Scones, Cookies and Dubai Chocolate

We’ve been busy baking in the Hyde household during the past week. I’ve not baked so much over recent months but I still enjoy making cakes and cookies when I get the opportunity. These Paul Hollywood scones were first out of the oven last weekend. We had family visiting and scones always go down well. They’re quick and easy to make and taste best fresh from the oven. You can find Paul Hollywood’s scone recipe on his YouTube channel here – Paul Hollywood

I made two scone batches. One plain and the other with fruit. I added 110g of sultanas to the second mix. They turned out fine and had a rise as good as the plain scones. The fruit scones were the most popular with our guests.

Next up I made a batch of Pumpkin Spice NY Style Cookies. All my cookie recipes come from the guys at Crumbs and Doilies. The recipe for these cookies, and their other varieties, can be found here: Spiced Pumpkin NY Cookie Recipe.

I make a lot of cookies. They’re easy and taste great. The best thing is the frozen cookie dough balls can sit in the freezer until you’re ready for them. They need to bake for 16 minutes straight from the freezer. I used dark chocolate chips in my Pumpkin Spice Cookies as I prefer that to the white chocolate chips used in the original recipe.

Finally whilst I’ve been busy making cakes my wife Linda has been making Dubai Chocolate bars. We brought kadaifi back from our recent holiday in Kos, Greece. Kadaifi is not readily available in the UK and it’s the main ingredient in the Dubai chocolate filling. It’s mixed with pistachio paste and then covered in tempered milk chocolate. She had enough kadaifi to make sixteen bars. A few lucky people will be receiving a special chocolate treat this Xmas 🙂

Photography Notes: All the images above were shot with my vintage Nikon 50mm f1.4 lens paired with my Fujifilm X-T5. I also used a Fujifilm Portra 400 film recipe which adds to the vintage glow. The chocolate originally had a nice sheen but the surface had dulled after the bars were stored in the fridge.

All images: ©Stephen Hyde 2007-2026 – All rights reserved.