Nutella & White Chocolate Cookie Sticks for World Nutella Day!

Did you know it's World Nutella Day on Thursday?! I'm not really sure why we need a specific designated day to eat Nutella...because if you know me at all, you know I eat Nutella every day without hesitation! but hey, I love national food days as much as the next food blogger and so I jumped on the bandwagon to show you one of my favourite recipes involving one of my favourite treats incase you want to whip them up for your own little Nutella celebration!

The first time I made these last year I made them twice in one week! I've made them several times since but they are THAT good that they have never made it to the photography stage before being completely devoured.  So this time around I restrained myself for long enough to get a few shots in! The observant ones out there among you will notice that I never usually photograph more than 4 of the things I've baked.  The reason? because they are the only ones I have left because the rest have been scoffed! You know those bloggers that take beautiful pictures of every portion of their bake straight out the oven, they show you the whole pan of cookies or the whole batch of cupcakes? Well, I just don't believe they are real legit food bloggers - because who can resist tasting your baked goods the second they come out the oven? Not me! Just keeping it real over here!

You know how else I keep it real, by doing away with things like rolling up each cookie - because that takes time! Precious time, that I could be using to catch up on the latest episode of Grey's, or catch up on Instagram or watch my sleeping baby - she's too adorable not to! So in place of rolling out individual cookies, you dump your whole bowl of cookie dough in a brownie pan, and spread it out using your hands, flatten it down, stick it in the oven and call it done! 

You'll wonder why you've never baked every batch of cookies like this!!

The pudding makes them super soft, so I recommend you don't leave it out! Most large supermarkets now sell the little jello pudding boxes in their American grocery section and it's not too pricey.  The little melty pools of white chocolate compliment the hazelnutty undertones of the Nutella perfectly and you'll be wanting to make your next batch before you've even finished your first - they are THAT good!

and don't even think about leaving out the warm Nutella drizzled on top! I even kept the rest that I didn't use in a piping bag in the tin of cookies after and everytime I popped one on a plate I would give it quadruple drizzle before zapping in the microwave for 15 seconds - do it, you won't be disappointed! 

Nutella & White Chocolate Cookie Sticks:

Makes 16

Adapted from Inside BruCrew Life

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup Nutella

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup soft brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 box jello instant chocolate pudding mix (3.4 ounces)

2 cups white chocolate, chopped

16 cubes of white chocolate

3 tbsp Nutella

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease an 11x7" pan with butter.

In the bowl of a freestanding electric mixer, beat the butter, Nutella, and both sugars until creamy.  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and dry pudding mix.  Slowly beat into the creamed butter mixture until completely incorporated.  Do not over mix.

Chop up the white chocolate into chunks, stir it into the mix with a spatula.  

Spread the batter into the pan.  Bake for 12-14 minutes.  

Once out the oven, immediately press the 16 white chocolate chunks into the top of the cookie.  Put in the freezer to stop the chocolate on top melting.  After 20 minutes, take the cookie out.  Heat the Nutella in the microwave for 30 seconds and drizzle diagonally across the cookie. Cut it into 16 sticks.

Eat and enjoy!

If cookie sticks aren't your thing - I have you covered in other areas of Nutella amazingness!

Like this Ferrero Rocher & Nutella Fudge Cream Pie

or some Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter Choc Chunk Cookies

or Ferrero Rocher Brownie Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting

or my personal favourite, THE Fudgiest Nutella Brownies ever! 

and who can say no to S'mores & Nutella combined in this S'mores Fudge Pie?

or a little bit of Nutella & Raspberry Cheesecake in a jar

and this Peanut Butter, Oreo, Nutella & Banana Cream Pie

and the goodies that kickstarted my obsession...Nutella & Peanut Butter S'moreos!

