Now I’m no baker, but under these circumstances, let’s admit that we’ve all turned into one. Since I can’t review and recommend restaurants, I’m here to give you recipes, tried and tested by yours truly (and my amigas) so you can avoid a bad bake! I have no doubt that these bakes will have you feeling like Merry Berry and they’re most definitely worthy of a Paul Hollywood handshake (if you know, you know).
Millie’s Cookie Dupes
These cookies might be one of the most ‘basic’ things I’ve ever said but… I’m a sucker for a Millie’s cookies, and these dupes taste almost the exact same! Gooey, sweet and yummy. I followed the recipe from Baking Mad and it worked a dream! Let’s just say they didn’t last very long (though nothing chocolate ever does in our house).
I mixed milk and white chocolate chips into mine, but you can put in whatever you fancy! I wanted to use crushed up mini eggs, but like I said, chocolate treats don’t last long in my house… my parents got to them before I did. The recipe recommends around 7 minutes in the oven for that signature gooey middle; I did 7 mins 30 and they were perfect to me.
I also topped some of them with drizzled melted chocolate – but I almost preferred the ones without, they’re sweet enough!
Things you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Unrefined soft brown sugar
- White caster sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Self-raising flower
- Salt
- Chocolate chips (or whatever you want to mix in!)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_AXKQInjXO/
Lotus Biscoff Cheesecake
If you love Lotus Biscoff, then this one is for you. Honestly even if you don’t, it’s STILL probably for you. Or alternatively, you could swap them out for another biscuit. We followed the Good Housekeeping recipe, but used the chocolate Lotus Biscoff biscuits and drizzled it melted Biscoff spread.
It recommends leaving it in the fridge overnight or at least six hours, but it just looked too good to leave it in there for any longer than 4! So, if you can’t resist, you might just get away with eating it earlier!
Things you’ll need:
- Lotus Biscoff Biscuits (or alternative)
- Unsalted butter
- Cream cheese
- Icing sugar
- Double cream
- Vanilla extract
- Smooth Lotus Biscoff Spread (or alternative)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-5IQKuHRW2/
Jammie Dodger Blondies
If you’re sick of making brownies, (the official food of lockdown, partnered with banana bread) make some blondies for a change! Yes, they taste as good as they look. They’re also sure to give you that nostalgic feeling.
Using Katie Cakes recipe – super easy to follow!
Things you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- White chocolate
- Caster sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Plain flour
- Strawberry jam
- Jammy Dodger biscuits
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-wwk5DHKp_/
Chocolate Shortbread Sandwiches
These delicious chocolate shortbread cookies had the most requests for the recipe out of any other bake, so here it is! The best thing about them is that you can make them your own; we changed up the chocolate ganache for buttercream and jam, and melted chocolate on top.
These were created using the Serious Eats recipe, but I’d be lying if I said ours didn’t turn out better… But any bake looks a million times better with a drizzle!!
Things you’ll need:
- Chocolate
- Heavy cream
- Icing sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- All purpose flour
- Cocoa powder.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_XbqgiHVsu/
Raspberry and Double Chocolate Marble Cake
Can’t decide whether you want a fruity bake or a chocolate one? This marble cake is the best of both worlds, so you can please everyone. And you can top it with some raspberries and pretend it’s healthy and not the 5th cake you’ve made and eaten the entirety of this week. Don’t worry, we’re all doing the exact same thing.
Using the Tesco recipe, exactly as, but with a drizzled top instead of a layered (we love a drizzle).
Things you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Golden caster sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Self raising flour
- Milk
- Cocoa powder
- Dark chocolate and white chocolate
- Icing sugar
- Raspberries to top
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_PiwHIHVXC/
White Kinder Bueno Cheesecake
If the last cheesecake didn’t tempt you enough… This one is honestly my idea of heaven. Using a simple white chocolate cheesecake recipe, we added white Kinder Bueno, chocolate shavings and chocolate drizzle to make it extra heavenly and indulgent. But this is just one idea of how you can make a cheesecake your own with your favourite toppings! This cheesecake took a little longer to set, so give make sure you leave time for that.
Using Nigella Lawson’s recipe on BBC Good Food.
Things you’ll need:
- White chocolate
- Full fat cream cheese
- Double cream
- Lemon juice
- Vanilla extract
- Ginger nut biscuits
- Unsalted butter .
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_IVFfNHYjL/
Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake Jars
My Cake Jars are a failure turned into something wonderful. I tried to make a lemon and poppy seed loaf, got too excited when it was cooked and pulled it out the tin too early and it literally broke into two pieces. However, the cake was cooked to perfection, so I couldn’t let it go to waste. I broke it all up, and layered it into some little jars with lemon buttercream, vanilla buttercream and a lemon syrup on the cake parts. I’d recommend piping the buttercream in if you can!
I used the Hummingbird bakery cookbook for the recipe, which I would definitely recommend buying for different creative flavours! You can find a breakdown of it here, although I didn’t use ricotta cheese in the recipe!
Things you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Plain flour
- Caster sugar
- Eggs
- Baking powder
- Poppy seeds
- Lemon
- Vanilla buttercream
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_fP69aHkf_/
Of course I’m not taking any credit for the recipes, this is simply to share with you what we have tried and share with you good recipes. For more daily recipes be sure to follow Munch on Instagram.
Enjoy your baking and let me know how it goes!
If you enjoyed this, check out my other munch posts for foodspo!