Announcement!!!

EatTeen has gone onto youtube!
the link is below so make sure to subscribe, like and comment on my first post of triple C cookies.
Lottie X

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqn7EEKyUYb7iMC2DRU3oZg?view_as=subscriber

The Covid Chef

As the child of a doctor, the news of corona virus is not Instagram memes and youtube videos but instead is real life news, the reality of being isolated and making the most of the inside of my house. For me, as there are only 5 of us in my house, although I am allowed to bake, I don’t bake more than twice a week as the food then goes to waste. However, by making meals and smaller portions, I have come to the conclusion that baking is going to be more of a daily activity than a hobby.

For the next 2 or so months I wouldn’t be surprised if my days are filled with baking, playing with my brother and general Netflix binging as one is very limited to the activities they can do. Whilst some people will be productive with their time, trying to get into new indoor hobbies like knitting, indoor fitness or even reading a good book, others will quickly get bored and will spend the most of their time bored and generally quite agitated. I recently heard a talk about the Thai footballers who were stuck in the caves for 2 weeks during the summer of 2018. The speaker explained that although they had virtually no entertainment other than each other, they survived psychologically. When discussing this with my mum afterwards we thought about how me, my brother and my friends generally would find the situation. We came to the conclusion that due to the privileges we all have with constant entertainment and 24/7 TV and other forms of amusement, children in the UK would be less likely to survive the emotional trauma of being stuck, bored, tired and not knowing what the future holds. Even being quarantined, with games, your family and the thought that you can leave if you have to, studies show that children in the UK would have a much lower emotional survival rate than those in third world countries.

When my friends and I were discussing what we would do if we were quarantined for 2 or so months, baking and cooking for me instantly sprang to mind. I knew that produce won’t be a problem due to the 4kilos of flour we currently have in my house therefore I thought I would get to work and think of my top 10 favourite recipes and post them on my blog. From cupcakes to cookies, salads to tacos, below are my favourite recipes for you to attempt over the Corona period.

10.  S’mores cookies:

Ingredients: (makes 24)

·      100g light brown sugar

·      150g margarine (butter if not vegan)

·      180g self raising flour

·      6 lotus

·      50g vegan marshmallows (normal marshmallows if not vegan)

·      90g dark chocolate chips (milk chocolate if not vegan)

Method:

1.     Heat the oven to 180’c, gas mark 4

2.     Soften the butter for 30 seconds in the microwave

3.     Whisk in the sugar

4.     Sieve in the flour

5.     Break the lotus into smaller pieces (don’t crush them) and add them to the mixture

6.     Add the marshmallows and chocolate chips

7.     Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper and place 12 dough balls on each one

8.     Cook for 13-15 minutes

9.     Leave to cool

10.  Enjoy!!

9.  Fish Tacos:

Ingredients: (serves 2)

·      6 wholemeal tortillas

·      1 packet of fish goujons

·      Guacamole (blend an avocado, 1tbs of lemon, 1tbs of lime and 1tsp of slat in a blender)

·      Salsa (mix 2 chopped beef tomatoes, 1tbs of vinegar and 1tbs of olive oil in a bowl)

·      100g of Grated red Leicester

Method:

1.     Follow the instructions on the packet to cook the goujons

2.     To assemble the taco, place the tortilla flat on you plate

3.     Spread the guacamole in a line down the middle of the tortilla

4.     Do the same with the salsa

5.     Place 2-3 goujons on the line

6.     Do the same with the red Leicester

7.     Add in anything else you would enjoy in your sushi such as salad

8.     Roll up the taco as if you are rolling sushi

9.     Enjoy!!!

8. Peanut butter cookies:

Ingredients: (makes 24)

·      112g of butter

·      100g of caster sugar

·      110g of brown sugar

·      130g of peanut butter

·      1 egg

·      160g of plain flour

·      ¾ of a tsp of baking soda

·      ½ of a tsp of baking powder

·      ¼ of a tsp of salt

Method:

1.     Melt the butter and peanut butter until soft but not liquid

2.     Add the sugars and egg and beat for a further 2 minutes

3.     Whisk the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and stir it into the sugar mixture

4.     Wrap the dough in cling film and put it in the fridge for 3 hours

5.     Heat the oven to 190’c, gas mark 4

6.     Shape the dough into 24 evenly sized balls and place them on 2 trays

7.     Flatten the dough balls with a fork in a kriss-cross shape

8.     Bake for 9-10 minutes

9.     Leave to cool

10.  Enjoy!!!

7. Raspberry and White chocolate muffins:

Ingredients: (makes 10)

·      300g of all-purpose flour

·      1 tbs of baking powder

·      75g of caster sugar

·      25g of brown sugar

·      100g of unsalted butter

·      2 eggs

·      200ml of almond milk

·      150g of raspberries

·      100g of white chocolate chips

Method:

1.     Heat the oven to 180’c, gas mark 4

2.     In a small bowl mix the flour and baking powder

3.     In a bigger bowl, melt the butter and mix with the sugars

4.     Add the eggs and almond milk to the butter mixture

5.     Sieve in the flour mixture and mix

6.     Chop up the raspberries and mix them in a bowl with the white chocolate

7.     Add the raspberry mixture to the cake mixture and mix gently

8.     Spoon the mixture into 10 cupcake cases

9.     Cook for 20-22 minutes

10.  Enjoy!!

6. Trio cookies:

Ingredients: (makes 24)

·      200g of unsalted butter, softened

·      150g of caster sugar

·      100g of brown sugar

·      1 egg

·      2tbs of milk

·      1tsp of almond extract (or vanilla if you don’t have almond)

·      300g of plain flour

·      ¼ tsp of baking powder

·      ¼ tsp of bicarbonate of soda

·      ¼ tsp of salt

·      10ml of red food colouring

·      100g of white chocolate chips

·      2 tsp of cocoa powder

·      100g milk chocolate chips

·      50g of lotus spread

Method:

1.     Heat the oven to 180’c, gas mark 4

2.     Line 2 baking trays with baking paper

3.     Using an electric whisk, mix the butter and both sugars

4.     Add the egg, milk and almond extract and continue to mix

5.     Sieve in the flour, baking powder and baking soda and mix until a dough forms

6.     Separate the dough equally into 3 bowls

7.     In the first bowl add the food colouring and whisk

8.     When it is all the same colour, add the chocolate chips and mix

9.     In the second bowl, add the cocoa powder and mix until it is all brown

10.  Add the chocolate chips and mix

11.  In the third bowl add the lotus spread and mix until the whole mixture is slightly darker in colour

12.  Separate each dough into 24 pieces

13.  Take a piece of each dough and put them together so it looks like a pie chart

14.  repeat with the rest or the dough

15.  cook for 8-12 minutes

16.  enjoy!!

5. Bubble tea:

Ingredients: (4 drinks)

·      8 bags of black tea

·      1l of boiled water

·      ¾ of a cup of tapioca pearls (found in most Chinese supermarkets)

·      Milk (optional)

Method:

1.     Steep the tea in the boiled water and let it sit until it reaches room temperature

2.     Boil 4 cups of water and add the tapioca pearls

3.     Let them cook for 5 minutes and they should float to the top when they are ready

4.     transfer them to a bowl

5.     sieve the tea and mix with 400ml of milk (optional)

6.     pour into tall glasses and added a few spoons of tapioca pearls to each

7.     if not sweet enough, add 1tsp of sugar

4. Nutella and Butterscotch brownies:

Ingredients: (serves 12)

·      75g of unsalted butter

·      100g of brown sugar

·      2 eggs

·      2 tsp of vanilla extract

·      350g of Nutella

·      94g of plain flour

·      100g of butterscotch chips

Method:

1.     Heat the oven to 180’c, gas mark 4

2.     In a big bowl melt the butter and Nutella and mix

3.     Add the sugar and eggs and use and electric whisk to bind them together

4.     Add the vanilla and  flour and keep mixing

5.     Add the butterscotch chips

6.     Place the mixture in a greased square tin and cook for 15-20 minutes

7.     Enjoy!!

3. Blueberry muffins:

Ingredients: (makes 24 small muffins)

·      100g of blueberries

·      2 medium eggs

·      250ml of almond milk

·      125g of unsalted butter

·      250g of caster sugar

·      375g of self-rising flour

·      50g of soft brown sugar

Method:

1.     In a food processer mix the blueberries and brown sugar until smooth

2.     Heat the oven to 180’c, gas mark 4

3.     In a bowl melt the butter and whisk in the caster sugar

4.     Add the milk and eggs and continue to stir

5.     Sieve in the flour and mix

6.     Add the blueberry mixture and mix until the batter is a purple colour

7.     Place in 24 cupcake cases

8.     Cook for 18-24 minutes, depending on the strength of the oven

9.     Enjoy!!

2. Speculoos:

Ingredients: (20 biscuits)

Spice mix:

·      1 tbs of cinnamon

·      1.5 tsp of ground nutmeg

·      1 tsp of ground cloves

·      1 tsp of ginger

·      ¼ tsp of cardamom

·      ¼ tsp of white pepper

·      ¼ tsp of ground anise

Cookies:

·      185g of flour

·      ¼ tsp of salt

·      ½ tsp of baking powder

·      3.5 tsp of the spice blend

·      115g of butter

·      110g of brown sugar

·      100g of caster sugar

·      1 egg

Method:

1.     To make the spice blend mix all the spices in a small bowl and set aside

2.     Mix all the dry ingredients except the sugars in a large bowl

3.     In a separate large bowl cream together the butter and sugars

4.     Mix in the eggs

5.     Add the dry mixture and mix until a dough it formed

6.     Put it in the fridge for at least 4 hours

7.     Preheat the oven to 175’c, gas mark 4

8.     Cut out the cookies into your desired shape and place them on 2 greased trays (the biscuits don’t spread as much as normal cookies, so they don’t need to be so far apart from each other on the tray)

9.     Bake for 12-14 minutes

10.  Enjoy!!!

1.     Cookie pizza:

Ingredients: (serves 16-makes 2)

·      300g of brown sugar

·      200g of white sugar

·      1tsp of salt

·      230g of butter

·      2 eggs

·      1tsp of vanilla extract

·      350g of plain flour

·      1tsp of baking powder

For the slices:

·      2tbs of lotus Biscoff spread

·      50g of crushed lotus

·      2tsp of red food colouring

·      1tsp of cocoa powder (red velvet)

·      75g of white chocolate chips

·      2bs of Cadbury’s caramel spread

·      75g of caramel chips

·      100g of crush Oreos

·      30g of cocoa powder (chocolate)

·      75g of chocolate chips

·      75g of popcorn

Method:

1.     Heat the oven to 180’c, gas mark 4

2.     In a big bowl whisk the butter and both sugars

3.     Add the salt, egg and vanilla

4.     Sieve in the flour and baking powder

5.     Evenly distribute the dough into 6 medium sized bowls

6.     Lotus: in a blender crush the lotus biscuits until a powder is formed

7.     Add the lotus powder and spread to a dough and mix

8.     Red velvet: add the food colouring add cocoa powder to another dough and mix

9.     Add the white chocolate chips

10.  Caramel: add the spread and chips to another dough and mix

11.  Oreo: crush the Oreos in a blender until they are a fine powder and mix into another dough

12.  Chocolate- mix in the cocoa powder and chips into another dough

13.  Popcorn- crush the popcorn in the blender and add to the final dough

14.  Split all the doughs in half and shape them into 2 triangles

15.  In 2 greased circular tins, place the triangle pieces of dough as if placing pizza slices back in a box

16.  Cook for 17-24 minutes

17.  Enjoy!!

So, there you have it. My top 10 favourite recipes to cook and bake, to pass the time when you have “nothing” to do. Although I will be doing my GCSE revision over the course of the next 3 months (lucky me!) therefore, will be spending a great deal of time isolated, I am well aware of the boredom and agitation that will be faced by many people all over the world, therefore will be posting more content, articles and recipes on my blog much more often for you to enjoy. If you have any ideas, opinions recipes or videos you want me to write about then don’t hesitate to comment below.

Lottie X

Insta-@Eat.Teen