Chocolate and Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

by giraffescanbake // June 27, 2014 // 56 Comments

It’s Friday and what better way to celebrate than with super tasty and super easy treats? You can have these in your tummy in 30 minutes!

It’s also Fiesta Friday so you don’t even need to make up an excuse to enjoy these, it’s party time! I missed last week’s FF because I was sick and busy and life just kind of got in the way of baking, I missed it a lot though! So I’m making up for my absence last week and bringing these amazing treats. These chocolate and peanut butter rice krispie treats are like rice krispie treats for royalty, because rice krispie treats are yummy enough just as they are but add the chocolate and peanut butter and you’ve made them star studded! These treats definitely belong on the red carpet of tasty land!

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Strawberry Margarita Cheesecake Bars

by giraffescanbake // May 3, 2014 // 7 Comments

Strawberries. Lime. Tequila. Cheesecake. Perfect!

Cinco De Mayo is almost upon us and what better way to enjoy your celebratory margarita than in cheesecake form! I’m a huge fan of tequila, put it in a cocktail and I’ll be sure to love it, nothing beats a good frozen margarita though. Good margaritas are hard to find in the UK so I decided to make my own and put it in a cheesecake!

These are so creamy, so tasty and so good you’ll never want to drink a margarita again (but you definitely should, preferably while eating one of these bars!). They have a digestive biscuit crust with a hint of lime in it, a creamy lime and tequila cheesecake filling and a strawberry tequila mix swirled into it!

The best part about this strawberry margarita cheesecake bars recipe is they’re so simple to make, much easier than a whole cheesecake and you don’t have to worry about any cracking. The hardest part is probably making up the fresh strawberry mix, which is really quite simple it just takes the longest. You bake them for about 45 minutes until puffy and lightly browned at the edges, you don’t want to over bake this! Actually, the hardest part is probably waiting for them to chill and then stopping yourself eating up the whole pan (I won’t judge you if you do, ’tis the season!).

Why not make up a batch of these this weekend and then take them into work on Monday. Your coworkers will love you and you’ll get to enjoy a cheeky margarita during the work day! Of course, if you live in the UK you’ll just have to eat them all up yourself (shame) since Monday is a bank holiday! These aren’t just great for Cinco De Mayo, they’re a great summery dessert all round!

[recipe title=”Strawberry Margarita Cheesecake Bars”]
Ingredients

For the crust:

300g digestive biscuits
180g unsalted butter, melted
135g caster sugar
1/2 tbsp grated lime zest

For the strawberry mix:

450g fresh strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped
2 tsp cornflour
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp tequila

For the cheesecake filling:

900g full fat cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
100g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp tequila
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp grated lime zest

Method

Preheat oven to 180C/350F and line a 13×9″ brownie pan with foil so there’s plenty of foil overhang.
Make the strawberry mix first so it has plenty of time to cool. Toss the chopped strawberries in the cornflour and then place in a small saucepan. Add the tequila and sugar and heat on medium, stirring frequently. Heat for about 20 minutes. The juice in the strawberries should make enough liquid, but if it starts to get dry and stick to the pan too much add 1 or 2 tbsp of water. Remove from heat and leave to cool.
To make the crust, put the digestives in a food processor and make into fine crumbs. Add to a bowl with the melted butter, sugar and lime zest and stir to combine. Press crust mix into the pan, bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and leave to cool.
To make the cheesecake filling, beat all the filling ingredients using a hand or stand mixer until smooth and creamy. Spoon the filling onto the cooled crust and spread out evenly.
Spoon big dollops of the cooled strawberry mix on top of the filling and then swirl into the cheesecake using a knife.
Bake for 45 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned
Cool in the pan on wire rack for about 30 minutes then move to the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours.
Remove the cheesecake from the pan using the foil and cut into squares.

Notes

If you’re in the US and can’t get your hands on digestives, graham crackers will be just as good
If you’d like to make a smaller pan, just halve the recipe and use a 9×9″ square pan
You’ll probably have plenty of strawberry mix left over, store this in a tupperware to eat with the cheesecake or it’d be great on ice cream!
Store in the fridge, covered for up to 5 days

[/recipe]

Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

by giraffescanbake // April 26, 2014 // 9 Comments

Ridiculously gooey, fudgy brownies swirled with rich cheesecake, there’s only one word for these – AMAZING!

