Our kids are getting to the age now where we are getting home from school and racing out again to other activities – so afternoon tea needs to be quick and give them a good energy boost! These are a great snack for little people on the go … and for their Mumma too!
6 medjool dates, pitted
150g Free Nut Butter
100g Agave syrup
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 tsp mixed spice
20g chia meal
2 cups GF rolled oats
1 cup puffed rice
50g rolled quinoa
You can find my recipe for homemade Free Nut Butter here: https://itchinkitchen.com/2015/01/22/nut-butter-substitute-free-nut-butter/
Use a food processor to blitz the dates, then place in a large saucepan together with the Free Nut Butter, agave, vanilla and spice. Melt all ingredients together over a gentle heat.
Return mixture to the food processor and add oats, chia and quinoa. Process until oats are finely chopped and mixed well.
Add puffed rice and pulse until combined (but not finely chopped)
Roll a teaspoonful of the mixture into a ball and store in airtight container in the fridge .
Makes about 30.
For a Thermal cooker (TMX, Bellini etc):
Blitz dates and Free Nut Butter on speed 9 for 10 seconds.
Scrape down sides and cook on 1ooC at speed 3 for 2 minutes.
Add vanilla, agave and spices and cook again on 100C at speed 3 for 1 minute.
Add oats, chia and quinoa and process on speed 7 for 20 seconds.
Add rice and process on speed 4 for about 10 seconds.
I have bought packaged roasted pumpkin seed squares in store before. They were delicious … but boy, were they expensive! $6 for a little packet – eek!
So here is my super simple version!
250g pumpkin seeds, dry roasted
2 tbsp chia seeds/hemp seeds
2 tbsp rice malt syrup
pinch pink salt
Dry roast the pumpkin seeds. I do this on a lined baking tray under the grill in my oven. Watch them very carefully. They only take a few minutes. Mix and turn the seeds and return them to the oven (a couple of times if necessary) so that they seeds are golden brown all over and puffing up.
Place the syrup in a bowl, then while the pumpkin seeds are still hot, tip them into the syrup, also add the chia/hemp seeds and salt. Work quickly to mix the 4 ingredients well together – the heat from the seeds melts the syrup and makes it easy to work with.
Place on a lined baking tray and cook in a pre-heated 150C oven for about 25 minutes.
Allow to cool completely before cutting in to squares and storing in an air tight container in a cool place. Best to put a sheet of baking paper between layers when you store, otherwise they stick a bit to each other.
Extra additions:
For a nutty version, add in 100g of your favourite chopped nut. You’ll need to add an additional 1/2 tbsp of syrup too.
This one is a work morning tea favourite!
For a Christmas version, add in a good handful of dried cranberries and the finely grated zest of 1/2 an orange.
Peanut butter was a staple for me growing up – I loved it and have missed it a lot since out house went peanut free. Then I discovered Free Nut Butter, made by Eskal. It is an amazing substitute, made from roasted sunflower seeds.
Sadly there has been some difficulties with supply in Australia recently. It is back in stock in some places, but it is difficult to find and now costs between $11-$12 for a jar – eek!
We use it a lot in our house as the base for nut free satay, cookies, ice cream and just in sandwiches and on fruit etc. The new price was becoming quite prohibitive, so I decided to have a go at making my own, guesstimating the quantities and ingredients from the list on an old jar and was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked!
I have done this in my food processor, a borrowed Thermomix and my Bellini – The food processor wasn’t able to get a smooth butter, but worked well to give a crunchy spread.
550g sunflower seeds, dry roasted*
Optional additions:
1/2-1 tbsp sugar or maple syrup (depending on your sweet tooth)
1/2 tsp flaked salt
Roast the seeds. I do this on a lined baking tray under the grill in my oven. Watch them very carefully. They only take a few minutes. Mix and turn the seeds and return them to the oven (a couple of times if necessary) so that they seeds are golden brown all over. Allow to cool for a few minutes.
Place seeds in machine and blitz on speed 10 for 30 secs.
Scrape down sides then add sugar and salt if you’re using them.
Blitz in speed 10 for about 40 secs, stopping once to scrape down sides.
