get a colorful mess. Also, don't worry about crushing candies. Just lay one whole candy in the middle and it works just fine.

For 12 cookies you'll need:

300 grams flour

50 grams icing sugar

200 grams butter

12 fruit-flavored hard candies

Combine the flour, sugar and butter and knead into dough. Let sit for a couple of minutes, then roll the dough out – it has to be at least 2 centimeters thick. Cut with cookie cutters of choice, and cut shapes from cookie centers. Place on parchment paper. Place one whole candy in the center and bake for 10 minutes on 180°C. Once baked, leave to cool down completely on the parchment paper.

See through cookie!

Mulled Wine

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and got the presents you wished for. I certainly did. Now the Christmas celebration is over, you might want to make some plans for New Year's Eve. Just a few more days and 2012 will be over. Can you believe it?! But before the year ends, you have to drink a few glasses glass of mulled wine. Cheers!

750 ml red wine

250 ml water

6 table spoons sugar

1 tea spoon cinnamon

1 tea spoon cloves

1 tea spoon star aniseed

1 tea spoon vanilla

1 tea spoon lemon zest

Put everything in a big saucepan and warm through gently until hot. But not boily! Fill into your favorite cup or glass and enjoy.

Thumbprint Cookies

The Christmas cookie baking spree continues! I just get into baking cookies every now and then, but this time of the year makes it even more fun. I love these Thumbprint cookies because they look awesome and taste amazing. Actually I bake them just around Christmas and not year round because they look so perfect for Christmas.

I will be spending this evening with family, drinking mulled wine and eating delicious food while opening presents.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas eve! Eat lots and lots of great food and be joyful!

280 grams butter

400 grams flour

140 grams sugar

4 egg yolks

Lemon zest

250 grams walnuts, grated

Jam of choice

Put the flour and sugar in a big bowl. Add the butter and slice it into small pieces with a knife. You should get a messy combination of flour and butter. Add the yolks, lemon zest and walnuts. Knead the dough with your hands until you get a smooth texture. Put in the fridge for half an hour.

Now take a small amount of dough, let's say the size of a walnut, and roll into a ball. Set the balls on parchment paper and make a hole in the middle of each ball. I used the handle of a wooden spoon to do so. Bake them at 190°C for 20 minutes. When baked, fill the holes with one teaspoon jam of your choice (I used peach jam, but any kind of jam will work).

Coconut Bars

The past week was a tough one for me. I was exhausted and the changing weather was sucking my energy like a vamp. When things couldn't get worse I had a sore throat. And one of the many things I absolutely hate is having a sore throat. So nasty! I got to the store and saw these - of course I had to buy them.

5 pounds of sweet Clementines just for me

I am the person that eats at least one apple a day and lots of veggies, but still catch a cold sometimes. But when I do, it is either my birthday or holidays. Yes, I'm lucky like that. Anyways, I was thinking about fun recipes to make on Christmas parties.

Here's a fun recipe to try with your friends or family on Christmas eve. We used to make these bars when I was a kid and it is an interesting thing to do. These bars taste amazing and make a great addition to the Christmas dinner party.

3 eggs

8 table spoons sugar

12 table spoons flour

½ tea spoon vanilla

2 table spoons baking powder

½ cup milk

½ cup butter, melted

200 grams chocolate (I used semi-sweet)

1 tea spoon butter

20 table spoons milk

200 grams shredded coconut

First combine the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Gradually add the flour with baking powder, milk and butter. Pour into a greased baking tin and bake for 25 minutes on 180°C. When baked let cool for a few minutes, then slice into squares (It doesn't matter how big or small you cut them.) and set aside.

Melt the chocolate with the butter and milk. Stirr occasionally. Set aside.

Put the shredded coconut in a medium sized bowl and set aside.

