A QUICK REMINDER

Just a quick post to remind you that I'm no longer posting on this blog and would dearly love it if you would now join me over on the new page here -

STUDIOFORTY

Currently all artwork and jewellery I'm making and selling is available via Facebook until I get my webshop up and running....so check our my page here

STUDIOFORTY ON FACEBOOK

and you can also follow me on Twitter

ANGE J LEE on TWITTER

cheers and thanks so much for your company on here these past 10 years and some...

XXX ANGE XXX

Time to bow out.....

Been taking some time out to have a good think lately over my SixInchSquare Blog....so many frustrating and stressful issues relating to it over the the last year or so and I have now come to the decision with a heavy heart....that I am stopping blogging on here. No more posts - no tutorials recipes and random ramblings...I am done.

On top of technical issues that have recently prevented me using the blog and uploading images, I've suffered increasing amounts of spam, malicious and obscene comments and I'm seemingly spending copious amounts of my precious time reporting, moderating, blocking etc it's ludicrous! I have better things to do with my time than being slave to the laptop dealing with this.

BUT the main reason for my decision has been copyright infringement and theft of my tutorials and images which came to a head this week.

I've had the odd problem over the years with stuff being used without my permission. Pinterest have been very good in removing content I have reported, but some other websites have been less then keen to co-operate. Some you will have read about on my Facebook page...but one particular case I've not posted about happened last year involving a person stealing whole paper flower tutorials from my blog, then selling as a downloadable programmes on Etsy...YES, selling it!...my FREE tutorial, they stole, tampered with the images, cropped, tried to remove © marks and passed off as their own work...to sell for financial gain.....unbelievable! (well actually yes totally believable, it happens far too often nowadays grrrr :( ) Had it not been for a very nice person who happened across the Etsy shop while googling for craft tutorials, and then saw my own blog version and contacted me, I would have been completely unaware of what they had done. It's taken months of complaining and I finally found out last night that their shop has been closed. SUCCESS! YAY! Personally I do not think this is all my own doing....I have a feeling that other downloadables and artwork in their Etsy shop were probably stolen and others have also complained...maybe even threatened legal action. Whether this person realised the game was up and shut the shop themselves, or it was closed by Etsy intervening I don't know...I've had no recent communication off them...but all I'm concerned about is that it's gone, stopped...for now.

The problem now is I ask myself,  has it stopped? when will the next person steal images?...why am I putting myself through all this? Not long after I made the first complaint about the stolen tutorial, I received an anonymous comment to my blog which simply said (quote) "your images are public domain...we can do what the hell we like with them. If you don't want other people to use them...then don't put them on your blog". Considering I hadn't made the incident public knowledge, I'm assuming the comment came from the very person (Etsy shop owner/image thief) I made the report about. I don't know, but it's a coincidence for sure...and for the record they are VERY wrong...the images are NOT there for them to do the 'hell they like' with them, they are there to help and inspire and are copyrighted, all rights reserved.....this is made VERY clear throughout the blog page....so to take the images then tamper with them to pass off as their own....then make money from them...IS NOT ACCEPTABLE! Sadly this kind of attitude is common and theft of images and artwork continues :(

I try to take efforts to protect my images, I add © marks, I embed copyright details and I also reduce the size of the images so that if anyone does copy and paste etc to their own files to reproduce, the images are small and of poor quality. It's probably the basic of protection but sadly those intent on stealing images will often be one step ahead and find their way around all this. I can only imagine that the downloadable items they were selling were of pretty bad quality which is equally annoying as I take great pains to produce quality clear and concise photographs and instructions and if any one connects this stolen, rehashed stuff back to me, my reputation is sullied.

I have had over 9 happy years blogging on the SixInchSquare..it has been a hobby, something fun to do outside of work time. I've enjoyed making up tutorials, sharing my crafting knowledge but it's darn hard work...it's doesn't come easily.....(those of you how do tutorials will fully well know this) and now what was once fun, is becoming stressful and all time consuming and ruined by some pretty mean people....

each tutorial I have provided has meant HOURS and DAYS worth of work. It involves much preparation and planning in advance, each card or piece is then photographed and all motions construction of, and details documented at EVERY stage, hundreds of photos are taken...this part can take a good day or so to complete, THEN I have to upload those images, sort, choose best to use, edit, resize, copyright mark and put in order...then it's all uploaded to the blog along with any typed in instructions, all edited again, proof read and re-edited before finally publishing....it can take 3 days, even longer, to complete from planning stage to publishing the final article.....