Coconut Overload Magic Bars

I'm mourning the loss of a great set of photographs! I made some coconut overload magic bars a few months back, and took some much prettier photos than these.  Unfortunately we've just recently started using lightroom on both our macbooks, which was my first mistake! So when I was clearing room on the camera one day I saw the coconut magic bars weren't on my husbands macbook I assumed they were on mine.  I pressed that format button and cleared the whole sd card.  I then grabbed by macbook and opened up lightroom only to scroll to the end of the photos with no coconut bars in sight!! 

It was a heartbreaking moment! The magic bars had long been eaten! The silver lining on my cloud was that they were so amazingly delicious I knew it wouldn't be long before I whipped up another batch! 

This time around though, I was in a massive hurry and well these pictures reflect that! Booo to bad photos, but these treats are just too good not to share!

I have a long standing love affair with coconut, of which I'm sure you are all aware! I also have developed a massive love for magic bars in this past year.  They are probably the bake that has frequented my kitchen most since moving to Canada.  I'm blaming it on the fact you can buy boxes of pre crushed graham cracker crumbs here, which makes throwing these magic bars together even quicker!  The last time I blogged about them I made a peanut butter version and I also made a tasty mint version which never made it to the blog...but this coconut overload version tops any other kind I've made!

Let me start by saying there is a LOT of chocolate involved! 6 layers in fact! and the chocolate I used ended up coming from 3 different countries! so you might not be lucky enough to have all these ingredients at your fingertips but the nice thing about magic bars is pretty much anything goes! So you can swap out and substitute your favourite kinds of chocolate or the kinds that are available near to you.

I'll break down the chocolate involved.  The top left are coconut cream filled hershey's kisses! They came from America, but were a limited edition candy I bought over Easter and I sadly haven't been able to find them anywhere since! Besides the coconut kisses are coconut lindor balls by Lindt! These came from England, and have just been brought out recently over there so when my mom and sister came to visit they made sure they brought my coconut loving self some! I've yet to meet a person who doesn't love lindor balls, so when that creamy melt in your mouth centre is coconut flavoured you just can't get much better than that!

Bottom left is white chocolate filled with shredded coconut by Lindt.  I can get that here in Canada at most supermarkets.  I'm not the hugest white chocolate fan but man I can demolish this whole chocolate bar before you can even say 'bob's your uncle'! which for all those North Americans out there is a funny little phrase that originates from Britain that we had fun introducing to some of our Canadian friends recently!

...and besides that is my fave ALL TIME chocolate! It comes from England but is rare and you can't find it everywhere.  So far I've only come across it in selected Waitrose supermarkets.  It's Lindt milk chocolate filled with creamy coconut, remember when I made brownies with it before?

So you basically take ALL of that chocolate! chop it up, throw in some regular old white choc chips and milk choc chips.  Throw some condensed milk into the mix and finish it all off with mounds of shredded coconut.  Once baked it turns into an ooey gooey mess of deliciousness that you need to have in your life! Give these a try, they will be the most rewarding 10 minute prep time of your life!!

Coconut Overload Magic Bars:

Makes 16

From Cupcake Crazy Gem

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 (14 oz. can) sweetened condensed milk

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup Lindt coconut white chocolate 

1/2 cup Lindt creation coconut milk chocolate

1/2 coconut Hershey's kisses

1/2 cup Lindt coconut lindor balls

1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F.

Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter, mix well.  Press crumb mixture firmly into the bottom of the pan.  Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture.  Layer evenly with the 6 different layers of chocolate.  Sprinkle the shredded coconut over everything.  Press down firmly with fork.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned on top. 

Leave to cool in pans.

Then cut into bars and transfer to cool completely on a wire rack.

Eat and enjoy!

Easter M&M Cookies 3 Ways: White Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Coconut!

Happy Easter! It's still Easter Monday here in Vancouver so I'm trying to sneak these Easter cookies through just in time! I went to America last week and bought tons of Easter candy, I was so excited to get baking and then Easter just crept up on me out of nowhere! Plus we went on an awesome kayaking and camping adventure up the Indian Arm fjord for the weekend and so there wasn't much time to bake! It has been an absolutely beautiful Easter weekend here, with bright blue skies and so much sunshine! and I just have to show off the beautiful cherry blossom trees that are blooming right outside my house! I love it! After the gloomy and rainy never ending winter we've had here though I feel it's deserved! 

