Strawberry boost muffins

November 11, 2016March 9, 2017 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes you just really need cake.

Yesterday was one of those afternoons.

And since I had a mountain of rapidly deteriorating strawberries and I wanted something that would actually fill me up long enough to last until dinner, I made up these little guys. They are sweet and filling – a few tweaks on my pear surprise muffins (I made the ‘surprise’ dark chocolate part with half of the batch for the kids too).

125g stewed/tinned pears (drained from their juices)
115g ripe strawberries
50g vegan butter/tasteless coconut oil, melted
160g milk of choice (I love unsweetend vanilla almond milk here)
1 medium overripe banana
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (omit this if you use the vanilla almond milk)
1 1/2 cups wholemeal spelt flour OR 1 1/4 cups GF flour mix (I like Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose) plus 1/4 cup almond/seed meal
1/2 cup rolled oats OR desiccated coconut OR rolled quinoa (mill these first if you want to hide the ‘bits’) – you can also use nut or seed meal here
2 tbsp flax seeds (Optional)
1.5 tsp GF baking powder
pinch pink salt flakes
OPTIONAL: 2-4 tbsp coconut sugar or maple syrup – if you have a sweet tooth.

Into your blender/processor/nutribullet/thermal cooker place the strawberries, pear, banana, Nuttelex/oil, vanilla, milk and syrup (if using). Blitz until smooth (Speed 7, 12 seconds)

In a separate bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients (Speed 4, 6 seconds)

Add the dry mix to the wet and mix to combine (Speed 4, 8 seconds, scrape down and repeat). Don’t over beat. I often just tip the wet mix into the bowl with the flour mix and combine by hand.

Spoon mix into a lined standard muffin tin and place in a preheated moderate oven for about 20 minutes or til golden and they spring back to a light touch.

Allow to cool on a wire rack … then enjoy in peace with a cuppa …wishful thinking?!

Makes 12 and they freeze and defrost well.

Enjoy 🙂

Strawberry, apple and chia jam

October 15, 2016October 17, 2016 ~ desertcook ~ 1 Comment

Yesterday I did our markets shopping was seriously delighted to find a tray of strawberries for $8.

15 punnets of those bad boys – that’s a lot of berries!

We have several punnets in the fridge, I hulled 6 punnets and froze them for smoothies and baking and use another punnet in my morning muffins …. and there was still more.

So … jam it is – why not get a head start on teacher’s Christmas gifts?!

I’ve never made a preserved jam in my Bellini (Thermal Cooker before) so this was my first go …. and it so very easy!!

Now – this is lower in added sugar than most jams, and it is unrefined sugar – but it is still a lot of sugar… so, you know – be sensible 😉

600g punnet strawberries, hulled
400g sugar of choice (I used coconut sugar)
the juice of 1 lemon
1 green apple, chopped (skin on)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 tbsp chia seeds

Place the strawberries in the bottom on the machine, then add all the other ingredients, except the chia seeds.

Set the machine to 100C, Speed 2 for 15 minutes.

Then turn the temp up to ST (Steam Temp), but the speed down to 1 for a further 15 minutes.

Add in the chia seeds and and cook on ST, Speed 2 for a further 8 mins.

Check that it is ready (Check out these tips from Taste on checking for setting point)

Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal.

*If you don’t have a thermal cooking machine, check out my Mulberry jam post for a traditional jam making method*

Enjoy!!

Banana, Seed & Oat Muffins

August 27, 2016January 6, 2019 ~ desertcook ~ 4 Comments

These muffins are super easy to make (quick enough that we’ve had them fresh for breakfast!), they are light, moist and sweet but low on sugars, they freeze well for lunchboxes, and best of all – my little people love them!

See below the recipe for the Coeliac friendly version.

