Samoa M&M Blondies

Did I tell you that I went to join the gym?
Yes, I made it all the way to reception.
There they told me that unfortunately the system was down, I should come back some other day.
Seriously?

So instead of joining the gym I continue to bake.
It's kind of my own very special exercise.
Let me tell you that baking with two small children has its challenges...

I decided to bake Samoa M&M Blondies, but I did not have all the ingredients so mine turned out looking more like brownies.

They were pretty good.
Very, very, very sweet and unfortunately very addictive.
I'm definitely still thinking about joining the gym.

Here is a link to the recipe on Eat at Allies blog. Go and check out the original recipe.

Here is my improvised recipe with the ingredients I had available and I converted everything into metric measurements.

Note: I improvised extensively and I will probably never be able to recreate it exactly as it was today!! Also it is best eaten on the day you bake it.

Ingredients:

281 gram unsalted butter
350 gram packed brown sugar
112 gram granulated sugar
2 large eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
375 gram all-purpose flour
100 gram desiccated coconut (Next time I will add more)
250 gram M&Ms (with a few reserved for the top)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a 9×13 inch pan with baking paper.
Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until it browns and begins to smell nutty (watch it closely so it doesn’t burn). Allow the butter to cool slightly.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the browned butter and sugars.
Stir in eggs, vanilla and salt.
Add the flour and stir just until combined.
Add  the coconut and M&Ms and stir to combine.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
Sprinkle a few additional M&Ms on top.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
Let the blondies cool completely before turning them out onto a cutting board and slicing into squares.

Enjoy!

Star Cookies

Sometimes I just want to bake.
Usually on a Saturday afternoon.
My focus has been on cookies lately.
Probably because it is something that is a lot of fun to do with Heidi.
Rolling out the dough, cutting out the shapes and eating the dough.

I think that I stumbled across the best sugar cookie recipe ever.
It is from a children's cookbook and it is really easy!

Ingredients:

125 gram soft unsalted butter
125 gram sugar
1 egg
250 gram flour
100 gram dark chocolate (melted)

Method:

Beat the butter, sugar and egg until light and creamy.
Add the flour and mix with your hands until you get a soft dough.
Place on a lightly floured surface and knead into a smooth dough in about two minutes.
Cover in plastic foil and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Grease an oven tray.
Roll out the dough to about 5mm thick by placing it between two sheets of baking paper.
Use a star shaped cookie cutter and cut out as many shapes as you can get out of the dough.
I used a small one and managed 40 little stars.
Bake for about 15 minutes, until the cookies are golden.
Let them cool and melt the chocolate.
Place half a teaspoon of melted chocolate on the back of half all the cookies. The place the other half of the cookies on top and sandwich them together.

Now drizzle some melted chocolate on top of the cookies and dip them into hundreds and thousands for a bit of colour.

Yummy!

Malva Pudding

Now this is a truly South African dessert.

Malva Pudding is a baked dessert which just melts in your mouth. Serve it warm slathered with custard or a scoop of vanilla ice cream and you will be in heaven. You and your family and your friends. It is that good.

Best avoided if you are on a diet though...

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
0.5 cup sugar
1.5 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon apricot jam
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda
1 egg
a pinch of salt

Syrup ingredients:
125 gram butter
1.5 cups milk
1 cup sugar

Serves 4 (just double it if you are more than 4 people, or a bit of a glutton like me)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease an oven dish.
Beat the egg and the sugar together until pale.
Add everything except the milk and bicarbonate of soda and mix well.
Then add the milk in which the bicarbonate of soda has been dissolved and mix together.
It is quite a runny batter.
Pour into the greased oven dish and bake for one hour until dark and baked through.
Insert a skewer and if it comes out clean then you know it is done.
In a saucepan, bring the syrup ingredients to the boil and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Remove the pudding from the oven and prick some holes into the pudding with the skewer.
Now pour the syrup over the pudding.
It will be absorbed into the pudding within a few minutes...

Serve while warm, either with custard or vanilla ice cream.

Pure heaven.