50g mixed seeds (poppy, linseed and sunflower seed here)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
50ml olive oil
A few tbsp boiling water
– Take half of the oats and blitz them to a fine meal in a food processor.
– Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.
– Add the olive oil and stir through evenly.
– Add a small amount of boiling water and mix well to bring it together into a dough. Be careful to add gradually as you do not want the mixture to become too wet.
– Roll out the dough to 3-5mm thick and cut out rounds. Place on a lined baking tray.
– Bake at 200°C for 15 minutes until just turning golden. Leave to cool on the tray. Store in an airtight box.
– First, prepare your pecans either by finely chopping by hand or by pulsing gently in a food processor. (My stick blender came with a small chopper attachment, which is perfect for these kind of jobs when you just need a small amount of something.)
– In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter sugar and maple syrup.
– Add the flour and pecans and mix to combine. At first it will not come together but you can bring it together easily with your hands at the end.
– Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
– Prepare the pecans by roughly chopping them, leave a few bits that are chunkier.
– put the pecans in an oven proof dish and mix with the maple syrup.
– Sprinkle the sea salt on top.
– Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 170°. (You can do this at the same time as your first batch of biscuits.)
– Roll out your chilled dough to a thickness of 5 mm between two silicon sheets. (By using the silicon sheets instead of extra flour your dough will not get too dry. But if you don’t have these just sprinkle the worksurface and rolling pin with flour and work quickly to stop it sticking).
– Cut out your shapes, I prefer a maple leaf but they can be any shape you like, and place on a lined baking tray.
– Put the tray in the fridge to chill for at least 10 minutes. This will stop the biscuits from spreading when you bake them so if you’re not using a delicate shape and don’t mind this then you can skip that step.
– Re-roll your dough, but if it gets too sticky you may have to put it back in the fridge for a few minutes to solidify again.
– Heat the oven to 170°C and bake each tray for 10 minutes until just starting to turn golden brown then remove the tray From the oven and leave the biscuits to cool on the tray.
– To prepare the glaze mix together the icing sugar and melted butter in a small bowl. Gradually out of the maple syrup until you get a fairly thick but runny consistency. You may have to add a little more icing sugar or maple syrup to get the consistency you want. It wants to be somewhat like Greek yoghurt, not too thick but not so runny that it slides off your biscuit.
– Once your biscuits are cool, dip each one top down into the glaze then gently shake it back and forth so that the excess glaze falls back into the bowl. Then place back onto the baking tray and sprinkle with your pecan topping mix.
– Repeat for all of your biscuits then leave the glaze to set before serving or putting in an airtight box to store.
These spooky eyeball chocolate chip cookies are great easy Halloween cookies! I bought a packet of these sugar eyeballs ages ago but never really found a need to use them until now! These cookies are a great Halloween treat and you can use the technique with your own favourite cookie recipe if you prefer, no need to follow this one (though it is great!) You simply press the eyes into the cookie when it comes straight out of the oven and then leave to cool.
Makes 18 cookies
200g melted unsalted butter 220g light muscovado sugar 100g caster sugar (If you like the grainyness of the M&S cookies feel free to use granulated, I don’t like it so I use caster) 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 egg 350g plain flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 200g chocolate chips (I use one bag of dark and one bag of milk for variety)
One pack sugar eyeballs
– Heat the oven to Gas mark 3/170C and prepare two baking trays. – Melt the butter, I put it in the microwave for 1 minute but microwaves vary so be careful! – In a large mixing bowl mix the melted butter with both sugars until smooth. – Beat in the vanilla and egg until smooth. – Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix until it forms a dough. – Mix through the chocolate chips. – Divide the dough in to generous balls, slightly larger than a ping pong ball is best. Roll briefly in your hands to make a round ball and place 6 on a baking tray. Make sure they cookies are well spaced apart as they spread. – Bake one sheet at a time in the top of the oven for about 15-17 minutes. The cookies will still be soft but the edges should be a little brown. – As soon as they come out of the oven press the sugar eyeballs randomly into the cookies. Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely/eat. – Repeat with the remaining trays of cookies.
A lovely simple biscuit, quick and easy to work with and it gives a delightfully crisp buttery biscuit. Nothing fancy at all, as simple and wholesome as a biscuit can get! These biscuits remind me of some I had as a child at a farmhouse on the way to the lake district. There were no such things as hygiene certificates then, this was literally the farmer’s wife selling tea and biscuits in her kitchen and they were some of the best I’ve ever had!
Makes 18 biscuits
125g butter, softened
70g golden caster sugar (Plus a few tsp extra for sprinkling)
1 egg yolk
160g plain flour
small pinch of salt
Heat the oven to gas mark 5 and prepare two baking trays with baking paper.
Cream together the butter and the sugar in a small mixing bowl.
Add the egg yolk and beat well to combine.
Add the flour and the salt (if your flour is at all lumpy do sift it in as it will mix easier).
Bring all the ingredients together into a soft dough. It can help to use your hand to get it all together in the last bit.
Pinch off small walnut sized balls of dough and roll them in your palms to shape into rounds.
Place on the baking tray and use the heel of your palm to squish them flat.
Sprinkle the tops with the extra sugar.
Bake for 10 minutes until the edges are just starting to colour.
Remove from the oven and allow to sit on the tray for 5 minutes before trying to move them as they will break otherwise.
This one is a great Friday bake! It’s the end of the week and we’re all a bit tired. Chocolate will help. Specifically a No Bake Chocolate Truffle Torte! All of the flavour, none of the faff!
It’s a biscuit based crust with a smooth and silky chocolate ganache centre. Yum!
Look at those frills! This makes an excellent centrepiece dessert, or even an afternoon tea… I may have had it for lunch at one point too… shh!!
It’s quick, it’s simple, its packed full of chocolate. You should definitely make this!
Makes 1 8″ torte
300g chocolate biscuits (I actually used some of my Easy Chocolate Biscuits but you could use store bought too)
150g plain dark chocolate
150ml double cream
350g plain dark chocolate, broken into chunks
15g butter
50g white chocolate to decorate
Crush the biscuits into crumbs. You can leave some chunks if you like but I prefer crumbs.
Melt the first 150g chocolate and mix with the biscuits.
Press evenly into a fluted ring (the one I use doesn’t have a base, it rests on a baking sheet and lifts off). Use the back of a spoon for a smooth surface.
Heat the double cream in a small pan until at a full rolling boil.
Put the 350g chocolate and butter in a mixing bowl.
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and butter.
Leave it for a minute or two, then mix to form a smooth ganache with no lumps. The cream should be hot enough to melt all of the chocolate if you squish it against the side of the bowl.
Pour the ganache into the biscuit shell.
Melt the white chocolate and drizzle or pipe over the top of the ganache to decorate.
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without gingerbread! Now, prior to this year I have always made and endured gingerbread biscuits but only because it’s Christmas and that’s just what you do! Not this year, oh no! I have finally found a gingerbread recipe that I actually enjoy! These biscuits are crisp enough to keep their structure when hung on a tree, or built into 3D constructions but chewy enough that you don’t feel in danger of cracking a tooth on them unlike some of the recipes I’ve tried over the years. They are incredibly moreish and have just the right level of spice and interest for me without being so strong that you can’t accidentally eat half a dozen in 5 minutes flat!
Makes ~30 of different sizes, depends on your cutter!
100g butter
175 dark muscovado sugar
85g golden syrup
pinch of salt
350g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1 egg
– Melt the butter, sugar, syrup and salt in a saucepan and mix until all combined.
– Set aside to cool while you weigh the other ingredients.
– Put the flour, bicarb and spices in a large mixing bowl.
– Add the warm melted butter/sugar/syrup and give a little mix.
– Add the egg, continue to mix until it forms a soft batter. Don’t worry, it will be much squishier than you think it should be.
– Put it in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
– Heat the oven to gas mark 6 and prepare 2 baking trays with lining paper.
– On a lightly floured worksurface roll out the dough to about 5mm for larger cookies or the thickness of a £1 coin for smaller . I have a small worksurface so I work with half the dough at a time and keep the rest in the fridge.
– Cut out your biscuits and carefully lift onto the trays, leaving plenty of space for them to spread a little. They don’t loose their shape but they will puff out a bit.
– Bake your cookies for 5-10 minutes. The larger the biscuits are the longer they will take, the smaller they are the quicker they’ll bake. Small ones will probably take about 7 minutes, larger ones 10-12 minutes but keep checking. You want the biscuit to be deep brown, but not yet catching and darkening on the edges. Black is too far!
– If you want to put holes in for hanging on trees or making into 3D structures, cut these immediately upon leaving the oven while the dough is still hot.
– Leave on the tray to firm up for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool, continue to repeat with the rest of the dough until it’s all gone.
This recipe came about because I had half a tin of condensed milk sitting in the fridge… it had been there a while. How long I could not say but significantly longer that I was happy with… but it was still good and it seemed a shame to waste it so I decided to transform it into dog treats!
These ones are a little bit naughtier as they have the sugar from the condensed milk in them. Darcy was such a big fan of the cinnamon rolls I made that I thought he should have his own cinnamon treats. He LOVES them! Never has he been so obedient! I think he prefers the balls as they are a little chewier, he certainly seems to enjoy them no matter the shape though!
Makes ~100 small treats
1/2 tin condensed milk (~200g)
1 cup oats
1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour
1 tsp cinnamon
– Heat the oven to gas mark 5/190C.
– Mix all of the ingredients together until they form a soft dough. (If this is still very wet add a little more flour. It sort of depends on how much condensed milk you’ve started with and how dry your flour is.)
– Either roll out and cut out shapes or simply pinch off balls of dough and shape into balls. (Use plenty of flour if rolling, this is a sticky dough!)
– Place on a baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes until just golden brown. (The longer you bake them the harder they get, if your dog doesn’t like rock solid treats then give them less time.)
– Leave to cool and then store in an airtight tin.
