gluten free dark chocolate brownies with berries

As part of my gift to my mum on Mother's Day I made her some chocolate brownies. I found a gluten free recipe that used dark chocolate. My mum can't have gluten and she loves dark chcocolate so this recipe was perfect!! I had never used this recipe before but it had won the great taste award in 2011 so I decided to give it a go. I also wanted to give them a try because they are healthier than normal brownies. Obviously they are not super healthy but they use dark chocolate instead of milk and there is no gluten in them. 

The recipe was easy to follow and I didn't have to much difficulty baking. I am not a big dark chocolate fan and I don't really enjoy cakes made out of dark chocolate but I suprisingly enjoyed these. They are rich with a moist texture. I definatley recommend this recipe. You could make these as a gift or just if you want to treat yourself. If you try these I hope you enjoy them! 

Ingredients:

185g butter chopped into chunks

185g dark chocolate broken into rough chunks. I used Lindt excellence 70% cocoa 

250g caster sugar (I used about 225g) 

3 eggs

1tsp vanilla essence 

110g gluten free flour (sieved) I used the doves farm plain white flour 

200g sour dried cherries. I couldn't find these anywhere so I had to buy a bag of dried berries and cherries. I took out all of the raisins and tried to separate cherries as much as I could but I thought that the dried blueberries and berries went quite well in this recipe instead of just cherries.

 

Method:

1. Preheat your oven. 350°F 180°C 160°C- fan oven 

2. Line a baking tray with grease proof paper 

3. Whisk up your eggs, sugar and vanilla essence together on a high speed for around 10 minutes until the mixture is light, pale and fluffy. I used a food processor to do this but an electric hand wisk would work fine. I whisked mine for around 20 minutes until I couldn't bare the noise any more. I did this because I was waiting for my mixture to become fluffy like air as it would if you were making meringue but because we were using the whole egg and not just the white it wont become fluffy like air. So when you are whisking yours don't wait for it to become really fluffy. 

4. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of water.

5. Fold the melted chocolate mixture into the whipped egg mixture. Make sure you do this when the chocolate has cooled but don't leave it to cool for too long otherwise it will thicken and start to set. 

6. Fold in the sieved flour. Make sure it is really mixed in 

7. Fold in the cherries/dried fruit 

8. Pour into your baking tray and smooth it out so it is even across the tray 

9. Bake for about 30 minutes. I baked mine for this time in a fan oven and they came out perfect.

10. Let the brownies cool and then slice them to your choice in size.

 

For a finishing touch on the brownies you could dust them with icing sugar 

Recipe:  http://www.how2bglutenfree.com/Gluten-free-brownie.html

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Argan hair oil.....

hello! Sorry for not posting is so long.... Just been so busy..

excuse the pretty rubbish excuse ; ) 

Bought this product recently and loved it so much I had to share it with you 

So enjoy : )

My hair can often become quite dry and lifeless and just generally not look that great, especially If I have been using a lot of heat on it or not had it cut in a while. Recently though It's become a bit worse so I went to get my hair cut to get rid of all the nasty split ends. Now, I have been looking for ever to find the right product that can just make my hair look a little bit more well.... happy and when I was in the hairdressers they put some Moroccan oil in my hair. It made my hair feel really soft and my hair looked healthy so I asked how much it was because I really wanted to buy some. I knew Morrocan oil was expensive but when my hairdresser told me it was around thirty something pounds a bottle it kind of put me off. However the next day after I had washed it and it had lost all of the lovely shine the oil had given it so I went off to Boots on a little hunt for something similar and I found this; the OGX Argan oil penetrating oil. It only cost about £4.60 or maybe a few pence more for a good sized bottle which I think will last me for ages as you really only need a tiny bit. 

of kit in the PE Changing Room Oyours, plea

You simply apply a small amount of the oil on to your hands and then run it through your hair and then blow dry! After using this my hair felt soft and silky and looked shiny and healthy. My hair was completely frizz free and looked as if I had straightened/ styled my hair and it stayed like this until I washed my hair again although aftr using it for a week now I have noticed that my hair looks noticeably more healthy. I am really happy with the result and so is my Mum who I recomenned it to. She has been looking for a hair product that can tame and look after her hair (which can become very frizzy) for years and she said this was the best product she has used. It just proves that often the most natraul things are the best! The only problem is that even if you jut use the tiniest bit too much oil you can get sticky and greasy patches in your hair,which let's be honest is pretty ewww. As long as you just use a small amounts and focus more on the roots (as the top of your hair doesn't need as much and this is where it can become greasy) your hair will feel great and not like you have a tonne of product in your hair. I really recommend trying this or any products on the market containing argan oil ( there are loads!!)

Have a great half term if you are off like me! Thanks for reading 

Comment, subscribe etc. 

