My big boy has been having a tough time lately. So when we have an afternoon at home (which is rare!) he is pretty keen to spend one on one time with me.

Pre-teens often don’t want to sit and talk in a formal, eye contact kind of way … so cooking and working along side each other provides a really good opportunity to talk and try to sort somethings through.

Today he asked to make cookies. We’d tried a white choc cranberry cookie from the shops recently but they were SUPER sweet and his tummy didn’t feel so great after them (probably would have been ok if he had one and not three though!!)

So we adapted our regular choc chip cookies and came up with these beauties.

• 3/4 cup sugar (we like the caramel taste of coconut sugar)
• 1 1/3 cup plain flour (half wholemeal) OR 1 1/4 cup GF Flour plus 1 tsp psyllium
• 1/3 cup rolled oats OR shredded coconut
• 1 tsp GF baking powder
• pinch pink salt flakes
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice or cinnamon
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/3 cup hemp or flax seeds
• 1/3 cup white choc chip (which ever suit your diet – Sweet William is a winner for us)
• 150g vegan butter, melted (but not too hot or it will melt your choc chips!)
• Optional: zest of 1/2 an orange, finely grated

In your food processor or thermal cooker place the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, oats and cinnamon. Blitz to a coarse flour (speed 8, 8 secs)

Add in the cranberries and seeds and mix again until combined (Speed 4, 6 secs). Blitz for longer if you want less obvious ‘bits’

Add in the butter through the chute at the top whilst mixing (on Speed 4) and mix until well combined (about 10 seconds)

Add in the chocolate and mix until just combined (Speed 4, 6 seconds)

Form a teaspoon full into a ball and spoon onto a lined baking tray, allowing space to spread. Press down gently.

Cook in a preheated moderate oven for 14-15 minutes.

They will be soft when you remove them from the oven. Allow to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. They will be crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Makes about 20.

Enjoy!!

We share supper in the evening after church each Sunday.

This week it was my turn on roster. I always try to make sure that I cater for as many food allergies and intolerances as I can so that, at least sometimes, those who might otherwise be left out can join in.

This recipe was a hit – free from gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts, soy, legumes and also vegan… but delicious enough that the non-food allergy folk enjoyed it and several requested the recipe. Winner!

Weetbix slice was a childhood favourite – a regular feature in our school lunchboxes. I’m sure the slice came about as a budget-stretching way of using up the inevitable crumbs at the end of the pack!

The gluten free version of Weetbix is made with sorghum and although I’m not the biggest fan of the original as such a nutritious cereal, it fits our allergy requirements, my kids are excited and I’m pleased to be able to use them in baking!

• 160g vegan butter, melted
• 6 weetbix, crushed (regular or GF)
• 1 cup plain flour of choice (I use spelt or the White Wings GF blend)
• 1 rounded tsp GF baking powder
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup flaked quinoa (or rolled oats if it suits you)
• 2 tbsp each flax seeds and hemp seeds
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 medium overripe banana

Mix together all dry ingredients (Sp 4, 8 seconds).

In a separate bowl mash the banana well, add in the maple syrup then pour in the melted butter and mix until well. (Butter in first, Sp 3, 100C for 60 seconds, then add in remaining wet ingredients and use Sp 4, 20 seconds, scrape down and repeat if required)

Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and fold together until well combined (Sp 3, 15 secs).

Press firmly into a lined baking tray (mine was 20x20cm).

Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 25 minutes.

All to cool and then ice with maple icing – made with 1 tbsp soft vegan butter beaten into 2 tsp of maple syrup, a pinch of cinnamon and several tbsp of pure icing sugar (add more as required to reach your desired consistency).

Slice and store in airtight container in the fridge. Makes 16-20 slices.

Enjoy 🙂

P.S. I’ve had a query about replacing the banana … simply switch it out for about 1/3 of a cup of apple sauce … add a teaspoon more at a time if the mixture seems too dry.

Apple crumble was a regular dessert feature in my house growing up and I have always loved it.

My husband jokes that he knew that he was going to marry me when I brought him a bowl of it as sustenance during exam study time at uni! That was a looong time ago – tomorrow we celebrate 16 years together, so it seemed like a good time to bring this one out again 🙂

Over those many years, I have added to my mum’s recipe, adapted it to suit our diet and boosted its nutritional value. I hope you enjoy it too!

• 2 tbsp butter/plant based butter
• 1 cup rolled oats*
• 1 cup puffed rice OR GF rice bubbles
• 2/3 cup almond meal OR plain flour of choice (wheat or GF)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup toasted seeds**
• zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon/mixed spice
• 2 large tins sliced apples (or home made stewed ones if you are more organised!). Pear works well here too.
• 2 cups frozen blueberries or raspberries

*Need it coeliac friendly? Replace the oats with an extra cup of puffed rice plus 1/4 cup rolled quinoa or shredded coconut

**I like the combination of 1/3 cup each of pumpkin, sunflower and hemp seeds – but use your favourites.

Start by mixing together the seeds and toasting them in a pan under your grill until they are golden brown – watch them carefully as they only take a few minutes. Toss them to make sure you get an even coverage.

Place apples and berries in a large greased baking dish.

Sprinkle fruit with the lemon juice, zest and the cinnamon. Then set aside.

Mix together all of the dry ingredients and then pour over the almost melted butter. Stir until well combined and evenly coated.

Evenly spread the crumble mix on top of the fruit mix and then place in to a preheated moderate oven for about 40 minutes, or until golden brown and the juices are bubbling.

Serve warm, on its own or with the custard or ice cream your diet allows.

This makes quite a large crumble … well, because everyone loves crumble and this often comes to family gatherings – there are a lot of us! If you don’t need quite so much, it’s easily halved. Or better still, just make this size, and gradually eat it for dessert for the next few days 😉 It lasts well in the fridge, but is better reheated in the oven than the microwave as it will keep the crumble topping more crunchy.

Enjoy 🙂