Chocolate Orange Spelt Biscotti

This Post is Sponsored by Doves Farm Organic Flour

It is now irrefutably Christmas baking season and I am throwing myself in to it wholeheartedly. We always have plenty of cakes and puddings, but I think we need more cookies. Those recipes that are great to have on hand for when relatives drop round or for when you’re fed up of shop bought mince pies. 

These biscotti are incredibly easy to make, requiring almost no equipment and a few delicious ingredients. The hero ingredient is Doves Farm Organic Wholemeal Spelt Flour, which adds a slightly sweet nutty flour. Now for those of you who haven’t used spelt, it’s a great introduction to using alternative grains. Firstly it’s important to note that whilst Spelt has less gluten than regular wheat flour it is not a gluten free flour, so it is not appropriate for those with gluten allergies or for coeliacs.. Because of its high protein content and its relatively good level of gluten I find you can often switch it for plain flour fully, although for some recipes like cakes/muffins I tend to use a blend with regular wheat flour to get the texture I want. This is mainly because in recipes where gluten is needed to create structure, like in cakes, the gluten the flour has isn’t as good at creating this type of structure. In cookies or pastry I will often use 100% spelt with less noticeable differences and just an improvement in flavour. With recipes like breads or cake an important thing to note is the flour’s absorption level. The flour tends to absorb more moisture than regular wheat flour so less liquid ingredients are required. If you are wanting to experiment with spelt or other ancient grains I find a good place to start is to use spelt for 25% of the required flour and then work upwards. 

Also for those of you that followed my recent sourdough adventures you might remember that I love to add a small amount of spelt when making sourdough, because the type of gluten present in spelt flour leads to dough with greater extensibility which in my experience gives a more open crumb.

For these biscotti which I make on the smaller side (almost like the size of cantucci) I wanted to go with a flavour we often associate with Christmas without being out and out Christmas and what better than chocolate orange? Growing up my grandfather would regularly make me and his other grandkids a batch of orange chocolates and it was always one of my favourite things. For the chocolate element I have included cocoa nibs in the biscotti and coated the biscuits in milk chocolate. Normally biscotti, which is an unusually crunchy biscuit, is served alongside coffee and dunked to help it soften. With my version being coated in chocolate when you dunk them it ends up giving the coffee a mocha vibe, so a double win as far as I am concerned. 

Doves Farm Organic Wholemeal Spelt Flour is available from Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco

Chocolate Orange Spelt Biscotti
Makes Around 25

Biscotti
335g Doves Farm Organic Wholemeal Spelt Flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
150g caster sugar
3 tbsp honey
50g unsalted butter
Zest of 2 oranges
2 large eggs
100g raw, skin on, almonds
50g cacoa nibs

Coating
200g milk chocolate 
Zest of 1 orange

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC Fan) and line a large baking tray with parchment paper. 

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Place the honey, butter and orange zest and place into a small saucepan and over low/medium heat cook until the butter has melted and the mixture is combined. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.

Pour the butter mixture, eggs, almonds and cacoa nibs into the bowl with the flour and use a wooden spoon to stir together to form a soft dough. Dust the worksurface with more flour and turn out the dough and cut into two even pieces. Roll each piece into a log that is 5cm wide and place onto the prepared baking tray.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until golden brown then remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Once cooled use a large serrated knife to cut into slices, about 2cm wide. Turn the slices cut side up and bake for a further 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool fully. At this stage you can store the cookies in an airtight container for up to two weeks. But if you want to serve them as I prefer, melt the chocolate and dip the cookies halfway into the chocolate. Allow any excess to drip back into the chocolate before transferring to a sheet of parchment. Once all of the cookies have been dipped grate the orange zest over the cookies. Set in the fridge for 15 minutes or until the chocolate has set. Made like this the cookies are best within a week or so. 

Chocolate Chip Molasses Ginger Cookies

Chocolate Chip Molasses Ginger Cookies
Makes 22 cookies

As I write this I am sat in my local coffee shop and its packed so im squished in at the last table by the door, shivering away as the biting cold constantly rushes in every time someone opens the door. It is well and truly winter and I my sixth bakers sense is telling me to break open the spices, the wintery bakes that provide comfort, a sense of warmth and make getting out from under the blanket worth it. Todays recipe is a special one, a mash up of two favourites and it is one of my recipes that appears in this years Bake From Scratch ‘Cookie Issue’. If you’ve read the magazine before you know I write for them regularly and am always thrilled when they ask for another feature from me. If your in the UK it is not currently on the shelves in shops here but you can subscribe and they’ll send out issue or you can also get a digital subscription should you want more Christmas cookies (my other recipes include a espresso chocolate sable sandwich cookie and a stamped lebkuchen)

Nothing says Christmas to me more than spiced bakes and very few recipes will win me over more than a soft gingerbread cookie. Add chocolate to that cookie and then they’ll be nothing else I want to eat this winter! Because the cookie uses both muscavado sugar and molasses there is already a hint of bitterness in the recipe so when choosing your chocolate you can go a little lower in cocoa content than you might usually for a chocolate chip cookie, even a milk chocolate would work wonderfully here.

