Tag: sea salt chocolate

Food.

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Abbie4 Comments on Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you hadn’t already noticed I have a huge sweet tooth and is there a better way to spend an evening than sinking into the sofa for The Great British Bake Off semi finals this evening than in front of the fire with a big plate of gorg homemade cookies.

cookies

These are a firm family fave and taste beaut cooled slightly straight from the oven when they’re all soft, warm and fudgy still.

They’re super simple to make and you could do it all in one big bowl so less washing up is always a winner. This recipe makes roughly 12 cookies. If you’re an ultra organised person this the type of thing you could make and then roll into a sausage shape and freeze and cut off a slice when you fancy a cookie (like you’d only have one???) Or even just have as cookie dough.

YOU WILL NEED:

  • 125g softened butter.
  • 100g soft light brown sugar.
  • 125g golden caster sugar.
  • 1 egg.
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract.
  • 225g plain flour.
  • 200g chocolate chips/chunks/ a bar cut into shards.

HOW TO:

First off preheat your oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray.

Cream together the butter and the sugars until fully combined. I’ve used a combination of light brown sugar and golden caster sugar to give it that slightly darker colour and also to make the texture a bit gooey and fudgier.

To that add in the beaten egg and the vanilla.

Sift in the plain flour and then add in the chocolate chips. I actually used a dark chocolate because that is my favourite. Plus I really like the combo of the sweet cookie and the bitter dark chocolate. If dark chocolate isn’t your fav, once you’ve got the basic cookie recipe down you can swap things around to please yourself, like white chocolate and a cranberry, milk chocolate and fudge pieces, a swirl of nutella and some chopped hazelnuts, or one of my faves, a piece of dairy milk caramel shoved in the centre so when you bite into it you’ve got that delicious gooey middle. YUM.

Using a tablespoon I scooped up some of the dough and then using my hands, rolled it into a ball shape pressing it down on the top slightly as I did so.

Putting it in the oven to bake for about 8-9 minutes so they are still warm and soft in the middle. Leave to bake and set up in the oven a few minutes longer if you want a crispier bake and it’s golden around the edges.

I swear the time waiting for them to cool are almost as long as treadmill minutes??? I sprinkled them with some sea salt and served. Nigella who?!

cookies close up

What’s your cookie of choice?

MUCH LOVE. x

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Food.

Sea Salt & Dark Chocolate Torte.

by Abbie2 Comments on Sea Salt & Dark Chocolate Torte.

I know, I know. Last time I posted on here I said I was going to be posting more regularly once on a Wednesday and once on a Sunday. Well me and scheduling/any form of organisation is like Donald Trump to rational thinking and not being a total div. Sorry team I really do wish I was one of those super organised, elegant gals that arrive at events 10 minutes early with immaculate hair and makeup and always know what’s what. But that’s not me. I’m trying me best at scheduling and drafts and what not so gimme some time for this to actually start. Thanks for being all so wondrous, so supportive and so damn fit. LY mean it. Anywho, I have a foodie post to whet your metaphorical and internetty appetite with today, so sit back (or however you want to sit idm) relax and have a read of this little gem. This was super easy and dead showy offy to make as well, so enjoy!

When I get sad I bake. When I bake I eat more. When I eat more I get fat. When I get fat I get sad. YA SEE HOW THIS CYCLE GOES ON. Everything in moderation is something I should live my life by more often but the sad truth is a slice of chocolate cake and a large vino tastes infinitely better than a wheatgrass shot and some bulgar wheat grains. I’ve been feeling a little bit rubbish, a bit low and not quite myself for a few weeks now, with me putting it down to hormones or just feeling a bit lost in life. I’ve made some changes in my personal life and am starting to put me first a lot more from now on, I’ll talk more about this in my lifey post which’ll put up in the next few days. So after a bit of a grotty week I decided to traipse into town and do some food shopping yesterday and to get a few ingredients. Cue all the adulty adults having a good old chuckle as I ATTEMPTED to food shop on a Saturday. At Midday. uGH. This is going to be much more of a chatty recipe post so I hope you’re not expecting a fine cuisine recipe for this one, I kinda just made it up as I went along and it happened to turn out pretty yum. It’s a torte not a tart as the dictionary definition is that a tart contains flour and a torte has more of a crumbly/no floury base. So not only are you making something delish it also sounds dead fancy!? So if you want to emulate me and this recipe you’ll need to put on your comfiest clothes, scrunch up your hair into an incredibly messy high bun and follow de rulez.

pie3

So to make this little babe you will need:

  • A loose bottom tart/flan tin. (I used a 9.5 x 1.4’inch one).
  • 200g of shortbread biscuits.
  • 100g melted unsalted butter.
  • 400g dark chocolate.
  • 300ml double cream or whipping cream.
  • 100g caster sugar.
  • 50g unsalted butter.
  • Sea salt flakes.
  • 1tsp vanilla extract

It starts off with a cheesecake buttery biscuit base whereas normally digestive biscuits are used I fancied using some shortbread. I don’t know why I thought it would bind together a bit better and a sweeter over flavour to it. Which it did. After this I did think you could blend two different types of biscuits together to make it a bit different, maybe add some oats or maybe some chopped nuts to give it a crunchier more interesting texture. So smash up the biscuits to a fine crumb, picture that ex, that crap friend, that manager that made you work overtime on a Friday. Bash that pack of biscuits til it’s all the same fine sand consistency or ’til you’ve stopped being angry. Either way! Pour in the melted butter until the the biscuits have bound together and you can press it into the tart tin. Pressing it up the sides and across the base with about an inch thickness I left to chill for about 20 minutes. The torte that is. Not me.

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To make the ganache filling put the cream, sugar and vanilla extract into a pan and brought it to a slow, gentle boil. Whilst the cream is coming to a boil break the dark chocolate into small squares in a bowl and put the butter in with it too. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and leave to rest for about 30 seconds to a minute. Stirring the two together til the chocolate melts into the cream and thickens, forming that gorgeously glossy ganache. The added butter might seem a little bit odd but it give the ganache that lovely sheen to it. I sprinkled some sea salt over the top and then placed in the fridge for 2+hours. Once it’s set serve with a dollop of creme fraiche, some fresh berries or maybe some crushed hazelnuts. YUMMMMM.

pie

I don’t know how many kcals this contains and frankly I don’t care as it tasted blimmin’ well great. If you try this please do let me know what you think, I found it so easy I don’t even think I can call it baking?!