Category: Baking

Baking · Do-ahead

Almond Miso Oatmeal Cookies

Belinda

These Almond Miso Oatmeal Cookies come out crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, with salty and nutty flavor addition from white miso paste.

1 cup unsalted butter (225 g), softened
1/4 cup white miso paste
1 cup granulated sugar (200 g)
1 cup brown sugar (200 g)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour (240 g)
1 tsp baking soda
3 cups rolled oats (270 g)
1 cup sliced almond (110 g)

Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C.

Prepare 2 baking sheets and grease or line them with parchment papers or baking mats.
In big bowl, cream butter, miso, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until incorporated. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.

In different bowl, combine all purpose flour and baking soda. Stir in the dry ingredient into the wet ingredient. With a spatula, stir in the oats and almond slices until incorporated.

With ice cream scoop (about 2 tablespoons), drop the dough on prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches apart.
Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to prevent the cookies from spreading.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Baking · Do-ahead

The Ted Lasso Biscuits

Belinda

A friend of ours made these last night to go with my lemon-lime possets, and I had the same reaction as the woman on the show when I bit into one. I couldn’t stop eating them! The egg yolks make them wonderfully chewy in the center and the extra brown sugar gives them more of a caramel flavor.

This is my version of the cookies and they’re to die for.
For something a little extra special you can add 3-4 finely chopped knobs of stem ginger in syrup (drained) and add to the mix just before you put the flour in, OR,
8 finely chopped good quality dried apricots with the ginger. Some finely chopped fresh rosemary is good with ginger too.
Sorry Ted!

1 cup unsalted butter, 2 sticks softened
1 ⅓ cup confectioner’s sugar
3 tbsp dark brown sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 tsp good vanilla extract
1 ¾ cup All purpose flour (You can use oat flour too)
1/2 tsp scant kosher salt

Heat the oven to 350F
Line a 8×8” baking dish with parchment with some overhang to lift them out of the pan easily. Grease the pan.
Using a mixer, beat butter, sugars and salt together on medium speed until smooth and creamy
Stir in the egg yolks and vanilla extract
Add the flour and mix just until the dough just comes together. Do not over mix.
Press dough into an even layer in the pan. The dough will be sticky, dampen hands (just a bit) to press dough in. Spread and level dough with an offset spatula. Dock dough with a fork 2 inches apart.
Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes or until a thin, golden brown layer forms on top and the center is not too soft.
Cool completely before cutting into 3 rows. Cut each row into 8 pieces.

Baking · Breakfast · Holiday Food · Vegetable-related

Parsnip, scallion and thyme gratin

Belinda

You’ve had potato gratin, well now there’s creamy parsnip gratin, flavored with nutmeg and fresh thyme then topped with sourdough croutons – it’s the ultimate side dish for roast meat.
Recipe adapted from Delicious Magazine

250g sourdough bread, torn into 1/2/2cm pieces
3 tbsp olive oil
10 fresh thyme sprigs
2 long sprigs fresh rosemary
2 banana shallots, finely sliced
6-8 scallions, trimmed and cut into thirds
1 tbsp plain flour
300ml heavy whipping cream
350ml whole milk
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
500g parsnips, quartered and any woody cores removed, cut into 1/4″/1cm chunks
300g Yukon Gold potatoes (halved if large), cut into 1/4″ /1cm slices
6oz Gruyère or mature cheddar, coarsely grated

You will need a 1.4 liter baking dish

1/ Heat the oven to 400F/200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.
Put the sourdough pieces on a large baking tray, then toss with 2 tbsp olive oil, the leaves from 4 thyme sprigs and the rosemary leaves, chopped. Season with salt and pepper, then bake for 10 minutes until golden and crisp. Set aside.

Turn down the oven to 350F/180°C/160°C fan/gas 4.

2/ Heat the remaining oil in a large pan or casserole over a medium heat, then cook the shallots and spring onions for 7-8 minutes until soft. Add the flour and stir for 3 minutes, then turn the heat to low-medium and add the double cream, milk, nutmeg and 2 thyme sprigs. Heat until just steaming. Add the parsnips and potatoes and cook for 10 minutes until softening. Season with salt and pepper, remove from the heat (discard any woody thyme sprigs), then stir in a third of the cheese.

