Coconut Cupcakes!

I've been really busy in the Kitchen today, not only have I made Chocolate, Cherry and Coconut Cookies, but I have made Coconut Cupcakes too! So here is the recipe:

Ingredients

4 ounces of self-raising flour

4 ounces of butter

4 ounces of caster sugar

2 large eggs

2 ounces of dessicated coconut

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6 or the equivalent.

2. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until it is a smooth mixture.

3. Gradually add the egg, whilst mixing the ingredients together.

4. Next, sieve in the flour and add the coconut.

5. Transfer the mixture into cake cases, putting a generous dollop of cake mix in each case.

6. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes until golden in colour.

7. Leave to cool on a wire cooling rack. If you are icing the cakes make sure that they have totally cooled first, especially if using butter icing, or the icing will not set properly.

I was even good enough to make my boyfriend a cup of tea to enjoy my freshly baked goodies with!

The Three C's: Chocolate Cherry and Coconut!

I've got essays for university to write... so naturally I'm procrastinating, and what better way to procrastinate then to spend some time in the kitchen baking cookies! Today I've got a yummy recipe for you... Chocolate, Cherry and Coconut Cookies:

Ingredients

200g unsalted butter

85g caster sugar

85g soft brown sugar

1 egg

225g self-raising flour

100g roughly chopped chocolate

85g roughly chopped glacé cherries

85g dessicated coconut

1/2 tsp of salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 5, or 190 degrees, or 170 degrees if your oven is fan assisted.

2. Beat the butter, sugars and egg until it forms a smooth mixture.

3. Roughly chop the chocolate and cherries, and add them to the mixture along with the coconut flour and salt. Mix the ingredients until it turns into a thick cookie dough.

4. You can either use non-stick baking sheets or (as I usually prefer to do) just grease 2 baking trays.

5. Spoon the cookie dough onto the baking trays in large balls: this recipe makes roughly 20-24 cookies. ensure that the cookies have lots of space between them as the dough spreads out to over twice the size once it is in the oven.

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes until they start to go golden. Ensure that the cookies are still pale and soft in the middle and the edges aren't too dark in colour as it is very easy to overcook them.

7. Leave the cookies to cool on the tray for 5 minutes and they will firm up. Then carefully transfer them to a wire cooling rack.

In my opinion cookies are always best when they are still warm from the oven and squidgy in the middle. store the cookies in an air-tight container and eat within a week.

Alternatively you could try nutty cookies by exchanging the cherries and coconut for chopped nuts and a generous dollop of peanut butter!