So to make up for my lack of blogging recently, I'm giving you a triple whammy! 3 blog posts in one! They are all M&M Cookies - made with different M&M flavours.  None of these flavours are available in the UK so just swap out ones that are available, or splurge and buy these varieties in specialist American candy stores! 

I had spied these white chocolate M&M pudding cookies a few weeks ago, and immediately pinned the recipe knowing that I would be able to pick up these seasonal M&M's in America (because we don't get them in Canada either, boo hoo!) and I picked up the white chocolate pudding mix there too!

I love how pretty the pastel colours are - they make perfect Easter treats to give away or just scoff yourself! The white chocolate pudding mix gives a subtle white chocolate flavour throughout the cookies without making them too heavy, and you get bursts of real melted white chocolate coming through from the M&M's that tastes amazing! 

White Chocolate M&M Pudding Cookies:

Makes 18

From The Recipe Critic

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup caster sugar

3.4 oz package white chocolate instant pudding mix

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups white chocolate m&m's

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat non stick baking mat.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and white chocolate pudding mix (just the powder).   Set aside.

In an electric mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix together.  Add the bowl of dry ingredients.  Beat together until just blended.  Stir in the M&M's with a wooden spoon.  

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out cookie dough and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.

Bake for 10-13 minutes or until slightly golden.  Cool for a few minutes on the tray, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Eat and enjoy!

I also picked up some really delicious egg shaped M&M's that were filled with peanut butter! They were so delicious that my husband and I nearly ate the whole bag and so I didn't have quite as many as I needed to whip up this batch of cookies, so I subbed in some mixed peanut butter and milk chocolate chips as well as the remaining eggs! 

I was quite excited to make these cookies as they involved corn starch and corn starch cookies have got quite the rep these days! 

These were incredibly soft and crumbly and tasty! They had a really good peanut butter zing to them! and I just love the prettiness of the pastel eggs too!

Peanut Butter Egg M&M Cookies:

Makes 18

From Bakerita

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups plain flour

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup peanut butter egg m&m's

1 cup milk choc and peanut butter chips

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, peanut butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla and beat on medium speed until well creamed and fluffy, for about 5 minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the flour, cornstarch, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix until just combined for 1 minute.  

Fold the M&M's and chocolate chips in with a wooden spoon, do not use the mixer or else they will break.  

Using a medium 2 inch cookie scoop, scoop out the dough and place onto a pre prepared baking tray 2 inches apart.  Flatten cookie dough mounds slightly with your palm, cover the tray in cling film/plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 2 hours.  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C.

Bake for 10-13 minutes, until just set.  Allow cookies to cool on baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  

Eat and enjoy! 

The final cookies I'm sharing with you I made way back in January.  I had picked up some Coconut M&M's (my fave!) in Seattle and I was keen to bake them into some cookies so I adapted Tracey's recipe slightly to make them more coconutty because everything is better once it's been coconut-ified in my opinion! Yes, I'm making up words all over the show today! 

I'm definitely a pudding cookie convert! It produces a softer than usual cookie, and I like it! For all my English followers, boxed instant pudding is not something you'll find on your supermarket shelves so if you want to give these a go you'll have to get some instant jello from a specialist store like The Stateside Candy Co.  I'm not really sure that we have a UK alternative but if anyone has a go with something else then let me know how it turns out!

Coconut M&M Pudding Cookies:

Makes 28

Adapted From Tracey's Culinary Adventures

2 1/2 cups plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 (3.4oz) package instant vanilla pudding mix

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup coconut m&m's

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper of silpat non stick baking mats.  

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the pudding mix (just the powder) until combined and then add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.  With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients, beating until just combined.  Use a rubber spatula to stir in the coconut m&m's, shredded coconut and chocolate chips.  

Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto the baking sheets, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through.  The edges of the cookies should be golden brown.  Leave the cookies to cool on the sheets for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.  Eat and enjoy!

