Easy Chocolate Biscuit Recipe

I've had this post stored away in my drafts for a while now as it's one I started working on in July before the whole hospital fiasco, so I figured it was about time I finally got round to publishing it. So admittedly this recipe was more a case of experimenting in the kitchen and seeing what the end result was. What was supposed to be Toffee Crisp Cookies sort of ended up being chocolate biscuits instead which made me feel ever so slightly reluctant to share the recipe, however they did taste really good so I decided to post it anyway. They're so easy to make and if you're anything like me and never have a cupboard stocked with baking ingredients then it's a pretty ideal recipe as it only involves a few ingredients (most of which you should probably have lying about anyway) 

You will need:

1 Cup of Flour (150g)
1 Egg
1/2 Cup of Sugar (I would recommend caster but granulated sugar is all we had)
2 - 3 Tablespoons of Nutella

and any additional ingredients you'd like to add, I decided to add in some chopped up pieces of Toffee Crisp for some extra flavour and crunch.  

First you want to pre-heat your oven to 180C. Then grab a mixing bowl and pour in your flour.

After that you then want to add in your sugar and your scoops of nutella. I added around 2 - 3 tablespoons.

After that crack one egg into the bowl and mix it all together until you have smooth consistency. Then feel free to add in whatever extra ingredients you want. I chopped up a toffee crisp bar and added in little chunks of that and then mixed it all together.

Grab a baking tray and line it with a sheet of baking paper. After mixing the dough to evenly distribute chunks of toffee crisp, you then want to roll tablespoon sized balls out and squash them down with a glass to create that flat biscuit shape. 

Then just simply place in the oven for 12 minutes and leave them to cool.

There you have it! A simple easy to follow recipe with minimal products involved. My only advice for this would be to make your biscuits larger and wider rather than small and thick, as the larger ones are more like a cookie whereas the small ones end up quite hard and crunchy. 

My Week In Photos #6

Once again I'll admit this isn't the most exciting round up of photos. It seems that whenever my boyfriend is working I don't really do anything! I did however do a little bit of cooking, tried pub golf for the first time (although admittedly didn't do a lot of drinking due to my condition) and I visited an adorable local cafe which I plan on doing a blog post about very soon! 

1. Cooking Sweet Chilli Chicken for my mum and my boyfriend

2. Made Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffins

3. New Missguided top

4. Tuna Mayo Sandwich and PewdiePie

5. Making my own fancy little jar of Fruit Infused Water 

6. Pub Golf Score Card

7. Pub Golf Team

8. OOTD

9. Visiting Tea Jenny Cottage 

Easy Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe

Now I don't claim to be the best in the kitchen - in fact I'm far from it! Today however I'll be posting about a super simple and fun recipe I came across for Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffins. Me and my boyfriend Chris had a wonderful time making these this afternoon and they turned out brilliantly. We decided to follow Laura Vitale's recipe, so please be aware that I'm not claiming this as my own - I'm simply reposting and showing my results. I'll post a link to her website below if any of you are interested in seeing the original post.

 You will need:

- 12 Cupcake Cases
- 1/2 Cup of Vegetable Oil
- 2 Eggs
-1/2 Cup of Sugar
- 3 Ripe Bananas
- 1/4 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
- 2/3 Cup of Self Raising Flour
- 1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
- 1/4 Teaspoon of Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon of Cinnamon (optional)
- 1 Cup of Chocolate Chips 

1. Start by pre-heating your oven to 200 C and by laying your 12 muffin cases out on a tray, ready to be filled with the mixture later on.

2. Take a bowl and pour in 1 cup of chocolate chips and 3 tablespoons of self raising flour. Then mix together until all the chips are coated with flour - then set aside.

3. Take a large bowl and proceed to add in the 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, 2 eggs and 1/2 a cup of sugar.

4. Take a separate bowl and place your 3 ripe bananas inside, then take a fork and begin mashing them up until you have a thick, lumpy looking paste. Remember to try and keep some banana lumps in tact as you want to be able to really taste the banana when you bite into your muffins. Once mashed add to the larger bowl containing the oil, eggs and sugar. 

