Maple and Walnut Cookies

If you're a fan of Sport you're probably already looking forward to the World Cup Final on Sunday and the start of the Commonwealth Games in less than two weeks time. Since 14th June the Queen's Baton Relay has been travelling the length and breadth of Scotland in the build up to the Games in Glasgow. It will travel for 40 days, covering 400 communities with 4000 batonbearers.

If just thinking about all that gets you in a sweat then grab a cuppa, sit down, follow the baton live on BBC and have one of my Commonwealth Games inspired cookies.

Maple Syrup originates from Canada and is a syrup made from the sap of Maple trees, and is traditionally eaten on pancakes and waffles. I decided to substitute the golden syrup usually used in these cookies with some Maple syrup and add a few walnuts, which is a great pairing with the syrup, along with a touch of cinnamon.

Maple and Walnut Cookies

115g Butter, softened
230g Caster sugar
35g Maple syrup
1 Egg
230g Self Raising Flour
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1 tsp cinnamon
50g Walnuts

• Beat the butter and sugar together
• Mix in the syrup & egg
• Stir the flour, bicarbonate of soda & cinnamon together and add to the butter/sugar mixture along with the walnuts & mix well
• Roll mixture into small balls (approx tbsp) and place on a greased baking sheet, spaced well apart
• Bake in a preheated 170 C oven for approx 10-12 minutes, until golden brown
• Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack

 I was provided with a supermarket voucher to cover my costs for this challenge, but the recipe is my own

Barbecued Fruit Sundae

Where did all that sunshine go? A couple of weeks ago the weather was glorious and now it's just back to miserable British weather again. Despite this unpredictable weather we have been using our barbecue quite a lot, mainly because it saves on the washing up, as well as keeping those lingering cooking smells outside. We have a gas barbecue which is really handy, come rain or shine, as it heats up in minutes as well as having a lid to keep the rain off the food!

Whilst I was cooking up some chops the other day I decided to pop some pineapple and banana on for dessert.

I sliced the banana, lay it on foil and drizzled it with a little Maple syrup and sprinkled over some cinnamon.

I sliced the pineapple lengthways, lay it on foil and drizzled with Maple syrup.

The foil parcels were tightly wrapped and placed on the barbecue whilst the meat was cooking. Once the meat was done I turned the barbecue off and left the parcels on to keep warm until they were needed.

To make the sundae the fruit was layered up in a sundae glass, with a scoop of ice cream and then topped with squirty cream and some of the syrup from the cooked fruit. The kids practically inhaled them!

I was provided with some Clarks Maple Syrup to use in my cooking

Maple Roast Parsnips

You may have tried honey roast parsnips but have you tried Maple Roast Parsnips?

These are delicious & would be a perfect accompaniment to the Christmas turkey - is it too early to start mentioning Christmas dinner? Always best to be well prepared I say.

They are very easy & all you need are a few simple ingredients :

Maple Roast Parsnips
Parsnips
Cooking Oil (I used Olive Oil)
Plain flour
Maple Syrup

• Peel the parsnips and cut them into similar sized pieces
• Toss them lightly in flour
• Heat some oil in a roasting pan in a 200 C oven for 5-10 minutes until hot
• Toss in the parsnips and coat fully in the oil
• Return the pan to the oven for approx 30 minutes (this will depend on the size of them) - stirring in a generous amount of Maple syrup 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time

I was sent a sample of Clarks Pure Canadian Maple Syrup (no.2 Amber grade) to use in my cooking