When it comes to Christmas gifting, Lou Robbie – who lives in Co Galway and operates under the social media handle @littleloucooks – likes to add more of a personal touch.
As a chef, cookbook author and mum-of-two, Lou has built a devoted online following by sharing tasty, easy-to-prepare, no-nonsense recipes ideal for today’s busy Irish family.
“Life moves too quickly,” she tells Irish Country Living Food. “But we can find joy in the meals we eat every day. It doesn’t have to be fancy food, but by making just a little bit of effort – making that pot of jam from scratch, or that loaf of bread – adding that little bit in makes such a difference.”
Lou knows all about “finding joy” in everyday foods. Growing up in Co Tipperary, she says she has been food-obsessed her whole life – “I always licked my plate clean,” she says, laughing. She credits her grandparents, who grew their own vegetables, and her mother, who always had freshly baked bread in the kitchen, as her early sources of food inspiration. Once she hit her 20s, Lou’s love of food turned into her profession as she worked her way through restaurant kitchens.
“I really fell into the whole food world, then, and the creativity behind it, as well,” she says.
Seeing how easy it has become for busy families to opt for convenience foods; she launched Little Lou Cooks to show that it doesn’t have to be difficult or time consuming to make food from scratch.
“We’re all time poor; I like to share recipes that aren’t too taxing,” she explains. “A lot of people follow me because they see that they can make these things with ease and without needing any fancy equipment. Whether it’s a batch of cookies or muffins, all you ever really need is a bowl and a jug. I like to encourage people to double recipes and freeze half. That’s a big part of what I do.”
Indeed, this past summer, Lou published her debut cookbook, Make & Freeze: The Ultimate Guide to Family-Friendly Meal Prep, to immediate acclaim. The book was an Irish number one bestseller which just goes to show the number of Irish families who find Lou’s recipes, tips and encouraging attitude so valuable.
It’s no surprise to learn that during the festive season, Lou places huge importance around handmade, edible gifting. Over the years she has built a wide catalogue of gift-worthy recipes for friends, neighbours, teachers, or anyone else she might want to show some gratitude and love to over the Christmas season.
“Everybody’s different,” she says. “I suppose, there are ‘foodie’ food gifts, and then there are sweet things everyone would enjoy. In the past, I’ve done granola as a more ‘foodie’ gift, or I’ve done cookie dough – but you really have to think about who you’re giving this gift to, and how much they would enjoy being part of the cooking or baking process.
“I’d like to share my recipe for Christmas tiffin. It’s a chocolate biscuit traybake with dried fruit and you top it with chocolate and decorations. I love things I can easily portion, so the nice thing about tiffin is you can make a big tray, cut it into squares and that would be enough for probably four different gifts.
“The other recipe is my festive spiced shortbread, which is delicious on its own, but these are really cute. It’s easy to find little gift biscuit tins in shops, and people can repurpose them, so these are sustainable gifts as well. Glass jars are great for edible gifting, too.”
When it comes to a handmade food gifts, Lou believes the presentation element is important, but she also says you don’t have to spend a fortune. Investing in sprinkles or festive ribbon will make a difference.
“For the tiffin, I buy the mixed fruit on sale for Christmas cakes,” she explains. “I’d think about Christmas flavours and how they can be incorporated into everyday recipes. And I invest in some ingredients that just ‘sing’ Christmas.
See littleloucooks.com
Festive spiced shortbread with easy icing
These shortbread biscuits are delicious and look festive thanks to a glaze of icing and some Christmas-ey sprinkles. \ David Ruffles
Makes 30
Ingredients
280g plain flour
60g cornflour
225g salted butter
113g caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
Easy icing, to decorate
For the easy icing:
400g icing sugar, sieved
60ml milk
Christmas sprinkles, to decorate
Method
1. To make the easy icing, place the icing sugar in a bowl and add the milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the icing is smooth and thick, but not too runny. Transfer to a piping bag, or a ziplock bag, and simply snip the corner when it’s time to decorate. For now, set the icing aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan and line two large baking trays with parchment paper.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the softened butter and sugar using a hand mixer.
4. Add the flour, cornflour, and spices. Mix with a wooden spoon, then use your hands to bring it together into a soft dough.
5. Wrap and chill the dough for 30 minutes to firm it up.
6. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 5mm thickness.