300g spelt flour (half wholemeal)
3 heaped tbsp of your favourite seed (mill these first if you want to hide them!)
1/3 cup rolled oats (mill these too if you need to hide ‘bits’)
2.5 tsp GF baking powder
3 tbsp honey/maple syrup/date paste
3 tbsp melted Nuttelex/Vegan butter/tasteless coconut oil**
1 large overripe banana
220ml milk of choice (I love unsweetened vanilla almond milk here)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
pinch pink salt flakes

Into your blender/processor/nutribullet/thermo cooker place the banana, Nuttelex, vanilla, milk and honey. Blitz until smooth (Speed 7, 10 seconds)

In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking powder, salt, oats, seeds and flour.

Add the dry mix to the wet and mix to combine (Speed 4, 10 seconds, scrape down and repeat). Don’t over beat. I often just tip the wet mix into the bowl with the flour mix and combine by hand.

Spoon into muffin pans (lined or well greased) and bake in a preheated moderate oven for about 20 mins or until they are well browns and spring back when gently pressed.

Makes 14-6.

Enjoy 🙂

For an even more nutritious muffin, I reduce the flour by 50g and add in another 50g of almond or seed meal.

To make these ones Coeliac friendly I replaced the spelt with 1.5 cups GF flour and 1/2 cup almond/seed meal mix, then replace the oats with equal measure of rolled quinoa or desiccated coconut. Increase the milk by an additional 2 tbsp.

** If you want to cut back on your oils, 1 heaped tbsp of sunflower seed butter (or other nut butter) plus 2 tbsp of aquafaba work well here to replace the 3 tbsp of oil.

Super Simple Hot Chocolate

June 7, 2016 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

A cold, rainy day and my kids beg for hot chocolate … but I’ve just started a 1 month no extra grocery shoping challenge….

No problems!

My crazy babies love this powder and it made for a very happy afternoon tea 🙂 (together with my Honey and Banana Pancakes)

4 tbsp cocoa
4 tbsp coconut sugar (or your choice of sugar)
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/4 tsp pink salt

Place all of your ingredients in a powerful blender/processor/nutribullet/thermal cooker.

And blitz until fine and really well combined (there should be no clumps or hint of the wet paste left). (use Speed 9 for 10 seconds).

Use powder as you would for any hot chocolate. And store in an airtight container.

My kids have 1 teaspoon, half a cup of hot water, then topped up with their milk …. and a few mini marshmallows (egg, dairy and gluten free of course!)

Enjoy 🙂

Vanilla Almond Pikelets (Hotcakes)

June 4, 2016February 16, 2025 ~ desertcook ~ 7 Comments

Light and fluffy pikelets (or you might know them as hotcakes?!) – are a very popular weekend breakfast in our house.

These are light, fluffy and fragrant and they get absolutely demolished …. by all 6 of us!

1 1/2 cups flour (half wholemeal) OR 1 1/3 cups plain GF flour mix
1/2 cup almond meal OR a seed meal mix
2 tsp GF baking powder
1 1/2 cups milk of choice
30g melted butter/nuttelex/light tasting oil
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 whole egg OR 3 tbsp aquafaba (liquid drained from can of chick peas) OR 1 medium, overripe banana, well mashed
Optional- 1 tbsp sugar or maple syrup*
Optional – 1/4 cup hemp seeds
toppings of choice to serve
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (optional)

*We don’t add any sweetener when we use a ripe banana in the mix, but taste test and adjust according to your preference.

In a large bowl whisk together all of your dry ingredients (Speed 4, 10 seconds). Then set aside.

Mix together the oil/butter, milk and vanilla and whisk until well combined. If you are using the maple syrup, aquafaba, banana or an egg, add in at this step. (Blend all together on speed 5 for 8 secs)

Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and whisk well to combine. (Speed 4, 10 seconds, scrape down and repeat).

Fold through the blueberries (Use speed 3 for 15 seconds), if using. Vanilla, almonds and blueberries go so well together!

Pour the batter into a preheated (medium heat) lightly greased frying pan, wait until bubbles appear on the surface, then flip and cook until both sides are golden brown.

Add your topping of choice and serve warm.