5. Add 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract to your bowl and then begin mixing it all together.

5. After mixing then proceed to add 2/3 cup of self raising flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 a teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and then the optional step of 1/4 a teaspoon of cinnamon for extra flavour. Whisk until all ingredients are combined.

6. Take your bowl of flour and chocolate chips that you prepared earlier and begin to fold that in to your mixture. Whisk until everything is mixed together then simply divide the batter into your muffin cases and bake for 18 minutes. 

7. After baking for 18 minutes, take a tooth pick and dip it into one of your muffins. If it comes out clean your muffins are ready to be taken out. If there is any mixture on the tooth pick, leave the muffins to cook for longer.

8. Leave to cool and then simply enjoy! 

That's all for this post, thank you again to Laura Vitale for posting such a simple and easy recipe. These muffins turned out so well and received a pretty good reaction from everyone who tried one! I really enjoyed doing this kind of post so maybe there will be more cooking related content on my blog from time to time. 

Laura's Website

My Week in Photos #5

Finally - a week where I've had something to do almost every day but today. It's been nice having so much to do this week (although some of it was just visiting doctors and picking up medicine) and it's been extra nice to feel well enough to do it all! I've recently started a new course of medication and so far so good. Hopefully my recent bit of good luck continues! 

1. Lunchables and PewdiePie

2. Made BBQ Chicken Quesadillas for the first time

3. OOTD to go and visit some friends

4. Failed cake pop attempt

5. Trying out a new primer - review to come soon.

6. A well deserved ice cream after having 5 bottles of blood taken from me

7. Strawberries, Banana, Muesli and Low Fat SKYR Yoghurt for breakfast.

8. Visiting the Dovecote Buttery for lunch

9. Strawberry picking for the first time

10. Trying out Vita Coco 

11. Nandos in Nottingham

12. Trying on stuff in Topshop (and regretting not buying them)

The Dovecote Buttery - Lunch and Stawberry Picking

Today I took a trip to The Dovecote Buttery - a restaurant and shop based at Dovecote Farm near Kettering in the Northamptonshire area. I've driven by the place countless times and today was the day I finally got to go in and experience everything it had to offer. 

In 1985 Dovecote farm began a pick your own fruit service, which over the years has expanded and now includes some veg too. In 2004 they opened "The Buttery" tea room, which has since expanded into a bigger restaurant area. The interior of the place is absolutely beautiful. It's very light and airy and is decorated in a New England kind of style with lots of shabby chic trinkets scattered all over the place. All of which are available to purchase as the place also doubles as a unique gift shop, full of candles, ornaments and various other things.

Just as you step inside the Buttery room you're met with the sight of fresh local produce, various jars of preserves, pies, cheese, pork products etc all of which are available for visitors to purchase.

We arrived at about 1pm and were seated instantly, which was a pleasant surprise as I had heard that they're often really busy and therefore being seated can take a while, however we were incredibly fortunate! The staff were very friendly and were quick to take our drink orders and give us the menus. After perusing the menu for a while I decided to get one of their delicious sandwiches served on doorstop bread. I went with the Tuna Mayo sandwich on granary bread which came with a side of crisps, salad and a helping of coleslaw. I've only ever tried tuna once before and I wasn't sure how I felt about it, however this was delicious and I can now confidently say I'm a fan of tuna! The menu had a great selection of items to choose from, ranging from jacket potatoes, soups, sandwiches etc. All of which are moderately priced. As for the drinks selection, they had a good choice of fresh juices, fizzy drinks, teas, cocktails, champagne and of course pimms! 

As you can expect from a tea room they have a wonderful selection of fresh cakes and scones on offer. Judging by this photo, the Baileys Gateux seemed to go down well with most people! 

After lunch we went out and picked some strawberries on site. Dovecote farm have a variety of soft fruit available for visitors to pick and even have a calender on their website so you can see when's the best time to go down and pick your fruit or veg. You simply pick the size of the container you'd like to fill and a member of staff will inform you which rows to go to in order for you to pick your selected fruit. Your containers are then weighed and priced at the farm shop. I've never been strawberry picking before and it was such a fun and enjoyable activity to do - especially when you have lovely weather like we did today. I've now got my strawberries chilling in the fridge and plan on having them with some fresh whipped cream later on this evening. Yummy!

