Sally’s Kitchen

I know I don't make much salty things, but this was delicious and really easy to make. Serving 4-5 people, its really easy to make for a quick lunch or dinner or even a fancy side dish. I really hope you enjoy it. 

Recipe: (5 people)

-300-350g of macaroni

- A pinch of salt

- 80g of butter

- 75g of flour

- Black pepper (to taste)

- 3 cups of milk

- 2 1/2 cups of cheese

Method:

1. Bring to boil a large pot of slightly salted water. Cook your pasta for about 8min, or when soft but still a bit firm. Drain the pasta.

2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in flour, salt and pepper and stir until smooth (5 min). Slowly pour in milk and continuously stir until smooth and bubbling. Add in cheese and stir until the cheese is completely melted (2-5min)

3. Fold the macaroni into cheese sauce (or the other way round) until coated. Eat while still warm. (You can add dried oregano leaves for extra flavour.) Enjoy! 

(I know the pictures are a bit green because of the lightning)

Source: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/238691/simple-macaroni-and-cheese/

So when I was younger, I always imagined meringues to be really, really hard and advanced. But turns out they're really easy to make, with 2-3 ingredients. This recipe can make about 20 small meringues and 10 large ones. I hope you enjoy baking them!

Recipe:

- 2 egg whites 

- 125g of icing sugar

- 1 drop of food colourging (optional)

Method:

A few things before we start. DO NOT mix any of the yolks in the white. Add a tiny bit of salt before whipping up the egg whites. And use a container/bowl that is taller than it is large. 

1. (If you want to add food coloring add it now before mixing the eggs) Use and electric mixer or hand mixer to whip up the egg whites until they are nice and firm.

2. Add the sugar little by little whilst you continue whisking with the mixer.

3. Preheat the oven to 120˚C.

4. Using a table spoon or piping bag, add small amounts of meringue to a baking tray lined with baking paper. (They should keep their shape or about. They should not sink into a bit of a puddle. To test out if they are firm enough, make a little swirl with the spoon or piping bag and make sure the design stays.)

5. Put in oven for about 30min-1hour. By thirty minutes you will have softer meringues with a less crackled surface. By 1hour, you will have a hard surface and the inside will be soft and chewy. 

6. Once cooked, unstick them from the baking paper, then leave them to cool on cold surface. Enjoy warm or cold!

Source: https://www.marmiton.org/recettes/recette_meringue-pour-les-nuls_36610.aspx

These brownies.... honestly, they are AMAZING. I've been making them every week ever since I found out about the recipe. You can make them so easily, but the result is amazing. I really hope you enjoy the recipe. :)

Recipe: 

- 200g of dark chocolate

- 110g of butter

- 128g of sugar

- 3 eggs

- 1/4 of a tsp of salt

- 1 tsp of vanilla essence/extract (optional but adds great taste)

- 64g of flour

- 32g of cocoa powder

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C.

2. Melt butter and chocolate on a double boiler on the stove (creates better texture than in a microwave.) Let it cool to room temperature.

3. Mix eggs and sugar, until pale and doubled in size. This is important to achieve a shiny cracked surface on the brownie. Add salt and vanilla and stir.

4. Fold in the chocolate until completely combined. Then proceed to sift the flour and cocoa powder. 

5. Bake for 25-30 min, or until when you insert a skewer it comes out with moist crumbs stuck to it. If it comes out clean it means you've overbaked your brownie. 

6. Let it cool, cut it up and enjoy!

Source: https://audreysaurus.com/2021/08/03/chocolate-brownies/

Okay. I'm usually not a great fan of cakes, but this one was amazing. Moist, with crunchy walnuts.... and the glaze on the top added that perfect touch of sweetness. It was fairly easy to make, and the hardest part is most likely to shred the carrots. In other words, it was delicious.

Recipe:

Cake:

- 190g of sugar

- 200ml of oil

- 3 eggs

- 250g of flour

- 2 tsp of ground cinnamon (optional but adds great taste)

- 1 tsp of baking soda

- 1 tsp of vanilla essence/extract

- 1/2 a tsp of salt

- 300-320g of shredded carrots

- 130g of roughly chopped walnuts 

Glaze:

- 70g of icing sugar

- About 2 tablespoons of water (the more water, the easier it will be to drizzle onto the cake, but the cake might absorb the water from the glaze. Less water means it will be harder to drizzle but with stay nice and firm on top of the cake.)

- 1/4 of a tsp of nutmeg (optional but adds great taste)

(You can adjust the amount of icing sugar and water to have more or less glaze)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Butter and flour a cake pan. According to the size and depth of your cake pan, you may need 2. (just butter another one later on if you need it...)

2. In a large bowl beat sugar, oil and eggs until combined. Add the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and vanilla until it forms a smooth batter. Do not over mix. 

