Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe is from The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook which I absolutely love, everything I've baked has been so tasty, probably due to the high sugar and butter quantities, but one must rebel once in a while...

The is my attempt at food photography and an exact (attempted) copy of the photo in the book.

They use crunchy peanut butter and even have chocolate chips in for that extra level of decadence. They are delish with a cold glass of milk for a late-night supper (yes I'm still a child).

First preheat the oven to Gas 3. Whisk 225g butter with 200g caster sugar and 200g light brown sugar (I decreased the sugar quantities slightly) until light and fluffy, add 2 eggs, one by one. Beat in ½ tsp vanilla escence and 240g crunchy peanut butter. Add 340g plain flour, 2½ tsp bicarb and ½ tsp salt. Finally stir in 75g of chopped dark chocolate.

Arrange equal amounts of cookie dough on lined baking trays, make sure the cookies are spaced apart to allow for spreading while baking. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges and quite flat. The cookies should be soft and chewy.

I tend to make half mixtures of new recipes, and this mix worked fine with half quantities.

Brooklyn Blackout Cake

I received the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook for Christmas last year, and the pictures are yummy enough to eat.
I've spoken to a few people who have had bad experiences baking from this book with regards to the quantities of the ingredients. I haven't had any problems really, and the ones I did have I'm pretty sure were down to my cooking rather than the recipes!


Brooklyn Blackout Cake is seriously a chocolate lover's heaven! The filling and frosting on top are made from an eggless chocolate custard, and the top is covered with crumbled chocolate sponge.


Here is a condensed version of Hummingbird's recipe:


Cream 100g butter with 260g caster sugar. Add 2 eggs, and beat in ¼ tsp vanilla extract, 45g cocoa powder, ¾ tsp baking powder, ¾ tsp bicarb and a pinch of salt.
Add half the flour (170g plain flour), then 160ml whole milk, followed by the rest of the flour. Pour the mixture into 3 lined 20cm cake tins, and bake in a 170°C preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.