Here's where the fun begins; take one square and put it in the chocolate. Make sure you cover it all in chocolate and then throw it in the coconut. The coconut has to be all around the little square. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Wreath Bread

December is here! This means the Christmas baking has started. I love December because it officially opens the baking season in our house. The number one spice I think of when talking about Christmas is cinnamon. I just love the scent of it, it makes me feel like home and reminds me of the warm feeling I get around Christmas. So I baked this Cinnamon Wreath Bread I saw on Pinterest.

I tried to do the cinnamon challenge with my sis as well, but the house was clean and we didn't want to spill cinnamon all over. But I will try to convince someone to do it on Christmas eve.

When I first saw the picture of this wreath I was like oh my, it looks great. But then I was like wait a minute, can I do that?? And I did! I have to say this is a wonderful recipe. The dough is super responsive, easy to roll out, and the rest is easy peasy as well. You just have to follow the instructions precisely and the thing works. You get a great looking wreath, which tastes amazing.

Before baking

For the dough:

2 cups flour

A pinch of salt

½ cups warm milk

17 grams active dry yeast

1/8 cup butter, melted

1 egg yolk

1 table spoon sugar

For the filling:

¼ cup butter, melted

4 table spoons sugar

3 table spoons cinnamon

Combine the warm milk, yeast and sugar and set aside for five minutes or until it starts to make bubbles. In a separate bigger sized bowl combine flour, egg yolk, salt and the yeast. Knead the dough with your hands or use a mixer and shape it into a ball. Set aside for one hour. Now roll out the dough, not too thin and not too thick and brush it with the melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll up the dough and use a sharp knife to cut it in half, length-wise. Twist the two halves together, keeping the open layers exposed. Give a round shape, then transfer to a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes on 200°C. 

Oreo Brownies

I bought a package of Oreo cookies the other day and totally forgot about them. Until recently, when I came across Lorraine Pascale's Baking Made Easy cookbook. I love Lorraine; she's so sweet and makes gorgeous food. Her recipes are all really easy and yet decadent. So I saw her Oreo Brownies recipe and had to make them. These brownies are so squidgy and fluffy in the middle, but the Oreos make a great crunch. One of the best brownies I have ever eaten! I used chocolate filled Oreos, but you can use the original ones or any kind you like.

165g butter

200g dark chocolate, finely chopped

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 tea spoons vanilla extract

165g brown sugar

 2 table spoons flour

 1 table spoon cocoa powder

 A pinch of salt

 154g pack Oreos, broken into quarters

Melt the butter over medium heat and set aside. Stir in the chocolate and sit for a few minutes. Then stir together so you get a nice, melted gooey mixture. Whisk the eggs and yolks in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the sugar, but be gentle so you don't knock out the air bubbles, pour it to around the side of the egg mixture. Keep mixing until you get a stiff mixture. Now add the melted chocolate and mix gently. Next, add the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Mix it up and add a third of the Oreos, mix up until combined. Pour into a greased baking tin, lined up with parchment paper. Scatter the remaining Oreos on top and bake for 25 minutes on 190°C.

When you remove the brownies out of the oven, the middle should be still a bit gooey. Leave it in the tin to cool down. Pull the brownies out of the tin and cut into squares.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies are pure art. A perfect chocolate chip cookie is so hard to find. I haven't found the one yet, but this recipe is the closest to perfect :) These cookies are double chocolate, inside and outside just the perfect cookie you'll want to eat.

It's from this blog.

2 1/4 cups flour1 tsp baking soda1 cup [2 sticks] margarine1/4 cup sugar3/4 cup brown sugar 6 oz. chocolate chips4 oz. instant chocolate pudding1 tsp vanilla2 eggs

Mix flour and baking soda and set aside. In a separate bowl mix the softened margarine, sugar, brown sugar, pudding mix, vanilla and beat until smooth. Add eggs and beat until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips and drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes on 190°C.

