Monthly Archives: February 2014

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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Choc chip cookies 2

AnnieB asks me every weekend for cookies. And every weekend I dodge the subject and convince her she REALLY wants cake. Or muffins. Or banana bread. I do not know why I avoid cookies like I do? Maybe my aversion to sticky messes? Gunky hands and lots of washing up?

Yesterday I weakened and started Googling. I stumbled across this recipe from The Gluten Free Goddess and could see the  ‘tweaking’ potential immediately. THEN I realised I could ‘amp’ up the nutritional value with some Berry Choc Chunk and I was committed. Cookie demons, beGONE!!

I used the Thermomix, but you could easily use traditional methods. I found thermie was perfect as I could grind my buckwheat flour and chop up my chocolate in the process.

Choc chip cookies 1

 

Ingredients:

1 cup buckwheat (ground into flour)
1 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup coconut oil or butter (I used a combination, approx 2/3 butter, 1/3 coconut oil)
1 cup rapadura or coconut sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon honey or rice malt syrup
2 eggs
3 tbsp milk of choice (I used dairy – you could use coconut, rice, almond)
150g roughly chopped dark choc of choice (I buy the best I can afford, avoiding soy and refined sugars where possible)
Method:
1. Mix all dry ingredients together well (except dark chocolate.)
2. Combine wet ingredients (except for milk)
3. Add wet ingredients to dry, mixing well. The mixture should be wet enough to ‘drop’ onto cookie sheet. If you need it, add the milk and mix through.
4. Gently stir the chocolate chunks through.
5. Drop generous spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake in a moderate oven (approx 160 deg, fan forced) for approx 10 minutes.
6. Remove and cool on wire racks. Store in airtight containers.
The cookies are best eaten within 2-3 days (weeeeelllll….. actually they are BEST eaten on the day of baking while still warm with a side of vanilla ice cream, but I understand some people will want these in lunchboxes…..) as they become a little dry and crumbly after a few days.
If they do dry out, crumble them up and sprinkle over fruit, ice cream or add to fruit crumble toppings. Yummy!
Enjoy!! 😀

 

Lunchbox snacks – Superfood Bites

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Hi, my name is Angela, and I am a TERRIBLE blogger! I cook and I cook and I eat and THEN I remember I should actually be taking pictures of some of this food and sharing the recipes!

Today I remembered. Mid-chew I stopped, took some pictures and tried my very best to remember what I had thrown into the bowl to create these little morsels of YUM…..

Here goes:

SUPERFOOD BITES

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I made the yummy Carrot Cakes from Cooking for Busy Mums and began browsing for some other lunchbox bits and pieces for the week.

I found these scrummy looking bikkies and thought I would have a play with the ingredients I had in my pantry, as you do 🙂

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quinoa flakes

1 cup puffed rice

1/4 cup puffed amaranth

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup dried fruit, chopped (I had dried mulberries and pineapple on hand – you could use whatever you prefer)

1/2 cup Berry Choc Chunk

1/4 cup C Berry Blast

2 tbsp raw cacao powder (because you can never have too much chocolate, dontcha know!)

1 cup preferred plain flour (I used spelt which is NOT gluten free)

100g melted butter or coconut oil

1/4 cup maple (or rice malt syrup)

1 tsp bicarb soda

2 tbspn boiling water

Method:

1. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

2. Melt butter, add sweetener and mix thoroughly.

3. In a separate small bowl mix bicarb and boiling water together.

4. Pour melted butter mixture into dry ingredients with bicarb mixture and stir through well.

5. Grease mini muffin tins with a little coconut oil or butter. Lightly press spoonfuls into each section.

6. Bake in a moderate oven (fan forced around 160 deg) for approx 10 minutes.

7. Allow to cool completely before removing from tin.

I have to say, the kids literally licked their plates clean and I had to hide the remaining bites so there would be some left for lunchboxes!

Enjoy 🙂

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