He's put a great big smile on somebody's face

 Hopefully by now your Christmas shopping is all done and dusted, wrapped and sitting smugly under your Christmas tree. But if you're a bit stuck, or just looking for something else to make a present that little bit extra special then I might just be able to help you. These little cookie mix jars are really easy to make (if I can do it, anyone can!) and you should be able to find everything you need in the supermarket without too much difficulty. I gave these little beauties to two of my friends yesterday when we met up for our annual Christmas food and film day and they were the perfect present for our £5 price limit (it seems to be a recurring price limit for me this year!). 

The actual cookie mixture inside the jars didn't go in as neatly as it could have done, but I figured it was ok as it just proves I made them myself! Cleverly, I read some tips on making recipe jars after filling my own up and they suggested starting with the finest ingredients at the bottom of the jar and then putting any chocolate chips or similarly 'gappy' items at the top- as you can see, the sugar escaped through the gaps in between my chocolate chips, making the layers a bit messier and less defined. But the jars (which I found in Clas Ohlsen- definitely an extra bonus finding Christmassy jars when I was just on a hunt for plain ones!) and the ribbon hopefully made up for the way things were looking inside the jars!

I got the cookie cutters from Home Bargains, I found two separate packs, one white and one red, and decided to mix the colours up to jazz things up a little bit. 

If you fancy making one of these yourself, the recipe inside the jar was as follows:

125g caster sugar

100g soft light brown sugar

225g self raising flour

100g white chocolate chips

100g milk chocolate chips

For the label, you need to write instructions along the lines of:

Preheat oven to 180C

Add all ingredients from the jar, 1 egg and 125g butter to a bowl and mix well until all is combined

Form the mixture into small, slightly flattened balls and place on a baking tray

Bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes

Let me know if you give these a try! They're a great present all year round and you can fill them up with all sorts of different ingredients (my friend made me a brownie jar for my birthday earlier this year).

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday: Wizzard

Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time

In the spirit of all things festive, I decided to get myself in the Christmas spirit by indulging in a spot of baking for this month's 'winter wonderland' themed Iron Cupcake competition. Usually I don't bake for the competition as I help out a lot with the running of the evening but this time I decided to challenge myself and take a break from helping. I spent ages trying to come up with a fun idea that wouldn't be too difficult (I'm not the most confident of bakers when it comes to all things technical!) and it all paid off as I ended up winning the prize for the cake that best fit the theme! I'm a bit too proud of myself now!

If you fancy having a go at making my reindeer cupcakes yourself then you're in luck- I'm going to share the recipe with you lovely people. 

Reindeer cupcakes
(Makes about 15)

For the sponge:

140g unsalted butter
200g light brown sugar
60g treacle
60g golden syrup
3 large eggs
300g self raising flour
1tsp ground ginger
1tsp ground nutmeg
1tsp salt
240ml milk (warmed)

For the salted caramel buttercream:

400g icing sugar
200g butter
1/2 tbsp golden syrup
1/2 tbsp treacle

Preheat oven to 190C and line baking trays with about 15 paper cases

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Add the treacle, syrup and eggs and mix again until the mixture is all combined.

Sift the flour, spices and salt and then add half of this to the bowl with the other ingredients, mixing well. Then add half of the warm milk and mix again. Repeat until all of the flour and milk has been incorporated into the mixture.

Add the mixture into baking cases and bake for about 20-25 minutes. When cooked, remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.

To make the buttercream, sift the icing sugar into a mixing bowl, add the butter, syrup, treacle and salt and mix well. (You may want to taste a little at this point and check it has the right amount of salt in for you- I added a little more to make sure the flavour really came through!)

Pipe the icing and decorate the cakes with pretzels, smarties and icing to turn them into reindeer!

Enjoy!

They're really not too difficult to make at all (believe me, if I can do it anybody can!) and they taste lovely and Christmassy. Let me know if you give them a try yourself!

Do They Know It's Christmas- Band Aid 20

Everyone at work judged me for saying I prefer this version to the original... but I just love the fact that I recognise everybody in the video (hello Busted!) and it reminds me of being 14 again)