Milkyway and Malteaser Double Chocolate Brownies

Hi everyone! 

Hope you're all doing well? 

Below is a recipe for Malteaser and Milkyway Double Chocolate Brownies, the recipe has been adapted and the original recipe can be found here I always use this recipe as a base for my brownies and then add in whatever I desire, and this time it was Milkyway chocolate bars and Malteasers!

***Please note, the below recipe is the scaled down (Original) version. To make my brownies, I used a large deep set rectangle baking tray - The recipe below therefore does not produce large chunky brownies. I double the recipe to get the desired thickness for the brownies - In red are the weights for the doubled up versions***

There not burnt! It's just the filter I used! Should of used a different one I suppose ;) 

Makes 20 

(Or more depending on how big you want the squares) 

Ingredients: 

185g  Butter - 370g Butter 

185g Dark Chocolate - 370g Dark Chocolate

85g Plain Flour  - 170g Plain Flour

40g Cocoa Powder - 80g Cocoa Powder

50g - Milk Chocolate - 100g Milk Chocolate
50g - White Chocolate - 100g White Chocolate 

3 Large Eggs - 6 Large Eggs

275g Caster Sugar - 550g Caster Sugar 

You will also need: 

Spoon or Spatula 
x 2 large bowls or any mixing bowls 
A couple of big and little spoons
A large rectangle baking tray
Greaseproof paper 


Let's begin shall we? 

Step 1: Boil the kettle then place the hot water into a pan, that's on a low heat on the stove to create a bain marie. Break up 185g of dark chocolate into chunks and place into a heat proof bowl, add in the butter as well and give it a little bit of a stir. Then place the bowl onto the pan with the water in, be careful! Don't burn yourself and watch out for any water spitting out at you - try not to get any water into the chocolate. Occasionally stir the chocolate so it doesn't stick to the bottom on the bowl, once the chocolate and the butter is all incorporated, with some oven gloves or a tea towel, carefully take the bowl off the heat and place to one side to cool down for a while. - You can also do this in a microwave if you have one available :) 

Step 2: In one bowl, sieve together the flour and cocoa powder until it's all Incorporated together in the bowl. Then place to one side whilst you sort out the other ingredients.

Step 3. crack all the eggs into a jug or container and give it a whisk until it is all mixed in, then add the sugar into your other bowl, once you have done this add in the eggs.  You need to keep whisking the eggs until the mixture creams together, goes a paler colour and gets thicker.

 Keep whisking for a bout 5-7 minutes, you will know it's done by lifting your whisk or fork out of the mix and when it leaves a trail over the surface it should stay for a second. If it doesn't whisk a little more. 

See the trail from the fork? That's what you're looking for.

Step 4: Add in the cooled melted chocolate, it may still be a bit warm but that's okay! So long as it's not hot chocolate, otherwise it will turn to very sugary scrambled egg, so make sure you leave it to cool.  Very slowly mix the chocolate into the egg and sugar mix, you don't want to mess up all the work you put into mixing in the previous stage. Keep mixing until it is all combined and looks like the below picture. 

Step 5: Slowly sieve in the chocolate powder and the flour, once it's all into the bowl;. Mix with the method of plunging your spoon / spatula into the back of the mix and then drag the spoon towards yourself, the mix will slowly start to fold in on itself. 

It will start to go to a fudge like consistency like the below picture. 

Step 6:  Grease the tin with butter, sprinkle with flour then line with Grease proof paper, leaving some paper hanging over the edges so it's easier to take out of the pan once baked. 

7. Pour half the mixture into the tray and smooth out, then cutting chunks of chocolate up scatter the Milkyway and the Malteasers onto the mixture. 

Then our the rest of the mix on top, and then the rest of the chocolate bar and Malteasers!

8. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes in the middle of the oven, when the timers up check the brownies, if they are wobbling too much, place back in the oven for 10 minutes.

When you check, you're looking for a slight wobble, when you get this take it out of the oven and place on the side still in the pan and leave to completely cool. 

Once cool, cut how you desire! 

And enjoy!

Much love, 

Vanilla Spice Sugar Cookie Recipe

Morning everyone! 

How are we all today? 

We all remember the last post what was on here don't we? Surely no one has forgotten? ;) 

Well, as promised I said I would do the recipe for these Vanilla Spice sugar cookies, some people have asked for the recipe on Instagram so I thought I would post it on here and then link it back through! 

