Baking · Chocolate · Crêpes and Pancakes

Homemade Crêpes

Soft and fluffy traditional French Crêpes are quick and easy to make from scratch. This 4 ingredient recipe is one to have ready for Pancake Day!

Originally posted in February 2015, recipe and photographs updated January 2023.

When I’m craving homemade soft, buttery and fluffy crêpes this recipe ticks all the boxes for me.

These crêpes are incredibly easy to make as the batter can be made in a blender or just in a mixing bowl with a whisk. The batter also doesn’t require chilling before cooking, but it can also be made ahead of time.

I enjoy serving my homemade crêpes with chocolate hazelnut spread, Chantilly cream and berries, but the neutral flavour of these means you can serve and top them with anything that takes your fancy!

With Shrove Tuesday approaching next month, I’m sharing one of my favourite pancake recipes.

Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day is a day we celebrate and eat lots of homemade pancakes. The reason is that it uses up butter, eggs and other items that are given up for Lent.

I have very fond memories of Pancake Day growing up. We ate plate after plate of pancakes, all with different toppings!

I love big, fluffy American-style pancakes equally as much as I adore crêpes, and this Nigella recipe has never let me down – it’s a recipe I’ve made for years.

This is the kind of dessert I could eat forever and I would be happy. I love a thin crispy pancake packed full of warm Nutella, that really is dessert heaven for me!

These crêpes make an awesome weekend breakfast. They’re light, airy, and delicious with the warm, oozy Nutella spilling out.

Crêpes are great served with savoury fillings such as ham (a vegetarian option is also brilliant too), cheese and mustard. Another favourite of ours is lemon juice and sugar, it’s such a fresh and sweet flavour combination.

The list and choices are endless!

You can even make a Crêpe Cake too! Layer each crêpe, spread with your choice of filling and continue going until you’ve used all your crêpes up – you will probably need to make a double batch of this recipe to make enough crêpes for a cake.

Bookmark this recipe to make right away or next month for Pancake Day! You might also like to try my popular Fluffy American Pancakes or Fluffy Vegan Pancakes too!

I made a double batch of this recipe, and that made plenty of crêpes for dessert one night and breakfast the next day. We can’t get enough of these and they use very little ingredients, which is an added bonus!

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Homemade Crêpes

How to make traditional French Crêpes! These thin pancakes are great served with your favourite savoury or sweet fillings.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 6
Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

  • 30 g butter (salted or unsalted)
  • 150 g plain flour
  • 325 ml milk
  • 1 egg

Instructions

  • Melt the butter and allow it to cool slightly.
  • In a blender or mixing bowl blend/whisk the flour, milk and egg until combined. Now add the melted butter and combine until you have a smooth and thin pancake batter. If there are any lumps in your batter, pass through it through a sieve. At this point you can chill the batter for up to 2 days before using - I always allow my batter to rest overnight, but this is optional.
  • Heat a small amount of extra butter in a small pan (the pan I use is approx. 20cm / 8-inch in diameter). Once melted carefully wipe away any excess butter. Take roughly 2-3 tablespoons of the pancake mixture into the pan and swirl around until a thin, crisp pancake forms covering the base of your pan. It will only take about a 1 minute to cook on one side. Now flip over and cook on the other side for about another 30 seconds until lightly coloured. Once cooked place on some parchment paper and keep warm in the oven - placing a layer of parchment paper in between each crêpe to avoid them sticking together.
  • Repeat the above step with the remaining batter. Fold or roll the crêpes and serve warm with a choice of fillings and toppings.
  • Crêpes will keep once cooked, covered for up to 3 days. They can be frozen, wrapped well for up to 3 months - when ready to serve, thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave in 20 second bursts until hot.

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Baking · Vegetarian Recipes

Cheese and Mustard Puff Pastry Pinwheels

An easy canapé to serve at upcoming Christmas, New Year parties or to take out for a picnic. These puff pastry pinwheels are made with only 3 ingredients!

Looking for a last minute, sophisticated canapé you can make in time for Christmas and New Year?

My Cheese and Mustard Puff Pastry Pinwheels are a couple of bites of gooey cheesy, flaky pastry deliciousness.

