Sultana and Oat Slice

.....what is with all this healthy baking! Although I think the healthy factor decreases quite rapidly if you eat it in copious amounts....but these are so delicious!! I dare you to only have one....go on....try them! I took them to work today alongside a plate of mocha fudge brownies and these disappeared in record time - who'd have thought!? Great for kids lunch boxes or brekkie on the run :)

Sultana and Oat Slice

125g butter
2 tbsp of honey
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup sultanas
1/4 cup skim milk (you might need less)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 160 (fan forced)

Line a slice tin with baking paper.

Place butter and honey in a small bowl or jug (microwave proof) and heat in 45 second bursts until melted and combined. Sit aside to cool slightly.

Combine flour, coconut, caster sugar, oats and sultanas in a bowl.

Lightly beat egg and add to dry ingredients, along with the butter mixture. Stir to combine. Now if the mixture looks a touch dry, add a little bit of milk and stir until it comes together nicely.

Press the mixture into the pan using the back of a spoon.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden. Allow to cool and then remove from pan and slice. Store in an airtight container. I keep mine in the fridge and then just get it out the night before if I'm taking it to work so it has time to soften.

You could also add some dark chocolate chips or drizzle with dark chocolate if you wanted a bit of a treat :)

Enjoy!

Em x

Creamy Chicken and Vegie Pie

Ok so I forgot to take a photo of the chicken pie....this is how it went down - I was cooking the mix thinking gee this looks good, I should get a photo, then I thought no I'll get one when it's in the dishes. It was in the dishes and I thought gee this looks good, where's the camera...oh never mind I'll get one when it's got the gorgeous pastry on top...then we were sitting there after dinner saying how delicious it was and I thought @#$%%!! So...no photo....my bad. But it was delicious!

Creamy Chicken and Vegetable Pie
200g chicken breast diced
2 x zucchini diced
250g button mushrooms
1 x capsicum diced
430g tin of creamed corn
1 pkt pre-made cheese sauce (around 170g)
1 x onion diced
1 x sheet puff pastry
2 sticks celery diced.

In a fry pan over medium heat cook your onion until lightly browned. Add chicken and cook for 3-4 mins until just sealed on all sides.
Add zucchini, mushrooms, capsicum and celery. Give everything a good stir and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 4-5 mins until the vegies start to soften.
Add the creamed corn and cheese sauce. Stir well and simmer for 7-10 mins.
Spoon into ramekins (we got two decent sized pies out of this, but you could get 3-4 smaller ones if you were going to serve with a salad).
Cover each ramekin with pastry put a small slit in the middle to let any steam out. Brush with a little egg wash (milk or butter works equally well).
Bake for around 20 mins until pastry is puffed and golden.

Lovely pie for a cold winter's night!

Em x

Jaffa Brownies and Apricot Oat Slice

So today started with a leisurely cup of tea and a bowl of honey toasted muesli in bed while I browsed through some recipe books and tried to figure out what OH and I would have for tea this week. Now have a look at the photo right, the cereal is in a relatively small bowl and that is what came in one of those sample packs...I mean I know they come portion sized and blah blah blah but I very nearly cried when I tipped that into my bowl...BUT I ate it slow and with a teaspoon and wouldn't you know it, it was delicious and kept me full well past lunch time!

Anyway I did my groceries and when I got home I decided to make some jaffa brownies for Allie, she gets back from Melbourne tonight and I have missed her this weekend! I haven't made Jaffa Brownies before but I made my favourite brownie recipe and added a bag of frozen jaffas before it went in the oven. I confess I tried one (can't run the risk of giving bad brownies away!) and they are awesome, if you love choc - orange flavoured stuff then you need to try these!

Jaffa Brownies

For these you need:
125g butter
180g dark chocolate melts
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
250g bag of Jaffas

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced.
Line a slice tin with baking paper.
Place butter and dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl in the microwave and heat in 45 second bursts (stirring in between) until smooth.
Stir in sugar.
Whisk eggs into chocolate mixture until combined.
Add sifted flour and cocoa. Whisk to combine.
Fold in jaffas.
Spread mixture into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes or until top is firm to touch.
Set aside to cool before slicing.

You may have seen my choc caramel brownies in other posts - for those you simply substitute a chopped up 220g block of frozen caramello chocolate for the jaffas!