ALL this is done in MY SPARE TIME.....AND FOR FREE. My blog is not a professional site...I am not a professional blogger...I get NO financial reward for all this. I do it for the fun and the reward that I'm sharing with crafters out there who acknowledge and appreciate my efforts.....but the theft of my tutorials and the images, hours of hard work all done from the goodness of my heart , now used for their financial gain is quite frankly soul destroying and frustrating...it sucks...big time :(

I am self employed, an artist and jeweller who has to put in many many hours to earn a living and I no longer cannot afford to spend precious time dealing with these people, dealing with reports, constantly monitoring this website, blocking, complaining etc....enough is enough :( 

In order to preserve my sanity I have decided to stop doing the tutorials, and all content I believe to be at risk from further theft has now been removed from this blog...this sadly means all my tutorials and any posts on my artwork etc will no longer be visible and accessible to you. I will leave the food recipes and the info on the Big Shot Plus...and info on Tatty Button, but that will be it. My StudioForty blog will still be up and running as normal and all my Facebook pages are also still in operation...so if you wish to continue seeing any of my artwork, jewellery and so forth than please join me there.

facebook.com/StudioForty.AngeJLee

facebook.com/AngeLeeArtsandCrafts

I apologise to all my lovely blog followers, and those who have been awaiting new flower tutorials. Thank you all so much for your support...it's been 9 years of fun...but it's now time to say goodbye on here.

CHEERS, THANKS & TAKE CARE! 

xxx Ange xxx

Slurp slurp! Iced Chai Tea Latte

(firstly, apologies for lack of images in this word heavy post...I am currently having image loading issue and will add some as soon as possible...Ange x)

My first experience of Iced Tea Latte was surprisingly, for someone in the 40s, not that long ago...and I remember it well. I've never really been interested in milky drinks, let alone cold milky tea...from childhood I hated the taste of milk on it's own. Hated it on breakfast cereals...I actually eat cereals dry (yep I'm a bit weird like that) Milkshakes were fine if flavoured well, but milky tea...yuck! My tea was always hot, strong with the emphasis on the flavour of the tea leaves...and in some cases drunk black with no milk at all. I would drink an iced black tea....but a latte version? never really caught my fancy...

...so it was only a couple of years ago that I found myself wandering around one of our many local food fairs - there was music playing, lots to see and do, lots of food to sample, it was an unusually hot beautiful day...and I was feeling parched. My bottle of water I tend to carry around in my bag was long drained and I needed fluids....fast! I had the usual choice of going into a store and buying an overpriced bottle of water (errr no thank you!), or treating myself to a tipple from one of the food stalls. They had the usual number of 'brand' coffee shop stalls such as Costa and Starbucks, some bars selling alcoholic drinks and a lovely collection of independent coffee houses and bakeries...all offering beverages in an overwhelming choice of flavours and varieties. Alcohol was not really a fancy...a bit to early in the day for me and too hot, Starbucks and Costa a no from the start (I do not buy from Starbucks full stop - I have reasons many to do with UK tax evasion practices...but hey that's my choice, I know so many of you out there love them so that's fine, I accept that, but I personally will not give them my money). So, that left the independents....all I had to do was decide what to have.

Hot drinks didn't do it for me on such a hot day....smoothies milkshakes and all their cool icecreaminess were tempting but a tad boring on the flavour varieties available and I was after something cool refreshing, unusual and maybe a bit more grown up! An independent Birmingham bakery store came to my rescue!

I noticed at this stall a small selection of iced teas and lattes and although I've baulked at drinking this kind of thing in thepast, the flavours they offered were intriguing from mango with green tea to coconut, real vanilla, earlgreys and their 'special spiced'. Seeing my dilemma, a helpful member of their staff offered me a small sample of the 'special'. A wee dram was poured over a single ice cube in a tiny cup and handed over with an expectant smile...'it really is quite special' she said...

...I warned her I was not really into milky drinks but went for it and raised it to my lips....the first thing that hit me was the smell....my nostrils were filled with warming hints of cinnamon and clove...and other spices I couldn't quite place....and then on taste I was quite blown away...silky smooth creamy with a good tea flavour coming through...but the addition of the spices were amazing...it was like drinking liquid Christmas! The only thing that spoiled it for me was an slightly overpowering taste of ginger.....I'm actually quite sensitive and bit intolerant to ginger so it kind of took over all my taste buds in a not so pleasing way. Other than that it was really surprisingly tasty! I stated to think maybe I got this wrong after all....maybe latte are worthy of being hooked on!