We’ve made these pastry pinwheels for years and love serving them at all kinds of gatherings.

Both sets of our grandparents love these, whenever we made them (which was usually every Christmas or party) where we served a buffet for tea, these pastry pinwheels would disappear very quickly!

When I want to make something quick and easy, I always grab a pack of ready made puff pastry. It’s great to have a pack in the fridge ready for any occasion. I love how effortlessly easy these pinwheels are to make and how very little ingredients you need on hand to make them.

Ingredients can be switched around depending on your dietary requirements. For gluten-free, use gluten-free puff pastry, for dairy-free/vegan, use a dairy-free cheese you like.

Try some different cheese too, swap the Cheddar for Gruyère, Mozzarella or even Red Leicester.

Once they’re baked until golden, it’s very hard to stop at just one…

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Cheese and Mustard Puff Pastry Pinwheels

An easy and impressive canapé to put out at upcoming Christmas, New Year parties or to take out for a picnic. These puff pastry pinwheels only use 3 ingredients too!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 22
Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

  • 375 g pack ready rolled puff pastry
  • 2 tablespoons mustard I use 1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard and 1 tablespoon Dijon or English mustard
  • 100 g mature Cheddar grated

Instructions

  • Take your puff pastry and unroll it. Spread the mustard evenly across the sheet of puff pastry and top with the grated cheese.
  • Starting at the long end of the pastry, tightly roll the pastry. Cover and leave to chill in the fridge for at least 10 minutes - this makes slicing easier.
  • Once you're ready to bake the pinwheels, preheat the oven to 200°C / 180°C Fan / 400°F / Gas Mark 6. Line two large baking trays with parchment paper.
  • Take a serrated knife, trim the edges and slice the pastry roll into 1cm pieces and distribute evenly between the baking trays. The recipe makes approx. 22-24 pinwheels. (At this point you can freeze the (unbaked) pinwheels for up to one month.)
  • Bake the pinwheels for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. They can be eaten both hot and cold, store the pinwheels in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

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Baking · Biscuits and Cookies

Butter Cookies

Butter Cookies are a wonderfully delicious bake all year round, but they’re extra special baked over Christmas. Serve with a light dusting of icing sugar or dipped/drizzled with chocolate. It’s love at first bite with these cookies…

I’ve been working on perfecting these Butter Cookies for over a year now. There’s been many struggles to find a recipe I was one hundred percent happy to share. When you finally get a recipe perfected, it’s the best feeling!

When I first made these, every time I tried to pipe the dough on my baking trays, I could never easily pipe the dough and countless times, my piping bag would end up splitting! Even though I was feeling frustrated, I wasn’t going to give up, so I kept experimenting with different methods of making these cookies.

I’m so glad I did, because the cookies are absolutely divine.

This recipe doesn’t involve creaming the softened butter and sugar like most butter cookie recipes instruct. Here we’re combining all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and creaming on medium speed until super light and fluffy – this takes just 30 seconds to achieve and, best of all, it’s EASY!

These are the biscuits you get around Christmas, very similar to Danish butter cookies, with a beautiful texture that’s like shortbread. Though I love buying tins of biscuits at Christmas, making your own is a fun activity and of course, they taste amazing because they’re homemade.

Why You’ll Love These Butter Cookies

  • Deliciously soft and buttery
  • Crispy edges
  • Quick to make with no chilling time required, the cookies keep their defined swirls even without chilling. These cookies are ready in 30 minutes!

These cookies look chic, they take only half an hour to make and all you’ll need is 4 ingredients! Swap the vanilla extract for almond or orange for a flavour twist if you like.

Decoration is where the fun continues. Before baking, top each cookie with half a glacé cherry. Once baked, dip half in melted chocolate or drizzle with (dark, milk or white) chocolate. Then top the chocolate with toasted nuts or sprinkles.

