Double Chocolate Brownies...

It's no secret that I love to cook and bake, and one of my favourite things to bake are these double chocolate brownies. I love them so much, I thought that I would share the recipe with you so you can try them out too.

For this recipe, you will need:

• 115g/4oz Butter
• 115g/4oz Plain Chocolate
• 300g/10 1/2oz Caster Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 Eggs
• 140g/5oz Plain Flour
• 2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 100g/3 1/2oz Chocolate Chips
• 100g/3 1/2oz Walnuts/Pecans (optional)

Method:

1.  Preheat the oven to 180c/350F/Gas Mark 4
2. Grease and line a 18cm/7inch square cake tin
   
3. Place the butter and chocolate into a saucepan and stir over a low heat until melted - don't let it burn!
   
4. Remove the chocolate from the heat and leave to cool slightly
5. Stir in the sugar and vanilla extract
6. Add the eggs, one at a time and stir until smooth. You need to make sure that your chocolate is relatively cool at this point else your eggs will start cooking when added to the mixture.
7. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the mixture and fold together
   
   
   
   
8. Crush the nuts (if using) with a rolling pin until they are the same size as the chocolate chips
9. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. I couldn't find any chocolate chips so I used Magic Stars instead. This made a nice alternative as they are of a similar size and made the mixture slightly sweeter.
   
10. Pour the mixture into the tin
    
11. Bake in a preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes. You want your brownie to be slightly gooey in the centre.
    

The brownie is best served warm with some vanilla ice cream.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

Ellie xxx

Sprinkles Gelato Review...

On the 5th January, I went to my local Sprinkles Gelato with 3 of my friends for a very sophisticated 18th birthday celebration. Even at 18 years old, I still love a good waffle with ice cream!

We went to Sprinkles during the evening so the restaurant itself was quite empty, this made it very pleasant as we were all able to sit and chat and not feel rushed. The restaurant was set out a bit like an American Diner with big red booths. This made it look very nice and made you feel like you were in a typical American ice cream parlour. The bar/serving area displayed a huge variety of ice cream flavours ranging from your typical Vanilla to the more adventurous Ferrero Rocher flavour. They also sold the cutest looking cupcakes, all carefully iced and decorated. 

There was a menu laid out on almost every table which was well written and easy to read, however, there was too much choice! I couldn't decide what too have as everything sounded really nice but some did sound a little sickly. I settled with a Nutella and Cookie Waffle, this was a hot waffle served with Banana, melted Nutella, broken bits of Oreo Cookies, all topped off with some Vanilla Ice Cream. I was pleasantly surprised as it was not too sickly when mixed with the Vanilla Ice Cream. The Banana's were nice and ripe but I did find the waffle slightly overcooked. 

Overall, I really enjoyed my visit to Sprinkles. The food was very nice and the serving staff were also really friendly. 

My friend Leonie also wrote a blog post on Sprinkles, so if you would like to see her review and what she thought, click here 

Ellie xxx

Chocolate Chip & Cinnamon Cookies

Another firm favourite of mine are these delicious chocolate chip and cinnamon cookies, best served straight from the oven when the melted chocolate perfectly combines with the crunchy cinnamon.

For this recipe you will need:

• 225g/8oz Butter
• 140g/5oz Caster Sugar
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 280g/10oz Plain Flour
• 100g Chocolate Chips  

For the cinnamon coating:

• Caster Sugar
• Ground Cinnamon
  

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190c/375f/Gas Mark 5
2. Line 2 large baking trays with Greaseproof paper
3. Place the butter and sugar together in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy
   
4. Separate the egg and beat in one egg yolk to your butter and sugar mixture
5. Add the flour into the mixture bit by bit, making sure that it's thoroughly combined
6. Then add the chocolate chips and mix in
   
7. Next you want to make the cinnamon coating, to do this, carefully mix together the sugar and cinnamon on a shallow dish or plate. Then roll out small balls of the cookie mixture and roll them in the cinnamon to fully coat the outside.
   
8. Place them on the baking trays and bake in a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
   
9. Leave on a wire rack to cool
10. Enjoy your yummy cookies!

If you want to see the recipe in video form, be sure to head over to my youtube channel!

Ellie xxx

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I recently made these cookies and I loved them so much, they are now a recurring favourite. I thought I would share the recipe with you so you can try them out.

You will need:

• 225g/8oz Butter
• 140g/5oz Caster Sugar
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract (optional)
• 250g/9oz Plain Flour
• 2 tbsp Cocoa Powder (or until you think it is chocolatey enough)
• 200g Dairy Milk Chocolate
  

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5
2. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper

1. Place the butter and sugar together and mix together until light and fluffy
2. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla extract

1. Fold in the flour until completely combined
2. Sift in the cocoa powder and mix together
3. Break up your chocolate with a rolling pin, then add to the mixture and stir until combined
4. Scoop the mixture into balls and place on the baking sheets, flatten slightly

1. Bake in a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes
2. Leave to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
   

Hope you enjoy!

Ellie xx