Today I’d like to introduce 2 modifications of sweet bread you can impress your guests with. They are easy to make, delish, and based on the same dough. Starting with the pesto-garlic option to go along with a soup or a salad and moving to a sweet Banana-Pecan alternative perfectly complementing your beverage of choice.

So, without further due – Let’s crack it.

PS if you more into conventional baking mood today – go and check my Easy Bread recipe.

Easy Sweet Bread Recipe

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Say "I love you" with our heartshaped Easy Sweet Bread Recipe. You prefer sweet or savory fillings? Well, we will share Sweet Banana Pecan and Salty Garlic Pesto options - both are to die for! Which one would you choose?

Ingredients

Dough

• 550 grams Strong Wheat Flour
• 250 grams Milk (lukewarm)
• 7 grams Dry Yeasts
• 8 grams Salt
• 60 grams Caster Sugar
• 2 eggs
• 100 grams Unsalted Butter

Sweet Filling:

• 50g Unsalted Butter
• 100g Banana

Savoury Filling:

• 50g Unsalted Butter
• 8g Garlic Paste
• 50g Pesto
• 1g Strong Wheat Flour

Instructions

1. Pre-dissolve dry yeasts and salt in the lukewarm milk.
2. Weigh up flour and sugar into the bowl.
3. Add 2 eggs to the bowl where flour and sugar are.
4. Add milk mixture to the bowl and knead until dough is formed.
5. Cover and leave the dough aside for 15 min.
6. Add soft butter and mix it into the dough.
7. Ferment the dough for 1 hour.
8. Give a quick mix to the dough.
9. Ferment the dough for 1 hour.
10. Divide the dough into 60g pieces and round them.
11. Rest the dough balls covered for 15 min.
12. Meanwhile, prepare fillings.
13. For savory filling mix soft butter with pesto and garlic paste.
14. For sweet filling mix soft butter with banana.
15. Pin the dough balls to elongated shape aiming dough thickness of 1.5-2mm.
16. Spread the filling of your choice on 90% of the pinned dough area. Leave 10% on any of the sides for the dough to stick.
17. For sweet-filled buns - sprinkle caster sugar and crushed pecans on top of banana filling.
18. Roll the dough towards the side with no filling.
19. Bend the dough rolls and make a cut alongside.
20. Turn out from both sides and make a heart-shaped bun.
21. Proof the buns for 1 hour.
22. Glaze buns with eggwash.
23. Decorate savory buns with grated parmesan and sweet ones with lime zest.
24. Bake at 190 °C/375 °F for 12-15 min until golden brown.

Notes

You can dissolve salt together with yeasts in the complete quantity of milk. Don't try to do it with 1/4 of the recipe quantity or less as yeasts will be deactivated by high osmotic pressure created by salt.

Baking time will vary from oven to oven - suggest you monitor colour of the buns aiming for golden-brown crust.

 

Calories

246

10%

Fat

11

16%

Saturated

7

35%

Carbs

31

10%

Protein

6

Fiber

1

4%

Sugar

8

Sodium

193

8%

Cholesterol

47

15%

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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My personal favorite is La Colomba Di Pasqua – traditional Italian Easter bread from Milan, made in the shape of a dove ( from Italian “Colomba” – dove), that combines tender butter notes of easter bread, mixed with candied orange peel, almonds, and sugar.

I love Easter. For me, it marks the start of real spring, with longer days and warmer evenings. And for my Easter dinner this year, I was looking for something special. Hence, Italian Easter cake seemed like the perfect choice. To be perfectly honest, I did not have my very own version of classic Italian Easter Bread. Therefore, I had to turn to Google for help in finding the very best recipe to play with.

Finally, after a good few searches, I came across Laura’s recipe. It was indeed a sweet spot between a quite complex process of traditional Italian Easter Bread and fantastic taste. So, thank you, Laura, for sharing this amazing recipe!

My readers probably know this by now, but I never copy-paste recipes from others, rather use them for my inspiration. Laura’s recipe was really great to work with.

