Birthday Cake Cookies
When you think of a birthday, what springs to mind? I envisage lots of colour, balloons and loads of food. These cookies are meant to represent all of that and I think they work! Two delicious vanilla cookies laced with brightly coloured sprinkles and white chocolate, sandwiched together with a bright buttercream frosting.
If you want to make a chocolate cookie dough, you can remove 50g plain flour from the recipe and add 35g cocoa powder instead. Use any colour buttercream you want in the middle – think red or green for Christmas or lilac for Easter… it’s up to you!
MAKES: 8
PREP: 20 minutes
CHILL: 30–60 minutes
BAKE: 10–11 minutes
COOL: 30 minutes
FILL: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
115g unsalted butter, at room temperature, 100g soft light brown sugar, 100g white granulated sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 300g plain flour, 1⁄2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1⁄2 tsp sea salt, 250g white chocolate chips, 75g funfetti sprinkles
FILLING
75g unsalted butter, at room temperature, 150g icing sugar, Pink food colouring
METHOD
In a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar and white sugar together until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat again. Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and sea salt, then beat until a dough is formed. Add the chocolate chips and funfetti sprinkles and mix until well distributed.
Portion the dough out into 16 balls – each should weigh about 60g. Lay the balls out onto a flat tray that fits in the freezer and freeze for at least 30 minutes, or chill in the fridge for an hour or so.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180oC/160oC fan and line three baking trays with parchment paper. Remove the balls from the freezer or fridge and put them onto the lined baking trays. I do roughly six cookies per tray. Bake in the oven for 10–11 minutes. Leave to cool on the trays while you make the filling.
FILLING
In a large bowl, beat the butter for a few minutes to loosen it. Add the icing sugar and beat again until smooth. Add a few drops of food colouring (I used pink, but you can use any!) and beat well.
Transfer the pink filling to a piping bag with the piping nozzle of your choice fitted and pipe over eight of the cookies. Sandwich the cookies together with the remaining eight cookies.
Cinnamon Blondies
Obsessed with all things ‘blondie’? This easy blondie batter flavoured with ground cinnamon and stuffed full of white chocolate chips, topped with a cinnamon-flavoured white chocolate drizzle; what could possibly be better?
MAKES: 16
PREP: 20 minutes
BAKE: 25–30 minutes
COOL: 3+ hours
LASTS: 4–5+ days
INGREDIENTS
200g unsalted butter, melted, 250g soft light brown sugar, 3 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 275g plain flour, 3 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tbsp cornflour, 300g white chocolate chips, 75g white chocolate, melted
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180oC/160oC fan and line a 23cm square tin with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, add the melted butter and the sugar and beat until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat again until smooth. Add the flour, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and the cornflour and beat until thick. Add the chocolate chips and fold through.
Pour the mixture into the tin and spread out evenly. Bake in the oven for 25–30 minutes, or until there is a slight wobble in the middle.
Leave to cool in the tin. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.
Once the blondies have set, carefully mix the melted white chocolate and remaining 1 teaspoon of cinnamon together. Drizzle over the blondies and return to the fridge to chill and set. Cut into squares with a sharp knife and enjoy!
Extracted from Jane’s Patisserie Celebrate! by Jane Dunn (Ebury Press, £20) Photography by Ellis Parrinder