3/ Pour the vegetables and creamy liquid into the prepared baking dish, sprinkle half the remaining cheese on top, then bake for 30 minutes. Scatter the croutons on top of the gratin with the rest of the thyme and cheese, then bake for 15-20 minutes more until the top is golden brown and the gratin is bubbling. Serve with a sharply dressed green salad.
delicious. tips
You could use other crusty breads such as ciabatta or baguette for the topping.

Prepare the gratin to the end of step 2 a few hours in advance, cool and keep in the fridge until ready to bake.

Store the herby, baked sourdough croutons in a sealed container.

Baking · Chocolate · Do-ahead

3-ingredient Nutella brownies

Belinda

I think I found this recipe on Tik Tok!
Nutella Brownies are one of the easiest recipes you will ever make with just 3 ingredients. They are fudgy in the centre with a chewy outside and are so soft.

½ cup all-purpose flour
1½ cup Nutella
2 large Eggs

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Grease and line 8 × 8-inch square baking pan with a aluminum foil and keep aside.
In a mixing bowl add the flour, Nutella and eggs.
Stir well until thoroughly combined with a spoon.
Transfer the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with the help of a spatula.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until you see some small cracks on the top or toothpick inserted comes out almost clean with few crumbs.
Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool completely before slicing.

Baking · Chocolate · Do-ahead · Nuts

Flourless, fudgey walnut brownies

Belinda

Flour is the difference between a fudgy brownie and a cakey brownie—the more you add, the cakier it gets. So what would happen if you didn’t add any flour? And what is flour, anyway? While the default used to be all-purpose flour, nowadays there is a truckload of non-wheat ingredients calling themselves flour, from nuts (like almonds) to grains (like oats) to legumes (like chickpeas). These come in handy if you have a wheat allergy or intolerance—or if you want a super-fudgy brownie.

With this recipe we take advantage of walnuts. Some get toasted and stirred into the batter. Others are left raw, for a wheat-ish subtleness, and whooshed in a food processor. Thanks to the walnuts’ buttery fat and zero gluten, the result is rich, crackly, and halfway to chocolate ganache.
Recipe by Emma Laperruque

2/3 cup plus ¾ cup (170 grams) chopped walnuts
1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter
1 cup (80 grams) cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 large eggs

Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line an 8-inch (20-centimeter) square baking dish with parchment, with overhang on two sides to lift out the baked brownies.
Place ⅔ cup (80 grams) of the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 7 to 10 minutes, until fragrant and golden brown.
While those cool, add the remaining ¾ cup (90 grams) walnuts to a food processor and pulse in short bursts until a crumbly meal forms. (Don’t take it too far, or you’ll end up with walnut butter.)

Add the butter to a medium saucepan and set over low heat. When that’s melted, remove from the heat and use a wooden spoon to stir in the cocoa powder, then the sugar and salt. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition until incorporated. Set a timer and mix for 2 minutes, until the batter is smooth and glossy.
Stir in the walnut flour, then the toasted walnuts.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until puffed around the edges with a glossy-crackly top and a toothpick inserted near a corner comes out mostly clean. Let cool until room temperature, then remove from the pan and cut into squares.

Baking · Do-ahead

Orange Lightning Cake

Belinda

Annabelle Langbein’s “quick-as-lightening” cake as you can make it in a flash!
“It’s so quick and simple and yet it has an amazing flavor, like something your grandmother might have made, that has everyone coming back for seconds. You can use golden raisins, (sultanas) or raisins.

Serves 8

1 whole orange, unpeeled
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup water
4 1/2 oz/125 g butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups plain flour
1 cup sultanas, or raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 325F/160°C fanbake.
Grease a 8″/20cm-diameter cake tin and line the base with baking paper.

Cut the orange into quarters, remove the seeds and whizz in a food processor until finely chopped.

