This week there is “Canada Day” to celebrate on the foodie calendar. To commemorate this day I am going to make some Maple and Walnut Muffins for breakfast one day this week. Normally, I just add maple syrup on icecream as a treat for the children so I already have maple syrup in the cupboard. When using [amazon_textlink asin=’B00A76IZ54′ text=’maple syrup’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’cf503376-5bfe-11e7-a8b2-131f12e0b1aa’] you only need to use a small amount as the flavour is so intense.
For today, I am going to bake some cookies for the children as the cookie jars are empty. Once the cookies are baking, I may get around to adding a second coat to the front porch. I was talking to my daughter this morning on the school run about how working from home is quite difficult as I tend to find other jobs which need doing and these get in the way of what I should be doing. As my daughter pointed out I need to concentrate on my writing and leave the other jobs for after school. If only it was that easy. 🙁 It is more of finding a happy medium and I haven’t managed to do that so far this week.
Next week it is “Wimbledon Fortnight” in the foodie calendar so I am going to make a Strawberry Cheesecake as a special treat. There is a “Jackfruit Day”on the 4th of July, a date which is better known as Independence Day, over the other side of the pond. So my brain is buzzing with ideas of what to bake for this celebration. I have never baked with a [amazon_textlink asin=’B01M9GYOTD’ text=’jackfruit’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’e508a8c0-5bfe-11e7-b3cf-c33a5c821b22′] before, or even tasted one and this intrigues me. Some say that jackfruit tastes rather nice with pulled pork so I am going to investigate this further. I will get back to you on this one.
From the store cupboards, I found some [amazon_textlink asin=’B00DGL2GC0′ text=’M&Ms’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’f6a6d96f-5bfe-11e7-a771-c3c82fb7bd38′] which I have added to a cookie recipe which I know will bake quickly and keep the sweeties safe whilst baking, i.e., not allow them to burn in the oven. These M & M Cookies are crisp and not too sweet, mainly as there is only a small amount of sugar used in the recipe. The recipe has semolina in the recipe which I feel really adds to the recipe. Originally, I saw this recipe in a “[amazon_textlink asin=’1849908796′ text=’Mary Berry Cookery Book’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’080431a0-5bff-11e7-b415-27fec7981ca1′]”. Obviously, it has semolina in the recipe which is an allergen due to the semolina containing gluten, but there is no egg in the recipe. You could replace the semolina with rice flour and quinoa flour to remove the gluten but this is something I have never tried yet.
[lt_recipe name=”M & M Cookies” servings=”20″ prep_time=”10M” cook_time=”10M” total_time=”20M” difficulty=”Easy” print=”yes” summary=”Nutritionally, one cookie contains 152 calories, 8.3g total fat (11% daily total fat), 18g total carbohydrate (7% daily total carbohydrate), 0.5g fibre (2% daily fibre) (based on a 2000 calorie diet).” image=”https://www.love-to-bake.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/mandmscookies12.jpeg” ingredients=”3oz caster sugar;6oz plain flour;3oz semolina;6oz butter;4oz M & M’s” ]Preheat the oven to Gas 4.;Line two baking trays.;Weigh out the ingredients, except the M & M’s, into a bowl.;Rub the butter in to form a dough.;Add the M & M’s.;Roll out 20 balls of dough and place on the trays.;Flatten the balls with the palm of your hand.;Bake for 10 minutes till turning golden brown at the edges.[/lt_recipe]
These cookies will be such a nice surprise for the children. I love baking so I have made some Granola Bars packed full of oats, cranberries and white chocolate (as a little treat). I am going to share this recipe next on my blog. I have based this recipe on my basic flapjack recipe and just added to it. A really easy thing to do and it produces brilliant results.
This week has been quite a hard week for me as I felt I had lost my interest in baking, creating new things, writing, developing recipes – my mojo had gone but I feel better today. Don’t know why – maybe it has been the time I have spent researching “jackfruit”, “Canada Day” ( a place I would love to visit), etc., who knows – but I do feel more level headed today. I have took my daughter’s advice and concentrated on my writing today. Everything else has taken a back seat but now I am off to try and complete a couple of other jobs before school pickup time.
Please feel free to comment especially if you have any ideas how I can bake with jackfruit?? Thankyou for reading.