RECIPE: Banana Loaf // Blogging Anniversary

Today marks the day that I've been blogging for 3 whole years! My blog has changed a lot since then from the name and web page to the design and what I like to blog about most. So today I thought I'd write one of my favourite kinds of posts - baking! It's also fallen on a Wednesday which, as most of you will know is Bake Off day! Last week as the first episode of the new series aired I posted a recipe on Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, so Wednesday's on Abigail's World could become days for everything baking!

Today's recipe is Banana Loaf which I made a couple of weeks ago and it went down a treat! I originally found the recipe here on BBC Good Food and although I had to alter the cooking time, it was delicious, so if you're a banana lover the recipe is below.

Ingredients:

140g butter (softened)

140g caster sugar

2 eggs

140g self-raising flour

1tsp baking powder

2 bananas (mashed)

50g icing sugar

(optional) banana chips for decoration

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 180C and line a loaf tin with baking paper.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs slowly with some flour. Then fold in the rest of the flour with the baking powder and banana.

3. Pour the mixture into the baking tin and bake for about 30 mins, however mine took slightly longer and baked until a skewer came out clean.

4. Set aside to cool once cooked and make the icing. Mix the icing with 2-3 tsp of water and drizzle over the top of the banana loaf and add the banana chips to decorate.

I really enjoyed baking (and eating) this Banana Loaf, and I can't wait to bake it again soon!

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RECIPE: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you love baking just as much as I do then you'll know that tonight is the start of a new series of one of my favourite shows.... The Great British Bake Off! To get in the mood of baking yesterday I decided to bake these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I've never made these before or any cookies with oats for that matter so I wasn't sure how they were going to turn out, but they taste so so good if I do say so myself!

I managed to make 12 (quite large) cookies with this recipe, although there's definitely not even half that many left now!

Ingredients:

150g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

175g unsalted butter

100g dark brown sugar

100g sugar

1 egg

2tsp vanilla extract

250g rolled oats

75g chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and line two baking trays with baking paper.

2. Stir together the flour and baking powder in a bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter and sugars with an electric mixer.

4. Add the egg and whisk again, followed by the vanilla.

5. Then gradually add the flour to this mixture and mix together with a wooden spoon until combined. Then add the oats and chocolate chips and mix again.

6. Using a tablespoon add the mixture to the baking trays (I managed to fit 6 onto each tray) and flatten slightly with the back of the spoon, but ensure that there's space between the cookie mixtures.

7. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes until golden.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and let me know if you decide to make them too! They're definitely the best cookies I've ever made before, but would Mary and Paul approve? I hope so!

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London Tourist for a week

If you follow me on Instagram you'll have most probably seen that I've posted quite a few photos of London recently. That's because living up north I don't get to visit London very often, so when I had the chance to spend a week down there this summer I took every opportunity to be as touristy as possible! I know bloggers love London at the best of times so I thought I'd share some of the many photo's I took when I was down there (if I haven't already bored you enough over on Instagram). I spent quite a bit of time in Shoreditch which is where my university exhibition was held, on Brick Lane and I wanted to visit places I'd never been to in London before such as Buckingham Palace and Downing Street.

I can't wait to visit London again and take even more pretty pictures.

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