Although it took me a few attempts and tests, I finally modified it to my taste, by adding few extra touches: rum and orange flavors and vanilla paste. I know, those are not exactly traditional components for La Colomba, but I am very happy with my own version of Italian Easter Bread. In addition, I do believe, I managed to bring the final taste to another level, as a good few of my neighbors who tasted it – already kindly asked if I could make it for upcoming Easter.

I really hope you will enjoy it and don’t forget to leave a comment down below.

Have to warn you – this recipe is probably more on the complex side, but if you carefully follow my instructions – you will have no problem making it. There is also have a video tutorial down below to help you out.

PS If you are searching for another type of treat, feel free to check my White chocolate and cherry brownies and Irish Guinness soda bread.

Let’s do it!

As I mentioned a few times before, I like to weigh up my ingredients in advance with my kitchen scales. And I always take out my butter from the fridge a few hours in advance, to get it to room temperature.

Italian Style Easter Bread Recipe

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Wanna do it in Italian style? Then you must try this Italian Easter Bread! Sweet and delicious, you will be blown away by how good it is. As always, it's a treat for your eyes and your taste! ❤️‍🔥

Ingredients

Biga:

• 150 grams Water (room temp)
• 0.5 grams Dry Yeasts
• 180 grams Plain Flour

Dough:

• all Biga
• 3 eggs (medium)
• 100 grams Warm Milk
• 450 grams Plain Flour
• 70 grams Unsalted butter
• 20 grams Dry Yeasts
• 150 grams Sugar
• 30 grams Water
• 8 grams Vanilla Paste
• 5 grams Salt
• 2 grams Rum Flavour (optional)
• 2 grams Orange Flavour (optional)
• zest of 1 orange

Add-in:

• 100 grams Dry Raisins
• 80 grams Italian Mixed Peel

Glaze:

• 1 Egg White
• 20 grams Sugar
• 20 grams Ground Almonds
• Decoration: Roasted Almonds and Almond Flakes

Instructions

1. Start with making biga - your starter or as others call it - pre-fermented dough. Simply mix well water (room temp), yeasts, and flour. I used a fork to combine it until it formed a paste dough. After that - simply leave it to ferment for 12-16h at room temperature. This is done to develop more taste and flavor for your cake. I suggest you prepare biga in the evening and leave it overnight, so it is ready for you the next morning.
2. Once your biga is good to go, you can start making your main dough. Add all ingredients (biga, eggs, milk, yeasts, flour, sugar, soft butter, salt, vanilla paste, orange zest, rum, and orange flavors) into the bowl and mix. I prefer to use the opposite side of the wooden spoon for this purpose, as it works really well for this type of dough. You don't necessarily need to develop a good dough while using the "lazy technic" of dough mixing. Once you see that all ingredients are well combined - cover the dough with cling film and leave aside for 15-20 min.
3. While the dough is developing, get ready with your add-ins: cover raisins with boiling water and let them soak for 15 min. After that - drain the water and dry raisins by placing them between paper towels. Now you are ready for the most exciting part - adding inclusions into the dough.
4. After your dough has rested, take it out of the bowl and place it on the dusted surface.  Flatten the dough with your hands. Put add-ins (raisins, caramelized orange peels) on top of the dough and wrap it from all sides. Turn it to the other side, and keep folding the dough as you roll it. Repeat it few times, until you see all your add-ins distributed well into the dough. Place it back into the bowl, cover with cling film and let it rest for another ~2h until it doubles in size.
5. Prepare your tin, by greasing it with oil and dusting it with flour, as a measure to ease your cake de-panning after. Trust me, don't skip this step. This dough is very sweet and will stick to the tin if you don't grease it.
6. Once the dough has doubled in size, take it out again and split it into 3 equal pieces. Gently round each of them and then start rolling your dough into strings. Depending on the size of the tin  - you want to have your final braided dough at the same as your tin (mine was ~45 cm long). You can check my video below fro help you with this process.
7. Cover the tin and leave your dough to proof for another ~1.5h at room temperature.
8. Meantime, prepare your glaze:  whip 1 egg white with sugar, until it forms soft foam. Add finely ground almonds and mix them in well.
9. Once your dough is ready - take the kitchen brush and cover the top of the cake with our egg white glaze. Decorate with almond flakes and roasted almonds.
10. Bake at 180 °C (350 °F) for ~45 min without fan.

