Snowball Cookies

November 22, 2023November 21, 2023 What Jessica Baked NextLeave a comment

5 Ingredient Snowball Cookies – whipped shortbread filled with pieces of toasted pecan, and a generous coating of icing sugar.

Last year I ran out of time to bake these for Christmas. I had so many ideas, but I knew I needed to make sure I baked these cookies this year.

Being from the UK, these Snowball Cookies aren’t something I was too familiar with. I’m sure my US/North American readers will be familiar with these. I now know they’re a popular cookie that features on Christmas cookie platters. They’re also known as Mexican wedding cookies/Russian tea cakes.

I love that these cookies look like little snowballs, they’re super fun and perfectly festive!

I added toasted pecans to my batch, but you can substitute the pecans for other nuts, such as hazelnuts, pistachios, or even walnuts. Also, mini chocolate chips can be used instead.

The cookie dough is a shortbread dough, but this is possibly one of the lightest shortbread textures I’ve eaten before. It’s just like the texture of whipped shortbread, super airy, with a texture that melts once it hits your mouth.

To make the dough, you start by creaming the softened butter until smooth, then right after that add icing sugar and beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Now, a couple of teaspoons of vanilla is added, followed by the flour – which is mixed until a soft dough comes together. Finally, some chopped and toasted pecans are added. After this, the dough is covered and chilled for at least 30 minutes before rolling.

Once chilled, small portions of the dough are rolled out, and then baked. Once baked, the cookies are cooled for 5 minutes, then they’re rolled in more icing sugar. Then the cookies are left to cool completely, before being rolled in a second coating of icing sugar. The finished cookie has a snowy whiteness, resembling a snowball!

These cookies would make a wonderful addition to a Christmas treat box gift for family and friends.

You’ll enjoy these cookies for their delectable melt-in-the-mouth texture, and beautiful buttery flavour. I really mean it when I say, it’s hard to stop at just one!

I lost count of how many I devoured while taking photos! My hands/camera, just about everything was covered in icing sugar…

But, I’m not complaining, as these cookies are simply divine!

Snowball Cookies

5 Ingredient Snowball Cookies - whipped shortbread filled with pieces of toasted pecan, and a generous coating of icing sugar.

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 15

Total Time 1

Servings 36

Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

100 g pecans (substitute with hazelnuts, pistachios or walnuts optional
225 g butter (salted or unsalted) softened
90 g icing sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
280 g plain flour

Coating:

150 g icing sugar you might not need all of this

Instructions

Start by toasting the pecans (or nut of your choice), if using. Heat oven to 150°C / 130°C Fan / 300°F / Gas Mark 2. Spread the pecans out on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Allow the nuts to cool, before chopping finely.
To make the cookie dough: Cream the butter for a minute until softened. Now add the 90g portion of icing sugar and cream for another 2-3 minutes, until fluffy and lightened in colour.
Now add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the flour and continue to mix until it's incorporated fully. Finally, fold through the chopped nuts, if using.
Cover and chill the dough for 30 minutes, or up to 3 days. If you chill the dough longer than a few hours, it will need about 30 minutes at room temperature to warm up before rolling. Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line 3 large baking trays with parchment paper.
Take 20g portions of the dough and roll into balls. Place the balls of cookie dough at least 2 inches apart - you'll need about 3 large baking trays to bake all the cookies at once.
Bake the cookies for 15 minutes, until the bottoms are just turning golden, and the tops are lightly browned. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking trays for 5 minutes, then take the remaining icing sugar (150g), and roll each cookie lightly and very carefully in the icing sugar. They will be slightly sticky at this point.
Now place each cookie on a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Once cool, take the cookies and coat in the icing sugar once again - this is when the sugar really coats the cookies.
Enjoy the cookies right away, or keep them stored in an airtight container/or covered plate for up to one week.

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Baking · Biscuits and Cookies · Chocolate · Christmas

Terry’s Chocolate Orange NYC Cookies

November 11, 2023November 13, 2023 What Jessica Baked NextLeave a comment

A chocolate orange flavour spin on the popular NYC cookies! Thick cookies filled with chunks of Terry’s Chocolate Orange segments, vanilla, orange zest, and chocolate chips!

I’m kicking off the run of Christmas recipes today with these decadent NYC cookies! As I do from November onwards every year, I’m sharing Christmas-inspired recipes right through until the New Year! This year, I hope to entice you to make some festive recipes, and I have plenty for you to choose from.

My Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cheesecake, No-Bake White Chocolate Orange Cheesecake, Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cookies, Terry’s Chocolate Orange Traybake, Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cupcakes, or how about some Vegan Chocolate Orange Brownies?

Can you tell I’m obsessed with Terry’s Chocolate Orange?!

I’ve made sure these cookies are well and truly packed with TCO, with three whole chocolate oranges needed!

I have shared a Terry’s Chocolate Orange cookie recipe previously, but this time, rather than a chocolate cookie dough, I went for an orange-flavoured cookie dough (without cocoa powder added).