A few weeks ago for Dad's bday you may remember I made some Cranberry, Blueberry and Honey Oat Bars, they were pretty damn good, but I wanted to see if I could make something a bit softer. I found a recipe for Apricot Oat Slice and decided to give it a go.


About half way through I got a bit worried because it has an egg and a bit of water, but no milk or butter in the recipe. I ended up adding a splash of milk just to moisten the mix a bit, but otherwise left it as it was. The end result was fantastic. A soft apricot and sultana slice that was not too cakey, yet not too solid, just lovely and soft and chewy. I will definetly be trying it again.

For this one you need:
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp honey (might be easier to melt in the microwave first)
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg
About 1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sultanas
1 cup dried apricots diced, soaked in water for an hr then drained - reserve 2 tbspns of water to add to mixture
extra desiccated coconut for coating

Pre-heat oven to 160C fan forced.
Combine plain flour, baking powder, sugar, coconut and oats in a bowl.
Add egg, honey, milk, apricots, sultanas and water. Mix to combine. If you need to add more milk then do so.
Place the mixture in a lined slice tray and sprinkle the top with coconut.
Bake for around 15mins.
Remove from oven and allow to cool before slicing.

Now that I've gardened, vaccumed, washed and baked I'm kicking back on the couch with a cup of tea. There is even a Zucchini, Mushroom and Creamy Chicken Pie waiting to go in the oven when OH gets home (more on the pie later in the week!).

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Em x

It's All Happening!!

OH went to work at 6am this morning and it is freezing here so I cranked the electric blanket and jumped back into bed for a snooze. It's now 8am and I'm sitting in my warm snuggly bed with a bowl of toasted honey muesli and a hot cup of tea thinking I could quite easily stay here all day! And believe me I would but it's been awhile since OH has worked a full weekend and to be honest I'm quite looking forward to it. I have heaps of stuff planned for this weekend, this morning I'm going out for a coffee with Mum and Dad and my Uncle and Aunty who are visiting from interstate that we haven't seen for at least 5 years and I'm really looking forward to that. And then I'm going to have lunch with OH and we have a Liveat date (Liveat is fantabulous, like Subway but a million times better) and then *drum roll* I'm getting a new tattoo, I can't wait. This one is more of an addition on an old one, but it's going to incorporate my parent's initials and two of my favourite things - cupcakes and shoes!! I'll come back later and post photos and tell you how it all went!'

In other news, due to some boys are morons and you should spend your life living for you moments this week, my best friend Allie and I have decided to finally bite the bullet and go for our motorcycle learner's license. We are all booked in for an intro to riding course on Monday afternoon (and my Mum's even coming with us!) and once we do that we can go to a Pre Learner's Weekend where you do like a ride around and stuff and then you just have to do a written test and ta da! Allie and Emily on the road again!! We are both mega excited (and terrified!) and I think Mum is mega terrified (with a hint of excitement!) but it is something both Allie and I have always wanted to do so fingers crossed it all goes ok and we manage to stay upright!

Anyway, I have to drag my warm butt out of bed and shave my legs so the tattoo lady thinks I have soft, silky smooth legs all the time (why the hell do I care??) - I'll be back this arvo!

Ok so I'm back now! Catching up with my Aunty and Uncle was fantastic, sat in the sun with a nice cup of tea and had a great catch up, it was just like they never left :)

OH was too busy for lunch, but that's fine, he was cranky anyway.

So after a satisfying lunch of chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate I have officially found my new favourite tattoo artist and possibly the woman of my dreams (if I was that way inclined)....Candice spent a good 2.5hours on my tattoo, we used 14 different colours and I was totally enthralled the whole way through, I love watching the whole thing come together and she did an amazing job, I couldn't have asked for anything better! What do you think?




I think I'm in love!!

Em x

Chocolate Cupcakes with a Frangelico and White Chocolate Ganache

I thought I should make something nice to bring into work today, something with a bit of 'oomph'...after much deliberation I decided to make a recipe for top deck cupcakes I have had lying around for ages, and add some 'oomph' to it by turning them into chocolate cupcakes with a frangelico and white chocolate ganache :)


To start with you will need:

125g butter, chopped
1 cup caster sugar
100g dark chocolate, chopped
½ cup hot water
2 tablespoons Frangelico Liqueur
¾ cup plain flour
2 tablespoons self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 egg, beaten

White chocolate ganache
100g white chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons thickened cream
3 tbspns Frangelico Liqueur

Preheat oven to moderate, 180°C. Line a 12-hole cupcake pan with paper cases (When I made this I got 12 normal cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes as well)

Combine butter, sugar, water, chocolate and liqueur in a saucepan over low heat and stir until smooth - alternatively you can heat in the microwave, stirring regularly. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Cool 10 minutes.