Notes

Let it cool before serving for at least 45-60 min.

Calories

253

10%

Fat

6

9.2%

Saturated

3

15%

Carbs

44

14%

Protein

6

Fiber

2

8%

Sugar

18

Sodium

139

5.8%

Cholesterol

40

13%

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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Not everyone knows that, but there are 6 types of cookies.  All those cater to different tastes, capabilities, purposes, and ingredients. Within those, as you can imagine, there are millions of recipes. Almost every baker has their own “go-to” cookie recipe, that works best and tastes great. I love chocolate chip cookies because your imagination can go wild: you take basic cookie dough and start adding inclusions, toppings, fillings to make it as exciting as you wish (including carrots to get delicious carrot cake cookies :).

Another reason for my affection – cookies are great for “nutrition” optimization. And I am not talking about protein, gluten-free, or sugar-free versions. Obviously, those are fab too, and soon I will dedicate a specific section on that, so watch this space. What I mean here is that playing with your topping choices can shift the dial from a very calorie-dense product to a medium lower spectrum of calorie scale.

When thinking about American cookies, chocolate chip is all-time popular. I mean, it’s simple, familiar, and always tastes great (if you have the right recipe, of course). The recipe I am going to share today ticks all the above boxes: it’s easy to make, it’s delicious and it’s egg-free! There was no specific intention from my end to make those egg-free, but this recipe works best for me, and I like it a lot.

Let’s get started!

As I mentioned before, I like to weigh my ingredients in advance, using kitchen scales. I also take out butter from the fridge a few hours before to let it get to room temperature and soften.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Must have treat for a weekend table - chocolate chip cookies delicious as never. With a rich butter taste and chocolate inclusions this recipe will make your day 🙂

Ingredients

• 210 grams Plain Flour
• 180 grams Unsalted butter
• 75 grams Icing sugar
• 75 grams Brown sugar
• 30 grams Water
• 8 grams Corn Starch
• 6 grams vanilla paste
• 2.5 grams baking soda
• 2.5 grams salt

Add-in:

• 175 grams Chocolate chips of your choice

Instructions

1. Prepare your ingredients. I can’t stress that enough – always ensure your butter has softened and ready, do not use the microwave to warm it, and do not try to use butter straight from the fridge. Always take your butter out of the fridge a good few hours in advance. Poke it with your finger – if it's soft, it is ready.
2. Start with whipping butter using a hand mixer. When you see that butter has turned into a paste – it's time to add icing sugar. I prefer to add in thirds, while still whipping. This way is much better – it allows equal distribution of icing sugar in the butter. Once finished with icing sugar - it is time to add brown sugar. Mix it well and follow up by adding vanilla paste and water. Suggest you add water in thirds as well to ease its incorporation. Once fully whipped – set aside.
3. In a separate bowl pre-mix your dry ingredients: flour, starch, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add your dry pre-mix into butter/sugar mix. I prefer doing it in few steps, again, to ensure proper and even incorporation. And voila – your cookie dough is ready!
5. Now its time to add chocolate chips – simply throw them into your cookie dough and mix gently with the spatula until evenly mixed.
6. Place the dough into the fridge to chill for about 30 min.
7. Prepare your baking tray and switch on the oven to heat up to 175 °C (350 °F).
8. Take your cookie dough out of the fridge and form balls. Place them on the tray, allowing a reasonable distance between them, because they will flow.
9. Bake at 175 °C (350 °F) for 14-16 min without a fan.
10. Enjoy your Chocolate Chips Cookies with tea, coffee, or a glass of milk

Notes

One tip for those of you, who like me, love it with a generous amount of chocolate chips: try mixing up few types of chips – dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white ones. It will add new dimensions to our cookie taste, because, you know - variety is the spice of life!