Lemon Pretzels

In case you were wondering If I am baking anything else than cookies lately - no I don't. Here's another cookie recipe. :)

My mum surprised me with these beauties on Monday when I came home. These pretzels are so delicious I had to share the recipe with you! They're like lemonade in cookie form. Totally addictive and so easy to make.

200 grams flour

100 grams butter

70 grams sugar

1/2 lemon - squish the juice out of it and grate the peel

2 egg yolks

1 tea spoon vanilla

Mix all of the ingredients together with a wooden spoon. When it starts getting thick, continue with your hands and knead the dough. Form into a ball and put in the fridge for 30 minutes. Form the dough into a long, sausage looking shape. Now cut the dough to walnut sized pieces. Form this little pieces of dough into pretzels by rolling the dough into a small sausage looking shape and turning the edges to the middle of it, pressing slightly with your fingers. Just use your imagination, you can also do other shapes if you wish. Bake at 180°C until they're golden brown. Sprinkle the pretzels with powdered sugar while they're still warm.

Swiss Roll Bomb

Yesterday morning I woke up and it was snowing! Everything was covered with the white, cold, wet thing….argh. I hate snow. I just don't like the cold, crisp winter mornings. So basically I wanted to crawl under my blanket and fall back asleep. But I'm a responsible adult and chose to go into the kitchen and prepare some dessert.

This dessert is perfect for those of you who like frozen treats and chocolate. It's a perfect combo with chocolate ice cream and swiss rolls. In the form of a giant bomb.

2 Swiss Rolls (I used chocolate flavored)

1 Chocolate ice cream

3 table spoons rum

First prepare a medium sized bowl – wrap the inside of the bowl in plastic and set aside. Cut the swiss roll in 1 centimeter thick pieces and place them all over the bowl, one next to another. When you're done and the bowl is covered in swiss rolls, brush them with rum. Put the ice cream in the middle of the bomb and press it gently with a spoon so you don't have any lumps (it's good to let the ice cream sit at room temperature for a few minutes before that). Now cover the bomb with remaining swiss rolls so you have a 'lid' and the bomb is closed. Cover with plastic wrap on top and put in the freezer for 2 hours. Let the bomb sit for a minute or two at room temperature or simply warm it with your hands a bit. Now carefully put it on a plate; remove the foil from the top and place a plate upside down on it. Turn around and try to get it out gently, it should pop out. Don't force the bomb out, or you'll get a messy thing! That's it. Just cut it in pieces and enjoy.

Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Here's another cookie post. I don't know why, but these days I crave cookies. Like crazy! I wanted some oatmeal cookies and found this beautiful recipe. These cookies are so good it's not humanly possible to eat just one. Seriously, they're crazy good. And contain oats, which happen to be my favorite ingredient for desserts these days.

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups flour

2 cups oatmeal

1 cup coconut

Cream together the butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Set aside. In a separate bowl mix together all dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well. Spoon onto greased baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 200°C.

Grandma's Easy Bars

This recipe is a family classic. No scale is required, you just take a coffee mug (mine holds about 1,5 deciliter) and put every single thing in a bowl. It's an easy, no fuss dessert when you have little time to please your guests. I like to bake these bars because they're so quickly done - just mix everything up and put in the oven, forget about it for a few minutes and slice them up.

They disappear really quick too! The softness and the delicious smell of these will make your mouth water. I wish I could show you how amazing they smell fresh from the oven. Unfortunately, you'll have to bake them and see for yourself how great they are.

2 coffee mugs flour, combined with 2 table spoons baking powder

1 cup yogurt of choice (I used a peach flavored one)

2 coffee mugs sugar

2 coffee mugs walnuts, finely grind

2 coffee mugs milk

1 coffee mug oil or margarine or butter

4 eggs

1 coffee mug dark chocolate, grated

Put everything, one by one, in a big bowl, mix carefully and slow, but make sure there are no lumps. The batter should be smooth and silky. Pour the batter in a greased pan and bake for 30 minutes on 180°C. When baked let cool and slice into bars. Enjoy.