3. Peel and shred your carrots. Fold into the batter. Chop your walnuts. Fold into the batter. Pour into pan(s).

4. Place in oven. It will bake from 30-45min, and down the halfway mark you can lower the temperature to 150˚C, but keep checking regularly: stick a knife/toothpick down the middle of the cake to the bottom. If it comes out wet with batter, leave it a bit longer. Once the toothpick/knife comes out dry, the cake is ready. 

5. Once the cake is out of the oven, take it out of its pan and let it cool for about 30min. Cut off a slight bit of the round top of the cake to have a flat surface. Put it in the fridge.

6. Start making the glaze: mix the icing sugar, water and nutmeg together until paste forms. Drizzle on top of the cake 1 hour before serving, so it has time to set.

7. Enjoy!

Source: https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/carrot-cake/64acd01e-14ad-4e03-9fe1-b62b03ff4667

These were a great snack, and something that will stay in my family's recipe book. Making them on a rainy, cold day, was the best idea ever. We ate warm muffins whilst reading and working. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did! (BTW: be careful while eating them because basked blueberries leave awful stains on clothing)

Recipe:

- 375g of plain flour

- 13g of baking powder

- 1/4 of a tsp of baking soda

- 1/2 a tsp of ground cinnamon (optional)

- 1/2 a teaspoon of salt

- 80g of melted butter

- 80ml of oil (preferably vegetable oil)

- 200g of sugar

- 2 large eggs (room temperature)

- 80g of natural yoghurt

- 240ml of milk

- 1 tsp of vanilla essence/extract (optional)

- 170g of fresh/frozen blueberries (if frozen, wait till it's not frozen anymore before using)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C.

2. Butter your muffin pan (I didn't need to... if you have silicone muffin molds, you may need to skip this step. ) Set aside.

3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon (if you are using it) in a large bowl. Set aside.

4. In another bowl, which the melted butter, sugar and eggs together. Then, add the sour cream, milk and vanilla extract (if you decide to use some). There might be sour cream bits floating around. Try to crush or whisk those off before next step.

5. Add the wet mix to the dry ingredients and mix until you obtain a thick batter with a spatula (do not over mix). Fold in the blueberries gently.

6. Divide the batter in the muffin pans/muffin molds evenly (try to fill each one up to the top, or 3/4 up to the top) Put them in the oven for 5min at 200˚C, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, bake at 180˚C for 25-30min, when the top has set and is slighlty brown, or when a knife/toothpick inserted inside the middle of the muffins comes out dry. 

7. Let it cool for 5-10min, and enjoy!

The instructions may be a little bit unclear.... I really hope you can understand. 

 Source: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/sparkling-jumbo-blueberry-muffins-2/

This recipe makes about 12 cookies. I had originally made these for my mum, since she loves macadamia nuts. I made them with my brother, even though I prefer baking alone. Hope you enjoy them, well, as much as I did!

Recipe:

- 160g of sugar

- 90g of melted butter

- 1 egg

- 5g of vanilla extract/essence (optional)

- 160g of all purpose flour

- 1/2 tsp of baking soda

- 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

- 50g of white chocolate chips

- 50g of macadamia nuts

Method:

1. Combine melted butter and sugar together in a bowl. 

2. Add egg and vanilla essence, stir until smooth.

3. Sift flour, baking soda and cinnamon into bowl, but do not over mix or it will result in flat cookies.

4. Cut your macadamia nuts into smaller bits, fold in the dough with the white chocolate. 

5. Cover and chill the dough for at least 20 min. Preheat the oven to 180˚C. 

6. Scoop out the dough with an ice cream scooper, and put on baking tray lined with baking paper (make sure there are at least 5cm between each cookie mound) 

7. Bake for 12-15 min or when the edges of the cookies are brown. (The inside of my first batch of cookies was undercooked. If you want to prevent this from happening, put the oven temperature to 115˚C-150˚C and cook for slighlty longer.)

8. Let them cool before eating, or else they'll break apart. But I still ate them warm, not hot. 

9. Enjoy!

Source: https://audreysaurus.com/2021/06/30/white-chocolate-macadamia-cookies/

To be honest, these weren't my best bake. As children, my parents would get these small custard pots, and we decided to try and recreate them. We started with the basic chocolate and vanilla, but started recreating harder flavours like coffee and caramel. They were delicious, and I hope you like them too!

Recipe:

-375g of milk

-15g of butter

-30g of cornstarch

-375g of thickened cream

-A pinch of salt (Optional)

Recipe (Caramel):

-225g of sugar

-75g of water

Method:

1. Put the water and sugar in a pot, cook and stir until it boils and is a dark brown. Add the butter and salt, turn off the heat and set aside.

2. In a bowl, mix the milk, thickened cream and cornstarch.

3. Add to the caramel and cook at high heat, stirring, until it boils. When it boils, turn the heat down to medium, and cook, still stirring, for about 2-3 min. You should have a thick paste, light brown in colour.

4. Let cool for about a minute, and pour in small jars. Let it cool for about 1min, and put the jars in the fridge for at least 2 hours. 

