SARAH RAINEY BAKES

Crisp and golden on the outside, gooey and squidgy on the inside, these coconut macaroons are little nuggets of temptation, whatever the time of day. You can drizzle them with dark, milk or white chocolate or add some flavour to the wet mixture before baking: try cinnamon, ginger or crushed cardamom for a kick. And make them bite-sized or jumbo-sized, depending on who's coming to tea... Makes 12 Ingredients: 200g desiccated coconut 175g sweetened condensed milk 1 tsp vanilla

No, these are categorically NOT healthy spinach balls... Look closer... closer still. YES! They're pistachio truffles, packed full of creamy white chocolate, gooey condensed milk and enrobed in crunchy pistachio pieces. They're my go-to truffle recipe, and you can swap out the pistachios for other nuts, if you prefer, and use milk or dark chocolate instead of white. An excuse, if ever you needed one, to make them over and over again. Makes 16-18 Ingredients: 125ml double crea

French toast, eggy bread, gypsy bread... call it what you want, but this breakfast staple - which dates back to the 4th Century - is one of my all-time favourites. Who knew soaking bread (especially a sweetened dough, such as brioche) in eggs and then frying it up with a little butter and sugar could be quite so delicious?! French toast is on hipster brunch menus all over London these days (often with an eye-watering price tag) - but this version beats the lot. I've skipped t

If you love fudge, but you can't/won't/don't eat dairy, this recipe is going to make you very happy. As long as you like coconut. Because it's very coconutty indeed. My three ingredient coconut fudge is made with coconut cream (like a thickened version of the coconut milk you use in curries - and usually stocked right next to it in supermarkets), desiccated coconut and dark chocolate. Try to use the highest quality chocolate you can find, as this stops it from being too sweet

Happy New Year! It's January 8th and I don't know about you but I've already had enough of resolutions, particularly those involving not drinking/avoiding eating the things you want/setting unrealistic diet and exercise goals. So here's a decadent recipe to make this cold, grey time of year a little bit happier. Half-brownie, half fudgy cake, my gooey chocolate cake is NOT for the health-conscious. Deliciously rich, moist and dense, it’s an indulgent after-dinner treat – and

I love fruit and nut chocolate almost as much as I used to love the ads for Cadbury's Fruit and Nut. The ones with the man canoeing down the river with a giant bar in the back of his boat, singing: 'Everyone's a fruit and nut case... it's nutritious and delicious to judiciously be chewing...' Please, please YouTube them if you've no idea what I'm on about... Anyway, these tasty little bites combine all three ingredients from fruit and nut chocolate - fruit, nuts and chocolate

Bank Holiday baking is my favourite kind of baking. You've had a lie-in, the out-of-office is on and the whole day stretches ahead, full of possibilities (and baking, obviously). This is my go-to fudge recipe – but beware, you need a sweet tooth to truly appreciate it! It’s delicious as a mid-afternoon treat or a mini indulgence after a meal - and I guarantee it will put big Bank Holiday smiles on everyone's faces. I promise I'm not obsessed with Oreos (a few weeks ago I sugg

How do you improve an Oreo cookie? By deep frying it, of course. Crunchy, chocolatey batter on the outside, with an oozy, creamy centre, these deconstructed cookie balls puff up when fried, making them even tastier than the originals. They’re best served hot, dusted - if you like - with a little icing sugar. And obviously they’re not the besssst plan if you’re on a diet, but Oreos are - interesting fact alert - dairy-free, so they can’t be all that bad. Makes 10 puffs Ingredi

This comforting pudding is a twist on the traditional teatime snack – and a handy way of using up leftover hot cross buns. There are so many tasty treats on offer at Easter, but hot cross buns have to be my favourite – sweet, stodgy dough studded with juicy spiced fruits, sultanas and citrus peel… I could eat them for every meal. If you do happen to have any left, or just fancy trying something different, this seasonal take on bread and butter pudding won’t leave you disappoi