Sift flours and cocoa together. Fold into chocolate mixture. Stir in egg. Spoon mixture into cupcake cases until 2/3 full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer comes out clean or the cupcakes bounce back when you touch them. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the ganache, melt chocolate and cream in the microwave, once it has cooled slightly stir through 2-3 tbspns of Frangelico - check for taste and add more if you want!)

Using an electric mixer, beat chocolate mixture for 3-5 minutes until thick and fluffy. Unfortunately I only had extra light cream so it wouldn't thicken but the end result was still yummy. Once your frosting is ready, spread over cooled cupcakes.

Despite eating far too much of the ganache last night and swearing never to go near it again, I have to confess it's only 8am and I have already had one of these for breakfast....

Enjoy!

Em x

Jelly Slice

This is another one of those things I have wanted to make for years but have never been game enough to try, but during a weekend baking frenzy I thought why the hell not!



For the base you will need:

1/2 pkt of crushed biscuits (Marie, Butternut Snap, Teddy Bears, whatever you prefer)
125g melted butter
A good spoonful of frosting (I had some leftover brown sugar frosting in the fridge so I added that - but you could use around 100g melted milk chocolate too)

For the filling you will need:

1 tbspn gelatine
2 tbspn water
250g cream cheese (at room temperature)
395g tin of condensed milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
150g white chocolate (melted)

For the jelly topping you will need:

1 x 85g pkt of jelly crystals
1 cup boiling water

Begin by lining a slice tin with baking paper.

Combine base ingredients in a bowl, if the mix looks too dry add more frosting / chocolate or butter. Press into the base of the tin and chill in the fridge while you prepare the filling and jelly topping.

Combine jelly crystals and boiling water in a small bowl and stir to combine. Place in the fridge to cool.

Combine the gelatine and water in a small bowl or jug and heat in the microwave for 10 seconds. Stir and heat again for a further 10 seconds. Stir well so that the gelatine is dissolved and allow to cool slightly.

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the cream cheese and condensed milk until smooth.

Add the lemon juice and melted white chocolate. Beat until all ingredients are combined. Now might be a good time for a quick taste test to see if you want to add a lil more lemon juice - I like mine to have a real zing.

Add the gelatine mixture and beat for 3-4 mins, scraping down the sides as you go. Spread the filling over the chilled base and allow to chill in the fridge.

After around an hour the cheesecake filling should be set and the jelly should be cool. When this occurs, gently pour the jelly over the filling and place back in the fridge to set for around 2 hours.

Try not to sit down and eat it all in one go with a big spoon....I warn you it is very very tempting...and I must confess when I got it out and cut it up, the kitchen happy dance made a come back!!

Em x

Chicken Macaroni and Cheese with a Twist!

I have had a massive craving for mac and cheese lately, but not your average mac and cheese, I wanted something more, something with zing, something with vegies...but I just wasn't sure how to bring it all together. In the end it just kinda fell together and I was worried it would be a disaster, but it was delicious and a new family favourite!!

So for this Chicken Mac and Cheese with a Twist you will need:

120g macaroni
300g four cheese pasta bake sauce
300g chicken breast (diced)
1 x capsicum (diced)
2 x sticks celery (diced)
120g button mushrooms (sliced)
1/4 cup spicy red sauce
2 tbspns worcestershire
1/2 cup grated pizza cheese

Cook your pasta in the microwave or on the stove.
Meanwhile in a fry pan over medium heat cook your onion for 2-3 mins and then add chicken. Cook until just sealed.
Add capsicum, celery and mushrooms. Cook for 4-5 mins.
Drain pasta and pour into 2 small ramekins or one large baking dish.
Mix in sauces, chicken and vegetables.
Top with grated cheese and season with salt and pepper.
Bake for 20-25 mins or until golden.

So simple and easy and yummy!!

Em x