Calories

367

15%

Fat

18

27%

Saturated

11

55%

Carbs

50

16%

Protein

3

Fiber

1

4%

Sugar

15

Sodium

170

7.1%

Cholesterol

39

13%

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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What is the first thing that comes to mind, when you think of Ireland? For most people, it will be a picture of emerald green Island, shamrocks, leprechauns, Riverdance, and, of course, Guinness beer. But what about bread?

A little bit of history

The known history of soda bread goes back to native Americans. In Ireland, it was Nicolas Leblanc, who developed the first-ever soda bread recipe. If only he knew that not only he created an amazing product, but potentially helped Irish people through some toughest times in their history. As a result, there are countless soda bread recipes, from very traditional “bread-like” versions to more modern ones, filled with cheddar, sweet berries, and chocolate.

Unfortunately, history does not specify, who’s the brilliant idea it was to combine soda bread with Guinness – the most iconic of Irish beers. Nonetheless, we will be forever grateful to that person, as they’ve created one of the most amazing items in history on baking – Guinness Soda Bread. It’s a perfect combination of toasty and lightly sweet notes, followed by hints of chocolate, coffee, and smoke, with the smooth chewy, almost caky texture of soda bread.

Why Guinness Soda Bread?

When I first traveled around Ireland back in 2018, I stopped for a bite in a small village up North, entered the only open pub, and that was the day when I tasted the most delicious Guinness bread of all times. It was truly unique, and many times after that I ordered Guinness bread in other places across the country – while they all were good, but they were not THAT ONE. After that, I got obsessed with the idea of re-creating the recipe, which will get me as close as possible to the taste and flavor, and probably even further. And, of course, when to do it, if not during the lockdown, right?

Therefore, playing with ingredients and spices, I finally got to the point where I was delighted with the result. This Guinness bread recipe has the best of both worlds – the texture of traditional soda bread, as well as rich notes of Guinness, chocolate, and coffee. Considering upcoming St. Patricks day, I am super happy to share this recipe with you – it has some tricks, but I promise you, you will be absolutely blown away with the result!

So, let’s get started…

Although it may seem like a lot of ingredients, trust me, all of them are key to create that special flavor I mentioned above.

PS In addition, if you’re looking for a perfect dessert – check out my White Chocolate and Cherry Brownies recipe.

Guinness Soda Bread Recipe

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Let's rock it! St. Patrick's day is over, but there is always time to make this iconic Guinness soda bread! Forget green cocktails and green desserts, make this best ever Guinness soda bread and enjoy a true taste of Ireland.

Ingredients

Syrup:

• 25 grams Brown Sugar
• 3 grams Instant Coffee
• 25 grams Water
• 25 grams Golden Syrup

Batter:

• 300 grams Wholemeal Flour
• 75 grams Plain Wheat Flour
• 20 grams Cocoa Powder
• 25 grams Melted Unsalted Butter
• 150 grams Chilled Guinness Beer
• 200 grams Milk
• 100 grams Treacle Syrup
• 3 grams Salt
• 8 grams Baking Soda
• 1 gram Nutmeg

Instructions

1. You start by preparing Coffee caramel syrup, which I used to boost the rich chocolate aroma of the bread. Mix sugar, syrup, coffee, and water in the pan. Cook on medium to high heat until syrup reaches 106 °C. Use a cooking thermometer to ensure you don't overcook your syrup. Keep mixing throughout to avoid syrup burning. Once ready - leave it to cool down.
2. Your next step is to weigh up the rest of the ingredients. Put all dry components into the bowl (2 flours, cocoa powder, salt, soda, nutmeg), and combine them with a whisk, so that they get evenly distributed.
3. Then, add your liquid components one-by-one: melted butter, milk, Guinness, treacle syrup, and pre-made Coffee caramel syrup.
4. The last step will be to carefully mix them with a spatula or a spoon, until smooth and even. Place your batter into the baking tin. I like to generously grease it with vegetable oil or baking spray. This helps the bread will not get burned to the sides of the tin.
5. Bake at 160°C/320 °F for ~50-60 min (w/o fan). Check readiness with a wooden stick or by tapping the loaf with your hand - if you hear a hollow sound, then it's ready.