All in all if you're ever in the area I highly recommend you stop by and check it out. It's a great place for all the family to visit. There's lots to do and the food is brilliant! A fantastic hidden gem - I can't believe it's taken me so long to visit! 

My Week in Photos #4

Admittedly not the most exciting weekly round up as I'm currently meant to be recovering and looking after my little brother whilst my mum's away on holiday, but here's a little of what I got up to this week! 

1. Arthur photobombing my blog photos
2. Get Well Soon Flowers
3. Cheese and Red Onion Toastie at Kafe Blok
4. Actually enjoying food again - Chicken Salad Roll and Raisins 
5. Motel Rocks Delivery 
6. Sunday Mornings with Harpers Bazaar and a Bagel.

White Rabbit Teahouse

As many of my long term readers will already know I've been living in Nottingham the last two years. Having originally lived in a town and then moving to a city it's been really nice having so many cute cafes and restaurants to explore and visit. Not just well established branches, but unique independent places too.Today I'll be showing you the White Rabbit Teahouse - one of my favourite places to stop and get a bite to eat if I'm out in town. If you're ever in the mood to visit a cute traditional English teahouse then I highly recommend stopping by here - you certainly won't regret it! 

There are currently two teahouses based in Nottingham, one on Houndsgate and the other tucked away in a little alley down Bridlesmith Walk. Keep an eye out for the sign as it can be a little tricky to find first time round! The photographs I've included with my post were all taken in the cafe located on Bridlesmith walk. Upon entering the cafe you'll note that it is very small yet very cute with a few tables inside and two outside. On every table is a small pot of flowers and an adorable pair of rabbit shaped salt and pepper shakers. The walls are covered in a variety of frames and mirrors which helps add to the quaintness of the place. 

The menu has a fantastic variety of freshly made cakes, sandwiches, paninis, salads etc to choose from. They also serve a really good breakfast range up until 12pm so if you're in town early in the morning then I'd recommend popping in and giving it a go! They also offer an afternoon tea service from £25 which from what I've seen in photos looks absolutely amazing. As you would expect from a English teahouse, there's a massive selection of teas to choose from, with soya milk and decaffeinated teas available for those who wish. They also have have coffee's, fruit juices and chilled drinks to choose from as well. All food and drink are served on beautiful vintage style crockery and there's even the option to donate old crockery to the cafe so they can re-use it. I've visited here and had lunch a few times now and my personal favourite has to be their delicious Chicken Salad sandwich which comes with a vibrant salad garnish topped with a really tasty homemade dressing and a small handful of crisps. You also get the option of whether it's on fresh white bread or granary, on this particular occasion I went for the white although I've had both and they're both delicious.

The atmosphere is lovely and the staff are so friendly and attentive. It's the perfect place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy a relaxing catch up with a friend. The only thing I will warn you about is that it can be really busy on the weekend so it's best to try and stop by during the week. Also they only take cash so if you're anything like me and literally never have any cash with you, stop at an ATM first! It's a really lovely, unique little teahouse and I whole heartedly recommend stopping by if you're ever in Nottingham. 

My Week In Photos #2

 

Hello Everyone.

Today I will be doing a week in photos post. As some of you will know I moved up to Nottingham yesterday and although the journey was particularly stressful due to my dad getting us lost on the way over here, I am finally settled in my flat which I share with my boyfriend Chris. I've been quite busy unpacking so I haven't really had the chance to write out a proper post so this will have to do. I think I'm going to try and do these little summary posts more often so I hope that might be something of interest to you.



Arthur - Our Temporary Guest

 

Looking Back At Holiday Snaps - Turtle Island in Greece

 

 

Cheeky New Purchases from Primark and Superdrug

 

 

Pretty Sky

My Beautiful New Boots From My Boyfriend

Mcdonalds In Bed. Heavenly!

Me and My Boyfriend Made Sweet Chilli Chicken For The First Time Ever.
We're Proud!


That's all the photos from this week. I'm going to try and document a bit more of my week so for the next post I have more to show. Expect a lot of food images as now that I'm cooking for myself, I get very proud and feel the need to take pictures of my creations!

I hope you're all well.

Paige.