I baked a NYC-style cookie similar to Levain Bakery/Crème in London a few years ago, sharing my Chunky Milk Chocolate Pecan Cookies. It’s been a while since I baked some super chunky/thick cookies, so I couldn’t wait to get in my kitchen and bake some!

Enjoy one of these cookies dipped in a mug of hot chocolate or warm with a scoop of ice cream!

They’re the taste of the Christmas season, filled with gooey chocolate orange segments and freshness from orange zest. I add some vanilla extract to my cookie dough, but this can be substituted with orange extract for a more delicious orange flavour.

I love a bit of festive baking; it’s lovely filling the house with freshly baked goods.

It’s my favourite time of year, with so many recipes featured on my Christmas menu. Butter Cookies, Gingerbread Men, Vegan Sausage Rolls (Easy Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls), Cheese and Mustard Puff Pastry Pinwheels, and Cinnamon Rolls.

You need a little patience with this cookie recipe. The secret to a super-thick cookie with crisp edges and a gooey centre is freezing the cookie dough for at least 90 minutes before baking. I leave mine overnight for an even thicker cookie and bake the cookies for exactly 17 minutes (until the edges are nicely browned), so they have incredible soft centres.

As the cookies cool on the baking trays, another finishing touch I do is press a few extra chocolate chips and a segment of Terry’s Chocolate Orange on the top of each cookie.

I hope you enjoy baking these in the lead-up to Christmas!

Terry's Chocolate Orange NYC Cookies

A chocolate orange flavour spin on the popular NYC cookies! Thick cookies filled with chunks of Terry's Chocolate Orange segments, vanilla, orange zest, and chocolate chips!

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 17

Chilling Time 1 30

Total Time 2 2

Servings 12

Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

230 g butter (salted or unsalted) cold and cut into small cubes
160 g caster or granulated sugar
160 g dark or light brown sugar
1 large orange zest only
300 g plain flour
200 g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 Terry's Chocolate Oranges save 12 segments for decoration and break the remaining chocolate into chunks - I used 1 dark chocolate and 2 milk chocolate
100 g dark/milk or white chocolate chips
2 medium or large eggs beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract this can be substituted with orange extract of left out

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, cream the cold butter for about 30 seconds until softened slightly. Add the orange zest to the sugars, and rub the orange zest into the sugars until combined. Now add the sugars to the butter and mix again until just combined. You don’t want to make this mixture creamy and fluffy.
Now add both types of flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt. Mix until you have a fine, breadcrumb texture. Save 12 segments of Terry's Chocolate Orange for decoration later on. Now stir through the remaining chocolate.
Add the beaten egg and vanilla and just mix until a dough comes together; be careful not to overmix. Weigh roughly 125g portions of the cookie dough and roll into a ball - this doesn't need to be perfect just lightly press them together. Place on a lined baking tray or container and freeze for at least 90 minutes, or overnight for a thicker cookie.
When ready to bake the cookies, preheat oven to 200°C / 180°C Fan / 400°F / Gas Mark 6. Line two large baking trays with parchment paper and place the trays in the oven for 5 minutes to heat before spacing the rolled cookie dough balls out leaving at least 2 inches between each to allow room for spreading.
Bake the cookies for 17 minutes, until lightly golden and crisp around the edges. Allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes, then if you desire, press a few extra chocolate chips and top each cookie with a Terry's Chocolate Orange segment.
Leave the cookies to cool on the baking trays for 5 minutes then transport to a wire rack and allow the cookies to cool slightly before serving. Cookies will keep stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Some favourite Christmas recipes!

Gingerbread Men

Butter Cookies

Vegan Gingerbread Loaf Cake

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Cheesecake · Chocolate · Christmas · No-Bake

No-Bake White Chocolate Orange Cheesecake

November 28, 2022December 1, 2022 What Jessica Baked Next7 Comments

White chocolate cheesecake flavoured with zesty orange, on top of a buttery digestive biscuit base.

Ever since I made this Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cheesecake for my blog 7 years ago, this cheesecake has remained the most viewed recipe on the blog. It’s especially popular around this time of year!

That cheesecake is a recipe many have made over Christmas. For years I’ve loved seeing photos of your TCO cheesecake creations!

Since Terry’s chocolate orange comes in different flavours, I wanted to experiment with the white chocolate variety you can now get.

Sensationally soft and light cheesecake, that celebrates the divine combination of creamy white chocolate and orange.

No-bake cheesecakes are so easy to make. Just mix together all the ingredients and then pop the cheesecake in the fridge to set and your work is done! Once it’s set, decorate however you fancy.

I went for more whipped cream, white chocolate orange segments and, some grated chocolate and orange zest.

We loved this cheesecake, so much so we might just have to make it again before Christmas.