Dissolve baking soda in water and add to the food processor with butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and flour.
Whizz to combine.

Add sultanas or raisins and walnuts, if using, and stir with a spoon or pulse several times to just combine (don’t whizz them or they will break up).

Pour into prepared cake tin and bake until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean (about 1 hour).

STORAGE
Orange Lightning Cake will keep in an airtight container for up to a week or can be frozen.

Baking · Dairy-free · Dessert · Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Holiday Food

Perfect Panforte

Belinda

We like to use raisins, dried cranberries, mixed peel and/or chopped dried apricots or figs for this decadent dessert, but you can play around with different types of fruit and nuts as long as you keep the quantities constant. You might want to wear a clean pair of dishwashing gloves to mix this dense Italian festive fruit cake as it’s too heavy to mix with a spoon and you need to work fast so the toffee mixture doesn’t set before it’s mixed through the fruit and nuts.
Panforte is very rich, so serve it in very thin slices. It also makes a lovely gift.

Serves 20

2 cups dried fruit, such as raisins, dried cranberries, candied orange or lemon peel and/or chopped dried apricots or figs
1 cup whole roasted almonds
1 cup whole roasted, skinned hazelnuts
1/2 cup plain flour
2 tbsp good-quality cocoa
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup sugar
60 g dark chocolate, chopped
icing sugar, to dust

Preheat oven to 325F/150°C
Thoroughly grease a 8″/20cm-diameter springform cake tin and line the base with baking paper.

Combine fruit and nuts in a large bowl
In a smaller bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, spices and salt.
Tip into the fruit and nut mixture and mix well
Combine honey and sugar in a pot and boil until a little mixture dropped into a glass of cold water forms a soft ball.
Remove from heat, add chocolate and stir until melted and the mixture is smooth.
Pour into dry ingredients and quickly mix with a very strong wooden spoon until combined.
Press into prepared tin, sprinkle with icing sugar and bake until set (about 35-40 minutes).
Remove from tin by running wet knife around the outside of the cake.
When cool, dust liberally with more icing sugar.
Stored in an airtight container it will keep for weeks.

Baking · Do-ahead · Holiday Food

Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread

Belinda

“Sticky, spicy and full of cranberries, this gingerbread is perfect for the holidays. The recipe has been designed to make ahead, and will taste as good 2 days after baking as it does on the same day. (It will keep for 4 to 5 days.) To store it, wrap it well, stick it in the fridge and then bring to room temperature before serving. Whipped cream or crème fraîche, spiked with a little bourbon if you like, is nice on the side.”
Recipe by Melissa Clark for the New York Times

Serves 8-10

2 cups/8oz/266 grams fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup/200g granulated sugar
1 stick/4oz/113g unsalted butter
⅔ cup/133g dark brown sugar
½ cup/120 mls whole milk
½ cup/120 mls maple syrup
¼ cup/60 mls molasses
1 ½ cups/185g all-purpose flour
1 tbsp/5g ground ginger
½ tsp/1g ground cinnamon
½ tsp/3g baking powder
½ tsp/3g kosher salt
¼ tsp/1g baking soda
¼ tsp black pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp/14g grated fresh ginger (from 1-inch piece)

Heat oven to 350 F and line a 9-inch square or round baking pan with parchment.

In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir together cranberries, granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon water. Stir the cranberries over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and cranberries form a sauce that is syrupy and bubbling thickly, about 10 minutes. Aim to have about half the cranberries broken down, with the remainder more or less whole.

In a separate saucepan, stir together the butter, brown sugar, milk, maple syrup and molasses over medium heat. Bring it to just barely a simmer and then remove it from the heat. Do not let it come to a boil, or the mixture may curdle.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, baking soda and black pepper. Beat in the butter-maple syrup mixture and then beat in the eggs. Stir in the ginger.

Scrape the batter into the pan. Drop fat dollops of cranberry sauce onto the surface of the cake batter. Drag a long, slender knife through the batter in a swirly design, as if you are marbling a cake.
Transfer the cake to the oven and bake it until the top is firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes.
Transfer the pan to a wire baking rack and let the cake cool completely before eating it.