Well that was an M&M overload! Hope you enjoyed...and get ready for more regular blog posts around here, my slacking time is over! 

White Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies

I used to see awesome looking recipes on American blogs that involved speciality candies that we just didn't get in England, I would wish longingly that I could have access to those tasty treats! Sometimes I would get so desperate that I would pay crazy high prices to order them off American grocery websites...but I no longer have to do that!

When I spotted this recipe and realised it included White Chocolate Peppermint M&M's, I already had a bag of these babies sitting in my cupboard...just waiting to be baked up into something awesome! and so paired with some white chocolate chips and crushed candy canes, and these cookies were born! 

I have never had crushed candy canes in cookies before, they gave a great texture and didn't give an overbearing peppermint flavour either.  The white chocolate chips balanced out the mintiness perfectly! and these cookies tasted great cold...and even better warm too!

They were the perfect seasonal treat!

White Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies:

Makes 30

From Two Peas & Their Pod

3 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup caster sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup crushed candy canes

1 cup White Chocolate Peppermint M&M's

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a large baking sheet with a silpat baking mat (I have one of those now too!) or parchment paper and set aside.

Combine flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda in a medium bowl.  Set aside.

Cream butter and sugars together in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until combined.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.  Slowly mix in the dry ingredients.  Stir in the white chocolate chips, candy canes and M&M's.

Drop heaped tablespoons of dough on prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the centre.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes.  Transfer cookies to wire rack and cool completely.

Eat and enjoy!

Festive Triple Peppermint Rocky Road

I know, I know, another Rocky Road recipe! but I just can't help myself! plus I made this for our games night the other week, alongside 4 other desserts and so it's always handy to have a no bake treat on hand when there's a lot of baking to be done! 

Of course I went overboard on the peppermint! How could I not when I had all these amazing goodies from the States I wanted to use up! I even had a bag of chocolate peppermint marshmallows too but I drew the line and decided the marshmallows should just be regular to balance out all the minty-ness! 

So I chopped up the white chocolate peppermint m&m's, the mint truffle Hershey's kisses and the candy cane Hershey's kisses, stirred in some rice krispies and mini marshmallows, drowned them all in some rich milk chocolate and refrigerate for an hour to form one tasty festive treat!

Festive Triple Peppermint Rocky Road:

Makes 16

From Cupcake Crazy Gem

450g milk chocolate (for eating, not baking)

1 tsp vegetable oil

1/2 cup candy cane kisses

1/2 cup mint truffle kisses

1/2 cup white chocolate peppermint m&m's

1 cup rice krispies

150g mini marshmallows

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof glass bowl, set above a pan of boiling water.  

Stir in the vegetable oil.

Chop the candy cane kisses, truffle kisses and m&m's in half.

Once the chocolate has cooled, add those into the bowl along with the rice krispies and mini marshmallows.  (I reserved back a handful of each ingredient to press into the surface of the Rocky Road to make it look pretty). 

Pour the mixture into your prepared tin.  If you want, press extra ingredients into the surface of the chocolate.

Put in the fridge for an hour until firm.  

Eat and enjoy!

Lime, Coconut & White Chocolate Blondies

I made cake.

 Then I ate it.

Now I wish I had more.

While I went to the kitchen to stuff my face with coconut m&m's, I told my husband to export my photos for me that I was going to blog about.  He told me that he knows how to do a blog post, so I told him to go for it and just write the whole thing, when I returned he told me the post was finished! It was so great that I had to leave it as it is! There's nothing more I can add! 

Aside from the fact that I dreamt these Blondies up in one of those lightbulb moments, where I was deciding how I could bake my beloved white chocolate & coconut Lindt bar into something yummy.  Coconut & lime is one of my favourite flavour pairings so it seemed only natural that I should combine the two with my coconut Lindt chocolate! 