If you adore chocolate orange recipes, then this cheesecake is a MUST on your Christmas baking list! After you’ve finished one slice, you’ll be dreaming of the next…

No-Bake White Chocolate Orange Cheesecake

White chocolate cheesecake flavoured with zesty orange, on top of a buttery digestive biscuit base.

Prep Time 6 15

Total Time 6 15

Servings 12

Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

Biscuit Base:

140 g butter (salted or unsalted)
300 g digestive biscuits

White Chocolate Orange Cheesecake:

300 g white chocolate
600 g full-fat cream cheese softened - I leave mine out at room temperature for about an hour
3 tablespoons icing sugar
2 teaspoons orange extract adjust to taste
300 ml double cream

Instructions

To prepare the biscuit base: Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor to a fine crumb. Add the melted butter and mix until well combined. Tip the biscuit crumbs into a 23cm springform cake tin and press down until firm. Use the back of a spoon to smooth over, place in the fridge to chill whilst you make the filling.
To make the cheesecake filling: Melt the chocolate over a bain-marie or in the microwave in 20 second intervals. Leave to cool for a few minutes - chocolate stills needs to be slightly warm before adding the remaining cheesecake ingredients later to avoid lumps forming. In a medium mixing bowl beat together the cream cheese with the icing sugar and orange extract.
In another mixing bowl whisk the cream until soft peaks form. Fold through the melted chocolate into the cream cheese mixture. Finally, fold the cream into the cream cheese mix.
Spoon the cheesecake mixture over the biscuit base and smooth over with a spatula or palette knife. Cover and leave to chill for at least 6 hours, or preferably overnight.
When ready to serve, remove the cheesecake from the tin and decorate. Best serve chilled. The cheesecake can be made ahead of time, leave it in the tin, covered with cling film for up to 3 days. Leftover slices can be stored in an airtight container in a fridge.

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Christmas · Dips and Sides · Gluten-Free · Vegan

Caramelised Onion Chutney

November 12, 2020October 5, 2021 What Jessica Baked Next3 Comments

Homemade caramelised onion chutney is a tasty addition to a cheeseboard. This onion chutney pairs well with bread or crackers and mature Cheddar cheese.

Making homemade chutney is another Christmas food tradition of mine, every year in November or at the start of December I make a batch of caramelised onion chutney ready to enjoy over Christmas on our festive cheeseboard.

You can change around the flavourings in this chutney to suit your own palate. This time I added wholegrain mustard, smoked paprika and chilli flakes for a little kick of heat. On previous occasions when I’ve made this I’ve added fresh thyme but you can add herbs that you like or have in like thyme or rosemary. You can also add a couple of torn bay leaves for extra fragrant flavour – but remember to remove these before you put your chutney into the jars!

This condiment is extremely popular here in the UK, particularly at Christmas when served on a cheeseboard. I’ve eaten lots of readymade chutney however none of those compare to this wonderful recipe – some usually have sultanas added which is a no-no for me as I despise dried fruit like raisins and sultanas, so making your own allows you make a chutney that’s tailored to your taste requirements.

This chutney is sweet, sticky and delicious spooned on top of a cracker and some sliced cheese. But you don’t just have to serve chutney with cheese and crackers, we ate ours with vegan hot dogs on Bonfire Night last week and also we made a tasty lunch with slices of homemade Irish Soda Bread buttered then topped with sliced cheese and chutney.

Also, just an idea of something I’m planning to make for lunch using this chutney – I’m thinking of toasting a couple of slices of bread, topping the bread with a generous helping of the chutney then topping the chutney with grated cheese to make a yummy cheese toast with a difference.

We also made an epic toasted cheese sandwich only the other day for our lunch and filled the toasties with chutney. There’s loads of different ways of serving this chutney, so go ahead and experiment!

I was dubious sharing this recipe as regular visitors to my blog will be used to me sharing lots of sweet baking recipes, I rarely share savoury recipes but that’s something I like to do from time to time to keep things interesting and cater to different tastes. This recipe isn’t all savoury though, I did manage to incorporate my sweet tooth into this chutney with all the brown sugar that was added…

Lastly, if you’re trying to think of Christmas present ideas for your loved ones, then gifting someone special a jar of homemade chutney is a fantastic and thoughtful gift to include in a hamper.

(Serves 20 / Makes approx. 1 litre)

Ingredients:

1.5kg onions, thinly sliced – sometimes I use red but this time I went for brown onions

2 tablespoons oil – I used olive oil but vegetable oil is fine to use

300g dark or light brown sugar

200ml red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard (optional)

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika – regular paprika is fine to use

1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

Heat the oil in a large pan on medium heat. Sauté the onions for 30 minutes until softened and reduced by half – the onions don’t need to colour at this point.
Now add 3 tablespoons of the sugar and continue to cook the onions for a further 10 minutes until they’re starting to turn golden and caramelise.
Next add the remaining ingredients (the red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, mustard, paprika, salt and the remaining sugar). Cook the onions for a further 30-40 minutes until the liquid has reduced and is generously coating the onions. You can check the chutney is ready because it’ll coat the back of a spoon.
To sterilise the jam jars, place your jam jars in an oven heated at 140°C / 120°C Fan / 275°F / Gas Mark 1 for 10 minutes.
Carefully fill the hot jars with the chutney and leave to cool before securing the lids. The chutney will store at room temperature for up to one year, but once the chutney is opened it will need to be stored in the fridge and will keep for up to two months.