Bittersweet dark chocolate and crunchy ginger biscuits... is there any better combination? These little after-dinner pots are creamy, indulgent - and incredibly easy to make. All you need is a few chocolate chips, a pot of cream and half a packet of ginger nuts. They'll wow dinner party guests, but I like to keep a few in the fridge just for me. When I come home hungry after a night out, they're just what I need to finish off the evening in style (and no-one's around to judge

My name is Sarah and I am a Nutella addict. There. I said it. I could eat Nutella on EVERYTHING - on toast, in sandwiches, in my coffee, drizzled over my cereal in the morning... I really think I have a bit of a problem. When it comes to three ingredient baking, Nutella is a saviour. It's got so much going for it - a chocolatey, hazelnutty flavour, a nice thick texture, the ability to melt to a liquid or bake into a solid mass of deliciousness. You might spot a bit of a theme

When I was little, Rice Krispie buns were my FAVOURITE. Obviously I loved eating them - no party was worth going to if there weren't plates and plates piled high with them, sticky-fingered children lunging for their little paper cases. But I also adored making them - that sensation of crunching them between my fingers and dunking my hands into the melted chocolate (oh, and getting to lick the bowl afterwards). Breadcrumbs might not sound like the most obvious baking ingredien

I first tried this delicious dessert at The Ivy (check me, I know) - but my lovely Mum swears she made it for me when I was little. So I'll give her the credit instead. It's incredibly easy... in fact, it's a bit of a stretch to call it 'baking' at all. But bear with me. The tangy, ice-cold sparkling berries that sparkle with frost; the rich, creamy white chocolate sauce; and the match made in heaven when the sauce is drizzled over the berries and it all melts and blends toge

Microwave fudge is my guilty pleasure. Take one large bar of chocolate, one can of condensed milk, melt them together - and you've got the tastiest, gooiest fudge you've ever laid eyes on, with basically no effort at all. I like to add chopped toasted walnuts for texture, but other nuts, seeds or crunchy sweets (Crunchie bars, Smarties or M&Ms) work well too. OK, so it's not the healthiest three ingredient recipe in the world... but in this clean, green-obsessed world, we nee

When my sister and I were little and craving something sweet, we knew exactly what to do. We'd raid the cupboards for some marshmallows, sandwich them together between a couple of chocolate digestives and stick them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Cue squidgy, gooey, melty, chocolatey deliciousness (and some very sticky fingers). Our homemade s'mores were the inspiration for this indulgent pie. I like to stick the pan in the middle of the table at parties, with plates of hob

Some days – the grey, mizzly ones that made up most of our ‘summer’ – you just need to snuggle up on the sofa with a mug of tea and a big bar of chocolate. And if you’re looking for something more sophisticated than Dairy Milk, then chocolate bark is for you. Made by melting good quality chocolate into a thinner, more rustic slab and drizzling it with all sorts of tasty topping combinations, it not only hits those chocolate cravings but makes an impressive gift. And it’s seas

These tasty, bite-sized little morsels combine two of my favourite things: ginger biscuits and cream cheese. Oh, and chocolate. Which I realise may sound like an unappetising combination. But, honestly, they’re like Pringles… once you pop, you will never want to stop eating them. I like to use low-fat cream cheese, and tell myself they’re basically a health food. But they’re absolutely not. They’re indulgent, lightly-spiced, crumbly, cakey, mouthwateringly sweet and so moreis

I discovered an amazing thing the other day. I was in the supermarket, stocking up on peanut butter, and, lo and behold, on the shelf beside the nut butters and the jams and marmalades, I saw a vision. And that vision was called MALTESER CHOCOLATE SPREAD. It seems to comprise mashed up Maltesers, with little orbs of crunchy maltiness, enrobed in a sugary and delicious chocolate spread. Aka sheer heaven. So obviously I wanted to use it in some baking. These little muffins are