I know the blogosphere is awash with peppermint, egg nog and gingerbread recipes right now...but in my world you can and should eat coconut and lime every day of the week regardless of the season, especially when it's paired with white chocolate frosting and topped with grated lime zest and shredded coconut - delish!

Lime and Coconut Blondies:

Makes 12

From Cupcake Crazy Gem

225g White Coconut Lindt Chocolate

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup caster sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup plain flour

1/4 cup desiccated coconut

2 tbsp lime juice

1 heaped tbsp lime zest

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F.

Melt White Coconut Lindt Chocolate along with the butter in a heatproof bowl, set above a pan of simmering water.

Remove from heat once completely melted, and allow to cool.  Beat in caster sugar and eggs with a whisk.

Stir flour and coconut into the batter.  Add lime juice and grated lime zest.

Pour into prepared brownie pan (I made mine in a square pan) and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.

Leave to cool in pan whilst making this creamy white chocolate frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup icing sugar

1/4 cup melted white chocolate chips

Melt white chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave in 30 second intervals.

Beat unsalted butter and sifted icing sugar together.  

Once cooled, stir in the melted chocolate.  Continue beating for 3-5 minutes until the frosting is fluffy.

Spread generously on top of the Blondies, sprinkle with grated lime zest and handfuls of shredded coconut.

Eat and enjoy!

White Choc Chunk Banana Bread

The last time I made this banana bread it was so tasty that it never even made it to the photography stage! So I exercised a great deal of self restraint this time around to make sure that did not happen!

I made it with milk chocolate chunks the past few times which is super delicious, but this time due to my husbands request I made it with white chocolate instead.  Strangely enough, it just seemed to bake out altogether and disappear! The reason I loved it so much with the milk chocolate chunks was the melting pools of chocolate you would find in each slice so cutting in to it with no white chocolate in sight was a little disappointing!

I used some of the leftover chocolate frosting I had from when I made rainbow cupcakes and after warming up a slice in the microwave for 20 seconds (because in my opinion eating banana bread warm is the only way to go!) I spread some frosting on and it definitely made up for the lack of chocolate coming through.  It started to melt into the banana bread as it was warm and it was a perfect afternoon treat for a rainy Welsh day we were experiencing! 

White Choc Chunk Banana Bread:

Makes 1 regular and 2 mini loaves

From Whipped

1 1/2 cup all plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup caster sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

4 medium, ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup white chocolate, chopped

Grease  loaf pans with butter. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar.  Mix in the slightly beaten eggs and mashed bananas. Slowly stir in the melted butter just until incorporated. Chop white chocolate into chunks.  Put it into a bowl and toss it in one tablespoon of flour until all the chocolate is covered (this prevents the chocolate sinking to the bottom). Stir choc chunks into the mix.

Pour into prepared pans. 

Bake  for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. If you use the mini loaf pans, adjust to about 30 minutes. Just take a peek and if the top is starting to brown and looks cooked, try the toothpick to test for doneness. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.


I'm entering this into the Alphabakes challenge, hosted by The More Than Occasional Baker this month.  The letter for the month was B, I am sure my banana bread will be one of many! 
If you want to join along, Caroline Makes will be announcing the new letter for next month if you keep an eye on her blog.

My Top 10 Fantastic Frostings...Frost yourself!

In light of my recent foray into peanut butter frosting, I realised I'm not a very good 'tagger' of frosting on my blog, and sometimes I neglect to include recipes for it altogether! which is just not cool.  Recently, two of my colleagues became inspired by my love of cupcakes and my blog and ventured into cupcake baking themselves.  I realised I didn't have an obvious place on my blog where you could find delicious frosting recipes for beginners, or even for experienced cupcake makers so this is how this blog post came about! 

p.s Before I start let's get one thing clear...a sieve (UK) or a sifter (U.S) should be used every single time you whip up a batch of frosting! Even if it says on the box it has been sifted, I don't trust it and I do it myself.  If you want lump free frosting it's the way to go.

Plus...all butter should be unsalted and should always be at room temperature, if you forget to take yours out the fridge a few hours before you bake you can pop it in the microwave but watch it like a hawk because the second it starts to melt you've ruined your chances of making good frosting! 