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Baking · Chocolate · Christmas

Terry’s Chocolate Orange Traybake

November 3, 2020October 4, 2021 What Jessica Baked Next2 Comments

Moist chocolate sponge cake topped with my favourite silky smooth and shiny dark chocolate ganache and decorated with chocolate orange confectionery. This recipe is one to bookmark for the festive season!

So after sharing these Vegan Brownies last month, I’m carrying on the chocolate theme today with this scrumptious traybake recipe!

I’m sitting here typing away while eating a piece of this cake and writing this blog post and I’m in complete and utter cake heaven. This yummy cake is soft, spongey and has a lovely chocolate flavour and a hint of orange that comes through in the background.

Dare I say the C-word?! Christmas is getting nearer and this year I’m getting ready ahead of time and trying to get as organised as I can in time. In typical Jessica fashion, I tend to end up running out of time to share my Christmas bakes before the big day arrives, but not this year as I’m determined to get through my list of recipes to make!

As it’s now November, from today onwards until Christmas I’ll be sharing recipes for the festive season and hopefully there’ll be recipes on here for when you fancy doing a spot of home baking!

Christmas this year will be little different to anything we’ve experienced before, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still celebrate (while keeping our loved ones and ourselves safe) and have a good time with lots of yummy food on our table. I’m working this year, so we’ll be having our Christmas dinner in the evening when I’m home from work. Boxing Day will be for relaxing and eating all the leftovers – something I’m very excited about regardless of the difficult situation we’re all facing at the moment.

A big part of Christmas for me and like many others is the food, comforting recipes that put a smile on your face, something I think we could all do with now. There’s certain ingredients that remind me of Christmas, it wouldn’t be Christmastime without Terry’s chocolate orange. As my family and I aren’t fans of your typical Christmas foods like mince pies or Christmas cake/pudding we have to be a bit more creative. You can tell how much of big fan of TCO I really am because I have a number of recipes which incorporate my favourite chocolate including this cheesecake, these cupcakes and these cookies!

This year TCO has given us an extra special Christmas gift by bringing back their famous white chocolate Terry’s chocolate orange. Everyone in my house has their favourite TCO flavour, mine is definitely the classic milk chocolate, but my sister loves dark chocolate oranges.

I’ve mentioned before that I like baking traybake cakes instead of layer cakes. I find layer cakes difficult to put together and baking is all about having fun and not worrying too much – I don’t want to stress about whether the layers are all even or if my cake is going to fall apart – this is a true story from a recent baking fail I had, I can laugh about it now but at the time I was beyond annoyed!

This is my go-to chocolate traybake. I chose to decorate mine with chocolate ganache, but you can swap the ganache for a chocolate buttercream or any favourite buttercream for that matter. I love this ganache recipe and if you feel like upping the chocolate orange flavour even more then you can use orange flavoured dark chocolate.

I used my Chocolate Traybake recipe and adapted it slightly to put a Xmas spin on the original version. I think there’s a traybake recipe for every season, in spring for Easter I love this Carrot Cake Traybake, in autumn I’m excited for my Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and now I have my Terry’s Chocolate Orange Traybake for the festive season! The final piece in the jigsaw puzzle is a summer traybake creation, but that’s something to work on next year…

So let’s run through how to prepare this scrumptious chocolate traybake. The first step is preheating your oven, once you’ve done that you’ll need to boil a kettle and mix cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda with boiling water, mix those ingredients together until combined and then leave the mixture to cool for 20 minutes. Now in a large mixing bowl, mix together the sugar and orange zest to release the natural oil in the orange, then add the eggs and vegetable oil and whisk until smooth. Add the chocolatey mixture you prepared earlier along with the flour. Give it one more quick whisk and then pour the cake batter in a traybake tin.

Bake the cake until it’s risen and a cake tester comes out without any uncooked batter attached to the tester. Now allow the cake to cool completely in the tin, as the cake is cooling it’s the ideal time to get the ganache prepared ready for decorating the cake later as the ganache will need leaving for a couple of hours to firm up.

Ganache is basically a really fancy spreadable chocolate icing. It’s not too sweet and is super simple to make: just take some dark chocolate (you can use orange flavoured dark chocolate here too) and chop the chocolate up. Place the chopped chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Take a small pan and heat double cream and a tablespoon of golden syrup until just simmering and bubbles are appearing on the surface. Pour the hot cream on top of the chocolate and stir gently until mostly melted, then stir in a tablespoon of butter. Cover the very top of the ganache with clingfilm and leave it at room temperature for two hours until spreadable.

