Matcha & white chocolate brownies

When I was in Japan earlier this year, I fell in love with everything matcha flavoured. Fortunately, in Japan, everything comes in matcha flavour. There is matcha soft serve ice-cream, matcha brownies, matcha cakes, matcha cream buns, matcha kit kat...and the list goes on. 

I'm pleased to say that I finally perfected my matcha brownie recipe and can have a taste of Japan here at home. It's surprisingly fast and tastes amazing. 

You’ll need the following ingredients - white chocolate, sugar, butter, eggs, matcha powder, flour, and vanilla extract. You can also use chopped almond to give some crunch. 

This recipe makes 12 brownies. 

Ingredients

114 grams unsalted butter
150g white chocolate
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup matcha green tea powder
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

(optional 1/2 cup chopped/sliced almonds)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a brownie tray with greaseproof paper. 
2. Bring a small pot of water to the boil and place the glass bowl with the butter over the simmering water (this is called cooking over a "Bain Marie") until butter is melted.
3. Once butter has melted, add the sugar, and stir using a whisk until combined. 
4. Take the bowl off the heat and add two eggs. Whisk until combined. 
5. Add flour, vanilla extract, and matcha powder and stir using a wooden spoon. 
6. Let cool. 
7. Add roughly chopped white chocolate or chocolate chips. If you're using almonds, add these now also. 
8. Pour into lined brownie tray. 
9. Cook for 20-25 minutes.
10. Allow to cook before removing form tray and cutting. 

Blondies

Blondies are my favourite type of brownie. They are not so intense in flavour as they use white chocolate and no cocoa powder, which means you end up eating more...!

Ingredients

Using a 23cm square tin:

230g butter
340g dark brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 medium eggs
280 plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
240g white chocolate, in small chunks

Using a 23cm x 30cm rectangle tin:

290g butter
425 dark brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1.25 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
310 plain flour
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1.25 tsp baking powder
300g white chocolate, in small chunks

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a brownie tin with greaseproof paper. 

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan.

3. Whisk in sugar and salt.

4. Add vanilla essence, whisk again.

5. Add the eggs to the butter mixture and whisk again.

6. In a seperate bowl, sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, and baking powder.

7. Slowly pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture a little at a time (to avoid lumps).

8. Mix until you get a smooth texture. Allow to cool before folding in the chocolate chunks.

9. Roughly chop white chocolate.

10. Mix together gently.

11. Spoon and spread onto a brownie tray.

12. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

13. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Peanut butter cookies

I recently went through a faze of creating peanut butter everything. As well as the cupcakes already posted below, I made some gorgeous cookies. They're small and light and go well with a cup of tea or in kid's lunch boxes.

They take no more than 30 minutes preparation and 30 minutes in the oven. They last well in an airtight container although, given they are so good, keeping them fresh is unlikely to be an issue!

Ingredients (makes around 35 cookies)

125g unsalted vutter
140g soft brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
185 peanut butter (I used crunchy for the texture but smooth can also be used if you prefer)
165g plain flour (sifted)
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
(you an also add 25g cocoa powder if you would like chocolate flavour)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line two baking trays with baking paper.
2. Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy, using an electric mixer.
3. Add the egg a little at the time before adding the peanut butter.
4. Using a metal spoon, add flour, baking soda (and cocoa powder if you're using it) to mix a dough.
5. Roll level tablespoons of the mixture into balls, place on the trays, and flatten with a fork to make a pattern on the top
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
7. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks. 

Braai bread (roosterbrood)

Today, we received an education in BBQ from our South African friend. He introduced us to excellent meat rubs and frankly superior BBQing skills with meat. 

But he also introduced us to braai bread (roosterbrood) which is a beer bread cooked on the BBQ. I was slightly skeptical but it is truly amazing. I don't think I will be able to have a BBQ again without it. Fortunately, it is very easy. 

I have a breadmaker, so most of the work is done for me. The picture below doesn't do them justice and most of them were eaten by the time I managed to get a picture taken!

Ingredients (makes 8-12 rolls)

500g strong white bread flour
10g instant yeast
Pinch of salt
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp olive oil
300ml beer
(plus extra flour for dusting)

Method

1. Sprinkle yeast over bottom of bread maker 
2. Measure flour over the top
3. Add salt, sugar, olive oil
4. Pour beer over the top
5. Use short dough setting on bread maker (I used the 45 minute setting for pizza dough)
6. Once complete, knead dough and leave in a bowl in a warm place with a tea towel over the top
7. Let prove for another 30 minutes or so
8. Pull or cut into rolls 
9. Cook for 5-10 minutes on BBQ, towards the side
10. Break apart while hot and eat with lots of butter

Oreo cupcakes

After a trip to central America, I managed to return with a ridiculous number of packets of Oreo biscuits. What to do with them? Cupcakes of course! 

Personally, Oreos are not my favourite biscuit, but these cupcakes are fantastic and could even turn me into an Oreo fan. 

