3 beginner-friendly baking recipes for World Baking Day
Some of the tastiest recipes are the ones that keep things simple. So we’ve put together some of our favourite beginner-friendly recipes to start building your baking skills. They only need a few ingredients, and don’t require any tricky techniques, so you’ll be tucking into a delicious homemade baked good in no time.
In the words of everyone’s favourite baking show... on your marks, get set, bake!
1. Double chocolate mug cake
Enjoy a deliciously rich chocolatey treat in minutes, without even switching on the oven. Is it cheating if you use a microwave? We don’t think so...
Be sure to make more than you need – the rest of your family will definitely want one of these mug cakes too!
Ingredients (for one mug cake)
- 20g unsalted butter, melted
- 50ml milk
- 4 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tbsp chocolate spread
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- A handful of chocolate chips
- A pinch of salt
Method:
- Add your melted butter and milk to a mixing bowl.
- Stir in the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt until fully combined.
- Then it’s time for the chocolate! Add the chocolate spread and chocolate chips to the mixture and stir well.
- Spoon the mixture into a generously sized microwaveable mug.
- Microwave on high for 1 minute until the cake is cooked through, adding 10 second bursts if needed.
2. No-knead bread
Soda bread, also known as Irish soda bread, is made without yeast. Instead, all the fluffiness comes from the bicarbonate of soda – hence the name! Not only does it not need kneading (try saying that five times fast), it also doesn’t need to prove, meaning you can have a homemade loaf of bread on your table in less than an hour.
Ingredients:
- 350g plain white flour
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1tbsp bicarbonate of soda
- 285ml buttermilk
Method:
- Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Gradually add the buttermilk and mix with your hands or a wooden spoon.
- With flour on your hands, form the mixture into a ball and place into a deep oven-proof dish.
- Bake at 220°C for 35-40 minutes, or until golden.
Three ingredient shortbread
Did you know that traditional shortbread biscuits are made with just three ingredients? All you need is caster sugar, plain flour, and butter. The trick is the 1:2:3 ratio - 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter, 3 parts flour. Just remember that, and you’ll have perfectly buttery crumbly shortbread every time.
Ingredients:
- 50g caster sugar
- 100g unsalted butter
- 150g plain flour
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- In a large bowl, cream together (combine) the butter and caster sugar until and smooth.
- Gradually add the plain flour and mix until a soft dough forms.
- Gently roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1cm thick.
- Cut into rounds or simple shapes – rectangles are traditional - and place onto your prepared baking tray.
- Bake for 15–20 minutes, or until the edges are just turning golden.
- Leave to cool on the tray before serving - if you can wait that long!
We hope you enjoy making these delicious bakes this World Baking Day! You might be thinking that the next step is popping to the shops to get the ingredients, but if you live in the North West, we can deliver them straight to your doorstep.
Our Daily Essentials range includes milk and eggs from local farms, as well as butter, flour and sugar. We deliver across Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Wirral and Warrington, and you can sign up with just a few details. Then just add the ingredients to your basket, and we’ll sort the rest!