Nutella Cookies

The thing is I absolutely love Nutella. It's my all time favorite spread; back when I was a kid I ate straight from the jar with a spoon. Mmmmmmmmm

Then I discovered I could use Nutella in various dessert recipes, too. Nowadays I bake a lot with this deliciousness. These cookies are so easy to do and so so yummy, you have to make them! I found the recipe on Pinterest.

And here they are; straight from the oven.

1 cup Nutella

1 cup flour

1 whole egg

Just put all ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix all up. I started mixing with my hand mixer and then kneading the dough with my hands. Shape the dough into little balls and put on parchment paper, flatten with a glass a bit. Bake for 8 minutes on 190°C.

PB&J Blondies

A year ago I have bought my first jar of peanut butter. Ever. No joke. Peanut butter is not the common, everyday spread in Slovenia. We eat a lot of butter and jam, Nutella and Liverwurst, but no peanut butter. I have to admit I wasn't hooked when I first tried a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich, but I can't get enough of it nowadays. I like to use PB in cookies and desserts and these Blondies are like a PB&J sandwich in Blondie form. The recipe is from Averie's blog.

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter, melted

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 to 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 to 1/3 cup jelly (strawberry, grape, raspberry, cherry)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 60 seconds. To the melted butter, add 1/4 cup peanut butter and heat for 30 to 45 seconds to soften the peanut butter. Stir until  the melted butter-peanut butter mixture is smooth and combined. Add the brown sugar and stir to combine. Add the egg, vanilla, and stir to combine. Add the flour, salt, and stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix. Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula or offset knife if necessary.

To the top of the batter, add 1/4 to 1/3 cup peanut butter, dolloped out in 4 or 5 tablespoon-sized mounds. Add 1/4 to 1/3 cup jelly, dolloped out in 4 or 5 tablespoon-sized mounds. Using a knife, marble the peanut butter and jelly in a zig-zag pattern until peanut butter and jelly is dispersed and marbled. Bake for 22 to 27 minutes, or until edges begin to slightly pull away from sides of pan, center is set and golden, and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for at least 45 minutes before slicing and serving. 

Mushroom Pasta

It's time for another pasta dish! Pasta is the ultimate main course because you can prepare it within minutes, it is delicious, you can put everything you want on top, it is delicious, it is not pricey and it is delicious. As you can tell, I really like pasta. 

This version is for mushroom lovers and is so so easy to make. All you need is 15 minutes. Counting?

500g mushrooms

5 garlic cloves

Olive oil

A generous handful of parsley, minced

Pasta of choice (I used whole wheat Barilla Pipe Rigate)

Salt and pepper

First clean the mushrooms and slice them thin, now chop the garlic in thin strips. Meanwhile cook the pasta all-dente. 

Whole wheat Barilla Pipe Rigate

In a bigger saucepan heat the olive oil and saute the garlic strips for a few seconds, be careful not to burn them. Add mushrooms and stir occasionally. Cook over medium heat untill the water evaporates. This should take about ten minutes. Last, when the mushrooms are tender and there's no water in the saucepan, add the minced parsley and season with salt and pepper. Now mix the cooked pasta into it (the pasta should be drained and sprinkled with a splash of olive oil).

Skinny Snickerdoodles

Sunday was a special day in our house. It was snickerdoodle sunday! I was looking forward to baking these bad boys all day long. Cinnamon is the one spice I really really like. A lot. That's why I love these cookies so much. Another fact: cinnamon is perfect for fall and winter days. Since fall weather allready hit us, I decided to bake snickerdoodles.

I've tried many different recipes, but this one is one of the best. The dough is easy to handle and not too sweet. Recipe from here.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tea spoon baking soda

1/2 tea spoon cream of tartar

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 table spoon corn syrup

1 tea spoon vanilla

1 large egg

3 table spoons sugar

2 tea spoons ground cinnamon

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 190°C.  Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup.  Combine flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar, stirring with a whisk.

