Jessica Bakes-Well

If, like me, you avoid processed food as much as possible, you probably turn your nose up at ready made cakes and packets of cake mix on supermarket shelves. I suppose there are a few good products out there, but nothing tastes quite the same as a batch of biscuits or cakes straight out of your oven. At times convenience is a necessity, when our busy lives take over and you are craving a sugar fix, but that doesn't mean we need to reach for a box full of additives and powder that has sat in a warehouse for months and will result in cakes that taste of cardboard! Help is at hand for busy bakers, from the team at Jessica Bakes-Well, with their range of artisan cookie, brownie, gingerbread and flapjack jars.

With all of the ingredients ( minus 1 egg and some butter) layered up in beautifully packages jars, you have everything you need to make a quick batch of sweet treats. All of the the ingredients are high quality and, of course, are lovingly put together by an independent company, which is another great plus for me. I came across the jars at Big You, Little You, who are one of a growing number of stockists. With classic flavours such as chocolate brownies and apple strudel, there is bound to be a flavour that would suit the whole family. I plumped for buying the gluten free Eton Mess cookie mix, a good choice it turned out. My daughter and I had lots of fun making the cookies and I was glad to see that it did cut down on the amount of mess that can be made by a 2 year old and a bag of flour. Instructions were simple; beat one egg and add softened butter, combine then add contents of jar!

I do prefer to bake from scratch but these jars really are second best for those lazy days.The cookies really did taste good and I am looking forward to trying a few more, perhaps from the Christmas selection, which includes cute Christmas eve kits for little ( and big) ones.