Secret Baker 2010 recipes

choc chip cookies
•2 1/4 cups plain flour
•1 tsp baking soda
•1 tsp salt
•1 cup butter, softened
•3/4 cup granulated sugar
•3/4 cup soft brown sugar
•1 tsp vanilla extract
•2 large eggs
•2 cups of plain choc chips but i found it worked better with dark choc chopped up

Preheat oven to 190C /GM5
Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition

Mix flour, bicarb, salt in another bowl and gradually add to the wet mixture
stir in choc chips

Drop dollops on a baking sheet using a spoon or you can chill it for an hour and roll into small balls
I found this worked best cooked on a baking sheet covered with baking paper as otherwise they stuck!
Bake for 9-11 mins until golden. They will still be very soft. Leave to cool on tray for 2 mins, then on wire rack.

Ginger cake recipe

http://www.articlesbase.com/recipes-art ... 30014.html

Well, my recipient hasn't asked for the recipe, but it is LUSH so I'll share it anyway It's from The River Cottage Family Cookbook by HFW and Fizz Carr (an excellent book btw, it's actually aimed at children, HFW says 10-12 yo's should be able to cook from it with only a little help/supervision from an adult)

(Dark) chocolate chip cookies

To make about 12 large cookies (this is what the recipe says, but I made double quantities and only got about 18 cookies , maybe I make them huge LOL)

Good dark chocolate, 100g (you could use milk if you are mad and don't like dark )
Unsalted Butter, 125g
Granulated sugar, 100g
Soft brown sugar, 75g
Egg, 1
Vanilla extract, 2tsp
Plain flour, 150g
Baking powder, 1/2 tsp
A pinch of salt

Also
2 large baking sheets, baking parchment, sharp knife, chopping board, small saucepan, mixing bowl, wooden spoon, teaspoon, sieve, dessertspoon, wire cooling rack.

1. Preheat the oven to 190 deg/Gas mark 5. Line each baking sheet with a piece of baking parchment. Chop the chocolate into little chunks and set aside.

2. Heat the butter in the small saucepan very gently until it has just melted. Meanwhile, put the two sorts of sugar into the mixing bowl. Pout the melted butter on top of the sugar and beat well with the wooden spoon.

3. Break the egg into the bowl and add the vanilla. Beat until the mixture is well blended.

4. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the mixing bowl and stir them in, then add the chopped chocolate. You should have a pretty sloppy sort of mixture.

5. Dot heaped pudding spoonfuls of the mixture over the lined baking sheets, leaving plenty of space between them - these cookies really spread out.

6. Oven gloves on. Put the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are just turning golden brown.

7. Leave the cookies on the baking sheets to harden for a couple of minutes, then carefully lift up the baking parchment and transfer them to a wire cooling rack.





I've also, in the absense of soft brown sugar, made these with palm sugar, which you can buy in Asian supermarkets in solid blocks (it looks a little like Kendal mint cake), which you break a small bit off and then pound in a mortar and pestle. They were even more delicious than normal .

Mareth - how did these turn out? This was the first recipe I made for my swap, and mine were, well, like a 2 day old flattened sponge cake They looked totally different to how they looked in the book (Im a rubbish baker )

The cookies I made were Louise's Gold Dust Cookies, but with fresh-lemon icing instead of gold dust


Flapjack recipe:D

Ingredients

* 150g butter, plus extra for greasing
* 50g golden caster sugar
* 4 tbsp golden syrup
* 275g rolled oats

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan170°C/gas 5. Grease and line a shallow 20cm-square tin with baking paper.

2. Put the butter, sugar and syrup into a small pan over a low heat and stir until the butter has melted. Stir in the oats. Press the mixture into the tin and bake for 20 minutes, or until just golden at the edges.

3. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Cut into bars in the tin. Cool completely before turning out and cutting again with a sharp knife.

Well, my recipient hasn't asked for the recipe, but it is LUSH so I'll share it anyway It's from The River Cottage Family Cookbook by HFW and Fizz Carr (an excellent book btw, it's actually aimed at children, HFW says 10-12 yo's should be able to cook from it with only a little help/supervision from an adult)

(Dark) chocolate chip cookies

To make about 12 large cookies (this is what the recipe says, but I made double quantities and only got about 18 cookies , maybe I make them huge LOL)

Good dark chocolate, 100g (you could use milk if you are mad and don't like dark )
Unsalted Butter, 125g
Granulated sugar, 100g
Soft brown sugar, 75g
Egg, 1
Vanilla extract, 2tsp
Plain flour, 150g
Baking powder, 1/2 tsp
A pinch of salt

Also
2 large baking sheets, baking parchment, sharp knife, chopping board, small saucepan, mixing bowl, wooden spoon, teaspoon, sieve, dessertspoon, wire cooling rack.