Combine 1 cup of sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.  Add the corn syrup, vanilla and egg; beat well.  Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, beating just until combined.  Cover and chill for 10 minutes.

Combine 3 Tbsp sugar and cinnamon, stirring with a whisk.  With moist hands, shape dough into balls.  Roll balls in sugar mixture.  Place balls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray.  Flatten balls with the bottom of a glass.  Bake for 5 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft).  Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes.  Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

White Chocolate Pineapple Muffins

Sundays are perfect for baking muffins. The smell of freshly baked, still hot muffins makes me want to sit on the couch and watch movies all day long. Of course this didn't happen, but these little friends did come straight from the oven into four hungry mouths.

The thing is I really really like pineapple. Fresh pineapple is so sweet and melts in your mouth like no other fruit. So I found this old muffin recipe because my sis was craving some white chocolate muffins. Really hard. And in case you didn't know, pineapple and white chocolate are best friends.

For 24 muffis:

 300g flour

150g sugar

½ tea spoon bicarbonate of soda

1 tea spoon baking powder

410g creme fraiche

2 eggs

1dl oil

1 pineapple, cut in chunks

2 handfulls white chocolate, cut small or use morsels

Mix the flour with baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and set aside. Whisk together the eggs and sugar and add oil and creme fraiche. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet and mix well, but make sure you don't overmix the batter!  Now carefully blend the pineapple and white chocolate chunks to the mixture. Pour into a greased muffin pan and bake for 25 minutes on 180°C.

Tuna Spread

As I was going through the pantry today I discovered a few cans of tuna that I completely forgot about. Usually I like to put tuna in salads and mostly pair it with pasta. My sister was in charge for dinner tonight and she made this wonderful tuna spread. It is really easy to make and you can spread it on bread or dip crackers in it.

2 cans tuna

1 hard boiled egg

2 table spoons butter, softened

2 table spoons dijon mustard

1 small onion

1 tea spoon capers

1 table spoon olives

Gather your ingredients and put everything in your Magic Bullet or, if you don't have one, just chop everything small and mix together.

Plum Pie

Our plum tree in the garden is bursting with delicious purple plums every august and my mom and I usually make plum dumplings or plum jam every weekend. This summer however, was one of the worst we could think of. Drought hit us hard in Slovenia and the ground is really dry and non of our neighbours has good looking tomatoes or any kind of fruit growing in the garden. Our plum tree gave us just a few plums this year and I decided to make a delicious pie.

Here's one more thing you need to know about plums. Most of the desserts including plums don't look very appealing. That's my opinion and my experience with plums, but don't judge this super tasty pie by the picture please.

The little helper wants some pie.

For the dough:

300g flour

150g butter

1 egg

1tea spoon vanilla

A pinch of salt

For the filling:

500g plums, stoned

100g brown sugar

3 table spoons rum

Cut the plums in half, remove the pits and put in a bowl. Sprinkle them with sugar and rum. Mix well and set aside.

Make the dough by mixing al of the ingredients together with a mixer or you can do it with your hands. Put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough to the size of your pie dish and transfer to the dish. Make sure the dough is hanging a bit around the edges of the pie dish. Now use a fork to spike the dough a few times and bake on 190°C for ten minutes. Remove from the oven and put the plum mixture on the dough. Bake for another 35 minutes.

No Bake Chocolate Orange Kisses

I was in a hurry this past week. Running errands, working, planning a birthday party and squeezing my daily runs in this schedule was exhausting and so my blog wasn't updated in ages. However, I still managed to cook every day and even some dessert baking happened.

Thinking about an easy peasy no bake dessert this fantastic little kisses came to my mind. They're soft and rich in orange flavor, just perfect for summer. I wanted to make something quick, but yet good looking and tasty of course! Needles to say, everyone loved it.