These cheesecake swirl brownies have to be my favourite brownie creation so far, if I had to eat one brownie for the rest of my life it would be these ones, no contest! I think I perhaps underbaked these a little and that’s why they were so decadently gooey but I wouldn’t change a thing and you shouldn’t either! The texture is perfect and melts beautifully with the creamy cheesecake

The brownie base for these is an adapted version of the cocoa brownies recipe, they’re still made with cocoa but I upped the eggs to make them moister (is that a word?!). I also added baking powder to give them a little rise and increased the butter to keep them fudgy! They’re then stuff full of chunky chopped chocolate, meaning they just ooze chocolate with every bite! I think I like this adapted recipe even better, but maybe that’s the cheesecake talking!

The cheesecake is a nice simple cheesecake mix, very rich and creamy making it the perfect brownie partner. And all you need to do is mix up the cheesecake ingredients and swirl it into the brownie batter. I find the best way to do this is run the back of a dessert spoon in lines down the brownie batter making little trenches, pour the cheesecake into the trenches and then use a knife to run lines in the opposite direction. Then you bake them until you have cheesecake brownie heaven! I adore this cheesecake swirl brownie recipe and I hope you will too!

[recipe title=”Cheesecake Swirl Brownies”]
Ingredients

For the brownies:

225g unsalted butter
500g caster sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla
160g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
190g plain flour
200g chopped dark chocolate

For the Cheesecake:

225g cream cheese, room temperature
80ml sour cream
115g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg, room temperature

Method

Grease and line 9″ x 13″ brownie pan and preheat oven to 180C/350F
For the brownies, melt the butter with the sugar in microwave in 30 second intervals, until all is melted, stirring between intervals. Allow to cool slightly
Add the cooled melted butter and sugar to a mixing bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.
Add the cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and flour and beat until all combined.
Stir in the chopped chocolate and spread batter into the pan.
To make the cheesecake, beat together all the cheesecake ingredients until smooth.
Make trenches (4 or 5) along the length of the brownie batter using the back of a dessert spoon and fill each trench with the cheesecake mixture. Run a knife in rows the opposite way to the trenches to “swirl” the cheesecake into the brownie batter
Bake for 30 minutes
Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer to the fridge too cool before cutting into squares

Notes

Bake for about 40 minutes if you want a less gooey, underbaked texture.
Store in the fridge, they will last about a week in a sealed container (but you’ll be lucky if they last a day once people taste them!)
It’s important to make sure the butter isn’t too hot when you add the eggs or they’ll start to cook!

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Fig Bars

by giraffescanbake // April 12, 2014 // 6 Comments

When I think of Figs I think of my days at University and eating my body weight in Jacob’s Fig Rolls while I wrote last minute essays at 3am and somehow that still brings back warm and fond memories! Despite my love of figs I have never actually baked with them and when I came to that realisation I decided I had to fix that fast!

These fig bars aren’t your typical fig rolls (or fig newtons as they’re called in the US), they’re so much better! They have a pastry like crust then lots of yummy fig filling and have an nutty, oaty topping. I made these with dried figs as they don’t really come into season until Autumn and they’re hard to find when they are in season due to their short shelf life, besides you’re going to be cooking them down so I would recommend dried figs either way to keep the moisture. If you don’t want to make the filling yourself you can always use a fig butter or jam, I’ve heard good things about it if you get it from Trader Joe’s (for you American folk) so I’m sure they’ll be just as yummy. However if you do it like that they may be a little on the overly sweet side!

My favourite thing about these is the secret ingredient, orange! It really brings out the flavour of the figs and although it’s not a necessary ingredient I wouldn’t omit it, it brings them to a whole new level of tastiness! One of the great things about this fig bar recipe though is they’re so easy to make, they do require baking in stages but it’s so simple to do you won’t mind. And you can make the fig filling while the crust bakes, then you just quickly whip up the crumbly topping, sprinkle it on top and stick them in the oven for 15 minutes. It takes about 45 minutes start to finish! You will want to let them cool before you eat them though, as hard as that may be, that filling is going to be very hot!