Continue to blitz on speed 8 at 30 sec intervals until you get desired consistency. I did another 90 seconds this time.
This makes a large jar, about double the quantity of the jars in store.
*to add some variety to your spread, swap out some of the sunflower seeds and add in your favourite nuts or seeds. Just stick to the same dry weight in total.
It’s getting close to the end of holiday and return to school time for my 2 biggest munchkins … sob!
So I have been thinking ahead to lunchboxes again. These delightful little guys are based on these ones from TRTLMT.
and I have just adapted them to suit our allergy needs. See below the recipe for variations with ginger and seed butter.
They are super delicious and quick to make, and all in our family heartily approve. Much nicer (and cheaper!) for lunchboxes than the packaged ones.
60g vegan butter*
140g honey/maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
260g flour of choice (I use spelt or a plain GF mix with about 1 tsp of psyllium)
3/4 tsp bicarb soda
In a saucepan, over a medium heat, melt together the butter, honey and vanilla (100C, speed 2 for 2 11/2 mins or until completely melted). Remove from stove
Whisk in the bicarb (Speed 3, 5 secs) and then add the flours (speed 5 for 15 seconds).
Mix gently until combined.
Tip out on to a silicone mat or floured work surface and allow to cool for a few minutes.
Roll out the dough into a large rectangle about 2mm thick (much thicker and you don’t get the same crunchy texture as store-bought ones).
This is the most time-consuming part … Use a teddy cutter to cut the shapes and place on a lined baking tray.
Cook in a preheated moderate oven for about 8 minutes, or until golden brown. My oven in fan forced so I do them for 7 minutes.
Leave on tray to harden and cool. Store in an airtight container for about a week.
Makes about 120, depending on the sized cutter you use … and how much dough your helpers eats in the process 😉
Enjoy!
To make a ginger snap version of these bikkies: Replace the honey with equal weight of maple syrup and replace the vanilla with 1.5 tsp ground ginger and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon. These are a much quicker to make than traditional gingerbread but very similar in taste…. and now my house smells like Christmas in September!
*if you are wanting to eat less butter, you can replace half or even all of the straight butter with a nut or seed butter off your choice. We love our sunflower seed butter. Be warned that it does make a darker coloured bikkie though …. If that is important to your little ones 😉
Today we were heading out to a party but when I went to the freezer to grab out a safe cake for miss Ellie – there were none left … eek!
So, with an hour to go before we needed to leave … these cookies were the made-up-on-the-spot result. They have now been a firm favourite for the past 4 years!
I use legumes in soooo many things, little powerhouses of fibre and protein and so good for your gut health – but I was inspired to add legumes to my cookies by TRTLMT
We most often use chick peas, but when I’m after a little variety, or the pantry dictates, we also used butter beans and kidney beans. They are all delish!
My little miss loves them – I’m pretty sure she’d eaten about 6 of them by the end of the day while I wasn’t paying too much attention … oops!
See below the recipe for the Coeliac friendly option.
120g rolled oats
30g nuts or seeds of choice (I’m partial to hemp, pumpkin or flax seeds here)
your choice of decorations (cachous, sprinkles, nuts etc)
* you can use butter, vegan butter or any nut butter here – or any combination of them too!
** We don’t use the additional sugar when we make these for our family, as we are used to less sweet food. But if you are used to sweeter baked goods then you might like to start out with the sugar in – you can decrease it over time if it suits your family and your taste.
Place all of the dry ingredients into your processing bowl and blitz until fine (speed 10 for 10 seconds).
Add in the dates through the top hole one at a time whilst processing (speed 4). Once the dates are all added continue processing until really well combined, and there are no large bits of dates visible (turn up to speed 7 and blitz for another 30 seconds).
Add in the chick peas, seed butter, vanilla and syrup/sugar (if using) and process until the dough begins to clump together. (Speed 6, then up to 7 for about 20 seconds)
This is quite a thick mix. Use a teaspoon to scoop out and using damp hands roll it into balls, place it on to a lined baking tray and press down gently with a fork.
