I have been doing lots of baking recently and this chocolate tiffin is one of my favourite recipes. It is really sweet and filling, you don’t need a lot for it to be a real treat!
Ingredients
100g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons of caster sugar
2 tablespoons of golden syrup
4 teaspoons of cocoa powder
225g of digestive biscuits
50g raisins
250g milk chocolate
Method
Line a 20 x 20 tin with greaseproof paper.
Crush the biscuits
Melt the butter in a saucepan then add the sugar, syrup and cocoa.
Once all mixed in add the biscuits and raisins and stir them in.
Pour into the prepared tin and press down really hard and right into the corners.
Melt the chocolate and pour onto the top of the mixture and spread it out.
Put in the fridge for 1.5 to 2 hours before cutting the tiffin into about 12 to 16 pieces depending on how big you would like it
Yesterday I made peanut butter cookies from a recipe in my Mum’s BBC Good Food Magazine – they were so easy and really delicious, I would really recommend them. The original recipe can be found here.
These were really quick and easy and I think they are perfect for kids to make on their own, next time I might try adding chocolate chips or some extra chopped nuts but they were delicious both warm and cold. I think they tasted more nutty the following day.
Ingredients
200g peanut butter (crunchy or smooth- I used a mix as that was what we had)
175g golden caster sugar
1/2 tsp table salt
1 large egg
Method
Heat oven to 180 degrees/ 160 degrees for a fan oven and line two baking trays
Mix peanut butter, salt and sugar
Add in egg- it makes a dough type mixture
Place large marble size balls of dough spaced out on the trays and gently squash with the back of a fork.
Cook for around 12 minutes until golden around the ages- I found they needed around 16 minutes until they were a nice colour and I turned the oven up for the last few minutes
Allow to cool slightly on a baking tray before eating!
We would love to hear if you make these, I will definitely be making them again soon.
My Mum made some fruity breakfast muffins for me for SATs week and I really liked them so I have been experimenting with adding different fruit and sometimes chocolate.
They are really quick to make and can even be frozen, they are delicious for breakfast.
130g plain flour
85g caster sugar
35g porridge oats and an extra sprinkle for the top
1 tsp of baking powder
2 eggs
125g unsalted butter, melted
2 bananas mashed
1 apple grated
A handful of raisins or chocolate chips.
Sift all the dry ingredients except the porridge oats.
Stir porridge oats in.
Beat the eggs, sugar and melted butter
Fold the egg mix into the dry ingredients
Add the fruit you have picked and then mix in any additional items such as chocolate chips.
These flapjacks are really quick to make and taste AMAZING. They are delicious warm but I think they taste even better the next day, especially after a day of school!
Ingredients
250g Porridge Oats
125g unsalted butter
125g soft brown sugar
3 tablespoons of golden syrup
Method
Heat the oven to 180C
Line a baking tray (about 20cm square) with greaseproof paper and then grease with extra butter to stop it sticking
Heat the butter in a saucepan being very careful of the heat and when it is melted stir in the sugar.
Stir for a minute before adding the porridge oats and mix them in until they are coated with the butter and sugar
Add the golden syrup and mix in until it is spread across all the oats
Carefully take the mixture off the heat and then spread out and press down hard into the pan.
Get an adult to help you with the oven and cook for around 15 minutes until the flapjack is lightly browned.
Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before taking out and letting it cool on a cooling rack for a while.
You can then cut it into squares- it should make 12- 15 but I bet you won’t be able to resist just having one piece!
We have been trying out different recipes for Rice Krispie cake and we think this is the best one yet! I had lots of fun breaking up the chocolate and stirring all the ingredients together. I didn’t really like waiting for it to set for too long though!
Ingredients
2x Fingers of fudge
70g any other chocolate (we used up leftover mini Easter Eggs!)
40g butter
4 level tablespoons of golden syrup
75g of Rice Krispies
25g of mini marshmallows
Method
Grease a baking and line a baking tray.
Melt all the chocolate, butter and syrup in a saucepan
Remove from the heat and stir in the rice crispies
Allow to cool for a few minutes and then stir in the marshmallows
Put in the fridge for about an hour and a half before taking out and cutting into squares. Pop them back in the fridge for a bit longer (after testing one or two!)
We have been quite lucky so far this holiday, despite there being heavy rain every single day we have only had one day where we really felt a bit stuck in and have so far managed to avoid getting soaked.
I do have lots of things ready to do if it does rain though and these are a few of my ideas.
