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Very Berry Valentine Scones

February 7, 2012 by Nicola 1 Comment

These heart-shaped scones are jam packed with juicy berries and they’re just perfect for treating that special someone on Valentine’s Day. Do you have any fabulous Valentine’s recipes of your own? Share them in the comments section – I’d love to see them!

The scones are more on the savoury-side, which makes them ideal for loading up with butter, jam, Nutella, peanut butter or whatever sweet topping tickles your fancy.

The drizzle you can see on these scones is just melted white chocolate – it didn’t come out as thick as I intended!

It really depends on the size of your cutter how many scones this recipes yields. Using a large cutter, I managed to make 4 scones.

Ingredients

200g plain flour

100g self-raising flour

4 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

75g unsalted butter, softened

70g caster sugar

1 egg

100ml cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 handful of mixed berries

A few drops of pink food colouring

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 200C and lightly grease a baking sheet.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add the butter and rub in with your fingers until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.

3. If you’re using fresh berries, simply stir them into the mixture. If you’re using frozen berries, make sure they’re fully defrosted then dry them really well before mixing them in.

4. Separately, beat the egg and cream together with the vanilla extract and a few drops of pink food colouring. Pour this into the flour mixture and bring together with your hands until it forms dough.

5. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead very briefly to form a smooth ball.

6. Gently roll the dough out to a thickness of about 4cm. Use a heart-shaped cutter to cut out the scones and place them on the baking sheet.

7. Brush the tops of the scones with milk, making sure the milk doesn’t flow down the side, and bake for about 20 minutes until risen.

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

February 1, 2012 by Nicola 2 Comments

I love cheesecake – who doesn’t? The crumbly, buttery digestive base and thick, creamy topping is enough to make anyone’s knees go weak. But even though this dessert is so divine, it’s a bit too rich and calorie-packed to eat every day.

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites | www.happyhealthymotivated.com

These strawberry cheesecake bites are a great alternative to a slice of cheesecake and taste just as good – without the guilt. In some aspects, they’re even better than a cheesecake – there is no baking or refrigeration needed, so you can fulfil that cheesecake craving in only a couple of minutes.

This is a really versatile recipe and can easily be doubled or even tripled for parties. You can experiment with different cheesecake fillings – try a decadent chocolate filling or wrap the whole thing up with a strawberry filling!

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

Ingredients

10 strawberries

3tbsp cream cheese

6tbsp icing sugar

2tsp vanilla essence

Digestives

Recipe

1. Chop the top off each strawberry and scoop the centre out so you’re left with a bowl shape.

2. Beat the cream cheese until smooth then mix in the icing sugar and vanilla essence. Divide this mixture evenly between the strawberry bowls.

3. Take around 2 digestives and crush them using a food processor or by placing them inside a plastic bag and bashing them with a rolling pin.

4. Dip the open top of the filled strawberries into the crushed digestives.

Balsamic Chicken with Bruschetta Sauce

January 30, 2012 by Nicola 1 Comment

My favourite dinner recipes are those which require very little effort, yet taste amazing. This balsamic chicken with bruschetta sauce takes hardly any work, but looks and tastes great.

Balsamic Chicken with Bruschetta Sauce | www.happyhealthymotivated.com

Keep in mind that this recipe calls for over-night marinating. You could always just marinate the chicken for a few hours, but the flavours only develop really well if you marinate for over 12 hours.

This dish is the perfect weeknight dinner for two.

Ingredients

Chicken

1 large chicken breast

50ml balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

1 clove crushed garlic

20g brown sugar

Bruschetta sauce

125ml chopped tomatoes with sauce

½ chopped onion

1 clove crushed garlic

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1tsp olive oil

Recipe

1. Cut the chicken breast into 4 evenly-sized strips and place in a container/plastic bag with the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, crushed garlic and brown sugar. Shake well to coat then leave over-night to marinate.

2. To make the bruschetta sauce, combine the tomatoes, chopped onion, crushed garlic, balsamic vinegar and olive oil and blend thoroughly until there are no large chunks left. Leave in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

3. Cook the chicken in a frying pan over a medium-high heat for around 20 minutes. The high heat will cause the marinade to form a crispy, sticky coating on the chicken – yum! Meanwhile, heat the bruschetta sauce in a saucepan or microwave.

4. To serve, balance one piece of chicken on top of another in the middle of the plate. Drizzle the sauce in a circle around the chicken and serve.

The Best Ever Canarian Potatoes Recipe

January 27, 2012 by Nicola 10 Comments

Papas arrugadas is a hugely popular dish in the Canaries served with the mouthwateringly-good red and green mojo sauces. And a small pot of creamy aioli, if you’re lucky. Whether you eat them on their own with the previously mentioned sauces or use them as a crowd-pleasing side dish to go with something awesome like Adeje chicken, everyone loves Canarian potatoes. And when you find our just how quick, easy and cheap they are to make at home – you’ll be eating them at every meal!

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Five Minute Artisan Bread

January 25, 2012 by Nicola 2 Comments

I couldn’t resist using this recipe after a friend recommended it to me on Twitter. I’d never tried baking bread before, but I’d always wanted to and this recipe seemed too easy not to try!

Five Minute Artisan Bread | www.happyhealthymotivated.com

This basic recipe is from Artisan Bread in Five, with a few small tweaks of my own. It makes around 2 small loaves, but can easily be doubled or halved.

Ingredients

375ml lukewarm water

1 tbsp yeast

½ tsp salt

425g flour

Recipe

1. Pour the water into a very large container and add the yeast and salt. To this, add the flour and mix together well.

2. Cover the container with a layer of Clingfilm and pierce a small hole in the top to allow the gases from the yeast to escape.

3. Leave the dough to sit at room temperature for between 2 and 6 hours – the longer the better – to rise. After the dough has risen remarkably, leave in the fridge over-night. The next day, the dough will have collapsed – but this is meant to happen.

4. Dust the surface of the dough with a small amount of flour to prevent it sticking to your hands then rip off roughly half and use it to form a round ball.

5. Place the dough on a sheet of parchment paper and leave to rest for at least another 60 minutes at room temperature.

6. Preheat the oven to 220C and warm up a baking tray. Make 1cm-deep slashes into the dough and bake for around 30-35 minutes or until the bread develops a deep brown colour. Remove the parchment paper after about 20 minutes so the bottom of the bread bakes, too.

7. Allow the loaf to cool for around 15 minutes on a wire rack so the inside is properly cooked.