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Butter Cookies

Four ingredient Butter Cookies are soft, buttery and will just melt in your mouth.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 12

Ingredients

  • 175 g butter (salted or unsalted) softened
  • 175 g plain flour sifted
  • 50 g icing sugar sifted
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 170°C / 150°C Fan / 300°F / Gas Mark 2. Line two large baking trays with parchment paper and set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the softened butter, flour, icing sugar and vanilla. Cream on medium speed for 30 seconds, then stop the mixer, scrap down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again for a few seconds to fully combine. The mixture should be creamy and light.
  • Fit a piping bag with a medium sized star nozzle and fill the piping bag with the cookie dough. Pipe even swirls of cookie dough on the baking trays. This recipe makes 10-12 cookies, depending on how big or small you pipe the cookies.
  • Bake the cookies for 20 minutes or until a light golden colour. All ovens are different, so yours might not need as long in the oven. Leave the cookies to cool on the trays for 5 minutes, before transporting to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Decorate with melted chocolate or dusting with icing sugar before enjoying.
  • The cookies will keep for up to 2 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Now grab your apron, put some festive music on and get baking these gorgeous Butter Cookies!

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Baking

Best Yorkshire Puddings

An easy and simple recipe for making the best Yorkshire Puddings. This recipe won’t let you down and will become a staple of your Sunday roast dinner.

From now on until the New Year, I’ll be sharing festive-inspired recipes.

This is my mum’s foolproof Yorkshire Puddings recipe. With Christmas next month, you might be getting your Christmas dinner menu planned and ready.

The trimmings are my favourite part of a Xmas dinner, give me a plateful of crispy roast potatoes, sage and onion stuffing and fluffy Yorkshire puddings, and I’m content!

Yorkshire Puddings are simple to make. Made from a batter of flour, cornflour (in our recipe), salt, eggs and milk. They’re cooked in oil in a very hot oven until golden brown and crispy on the outside, with a deliciously spongey inside.

The secret to perfect yorkies is chilling the batter for at least 30 minutes. I chill mine for a couple of hours, but you can leave it overnight. Chilling helps the gluten in the flour relax and develops the flavour. Having the oil extremely hot is also super important – this helps with the rise.

I know it’s tempting, but try not to open the oven door until the timer goes off. If you do, then they’re likely to deflate!

Remember these are meant to look rustic, it’s all about the taste and texture here! Once you’ve made these, you’re going to be so proud when you take them out the oven.

These Yorkshire puddings go wonderfully enjoyed part of a Sunday roast. They also taste great with sausages (meat or vegetarian) with onions and gravy. You can also make toad in the hole (another yummy British recipe) and cook in a baking tray.

If you want to make these in advance, then once baked and cooled, transfer to a freezer bag, seal and freeze for up to one month. Take out of the freezer, place on a baking tray and cook in a preheated oven until crisp and warm.

I can’t wait for you to share and wow your friends and family with these wonderful Yorkshire Puddings!

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Best Yorkshire Puddings

Crisp and perfectly fluffy Yorkshire Puddings! These make any roast dinner extra special and taste fabulous with lashings of gravy.
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 12
Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

  • 100 g plain flour
  • 25 g cornflour (cornstarch) If you don't have this, substitute with plain flour
  • Generous pinch of salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 225 ml milk
  • 12 teaspoons vegetable oil

Instructions

  • In a large mixing bowl or jug, add the plain flour, cornflour and salt. Give it a good whisk to combine. Add the eggs and the milk, and whisk until you have a smooth batter.
  • For best results, chill the batter for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight. If you haven't mixed the batter in a jug, then transfer it to a jug ready for pouring into the tin later on.
  • When ready to bake, preheat oven to 220°C / 200°C Fan / 425°F / Gas Mark 7. Pour a teaspoon of oil into each hole of the bun tin, and once the oven is hot enough, place the tin in the oven for 5-7 minutes until the oil is piping hot.
  • Give the batter another good whisk before carefully pouring the batter equally between the holes in the tin. Return to the oven quickly and bake for 20-25 minutes or until well risen and nicely golden in colour. Serve and enjoy.

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Baking · Brownies · Chocolate

Malteser Brownies

These malt chocolate brownies are topped with crunchy malted chocolate spread and chocolate-coated malt balls! 

There’s SO many reasons to love these Malteser Brownies.

Incredibly rich and decadent brownies, that are sensationally soft and fudge-like. Malt flavour is incorporated in the brownie batter with the addition of malted milk powder and malt chocolate spread is placed on top of the brownie before and after baking!