"People say it's as good as...if not better, than a certain well known coffee shop drink" she said, discreetly gesturing towards that 'certain well known coffee shop' stall...the one with the weird green n white mermaid type wavy haired lady in their logo. "Chai inspired....but not quite Chai!" she went on...so I replied explaining that I'd never and will never buy from that 'certain well known coffee shop' so I didn't really know and couldn't compare...but this Bakery's one was certainly lovely (just maybe not the ginger bit). I coyly asked if she could tell me the spices used...I could identify some...but not all...but she happily (a bit too happily in my opinion) informed me it was a secret blend of theirs, not to be divulged. Such a shame...but understandable...it was worth a try.

To cut a long story shorter, I ended up purchasing one of their plain black tea iced latte which I found wonderfully refreshing, and quite delicious....but just couldn't get the spiced one out of my head...it had been a taste revelation to me and I was determined to go home, do a bit of internet research to find out the ingredients myself...and make my own...surely it would be quite easy to do. I suddenly realised there and then that I was hooked lined and sinkered....I not only liked iced tea latte....I rather LOVED iced tea latte....

Iced tea latte...where have you been all my life!

Yes, yes I know...all you Starbuck people out there thinking 'she's only JUST discovered tea latte?!!!!...that's sooooo last year!'

I know...I know....I'm a bit of a latte novice...I'm a bit late into the game...and I don't even like and drink coffee either....she said, currently now searching for the most palatable coffee laced frappe...gawd help you when I discover that...you'll never hear the last of it LOL!

anyhoos....back to the tea latte...

I found perhaps maybe TOO many recipes for Chai Tea Latte that I did get a little confused and bewildered....most claiming to be THE ONE they use for Starbucks...but nearly all with slight variations...and to be quite honest I have no clue what theirs tastes like, not really bothered either....I just wanted to get one to taste close to that bakery's one... and one that I like the flavour of.....and most importantly one with out the need for the ginger spice! I found plenty of the recipes using ready made chai tea bags, cutting out the need for using all the individual spices and I found some using premade shop bought concentrates but most of those were considered to be too sweet and I found some blogs and websites I read advised making the Chai concentrate from scratch so you can tailor the spices to suit the palate...plus control the sweetness with your own additions of sugars and/or honey. That certainly suited me and help in my need to remove the ginger.

I found this little posting helpful on how to make your basic tea latte - www.samovartea.com and then finally settled on taking inspiration from this blog recipe here from Ali on www.gimmesomeoven.com

...and then I did some tweaking of my own (as per usual).

I felt Ali's recipe the most suitable to try because it was one of the very few that includes Star Anise and Allspice...and now on reflection and having tasted my own drink I made I think I can honestly say it was possibly these two spices that made the bakery chai inspired latte so nice...the ones I couldn't quite place at the time...they certainly add that special something to it all.

I also halved the recipe - Ali's recipe yields 4 cups (approx. 1000ml) of concentrate which was too much for me as I'm the only one drinking this stuff around here so it was halved and mine, with perhaps a little more reducing than was probably necessary, yielded a good 350ml...enough to fill one small plastic pop bottle that I then sealed and stored in the fridge. They advise it is stored a maximum 1 week so this is perfect for me to last just that and I can easily whip up another fresh batch in no time.

I felt her recipe was perhaps too heavy on the cardamom (uses 12 pods) for my liking....I know Chai is predominantly all about the cardamom but you have to be careful with this spice as it can lend to be a little on the medicinal tasting side of things. I reduced my recipe to just 3 pods, and also reduced the peppercorns and cloves to 3 each too....this was just to try out the flavouring and I can tweak this again with a fresh batch...but found this perfectly fine and tasty at this level. I also removed the ginger...obviously for my personal intolerance reasons, but it's optional and would say if you don't have an issue with it, then add it for sure as I think that warm hit would lend and extra something to the drink.

One last piece of advise is that you should ideally be using whole spices NOT ground powders as the powders are concentrated in themselves, vary greatly in quality and quantity and will upset the balance of the Chai mix. If you do need to use ground powdered spices then please refer to product label for amount substitutions. To sieve the whole spices you will need a normal metal or plastic sieve that will help remove the large spice pieces but still allow the vanilla seeds to pass through.

