Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Cookies

This post is sponsored by Doves Farm Organic Flour

Can something be nostalgic if you never actually experienced said thing when you were younger? I’m sure it’s not true nostalgia but anything flavoured with peanut butter and jelly just screams childhood to me. Maybe it was the American films and TV I watched as a kid, where the pb&j sandwich was ubiquitous, who knows really. What I do know is that combination of a rich peanut butter and a fruity jam is a brilliant one and lends itself so perfectly to so many baked ideas. This recipe is another in my collaboration series with Doves Farm Organic Flours and these super simple cookies are made with their Wholemeal Spelt Flour, a brilliant alternative to regular plain flour. Doves Farm recently relaunched their packing in a fun new range of colours and designs so if you’re looking for them in the supermarket keep an eye out for the new style, and don’t forget if you’re still struggling to find flour and yeast, Doves Farm have also launched an ‘Organic Flour Baking Box’ (£11 plus delivery), available to purchase on their website and delivered direct to your door, whichcontains a great selection of their organic flours - including plain, self raising, bread and specialty flours - plus yeast for making bread, you can find out more here.  

The cookies couldn’t be much easier if you tried, this is absolutely a perfect recipe to make with the kids (big kids too) and can be whipped up in no-time. The nice thing about these cookies is they don’t need chilling before baking, you whip up the dough and get them in the oven straight away so they’re perfect for cookie emergencies, when you need something quickly.

Spelt is maybe one of the easiest grains to use when you want to swap out regular wheat flour and because of this, and its nuttier flavour, it has become an incredibly popular ancient grain. When we talk about ‘ancient grains’ it is easy to think this means we’ve been using it for hundreds of years but the truth is much more impressive. It is said that spelt has been cultivated since around 5,000/6,000 BC. Over the years, wheat became the dominant grain which we bake with and spelt was, for many years, relegated to animal feed. Since the 1970s ancient grains have been re-introduced to UK soils and thankfully now it is among one of the more popular ancient grains. Milling historic, heritage grains since 1978, Doves Farm has led the way in this and was the first in the UK to grow and produce flour from spelt.

Spelt isn’t a gluten free grain, but the gluten it does contain is different from what regular wheat flour contains. The gluten in spelt can be easier to digest for those with an intolerance to gluten (not coeliac or allergic reactions). Flavour wise, I like to compare the grain to wholemeal flour, but sweeter - no real bitterness is present, it’s a great taste that suits a wide variety of flavours. As it is also a soft flour, it makes for particularly tender recipes, just be careful not to overmix recipes made with spelt, unlike recipes made with wheat which become tough when over-worked, spelt recipes can become crumbly, so only mix as much as needed.

Doves Farm Organic Stoneground Wholemeal Spelt Flour is available from ASDA, Morrisons, Ocado and Sainsburys

Spelt Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Cookies
Makes 10 sandwich cookies

60g unsalted butter, room temperature
150g light brown sugar
1 tbsp golden syrup/honey
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g smooth peanut butter 
150g Doves Farm Organic Stoneground Wholemeal Spelt Flour 
85g rolled oats
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Filling
30g unsalted butter, room temperature
120g smooth peanut butter
50g icing sugar
125g raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC Fan) and line a couple trays with parchment paper.

To make the cookies place the butter, sugar and golden syrup into a large bowl and using an electric mixer beat until fluffy and lightened in colour, 3-4 minutes. Add the egg and mix briefly until combined. Add in the vanilla and peanut butter and mix together until you have a smooth uniform mixture. Add in the Doves Farm Wholemeal Spelt, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix briefly until a uniform dough is formed. Roll the dough into small balls (if you want to weigh them the balls of dough should be about 30g or so each) and place onto the prepared baking trays. Using the base of a flat drinking glass, thats been dipped in flour, press the balls flat into pucks. 

Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes. The cookies should have a lightly browned edge and be paler in the middle. Allow to cool on the trays for a couple minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. The finished cookies will be crisp on the outside with a chew in the middle. 

