Chocolate Chip Squares

This is another delicious recipe from my childhood, and my daughters love it too.  Great with a cuppa or as a treat in lunchboxes.  So quick and easy to make too.

Chocolate Chip Squares

125g butter, softened
50g caster sugar
110g light soft brown sugar
1 free range egg
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
225g plain flour
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
80g pack chocolate chips

Icing:
300g icing sugar
2 heaped Tblsp cocoa powder
25 g butter, melted
2 Tblsp hot water, or more if necessary

Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark 4/350F. Line a Swiss roll tin with non stick baking paper.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg then beat again for a minute or two. Sift over the flour and bicarbonate of soda and stir until completely combined, then stir through the chocolate chips.

Press the mixture into your prepared tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes until golden. Leave to cool in the tin.

Prepare the icing by combining all the ingredients to make a firm but spreadable icing. Add more water if necessary. Spread the icing over the cooled biscuit layer and leave until set. Cut into squares then serve.

Easy Muesli Bars

I have been baking these Muesli Bars at least once a week for a very long time now.  They are tasty, versatile and very quick to make.  Perfect for lunchboxes or for a snack with a cuppa, you can vary the dried fruit, and even add seeds if you want to.

Easy Muesli Bars

100g butter

125ml golden syrup

100g dried apricots, finely chopped

100g sultanas

50g mixed seeds (optional)

75g dessicated coconut

150g rolled oats

50g plain flour

Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F/Gas Mark 4.  Grease and line a 20cm/8 inch square cake tin.

Melt the butter and golden syrup together over a low heat in a medium sized saucepan.  Once melted and combined, stir in all the other ingredients.

Pour into the tin and press down well, I use a potato masher.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until golden.  Allow to cool in the tin then turn out and cut into squares.

Vegetable and Pearl Barley Soup

It seems like we've all had the lurgy for the past couple of months, it comes and almost goes but we never feel totally well.  I've decided to try and cram as many vegetables in to our diet as possible, to try and combat the lurgy and get us all feeling better.

I cooked this soup on a blustery and windy day, it was so comforting and warming, I was glad there was plenty left to stash in the freezer as well as giving a bowl to my daughters for an after school snack.

Vegetable and Pearl Barley Soup

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 onions, roughly diced

3 carrots, roughly diced

3 stalks celery, roughly diced

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly diced

1 butternut squash, peeled and roughly diced

200g pearl barley

2 tsp dried mixed herbs
2 litres of vegetable stock

salt and pepper to season

Sweat the vegetables in a little oil for a few minutes until the onion has softened.  Add the stock, dried herbs and pearl barley, then simmer for around 40 minutes until the pearl barley has swelled and is soft and the vegetables are very tender.  Serve in bowls, season to taste and top with chopped fresh parsley if you have any.  We ate ours with Hidden Goodness Rolls.

 

Hidden Goodness Rolls for February Extra Veg

It's once again my turn to host Extra Veg, the blog linky created by Helen and I which encourages us to try and eat extra portions of vegetables.  Do link up your delicious recipes and inspire us with ways to incorporate more vegetables into our meals.

I baked these rolls on the weekend for our lunches this week.  They are wholesome and delicious but not heavy and are a good accompaniment to a bowl of soup, or make great sandwiches.  I added some finely grated carrot and a handful of oats, as well as some wholemeal rye flour, to the dough for extra flavour and goodness.

Hidden Goodness Bread Rolls

300g strong white bread flour
150g wholemeal rye flour
7g sachet instant yeast
1/2 tsp salt
50g rolled oats
2 carrots, finely grated
1 Tblsp oil
300ml lukewarm water

Mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl until a sticky dough forms.  Knead well on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, this will take up to 10 minutes.  I used my stand mixer to knead the dough for about 7 minutes.  

Put the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover with lightly greased cling film, then leave to prove until doubled in size.  Knock back the dough, portion into 12 rolls, then shape them and put onto lined baking trays.  Let the rolls prove again in a warm place for 30 - 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

Preheat your oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas Mark 6.  Bake the rolls for 15 - 20 minutes until golden and cooked through.

I’ve linked up with Helen at Fuss Free Flavours for a blog event – Extra Veg – to encourage everyone to eat more vegetables and live healthier.

Taking up the Extra Veg challenge means that you get all the extra vitamins and nutrients from extra helpings of vegetables and the veggies help fill you up so you eat less helpings of unhealthy foods.

To participate in Extra Veg all you need to do is:

Simply blog about any recipe or idea where you eat an extra portion of vegetables.

There are a few rules:

Please link to the current host (me)and also to Helen

Tweet using #ExtraVeg and mention @utterlyscrummy and @fussfreeflavours

Please display the badge in your post

Closing date of the challenge is 28th of the month

By entering you are agreeing to let us use an image from your entry on this site, and to pin to Pinterest

Please be respectful of other people’s copyright

But feel free to send your recipe to as many other blog events as you like!