Pumpkin Brownies

It's no secret that autumn is my favourite time of year, not just because of the colours and halloween but because it's an amazing time for food. I love all the comforting flavours that this part of the year brings, especially pumpkin. It's also no secret that I'm a sucker for sweet treats, and adore baking, although I must admit it's a hobby I've neglected for some time. In order to rectify this I thought I would combine my two favourite things.

You can never go wrong with a brownie, so I thought that I'd try my hand at baking some pumpkin, caramel brownies. They turned out pretty tasty, if I do say so myself and I love the way the marbling effect turned out. As they actually turned out to be quite easy to make, I thought I'd share the recipe in case you wanted to try and make this delicious treat for yourself.

Ingredients //

Chocolate Chips

Butter

Plain Flour

Baking Powder

Pumpkin Puree

Caster Sugar

Golden Caster Sugar 

Cinnamon

Eggs

Method // 

1.Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius (fan oven.)

2.Line a square baking tin with baking parchment ( I didn't have any so used tin foil and it worked equally as well.) 

3. Melt 200g Chocolate chips with 185g Butter and then set aside to cool

4. Mix 3 eggs, 200g Caster Sugar & the cinnamon with the melted chocolate mixture.

5. Add 100g Plain Flour, 1 and half tablespoons Baking Powder & the Cinnamon into the mixture. 

6. Set aside 1/5 of the brownie batter and pour the rest into the baking tray and spread evenly.

7. Mix the pumpkin puree into a separate bowl with 2 eggs and a dash of milk (I used almond milk.)

8. Pour the pumpkin mixture on top of the brownie batter in the tray and spread evenly.

9. Make the caramel by melting 110g of golden caster sugar. 

10. Pour the Caramel evenly on top of the Pumpkin layer.

11. Using a knife, blend the layers together slightly creating a pattern, this will give the marble effect.

12. Cook for 30-40 minutes, until cooked through. 

13. Leave to cool before cutting. 

14. Enjoy these delicious gooey brownies. 

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Baking | Nutella Stuffed Cinnamon Muffins.

Nutella & cinnamon are two of my favourite tastes, so when I saw this recipe that combines the two, I just had to give it a go. 

Ingredients

1/3 Cup (5 Tbsp) Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 Cup Milk

1 1/2 Cups of Whole Wheat Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Salt

8 tsp Nutella

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping

1/4 Cup Sugar

2 tsp Cinnamon 

3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

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Method

Preheat the oven to 218C and put 12 cupcake/muffin cases in a cupcake/muffin tray

Cream together the butter & sugar

Add Egg, Vanilla & 1/2 cup milk -- Mix Together

Add Flour, Cinnamon & Nutmeg and stir until just combined

Spoon 1 heaped tablespoon of mixture into each cupcake/muffin cases, then add a teaspoon of Nutella on top of each one & then add another heaped tablespoon on top of each to cover the Nutella

Pop in oven for 5 minutes then turn down to 200C and bake for another 13-17 Minutes

Take out of the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes

For Sugar Cinnamon Topping

Melt the butter in the microwave

Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl

Take a small amount of melted butter and dribble over top of muffin -- enough to cover it. Then take a spoon of the cinnamon sugar and sprinkle over the top

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Et Voila, deliciously indulgent muffins for everyone to enjoy!

These are honestly one of my most favourite things I've ever baked & I can't wait to make some more in the very near future

Let me know your thoughts if you give them a go

Whats your favourite thing to bake?

Any recommendations for me?

Speak Soon

Charlotte xx

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Half Marathon 2014.

Decked out in my running gear.

A few months ago I decided to set myself my biggest challenge to date, I decided I wanted to run a half marathon. Crazy I know. 

Shockingly this wasn't a complete impulse decision, I've been meaning to get properly fit for a while, no more fad diets or sporadic workouts and I thought what better way to do that.

Of course its all going to be for a good cause, I am running for the charity Mind, a mental health charity which does an incredible job and is quite often overlooked. I really think it needs a lot more support and credit for the work it does. Mental Health remains such a taboo subject and is far too often disregarded in todays society, this is something that needs to be changed asap. The fact that there remains a huge stigma around Mental Health is shocking considering the fact that 1 in 4 people experience a form of mental health problem every year. 

This charity and topic is one close to my heart, but thats a story for another time. 

Now I'm sharing this with you because this is partly a lifestyle blog & this huge challenge is part of my life. Now I don't expect anything from any of you, but I am going to leave the link for my Just Giving page just in case anyone is feeling especially generous, please don't feel obliged in the slightest. :)

https://www.justgiving.com/charlottehayes92/

Six weeks to go and training is going well (could be better) but I remain very very scared! 

Wish me luck

Have you ever taken part in a half marathon?

Do you have any advice for a running newbie?

Speak Soon

Charlotte xx

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