For the filling place the butter into a medium sized bowl and beat together until smooth and creamy. Add in the peanut butter and beat until combined and fully combined. Add in the icing sugar and beat together until smooth and combined. 

To assemble the cookies spread a small amount of the frosting onto half the cookies and top with a small spoonful of jam. Sandwich together with a second cookie. Kept in a sealed container these will keep for about 3 days.

Raspberry Cheesecake Streusel Bars

Time for another #onetinbakes recipe? Why yes, I think it just might be. It is now officially less than a month until the book is released in the US and Canada, by which point it should also be back in stock in Australia and New Zealand. To get you all excited I wanted to share one of my favourites from the book, also one of the easiest, the raspberry cheesecake streusel bars. Now, the reason I love them is partly the simplicity and then of course the finished result,who could say no to a cheesecake bar. In the recipe the streusel does double duty, it forms the crust the cheesecake rests upon and it forms the streusel topping. Double streusel, double crunch. A very good thing if you ask me. The cheesecake filling itself is very simple, a sour cream spiked affair giving a wonderful tang that goes so well with the raspberries. The recipe is also endlessly adaptable, since the release of the book a month ago I’ve seen versions with cherries, apricots, tayberries, strawberries. Basically if you’ve got some fruit, you can probably make a version of these. 

Before we get to the recipe I do need to make one confession and one correction. The recipes were developed and tested with a scale, it’s the method I find the most straightforward and it ensures accurate baking. To make the book more universal the ingredients were also listed in cups and ounces to make the book accessible to those who don’t use a scale (although I will encourage you to try, kitchen scales are very low cost and it means you don’t have to convert recipes that use grams plus most importantly it means less washing up). After the book was sent to some friends in the US an error in one element of one recipe was spotted. I have had the error corrected for future print runs but I wanted to make sure you have the correct recipe ahead of the books wide US release. The error is in the streusel recipe for these bars and it is the American measurements which are wrong. I have made the recipe many times and the gram measurements are all completely fine. Also after the error was spotted I went through the book looking for any other issues with the conversion to cups and I haven’t found any. Apologies for the error, it was done during the edit process and because I don’t work with that system of measurements on a daily basis I missed it. The recipe below is the updated corrected recipe for your enjoyment. 

If you’re in the US and want to preorder a copy you can do so from the obvious places (Amazon, Barnes and Noble) but if you want to support small business the book is also available for preorder from Omnivore Books in SF, Now Serving in LA, Book Larder in Seattle and from most independent bookstores. In Canada its available again from Amazon, Indigo Books, Mcnally Robinson, Whilst my book tour is on hold for the time being, I will also be doing a virtual tour of sorts so make sure your following me on instagram should you like to hear about these events first.

Raspberry Cheesecake Streusel Squares
From One Tin Bakes by Edd Kimber (published 2020 by Kyle Books)
Makes 16-24

Lemon-infused cheesecake bars topped with jammy raspberries would be wonderful just on their own, but I wanted to make something a little more impressive, so these are topped with oat streusel, adding great texture. While that might seem like you’re having to make another element, you actually just make a bigger batch of the base, keeping back a small amount and crumbling it over the cheesecake. I like these with a big mug of tea, cutting them into small squares for a little sweet treat, but if you prefer, you can cut them into more regular brownie-sized pieces. 

Streusel 
225g (8oz / 2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
350g (12oz / 2 3/4 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
200g (7oz / 1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 tablespoons rolled oats 

Cheesecake 
565g (20 oz) full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
120ml (4fl oz / 1⁄2 cup) sour cream, at room temperature
200g (7oz/1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar 2 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch)
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
2 large eggs 

For the Raspberry Filling
3 tablespoons raspberry jam
300g (10 1⁄2oz) fresh raspberries 

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas Mark 4. Lightly grease a 9x13 brownie tin, then line with a strip of parchment paper that overhangs the two long sides of the tin. Secure the paper in place with two metal clips. 

For the streusel, mix together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Gradually drizzle in the melted butter, stirring with a fork to combine until the mixture has formed clumps, then tip about two-thirds of the mixture into the prepared tin and spread out evenly. Use a glass to compact it into a flat layer. Dock all over with a fork and then freeze for 10 minutes. Mix the remaining streusel with the oats and refrigerate until needed. 