Lots of love maddy x

yummy iced biscuits

Hello and Merry Christmas eve (if you are reading this today!)
Pretty much every year, as one of the presents for my friends I make biscuits. They are so easy to make and they always go down really well. I have been making these biscuits from a recipe from a Good Food magazine cut out for as long as I can remember and they have never failed me. I thought that this time I would blog the recipe and a few pictures for you guys. I made them for Christmas presents but they can be made for any occasion or just randomly, besides by the time you read this it will be too late to make them for this Christmas!!

N.B  I forgot to take many pictures of me actually making them but the photos that are there are all mine!

This recipe makes 80 biscuits but you can make half the batch by halving the ingredients at the start OR before you wrap the dough up and put it in the fridge, put one of the halves in the freezer instead and defrost another day to use another time! (this is what i did)

you will need:

250g unsalted butter, softened
250g caster sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
half a teaspoon of vanilla extract
500g plain flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder







Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy and light. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
Combine the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl, then add to the butter mixture. Stir in, then work into a dough with your hands.
Turn onto a floured board and knead into a ball. divide the dough into two and flatten each piece into a rough disc and wrap in clingfilm.
Chill for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 170 centigrade/ gas 3.
Place one of the discs of dough on a floured board and dust the dough with flour.
Roll the dough out to a thickness of 3-5mm and cut out shapes of your choice.
Place the shapes slightly apart on a non-stick baking tray and cook for 10-12 minutes or until lightly coloured.
Cool on a rack.
Repeat with the second disc of dough.

Decoration.....

These biscuits look great plain but even better decorated. You could do this by dipping in chocolate, icing them or just dusting with icing sugar or cocoa powder.
I used a simple white glace icing which is just made using icing sugar and water. You really have to estimate how much icing sugar you need depending on how many biscuits you made and how much you want to put on each biscuit. If you are just putting a teaspoon blob of icing like I was you should start with about 250g of icing sugar (for the whole batch) and just add more later on if you need it. To make it into icing you should use water that you have recently boiled, only add a teaspoon or less of water at a time (it needs a lot less water then you think!) until the icing is smooth. It should be thick enough that it doesn't run all over the place but runny enough that it will apply to the biscuit easily.




N.B if you are packaging your biscuits up as a present make sure that the icing is not too runny and that you leave the icing to set for a few hours or otherwise the icing will run!

I blobbed a small amount of icing on each biscuit and then tapped it very gently on the table to even out the icing before sprinkling some red glittery sprinkles which i got from ASDA for about £2.00

I was making these for presents so I packaged them up in some presentation bags I got from Lakeland for about £3.50 (for 50 bags). Lastly I tied the bags up with some silver paper ribbon .

have an amazing Christmas and holiday!!  please please comment and subscribe as a little Christmas present to us!
 Merry Christmas and happy baking! lots of love Maddy xx

Christmas and birthday wish list!!!

(just a quick blog today as I haven't blogged in ages! much more blogs will be coming soon xx)





it's nearly Christmas!!
Christmas is by far my favourite time of year in every sense from the to the food to fashion and of course presents. So, I thought I would share with you a few little things I am asking for Christmas and for my 14th birthday which is in January.

1. A  Skater skirt

I adore skater skirts! you can wear them in so many different ways with so many different things and you can dress it up or dress it down.  I already have an electric blue one from New Look which I wear all the time but I'm desperate to another one in a more wintery colour. I really love the velvet skater skirts that are quite popular at the moment but they are so popular that everywhere and every website I have looked on have been sold out of my size or completely ;( there are a lot, however of really nice non- velvet skater skirts out there as well especially in Topshop and River Island.

2. Urban decay Naked 2 eye pallet

this pallet is top on my makeup wish list as they are gorgeous colours for everyday use. the only problem is it's pretty expensive!! *cries*

3. a Tartan scarf

I really love scarfs, I feel that when you have a nice scarf you can get away with just the simplest of outfits and of course they keep you warm! A lot of shops are doing these tartan scarfs at the moment and I love them as they are simple yet a bit different at the same time ,plus I love the red, blue and green colours and it would go with a lot of my everyday outfits.

4. Frilly socks and fluffy socks

I already have one pair of these socks and I wear them literally with nearly every outfit so I really need some more as my white ones are getting a little but grubby now :( . My current ones are from Primark but Topshop do a much wider range of patterns and colours!
And fluffy socks are just a Christmas must especially paired with a cringey Christmas jumper and leggings!!


5. Soap and glory stuff

I have my eye on quite a few things from soap and glory, but top of my list is probably their sugar crush body scrub, their body wash and the body butter. It smells amazing and all the sugar crush products have had great reviews from people like Zoella

6. stuff for my room

I have asked for a few bits and bobs to go in my room such as a new duvet cover, more fairly lights, more pillows and little pots and just cute stuff really!!

that's about really
so have a great Christmas and thanks for reading!

