With spring still weeks away, there’s nothing like a cold, dark and dreary Lancaster February to make one crave comfort food. Delicious, foolproof and surprisingly quick to make, these recipes hit the spot.
Apple Pie
Ingredients
4-5 Apples
150g Sugar
1 tbsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 Egg yolk
Shortcrust pastry
Method
1. Peel and cut the apples into relatively thin slices. I like to use Braeburns as I prefer the slightlt tart taste but it’s up to you.
2. In a bowl, mix the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and apples, then set aside for about 15 minutes.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.
4. Split your dough in half and roll it out into two identical circles to fit your pie dish.
5. Place one half of the dough into the pie dish. Using a sharp knife, cut the other half into thin strips.
6. Drain the apples. By now, water should have collected at the bottom of the bowl – you want to get rid of this to avoid a soggy pie crust later.
7. Evenly place the apples into the pie dish.
8. Go on Youtube and search for ‘pie lattice’ and follow the instructions for a fancy crust.
9. Split an egg and use the yolk to paint the top of the pie, sprinkling it with a tiny bit of additional sugar.
10. Bake for 10-20 minutes, until golden brown.
11. Serve hot with a scoop of ice cream or a bit of whipped cream.
Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
400g All-purpose flour
Dried active Yeast
150g Sugar
100ml Milk
1 tbsp Vanilla extract
5 tbsp Cinnamon
40g Icing sugar
Method
1. In a bowl, coombine the flour, half the sugar, vanilla and yeast according to packet instructions.
2. Heat the milk until it is lukewarm.
3. Add it to the flour mixture, kneading with your hands until you have a soft but not sticky dough.
4. Cover with a tea towel and set aside in a warm, draught free place for approx. 20 minutes until the dough has doubled in size.
5. In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
6. In a bowl, mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon.
7. Give the now risen dough a thorough kneading and then, on a floured surface, roll it out into a large rectangular shape, about 1cm thick.
8. Evenly coat it with the sugar cinnamon mixture, then roll the dough up.
9. Using a sharp knife, cut this roll into 2cm thick slices. Spread these out on a baking tray and bake for 10-20 minutes, until golden brown.
11. Add water to the icing sugar untilit has the right icing-like consistency and drizzle it across your rolls.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
180g unsalted butter
200g sugar
2tsp Vanilla extract
2 Eggs
400g All-pupose flour
150g Chocolate chips
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. In a bowl, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs until creamy.
2. Slowly mix in the flour until you have a dough that you can easily knead with your hands.
3. Add the chocolate chips (I prefer dark chocolate, but milk chocolate works too. If you haven’t got any chocolate chips on hand, you can just use regular chocolate chopped into small pieces.)
4. Roll into a log.
5. Using a sharp knife, cut the log into slices. Depending on how you like your cookies, these can be thicker or thinner.
6. Spread them out on a baking tray and bake for approximately 10-15 minutes. If you prefer a softer cookie, take them out at 10 minutes.
7. Eat as soon as humanly possible. Store leftovers in an airtight container.
Note: Another option is to double the recipe and freeze half a log – that way you can cut off slices and bake them fresh whenever you want.
