Healthy Cookies!

January is the month of diets and for everyone who has a sweet tooth, this can be a hard thing to deal with. To get you guys in the baking mood but to still keep healthy, I concocted my own "healthy cookies". 

Whilst most recipes call for white sugar, I substituted it with maple syrup, a healthier aulturnative. Maple syrup contains antioxidants which benefits your your immune system and even though it is sweeter than sugar, is has fewer calories. Another healthy substitute is adding seeds in replacement for chocolate chips. If you don't want to add seeds you could add anything from nuts to dried fruit.

Quick little tip for you guys, make sure you do not over mix the cookie dough otherwise you will end up with a tough cookie! (pun not intended haha) 

Ingredients:

• 115g butter
• 1/4 cup maple syrup 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1 1/2 cup flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 
• 1 tsp hot water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup oats
• 1/2 cup seeds/raisins/chocolate chips

1) Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees. In a bowl add the brown sugar, maple syrup and butter, cream together until mixed. 

2) Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix together.

3) In a separate bowl add the bicarbonate of soda and hot water. Mix together and add into mixture along with the salt. Next gradually mix in the flour until fully mixed. 

4) Add the oats and mix well. 

5) Add the seeds or a mixture of anything you want to add. Mix until everything is fully combined and evenly spread through.

6)Using a tablespoon as a measurement scoop out the mixture and place onto the tray. Make sure the cookies are equally sized. Place in the oven for 10-11 minutes 

7) Once done, let the cookies cool on a cooling rack or you can eat them instantly!

If you enjoy these cookies make sure to bake them and tweet me picture! 

How are your January diets going so far?

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Gingerbread biscuits

Hi guys!

I don't know about you but a big part of the christmas festivities includes eating and making food...and drink but I will cover that part next week! To get me into the festive feel of things today (I say today but i've been trying to put bake these and put this tutorial up all week!), I am going to making gingerbread biscuits. These are yummy warm and are the perfect accompaniment to a mug of piping hot chocolate. 

Ingredients Needed:
125g butter
100g dark brown muscovado sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup
325 plain flour plus some for dusting
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon & cloves
5 tbsp royal icing
2 tbsp water
decorating bits - silver balls

1) In a non stick pan melt the butter, sugar and syrup together. Stir together until combined.

2) In another bowl add all your dry ingredients; flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, nutmeg and cloves and stir together until combined.

3) Take the saucepan off the heat (make sure the liquids not boil) and add in the dry ingredients. Stir together until it forms a ball.

4) Let the dough cool down for a few minutes and roll it out onto a floured surface. Using cookie cutters of your choice, cut out shapes and place on baking trays lined with greaseproof paper. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees and cook them for 9 -10 minutes.

5) Once cooked remove from the oven and whilst they are warm, poke a hole at the top in order for you to put a string through them and hang them up.

6) Mix together the water and royal icing and decorate the biscuits however you like.

Tip: Dust the cookie cutters with flour to prevent them form sticking to the dough

I hope you enjoy baking these as much as I did. Do you guys have any christmas food traditions or bake something special during the festive period? I know for me I always enjoy eating loads and loads of panettone (with lots and lots of butter). 

Like always If you don't already follow me on all the social media platforms, get following and I also wanted to add a quick little plug for myself because I have a online store where I sell handmade cards which are designed and produced by me! If you do have the time I would really appreciate if you could check it out,  curlyneedle.bigcartel.com :)

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Chai Latte Cupcakes

Well hello there! :) Happy Monday guys! 

As many of you know (or don't) this week (Thursday to be precise) is Diwali! Diwali is celebrated by Hindu's, Jain's and Sikh's and all for different reasons. As some of you may or may not know i'm Sikh, so come thursday I will be going to the Gurdwara (sikh temple) to celebrate. Diwali is a significant day to Sikhs around the world, as it celebrates the realise of our 6th guru, Guru Hargobind Ji. 

Inspired by this Indian festivity, I decided to make some chai latte cupcakes. The star ingredient of this recipe has to be the chai latte mix by drink me chai. I literally love this stuff, it has a sweet taste to it and it makes me feel warm and happy.  Okay so lets get to it! 

 You Will Need:

• 100g self raising flour
• 100g brown sugar
• 100g butter
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons of Drink me Chai's 'spiced' mix 
• 1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract 
• 1 small cup of milk
• Buttercream frosting
• 1 stick of cinnamon, 3 cloves and cardamon pods
• Cupcake cases

1) Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees. Measure out the flour, sugar, butter, chai mix, vanilla extract and put all in the ingredients into a mixer. Crack the eggs into the mixer bowl and add 7 tablespoons of milk. 

2) Mix all the ingredients together until combined. Do not over mix, I repeat DO NOT OVER MIX! this causes the cupcake to become  tough, dense and bread like, and no one wants that. 

3) Spoon the batter into the cupcake cases and bake for 15-20mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.  

4) Whilst the cupcakes are baking, it is time to infuse the milk. Put the remaining milk into a small pan add the cinnamon, cardamon and clove. Let the milk simmer for about 10 minutes then leave to cool. When its cooled you can add a couple of teaspoons of this to any buttercream of your choice (I was lazy and bought buttercream from the supermarket). The rest of the milk you can drink, it tastes amazing! :) 

5) Pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes and they are ready to eat. 

For all you chai/cha lovers out there I highly recommend trying these, and don't forget to tweet me a picture if you do make these! :) 

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