Notes

One last tip, If you want the flawless top of your loaf. Grease your fingertips in vegetable oil and then dip gently into the center of your batter, as if you are making a line. This creates a nice even crack at the top of the bread, instead of random cracks on the sides. It's totally optional, your bread will still look and taste great without it.

Calories

171

7.1%

Fat

2

3.1%

Saturated

2

10%

Carbs

30

10%

Protein

6

Fiber

3

12%

Sugar

6

Sodium

275

11%

Cholesterol

5

1.7%

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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The spring is in the air, with rays of sunshine glimpsing through the clouds and birds cheering outside. At this time of the year, I love making something sweet and delicious for my soul, and as a reminder that warm sunny days are around the corner.

What do you know about Cherry Blondies Brownies? I always get asked, if those are real brownies or something else? Simply, the main difference between a blondie and a brownie is the choice of chocolate. Unlike well-known chocolate brownies – blondies are made with white chocolate to indulge in rich vanilla flavor and sweet buttery notes.  And my favorite thing about them is that your imagination can go crazy with add-ins: chocolate chips, berries, nuts, spices, etc.

I spent quite some time trying to create a simple, but delicious blondie recipe, using the very best ingredients and all my favorite add-ins. The one I am going to propose today is easy to make and it turns out great every time – I really hope you will love it and it becomes your go-to Brownies too. I am proud to introduce you to my very special White Chocolate and Cherry Brownies.

PS Make sure you also check out my very special Carrot cake cookies.

Shall we start?

I always start with pre-weighing all the ingredients, so I am not distracted during the process. Best to use kitchen scales and be as precise as you can when you prep for baking – you’ll save yourself time and effort, and I promise you – you will get almost everything right the first time. The rest is quite straightforward

White Chocolate and Cherry Brownies Recipe

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A quick and simple recipe to make for your tea time or serve as a dessert at your party - you will not be disappointed!

Ingredients

Batter:

• 85 grams Plain Flour
• 2 grams Table Salt
• 140 grams Unsalted butter
• 180 grams White Chocolate
• 2 Medium Eggs
• 90 grams White Sugar

Add-in:

• 140 grams Glazed Cherry

Instructions

1. Mix flour with 1/4 of sugar and salt
2. In a separate bowl start whisking eggs with the rest of the sugar until it starts making small bubbles as a sign, it's aerated. Best to use eggs when they are at room temperature, so you are avoiding quick thickening of fat & chocolate during the next stage.
3. Melt your butter in the microwave using heat resistant bowl. To make this easier - chop your butter into small pieces. I normally do it in 3 stages each at 30 s (800 W) and mixing with a spatula in between. Once melted - leave it aside and melt chocolate, in the same way, using a separate bowl. Combine butter and chocolate and mix well until it is smooth.
4. Now it's time to add butter/chocolate mixture into the bowl where we have eggs and sugar. Just mix it with a spatula until well combined, and then add dry ingredients, while gently mixing it aiming to get a smooth batter with no lumps.
5. The very last thing is your add-ins. As I said, in this recipe, I am using glazed cherries from the shop. Just drop them into your batter and gently combine together with a spatula.
6. Now, when your brownie batter is ready to be baked, place it in the preheated oven and bake with no fan for 30-40 min at 160 °C/320 °F. Please, note, that you may need to change your baking time if your tin is different in size. For this recipe, I used 18cm paper tin (7 inches).  Use a wooden stick to check if it is ready -  it should come out dry.

Notes

Once out of the oven – let it cool. My family loves our blondies chilled in the fridge overnight.

Calories

345

14%

Fat

25

38%

Saturated

13

65%

Carbs

28

9.3%

Protein

4

Sugar

20

Sodium

16

0.7%

Cholesterol

75

25%

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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