These ones also freeze and defrost really well. I tend to make a double batch and then freeze 2 together, sandwich style, with vegan butter or sunflower seed butter in the middle for an easy, low mess snack -perfect for lunchboxes or rushed school morning breakfast!

Enjoy … We sure do!

For Easter we have tuned our pikelets in to bunny butts! So cute as they run away!

A bigger one for the body and 2 smaller ones for the feet – decorate with your imagination.

We like Bananas, dates and seed butter as a great combo, or if you’re a serious sweet tooth, whipped cream and dark chocolate!

Honey and Banana pancakes

May 17, 2016February 23, 2018 ~ desertcook ~ 3 Comments

I have discovered (through many an unpleasant experience) that my kids come out of school ‘hangry’ (hungry which makes you angry!) in the afternoons.

I need to have food prepared for them to shovel in quickly …. then mostly we can cope better with the afternoon homework and jobs .

These are the snack we made to ward off the hangries today – and they were demolished in mere minutes.

1 cup spelt flour
1 cup oat flour
2 tsp GF baking powder
pinch Himilayan salt
100g honey/maple syrup
1 large overripe banana
45g Nuttelex/vegan butter
1.5 cups milk of choice
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste.

For the coeliac friendly version replace the above flours with: 1 2/3 cups plain GF flour mix plus 1 tsp psyllium

Into your blender/processor/nutribullet/thermo cooker place the banana, Nuttelex, vanilla, milk and honey. Blitz until smooth (Speed 7, 10 seconds)

In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking powder, salt and flour (and psyillium if using).

Add the dry mix to the wet and mix to combine (Speed 4, 10 seconds, scrape down and repeat).

Place tablespoons of the mix into a hot, greased frying pan.

Cook until bubbles appear and pop, then flip and cook until the second side is golden.

Serve warm or cold with a little butter of choice …. I think they’re especially great with a smear of sunflower seed butter and some blueberries!

Enjoy 🙂

Breakfast Muffins

January 17, 2016November 26, 2016 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

In just a couple of short weeks school will be going back. Back to early rising, back to strict bedtimes and (almost) military style routines, back to a mad rush to leave the house with all 4 children fed, washed, clothed, packed and ready by 8am. Gosh, I love holidays!!!

Almost always porridge is the go for breakfast at our place. They all enjoy it and I can make up a big saucepan-full and everyone is happy. But for some reason, on some mornings, the getting ready process just doesn’t work well and we run late (please tell me that this happens to everyone!!).

To help on those occasions, I like to have these muffins in the freezer so I can give them a decent breakfast that they can eat while we’re walking to school. Most muffins are pretty well cakes in disguise but these guys have fruit sugars and lots of fibre and wholegrains to keep their little bodies going.

See below the recipe for a coeliac friendly option

2 medium overripe bananas (I keep some frozen)
4 Gluten-free Weetbix
50g rolled oats
6 large medjool dates, pitted
80g melted tasteless coconut oil, or other light tasting oil
235g milk of choice (we mostly use oat milk or unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
200g spelt flour (I do half wholemeal)
2 tsp GF baking powder
OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup frozen blueberries or 2 tbsp Chocolate Drinking mix

Place the oats in the food processor and blitz until fine (Speed 6, 10 seconds).

Add in the weet-bix, flour and baking powder and process well (Speed 5, 10 seconds). Tip out and set aside.

Place the banana, milk and oil in the bowl and begin processing, adding the dates one at a time through the chute at the top. Process until the dates are finely chopped and evenly distributed. (Speed 4 whilst adding the dates, and then up to speed 7 for 10 seconds). This also works really well in a blender or nutribullet.

Add dry mix to wet and process until combined (Speed 4, 12 seconds). I think this is has a lighter result if you fold through by hand though.

I normally separate the mix into 2 at this point as I have 1 child who doesn’t like blueberries (weird!). Fold the blueberries through the mix you do want them in and then scoop mix into a lined muffin tin.

Place into a preheated moderate oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and skewer comes out clean.

Makes 14 muffins. They freeze well and are especially yummy served slightly warm.