Baking · Breakfast · Do-ahead · Holiday Food

Stuffing biscuits (scones)

Belinda

All the herby and aromatic flavors of a classic Thanksgiving stuffing—sage, rosemary, fennel seed, oniony scallion–are packed into this tender biscuit. Stacking pieces of dough before rolling out ensures plenty of tall, buttery layers. If you have any extra biscuits after The Big Meal, store them in an airtight container at room temperature overnight and prepare to have the most festive biscuits and gravy (featuring leftover Thanksgiving gravy, of course!) for breakfast the next morning.
Recipe from Bon Appetite

Makes 12
1 tbsp. Diamond Crystal kosher or 1¾ tsp. Morton kosher salt
1tbsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sugar
1½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
4 scallions, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp. finely chopped rosemary
3 Tbsp. finely chopped sage
1 (heaping) Tbsp. fennel seeds
1½ cups chilled buttermilk, plus more for brushing

Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 425F.
Whisk the salt, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, pepper, and 4 cups flour in a large bowl.
Add the butter and, using your fingers, work into dry ingredients, smashing and flattening and tossing to coat with flour, until you have some flat quarter-size pieces and some smaller pea-size pieces. Add scallions, rosemary, sage and fennel seeds and toss to evenly distribute. Add 1½ cups buttermilk and stir mixture with a fork just until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead once or twice to incorporate any loose pieces.

Pat dough into a 10 x 8″ rectangle. Using a large knife, cut in half crosswise, then stack 1 piece on top of the other. Turn rectangle so a long side is closest to you and cut dough in half crosswise again. Stack 1 piece on top of the other. (This process will build layers into your biscuits.) Turn dough and pat again into a 10×8″ rectangle. Cut into 12 even pieces (you should have a grid of 4 on the long sides and 3 on the short sides). Place biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing evenly, and freeze 10 minutes.

Brush top of each biscuit lightly with buttermilk and bake, rotating baking sheet halfway through, until golden brown, 22–26 minutes.

Baking · Breakfast · Do-ahead · Egg based · Holiday Food

Cheese croissant bread and butter pudding

Belinda

This indulgent cheesy croissant bread and butter pudding makes the ideal lazy breakfast to share with friends. Prep the dish the night before and chill in the fridge, to buy yourself more time in bed in the morning.

Serves 4-6
Knob of soft butter for greasing the dish
6-8 croissants, depending on the size, ideally a day or two old
8oz (200g) gruyère cheese, grated
5oz (150g) ham hock, finely shredded
8.5 fl oz (250ml) whole milk
15 fl oz (450ml) double cream
3 medium free-range eggs and
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
5 tbsp finely chopped chives
2 tsp English mustard powder

Heat the oven to 350F/160°C fan/gas 4.
Halve the croissants horizontally and lay them on a baking sheet. Put them in the oven for 5 minutes, then remove them to cool – you can turn off the oven now as you won’t need it for a bit. This helps the croissants dry out so they’ll greedily soak up the custard.
Arrange half the halved croissants, cut-side up, in the baking dish. Scatter over half the cheese and all the ham, then arrange the rest of the halved croissants, cut-side down, on top.
Stir the milk and cream in a pan and warm until just steaming. Remove from the heat, whisk in the eggs, yolks, chives and mustard, then season with salt and pepper. Slowly pour the mixture evenly over the croissants, then cover and chill for an hour or overnight. If you can, tilt the dish from time to time and baste the croissants with the custard to make sure it’s absorbed.
Reheat the oven to 350F/160°C fan/gas 4.
Remove the dish from the fridge, scatter over the rest of the cheese, put the dish on a baking sheet to catch any drips, then bake until the custard is just set and the cheese is bubbling (30-35 minutes). Let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving with whatever your heart desires (within reason).
delicious. tips

* It only takes 15 minutes to prep but it needs time in the fridge, so if you’re not the type to get up early, make it the night before to the point where it’s soaked in the custard, then cover it, put it in the fridge and cook it the next morning.