The recipe was originally written for an American audience so you will see that it uses molasses as one of the ingredients, it gives it that charecteristic flavour, the depth, the treacly notes. Thankfully you can happily use black treacle as a replacement. I know you can buy molasses from some health food stores here in the UK now but to be honest I haven’t actually tried these yet so if you’re in the UK I would simply suggest sticking to black treacle.

Whilst these gingerbread cookies are already packing a lot of flavour there is always room for more, right? If you like your gingerbread cookies with as much ginger flavour as possible you can also add a few tablespoons of crystallised ginger to the batter, making them a triple ginger cookie. When it comes to texture these veer towards the softer side of gingerbread cookies but if you are one of those people that prefer a chewy gingerbread cookie you can use a 50/50 blend of plain and bread flours.

Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Cookies 
225g unsalted butter, room temperature
220g light brown muscavado sugar
160g molasses (black treacle will also work here)
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 large eggs
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
525g plain flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
300g dark chocolate (55-60% cocoa solids) roughly chopped
100g demerara sugar, for rolling

In a large pan set over medium/high heat, melt the butter, sugar and molasses together until the butter has fully melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for about 30 minutes. Once cooled whisk in the eggs, mixing until fully combined. 

In a large bowl whisk together all of the remaining ingredients, except the chocolate. Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and mix together with a wooden spoon until almost fully combined. Add the chocolate and mix together until you have a uniform cookie dough. Cover with plastic wrap and chill the cookie dough for 2 hours before baking.

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF (170ºC/340ºF Fan)

Roll the chilled cookie dough into ping pong ball sized pieces and coat the outside in demerara sugar. Place onto two sheet trays, lined with parchment, a couple inches apart. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until set and lightly browned around the edges, but still soft in the middle. Allow to cool on the sheet trays for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Kept in a sealed container these cookies will keep for up to three days.

Baileys Eggnog Chocolate Layer Cake

This post is sponsored by Baileys

I’m calling it, Christmas baking season is officially started, so get the Christmas music playing and get in the kitchen. If you fancy something a little different this year how about this Baileys Original Irish Cream chocolate eggnog layer cake with chocolate reindeer and white chocolate gold drip? I think it would a fabulous alternative to a traditional Christmas cake and would be the perfect centrepiece for any Christmas parties you're having this year.

The cake is a classic buttermilk chocolate cake, nice and easy to make. The frosting is where this cake really shines though. I wanted to give the idea of eggnog so it first needs an alcohol element and as it’s Christmas what better than a little Baileys Original Irish Cream, backed up with the classic spicing of nutmeg which really helps bring that nutmeg flavour. To decorate, as it's meant to be festive, I have done a white chocolate Baileys Original Irish Cream ganache drip that I have used edible gold powder to turn a brilliantly shiny gold. But that's not enough, oh no, to give the cake its final flourish I am using the Baileys Reindeer to give it a little OTT glamour. In selected Asda stores you can buy a bottle of Baileys 1L Original Irish Cream and get a free reindeer, so if you fancy making this for yourself, you can find where to get your reindeer here. The reindeer is £12 during the Christmas period, whilst stocks last

Serves 12
[0.2 units per serve]

Chocolate Cake
110g unsalted butter, room temperature
100g dark chocolate
280ml hot coffee
3 tbsp cocoa powder
140ml buttermilk
280g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
340g light brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs

Baileys Eggnog Buttercream
3 large egg whites
165g caster sugar
75g light brown sugar
360g unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4-1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
100ml Baileys Original Irish Cream - 1.8 units

White Chocolate Baileys Drips
100g white chocolate
50ml Baileys Original Irish Cream - 0.9 units

Decoration
Edible gold lustre powder
2x Baileys Reindeer
50g dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC Fan) and lightly grease 3x20cm round cake tins, lining the bases with parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate and then set aside to cool slightly. In a jug whisk together the coffee and cocoa powder then whisk in the buttermilk and set aside.

Sieve together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. In a separate large bowl beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs a little bit at a time, beating until fully combined before adding more. Once fully combined pour in the cooled chocolate and mix briefly to combine. Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, starting and finishing with the flour mixture. Divide the cake batter evenly between the prepared tins and spread into an even layer. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile place the egg whites and sugars into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water and whisk gently until the sugar has dissolved (you can tell its ready when you rub a little of the mixture between your fingers and you can no longer feel any sugar grains). Remove the bowl from the heat and using an electric mixer whisk on high speed for about 7-10 minutes or until the meringue is stiff and glossy and at room temperature. With the mixer still running add the butter and little at a time until it has all been combined and a buttercream texture has been formed. Add the nutmeg and Baileys Original Irish Cream and mix to combine.

