Malteser Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookie Bars

Last week I was heading to a friend's house for a girl's night and I wanted to bring something to show my appreciation. I was stumped, and looked to the remains of the Halloween sweets for inspiration. 

Maltesers had already proved to make delicious cookies and I thought the caramel Chomp bars would be lovely and gooey! Bonus points: these bars take less effort than cookies!

Here's what you need to make a 6x6 tray of cookie bars:
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips
3 funsize bags of Maltesers
4 funsize Chomp bars

1. Line a 6x6 tray with baking parchment, snipping at the corners so it fits properly.
2. Preheat the oven to 180degrees Celcius.
3. In a plastic bag, bash at the Maltesers with a mallet until broken (not crushed).
4. Chop Chomp bars into small pieces.
5. Beat together margarine and sugars until combined.
6. Add vanilla and egg, and mix until combined.
7. Add the flour and mix until combined.
8. On a slow setting, add the chocolate chips and Chomp and Malteser pieces.
9. Place dough into prepared tin.
10. Bake for about 50minutes or until cooked through and golden brown in colour.
11. Allow to cool in tin before slicing.
12. Enjoy.

Come back for more Autumnal recipes this week!

Stay sweet! x

Bloody Halloween Cupcakes

To get you in the mood for Halloween, these spookily decorated bloody cupcakes should do the trick...or treat! (Sorry, couldn't help myself!)

Spider, witch's hat, mummy, ghost, bat, tombstone, broom, skull, pumpkin, Frankenstein's monster, bloody fangs and a bone... All in a day's work! 

I made simple sponge cupcakes but before baking dribbled some strawberry jam on top and quickly buried the jam under batter so it would bake nicely.

The toppers are all handmade out of fondant, I didn't follow any designs or stencils I just fiddled around with sugarpaste until I got a shape I liked. I was too lazy to whip up buttercream so I used a glass tumbler to cut out circles of sugarpaste and used these as a base on the cupcakes. FYI, all the materials I used were featured here as well as an oh-so-fancy cocktail stick, and I painted yellow fondant with red food colouring to get a pumpkin orange colour! I also used an edible black felt tip pen which I found in Brussels for writing/pupils.

Ingredients for a dozen cupcakes:

6oz self-raising flour

4oz caster sugar

4oz margarine

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 jar of jam (strawberry or raspberry)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius, and line a cupcake tray.
2. Beat margarine and sugar together on a medium speed until combined.
3. Add eggs one at a time and mix until combined.
4. Add vanilla extract.
5. Sieve in flour and beat until combined.
6. Divide batter between cases.
7. Add a teaspoon of jam to each case (trail along), cover this over with batter.
8. Bake for 20mins or until springy to touch.
9. Allow cupcakes to cool before applying a thin layer of jam on top. Place fondant circle atop.
10. Brush fondant with clear alcohol to give shine and allow toppers to stick.
11. Enjoy!

If you're looking for more spooky treats check out last year's post which features a podcast with great ideas from other bloggers!

Looking for costume inspiration? Last year I wrote this article for the UCC Express but I also love Urban Outfitters range! Whatever you get up to, have a great night!

 Happy Halloween, and stay spooky! x

Happy Halloween!!!

Hey guys,

I hope your day has been spooktacular! :)
Here are some easy, achievable ideas for tonight's trick or treaters!

You might notice a different format to the usual picture tutorial... I have some Very exciting news! As of last week I am now hosting a foodie show on my campus radio (UCC CCR) which broadcasts live each Thursday 11am-12 noon Irish time on 98.3fm! You can listen live online at http://www.ucc.ie/983fm/

Here's the podcast of my very first live show! Hope you enjoy!

Rawwwwr! Happy Halloween! :)