Fnally, the brownies are decorated with crunchy Maltesers!

I’ve shared a couple of brownie recipes on my blog; these Vegan Brownies are incredible, but these Chocolate Fudge Brownies are spectacular too.

For my next brownie creation, I thought about combining a favourite chocolate sweet of mine in a brownie. If you’re a Malteser fan like I am, then prepare yourself for this heavenly brownie!

I used a wonderful recipe from Kelly over at Maverick Baking and I’ve been eyeing up lots of her other brownie recipes, all of which have got my mouth watering.

You can see by the photos of the brownies, just how fudgy they are. The fudgy texture is due to this recipe having a higher fat content from the quantity of chocolate and butter included, whereas cakey brownies have more flour added.

This brownie has that just-baked texture, so if you want you can leave them in the oven for a few more minutes longer if you want them slightly more cooked.

We ate these brownies throughout the week and popped a couple in the microwave to warm through and that was the BEST decision.

After being heated through, the brownies reminded us of a gooey chocolate fondant pudding!

The recipe makes 12-16 brownies. Decorate with the extra Maltesers just before serving, otherwise the malt balls lose their crunchiness.

Change the decoration up depending on the season, around Christmastime; top the brownies with Malteser reindeers, or when it’s Easter, switch the decorations with scrummy Malteser bunnies.

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Malteser Brownies

These malt chocolate brownies are topped with crunchy malted chocolate spread and chocolate-coated malt balls! 
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 12
Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

  • 250 g dark chocolate
  • 230 g butter (salted or unsalted)
  • 40 g malted milk powder (such as Horlicks or Ovaltine)
  • 40 g plain flour
  • 60 g cocoa powder
  • 250 g caster sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 100 g Malteser spread (plus extra for decoration)
  • Maltesers for decoration

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 160°C / 140°C Fan / 325°F / Gas Mark 3. Line a 20cm x 20cm tin with parchment paper and set aside.
  • Place your chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and place the bowl over a pan of simmering water; stir until melted. Set this aside to cool for a few minutes.
  • Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the malted milk powder, plain flour, cocoa powder and, sugar along with a small pinch of salt.
  • In a jug, combine the eggs and vanilla. Add the egg mixture to chocolate/butter mixture and whisk together until just combined.
  • Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Transfer the brownie batter into the lined tin. Top with 100g of Malteser spread - dollop this all over the top of the brownie batter. Bake the brownies for 40-50 minutes. When the brownies are ready, you should be able to shake the tray and see no wobble in the centre.
  • Allow the brownies to cool completely to room temperature - I usually leave mine overnight.
  • Decorate with extra Malteser spread and Maltesers before serving. The brownies will keep stored at room temperature for up to one week.

More brownie recipes on WJBN!

Vegan Chocolate Orange Brownies

Ganache Frosted Fudge Brownies

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

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Baking

Butternut Squash, Cheddar and Sage Scones

These scrummy scones make a tasty autumn lunch. Cheese scones are a British tea room favourite, put an autumn spin on the classic with the addition of sweet butternut squash and sage.

Scone recipes feature frequently on my blog. I have great recipes for both savoury and sweet scones. While, savoury scones are my personal favourite, this magical Lemonade Scones (3 Ingredient Recipe) has been a fabulous discovery and one of my most popular recipes!

In our house, we make these Cheesy Buttermilk Scones on many occasions, but as it’s autumn now, I wanted to put an autumnal spin on the popular cheese scone.

These scones are made just like any other scone recipe, though, you’ll need mashed butternut squash/pumpkin.

I roast mine in tin foil for 30 minutes until soft and mash-able! Alternatively, you can boil it until soft. It’s important once the butternut squash is cooked and mashed, to drain it over a sieve for at least 5 minutes to get rid of some of the excess water – the longer you drain it, the better.

I’ve added a couple of teaspoons of dried sage to my scone dough, but you can add any herbs or seasonings. Fresh or dried herbs like rosemary or some chives make a yummy addition too.

