Peanut Free Peanut Butter Cookies! Wait... What?

Today we're (I say we, I mean Bloke) racing, this calls for cookies. Standing on the side lines being loud and supportive is hard work you know. Because lets be honest here I'll probably eat way more than Bloke. Sorry Bloke. Anyway sport and peanut butter are a classic combination. peanut butter is fab it's high in protein, energy and other good stuff, alas its also death in a jar for me. But thankfully some wonderful people invented Wowbutter which is just like peanut butter in every way except that it's never so much as seen a peanut in it's life. I've sung it's praises before here.

And do you know what I like even more than cookies that don't kill me? Cookies that aren't murderous in nature and are super easy to make. I don't think I'll ever post a simpler recipe. It doesn't feel like a recipie at all really. There are loads of these floating about the internet  but i can confirm that they work and they work very well with wowbutter.

All you need is:

• A cup of sugar
• A cup of peanut butter
• an egg
• a teaspoon of vanilla 

Method:
Beat together in a bowl, spoon onto a greased tin, press down with a fork to create that Nutter Butter style pattern. These will grow in the baking so do place with plenty of space.

Just pop them into a preheated oven at 175°C, 350°F or gas mark 4 for 11 to 12 minutes. They will like any good cookie be quite soft when they come put but harden as they cool. Lovely!

 Store in an airtight container. If they last that long. I can make no guarantees about how long anyone can leave these alone. Good thing they're so easy to make eh?

Minnie xoxo

Its Autumn and that means Christmas cake.

So.... We're half way through September. How did that happen? Oh yeah getting married, moving and starting back at uni does then to be a time suck like that. Who Knew? Every one but me, obviously.

I'm still getting to grips with the new house, and uni and I still have a ton of stuff to wrap up from after the wedding. But that's tottally beside the point because September means its Christmas cake time again!

If you missed it last year, I make my Christmas cake at the end of September and feed it with rum for month and months so that come December its a lovely juicy, spicy cake that's so full of alcohol people think they love it. Its cheap and easy to do and doesn't take more than two hours in the oven or contain any crazy expensive ingredients. I'll be blogging the recipe and method again this year with better pictures and more direction because of the awesome feed back I got last year. (Mostly the cake jacket, I'll hold my hands up that was super vague.)

So back on point, lets make it a proper cake a long. No need to use my recipe, or *any* recipe for that matter. Do you make a cake? Do you buy one? Who sells the best cake for those who don't want to/don't have the time? What do you hate about Christmas cake? Is the marzipan a requirement or the devil's work? Is any icing even required (we didn't get that far next year. This year I'm making multiples)? Or is Yule log where its at for you? Will you be my new best buddy?

So who's up for it? Will you blog/ bake along, or just cheer us on in the comments?

Minnie xoxo

4 Days To Go

I think I've admitted defeat with regards to bloke's jumper. I am not the Yarnharlot, as lovely as she may be I can't drop everything to knit. There are other fun things to do like decorate the tree!

Its a very tiny tree. Bloke surprised me with it and a few new decorations. Our old ones are still missing. Alas. The topper is a free printable from Jolly Allsorts. I am rocking lots of free printables this year. Mostly on photo paper because it makes them look a bit more polished. 

The lovely shiny baubles have been padded out with some salt dough pals. When I was a teenager I was very into art, painting drawing and the like. The talent has not stayed with me, so I just painted them block bright colours with acrylic paint and did a little fancy gold flecking with a little shiny paint and a dry brush.

Salt dough is easy peasy! Here's how you make it:

You just need half a cup of salt, half a cup of tepid water and slightly more than a cup of plain flour. Work the dough until its smooth , roll it out, cut out some shapes with a cookie cutter. Jab a hole with a cocktail stick or an old pen and bake in a low oven for a few hours until hard. Then you just paint and add some ribbon or string and hang on the tree. If you are particularly proud of your work seal with a water based varnish or pva glue. And just to be clear salt dough is not for eating.

Making salt dough ornaments is one of those things that is usually reserved for small children only, but its a lot of fun and I highly recommend it as a cheap and fun way to pad out, update and personalise your tree. With some patience and a little more imagination and some stunning results could be achieved, but I'll be honest I'm pretty proud of my simple stars, hearts and circles. I'm easily pleased.

I hope you all aren't too stressed by the run up to the big day!

Minnie xoxo

Lets talk about scones.

Proper scones. Proper plain scones are a versatile little fluffy parcel of wonder. You can get a batch to the table in less than half an hour, you don't need to buy anything fancy to make them. And while we're at it a real scone mix is egg free. That's right. No eggs. And to boot they are great with everything, cheese, marmalade, golden syrup, clotted cream and strawberry jam. Or simply buttered. Brilliant with a cup of tea or a bowl of soup. From breakfast to supper.

(On a side note I am digging the camera cable out today, this is getting crazy.)

Ingredients:

200g of self raising flour (or 200g plain and 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda and 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar)

25g of butter

pinch of salt

milk (butter milk, greek yogurt or any dairy free milk alternative) 

Method:

Sift the flour. add the salt. Rub or cut the butter through. Stir the milk in until you have a stick elastic dough. Tip out onto a floured surface. Roll out to about 2cm thick. Cut anyway you see fit! Mix makes about 5 good size scones or 10 small high tea style scones. Glaze if preferred with a milk or egg wash. Bake in a hot oven for 10-15 minutes until golden. 

Enjoy! 

Minnie xoxo