February 09, 2013

Coffee & Pancakes

February 09, 2013/ Roxy Hutton

Last night Farmboy and I decided to have a {coffee & pancake} evening after perfecting the perfect pancake recipe last week. Lots of sweet fillings and good company made for a delightful evening. Go on, treat yourself to a little light and fluffy indulgence...

January 18, 2013

Chocolate Almond Biscotti {recipe}

January 18, 2013/ Roxy Hutton

Ingredients

3/4 cup (110 grams) blanched whole almonds (you can blanch them yourself *click here* or do what I did and buy them already blanched)
2/3 cup (135 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour
2/3 cup (110 grams) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped into bite-sized chunks (can use chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Toast almonds for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool & set aside.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the sugar and eggs on high speed until thick, pale, and fluffy (about 5 minutes). At this point beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg mixture and beat until combined.

Fold in the chopped almonds and chocolate.

Transfer the dough to a well floured counter and roll into a log shape, about 30 cm long and 9 cm wide. You may have to flour your hands to form the log as the dough is quite sticky. Place on your baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutesor until firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Transfer the log to a cutting board and cut into about 1.25 cm slices, on the diagonal.
Place the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, turn slices over, and bake for another 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

Adapted from Joy of Baking

January 12, 2013

Chickpea Stripes with Yogurt Sauce {recipe}

January 12, 2013/ Roxy Hutton

I am feeling very much the domestic goddess after three days of cooking up new recipes for my hubby. After reading through my favourite SA magazine Ideas, I decided to try everyone of their

{Easy Suppers}...this recipe was one of them.

Super easy to make, it only took 20 minutes to prepare and 5 minutes to cook.

Ingredients

1 tine chicpeas, drained

1 small onion, chopped

1 egg, slightly beaten

30ml chopped parsley & coriander

3ml ground cumin

30-50ml flour

sunflower oil for frying

tortilla wraps

grated carrots (I used spinach)

fresh coriander

Sauce:

100ml plain yogurt (I used chunky cottage cheese as I didn't have yogurt in my fridge)

15ml chopped parsley (I used coriander)

15ml lemon juice

15ml tahini (I used sesame seeds)

Step 1: Blend the chickpeas, onion, egg, the herbs & cumin in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Stir in enough flour to bind the mixture slightly and season to taste. Flour your hands well and shape the mixture into flat strips

take care to remove rings and other jewelry...the mixture gets very sticky!

Step 2: Heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the strips over medium heat on both sides until golden brown. Drain the kitchen paper.

Step 3: Mix the ingredients for the sauce together. Serve the strips with the sauce in a wrap with carrots, and fresh coriander/parsley.

Enjoy! xxx

November 28, 2012

Soft White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies {recipe}

November 28, 2012/ Roxy Hutton

The most delicious, melt-in-your mouth, worth-every-calorie cookies I have ever eaten or baked! And the recipe is so simple...

Ingredients

makes approximately 25 cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used cake flour)

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup white chocolate chips (I used a milky bar chopped up)

3/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions

*Line an ungreased cookie sheet with wax paper. Set aside.

*In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed until fluffy and light in color. Mix in egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides as needed. On low speed, mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in white chocolate chips & dried cranberries.

*Chill dough (covered) for 30 minutes or up to 3 days.

*Preheat oven to 180C. Drop balls of dough onto cookie sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. Do NOT cook them longer than 9 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer to cooling rack.

*Do not drop dough onto warm cookie sheets. Allow cookie sheets to cool completely between batches.

{thanks to Sally's Baking Addiction for the recipe!}

September 05, 2012

RedVelvet CheeseCake Brownies {recipe}

September 05, 2012/ Roxy Hutton

I did a little baking recently, and after all the comments on Instagram (@roxypearce if you'd like to follow along) I just could not keep this recipe to myself :)

If you find the step-by-step photo's a little confusing, all you've gotta do is click here to download the free printable I whipped up for you...it's designed to fit on an A4 page when printed, but printers can be a little funny sometimes, so make sure to check your 'print preview' before printing :)