There’s a generous helping of grated cheese in this scone dough. I love using a good mature Cheddar cheese for a cheesy flavour-packed scone. Half the cheese goes in the scone dough and the other half is used to top the scones before baking.

I love that cheesy topping you get on one half. Whenever I eat a cheese scone, I always save the top half until last…

It’s the best part.

The scones before baking have the extra grated Cheddar sprinkled over the top. As the cheese bakes, it goes all melted and gooey. Any excess cheese around the sides of the scones, creates a tasty, crispy cheesy crust that’s great to nibble on!

If you wanted to, you could add some cooked bacon or vegan bacon if you’re vegetarian like me.

Soup season is here and why not switch a bread roll or slice of bread for one of these Butternut Squash, Cheddar and Sage Scones!

Once baked and you slice the scones in half, you’ll see the gorgeously vibrant orange interior.

These scones taste amazing, fresh from the oven and spread with soft butter. I found the flavour intensified the next day and I enjoyed the scones even more.

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Butternut Squash, Cheddar and Sage Scones

Cheese scones are a British tea room favourite, put an autumn spin on the classic with the addition of sweet butternut squash and sage.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 6
Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

  • 275 g butternut squash or pumpkin (peeled and deseeded)
  • 225 g self-raising flour plus extra for dusting
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons dried sage
  • 50 g butter (salted or unsalted) fridge cold and cut into small cubes
  • 125 g mature Cheddar cheese coarsely grated
  • 2-3 tablespoons milk plus extra for brushing

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 220°C / 200°C Fan / 425°F / Gas Mark 7. Chop the butternut squash/pumpkin into rough 2cm pieces and wrap the butternut squash/pumpkin pieces in tin foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until tender.
  • Mash the pumpkin/squash until smooth and place in a sieve over a bowl to drain off any excess water and allow to cool slightly.
  • Sift the flour, baking powder and dried sage into a mixing bowl and season. Rub in the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in half of the cheese.
  • Tip the butternut squash/pumpkin purée into the mixing bowl and use a table knife to start to blend it into the flour mixture. Add just enough milk to bring it together as a soft, but not sticky dough.
  • Turn the scone dough out onto a floured surface and pat out until roughly 2.5cm in thickness. Use a 6cm cutter to stamp out scones and transfer them to a baking tray lined with baking paper. I got about 6 scones from this mixture, but you might make more depending on your cutter.
    Re-form the remaining dough to stamp out further rounds until all of it is used up. Top Tip: When cutting the scones from the dough, press down and, lift up, don't twist as this will cause an uneven rise.
  • Brush each scone with a little milk and top with the remaining cheese. Bake the scones 12-15 minutes until risen and golden. Allow to cool slightly before serving.
  • The scones will keep stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

The scones were inspired by this recipe.

Try these Cheesy Buttermilk Scones next!

Lemonade Scones (3 Ingredient Recipe)

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Baking · Dips and Sides · Light Lunches · Vegan · Vegetarian Recipes

Sriracha Glazed Roasted Potatoes

Roasted potatoes in a sriracha glaze – the potatoes are soft on the inside, crisp on the outside with a spicy sticky glaze.

This recipe is inspired by So Vegan, I saw a blog post/recipe video of these potatoes being made and instantly saved the recipe to try myself.

Asian food is always super flavourful and this sriracha glaze is sweet, sticky and adds a delicious spicy kick of heat to each mouthful.

Slice your potatoes and place in a large baking tray. Drizzle over a tablespoon of oil and season with a smallish pinch of salt before roasting for 30-35 minutes, until the potatoes are soft and have turned golden in colour.

When the potatoes are a few minutes away from being ready, start preparing your glaze.

Take all the glaze ingredients, whisk together in a bowl, then pop in a saucepan and then heat for a few minutes until thickened. Toss the potatoes in the glaze and mix together in the pan until the sauce is coating the potatoes.

Serve right away with a sesame seed and chive or spring onion garnish.

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Sriracha Glazed Roasted Potatoes

Roasted potatoes in a sriracha glaze - the potatoes are soft on the inside, crisp on the outside with a spicy sticky glaze.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 4 people
Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

  • 800 g baby potatoes quartered
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • Salt

Sriracha Glaze:

  • 3 tablespoons agave nectar, honey or maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce I use dark soy sauce
  • 1 and 1/2 tablespoons sriracha adjust to taste
  • 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 220°C / 200°C Fan / 425°F / Gas Mark 7. Place the potatoes on a large baking tray. Drizzle with the oil and season with a generous sprinkle of salt. Roast the potatoes for 30-35 minutes until soft and they're lightly golden in colour.
  • When the potatoes are nearly ready, make the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the agave nectar/honey or maple syrup with soy sauce, sesame oil, sriracha and the chopped garlic.
  • Heat the glaze in a large saucepan (I recommend a deep frying pan/wok to do this) and allow the glaze to gently bubble for 2-3 minutes, or until it's thickened slightly. Add the roasted potatoes to the pan and mix to coat the potatoes in the glaze. Serve garnished with sesame seeds and chives/spring onion.

 

Baking · Biscuits and Cookies

Easy Oat Biscuits (Homemade Hobnobs)

Homemade Hobnob-style biscuits. These oat biscuits are slightly chewy and perfectly sweet. 

It’s been a while since I’ve shared a new recipe, but during that time I’ve been busy updating some older recipes including this Biscoff Chocolate Tart and this Creamy Homemade Hummus.

I’ve shared quite a few biscuit recipes on this blog: Jammy Dodgers, Shortbread and Gingernuts are a few of my personal favourites. The biscuit recipe I have for you today is similar to my gingernut biscuits recipe, as you don’t need to chill the biscuit dough before baking and they don’t take long to bake either.

If you’re from the UK like me or have lived/been to the UK, then you might well be familiar with Hobnobs?

They’re a British brand of biscuit and make a yummy biscuit base for a banoffee pie or cheesecake, or simply devoured straight from the packet…

Though readymade Hobnobs are totally addictive, homemade Hobnobs are definitely superior.

This recipe starts with mixing together self-raising flour, brown sugar, porridge oats, bicarbonate of soda, and a smallish pinch of salt. Then, adding melted butter and golden syrup, then folding this mixture into the dry ingredients to combine.

Divide the biscuit dough into 16 portions and roll into balls. Spread out evenly on a couple of large baking trays, then flatten slightly and bake until golden.

If you want a softer biscuit, check the biscuits after 12 minutes of baking then continue baking longer for a crispier biscuit.

Ready to eat in only 30 minutes and they taste incredible still warm from the oven!

The oat biscuit dough before baking is easy to roll, not too sticky and bakes into delicious, crunchy biscuits

Once the biscuits are baked you can serve them up right away. A drizzle of melted chocolate isn’t needed as these biscuits taste amazing without it, but the chocolate adds that extra touch of indulgence.

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Easy Oat Biscuits (Homemade Hobnobs)

Homemade Hobnob-style biscuits. These oat biscuits are slightly chewy and perfectly sweet. 
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 16
Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

  • 125 g self-raising flour
  • 125 g dark or light brown sugar
  • 125 g porridge oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • Pinch of salt
  • 125 g dairy-free baking block (you can use regular butter)
  • 1 tablespoon golden syrup
  • 125 g dark or milk chocolate (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line two large baking trays with parchment paper and set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, oats, bicarbonate of soda and salt until thoroughly mixed.
  • Now gently heat the dairy-free baking block/butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan and stir until melted.
  • Add the melted butter/syrup mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix to combine.
  • Divide the mixture into 16 equally sized portions and roll into balls. Spread the balls of dough out onto the baking trays, leaving some space between each to allow for spreading and with the palm of your hand, flatten each ball of biscuit dough down slightly. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden. If you like a slightly crispier biscuit, then bake the biscuits for nearer to 15 minutes.
  • Allow the biscuits to cool on the baking trays for 5 minutes, then transport to a wire rack to finish cooling to room temperature.
  • Serve or if you want to decorate, dip or drizzle each biscuit with melted chocolate of your choice and allow to set before serving. The biscuits will keep stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Love biscuits/cookies? Try these recipes below next!