Once it’s ready, spread the ganache evenly across the top of the cake and decorate with the chocolate orange confectionery. I went for a mix of milk chocolate and mini white chocolate orange segments and chocolate orange sweets.

(Serves 15-20)

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake:

75g cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

200ml boiling water

370g light brown sugar

Zest from one large orange

4 large free-range eggs, at room temperature

180ml vegetable oil

200g self-raising flour, sifted

Chocolate Ganache:

200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces – if you want even more chocolate orange flavour then use orange dark chocolate

200ml double cream

1 tablespoon golden syrup

1 tablespoon butter (salted or unsalted)

Decoration:

Milk Terry’s Chocolate Orange

White Terry’s Chocolate Orange – I used mini segments

Orange Chocolate M&M’s/Smarties

Sprinkles of your choice

Method:

To make the cake: In a small bowl whisk together the cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and boiling water. Mix until combined and then set aside to cool for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a 23cm x 30cm baking tin that’s at least 4cm deep with baking parchment.
In a large mixing bowl rub the orange zest into the sugar to release the natural oil, then whisk the together with the eggs and oil until thoroughly combined. Add the chocolate mixture to this and whisk again until incorporated. Finally, add the flour and whisk until fully mixed.
Pour the cake batter into the cake tin. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a cake tester when inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Once the cake is baked, leave it to cool in the cake tin completely.
To make the ganache: Place the chopped chocolate in a medium mixing bowl. Heat the cream and golden syrup in a small saucepan until bubbles just begin to appear on the surface and just before it starts to come up to the boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until mostly melted. Now add the butter and continue to stir until smooth. Directly place a piece of clingfilm on the top of the ganache and leave it at room temperature for about two hours until spreadable. Decorate the cake with the chocolate orange segments and your choice of additional sprinkles. Leave the cake to set at room temperature for a couple of hours before slicing into squares.

The traybake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. If you feel your cake is drying out, revive it by popping a piece into a microwave and heating gently until the chocolate is melted and the cake is warm – this is really yummy with the molten chocolate so I recommend you give it a try!

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Baking · Biscuits and Cookies · Christmas

Gingerbread Caramel Dodgers

November 29, 2019October 6, 2021 What Jessica Baked Next2 Comments

Christmassy gingerbread biscuits with a decadent caramel filling. A seasonal twist on the British biscuits, jammy dodgers!

Christmas is now less than a month away and December only a few days away. Christmas is a wonderful time of year for many, I really love the festivities and getting together with family and friends. Being a foodie, I also have a great time baking and eating lots of my favourite foods.

This year I’m really looking forward to having Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off work, last year was my first experience working on Christmas Day but this year I’m really happy to be spending the day catching up and relaxing with my family at home.

Since I was a kid, our family tradition on Christmas Eve is spending the entire day in the kitchen baking and getting all the preparation done for Christmas Day. My sister and I have tonnes of fun decorating a gingerbread house and then the evening we spend lounging around watching Christmas films and TV.

By the end of this blogging year I have plans to share a couple more Christmas recipes, the recipe I shared before this one is for Cinnamon Rolls and those are perfect your Christmas Eve/Day breakfast.

Today I have a scrumptious Christmas biscuit recipe for you, pop a plate of these on the table and they’ll be gone in moments.

I’ve baked different ginger biscuits for my blog, sharing these Gingerbread Men and Gingernuts previously. I’m a massive fan of anything gingerbread related and even more so over the festive season. I’m not a lover of a few typical Christmas foods like Christmas cake/pudding, mince pies or chocolate-mint/peppermint flavoured bakes/confectionery, so that’s why I always celebrate gingerbread over Christmas!

I love the idea of putting a delicious, Christmassy spin on the British classic, jammy dodgers! I’ve shared a recipe for classic Jammy Dodgers on my blog, but this Christmas version has the traditional gingerbread flavour from a combination of ground ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice and instead of jam it has a sweet caramel filling – are you swooning yet?

These homemade biscuits look cute and they’re such a special treat served with ice cream or dunked into a mug of hot chocolate or a glass of milk.