To make these coeliac friendly: Use 1 extra weet-bix and 1 tbsp rolled quinoa to replace the oats. To replace the spelt, use 200g GF flour mix. Increase the milk up to 240mls.

If you don’t have or enjoy dates then you could use a few tbsp of maple syrup or even coconut sugar in their place.

They are also particularly yummy if you replace the dates and berries with 2 tablespoons of my chocolate drinking mix (gives them a great nutritional boost too!)

Sometimes I make these and remove the oats and weet-bix with 1 tbsp each of Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds and chia seeds, plus 25g raw almond, 1 tbsp psyllium and 30g rolled quinoa. Milled down and stirred through the flour – this gives an especially good result when you’re using a gluten free flour.

Enjoy 🙂

Pumpkin Scones

January 3, 2016June 9, 2024 ~ desertcook ~ 2 Comments

One of my lasting memories of church as a little one was heading out to morning tea after the service, dearly hoping that Rilda was on roster, and devouring her amazing pumpkin scones.

Rilda has gone to be with God now, but we still remember her fondly – I hope this recipe might go some way towards doing justice to her scones 🙂

When I served them up to my husband and kids this morning they were certainly devoured! 2 enthusiastic thumbs up from everyone. I had to hide 4 of the 16 away before there were only crumbs remaining!

1/2 cup cooked and mashed pumpkin (roughly 135g)**
1/2 cup milk of choice
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
50g butter/plant based butter
60g sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp aquafaba (liquid drained from a can of chick peas) or 1 egg
2 1/2 cup plain flour (or 2 cups GF flour and 1/2 cup almond meal)
2 1/2 tsp GF baking powder.

Place the milk and vinegar in a bowl and whisk together vigorously until it is quite frothy (Speed 4, 20 seconds). Then set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar in a stand mixer (Speed 4, 20 seconds, scrape down)

Add in the egg/aquafaba and mix well (speed 3, 6 seconds).

Add in the pumpkin and stir through until combined (Speed 4, 8 seconds)

Whilst mixing, gently add in the frothy milk mix (Speed 3)

Add in the spices and baking powder and mix briefly, then add in the flour (and almond meal if using) and mix to bring together. (Speed 4, 10 seconds, scrape down and repeat).

Tip on to floured surface and bring together – dough is quite sticky.

20160103_100648 — Spelt dough on left and GF on right

Roughly roll out to about 2cm thick and use scone cutter to cut out.

Place on a lined baking tray and put into preheated 200C oven (190C if fan forced) for 12-14 minutes.

20160103_101317 — Spelt on left and GF on right – oops, I rolled the GF ones a little too thin this time!

Scones should rise, be golden brown and sound hollow when sharply tapped on the bottom.

Serve warm or cool with vegan butter.

Spelt

Makes about 18

Enjoy 🙂

**P.S I have taken to making extra when I do roast pumpkin for dinner and I keep aside the 135g I need to make scones for the next day. I think the roasted veg gives an even better flavour!

Chocolate Rice Cereal (Cocoa Pops)

December 31, 2015September 24, 2017 ~ desertcook ~ 4 Comments

When we were growing up, my brother and I, used to hang out for school holidays and the much coveted ‘1 box of holiday cereal’!

It was always either Froot Loops or Cocoa Pops – stuff that was never otherwise allowed in our home! We would be up at the crack of dawn the first day to make sure that one of us didn’t get a bigger serve than the other 😀

Now the ‘special cereal’ tradition has been passed on to my kids … but there is just no way I could put that stuff in my trolley … even if it wasn’t for the allergies! Freedom Foods makes a pretty decent chocolate cereal that is fairly low in sugar and has extra fibre from chic peas and psyllium but it is a little box and with 4 excited kids – it makes it a very expensive treat that disappears after only 2 days!