To decorate place one of the cake layers onto a serving plate and spread with a thin layer of buttercream, place the second cake layer on top and repeat. Place the final cake layer on top and spread most of the remaining buttercream over the tops and side of the cake. Place into the fridge until the buttercream is cold and firm.

In the microwave place the chocolate and Baileys Original Irish Cream and heat on short bursts until the chocolate has melted. Stir until the ganache is smooth and silky. Remove the cake from the fridge and pour the ganache on top, spreading it to the edges and teasing it over the sides allowing it to drip down the sides. Place the cake back into the fridge until the ganache is firm. To decorate mix a couple tsp of the gold powder with a couple tsp of clear alcohol like vodka to make a paint like consistency. Carefully paint the white chocolate with the gold (the alcohol will evaporate from the mixture leaving the gold behind and not making the chocolate wet).

To finish top the cake with the Baileys Reindeers, with the antlers chopped off. With any remaining buttercream pipe a few peaks around the reindeer and then set aside for the moment. Place the chocolate into a piping bag with the end snipped off and on a parchment lined baking tray pipe a few Christmas tree shaped decorations and place the tray in the fridge until the chocolate is fully set. Whip the cream with the Baileys Original Irish Cream and nutmeg until holding soft peaks and pipe into the top of the reindeer. Remove the Christmas trees from the fridge and carefully peel from the parchment sticking them into the top of some of the buttercream peaks.

Oatmeal Raisin Flapjack Bars with Caramelised White Chocolate

This post is sponsored Lyle’s Golden Syrup

I know 2019 isn’t over yet but its been an incredibly busy and exciting year and I am doing a little reflecting. I have been working on a few projects that I haven’t been able to talk about and very soon I get to share everything, I have something fun for Christmas and something for next year that I am so excited to reveal, it’s been driving me bonkers not sharing it with you guys. But as the year is coming to end and I am starting to slow down just a little, and it is really just a little, I am back in the kitchen testing recipes for you guys and first up is something I have been sitting on for a few months that I think will become a firm favourite, its definitely one of my new favourites.

I think oatmeal raisin cookies are the unsung hero of the cookie world. They’re nostalgic, easy to make, textural and they have great flavour. Yet they’re always outshined by their chocolate chip cousins. This recipe takes the idea of an oatmeal raisin cookie and transforms it for a modern day, something a little bit more special, a bit more extravagant and yes there's a little chocolate for good measure. For the chocolate I am using caramelised white chocolate. White chocolate is the obvious choice for an oatmeal raisin cookie and caramelising it just adds a whole bunch more flavour. The base is a mix of a flapjack/oatmeal raisin cookie which of course needs a little Lyle’s Golden Syrup for that classic taste and for that perfect chew plus it uses a touch of milk powder which really ups the classic oatmeal cookie flavour. If you’ve ever baked with Lyle’s Golden Syrup you know it normally comes in the iconic tin but to make baking a little easier they’ve just launched a new 700g squeeze bottle which is an easier format for baking, less mess and easier to use.

Oatmeal Bars
85g plain flour
100g rolled oats
1/4 tsp flaked sea salt
100g raisins
75g unsalted butter
2 tbsp Lyle’s Golden Syrup
100g light brown sugar
2 tbsp milk powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

Caramelised White Chocolate Ganache
250g white chocolate, roughly chopped
100g double cream
1 tsp flaked sea salt

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C Fan). Line an 20cm (8”) square tin with a strip of parchment or foil, with the excess hanging over the sides of the tin to make removing the bars easier later on.

To make the bars place the flour, oats, salt and raisins into a large bowl and mix together until everything is evenly mixed. Place the butter, golden syrup and brown sugar into a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring every now and then until everything is melted and smooth. Add the milk powder and whisk until combined. Take the pan off the heat and add in the baking soda and 1 tbsp water, stirring together for a minute until the mixture is a little foamy. Pour this mixture over the oat mixture and mix together until well combined. Whilst the oat mixture is still warm tip it into our prepared pan and press into a flat and even layer.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the flapjack is golden brown and just a little darker around the edges. Allow to cool in the pan whilst you make the caramelised topping.

Place the chocolate onto a rimmed baking tray (don't use a black or non-stick tray) and place into an oven preheated to 120C, 250F, Gas 1/2. Bake for 40-50 minutes. As it bakes remove every 15 minutes and stir thoroughly, making sure the chocolate is smooth and silky. Remove from the oven when the colour reminds you of dulce de leche. Pour the melted chocolate into small bowl and pour in the cream, stirring to combine. Pour the ganache over the cooled flapjack bars and spread into an even layer. Pop the bars into the fridge to allow the ganache to set. Before its fully set sprinkle the ganache with the sea salt. 

Cut into small bars and serve.