(Makes 18-24)

Ingredients:

Gingerbread Dough:

100g butter (salted or unsalted), softened

75g dark or light brown sugar

3 tablespoons golden syrup

1 large free-range egg yolk

225g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon mixed spice

Caramel Filling:

Approx. 18-24 teaspoons caramel/dulce de leche

Method:

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and mix until combined. Now sift in the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice. Mix until a dough comes together. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and flatten into a flat disc, leave to chill in the fridge for one hour.
Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line two large baking trays with parchment paper and set aside. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it’s approx. 1/4-inch in thickness. Using a 8cm cutter (mine has fluted edges) stamp out 36-48 rounds (how many you get depends on the size of the biscuit/cookie cutter you use) and arrange on the baking trays leaving some space between each biscuit.
Using a smaller biscuit/cookie cutter (heart or star shapes are my favourite) and stamp out the centre of half the rounds. Bake the biscuits for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden. Leave to cool on the baking trays for a few minutes, then transport to a wire rack and leave the biscuits to cool completely. Bake off the mini biscuit/cookies for a little less time than the other biscuits as they’re smaller and won’t take as long to bake – I’d recommend 5-8 minutes depending on how crisp you like them.
Assemble the biscuits by placing a heaped teaspoon of caramel on the whole biscuits and sandwich with the cut-out biscuits. Dust each biscuit with icing sugar and serve.
The biscuits will keep stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Recipe Notes:

The biscuit dough needs chilling for at least one hour. The gingerbread dough can be made and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking or frozen for up to a month. If the dough is frozen when you’re ready to bake the gingerbread, leave the dough to defrost for 3-4 hours until it’s soft enough to roll out.
Bake the biscuits for a few minutes less if you prefer a softer textured biscuit.
If caramel isn’t your thing, alternatively fill the biscuits with apricot jam or lemon curd.

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Baking · Biscuits and Cookies · Christmas

Shortbread Biscuits

November 21, 2016October 7, 2021 What Jessica Baked Next26 Comments

Buttery and crisp shortbread biscuits. Delicious dunked into caramel and melted chocolate or crumbled over ice cream. These scrumptious biscuits will just melt-in-your-mouth!

Homemade shortbread is a Christmas necessity. I look forward to Christmastime all year round, it’s my favourite time of the year because you can go overboard decorating the Christmas tree and entire house, spend quality time catching up with family and importantly, eat as many biscuits, chocolate, cheese, crackers, canapés and sweets as you want. Just thinking about all that food is making me quite hungry…

The best part of Christmas is definitely the several boxes of shortbread and chocolate-coated biscuits we get to eat our way through and enjoy. I’ll admit it, I have no self-control when it comes to shortbread biscuits or any kind of biscuit for that matter. My maternal grandma is half Scottish and her dad’s side of the family came from Dunblane, I’m sure my love of making (and eating!) shortbread is highly influenced by my Scottish roots.

Shortbread for me is something truly magical. It requires a handful of ingredients and those few ingredients are quite easily accessible, meaning that if you suddenly remembered you’ve forgotten to get a present for someone (we’ve all been there) or plans change at the last-minute and you have unexpected guests, don’t panic as you can whip up a batch of these shortbread biscuits in no time at all with little notice and you won’t need to make a mad rush to the supermarket either!

These shortbread biscuits can be packaged up in bags or biscuit tins and given away to your family members and friends as an edible gift. Saying that, you probably won’t want to give any of these away, you’re likely to want to hide these somewhere only you know about!

Shortbread biscuits are a great way of getting kids involved with baking. They can prepare the dough by hand, then roll out it and stamp out different shaped biscuits with cutters. I picked a star-shaped cutter for this batch of shortbread biscuits because I love the way they look and you can always buy shortbread rounds, I like that these star-shaped ones are just a little bit different and they have an extra special festive touch, but I also love to use heart-shaped or regular round cutters.

Once the shortbread all baked, if you didn’t sprinkle the shortbread with sugar before baking you can now decorate each biscuit with a light dusting of icing sugar.

Your ticket to buttery, crumbly shortbread heaven is right here with this recipe.

(Makes 20-30)

Ingredients:

200g butter (salted or unsalted), softened

75g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

150g plain flour

150g self-raising flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

Line two large baking trays with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside. Preheat oven to 160°C / 140°C Fan / Gas Mark 3. Cream the softened butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat together until light and pale in colour (about 1-2 minutes).
Now sift the flours and add to the creamed butter and sugar mixture along with the vanilla extract. Continue to mix until a crumbly and soft ball of dough comes together. Don’t overwork the dough, try to touch it as little as possible. At this point you can wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill it for 15 minutes, however this is an optional step.
On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out to about 5mm / 1/4 inch thickness. Using your favourite biscuit/cookie cutters, cut out shapes from the dough and transfer to the lined baking trays. Sprinkle the top of each biscuit with a little extra sugar or you can dust each baked biscuit with icing sugar after baking if you prefer.
Bake the biscuits for 30-35 minutes until they’re crisp and slightly golden around the edges.
Once baked, leave to cool on the baking trays for 5-10 minutes, then carefully transport to a wire rack and allow the biscuits to cool completely to room temperature. Shortbread will keep in an airtight container for up to a week, but they definitely won’t last longer than a day or two!