Build a Den
We love building a den- it’s something you can do indoors or outdoors and it can be as big as you have space for or tiny and cosy. You don’t need loads of equipment, blankets and a clothes horse are fine or you can use other furniture and bedding or picnic rugs. If it’s outside then logs, sticks, string and tarpaulin are perfect. Once you have built it you can decorate it and make it comfortable and then decide what you want to do in there- read a book, have a picnic, do some writing. I am not sure den building is something you ever completely grow out of!
LEGO Challenge
Tip out a big box of LEGO, set a timer and challenge everyone to make something on a theme (vehicles, space, food, animals etc) when the time is up you have to stop and can pick a winner. This is great because you can have quick builds or longer builds with more difficult themes. For younger children you could do this with Duplo or even using Playdoh and you don’t even need to pick a winner, it could just be for fun.
Cinema Day
Agree on a film, and then plan to spend an afternoon watching it. Younger children might enjoy making tickets but everyone can get involved with making cinema snacks. You can pop some popcorn and make some crispie cakes to eat while you enjoy your film.
Baking Day
Spend the day doing lots of baking and hopefully you can enjoy it all for a picnic the next day when it’s nicer!
Games and Puzzle Challenge
Invite some friends over and set up lots of boards games, card games and puzzles and have a tournament. If you are allowed then you could do the same type of thing on a computer or games console.
Play Rain Games
Get your raincoat and wellies on and go and splash in the puddles and dance in the rain. You can then come back in and dry off while having raindrop races on the window!
Messing about in puddles!
I would love to know what sort of things other children like to do when the weather is bad?
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to treat my Mum with something lovely for a blog post so I was thrilled when the people at bakerdays got in contact with me to see if I would like to treat my Dad.
bakerdays make the most amazing range of personalised cakes for all occasions- you can literally have anything on them…including your own face!
They suggested we might like to order one of their cakes for our Dad for an early Father’s Day treat which was a brilliant idea. We got to choose from the selection and personalise it as well as deciding which flavour to go with. You can imagine Lottie and I had lots of discussion about that! We eventually picked a Darth Vader cake as Dad and I both love Star Wars and added our names to it. We didn’t take quite so long to decide that we both wanted to try the chocolate cake!
It arrived on Friday and I couldn’t believe it but it really did fit through the letter box! I was a bit worried that it might get smashed but it was so well packed it was in perfect condition. It came in a tin that fitted it brilliantly and then this was wedged inside the outer packaging so there wasn’t much room for it to move.
Along with the cake itself bakerdays also put some candles, some balloons and a party whistle in the package which makes it all really fun and is great for a celebration.
My Dad was really surprised by the cake and very pleased with his treat- he let us all share it and it cut into 6 proper size pieces. We thought the cake was delicious, it had lovely chocolate pieces in and the icing was sweet and tasty. It made a brilliant and unusual early Father’s Day treat.
bakerdays have kindly offered one lucky reader the chance to surprise their Dad with an amazing personalised cake for Father’s Day- the winner will be able to choose from vanilla, chocolate, lemon or fruit and can even specify gluten, wheat or dairy free. For your chance to win make sure you enter below! Visit bakerdays for more information.
These cheesy scones are so easy to make and only really need adult help with the oven and supervision with the cheese grater so are great for kids to make. Mine haven’t risen brilliantly but I think that is because I used plain flour with baking powder so instead I have swapped this recipe for self raising flour- they still tasted amazing though!
Ingredients (makes around 8-10)
225g self raising flour
55g butter
60g cheese
160ml milk
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
Method
Heat the oven to 210C and cover a baking tray with grease proof paper
Mix salt and pepper into the flour and rub in the butter- try and use cold hands and not rub it too much- it should sort of look like breadcrumbs
Mix in nearly all of the cheese (leave a little for topping) and then slowly add the milk (again leave a few ml back)
Use your hands to pull it all together into a ball
Sprinkle flour on your worktop and rolling pin and roll out the ball until it is about 2cm thick. Stamp out circles using cutters.
Brush the scones with a little milk and then sprinkle with the leftover cheese
Bake for 12 -14 minutes and then leave to cool for a few minutes.
These scones are delicious eaten warm with butter.
Like lots of children I quite like cooking from time to time and love to make cakes and puddings. I used to love this when I was a toddler and now I make it for my whole family- it’s really easy and my little sister can get involved.
Ingredients (serves 4)
3 large bananas 1 Orange (or a splash of orange juice) 25g unsalted butter Cinnamon Ice cream to serve
Method
Heat the butter in a large frying pan. Chop the bananas into small pieces and add to the pan Cover with a good squeeze of orange juice Sprinkle with cinnamon Allow to bubble until the bananas are soft and squishy and the sauce is thickened Serve over vanilla ice cream Delicious!