Bake the base for 20 minutes, or until just starting to brown, then remove and set aside. 

To make the cheesecake, place all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix together until smooth and evenly combined. Pour the cheesecake mix evenly over the base. 

For the filling, gently warm the jam in a pan until loose, then remove from the heat and mix with the raspberries, coating evenly. Dot the raspberry mixture over the cheesecake, then crumble the reserved streusel evenly over the top. 

Bake for 35–40 minutes, or until the streusel is lightly browned. 

Leave to cool in the tin for an hour, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours, before cutting into squares to serve. 

Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 4 days. 

Stromboli Recipe

This post is sponsored by Doves Farm Organic Flour

Stromboli, an Italian American creation named after an Italian volcano, is maybe the perfect picnic recipe. A simple bread dough rolled up with all manner of fillings, it's a cross between a calzone and a sandwich. This is another collaboration with Doves Farm Organic Flour, so for the dough I use their excellent Organic Strong White Bread Flour. Find it in your supermarket in its new bright green packaging, very cheerful and summery. The dough itself is an incredibly simple affair made easily by hand or with a stand mixer. It is also a great basic bread dough that you could use for homemade pizza or even a simple loaf. It’s a great starting point if you’ve never made bread before.

The fun thing about this recipe is that it’s endlessly adaptable. Whilst I love the suggested filling, you can really play around with this recipe and make it your own. For my suggested filling I’ve kept it simple to keep it nice and easy to make. Quite often the rolled up bread is filled with a simple tomato sauce and this is of course delicious but, because this is on the wetter side, it can be trickier to assemble if you’ve never done it before. So, I’ve given an alternative that gives a similar tomato flavour but without adding a large amount of liquid - a paste made from tomato puree and olive oil with a few different seasonings.

When making any bread dough, choosing the flour you use brings with it one main question, and that is about the protein content. Using what us Brits refer to as a ‘strong’ flour means you are using a flour with a high protein content, for example Doves Farm Organic Strong White Bread Flour has a protein content of 13g per 100gProtein is important because the higher the protein the stronger the gluten development can be, making bread with chew and bread that rises better. So yes, you could make this recipe with plain flour but it will have a very different finished texture.

Doves Farm Organic Strong White Bread Flour is available from Sainsburys, Ocado and dovesfarm.co.uk

Stromboli
Serves 10

Simple White Bread Doug
500g Doves Farm Organic Strong White Bread Flour
7g fast action dried yeast
1 tsp fine sea salt
325ml lukewarm water

Filling
4 tbsp tomato puree
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of salt and sugar
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 dried chilli flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
16 slices salami
6 slices prosciutto
200g grated mozarella
125g grated cheddar/provolone/gouda (or other mild firm cheese that melts well)
1 jarred roasted red pepper, diced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp sesame seeds
Parmesan for grating

To make the bread dough place the Doves Farm Organic Strong White Bread Flour into a large bowl along with the yeast and salt, mixing together to distribute evenly. Add the water and use your hands or a stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook, to mix to form a shaggy dough. If making by hand tip the mixture out onto the worksurface and knead for about 10-15 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. If making with a stand mixer knead on low speed for about 7-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic, pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover with a towel and set aside for about an hour or until doubled in size. 

Whilst proving make the tomato paste. In a small bowl mix together the tomato puree, oil, salt, sugar, oregano, chilli flakes and garlic powder. Set aside for the moment. When the dough is almost done proving preheat the oven to 200ºC (180ºC Fan).