Recipe from “Cooking Up A Storm” by Sam Stern

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Baking · Biscuits and Cookies · Christmas

Buck’s Fizz Marmalade Shortbreads

December 11, 2015January 31, 2017 What Jessica Baked Next48 Comments

I’ve had the pleasure of creating a recipe using an exclusive Christmas hamper from Fortnum & Mason. Today I’m sharing my favourite buttery shortbread which are perfect for cut-out biscuits or cookies as they retain their shape and do not spread whilst baking. Sandwich together with your favourite curd, jam or marmalade for a delicious sweet treat. #FortnumsChristmas

Today I’m back with another delicious shortbread recipe! A few weeks back I shared this Scottish Shortbread, since then I’ve put a twist on that recipe and I’m showing you something a little extra fun ready for the upcoming party season.

Included in my beautiful festive hamper was Christmas buck’s fizz marmalade, a bar of spiced chocolate, mulled wine jelly with edible gold leaf and a jar of spiced port mustard. If you are looking to purchase your own luxury Christmas hamper or would like to give one to someone for an Xmas present, you can browse the Fortnum & Mason website here to see a selection of hampers.

Next came the difficult (but fun) task of picking what I would bake.

After brainstorming a couple of possible recipes I finally decided on baking shortbread sandwiches. If you follow my blog you will know that one of my favourite childhood biscuits is the jammy dodger. Because Christmas is all about indulging and treating yourself, I thought it would be a delicious idea to sandwich these shortbreads together with the buck’s fizz marmalade from the hamper. I also sandwiched some of the biscuits with homemade plum jam that I made with my grandma back in the summer. If you’d like the recipe for the homemade jam, I’d definitely be happy to share it!

Cut out any of your favourite biscuit shapes. I personally love the traditional heart shape centre, but you can cut out literally anything you like. Go down the festive route with stars, icicles or even mini gingerbread men.

The marmalade really is some of the best I’ve ever eaten. It has a gorgeous refreshing orange flavour. The sparkle within the marmalade adds an extra special touch for Christmas or any other celebration. We really loved the flavour from prosecco and Marc de Champagne mixed with the Seville oranges. I’m already planning to make something else with the remaining marmalade in the jar, but making more of these biscuits is at the top of my list!

(Makes 12 large shortbread sandwiches depending on your cookie cutters)

Ingredients:

225g (1 cup or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

150g (1 and 1/2 cups) icing sugar, sifted

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or seeds scraped from 1 small vanilla pod)

2 large free-range egg yolks

300g (2 and 1/2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

150g curd, jam or marmalade – approx. 1 heaped teaspoon per shortbread sandwich

Icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

Cream the softened butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks along with the flour and mix until a soft and sticky dough forms. Wrap in clingfilm and leave to rest in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Tip: if you want to speed up this process, split the dough in half and wrap each piece up individually in clingfilm. Chilling time will be halved.
Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F / 160 Fan / Gas Mark 4. Roll out half the dough out onto a lightly floured surface until it’s the thickness of a pound coin (approx. 0.5 cm thickness). Using a 7.5 cm cookie cutter stamp out 12 circles. Now using a 2.5 cm cutter and stamp out the centre of each biscuit. Off cuts can be baked as well! I cut mine into star and heart shapes. Please note: you may be able to make more biscuits depending on the size of your cutters.
Roll out the other half of the dough as you did before and stamp out a further 12 circles. Spread the biscuits evenly out onto 2 large lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a light golden colour. Keep a watchful eye whilst they’re baking, as the shortbread can brown very quickly in the last few minutes of baking time.
Once baked leave to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. In this time of biscuits will harden and will have become more easily transferable. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
Once the biscuits are cool, place about a teaspoonful of the jam into the centre of the base biscuits. Press on the top biscuits and sandwich together – be careful as the biscuits are very delicate and can break easily. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Recipe Notes:

Shortbread will store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.
The shortbread biscuits can be baked ahead of time and then filled and decorated the next day.

I love how simple these are to make, but they look like you’ve spent hours in the kitchen! Children and adults alike will really enjoy making these shortbread over the Christmas holidays!

Enjoy!

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Baking · Biscuits and Cookies · Buttercream and Frosting · Christmas · Cupcakes

Gingerbread Cupcakes

December 4, 2015December 17, 2022 What Jessica Baked Next20 Comments

Spiced gingerbread cupcakes with tangy and fluffy cream cheese frosting. A festive cupcake perfect for Christmas!

It doesn’t really much more festive than these homemade gingerbread cupcakes! Lightly spiced with festive flavour packed into each bite, these cupcakes are just perfect for the season!

I’ve revamped a classic sponge recipe by adding light brown sugar for a delicious caramel taste and festive spices for warmth. The frosting is my favourite cream cheese frosting. It’s completely fail-proof and works perfectly every single time I make it, the trick to getting it nice and thick is to whisk it until it holds stiff peaks.

Together the cupcake and frosting are the perfect Christmas combination.

When I first tested these cupcakes out we ate them warm with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with toffee sauce. These cupcakes are very versatile, so you can serve them either warm or at room temperature. I personally think serving one of these warm with a generous scoop of ice cream on the side, whipped cream or custard would make a super indulgent dessert!