CHAI TEA CONCENTRATE

yields approx. 400ml of concentrate for use in iced and hot Chai Tea and Chai Tea Latte

takes approx. 25-30 minutes prep and cooking time plus extra to cool before use.

Stores for maximum 1 week in fridge

For best results use whole spices....not really advisable to use dried ground blends due to concentration variations (refer to product labelling for amount substitutions)

INGREDIENTS

• 3-6 whole crushed cardamom pods
• 3 whole black peppercorns
• 3 whole cloves
• 2 whole cinnamon sticks
• 1 whole allspice
• 1 star anise
• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, roughly sliced
• 1 vanilla pod, split down the length (do not remove the seeds)
• pinch of ground nutmeg
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 cups (500ml) water
• 2 black leaf tea bags (I use Clipper fairtrade breakfast tea) 

Keeping aside the tea bags, add all the remaining ingredients into a pan, bring to the boil over a medium heat, then reduce to low, cover with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes. Add tea bags, turn off the heat and allow to steep (brew) for a further 5 minutes. Squeeze out the teabags then strain off the spice pieces. Reserve the liquid and allow to cool at room temperature before storing in a sealed bottle or jar in the fridge (for up to one week).

TO MAKE UP

ICED BLACK CHAI TEA - mix equal quantities of concentrate and water (or to taste) and serve in glass over ice. Add extra sugar or honey to taste if required.

HOT BLACK CHAI TEA - mix equal quantities of concentrate and water in a pan, over heat bring to a boil, serve in a heatproof mug, add extra sugar or honey to taste if required.

ICED CHAI TEA LATTE - mix equal quantities of concentrate and cold milk together, use a hand blender (or something like an Aerolatte hand whisk) for extra froth and silkiness. Serve in glass over ice. Add extra sugar or honey to taste if required.

HOT CHAI TEA LATTE - mix equal quantities of concentrate and milk together in a pan, warm until hot, serve in a heatproof mug. Add extra sugar or honey to taste if required.

ENJOY!

PS - would just like to add that while brewing your concentrate you'll find the most amazing aromas filling your kitchen just reminding you of Christmas and spiced cookies or when you prep your apple pies for the oven...totally delicious!.....AND I kept the sieved the whole spices to dry out before consigning to the compost bin and it was just like keeping a little bowl of pot-pourri in the room. We had eaten a curry the night before and these spice aromas helped keep all the nasty niffs at bay...no need for incense sticks or chemical laden room freshener sprays.

Also...what ever you do, do NOT throw out the vanilla pod once retrieved from the liquid....these precious spices are too costly to just throw away and can actually be reused for flavouring sugars. Just dry out, break into a couple of pieces and place in a sealed jar of sugar for bakery use. It will impregnate the sugar and help make delicate flavoured tasty sponges and cookies...just remove from the sugar as you weigh it out and put the pod bits back into the jar. Top up the empty jar or as sugar levels go down and the pods can be reuses time and time again for ages.

XXX Ange XXX

Disclaimer - I am not affiliated with Starbucks, Costa or Clipper in any way, nor with the websites I have linked to and have not received any free products to advertise or use in this recipe. All ingredients are from my own store cupboards and can be purchased at any good food stores and online.

Rhubarb and Orange 'Pops' RECIPE

Well, that time of year is upon us once more.....Rhubarb season!

Yep, the time when you look out to your veg patch one morning to find a plant that looks like a cross between a Gunnera and a triffid...and you swear the day before it was just some tiny little buds barely emerging out of the soil....

that time when you realise there is only so much rhubarb you can freeze, preserve, can, pulp, juice...and make crumble with...and you start trawling the internet and Pinterest for new ways to cook with rhubarb...

 



rhubarb and apple sponge cake

 



the time when people start gingerly asking you "Do you like Rhubarb?"...and you just KNOW that's the opening question leading up to the plea "PLEASE take some of my rhubarb....I have too much growing"...

...and they then stop mid sentence when you give a wry smile and they then just know that you are part of the club already....

you are a rhubarb grower!

and so they don't even bother to go on to ask if you'd actually like to take a whole plant...not just some stalks because they also know that it's...

that time when you yourself yet again stand staring at the three huge monster plants growing in your tiny patch and with only two of you in the house to feed, say to your self yet again..."this year I WILL get rid of one of those plants"....

but you don't

because you are greedy

because you LOVE rhubarb

rhubarb and ginger chutney

 

ahhhhhh those tender young pink stalks...the tang, the sourness of the greener older stems...

