Chocolate buttermilk cupcakes

- 120g softened butter

- 1.5c sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1tsp vanilla

- 1.5c flour

- 1/2c cocoa

- 1tsp baking soda

- 1/4tsp salt

- 1/2c buttermilk

- 1/2c water

Cream Butter and sugar with electric mixer.

Add eggs one at a time. Don't overbeat.

Add vanilla and stir.

In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients

In a separate bowl combine water and buttermilk

Alternately add dry ingredients/buttermilk mixture to the butter and sugar bowl

Pour into muffin cups, fill to about 2/3

Bake at 180deg C for 15-20 mins
Cool for 10 mins before removing from muffin tin
Let cool before icing

Well, turns out I forgot the vanilla! These still tasted good though. I'm not icing them, because I used re-usable silicone muffin cups which aren't suitable for taking these in to work for my colleagues. These are VERY light, fluffy, spongy and fragile. As soon as you pull the muffin cup away the cupcake will break so if iced I imagine will be pretty difficult to eat! 

Blueberry buttermilk pancakes

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries

-In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

-In a separate bowl, whisk wet ingredients (without blueberries)

-Combine well.

-Spoon into fry pan and sprinkle blueberries (I used tinned blueberries) over the pancake

-When holes appear on the top and/or sides shrink back, flip the pancake.

-Serve with your favourite pancake topping

Black forest brownie

200g melted butter
1 1/2 c sugar
1c cocoa
3 eggs
1/2c standard flour
200g block of black forest chocolate, chopped as finely as you can - I am lazy and impatient, and cut mine as below

- Preheat oven to 150deg C and grease a 20x20cm dish

- Use electric mixer to cream butter and sugar

- Add cocoa and beat for 3-5 mins until creamy

- Add eggs one at a time, beat well after each

- Sift in flour gradually

- Stir in chopped chocolate

- Bake for 1 hour. Brownie should appear cracked on the outside but the inside should appear undercooked. 

- Let it cool in the tin, then cut into squares and dust with icing sugar (optional, I think it tasted delicious without it)

Yum, just as delicious as the slice I had at work the other day! My favourite is when I get a mouthful with the little jellies. 

Chocolate peanut butter cookies

125g softened butter
3/4c brown sugar
1 egg
3/4c peanut butter
1 1/3c plain flour
1/2tsp baking soda
1/4c cocoa
175g chocolate melts

- Preheat oven to 180 deg C
- Use electric beater to combine butter and sugar until light and creamy.
- Gradually add egg.
- Add peanut butter and beat until combined.
- Add flour, baking soda and cocoa gradually until it forms a soft dough.
- Roll tablespoons of mixture onto a lined baking tray. Flatten with a fork.
- Bake for 15-20 mins and allow to cool for 5 mins before transferring to a wire rack.
- When they are completely cool, melt the chocolate in a metal pot over a saucepan of boiling water.
- Either dip cookies in chocolate or drizzle over the top.

WARNING: Don't let the chocolate cool down! It will not melt again! :( We ended up eating semi melted chocolate that looked like cottage cheese with a spoon from the bowl. My Nana has since advised that if this happens you can add cream and re-melt. Good to know!

These cookies were good, but not fantastic. Just tasted like peanut brownie cookies, and we burnt the bottom of one of the batches. But the boyfriend was just as grateful as always!