7. Cut into your favourite festive shapes. I like to use a simple 2inch round cutter.
8. Arrange the biscuits on your prepared tray, leaving space between each one. If the dough has warmed up, chill again for 20–30 minutes before baking to help hold their shape.
9. Bake for 15–20 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to turn golden.
10. Leave to cool on the tray, they’ll firm up beautifully as they cool. To decorate, pipe on the icing and add the sprinkles to set completely.
For gifting: place in an airtight container, glass jars or tin boxes. Add a best before date: seven days from the date they are made.
Homemade Christmas gifts can be special and they don't have to break the bank. \ David Ruffles
Makes 16
Ingredients
375g digestive biscuits
200g butter
110g runny honey
30g cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
180g finely chopped dates or any dried fruit (like raisins, currants or sultanas)
For the chocolate topping:
200g milk chocolate
100g white chocolate
Christmas sprinkles
Method
1. Grease and line a 20cm square tin with baking paper.
2. Place the digestive biscuits into a ziplock bag and bash them with a rolling pin to break them up or pop them in a food processor to blend. You’re looking for fine crumbs, with a few chunky bits.
3. Add the butter, honey, cocoa powder and vanilla to a large saucepan. Melt everything together over a low heat, stirring frequently, until hot but not boiling.
4. Remove from the heat. Stir in the crushed biscuits and dried fruit, coating everything well in the syrup.
5. Spoon the mixture into your prepared tin and press it down firmly into an even layer.
6. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring in between until smooth. Pour it over the base and spread evenly.
7. Melt the white chocolate in the same way and transfer to a piping bag. Add lines and feather with a cocktail stick. Top with Christmas sprinkles, if using.
8. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or until set.
9 Before cutting, let the tiffin sit at room temperature for 15–20 minutes to prevent the chocolate from cracking. Slice into 16 squares.
For gifting: place some tiffin pieces in a cellophane bag and tie with a red ribbon, or place in a tin gift box with a gift tag. Add best before date: 14 days from the date they are made.
Top tip: You can store the shortbread dough in the fridge – just take it out 20 minutes before rolling.
Read more
The ultimate Christmas baking project: make a gingerbread farm
Leave these classic Christmas cookies out for Santa
When it comes to Christmas gifting, Lou Robbie – who lives in Co Galway and operates under the social media handle @littleloucooks – likes to add more of a personal touch.
As a chef, cookbook author and mum-of-two, Lou has built a devoted online following by sharing tasty, easy-to-prepare, no-nonsense recipes ideal for today’s busy Irish family.
“Life moves too quickly,” she tells Irish Country Living Food. “But we can find joy in the meals we eat every day. It doesn’t have to be fancy food, but by making just a little bit of effort – making that pot of jam from scratch, or that loaf of bread – adding that little bit in makes such a difference.”
Lou knows all about “finding joy” in everyday foods. Growing up in Co Tipperary, she says she has been food-obsessed her whole life – “I always licked my plate clean,” she says, laughing. She credits her grandparents, who grew their own vegetables, and her mother, who always had freshly baked bread in the kitchen, as her early sources of food inspiration. Once she hit her 20s, Lou’s love of food turned into her profession as she worked her way through restaurant kitchens.
“I really fell into the whole food world, then, and the creativity behind it, as well,” she says.
Seeing how easy it has become for busy families to opt for convenience foods; she launched Little Lou Cooks to show that it doesn’t have to be difficult or time consuming to make food from scratch.
“We’re all time poor; I like to share recipes that aren’t too taxing,” she explains. “A lot of people follow me because they see that they can make these things with ease and without needing any fancy equipment. Whether it’s a batch of cookies or muffins, all you ever really need is a bowl and a jug. I like to encourage people to double recipes and freeze half. That’s a big part of what I do.”
Indeed, this past summer, Lou published her debut cookbook, Make & Freeze: The Ultimate Guide to Family-Friendly Meal Prep, to immediate acclaim. The book was an Irish number one bestseller which just goes to show the number of Irish families who find Lou’s recipes, tips and encouraging attitude so valuable.
It’s no surprise to learn that during the festive season, Lou places huge importance around handmade, edible gifting. Over the years she has built a wide catalogue of gift-worthy recipes for friends, neighbours, teachers, or anyone else she might want to show some gratitude and love to over the Christmas season.