1. Preheat the oven to 190 deg/Gas mark 5. Line each baking sheet with a piece of baking parchment. Chop the chocolate into little chunks and set aside.

2. Heat the butter in the small saucepan very gently until it has just melted. Meanwhile, put the two sorts of sugar into the mixing bowl. Pout the melted butter on top of the sugar and beat well with the wooden spoon.

3. Break the egg into the bowl and add the vanilla. Beat until the mixture is well blended.

4. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the mixing bowl and stir them in, then add the chopped chocolate. You should have a pretty sloppy sort of mixture.

5. Dot heaped pudding spoonfuls of the mixture over the lined baking sheets, leaving plenty of space between them - these cookies really spread out.

6. Oven gloves on. Put the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are just turning golden brown.

7. Leave the cookies on the baking sheets to harden for a couple of minutes, then carefully lift up the baking parchment and transfer them to a wire cooling rack.





I've also, in the absense of soft brown sugar, made these with palm sugar, which you can buy in Asian supermarkets in solid blocks (it looks a little like Kendal mint cake), which you break a small bit off and then pound in a mortar and pestle. They were even more delicious than normal .

Mareth - how did these turn out? This was the first recipe I made for my swap, and mine were, well, like a 2 day old flattened sponge cake They looked totally different to how they looked in the book (Im a rubbish baker )

They turned out great, like soft, squidgey cookies that you get from Greggs kind of (but without the professionalness LOL), and a bit richer cos of the super dark chocolate. PM me your address if you like and I'll send some up to you next time I'm baking , if you don't like dark choc just let me know and I'll make them with milk or white.

[They turned out great, like soft, squidgey cookies that you get from Greggs kind of (but without the professionalness LOL), and a bit richer cos of the super dark chocolate. PM me your address if you like and I'll send some up to you next time I'm baking , if you don't like dark choc just let me know and I'll make them with milk or white.

Aww thats really kind Mareth but Im off chocolate completely this year Perhaps next year I will remind you

[They turned out great, like soft, squidgey cookies that you get from Greggs kind of (but without the professionalness LOL), and a bit richer cos of the super dark chocolate. PM me your address if you like and I'll send some up to you next time I'm baking , if you don't like dark choc just let me know and I'll make them with milk or white.

Aww thats really kind Mareth but Im off chocolate completely this year Perhaps next year I will remind you

Try using chopped dried apricots, raisins or sultanas instead...

Here is the recipe for Chocolate Chunk Rocks!

1/2 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of margarine (we used vitalite...)
1tsp of vanilla

Cream these together, and add 1 beaten egg (we use XLarge eggs for baking)
Pour into:
1 cup of chocolate chips (I buy a bar of dark chocolate and bash that, as I find it cheaper and tastier than bagged chips. I also use dark chocolate, usually, as I can't have milk, but used white choc chips as Elizabeth doesn't like dark chocolate )
1 1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of oats
1tsp baking powder

Mix well together, bake on a lined baking sheet, by the spoonfuls, at Gas Mark 6 for about 14 minutes (which is how long our oven takes to brown them, so adjust as needed).

Let cool! Enjoy!

Sorry it's taken me so long

Ingredients
1 orange
100g unsulphured raisins chopped
100g golden syrup (about 4 tbsp)
200g unsalted butter
100g soft brown sugar
Juice of ½ a lemon
250g jumbo oats
100g plain flour
100g pine nuts

Method: How to make zesty flapjacks
1. Preheat the oven to 170°c/Gas Mark 3. Grease a 23cm square baking tin with a scrap of butter and line the base with baking parchment.

2. Grate the zest from the orange into a large saucepan. Squeeze the juice from the orange and put this in a small saucepan with the raisins. Bring to a gentle simmer.

3. Remove the pan from the heat but leave it in a warm place for the apricots to plump up in the orange juice.

4. Add the golden syrup to the large saucepan containing the orange zest. Add the butter, brown sugar and lemon juice. Heat very gently, stirring occasionally, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.

5. Mix the oats, flour and pine nuts. Pour the oat mixture into the saucepan containing the melted butter mixture and add the apricots, along with any juice left in the pan. Mix everything very thoroughly.

6. Spread the mixture out in the lined tin. Bake for 25–30 minutes or until golden brown. Leave for a few minutes, then mark the flapjack into squares with a knife. Leave to cool and set.

7. You can customise these flapjacks by replacing the apricots and pine nuts with whichever dried fruits and nuts take your fancy. You could also add a pinch of spice, and maybe even a sloosh of brandy – not too much, though, or they won’t set.

It's from The River Cottage Family Cookbook by HFW and Fizz Carr

Me too!!

Ladies....how am I meant to get rid of this baby belly with all of these gorgeous recipes staring me in the face and just begging to be tasted?!?

I honestly think if I made them while DF was at work he would come back to dirty dishes and a me with a full tummy