Yes...if you grow rhubarb...you will 'get' this oh yes indeedy!

Rhubarb 'Dorset Window Pudding'

So, lets get onto the important bit....EATING IT!

This years Pinterest trawling lead me to THIS link - Lemon & Rhubarb Cookies so it's thanks to Kate at Picklebums.com as she takes the credit here. I'd yet to try rhubarb in biscuits so was keen to give it a go....the result however was very different to what I'd imagined...maybe due to me, as usual, tweaking it a bit....I'm not sure.....but anyway they were different but DELICIOUS! Mine came out more cakelike rather than cookie/biscuit...more cake cum scone cum biscuit bites so I have renamed them....partly due to Clive eating one...then another...then another and remarking how easily they 'popped' into the mouth....

So I have called my version 'Rhubarb and Orange Pops'

The orange part obviously coming from the fact I didn't have any lemon to hand, but tonnes of fresh oranges due to my current obsession of making rhubarb, orange apple, carrot and spinach juice drinks for breakfast....so I know Orange and Rhubarb do go well together...the tang of the rhubarb is tempered by the sweetness of the orange and the colours of the pieces and zest look like little gems amongst the pale yellow soft fluffy sponge.

more like a rock cake!

My first batch took me by surprise....firstly thinking they were going to be cookie like, I followed the instructions and placed small spoonfuls onto my baking tray expecting them to spread and flatten out a bit...but found they actually kept their shape , puffing up slightly. The result was a rock cake shape!

but still moist, light and tasty !

I liked that....but now knowing how my mix was reacting in the oven and you have to be very careful not to let them overcook, I felt they probably needed shaping a bit and slightly flattening and smoothing out. For the second batch I took spoonfuls, then reshaped with a dampened fingers...the mix is reasonably firm, not too runny or sticky so it's quite easy to smooth out.

a bit more uniform in shape and colour.

I used the same recipe ingredients amounts and my mix yielded 30 'pops'....but really depends on the size of the spoonfuls you want. Mine were just about right 'two bite' pieces...but you could make smaller...or larger and remember to adjust the cooking times accordingly.

 



RHUBARB & ORANGE 'POPS'

Prep time 15 mins    Cook time 12-15 mins   Makes approx. 30

• 185g softened butter
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unrefined caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups Self Raising flour
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 1 cup rhubarb chopped
• zest of 2 large oranges
• juice of 2 large oranges
• 1/2 tbsp of additional caster sugar

Pre heat oven to 180oC / 350oF / gas mark 4

Dice the rhubarb into small 1cm pieces and put in a bowl with the orange zest, 2 tbsp of the orange juice and the 1/2 tbsp of additional caster sugar. Combine well and set aside.

In another bowl, cream the butter, dark brown sugar and caster sugar together until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg and then gradually sift and fold in the SR flour and cornflour.

Stir in the rhubarb mix, and combine well and evenly...add more of the remaining juice if the mix is too thick and unworkable. You want a firmish mix that holds onto the spoon...NOT runny or of dropping consistency or they will not hold their shape.

Place spoonfuls of the mix onto a prepared cookie/baking tray, spaced a couple of cms apart...then shape gently into rounds and pat out smooth using dampened fingers.

Bake for approx. 12-25mins depending on your oven type and size of the 'pops'. You are looking for a pale golden colour slightly darker at the edges and they spring back when gently pressed with a finger (just like cooking a sponge cake) Take care not to over bake or they will become dry and crumbly.

Gobble up a couple while hot from the oven and no-ones looking.....and allow the rest to cool on a wire rack.

Get the kettle on, make a brew...bask in the aromas wafting around your kitchen, then relax, put your feet up, enjoy your moment of kitchen goddess bliss.....while you pop another couple in your mouth!

ENJOY!

XXXAngeXXX

Tweaked English Scones - with Peanut Butter!

I have been having a bit of an experimenting day in the kitchen today...

I wanted to make scones, but not my usual plain sweet or cheesy ones, and so while having a bit of a google on the 'net for new and interesting ideas I kept coming across recipes for peanut butter scones...

hmmmmmm??!!!!....now there's something that I really like...PEANUT BUTTER oh my, oh yes, oh yum! the thought of PB scones rather set the taste buds going!

