Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

Reasons why the gym I go to is better than your gym?? There's loads... but these bars after training are definitely a good reason to show up!! I'm usually baking, thinking about or wishing I was baking, so it's really great to have so many people who are happy to act as taste testers... I took a batch of these bars to training during the week and I was left with a clean plate... Good sign right?! 

I genuinely think one of the best things about my recipes is that you can pick up all the ingredients in the supermarket, so no expensive trips to health food stores required....So if you're in the supermarket over the weekend, pick up the ingredients for these bars and get baking... 

• 75g butter, melted & cooled
• 1 tsp organic vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp raw organic honey
• 1 egg & 1 egg yolk
• 200g ground almonds
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 100g dark chocolate, chopped roughly
• 1/2 small jar of crunchy peanut butter 

Preheat oven to 160d (fan). Line a 7" square baking tin with non stick baking parchment. 

Start by beating the melted butter, vanilla, honey & egg together until well combined.

Next, add the dry ingredients and stir well. 

Finally add the chopped chocolate (technically can add it with the dry ingredients but since I forgot to buy some, I had to add it later)... 

Remove 1/4 of the dough and set aside. Press the remaining dough evenly into the base of the lined tin. 

Spread a generous layer of the peanut butter over the dough. 

Finally, crumble the reserved dough over the top. It won't cover the whole thing, but that's ok... you want the peanut butter to ooze out a little during baking. 

Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until golden and firm. 

Set aside to cool before cutting into bars. 

Mikado Biscuits...

I'm not going to lie... these take a little more patience than is required for most of my recipes, but I promise they're so nice, it's well worth it!! They're not difficult to make so don't be deterred...

I often marvel at how little patience I have generally, but when it comes to baking and cooking, I'll happily spend hours in the kitchen fussing over the smallest, most intricate details! 

For the biscuit base: 

• 200g ground almonds
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 2 tbsp raw Irish honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp water

Add all the ingredients to a bowl.

Mix until well combined. Depending on the type of ground almostyou're using, the mixture may look a little dry, if so add another tsp of water. You're looking for a firm dough. 

Place in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 160d (fan).

Once chilled, roll out the dough to approx 1/2 inch thickness between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper. 

Use a square cookie cutter to form the base. Place on a non stick baking tray. 

Bake for 9-12 minutes until slightly golden. Keep an eye on them as they go from underdone to charcoal pretty quickly... 

Set aside to cool on a wire rack. 

For the raspberry jam filling: 

• 150g frozen raspberries
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Add the raspberries and lemon juice to a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and allow to simmer over a low heat for approx 5 minutes to allow the jam to thicken. 

For the raspberry marshmallow topping: 

• 3 egg whites
• 2 tbsp Irish honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 sachet Gelatin powder
• 50g frozen raspberries
• 3 tbsp water

Place raspberries & water into the microwave for 20 seconds at a time. Stir and mash in between each 20 second burst until the raspberries are softened, broken up and the mixture is steaming.

Sprinkle the gelatin powder over the hot raspberry mixture and set aside to dissolve. It's really important to pour the gelatin onto the liquid and not the other way around or you'll end up with a hard lump. Also make sure the liquid is steaming hot (not boiling) before adding the gelatin or it won't dissolve fully.

Next add the egg whites, honey & vanilla to a heatproof bowl over gently simmering water.

Whisk the mixture constantly until it forms stiff glossy peaks. (If you don't whisk constantly, you'll end up with scrambled egg whites). This should take about 5 minutes.

At this stage, your gelatin should have dissolved, cooled and will be ready to use. It's important that both the gelatin mix & the egg white mixture are approx the same temperature, otherwise the gelatin will set too quickly and form strings... The egg white mixture will be warm, just make sure the gelatin has cooled sufficiently.. 

Add the gelatin mixture to the egg white gradually, whisking constantly. I recommend pouring the gelatin in a slow, steady stream. Once fully combined, you can stop whisking.

To assemble: 

• 50g unsweetened dessicated coconut

Using a small piping nozzle, pipe a narrow line of the cooled raspberry jam down the centre of each biscuit base. 

Next using a medium sized star nozzle, pipe marshmallow on either size of the jam filling. 

Coat generously with dessicated coconut. 

Leave aside to set for 30 minutes before serving. 

Coconut Creams...

Remember these biscuits from your childhood? Crispy biscuit base with spongy coconut marshmallow on top? Those Coconut Cream biscuits were always one of my favourites.... Logical step? To make them healthier and share the recipe!

If you remember, the marshmallow came in either pink or white... I always chose the pink one! Instead of using a chemical food dye to create a pink shade, I used raspberries to create a natural colour.

I know a lot of you will look at the ingredients for these biscuits and almost be scared away by the inclusion of gelatin. If you have never worked with it, there's a few things to keep in mind or it won't set or will set in a hard lump instead.... It's honestly really straight forward so just do as you're told and it'll work perfectly!

For the biscuit base I reused the recipe from my Chocolate Heart Cookies... Once you have made & chilled the dough, cut out round biscuits and bake as directed. Set aside to cool while you make the topping.

For the raspberry marshmallow topping: 

• 3 egg whites
• 2 tbsp Irish honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 sachet Gelatin powder
• 50g frozen raspberries
• 3 tbsp water

To coat:

• 100g unsweetened dessicated coconut

Place raspberries & water into the microwave for 20 seconds at a time. Stir and mash in between each 20 second burst until the raspberries are softened, broken up and the mixture is steaming.

Pour the gelatin powder over the top of the hot raspberry mixture and set aside to dissolve. It's really important to pour the gelatin onto the liquid and not the other way around or you'll end up with a hard lump. Also make sure the liquid is steaming hot (not boiling) before adding the gelatin or it won't dissolve fully.

Next add the egg whites, honey & vanilla to a heatproof bowl over gently simmering water.

Whisk the mixture constantly until it forms stiff glossy peaks. (If you don't whisk constantly, you'll end up with scrambled egg whites). This should take about 5 minutes.

At this stage, your gelatin should have dissolved, cooled and will be ready to use. It's important that both the gelatin mix & the egg white mixture are approx the same temperature, otherwise the gelatin will set too quickly and form strings... The egg white mixture will be warm, just make sure the gelatin has cooled sufficiently.. 

Add the gelatin mixture to the egg white gradually, whisking constantly. I recommend pouring the gelatin in a slow, steady stream. Once fully combined, you can stop whisking.

Using a piping bag or a dessert spoon add a generous amount of marshmallow topping to your prepared cookies.

Once you have used all the mixture, coat the topping evenly with dessicated coconut.

Set aside to firm up, this should take less than an hour.

I've gotta say, I was pretty delighted with how these biscuits turned out. They looked & most importantly tasted like (better than) the originals, and when I see people who usually go for sugary snacks reaching out for a 2nd and 3rd biscuit with their coffee, I know I've done something right!

I really hope you try these & that you enjoy them. There's only a few things to remember when it comes to gelatin so follow my instructions and they'll be perfect!