These Cheesy Dog Biscuits came about because I had a hankering to bake something. I was trying to be good and not make cookies (I failed, I totally made cookies too!) so I thought I’d have a go at baking something for Darcy. I had seen a whole bunch of recipes for dog biscuits but nothing ever seemed right.
My dog is small and still only a puppy so I didn’t want to use stock, even low sodium stock. My dog also hates peanut butter. The only dog I have ever met who doesn’t go nuts for it! So I thought I’d have a bit of a play around and see what I could come up with that Darcy would love but I would still be happy to give him. He loves cheese so that was a good starting point.
These biscuits certainly tick all my boxes! They’re cheesy, crunchy and, quite honestly, I would totally eat these myself dipped in humous or something! The recipe gives a good yield for such an small quantity of ingredients and these were all things I had in the cupboard so they were super simple to make!
Makes 50-70 biscuits depending on the size of your cutter.
1 cup oats
1 cup wholewheat flour
1 egg
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup grated cheddar
1/2 cup finely grated hard cheese (like Parmesan)
2 slices ham, finely diced
– Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 5.
– Mix the oats, flour, egg and most of the water together to form a soft dough. You may need all of the water, you may not so add a bit at a time until it comes together in a soft but not sticky dough.
– Add the cheeses and ham and knead to combine.
– Roll out on a lightly floured surface or silicone mat to a thickness of about 5mm.
– Cut with your desired cutter, I used a 6cm bone shape.
– Place about 1 cm apart on a baking tray.
– Bake for 15 minutes.
– Place the baked biscuits on a wire rack to cool and repeat with remaining biscuits until all of the dough is used.
I love all the spice biscuits that come out of the woodwork around Christmas time. Be they Anna’s Pepperkakor (naturally) or Speculoos/Spekulatius/etc or just plain old Gingerbread they all make me feel warm and full of festive cheer. These biscuits aren’t any particular spice biscuit but rather they pull together the best features of many recipes I’ve tried over time.
We like a strongly spiced biscuit in my family where the warmth stays with you. And we all know I love any biscuit that can be cut into cute shapes. I’m quite the sucker for them in fact. These are great because they hold their shape brilliantly and retain a clear, crisp edge. They are incredibly versatile. I’ve made tiny gingerbread shapes for snacking on on Christmas morning, large ones for the tree, and even a few Gingerbread people for my family. They are so easy to throw together and exactly the pick me up needed sometimes at this time of year.
– Blitz the flour, spices, salt, baking powder and sugar in a food processor.
– Add the butter, chopped into chunks, and process until it forms breadcrumbs.
– Add the milk with the motor running.
– Turn out onto a work surface and bring together with your hands to form a smooth dough. If it’s sticking then another 25g or so of flour can be kneaded into the dough.
– Divide the dough into 3, form into discs and wrap.
– Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, overnight if possible.
– When ready heat the oven to gas mark 4/ 180 C and line a few baking trays.
– Working with one portion of dough at a time, roll out on a floured work surface to a thickness of just a few mm. I like mine to be at least as thin as a £1 coin.
– Use cutters to cut out your biscuits and place on a baking tray. They don’t need much space between them.
– If making tree decorations don’t forget to cut a hole for the string too! I use the tip of an icing nozzle.
– Bake in batches for 12-15 minutes in the centre of the oven until firm but not too dark.
– Cool completely on a wire rack.
– You can now decorate the biscuits if you wish.
For Children In Need this year I will be doing my bit by baking for the office. I have a battle plan for this week to make sure I’ll have lots of treats, and lots of donations! These are made from the same gingerbread recipe I used for gingerbread cottages last year but made in lovely thick, ginger biscuits. I tried the recipe that came on the back of the Pudsey cookie cutter but the biscuits spread far too much so I won’t be selling those, no one wants deformed bear biscuits!
Makes ~19 (and one Pudsey Head!)
250g unsalted butter
200g dark muscovado sugar
7 tbsp golden syrup
600g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
4 tsp ground ginger
– Heat the oven to gas mark 6 and prepare two baking trays… or more if you can do more than two trays at a time!
– Melt together the butter, sugar and syrup in a large pan.
– Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger in a large mixing bowl and mix them together.
– Pour the melted butter mixture into the flour and mix well with a spoon until a dough is formed.
– Roll out the dough to the thickness of your Pudsey cookie cutter. Do this by placing the cutter on the worksurface next to the dough and rolling over that too so you don’t go too far.
– Cut out your shapes and place on lined baking trays.
– Bake for ~10 minutes watching carefully because it is very easy to burn these.
– Once out of the oven allow the biscuits to cool on the trays for 5-10 minutes until hard then cool completely on a wire rack.
– Repeat for the rest of the dough.
Hi, I'm Anna and this is what's going on in my kitchen and growing in my garden.
Everything you see here is how it looked as I cooked and ate it. I don't like to make things too fussy. I want you to know that if you try one of my recipes what you see is what you'll get.
Don't forget to leave a comment, I love to know what you're thinking and if you do try out a recipe then let me know how it worked for you. Happy cooking!
Anna in the kitchen 