(oh dear, I've just read it through and realised how many exclamation marks I put in this, ah well it is Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
PLEASE COMMENT AND SUBSCRIBE

Maddy xxxxxxxxx

maddy's October favourites

hello!
so as it is coming to the end of October I thought I would do some of my favourites from this month
some things. Mostly beauty but a with a few random favourites shoved on the end


1.   VO5; very impressed with Vo5 recently, I especially love the heat protect spray which has defiantly protected my hair from all the heat I use on it on a daily basis and leaves my hair shiny and smooth. Plus their product smell amazing!






 
 




2,  YSL brown mascara:  this mascara gives really gorgeous lashes with lots of volume but no lumps, dramatic but not too over the top. It is quite expensive though but defiantly worth the money as a good mascara really completes any make up look and normally lasts a long time.










3. Neutrogena pink grapefruit face wash;  I had recently been trying out the pink grapefruit scrub form Neutrogena but although it was quite a gentle scrub , I have quite sensitive skin and using it everyday was making my skin a bit red This was annoying because I had been loving it but I could see that using a scrub everyday was just not suitable for my skin type . So I was really happy when I saw that Neutrogena were also doing a facial wash in the same range. I am loving this face wash even more then the scrub and it does reduces blemishes and spots whilst being refreshing and gentle.

                                                                          







MUA pearl eye shadows in shade 1 (left) and shade 2 (right) ;
people are always raving about MUA pallets especially the heaven and earth pallet which is very similar to the Urban Decay NAKED pallet, but a lot cheaper. When I went into Superdrug to have a look at it though, I found that heaven and earth pallet was mostly darker colours, which I don't wear or suit, and they had sold out of any of the other pallets : ( so I ended up looking at the single eye shadows. To be honest I wasn't that impressed at the range of colours they had on sale in my local Superdrug, there were mostly quite loud, garish colours and there were not many natural colours but I did find these two gorgeous shades which I bought for only £1 each. the creamy colour is great just to brush over the lid for a quite natural look  and the pink is good on it's own ,for a bit more colour, or blended into the crease. the only thing is that they don't stay on for that long so you will need to prep your eyelids with a bit of eye primer.





The Body Shop honey and oat scrub mask; a really gentle scrub that also doubles up as a mask, leaves skin moisturised and smooth.






        



                                       
Rimmel soft kohl  eyeliner in denim blue and No7 stay perfect metallic eye pencil in purple; I have recently been trying to get away from just using just black eyeliner (boring) and using coloured eyeliners. Not bright, really noticeable colours just darker colours that give a similar effect as black but that looks less dark and suits me more. Firstly I picked up the blue Rimmel as I loved the colour and I love Rimmel in General. It's just a really simple kohl eyeliner, great for gently defining the top eyelash line. The other one is from N07. I don't normally buy anything from No7 but I had one of those vouchers they give you in boots at the till for it and so decided to buy this one. This one is slightly more dramatic, it's not so much a pencil like the other one, it has more of a soft creamy texture which glides on really easily. It is a really dark purple so it is a great substitute for black, it's also metallic and has a gentle shine to it.



random favourites

Lorde:  I am really loving the music from Lorde, a singer song writer from New Zealand, she isn't that well known but since her song ' Royals' came out, she has gained a lot more fans and support. I recently downloaded 'royals' and have had it on repeat, and will defiantly be getting her album soon.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFasFq4GJYM

Waterloo Road:  I know I am a bit late catching the waterloo road bug, but since I have started watching it this series I am in love with it and wish I had started watching it sooner. It was my friend livi that got me to watch it as I was convinced I wouldn't like it but I was wrong. I admit it get's a bit boring when the teachers spend half the episode talking about cuts and money etc. etc. etc. (snore....) but apart from that I love it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t1p7

bye for now and happy half term holidays!

please please please follow, comment, share etc. all follows/shares will be returned!!

maddy xx

Liz Earle cleanse and polish and my skincare routine

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I would do a review and then share with you my simple but effective skincare routine. So here goes! Emma xxxx

Liz Earle cleanse and polish hot cloth cleanse:

I have been using this product for a week now and it has become my new obsession. I have been using this morning and evening. It has really cleared up my skin and the hot cloth has gently exfoliated my face making my skin super soft. I have a skin condition called Keratosis Pilaris or KP. It has really helped clear it up. My skin looks radiant and fresh. I look dull without this cleanser. It has a really nice consistency and smells amazing. I love this cleanser. It is around £15 - £20. It's is a little but pricey but well worth it. I will definatley be buying this again it's amazing!

My skincare routine:

Morning:

1. Clearasil ultra all in one wash and mask

2. Half a pump of Liz Earle cleanser and hot cloth

3. Simple light moisturiser 

Evening:

1. Simple cleansing and purifying lotion - to remove most of my makeup so the Liz Earle cleanser can really focus on deep cleansing my skin instead of removing my makeup 

2. Liz Earle cleanser and hot cloth

3. Simple light moisturiser

Simple but it works! 

I hope you enjoyed my blog post. Please leave us comments and tell us what you would like to see on our blog. Make sure you are following our Instagram account for beauty fashion and lifestyles pictures! 

Emma xxxx