300g crushed digestive biscuits

150ml orange juice

1 tea spoon vanilla

2 table spoons orange jam (I used apricot)

2 table spoons cocoa powder

1 table spoon Nutella

1 table spoon honey

Mix everything together and put in the fridge for 30 minutes so the flavors can blend together. Make little balls and decorate them if you wish. I put a bit melted chocolate on them and sprinkled them with colored sugar sprinkles. You can also roll them in shreded coconut or in sprinkles. The sky's the limit.

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Trifle

I have never made a trifle before. It's not a common dessert in this part of Europe. However, when I saw the picture of it on a blog I'm reading, I knew I'm making this right away. It's really easy to make; you basically just throw everything you like in a glass bowl and cool before serving. 

As the first layer I used my favorite brownies. Then I made a peanut butter layer, followed by chopped Snickers and topped with chocolate pudding and heavy cream on top. I made two layers of every ingredient.

It's the Olympics and the TV is on for hours in our house, so the trifle is just a perfect dessert to make since it doesn't require turning on the oven and making the house even hotter.

The recipe is a bit changed from here.

CAC (Chocolate-Apricot-Coconut) Muffins

Baking muffins is my all-time favorite thing to do. When I first started baking (in the good old high school years) muffins were for dessert every other day. I just love the cute little muffin top and the soft inside. These little fellas are topped with my homemade apricot jam and shredded coconut. Because they just make a great couple. I absolutely love pairing coconut and apricot. However, you can use any other jam and they will still taste delicious.

100g chocolate, melted

300g all-purpose flour

2 tea spoons bicarbonate of soda

½ tea spoon baking powder

A pinch of salt

2 eggs

150g butter, soften

80g sugar

250ml milk

3 table spoons apricot jam

2 table spoons shredded coconut

First combine the flour, salt, soda and baking powder. In a separate bowl mix the sugar and eggs, add the butter and milk. Now pour the mixture to the dry one and mix well. Finally add the melted chocolate. Pour into a greased muffin tin and bake for 25 minutes on 180°C. When baked set aside for a minute or two and brush the muffin tops with apricot jam and sprinkle with some shredded coconut.

Homemade Chocolate Milk - Chocolate Syrup

Milk is not my drink of choice when it comes to beverages. I just don't like the taste of milk and I substitute it with yogurt;  I eat yogurt with my cereal, with fresh fruit, with…..almost everything is good with yogurt! However, after my run I crave chocolate milk. Crazy right? My sister likes this homemade chocolate milk like a kid. She is the biggest chocolate milk drinker I know. So I came up with this recipe for chocolate syrup.

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

½ cup cocoa powder

A pinch of salt

½ tea spoon vanilla

Mix the cocoa with water and pour into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat and add the sugar. Boil for four minutes and add the vanilla and salt. Let cool and pour into a clean glass bottle. Store in the fridge. For chocolate milk blend two or three (if you like a richer flavor) tea spoons of syrup with milk. 

Spaghetti With Fried Zucchini

I love everything Italian. Especially pasta. And this one is my all time favorite. Zucchini grows like crazy these days on our garden and I can't think of anything better than pair it with pasta.

2 zucchini, cut into thin slices

A generous amount of olive oil (let's say about 10 table spoons)

Spaghetti of choice (I use wholegrain Barilla)

First you do the base-in a saucepan heat the oil and fry the zucchini till they're golden and soft. Meanwhile cook the spaghetti al dente. Drain the spaghetti and add to the saucepan with the zucchini. Toss around a few times so the pasta absorbs the oil.  Serve with parsley (optional).

This recipe is taken from Frank's blog Memorie di Angelina.

Chocolate Walnut Brownies

I am a huge brownie fan. The warm and soft, straight from the oven brownie is the best thing that can happen to you on a rainy afternoon.

We've had some gloomy afternoons this past three days here in Slovenia. And I seriously hate rain and cold. It's summer and those rainy days with no sun just don't fit in! It was pretty boring yesterday and I had no book left to read (Yes, that happens sometimes) so I decided to turn on the oven and bake some brownies.