For all my American followers out there:

Icing Sugar = Powdered Sugar

Plain Flour = All Purpose Flour


and for those who need a little help with their cups to grams conversions I usually use this website

Now let's get on with it, without a doubt my number one favourite frosting has got to be....

1. Vanilla Bean Frosting

I made this frosting initially to pair beautifully with some Root Beer cupcakes I had made, this frosting has been compared to tasting like melted ice cream so I felt it would be the perfect frosting to turn my cupcakes into 'Root Beer Floats'.  I also often make it to pair with my Brownie cupcakes but really it can go with any cupcake you like because it's just that delicious! 

It is also super easy to make:

2 cups icing sugar

1 cup unsalted butter 

2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste 

1 tablespoon milk

(Makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes)

1. Mix together sugar and butter until they are blended and creamy.  

2. Add vanilla bean paste and milk and continue to beat for another minute. 

3. If desired, add more vanilla bean paste to taste, or more icing sugar to make it stiffer.

2. Oreo Cream Cheese Frosting

As you all know by now I am a HUGE Oreo lover! and for me you just can't beat this frosting! I always pair mine with an Oreo cupcake but even if you paired it with a plain chocolate or vanilla cupcake it would be a good way to jazz it up! 

Just be sure not to whip the cream cheese for too long, otherwise your frosting will go runny:

8 oz package of cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup unsalted butter
4 cups icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Oreos, crushed finely in a food processor (or a rolling pin always does the trick for me!) but if you want to pipe your frosting they will have to be crushed super fine otherwise they will clog up your nozzle!

1. Mix cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.

2. Mix in icing sugar, one cup at a time.  

3. Add vanilla extract.

4. Gently stir in crushed Oreos.

(Makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes)

3. Brown Sugar Frosting

If you love cookie dough, then this frosting manages to taste just like it! Don't ask me how...it even has flour in it, something I have never added to frosting before but just trust me on this - it works and is extremely delicious! I paired this frosting with my Cookie Dough cupcakes  but it would also go great with spiced apple cupcakes too! 

340 grams (3 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

3 1/2 cups icing sugar

1 cup plain flour 

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons milk

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

(Makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes)

1. Mix the brown sugar and butter until creamy.

2. Add the icing sugar and beat until smooth.

3. Finally add the flour and salt and beat briefly to combine.

4. Add the milk and vanilla and beat until incorporated.

4. Coconut Seven Minute Frosting

Coconut has just got to be one of my favourite flavours ever!! you should have just seen how excited I was this week at work when we finally tracked down some shredded coconut and got our shipment delivered!! That stuff is flipping impossible to buy in England! so no doubt there will be some coconut baking coming some that's for sure! 

This frosting is so versatile, it can be paired with raspberry cupcakes or lime or pineapple or even chocolate! If you can find coconut extract you can get safer results but that is also hard to track down in England, although again I got my hands on some thanks to work!, so in the past I have always just used small amounts of coconut milk to bring a more subtle flavour.

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons caster sugar

2/3 cup water

2 tablespoons corn syrup

6 large egg whites, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon coconut extract 

1. Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar with the water and corn syrup in a small saucepan.  Clip candy thermometer to side of pan. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.  Continue boiling, without stirring, until syrup reaches 230 degrees f.  

2. Whisk egg whites in a free standing mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.  With mixer still running, add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, beating to combine.  

3. As soon as sugar syrup reaches 230 degrees f, remove from hat.  With mixer on medium-low speed, pour syrup down side of bowl in a slow steady stream.  Raise speed to medium-high; whisk until mixture is completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl) and stiff (but not dry) peaks form, about 7 minutes.  Use immediately.

Be sure to finish off with shredded coconut - it is THE best! 

5.  Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

This is my go to frosting recipe for layer cakes, but I have also used it on cupcakes.  It is moist, rich, delicious and is always a winner with everyone.  

