Homemade Peanut + Chocolate Spread

Are you new around here? Probably not...but if you are then you need to know that in my life peanut butter is kind of a big deal (I also can't talk properly so pronounce it peanut budda but that's another story).

Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

Along with my Guinness Brownies (and some other treats) I whipped these up last week to take to visit friends at uni. I didn't have time to slice them up nicely and take pictures before I had to leave so ended up leaving them in the tin, letting everyone tuck in for themselves, cutting off huge chunks at a time. Over the course of the weekend they steadily disappeared. 

Guinness Brownies

I love Guinness. People are often pretty surprised by this and I really have no idea why...

Anyway, given my love of the drink and it being St. Patricks day, I thought I'd combine it with another one of my loves, brownies.

These brownies are rich, moist and very chocolatey, but also surprisingly light so you'll have no trouble finishing off more than one in a single sitting. For the Guinness haters out there I'm not going to lie to ya...you can taste the drink in these. If I'm putting the Guinness in there I'm going to want to taste it just a little bit. Don't be put off though, the flavour isn't strong and it gives the brownies an amazing velvety texture. A few of my non-Guinness drinking friends tried these and enjoyed them so get into the spirit of St. Patricks day and try them! Or make them any day of the year 'cos they really are very good.

Banana Brûlée Flapjacks

Flapjacks are one of the easiest things to make and you will always have the ingredients for them lurking in your kitchen cupboards somewhere. It is probably for these reasons that I think they were the thing I made most when I was little, so they always bring back good old memories. I remember when we had just gotten Independence Day on video and it got to the bit were the alien comes back to life and it all got a bit too much for me (I wouldn't have been older than 7) so me and my mum quickly ran down to the kitchen and rustled up some flapjacks for us all to enjoy when the scary bit of the film was over. I can now never make flapjacks without thinking about Independence Day. 

Spicy Black Bean Burgers with Guacamole and Sweet Potato Fries

Veggie burgers get a bad rap. Sure, it's probably due to a lot of them out there being pretty terrible. If I'm ordering a burger I will always go for meat over veggie (controversially, I think I prefer chicken to beef) but this is only a result of what I've seen in the past when friends have had an moment in a restaurant and ordered the veggie option only to end up sitting at the table staring at a pile of mush as everyone else tucks into their meat (we once had a traumatic encounter with a bean burger and too much dill...but I'm not even gunna go there today.)