Recipe: 3 Ingredient Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge

This weekend I had a baking disaster.

By disaster, we're talking dry sponge, lumps of butter in the frosting, too warm frosting slipping down the cake, a drop in transit and for the finale, completely collapsing.

I was persistent, carried it to the Sunday dinner table (looking like a car crash), but it got trumped by my Mum's sticky toffee pudding.

And so I did what I always do in times such as this, seek inspiration and encouragement from Pinterest.

3 ingredient recipes, no baking? Yes please!

I think most colleagues and friends must assume that, like Nigella, I bake at all sorts of hours and sit in my pantry (cupboards) eating ingredients straight out the jar. Well, strictly speaking this is pretty spot on. And this is exactly what I did last night come 10pm, Horlicks in hand.

A few minutes of prep and you're away, this recipe can be left overnight to firm up. Monday morning = significantly improved.

There's not a recipe as such, just a few cup measurements. But when you're waiting for an advert break to finish on your weekend TV shows or for Netflix to load, there's just no time.

Peanut butter cup fudge
(Recipe adapted from Something Swanky, makes 24)

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (approx. 180g)
3 1/2 cups chopped milk chocolate (approx. 500g)
1 bag Reese's peanut butter mini cups (approx. any left after you've tested a few)

Line an 8" square cake tin with foil. Line the bottom of the tray with half the Reese's cups. Melt the peanut butter in a pan over a low heat, stirring constantly. Pour in the chocolate and continue to stir until everything has melted. Pour the mix over the cups in the tray, give it a gentle wiggle to cover every gap. Chop the rest of the Reese's cups and scatter over the top. Leave out to cool overnight (or 4 hours at least). If the fudge has been cooled in the fridge, leave out for 30 mins until room temperature to slice, this way it won't crumble.

Once made, this should last a week in an airtight container or a few weeks in the fridge...I like mine straight from the fridge.

In Ashton's recipe, white chocolate is used. The flavour combinations are endless, next I may try white chocolate and custard creams or milk chocolate and mini eggs, dark chocolate and pretzels.

And if you don't believe I eat ingredients straight from the cupboard...

...no shame!

Reeses Pieces Cookie Blondies

   I decided to do a little brownie experiment when baking some treats to take over to my brother's place for tea. Since my Reese's Pieces collection is forever growing I settled for a combination of peanut butter cookies and blondies layered together.

Peanut Butter Spelt Cookies

    Recently I've been aware that I should start thinking of ways to lessen my dependence on sugar. I've got to a stage where if I open a pack of biscuits, I will eat the whole lot. If I open a bar of Dairy Milk, I will eat the whole lot...and I'm talking about a big bar, daily! 

   I can't pretend to know a whole lot about refined sugars vs. naturally occurring sugars. But, I'd like to think that baking with naturally sweet ingredients can be just as tasty. I'd like to be a little more aware of ingredients and to have the knowledge to chose the healthier option - not always, of course! I love a treat from my favourite Bea's or the odd bar of Dairy Milk.

   I searched online for some cookie recipes that used ingredients I already had in the cupboard. I'm not very good at using up things, especially as the first time I've ever had tahini was in halva flapjacks I made recently. What else am I meant to use it for? So when I came across this recipe on Sweetest Kitchen, I got my apron on straight away and got mixing.

   These cookies use wholegrain spelt flour which is known as being much easier for your body to digest than regular flour due to its high water solubility. Its also rich in fibre, protein, complex carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. I've only ever baked with spelt twice before, some bread and lemony hazelnut and blueberry muffins, so after baking these cookies I'm excited to try it in more recipes.

Peanut butter spelt cookies

(Adapted from Sweetest Kitchen)

     195g wholegrain spelt flour

     1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

     1 tsp sea salt

     185g natural peanut butter

     60g hulled tahini

     50g pure maple syrup

     60g margarine

     1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

     Few drops of almond milk

     Handful of unsalted peanuts

• Heat the oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
• Mix the spelt flour, bicarbonate of soda and sea salt in a large bowl.
• In a separate bowl combine the peanut butter, tahini, maple syrup, margarine and vanilla extract.
• Pour the peanut butter mixture into the flour mixture and fold to combine.
• I added a few drops of almond milk to help combine the mixture and added some peanuts to add crunch to the cookies.
• Drop small rounded balls of dough onto the baking tray and give a little squish with your palm to flatten.
• Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, until slightly soft. They will harden as they cool.

As I love salt and sweet flavour combinations I decided to top these with a drizzle of melted cacao...not as bad as my usual slab of Dairy Milk!

   If anyone has any healthy recipes to recommend then I'd love to try? How shall I use the rest of my spelt flour and tahini?

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cookies

This post has been sitting in my drafts since last week, oops! I was certain I'd published it. So here it is anyway...

   I've had a case of the Baking Blues recently. Not much in the way of inspiration and a few failed attempts of baked treats over the past week or so. I decided the only way to overcome this was to get back in the kitchen and start again.

   This week I've been working night shifts and I always like to bring treats in for the team on the last night. Someone bought in Amaretto and cherry brownies last night that were just a little naughty, but very heavenly. I felt a little competitive and wanted to make a giant million-tiered cake. I can do cake. That's my thing.

   But, for some (sleep-deprived) reason, I decided to bake something I've only baked once before. Cookies. So easy to make but I never think of making them. I decided to go for triple chocolate cookies with a salty-sweet peanut butter centre. 

Peanut butter & chocolate cookies

(makes 30 small cookies)

     200g unsalted butter, softened

     300g caster sugar

     1 large egg

     275g self raising flour

     75g cocoa powder

     3 big bars of chocolate, chopped into small chunks

     splash of milk

I decided to use a combination of all the half-used chocolate packets in the cupboard from previous bakes and some individual chocolate bars thrown in for good measure. This included white, dark and milk chocolate, some chocolate drops and two Cadbury's Twirls.

• Heat the oven to 180 degrees.
• Mix together the butter and sugar until creamy.
• Add all dry ingredients including the chocolate chunks and mix well. The dough will be a little dry so add a splash of milk to help combine the mix.
• Spoon onto a lined baking tray and bake for 10 minutes (I layered a spoon of cookie dough, small spoon of peanut butter and another spoon of cookie dough on top).
• The cookies will be soft and squidgy so leave them to cool for 30 minutes until they harden before eating.

My cookies were a little too deep and had more of a cakey bite to them. Next time I'll squish the cookie dough down flatter before baking.