They can be decorated using broken up biscuit pieces, or, if you can get your hands on some mini Oreos, these would look great positioned on top. 

Ingredients (12-16 cakes):

Cakes:

70g unsalted butter, softened

170g plain flour (sifted)

250g castor sugar

50g cocoa powder (sifted)

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

210ml whole milk

2 large eggs

12-16 Oreos

Icing: 

500g icing sugar (sifted)

160g unsalted butter, softened

60ml whole milk

8 crushed Oreos

Decoration:

12-16 mini Oreos

or

5 crushed Oreo biscuits

or

Chocolate sprinkles

Method:

Cakes: 

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Line muffin tin with paper cases. 

2. Add butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt to a bowl and beat using a hand mixer or stand mixer until you get a crumb texture

3. In a separate bowl, mix milk and eggs with a whisk or fork

4. Gradually pour milk/eggs mixture into the crumb mixture until combined into a thick mixture

5. Spoon or pour the batter into the cases approximately 2/3 full

6. Break the cookies into 2-4 pieces and insert into the cupcake mixture (how many into each will depend on how big your cupcakes are)

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes 

7. Cool on wire rack

Icing: 

1. While cakes are cooking, use your mixer to beat the butter and icing sugar until combined before slowly adding the milk

2. Beat the mixture on high for at least 5 minutes (this is very important to get a good airy icing)

3. Add the cookie crumbs and mix gently

I found this icing too thick to pipe so I suggest you just spread it on with a knife or back of a spoon. 

Vanilla cupcakes

This is an absolutely failsafe recipe for cupcakes. It has never gone wrong for me. It is light, not too sweet, and always rises.

The great thing about these cupcakes is that you can decorate them to your heart's content. Some examples of my decoration are below, followed by the recipe. 

Plain vanilla icing with sugar stars (I live in Jersey and the Jersey butter is yellow - no need for food dye to create yellow icing here!)

French flag

German flag

Manchester City FC colours

A mixture of chocolate and vanilla icing with chocolate sprinkles

Vanilla icing with holly sugar sprinkles 

Ingredients (makes 12 cakes):

Cakes:
120g plain flour (sifted)
140g castor sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
40g unsalted butter, softened
120ml whole milk
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Vanilla icing:
250g icing sugar (sifted)
80g unsalted butter, softened
25ml whole milk
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate icing:
300g icing sugar (sifted)
100g unsalted butter, softened
40g cocoa powder (sifted)
40ml whole milk

Baileys/malibu icing: 
250g icing sugar (sifted)
80g unsalted butter, softened
25ml baileys or malibu

Method:

Cakes: 

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Line muffin tin with paper cases. 

2. Add butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt to a bowl and beat using a hand mixer or stand mixer until you get a crumb texture

3. In a separate bowl, mix milk and eggs with a whisk or fork

4. Gradually pour milk/eggs mixture into the crumb mixture until combined into a thick mixture

5. Spoon or pour the batter into the cases approximately 2/3 full

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes 

7. Cool on wire rack

Icing: 

1. While cakes are cooking, use your mixer to beat the butter and icing sugar until combined before slowly adding the milk

2. Beat the mixture on high for at least 5 minutes (this is very important to get a good airy icing)

Peanut butter cupcakes

This recipe is one of my most popular. I often make this one for my colleagues at work and they don't hang around for very long! 

The recipe is based on one from the Hummingbird bakery cookbook, adapted to my own tastes. I sometimes hollow out a scoop in the top before icing the cake and put a spoonful of jam (jelly to Americans) in the middle. Who doesn't love PB&J?!

Ingredients (makes 12-16 cupcakes):

Cakes:

70g unsalted butter (softened)

210g plain flour (sifted)

250g castor sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

210 whole milk

2 large eggs

40-60g peanut butter (you can use smooth or crunchy)

Icing:

500g icing sugar (sifted)

160g unsalted butter (softened)

50g whole milk

80g peanut butter (smooth is easier to pipe although crunchy gives a nice texture, and is possible to pipe using a wide round nozzle)

Decoration:

The icing looks great piped on (as in the photo above) or you can smooth it onto the cake depending on your skill and equipment). You can decorate the top with whole salted or plain peanuts as above or alternatively make some peanut brittle. 

Method:

Cakes:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Line muffin tin with paper cases. 

2. Add butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt to a bowl and beat using a hand mixer or stand mixer until you get a crumb texture

3. In a separate bowl, mix milk and eggs with a whisk or fork

4. Gradually pour milk/eggs mixture into the crumb mixture until combined into a thick mixture

5. Add peanut butter and mix until combined

6. Spoon or pour the batter into the cases approximately 2/3 full

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes 

8. Cool on wire rack

Icing: 

1. While cakes are cooking, use your mixer to beat the butter and icing sugar until combined before slowly adding the milk

2. Beat the mixture on high for at least 5 minutes (this is very important to get a good airy icing)

3. Add the peanut butter until you have a smooth light icing