(Makes 12)

Ingredients:

Gingerbread Cupcakes:

150g unsalted butter, softened

150g dark or light brown sugar

3 large free-range eggs, at room temperature

150g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon mixed spice

4 tablespoons (60ml) milk

Cream Cheese Frosting:

60g unsalted butter, softened

200g icing sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

400g full-fat cream cheese, softened – I leave mine out at room temperature for one hour to soften

Method:

To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a cupcake/muffin tin with paper liners and then set the tin aside.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix to incorporate. Sift together the flour and spices and add to the batter. Fold the flour into the batter until no lumps of flour remain, then finally fold through the milk.
Equally distribute the cupcake batter between the paper liners. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until risen and when inserted into the centre a cake tester comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then transport the cupcakes to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
To make the frosting: Cream the softened butter in a stand mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes to soften. Now add the sifted icing sugar and vanilla and starting on a low speed mix to combine. Continue to beat for 5 minutes or until really pale in colour – stop the mixer halfway through to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Once creamed add the softened cream cheese. Turn the mixer up and whisk on high speed for approximately 2-3 minutes or until the frosting is creamy, thick and smooth. You need to use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer with the a whisk attachment to make sure the frosting reaches the correct consistency.
Pipe the cupcakes with the frosting and decorate as desired.

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Baking · Cheesecake · Chocolate · Christmas · No-Bake

Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cheesecake

November 23, 2015November 27, 2022 What Jessica Baked Next148 Comments

Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cheesecake. An impressive and delicious no-bake dessert.

Christmas is fast approaching – in a month’s time we will be just a couple of days away from the big day! Christmas is my favourite time of year for several reasons. I love putting the decorations up, listening to festive music, baking and cooking lots of delicious food, but most of all I enjoy having break from college and seeing all my family and friends.

So I told you in an earlier post that I’d already been planning all my seasonal recipes. For this year’s first festive recipe I’m sharing this amazing Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cheesecake. All you chocolate orange lovers out there NEED to give this cheesecake a try!

It wouldn’t be Christmas without Terry’s chocolate orange. It’s one of mine and my sister’s favourite chocolates, I just love the rich chocolate mixed with the aromatic orange. My obsession with chocolate orange is proven with these cupcakes and these cookies.

This cheesecake is based on my popular No-Bake Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake. The base is made up of crushed chocolate orange digestive biscuits and is simply mixed together with melted butter and pressed into a cheesecake tin until compact. The cheesecake filling is made using the same method I use for all my no-bake cheesecakes. Beat together softened cream cheese with a touch of icing sugar and vanilla until smooth, then the fold through melted chocolate orange. I used two whole chocolate oranges in this cheesecake, so it is guaranteed to have a gorgeous flavour! Then the final step is to fold through some very lightly whipped cream and then spread the mixture over the prepared biscuit base. I told you it was unbelievably easy!

For decoration I like to keep it simple with nothing too elaborate. My sister gave me the idea to fan the chocolate orange segments in the centre of the cheesecake. So we went for that easy design, finishing with swirls of piped whipped cream. This cheesecake is a gorgeous dessert that’s an absolute breeze to make and a treat to eat!

(Serves 10-12)

Ingredients:

Biscuit Base:

300g chocolate or plain digestive biscuits (or graham crackers)

140g butter (salted or unsalted), melted and cooled slightly

Cheesecake Filling:

500g full-fat cream cheese or mascarpone, softened at room temperature

2 x 157g Terry’s chocolate orange (or other orange flavoured chocolate)

300ml double cream (heavy cream), chilled

85g icing sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Decoration:

Terry’s chocolate orange segments – I also grated some over to decorate

Whipped cream – approx. 150ml double or whipping cream

Method:

To prepare the base: Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor to a fine crumb. Add the melted butter and mix until well combined. Tip the biscuit crumbs into a 23cm springform cake tin and press down until firm. Use the back of a spoon to smooth over, place in the fridge to chill whilst you make the filling.
To make the cheesecake filling: Melt the chocolate over a bain-marie or in the microwave in 20 second intervals. Leave to cool only for a few minutes – chocolate stills needs to be slightly warm before adding the remaining cheesecake ingredients later to avoid lumps forming. In a medium mixing bowl beat together the cream cheese with the icing sugar and vanilla until softened. In another mixing bowl whisk the cream until soft peaks form.
Fold the cream into the cream cheese mix. Finally, fold through the melted chocolate.
Spoon the cheesecake mixture over the biscuit base and smooth over with a spatula or palette knife. Cover and leave to chill for at least 6 hours, or preferably overnight.
When ready to serve, remove the cheesecake from the tin and decorate. Best serve chilled. The cheesecake can be made ahead of time, leave it in the tin, covered with cling film for up to 3 days. Leftover slices (if any!) can be stored in an airtight container in a refrigerator.