Nibbles and Naughties!!

So today I decided to try out some savoury bites - over the course of next week I have quite a few people popping round to see the new house, so I thought it would be nice to have some homemade nibbles to have with a glass of wine; so this is what I made!

Thyme and Cheddar Bites


Ingredients;

50g butter
115g strong cheddar cheese
1 tsp english mustard powder
pinch of salt
100g plain flour
1 tsp dried thyme or 2tbsp fresh thyme (chopped)


Blend the butter and cheese together in a bowl - ideally the butter will be soft. Add everything else and mix together until it forms a dough. Roll the dough in to a thinnish log, wrap in cling film and leave to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes at least.

Preheat the oven to 180 (Celsius) and line 2 baking sheets.

Unwrap the dough and slice in to pieces, place on the baking sheets and bake for about 10 minutes until golden - leave to cool and then pour yourself a nice cold drink (preferably alcoholic!) to enjoy with.

Pretty Parmesan Biscuits

I've called these pretty because I've used a flower cutter to cut them out - but you can use whichever shape you like!

Ingredients;

150g plain flour
110g grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
pinch of paprika
75g butter, cubed
2 large free-range egg yolks

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and then add the butter and rub it together with your fingertips until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and form the dough in to a ball - wrap it in cling film and pop it in to the fridge for about 30 minutes.


Pre-heat the oven to 200 (Celsius) and line two baking trays.

Unwrap the dough and roll it out on to a lightly floured surface then cut out small shapes and pop them on to the baking tray to bake for around 8-10 minutes until golden. Leave to cool.

By now the kitchen will be smelling heavenly!

Finally, we come to the naughty part! My sweet tooth could not resist temptation today, so I baked some chocolate and vanilla cookie sandwiches!

Chocolate and Vanilla Cookie Sandwiches

Ingredients;

For the cookies;

150g plain flour
90g cocoa powder (not hot chocolate powder, this won't do!!)
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
340g golden caster sugar
150g unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the vanilla cream filling;

50g butter
50g vegetable shortening (I used trex)
80g (ish) of icing sugar
1/2 tbsp of good vanilla extract

Pre-heat the oven to 190 (Celsius).

In a bowl, sieve together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the egg and combine. Add the dry mixture and fold in until the dough is well combined.

Depending on how big you want the cookies, you can use either a teaspoon or an ice cream scoop to put the mixture on to lined baking trays about 2 inches apart. Using a glass (rinse it with some water first) dipped in caster sugar, flatten the balls of dough - you may need a spatula to help remove the glass from the mixture.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes and leave to cool.

Whilst the cookies are cooling cream the butter and shortening together, then add the icing sugar and vanilla extract - use the filling to sandwich together two similar sized cookies and enjoy with a cold glass of milk!

I have no idea how many calories are in these bad boys - and you probably wouldn't want to know.. just devour them before you have time to feel guilty!