175g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids - I use Lindt)

225g unsalted butter

1 tablespoon semi-skimmed milk, at room temp

1 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract

250g icing sugar

1. Melt the chocolate in 30 second intervals in a glass bowl in the microwave until smooth.  Leave to cool slightly.

2. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter, milk, vanilla and icing sugar until smooth - this can take several minutes with an electric hand mixer.  

3. Add the melted chocolate and beat again until thick and creamy.  If it looks too runny to use when trying to frost the cupcakes simply keep beating to thicken.

6. Peanut Butter Frosting

This was my most recent frosting, and I'm still wondering why I waited so long to try it out because for any peanut butter fan out there it is a must!

2 cups Icing Sugar

1/4 cup semi-skimmed milk

1/4 cup unsalted organic unsalted butter

1/2 cup smooth organic peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Blend everything together until smooth.  If you require a thicker consistency add more sugar, if you need it to be thinner add more milk.

7. Classic Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting should be in everyone's baking repertoire.  It goes with SO much! It is commonly paired with Red Velvet, which I have shockingly never baked but will be doing so very soon and is great with hummingbird, and is a favourite pairing of mine with gingerbread.   

300g icing sugar
50g unsalted butter
125g cream cheese

1. Beat the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer on low speed
2. Beat the cream cheese in on medium-high speed, turn up and beat until the frosting is fluffy (be sure not to overbeat, as cream cheese will go runny).

8. Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Many people in the baking world go crazy over Swiss Meringue buttercream.  They feel typical buttercream frosting is 'too sweet', too much sugar - hello! that's why it's so tasty! I am not one of those people who prefers the meringues - they come in the French, Italian or Swiss variety! but I do believe, or I have grown to in recent years, that you can't cast something off until you've tried it.  So I gave Swiss Meringue Buttercream a go, and I was less than impressed, it just tasted too buttery for me and not sweet enough!! In my Martha Stewart book she also recommends a chocolate variety so I decided to give that a go...and oh my it was delicious!! so the only Swiss Meringue buttercream variety I can recommend is the chocolate kind...for my tastebuds anyway! 

5 large egg whites

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons caster sugar

Pinch of salt

450 grams (4 sticks) unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

130g plain baking chocolate

1. Combine egg whites, sugar and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water.  Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved.

2. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Starting on low, gradually increase to medium-high and whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form.  Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl) about 10 minutes.  

3. Add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla and melted chocolate.  Switch to the paddle attachment and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes.  Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth.  

9. Peppermint Frosting

So you know how I said coconut was one of my very favourite flavours, well the other one has got to be mint! I won't proclaim to make the best mint frosting in the world, if anyone has that recipe please let me know! but for now I couldn't make a top 10 frosting list without including my minty addition.

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup double cream

85g softened cream cheese

1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

4 drops of green food coloring

3 1/2 cups icing sugar

1. In an electric mixer add butter, cream, cream cheese, peppermint and green food colouring with 1 cup of the sugar.  Start on slow speed and then when it starts to come together turn to medium until it is well blended.

2. Add another cup of sugar and beat on high speed, repeat with the rest of the sugar.

10. White Chocolate

I cannot believe I almost neglected to leave you with this little delight! As Gwen would say 'it's an oldie but a goodie'! 

It can probably be made with any white chocolate but I like to think it should be made with this, Tesco Finest White Chocolate, made with Swiss Milk and Madagascan Vanilla if you want it at it's best! 

250g icing sugar

80g unsalted butter

25ml whole milk

a couple of drops of vanilla extract

55g White chocolate

1. Beat icing sugar and butter together in a mixer on medium-slow speed until it comes together

2. Combine milk and vanilla in separate bowl and add to the butter mix a couple of tablespoons at a time

3. Melt some white chocolate in the microwave, in short 15 second bursts.  Add it to the butter mix.

4. Turn mixer up to high speed and continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 mins.

and that completes my frosting round up! now go forth and bake up delicious cupcakes with all varieties of different flavour frostings and let me know how you get on!