This morning has gone past really quick. Not only did I have to make breakfast for the troops, but I wanted to make some treats for Easter and a supply of flapjack to keep them going. I have only just sat down for a break. So with my glass of water by my side I am going to share with you what I have baked.
For breakfast, I made Strawberry Muffins and I managed to use up some fresh strawberries to boot. I used my standard muffin recipe and they turned out perfectly. Out of a batch of 16 small muffins there are only 3 left so they seem to have gone down well. Whilst the muffins were baking I prepped for some fast flapjack but this time I used all soft brown sugar in the recipe. I find that the different sugars produce different tastes to the flapjacks and my family prefer the caramel taste which brown sugar produces in the recipe.
My second recipe was a one that has been floating around in my head. After I saw an idea on Cookie & Kate’s blog yesterday it refreshed my memory so I decided to give it go. I have made Blondies with a twist. In the idea on Cookie & Kate, coffee was added to her recipe but even though I think that is a great idea and one I will be trying in the future, I wanted to use up my Easter sweets – [amazon_textlink asin=’B00EZI248E’ text=’Malteser bunnies ‘ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’d13d433c-21cb-11e7-9e02-072e8bcca90b’]to be precise. For this reason I used [amazon_textlink asin=’B00GBW0FLU’ text=’Horlicks’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’e306c9e4-21cb-11e7-8721-13e3fe70bc52′] – a malted milk drink powder – in the recipe. Normally I use this powder in a Malteser cake which was a great seller at the market stall and one which my children still like to eat once in a while. I knew that I could cut down on the sugar in the recipe for the Blondies because I was using white chocolate which is very sweet to start with. Also the white chocolate is not that overpowering in the recipe so the malt taste from the Horlicks would be slightly noticeable. I am calling these Easter Blondies as it is my last recipe to use up the last of my Easter sweets. As the Blondies baked the surface of the bake turned crispy due to the white chocolate. This is a lovely effect and one I don’t see when I make brownies as I don’t use chocolate in my brownie recipe. The surface of the Blondies turned a lovely golden brown colour but before it had finished baking I prepared the decorations.
As soon as the Blondies were out of the oven I sliced them up into pieces and decorated with the Malteser bunnies and a drizzle of white chocolate. The heat from the Blondies helped to stick the bunnies to the surface as I didn’t want to add the bunnies whilst the Blondies were in the oven in case they burned. The Blondies look excellent and are a perfect Easter Treat. This is one recipe which I have not added to my [amazon_textlink asin=’1520969627′ text=’Easter recipe book’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’068abd36-21cc-11e7-8d31-2f52c2e350d8′] but is definitely one that is worth making. To see the childrens’ faces as they see what a treat they have in store for them is so worth the effort. As they say the proof is in the eating and I have already tried one. The Blondies are moist, rather tasty with a hint of toffee / caramel to them. The malt flavour does come through and compliments the white chocolate and bunny decoration perfectly.
[lt_recipe name=”Easter Blondies” servings=”16″ prep_time=”15M” cook_time=”35M” total_time=”50M” difficulty=”Easy” print=”yes” summary=”Nutritionally, one slice contains 237 calories, 12.4g total fat (16% daily total fat), 28.3g total carbohydrate (10% daily total carbohydrate), 0.4g fibre (1% daily fibre) (based on a 2000 caloire diet).” image=”https://www.love-to-bake.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/easter2.jpeg” ingredients=”For the Blondies:;100g white chocolate;125g soft spread;175g soft brown sugar;1tsp vanilla essence;3 eggs;100g plain flour;50g self raising flour;4tbsp Horlicks;For decoration:;16 Malteser bunnies;50g white chocolate;” ]Preheat the oven to gas 3.;Line a 8 inch rectangular baking tray.;In a pan weigh out the sugar, white chocolate and soft spread.;Mix together over a low heat, stirring constantly, till the sugar has dissolved.;Remove from the heat.;Add the vanilla essence, eggs and mix together.;Sieve the flours into the pan and mix together.;Transfer to the tray.;Bake for 30 – 40 minutes till a knife comes out almost clean.;Once baked, slice into pieces and add a Malteser bunny to the top of each followed by the melted white chocolate for decoration. ;Allow to cool.[/lt_recipe]
To make these blondies the only equipment you will need are a [amazon_textlink asin=’B004SNMXRS’ text=’pan’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’31f0d0db-21cc-11e7-8009-058facfc2873′] and a wooden spoon for melting and mixing the butter, chocolate and sugar together in. To the same pan the other ingredients are added. It is better to add the flour last as you need to use a [amazon_textlink asin=’B0052R78JC’ text=’sieve ‘ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’4596dfc9-21cc-11e7-ac1d-6fd708a2e808′]to make sure that the mixture does not turn lumpy. In this recipe I use a small amount of self raising flour and plain flour but I am sure that you could use plain flour and a small amount of baking powder as I do in my conventional brownie recipe and achieve the same result. I would not use only self raising flour as the resultant bake would be more cake like in texture and that is not what you want when making Blondies.
This recipe can be made gluten free by changing the flour. Other changes which can be made are to add chocolate chips, nuts or even dried fruit to the recipe and of course the decoration can be changed to suit the occasion. I used soft spread in the recipe as the Blondies are made using the melting method so the butter in the recipe is not vitally important. I am very pleased with the result and I will be sharing this recipe on lots of food sites.
Next week is “National Garlic Day” so something savoury on the menu. I don’t think garlic muffins would go down too well in my household although you can make savoury muffins so that is one to think about.? Also it is “National Tea Day” and I love a good cup of tea and a slice of tea bread of some description so I already have a recipe in mind which I know will be a hit if I have any unexpected visitors this coming week.
That is all for this weekend in my kitchen but I am sure I will be on here somewhere working on something else.