Vanilla Spice Sugar Cookie: What you will need

4oz / 113g of Butter 

4oz / 113g Sugar 

6oz / 170g Plain Flour

2 tsp's of Vanilla 

3 tsp's of Ginger 

1 Easter Egg shaped cookie cutter (I used Wilton's) 

Directions:

1. Start by turning your oven on to 180c (fan)/200c/ Gas Mark 6.

2. In a mixing bowl, place the butter and the sugar together and beat until fluffy, you will know the butter has been beaten enough once it changes colour to what it was originally before. It will go a pale yellow colour. 

3. Next add in the Ginger and Vanilla and give it another good mix, until everything is incorporated. Add more ginger or Vanilla if desired. 

4. Once everything is mixed, slowly but gradually add in the flour (preferably sifting, if you don't have a sieve don't worry) As your adding the flour in, start to mix the content together, it should eventually be tough to stir.

5. Once all ingredients have been incorporated, place the dough onto a floured surface, sprinkle some flour onto the cookie dough and onto the rolling pin. Start to roll out the dough. Don't forget to keep turning the dough and adding flour underneath, otherwise it will stick to the surface and you will have to start again. 

6. Roll out to required thickness for cookies. Once rolled out, using your egg shaped cookie cutter, cut as many eggs as you can out of the sheet, don't worry if you can't get a lot out, you can always re-roll the dough and make some more for the next batch. 

Repeat this section until you have no more cookie dough. 

7. Place the cookies onto either a greased tray (I used butter and then sprinkle some flour on, but you can use Grease proof paper too!) Make sure when placing the cookies then they have a gap between them all, about two fingers width apart.

8. Place the cookies in the oven on the middle shelf and  bake for 5 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges. Once baked, take out of the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. 

To Decorate:

For the decoration you can use anything you wish, melted chocolate, icing sugar, sprinkles or royal icing. On the above cookies, we have Royal Icing. 

A quick and easy way for Royal Icing: 

1 x 500g Bag of Tate and Lyle Royal Icing 

1 x Small cup of cold water

Gel food colouring

Spatula

Various Bowls

Spoons

Cling film and / or damp clean cloths

Always remember to cover all icing with a lightly damp cloth, don't use the icing if it has crusted over

1. Add all the Royal Icing sugar into a deep bowl, and add a couple of tablespoons of water into the mix. Using an electric hand whisk, start mixing the icing sugar on the slowest speed setting. BE CAREFUL OF SUGAR DUST FLYING EVERYWHERE. 

2. Slowly start to add a couple more tablespoons into the mix until it starts to become incorporated. Once everything is mixed together, you should be left with a stoggy icing, add a teaspoon of cold water into the mix and beat at a high speed for 5-7 minutes. The texture and thickness will start to change.

There are three types of icing that you will need: 

1. Stiff Peak -  Dab your spatula on to the icing, once it comes of there should be a peak of icing, if the peak stays up, is sturdy and does not fall, you have achieved Stiff Peak.

2. Soft Peak - Do the same as what you did with Stiff Peak, but if the icing peak bends or falls, this is smooth enough to be Soft Peak. 

3. Run out - Run out icing, or is used for filling in or "flooding" a large, flat surface area such as a cookie. To achieve this, you should start with Stiff Peak, gradually adding water to then achieve Soft Peak, there is a method called the "7 Taps" this is when you lift the spatula out of the icing, make a pattern on the surface and then tap the bowl 7 times. After the seventh, all the  lines or pattern should disappear. Once you get to this stage you know it is ready. Always keep checking the consistency with the spatula

3. Once you reach Stiff peak, spoon desired amount into bowls and mix with chosen colour (Preferably gel colours, water based ones will cause the consistency of the icing to change) Mix the colours that you need. If your doing the design above, you will need: 

White - Stiff Peak 

Yellow - Soft Peak

4. With your White Stiff peak icing, place a number 2 nozzle in the piping back and snip off the end. Add in the White stiff peak icing, gently and carefully pipe a pattern of a cracked egg shell around the base of the egg cookie. Just like on the picture below. 

5. Leave for a few minutes until the edges are dry, once dried get your white run out icing, flood the inside of the "shell" and leave to dry for t10 minutes. 

6. Repeat 4 & with correct colours for the rest of the design, or create your own! 

Hope you enjoyed this recipe and the design!

Much love as always,