Once the dough has doubled tip it out onto a lightly floured worksurface and roll out into a square roughly 50cm x 50cm. Use a pastry brush to paint the tomato puree all over the dough, leaving a 2.5cm wide border, then layer on the toppings. You can do this in any manner you prefer but I start with the mozzarella followed by the salami then the second cheese and then the proscuitto, finishing with the diced pepper. Fold two of the dough borders (on opposite sides from each other) up and over the toppings creating a barrier on two sides that will help keep the fillings inside the bread. Roll up the bread dough, like you are making a batch of cinnamon rolls, with the folded over edges being on the outside edges of the roll. Once rolled up pinch all of the seams closed and place onto a large parchment lined baking tray, with the seam on the bottom. Brush the Stromboli with the beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds and a little freshly grated parmesan. Use a sharp knife to cut a few vents in the top of the Stromboli and then bake, thats right no second rise for this recipe, in the preheated oven for about 45-50 minutes or until browned. Remove and allow to cool fully before serving. 

Blueberry and Lemon Poppyseed Bundt Cake

This post is sponsored by Doves Farm Organic Flour

I don’t know about you but during lockdown the thing that has kept me smiling has been spending time in the kitchen, baking up a storm. Whether it’s sourdough, banana bread or any of the hundred things we have all made the last few months, I think we can all agree baking brings us joy. Today’s recipe is another collaboration with Doves Farm and celebrates summer, making something jam packed with berries but also something that can be whipped up minutes. Perfect for summer or to brighten up a grey London day, it’s also a nice tie in with Doves Farm’s new colourful feel-good packaging design which you’ll find in stores now. For those of you who don’t know Doves Farm, they’re a UK organic flour brand and they sell everything from plain flour to ancient grains like rye and buckwheat. Whilst it seems to me that flour shortages are much less frequent at this point if you’re still struggling to find flour and yeast, Doves Farm have also launched an ‘Organic Flour Baking Box’ (£11 plus delivery), available to purchase on their website and delivered direct to your door and contains a great selection of their organic flours - including plain, self raising, bread and specialty flours - plus yeast for making bread, you can find out more here. 

This week’s recipe could not be easier, it can be made as a one bowl or you can add one more little step to make it with two bowls, but regardless of what method you choose it is as easy as pouring some wet stuff into some dry stuff and stirring it all together. Its pure simplicity. For the recipe I went with blueberries and lemon but really this is a very adaptable recipe. Use whatever berry and citrus combination you prefer. Don’t have buttermilk? No worries use yoghurt, or sour cream thinned with a little milk. The recipe is also super bright and colourful, stained with the juice from the berries and topped with a simple blueberry glaze which, depending on the berries you use, will come out a vibrant pink or a beautiful violet. 

This week’s recipe uses Doves Farm Organic Plain flour which is available from Ocado, Sainsburys and Tesco.

Blueberry and Lemon Poppyseed Bundt Cake
Serves 12-14

265g golden caster sugar
zest of 2 lemons
185ml light olive oil
175ml buttermilk
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
280g Doves Farm Organic Plain Flour
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda 
2 tbsp poppy seeds
300g blueberries

Blueberry Glaze
50g blueberries, plus extra for decoration
200g icing sugar
Few drops of lemon juice

To make the cake preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC Fan). Lightly grease, and dust with flour, a bundt pan (you can use anything 8-cup capacity or up). 

If making with my preferred method add the sugar and lemon zest to a large bowl and use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar has a moist texture. This releases the oils in the zest and makes for a more flavourful cake. Add the oil, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined. In a separate bowl whisk together the Doves Farm Plain Flour, salt and baking soda. Make a well in the dry goods and pour in the buttermilk mixture, whisking the two mixtures together until smooth. Add the poppy seeds and blueberries and stir together to distribute evenly. 

If you want to make this as a one bowl recipe, add the Doves Farm Plain Flour, salt, baking soda and sugar to a large bowl and whisk together until combined. Make a well in the dry goods then add in the oil, buttermilk, eggs and lemon zest and whisk together until smooth. Add in the poppy seeds and blueberries and stir together.

Scrape the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan and then bake for about 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes then carefully invert it onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

For the glaze (which is optional, the cake is plenty moist without it) use a hand blender to puree the berries then mix in the icing sugar and a few drops of lemon juice until you have a thick but pourable glaze. Pour the glaze over the cooled cake and top with a few extra blueberries. 

Kept covered this cake will keep for 3-4 days.