[recipe title=”Fig Bars”]

Ingredients

For the crust:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 cup plain flour

For the filling:

1/4 cup caster sugar
Juice from 1 orange
1 cup boiling water (you will not need the whole cup)
9oz dried mission figs, chopped

For the topping:

1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp cold butter
1/4 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
Zest of 1 orange

Method

Preheat over to 350F/170C. Grease and line a 9″ square pan.
For the crust, beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla on a medium speed until combined. On a low speed, beat in the flour until a soft dough forms. Press the dough into the bottom of the pan and bake for approx 15 minutes, until the centre is set and it is just turning a light golden colour
While the crust is baking, make the filling. Pour the juice of the orange into a measuring jug and fill up with boiling water until you reach 1 cup.
In a small saucepan heat all the filling ingredients over a medium/high heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently until figs are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Don’t be afraid to cook it for longer is need be, you want a jam like consistency, just make sure you keep stirring so it doesn’t burn. Spread it over the cooked crust and set aside.
Now make the topping. In a small bowl mix the flour, brown sugar and butter using a fork or pastry blender until you have a crumbly streusel like texture. Stir in the oats, walnuts and orange zest. Sprinkle over the filling.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the top is golden brown. Leave to cool completely before cutting into bars.

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Cocoa Brownies

by giraffescanbake // March 23, 2014 // 7 Comments

These are super fudgy and chocolatey brownies that are made with cocoa powder rather than solid chocolate, crazy right?

I was having a major brownie craving but I didn’t have your traditional brownie ingredients in the house. I did however have cocoa, so I threw caution to the wind and these were born! It was the best decision I’ve made in recent history.

Like most of you probably are, I was put off by the idea of making cocoa brownies. What’s the point in eating brownies if they’re not perfect! But when the craving becomes too strong, you can’t be held responsible for your actions. After some searching on the internet I found this recipe that was adored by so many blogs I came across, the recipe is originally by Alice Medrich and since trying it by myself I can see why everybody was raving! It ticks every brownie box and then some, fudgy delightfulness in every single bite!

I have a shameful history with brownies. I tried to make them many, many years ago and they came out rock solid (I’m pretty sure J K Rowling modelled Hagrid’s rock cakes on my brownies) and I was distraught. That was about 10 years ago, this is only the second time I’ve made them since (I don’t deal with failure well!), and what a way to restore my brownie making faith in myself! I really do urge you to give these a go the next time you have a real brownie craving and only have cocoa in the cupboards, you won’t regret it and neither will your tummy!

These brownies are made pretty similarly to your regular brownies and you can do it by hand. You melt the butter, sugar, cocoa and salt together. Let it cool if it’s hot and add the eggs and vanilla, beat the mixture until it’s smooth and shiny and add the flour. Beat hard for a couple of minutes, giving you a pretty thick mixture. I had some m&ms laying around so I mixed those in too. Then bake for no more than 30 minutes and voila, yumminess is in your hands (make sure they’re gloved hands, no burns please!).

[recipe title=”Cocoa Brownies”]
Ingredients

140g unsalted butter
250g caster sugar
75g unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
60g all purpose flour

Method

Preheat the oven to 325F/160C and grease and line 8×8 baking pan.
In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugar, cocoa and salt and melt in the microwave in 30 seconds intervals, stirring between until all melted.
If the mixture is hot, leave to cool slightly as you don’t want to cook the eggs!
Using a wooden spoon, stir in the vanilla. Then beat in the eggs one at a time, combining each time until batter is thick and shiny.
Add the flour and stir vigorously for a couple minutes. Stir in any nuts or chocolate chips you may be adding.
Pour into pan and spread evenly.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until a skewer comes out almost clean, a few moist crumbs is good, you just don’t want them still wet and you definitely don’t want to over bake them!
Leave them to cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares. Put them in the fridge for a few hours to get nice clean lines when you cut them!

[/recipe]