On closer inspection of a few sites (and dutifully saved to Pinterest of course) I noticed that they were all for American style scones...and required more ingredients, including using eggs....and more often than not, chocolate (match made in heaven...so pretty obvious I guess).

So, nothing wrong with that....American style scones are VERY tasty...but the lack of English style recipes for scones with peanut butter got me wondering if it was actually possible to make them the English way....

...and there was only one way to find out....

just try it and see!

I took my tried and trusted recipe for English Sweet Scones and tweaked it just a little bit by adding some wholemeal flour and rolled oats into the mix (just to take the edge off the white stuff and add a bit more texture), and reducing the sugar content (assuming the PB would add some but not all the sweetness) and I stuck to normal milk rather than yoghurt or buttermilk for the liquid part (purely due to the fact I had neither in stock...but they would work equally well) I also opted to leave out chocolate...just so I could get an idea of what the plain PB scone would taste like.

Making up the mix was pretty simple....I just made the standard dry crumb mix first before adding the peanut butter, which I warmed slightly in the microwave to loosen it up a bit, then re-crumbed it again and then stirred in the milk to get the final dough. My ingredients list calls for approx. 1/4 pint of milk and I advise you add it slowly and gradually - depending on how much PB you use, and the flour type (not all flour is equal and has different absorption rates), so you may not need it all...or you may need more.  Mix it all gently and stop working it the moment it has all come together and formed a soft dough. It's crucial not to over knead scone dough...it's not like making bread and you do not want to activate too much gluten in the flour by kneading or you'll end up with dense heavy scones. Sometimes I form my dough into one large round and then cut into triangular segments, sometimes I use a round cutter...in this instance I went for a round 2&5/8ths inch plain round cutter and it yielded eight scones...oh, and one thing that I NEVER do, is to roll out the dough with a pin...I gently form and pat out with my hands because again, going back to what I said about mixing it, you don't want to over work it or it will become heavy...and I feel a rolling pin can often do that. I like a hands on approach so I can feel the texture and know when it's right. I pat it out to approx. 2 inch thickness...purely because that's how we like our scones - deep (after the added rising during cooking) with a good balance of soft fluffy inner and crispy crust outer.

So, a quick brush with a milk glaze over the top and they went in the oven and I sat in anticipation, watching as they slowly rose and lightly browned.

and the verdict?

Well, I have to say I was very please with the outcome.

The combination of the wholemeal flour and the oats gave a slightly nutty background to the scone.... and the peanut butter was there but not overpoweringly so. In all, the scone seemed more malty flavoured than anything and not overly sweet, which seemed quite strange...but pleasant....and as my 'NON peanut butter loving' other half scoffed back a couple and said they were very tasty and a success, I guess that was fine...in fact I think they make a perfect base for splitting and slathering with a spread such as chocolate. I tried one with sliced banana and a drizzle of honey and can happily give this combo a big thumbs up.

I also think this recipe could be tweaked to suit tastes....maybe add more wholemeal flour for a denser dough, maybe add more peanut butter for a real nutty kick...or even try crunchy version for real texture and bite...and don't forget to try chucking in some dark chocolate chips for a classic combo.

So here's the recipe I went for....give it a whirl...see what you think...tweak it if you think it needs it!

ENGLISH SCONES WITH A PEANUT BUTTER OATY TWIST - ingredients

• 5oz Plain white flour
• 3oz Wholemeal flour
• 1oz rolled oats
• 3 tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• 2oz cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 2 generous dessert spoons of smooth peanut butter
• approx 1/4 pint milk you may need more/or less, plus some required for glazing.

Preheat oven to 220oC (200oC if using fan oven)

Combine the flour, oats, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl, add the butter and rub in with the fingers to form a rough crumb, stir in the sugar. Slightly warm the peanut butter in a microwave to loosen the texture a little and pour into the crumb mix, stir in. You'll probably find it will clump together so then use fingers to break it up and re-crumb the mix gently again. Start adding the milk, a bit at a time, stirring in until it all comes together, is combined and formed a soft dough. Tip out onto a work surface and gently shape with the hands. patting out to approx. 2 inch thickness. Shape as a round pattie and cut into 8 triangular wedges, or use a round cookie cutter to make the more traditional looking individual scones (makes approx. 8). Brush the tops with milk glaze and bake in oven for 12-15minutes until cooked through and lightly golden on top.

Serve warmed, split and spread with chocolate spread or sliced bananas and a dash of honey.

Enjoy!