5. Enjoy! (I ate them alone, but pouring warm caramel on top would be delicious.)

So, why did I did not especially like this bake? Well, first, I had a pot of bought caramel that I needed to incorporate in this, so I had to calculate how much sugar and water I needed to add. Then, I realised I didn't have enough thickened cream. So I replaced it with milk and a bit more cornstarch than needed, and I put too much cornstarch. I had gotten caramel jelly at the end, but they were still good!

 Source: https://www.750g.com/petites-cremes-au-caramel-facon-danette-r204158.htm

These are the easiest cookies I have ever made, and are most probably the most delicious too. They make about 10 cookies, and are quite big! This is my new go to recipe for a cosy snack. 

Recipe:

- 64g of melted butter

- 160g of sugar

- 1 egg

- 5g of vanilla essence/extract (optional)

- 160g of all-purpose flour

- 1/2 a tsp of baking soda

- 55g of dark chocolate chunks

- Large dark chocolate chunks to put on top of cookies (optional)

Method: 

1. Mix the melted butter and sugar in a bowl until combined (should look a bit like very wet sand). 

2. Add in the egg and vanilla essence/extract, stir until smooth.

3. Sift your flour and baking soda into the bowl. Fold in gently. Take care not to overmix, or else that could result to flat cookies.

4. Fold in the chocolate chunks. 

5. Cover and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 15-20 min. Preheat the oven to 180˚C.

6. Using an ice-cream scoop, scoop mounds of dough onto a baking sheet. Make sure to leave at least 2 inches between each cookie. You can add the extra chunks of chocolate on the top of the cookie.

7. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or when the bottom edges of the cookies are slightly brown.

8. Let them cool, or else they'll fall apart. You can still eat them warm, though, because they will have hardened.

9. Enjoy! (I dipped them in milk, but you can do whatever you want.) 

I made ten cookies, but the first 4 disappeared so quickly I didn't have time to take a picture.

Source: https://audreysaurus.com/2021/06/07/foolproof-chocolate-chip-cookies/

These are easily the best pancakes I have ever made, considering they are super easy to make and come out nice and fluffy!

Recipe (for 6 servings):

-375g of all-purpose flour 

-3 tbls of sugar

-3/4 of a tsp of salt

-3/4 of a tsp of baking powder

-3/4 of a tsp of baking soda 

-600ml of buttermilk 

-3 eggs

-55g of butter, melted (salted or unsalted)

-5g of butter to melt on the pan

Method:

1. In a bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together until they combine.

2. In a different bowl (or, as the original recipe says, a measuring cup), whisk the butter milk, eggs and the melted butter until pale yellow and smooth. 

3. Add the butter milk mixture to the dry ingredients and gently incorporate with a spatula. Do NOT over mix, or else the pancakes will be flat and dense.

4. Add the butter to a pan and heat at medium/low heat. Once it starts to bubble, add 1 and a half tablespoons of batter onto the pan. I personally like to spread it out so it's nice and round, but don't do it too much or the pancake will not be fluffy.

5. Turn over the pancake when the bottom is hard enough. If it's golden brown, it's okay, or else, cook the other side and turn it over again. Repeat until both sides are kind of hard and golden brown. They will get softer. (The inside has to be cooked too. If you feel like the outside is ready when the inside isn't, lower the heat.)

6. Enjoy with maple syrup, any other topping, or even alone!

Source: https://tasty.co/recipe/buttermilk-pancakes

These lean a bit over to the crunchy side, but are super easy to make. Hope you enjoy!

Recipe:

-200g of chocolate

-100g of sugar 

-1/2 a tsp of baking powder

-200g of flour

-1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

-2 egg yolks

-150g of  softened butter

Method: 

1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over the stove. (it has better texture than if you melted it in the microwave)

2. Mix the softened butter with the sugar with an electric beater (I used my hands). Add the egg yolks, the melted chocolate, and vanilla extract if you decided to use some. (I didn't use my hands for the wet ingredients)

3. Fold in the flour little by little, then add the baking powder. At this point, the dough will be pretty thick and heavy, so if your electric mixer can't take it, mix manually. (or use your hands.)

4. Put the dough onto the counter, and make an even roll with a diamètre of about 3-4cm. Wrap in cling wrap and put in the fridge for about 2 hours (I put it for 1 hour)

5. Preheat the oven to 180-200˚C (thermostat 6)

6. Take your roll of dough and cut slices of about 1-1.5 cm thick (make sure they are all  about the same thickness). There should be about 20 slices. Line a baking tray with baking paper and places the slices of dough (the soon to be biscuits)on the tray, placing them a bit apart, since they will spread in the oven.

7. Place in the oven for 10min. Leave them to cool for about 5min before moving, touching or eating them, since they will be all soft when warm. They will harden. 

8. Enjoy (Try dipping them in milk.)

And, yes, I know I suck at taking photos:

Source: https://www.marmiton.org/recettes/recette_sables-au-chocolat_62248.aspx