During the first lockdown I was obsessed with baking cookies and tried a new recipe almost every week. People eventually had to tell me to stop because I was ruining their diets, and then things went back to some kind of normal (i.e. busy) and I had to stop.
I recently had the urge to make cookies again, so with a few days off work and a good browse of my absolute favourite baking blog; Jane’s Patisserie (seriously, she can do no wrong, every recipe just works) and a bit of input from Bob I decided to make M&M Cookies.
I love m&ms, and whilst I don’t usually favour a chocolate dough for cookies I couldn’t bear to not follow the recipe to a tee, and I’m bloody well glad I did.
I might not have Jane’s presentation or food photography skills, but these cookies still look pretty damn good to me. And they tasted it too. Baked for exactly 11 minute, these are slightly crispy on the edges but soft and chewy in the middle.
I don’t predict this batch of cookies hanging around long, and luckily I have the remaining 750g of a kilo bag of m&ms that I picked up in Costco to whip up some more. I’m not posting the recipe directly as I really, really feel you NEED to visit Jane’s site and see it for yourselves (recipe here). Anyone else a Jane’s Patisserie fan girl? I know it can’t just be me…which recipe am I going to pick next?
Box gifted by Degustabox This is a PR box, this means there will sometimes be additional flavours or products than you’d get as a subscriber, I will highlight this within my post.
The January Degustabox certainly set the standard high for the rest of 2021. With a theme of “breakfast and on the go” (very relevant to my interests), this was one of my favourite boxes in a long time; something I feel I say most months now!
Lets get the one product I wasn’t such a fan of out of the way first- the Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard Mayo. And that’s not to say it was bad, I just don’t really like mayonnaise so it was a bit wasted on me. It does so happen to be a vegan mustard mayo though, and whilst I wouldn’t buy it again, it did make a nice addition to a sandwich with a good mustard-y flavour.
Peanut butter also makes for wonderful sandwiches, and toast, and- well, peanut butter makes an awful lot of things wonderful. Sun-Pat will forever be my go to brand for peanut butter, especially for baking with. I used this jar on crumpets, and to make a batch of my Grandad’s favour peanut butter cookies which I left on his doorstep.
The mustard may costs £2.50 from Tesco, the peanut butter is £1.50 from all major supermarkets and also comes in crunchy.
How cute are these breakfast cereal bears? Bob and I both fell in love with the packing and design of these! They are such a good idea too, you can either give the bear a bath in a bowl of milk and eat it that way, or dunk and munch. These are definitely something we will purchase again, especially for Summer camping trips. The honey flavour was really good but we are desperate to try the chocolate flavour too, which I am yet to find anywhere. These cost £2.90 for 6 from Tesco and Sainsburys (pricey, but often on special offer to keep your eyes peeled!)
I love bread, all kinds of bread and rye bread is up there near the top of my list of favourites. Whilst I do prefer a super dark rye, this rye & wheat bread is REALLY good! Dense enough to feel like rye, but a bit lighter in texture too. It’s great toasted to go with soup, or as a base for an open topped sandwich. This comes pre-sliced which is a major win for me, and once opened will keep fresh for 7-10 days if properly sealed. This is £1.69 per loaf from Ocado and selected convenience stores.
I’ve been a fan of these Whitworth’s shots since they first landed on the shelves. Perfect for on the go snacking, this mix of sultanas, cranberries and white chocolate coated biscuits is my favourite from the range, ideal for a mid-afternoon sugar boost. These are around £1.60 for a pack of 4 from Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Poundland, Savers and Wilko.
This was a very curious product. Barley Cup is described as a cereal drink but looks more like a fine powder instant coffee. It’s caffeine free and has an appealling smell and the taste is kind of like coffee. It’s never going to become my hot drink of choice, but it’s nice to have on hand for a bit of variety. £2.50 from Holland and Barrett, Amazon and a variety of online and offline health food stores.
Who doesn’t love a fruit pastille? Now vegans don’t need to miss out on the joy either, which is great news for vegans and less great news for non-vegans who now have to share! £1.29 from major supermarket chains.
These Mister Free’d avocado tortilla chips are curiously green and curiously tasty. Described as the perfect on the go snack for those who love chips ‘n dip – without the need for dip. I liked these well enough, but nothing is going to beat tortilla chips with guac, salsa or humus for dipping! £1.59 from Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Ocado.