1cup butter, melted

1cup brown sugar

4 eggs

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1cup flour

A pinch of salt

4 table spoons milk

2 table spoons finely grind walnuts

Put the melted butter in a bowl and add the eggs and sugar. Beat till the sugar is dissolved. Add cocoa powder, dlour, salt, milk and walnuts. Mix it all up and pour into a greased pan. Bake for 30 minutes on 180°C.

Puffy Pillows

That's probably the easiest cookie recipe I have ever made. They're perfect when you have a full house and little time to make something sweet to fulfil your guests' cravings. Anyone can make these sweet delights, no baking skills required! Just 10 minutes prep time and another 15 for baking.

You need:

1 package puff pastry sheets

Jam (I used my homemade apricot jam, try Nutella or any jam of your choice)

Roll out the puff pastry and cut it in little squares. If you want the pillows really small, cut smaller squares, but make sure they're not super tiny or you'll have serious problems folding them.

Put one tea spoon jam in the middle of each square and brush some water on the edges. Now fold them so you get a pillow. 

Make a little hole using a knife on the pillow's highest point; this prevents the jam from coming out during baking. 

Place the pillows on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes on 200°C. Leave to cool for a few minutes and sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Chocolate Donuts

These are my famous chocolate donuts. They're super soft and chewy and chocolate lovers just can't resist to eat them. Another great thing about these donuts is the fact that they're baked, not fried! This makes them so soft and non-oily. I have to say I really like traditional, fried donuts, but it's hard to buy good ones here in Slovenia because many people don't know this delicious treat.

I bought a donut pan back in february after weeks (!) of consideration whether I need one. Of course I didn't need one, I just wanted one. So I finally bought it and became obsessed with baking donuts of any kind, every single day. Another fun fact is that my grandpa, who is not a dessert person at all, ate a dozen of them on my grandma's birthday party. So I know what to get him on his birthday. And Christmas.

130g all purpose flour

2 table spoons cocoa powder

1 tea spoon baking powder

¼ tea spoon bicarbonate of soda

75g sugar

a pinch of nutmeg

a pinch of salt

2 table spoons butter

¼ cup buttermilk or regular milk with lemon juice

¼ cup  yogurt

¼ tea spoon vanilla

One egg

Sift the flour, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda. Add the sugar, salt and nutmeg. Combine and add the butter. Now mix it all up with your fingers. You have to create crumbs or bigger chunks of the mixture. In another bowl beat yogurt, milk, vanilla and egg. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix it all up with a spatula. Don't overmix the batter! It's perfectly fine to have a mess, not a liquid sauce.

Fill in the greased donut pan and bake for about 6-8 minutes on 180°C. Leave to cool for 5 minutes and glaze the donuts with melted chocolate or sprinkle some powdered sugar on top.

Vanilla Surprise Muffins

These muffins are simply gorgeous; soft on the outside and gooey on the inside. The heart of these muffins is a surprise kick that melts in your mouth and makes you crave for more.

Ingredients (Makes 12 Muffins):

150g butter

170g sugar

3 eggs

150g all-purpose flour

2 tea spoons baking powder

1 tea spoon vanilla sugar

For the filling:

½ packet of instant vanilla pudding

250ml milk

1 table spoon sugar

Preheat the oven to 200°C. For the filling prepare the instant pudding as required on the back of the box. For the dough mix the butter and sugar till you get a foamy mixture. Add the eggs and flour combined with baking powder and vanilla sugar. Pour the mixture into the muffin baking tray. Place a tea spoon of filling on the top of each muffin. Bake for 15 minutes.

It's a Cake!

Hello Blog world! Today is a special day. The Cake Baby was born! It came to the blog world to deliver a special message: cooking and baking is fun and easy. Every delicious recipe on this blog is tested by test-eaters and marked as “blog appropriate”. So let’s start cooking!