Decorate, if desired before placing in the oven. Because this is not a wet mix, the decorations do not stick so well if sprinkled from above. I placed the decorations in a small bowl and then picked up the cookies and pressed them upside down into the bowl.
Bake in a preheated moderate oven for 13-15 minutes.
These are often the request of my littlest sous-chef 🙂
Allow to cool and store in an air tight container – they last best in the freezer and defrost really well.
Makes about 20.
Enjoy 🙂
To make these Coeliac friendly replace the oats with 80g of rolled quinoa and 50g puffed rice. You can also use shredded coconut or seeds or any combination of these GF ingredients in equal weight to replace the oats. For a very simple switch, use 100g of a Gluten free flour mix plus 1 tsp of psyllium.
We had a particularly successful crop of beetroot from our veggie garden this year – and I was a bit stuck as to what to do with them. My friend, Kym, put me on to a lovely raw beetroot salad.
I have tweaked it a bit – but you can find the original here: http://www.allergyfreealaska.com/2013/01/22/raw-beet-carrot-apple-salad-with-ginger-lime-dressing/
2 beetroots
2 apples (I like Fuji’s and that’s what grows on our fruit trees – or pears to be safe for William)
2 carrots
a large piece of cucumber
2 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey/maple syrup
Grate the fruit and veg – food processor is easiest.
In a jar, add the ginger, lime, honey and oil and shake until well combined.
Place the salad in a bowl and mix well, then dress.
I have served this on it’s own as a side dish at BBQ’s, but my two favourite ways to eat it are with some crumbed chicken or with a good handful of spinach and some lemon pepper salmon.
If you are making the salad ahead of time, I suggest keeping the beetroot separate until closer to serving time so it doesn’t bleed quite so much and turn everything very pink 😉
This makes about enough for 8 and it keeps well in the fridge for a few days (I often make a half mix and have it for lunch over 4 days).
Yesterday was hot in Perth. Really hot. Over 44C. Not very pleasant at all.
Thankfully, we were able to beat the heat because my very generous parents shared their delightful pool with us … and we took this sweet icy treat along.
600g frozen, very ripe mango
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp lime juice
Allow mango to defrost for a few minutes, then add all ingredients into a high-powered processor or blender and blitz until well combined and creamy.
Eat immediately if you want a soft serve type ice-cream or return to the freezer until it is hard enough to scoop.
If you want to turn this into a sorbet, also add about 2 dozen ice cubes to the blender.
Makes about 10-12 scoops.
Enjoy!
Personally, I think it is best served whilst floating in the pool 😉
Allow the bananas to defrost for a few minutes then place all ingredients into a high-powered processor or blender and blitz until well combined and creamy.
Eat immediately if you want a ‘soft serve’ type ice cream or place in the freezer until more solid for a version that you can scoop into cones.
Makes about 16 scoops. Store in freezer … if there’s any left 😉
No pretending here …. chocolate chip, gingerbread pancakes are a sometimes food!! Definitely for special occasions … and what better occasion than the celebration of the birth of our Saviour?!
I have adapted these from My Whole Food Life and you can find the original here
1 3/4 cups GF SR flour (or 2 cups spelt)
1 tbsp coconut sugar
3 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp aquafaba OR 2 flax eggs OR 2 small eggs
1/4 cup pureed apple (or unsweetened apple sauce)
1 1/4 cups milk of choice
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/3 cup chopped dark choc of choice
Mix together the flour, sugar, spices and salt in one bowl. (Speed 4, 6 seconds, then set aside).
In another bowl combine the milk, syrup, apple and aquafaba (or eggs). Whisk until well combined. (Speed 5, 10 seconds).
Combine the dry and wet ingredients and then stir through the chocolate. (Add the dry mix back into the thermal cooker bowl that contains the wet mix and speed 4 for 10 seconds, then add choc and use speed 4 for 5 seconds).
Cook tablespoons of the mixture in a hot frying pan – turn when bubbles appear and cook until both sides are golden brown.
Serve warm … with some extra syrup if you want to be really decadent!
My preference for this recipe now is to use the Aquafaba because they give a lighter more ‘normal’ pancake. They also make the mix more liquid so it is easier to just pour into the hot pan.
Itchin' Kitchen 