Triple Chocolate Cookies

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Vegan Shortbread

Jammy Dodgers

Gingernut Biscuits

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Baking · Light Lunches · Vegan

Vegan Sausage Rolls (Easy Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls)

Homemade sausage rolls made with vegan sausages, herbs and black pepper incased in flaky puff pastry. This easy sausage roll recipe is perfect to pack up for lunch, picnics and all kinds of gatherings.

Sausage rolls are something I’ve loved since childhood. They’re available in most bakeries and supermarkets, I used to make a lot of sausage rolls when I worked as tea room baker and nowadays in my current job role these feature on the menu rotation.

Making your own couldn’t be easier or quicker. I cheat and use ready rolled puff pastry, which saves a job rolling out a block of puff pastry.

Most supermarket puff pastry is vegan, but always check the label.

Lots of vegan sausage roll recipes use a mix of beans, vegetables or nuts to make the filling. I like to keep the recipe as easy and traditional as possible by using vegan sausages. I take a pack (8 in total) of my favourite vegan sausages, remove the outer skin layer and mash the sausage ‘meat’ with a heaped teaspoon of dried sage and lots of black pepper.

You can add whatever flavourings/spices you desire. Swap the dried sage for rosemary, oregano or leave it out entirely. I sometimes use fresh herbs from our garden. Also, if you want, then why not add a spoonful or two of caramelised onion or tomato chutney? I’ve linked my favourite onion chutney further down in this blog post…

Making these sausage rolls is pretty straight forward. Take your pastry and divide it up into 3 long slices. Evenly spread the sausage mixture down the centre of each piece of pastry and press together to form an even roll of sausage meat. Lightly brush a little water down either side of the pastry and roll the pastry up and seal the edges together.

Wrap the pastry rolls up and chill for about half an hour – this is optional but it makes slicing the sausage rolls neatly a lot easier. You can slice and bake the sausage rolls straight away if you’re pushed for time.

Trim the edges and then slice each roll in half, then each half in half again – you’ll have 4 sausage rolls and once you’ve sliced up the other two, you’ll have 12 sausage rolls in total. You can make mini sausage rolls too, if you prefer – just slice each roll in half, then each half into 3 and you’ll have 18 mini sausage rolls.

A plate of these sausage rolls goes down brilliantly at parties. My grandad was the biggest fan of sausage rolls and also homemade bacon and cheese pastry turnovers. I know he would’ve loved these and happily eaten his way through a plate of these!

Food evokes memories and this recipe certainly reminds me of good times spent enjoying food with my family.

I’ve baked these sausage rolls countless times, we serve them with lots of different condiments: recently I served these with salad and some chutney, my Caramelised Onion Chutney is a reader favourite and definitely worth making to go alongside these.

These never last long in our house, we took them to an afternoon tea recently and we came home with an empty container. That’s proof of just how good these sausage rolls taste as they impressed the non-vegans too!

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Vegan Sausage Rolls

Homemade sausage rolls made with vegan sausages, herbs and black pepper incased in flaky puff pastry. This easy sausage roll recipe is perfect to pack up for lunch, summer picnics and all kinds of gatherings.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 12
Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

  • 320-375 g pack ready rolled puff pastry check the label to see if it's vegan
  • 8 vegan sausages (I use a 336g pack of Richmond Meat Free)
  • 1 teaspoon dried sage use your favourite herbs
  • Black pepper add a generous amount
  • 1-2 tablespoons plant milk for brushing
  • A couple of drops of soy sauce (this helps give the sausage rolls a golden colour when baked) optional
  • Nigella seeds, sesame seeds or poppyseed's optional