Muesli has never really been my thing, but Bob loves it and was suitably impressed with Lizi’s super muesli. This comes in two varities- “focus” and “boost”. Bob loved the mix of textures in this and the flavours of hazelnut and pecan. As with all Lizi’s products this really delivers on taste and quality! £0.75 for a 50g pouch, £3.50 for a 400g pack from Waitrose, Ocado and the Lizi’s website.
Another couple of products that got a big thumbs up from Bob were these vibrantly packaged breakfast goods from St Pierre. Both the Brioche waffle and the Millionaires waffle were met with lots of “yum” and “so good” type noises and would make a great on the go treat or special weekend breakfast. I didn’t get a look in! £1 each from Sainsbury’s, Tesco and WH Smiths.
I’ve tried the Gregory’s Tree fruit twists in another flavour before and really enjoyed them so I was pleased to get the chance to try the Strawberry variety too. These are a fabulous portable snack providing a good hit of sweetness whilst being good for you. I really love these and wish they were more readily available! £0.89 per bar from Amazon, Holland and Barrett, Planet Organic and selected other retailers.
I love marshmallow so I was all over the salted caramel mallow puffs; a vegan salted caramel flavour mallow coated in dark chocolate. It’s a shame these are so expensive as I could eat these all day long. They cost £1.59 each, check mallowpuffs.com for stockists.
I also really rated one of the latest offerings from Trek- the POWER millionaire shortbread. This brand can do no wrong, and again I wish these weren’t so expensive as I’d love to eat them more often. The flavour here is a real winner and the 15g of vegan protein means they fill you up too. £1.75 per bar from Sainsbury’s, Tesco and on Amazon.
I hope you enjoyed this month’s round up. Let me know which products caught your eye the most and what some of your favourite festive snacks are.
If you’re new to Degustabox, it’s a monthly food subscription box that gives you the chance to try new and exciting products on the market whilst providing amazing value for money. On a month by month basis the box costs £12.99 (with a discount for longer subscriptions) but the contents are generally worth far more than this as you can see if you do the maths.
If you’re persuaded to give Degustabox a go (and really, you should) you can claim £3.00 off of your first box (making it just £9.99!) by entering the code XOQGC at the checkout. It’s been a pleasure to work with the brand regularly over the last couple of years and it’s without a doubt something that I will continue to purchase long after our partnership ends. I love the monthly surprise and excitement as well as the chance to discover products I’d otherwise pass up on the supermarket shelves.
I’ve started to feel quite nostalgic lately, in terms of blogging this means returning to the kind of content that I used to share; outfit posts, wish lists and of course, recipes. In terms of recipes, and food in general I’m definitely veering towards childhood favourites and retro treats right now- a combination of lockdown blues and general Winter cravings.
After a lengthy discussion about cereal at work, that somehow turned in to a chat about puddings and comfort food classics I decided that the only way to use up the box of Cornflakes languishing in my pantry was to whip up one of the only redeeming features of school dinners- Cornflake Tart.
I used this recipe from BBC Good Food (one of my favourite places for reliable recipes) and it couldn’t have been simpler. I used pre-made pastry, which I usually buy frozen and find impossible. This time I picked up a fresh pack and it was so much easier to work with. In times gone by I made my own pastry from scratch, but it never really comes out right anymore and this was so much less faff!
STEP 1Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Unroll the pastry and briefly roll out on a lightly floured work surface until it’s large enough to fit a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Use the rolling pin to lift the pastry over the tin, then press into the corners and sides so the excess pastry hangs over the rim. Trim this away, leaving just a small amount of excess hanging over the rim.
STEP 2 Line the pastry with baking parchment and fill with baking beans or uncooked rice (I used rice, you need more than you think!) Bake for 15 mins. Remove the parchment and beans/rice, then bake for another 5-10 mins until just golden. Remove from the oven and trim any excess pastry from the edges using a serrated knife.
STEP 3Heat the butter, syrup and sugar in a small pan with a pinch of salt, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. Fold in the cornflakes to coat in the butter mixture.
STEP 4Spoon the jam into the cooked pastry base, then level the surface. Tip the cornflake mixture over the jam and gently press down until all of the jam is covered with a layer of the mixture. Return the tart to the oven and bake for another 5 mins until the cornflakes are golden and toasted. Leave to cool until just warm before slicing and serving with custard.
My presentation skills may be rustic looking at best, but this was a real hit. Lightly golden pastry, the cheapest strawberry jam I could find (for authentic school dinner taste!) and Cornflakes mixed with butter, sugar and syrup. The smell of this baking alone makes any effort worth it. Just add a healthy dose of custard and you have the ultimate mood lifter in a bowl. Now, what comfort food creation to whip up next?
