Not even four weeks til Christmas now guys! I can't quite wrap my head around the fact that another year is almost over but I'm still very excited for the Christmas season. So the advent wreath is ready to go (just in time for the first advent Sunday today), the first Christmas movies have been consumed and the first batch of Christmas cookies has been baked. A really easy but super delicious recipe I made for the first time this year are these Swedish julkuchen that are basically just cookies covered in ALL the cinnamon! Classically they are made with round cookie cutters for a basic cookie shape but I felt like switching it up a bit and did a few different ones. Grab your aprons and get baking :)

Here's what you'll need:

In a big mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar and egg.

In a different bowl mix together your dry ingredients: the flour, baking powder and salt.

Slowly add the flour mixture into your big mixing bowl until it's all combined well. You will have to get your hands in there to knead the dough to get everything mixed together and to form a smooth dough.

Divide your dough into two. Roll them into balls and cover those in cling film. Put in the fridge for at least 3 hours until it's gotten quite firm.

Now preheat your oven to 200°C.

Take out the first dough and roll it out until it's about 5mm thick. You want to roll it out quite thin, because your cookies will rise quite a bit when baking. Use any cookie cutters you like and add the cut cookies to a lined baking tray. Brush your cookies with the egg white then cover them in your sugar/cinnamon mixture! There's no such thing as too much at this step :)

Bake your cookies for about 10-12 minutes, then take them out and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Continue to do this with the second batch of dough as well :)

Now there's only one thing left to do: cosy up with a plate of these and maybe a little mulled wine to get into the festive spirit! :)

Have you started on the Christmas baking yet? What are your favourite recipes? I have a list of a few more that I want to make this year and may share a few more recipes with you guys in December :) Make sure you leave me a comment if you make these and let me know how you got on! Happy baking guys, stay cosy :)

It's finally feeling autumnal guys! While I'm typing this it's grey and rainy outside and I'm on my sofa all cosied up with my cup of tea - I'm loving it :) The colder weather definitely always inspires me to bake (and eat) lots of sweet treats so this week I wanted to share my recipe for blueberry buns with you. These make your whole apartment smell amazing and bring a little fruity twist to your regular cinnamon buns :)

Here's what you'll need:

for the filling:

for the dough:

extras:

Let's start by making the filling. First off, defrost your blueberries. Make sure you catch all the lovely blueberry juice in a container while doing this. Once your berries are defrosted, mix the blueberry juice with enough pineapple (or other tropical) juice to make about 1 cup of liquid. Add the starch to it and make sure it's properly dissolved.

Meanwhile put your blueberries in a small pot with the sugar and some lemon juice, mix well and bring to a boil, then add the starchy liquid and boil down to a thick, jam-like consistency. Set aside to cool down completely.

In another pot bring the milk, oil and sugar to a boil (be careful and watch this like a hawk as the milk boils over soooo quickly!) then leave this to cool down until tepid then add the yeast and leave the mixture to work for about 30 minutes.

After that, add the milk mixture into a big mixing bowl with the four cups of flour and knead well. The dough will still be quite sticky, dont worry about it, we're gonna add some more flour later. Cover your dough and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour - the dough should have risen considerably by then.

While you wait for your dough, mix 1/2 a cup of flour with 1/2 a packet of baking powder and a pinch of salt. Add this to your dough after it has risen and knead well. If your dough is still super sticky, add a bit more flour as you go.

Leave the buns to rise once more for half an hour in a warm place. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 180°C. Finally, bake your blueberry buns for 15 - 20 minutes.

Et voilà! Perfectly fluffy blueberry cinnamon buns for the win :) If you fancy it, you can add frosting on top as well but I didn't go for it this time :) Let me know what you think about this recipe. Will you try it?

Hello and happy September! The weather isn't quite on board with it yet here in Germany but I'm absolutely ready for autumn now! So of course it's time for a brand new pumpkin recipe :) It's another quick and easy one and the perfect healthy autumn dip that'll probably take you no more than ten minutes to make!

Here's what you'll need:

You can make the pumpkin puree by cutting a pumpkin (preferably something like Hokaido or others that don't require you to get rid of the skin - sooo much work!) into chunks and steaming them until soft then simply pureeing them in a food processor or blender. You can also usually get pumpkin puree at your supermarket.

Place all the ingredients into a food processor and mix until smooth and creamy. Add some more olive oil if the hummus is too thick. 

Serve your hummus in a bowl and garnish with olive oil, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and - of course - parsley :)

This is delicious with bread, toasted pita bread, crackers or veggies like carrots or celery sticks. It's also great to use in sandwiches or wraps as well as a kind of pasta sauce!

Let me know if you try this recipe and tag me in your creations on instagram if you decide to share yours :)

It's wild garlic season!! Wild garlic is a leafy plant with white flowers that appears in woodland in early spring. Just like bulb garlic it's got loads of health benefits, most importantly its antibacterial powers that help treat colds and coughs and strengthen the immune system. The plants grow in shady and damp conditions so if you wanna go forage for some, make sure you head to the right places. You definitely can't miss or mistake it as it's got a very strong garlicky scent.

There's so many things you can do with wild garlic but I love a good pesto and want to share my favourite recipe with you today. It's super easy and quick to make and your house will smell amaaaazing after :)

You'll need:

Lightly toast the nuts in a frying pan without oil.

Wash your wild garlic leaves thoroughly and pat them dry with a paper towel, then cut it into smaller pieces before adding it into your blender with all the other ingredients. 

Blitz until you've got a creamy texture. You can add more olive oil if the pesto is too thick in consistency. That's it! That's all there is to do! Pour the mixture into a jar to keep in the fridge and use within two weeks of making it.

This tastes amazing on bread or as a dip for veggies, bread sticks, crisps etc. It's also a super quick pasta "sauce" for that midweek dinner when you really can't be bothered to cook after work :) Try it with baked potatoes also! Heavenly! :) You see, it's really versatile and absolutely worth your time making it! 

Have you tried wild garlic before? What are your favourite ways of preserving it? Leave me a comment to let me know.

1 tbsp Earl Grey tea
 ca. 200ml boiling water
1 tsp sugar syrup * 

ca. 150ml milk (plant based milks that froth well work just as well)

In a separat mug warm some milk and froth it.

Now stir your sugar syrup into your hot tea. Mix well, then add the milk on top.

For extra fancyness add some chocolate powder on top. And there you go - you can enjoy your London Fog Latte!

*If you don't wanna buy syrup from the store you can easily make some yourself. Just bring equal measures of sugar and water to a boil and let cool completely, before bottling it and storing it in the fridge where it'll keep for absoulte ages.

Are you a tea or coffee person? What gets you going in the morning? I'm team tea all the way! Let me know if you'll make this in the comments below :)

Lots of Love
Jess xx