Instructions

  • Take your puff pastry from the fridge and unroll on a chopping board. Leave the pastry a few minutes to warm up, whilst you prepare the sausage filling.
  • Remove the skins from each sausage and place the sausage meat in a small mixing bowl. Add your herbs and seasoning (I use dried sage and black pepper) and mash together to combine.
  • Split the puff pastry into thirds lengthways and equally distribute the sausage filling down the centre of each piece of pastry.
  • Brush each pastry edge with water and then roll the pastry up to cover the sausage meat filling completely and seal the edges. Cover the sausage rolls with cling film and chill in the fridge or place in the freezer for 30 minutes - this is optional, but it makes cutting them up easier.
  • Using a sharp knife (I find a serrated knife best for this), trim the edges and then slice each roll into four equal pieces (if you want to make 12 sausage rolls in total) or slice each roll into 6 pieces for mini sausage rolls (you'll have 18 mini sausage rolls in total).
  • Preheat oven to 200°C / 180°C Fan / 400°F / Gas Mark 6. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Evenly spread the sausage rolls out on the baking tray. Mix the plant milk with a couple of drops of soy sauce and generously brush each sausage roll.
  • At this point, sprinkle the tops of each sausage roll with either nigella, sesame or poppyseed's (optional but it looks and tastes great). We love ours with nigella seeds because it works really well paired with the sage.
  • Bake the sausage rolls for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden. Leave to cool for a few minutes then serve. The sausage rolls taste amazing when served warm or cold.

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Baking · Cakes · Loaf Cakes · Vegan

Pistachio Lemon Drizzle Cake

Take the classic lemon drizzle cake to the next level by adding pistachio. This vegan cake is soft, fluffy and a taste of spring.

Spring has arrived, well maybe not in the UK at the moment as we’ve been experiencing a mixed bag of weather after having beautiful weather last month.

The dismal weather tends to make me crave all things spring and summer even more.

A few weeks ago, I fancied baking a lemon cake. I thought about sharing a vegan lemon drizzle cake, but I wanted something slightly different. I’ve always loved adding nuts to cake, before going vegan, this Greek-style Honey Walnut Cake was one of our favourites.

This Pistachio Lemon Drizzle Cake is a fabulous recipe from So Vegan. The recipe was straight forward to follow and the finished bake was everything I’d hoped it would be.

Fluffy, packed with gorgeous lemon flavour and with a nuttiness coming through from the pistachio.

We devoured this cake in record time. It barely lasted two days and there were only four of us in the house! We kept going back for slice after slice…

With Easter this week, this cake will be a delicious addition to your Easter menu served with fresh berries of your choice.

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Pistachio Lemon Drizzle Cake

Take the classic lemon drizzle cake to the next level by adding pistachio. This vegan cake is soft, fluffy and a taste of spring.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 8
Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

Pistachio Lemon Cake:

  • 80 g shelled pistachios plus extra for decoration
  • 200 g plain flour
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 150 g caster sugar
  • 1 lemon zested and juiced
  • 80 ml melted baking block/dairy-free spread or vegetable oil
  • 200 ml plant milk I use oat

Lemon Syrup:

  • 1 lemon juiced
  • 70 g caster sugar

Lemon Icing:

  • 100 g icing sugar
  • 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice (add more or less depending on your preferred consistency)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 900g / 2lb loaf tin with parchment paper and set aside.
  • In a food processor, process the shelled pistachios until they're a crumb like consistency. Set this mixture aside for later on.
  • Place a sieve over a large mixing bowl and sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and sugar. Give these ingredients a quick stir together to combine. Add the pistachio crumbs and lemon zest (zest of one lemon) to the bowl and mix.
  • In a small jug, whisk together the juice of the lemon you zested earlier, along with the melted baking block/dairy-free spread or vegetable oil and the plant milk. Add these wet ingredients to the dry and gently fold together until no lumps of flour remain - be careful not to over mix the cake batter.
  • Pour the cake batter into the loaf tin and bake for 45-60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean without any uncooked batter remaining. Test directly in the centre of the cake to ensure it's baked all the way through. Mine took about 55 minutes to bake fully, but all ovens are different so keep checking.
  • Once the cake has baked, prepare the lemon syrup. In a small bowl or jug, stir the lemon juice with the sugar until all the sugar has dissolved. Take a tooth pick and prick holes all over the top of the cake. Pour the syrup over the warm cake and leave it cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes, then carefully remove from the tin and place on a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
  • Now the cake is cool, prepare the lemon glacé icing. In a small bowl, stir together the icing sugar with enough lemon juice until you have a thick but slightly runny icing.
  • Drizzle the icing over the cake as you desire and decorate with an sprinkle of extra chopped pistachios. Allow the icing to set before slicing. Store the cake in an airtight container or a cake plate with a cover for up to 3 days.

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