“Everybody’s different,” she says. “I suppose, there are ‘foodie’ food gifts, and then there are sweet things everyone would enjoy. In the past, I’ve done granola as a more ‘foodie’ gift, or I’ve done cookie dough – but you really have to think about who you’re giving this gift to, and how much they would enjoy being part of the cooking or baking process.
“I’d like to share my recipe for Christmas tiffin. It’s a chocolate biscuit traybake with dried fruit and you top it with chocolate and decorations. I love things I can easily portion, so the nice thing about tiffin is you can make a big tray, cut it into squares and that would be enough for probably four different gifts.
“The other recipe is my festive spiced shortbread, which is delicious on its own, but these are really cute. It’s easy to find little gift biscuit tins in shops, and people can repurpose them, so these are sustainable gifts as well. Glass jars are great for edible gifting, too.”
When it comes to a handmade food gifts, Lou believes the presentation element is important, but she also says you don’t have to spend a fortune. Investing in sprinkles or festive ribbon will make a difference.
“For the tiffin, I buy the mixed fruit on sale for Christmas cakes,” she explains. “I’d think about Christmas flavours and how they can be incorporated into everyday recipes. And I invest in some ingredients that just ‘sing’ Christmas.
See littleloucooks.com
Festive spiced shortbread with easy icing
These shortbread biscuits are delicious and look festive thanks to a glaze of icing and some Christmas-ey sprinkles. \ David Ruffles
Makes 30
Ingredients
280g plain flour
60g cornflour
225g salted butter
113g caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
Easy icing, to decorate
For the easy icing:
400g icing sugar, sieved
60ml milk
Christmas sprinkles, to decorate
Method
1. To make the easy icing, place the icing sugar in a bowl and add the milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the icing is smooth and thick, but not too runny. Transfer to a piping bag, or a ziplock bag, and simply snip the corner when it’s time to decorate. For now, set the icing aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan and line two large baking trays with parchment paper.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the softened butter and sugar using a hand mixer.
4. Add the flour, cornflour, and spices. Mix with a wooden spoon, then use your hands to bring it together into a soft dough.
5. Wrap and chill the dough for 30 minutes to firm it up.
6. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 5mm thickness.
7. Cut into your favourite festive shapes. I like to use a simple 2inch round cutter.
8. Arrange the biscuits on your prepared tray, leaving space between each one. If the dough has warmed up, chill again for 20–30 minutes before baking to help hold their shape.
9. Bake for 15–20 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to turn golden.
10. Leave to cool on the tray, they’ll firm up beautifully as they cool. To decorate, pipe on the icing and add the sprinkles to set completely.
For gifting: place in an airtight container, glass jars or tin boxes. Add a best before date: seven days from the date they are made.
Homemade Christmas gifts can be special and they don't have to break the bank. \ David Ruffles
Makes 16
Ingredients
375g digestive biscuits
200g butter
110g runny honey
30g cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
180g finely chopped dates or any dried fruit (like raisins, currants or sultanas)
For the chocolate topping:
200g milk chocolate
100g white chocolate
Christmas sprinkles
Method
1. Grease and line a 20cm square tin with baking paper.
2. Place the digestive biscuits into a ziplock bag and bash them with a rolling pin to break them up or pop them in a food processor to blend. You’re looking for fine crumbs, with a few chunky bits.
3. Add the butter, honey, cocoa powder and vanilla to a large saucepan. Melt everything together over a low heat, stirring frequently, until hot but not boiling.
4. Remove from the heat. Stir in the crushed biscuits and dried fruit, coating everything well in the syrup.
5. Spoon the mixture into your prepared tin and press it down firmly into an even layer.
6. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring in between until smooth. Pour it over the base and spread evenly.
7. Melt the white chocolate in the same way and transfer to a piping bag. Add lines and feather with a cocktail stick. Top with Christmas sprinkles, if using.
8. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or until set.
9 Before cutting, let the tiffin sit at room temperature for 15–20 minutes to prevent the chocolate from cracking. Slice into 16 squares.
For gifting: place some tiffin pieces in a cellophane bag and tie with a red ribbon, or place in a tin gift box with a gift tag. Add best before date: 14 days from the date they are made.
Top tip: You can store the shortbread dough in the fridge – just take it out 20 minutes before rolling.
Read more
The ultimate Christmas baking project: make a gingerbread farm
Leave these classic Christmas cookies out for Santa
SHARING OPTIONS