So, I’ve had a go at making my own version of Cocoa Pops, inspired by my Sweet and Salty Puffed Corn. They are yummo – Even I have been tempted by a bowl 😉

170g puffed brown rice
2 tbsp tasteless coconut oil
1 tbsp sunflower seed butter (or nut butter)
3 tbsp rice malt syrup
3 heaped tsp cocoa powder (or 2 of cacao)
1/4 tsp Himalayan salt
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

In a saucepan, place the oil, seed butter syrup, salt and vanilla. Cook over a gentle heat until all melted (90C, speed 2, approx 90 seconds).

Remove from heat and stir in the cocoa until you have a smooth but runny chocolate syrup.

Pour in puffed rice and mix until well coated. Initially it wont seem like enough mixture, but keep mixing, it will cover it all. I find this easier to do either in a very large saucepan or my big roasting tray – the thermal cookers aren’t quite big enough for this quantity, but do half at a time if you’d prefer to do it in one. Use the blunt blade (or reverse function in the TMX) and a very low speed.

Spread out on 2 lined baking trays (so it’s not too thick a layer) and place in a pre-heated 160C oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes, stirring once about half way through.

Allow to cool completely so they go crispy. Store in an airtight container in the cupboard, and serve as you would any cereal.

My kids have enjoyed it with cold milk and also just eating it as a snack!

Enjoy 🙂

Chocolate Protein Drink (‘Milo’ Substitute)

October 26, 2015March 26, 2017 ~ desertcook ~ 12 Comments

My big boys love Milo. My husband loves Milo … and quite frankly, I’d quite happily eat it straight from the tin too if it wasn’t for the health concerns …. I suspect all Aussie kids would have done it at one time in their lives 😀

But it’s not an option for my little miss and I’d really rather that my boys weren’t getting the refined sugar, oils and additives from it either. So I’ve been trying to find a way to make a home made version that we could all enjoy.

This is a pretty good approximation. I have to tell you that it is not like eating the original (for obvious reasons!), so please don’t expect an exact replica, or you will be a bit disappointed! But it is sweet, chocolatey and has crunchy bits when mixed with cold milk. So if you are you missing a chocolately drink or you just want a healthier version, then this is a good place to start!

For us, it is also a simple way to make sure that our biggest boy gets the weekly Hazelnut quota that he requires after his nut challenge.

I based my mix on this one from Changing Habits.

3 tbsp each of sunflower, pumpkin, chia and flax seeds
1/2 cup roasted almonds
1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts (skin off)
1/2 cup cacao powder OR 3/4 cup cocoa
1 cup coconut sugar

Place nuts and seeds in high power processor and process until fine – be careful not to overdo it and wind up with a butter! (Speed 8, 8 seconds).

Add in cacao and sugar and process again to combine (Speed 4, 6 seconds).

Store in airtight jars. Makes 2 large jars.

Use as you would use Milo. I doesn’t completely dissolve in cold milk because of the nuts and seeds, but the cacao and sugar do giving the milk a chocolatey appearance whilst leaving the crunchy bits, typical of Milo. Don’t use with hot milk – the chia and flax seeds give a gelatinous mix if you do!

We use it in milkshakes, on top of porridge, in pancakes or even sprinkled on to frozen banana ‘ice cream’. Yum!!

2 out of my 3 bigger kids drank it and loved it. Harry wasn’t convinced with just plain milk, but we have discovered that he loves it in a milk shake (you can find his favourite milkshake recipe at the end of the post!). My husband drank it and enjoyed it although knew that it was different to ‘the real stuff’! Ellie and George … well … they likes to eat it by the spoonful!

If you want a really fine mix, try using the milling blade in a smaller bullet type blender (like a Nutribullet).

For a nut free version:

3 tbsp each of chia and flax seeds
3/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds
3/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
3/4 cup cacao powder
1 1/4 cups coconut sugar

To dry roast the seeds, place them in a large baking tray under the grill, on the shelf furthest away in the oven. Watch them carefully … it only takes a few minutes! Flip seeds in tray a few times during cooking process to ensure even cooking coverage.

Allow seeds to cool before adding to processor with chia and flax. Follow above method for remainder of recipe.

Enjoy 🙂

Harry’s Choc Shake: