Gluten Free Dairy Free Banana Date loaf

It's been a long time, yes.  Our trip to America, then settling back in in Australia, and now expecting Bub number 4 in a few weeks!!!  But I do have a few recipes I have been trialling and hopefully will post soon once I am happy, including dairy free salted macadamia ice cream, naturally sweetened.... yum and hooray!!!

In Thermomix Australia news, September purchases receive the Thermomix Kitchen Toolkit for free!!!  It's fantastic, I don't even have one but would love one!!!  I am still doing Thermomix consulting, so if you are interested in purchasing a Thermomix or know someone who is, then please contact me via email!  I would love to finalise any deliveries in September if I can before the bub arrives in October.

Anyway, lately I have moved to completely gluten free for one of my sons.  I have been thinking of healthy recipes that are still yummy and easy to eat that I can make and put in the freezer and eat when needed!  So this is based on my Spelt banana bread, but is gluten free.  I trialled it with coconut flour, but as I am very new to cooking with it, I just couldn't get the mix right, so tried what I came up with below, and I think its a winner!!  Again, it just makes a relatively small loaf (I rarely have enough bananas that get to very ripe stage to make a larger loaf!) so you can try to increase quantities for a bigger loaf.  Here we go!

Ingredients:

100g Brown Rice (organic if you can find it)

50g almonds (again, organic is great!)

3 Very Ripe bananas (I measured approx 300g)

1 egg

40g Macadamia oil (could use coconut as well)
45g raw honey

65g dates, cut in half (preservative free)

25g desiccated coconut (I actually used large shredded coconut and it was nice - preservative free)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch Himalayan salt

1/2 teaspoon Bicarb Soda

1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder (or homemade in the Thermie)

Method:

1.  Put 100g Brown rice into Thermomix.  Grind for 1 min, Speed 9.

2.  Add 50g almonds, Grind 30 seconds, Speed 9.  Scrape down sides of bowl.

3.  Add egg, macadamia oil, honey and bananas, mix 15 seconds, speed 5.

4.  Add dates, shredded coconut, cinnamon, baking powder, bicarb soda and salt, mix 5 - 10 seconds Reverse, Speed 4.

5.  Pour into loaf tin, bake 45 - 50 mins approx 180 Degrees (my oven is new and so it may need a little less or little more time if your oven is cooler/hotter).

Enjoy!!!  This would be nice with nuts added too.

Spelt Banana Bread

I have been wanting to find a yummy healthy banana bread for ages that I didn't feel bad about eating for breakfast or morning tea.  I think this is yummy, however I have only done it once so may need to test again and tweak the recipe if required!  But seriously it was really nice and healthy.

I like to try to use spelt flour wherever possible instead of normal refined white wheat flour.  It is better for you and your body digests it a lot easier.  It is a lot more readily available now too, because more people are looking for the healthier options.  Check in the Health food aisles in bigger supermarkets or health food shops.

I always like it when I have a good dairy free recipe too.  I added oats in because they fill you up more and are good for helping with cholestrol (family history of high cholestrol).  Oh and they are cheap!! That helps!  I used PURE maple syrup as the sweetener, again, better for you!

This is not very sweet so you could add a little more sweetener if needed, but is YUMMY fresh or toasted with just a bit of butter on top (if you aren't worried about the dairy or cholesterol!!!!)

It also makes just a smallish loaf.

So here goes!

Ingredients:

45g Coconut oil (could use other flavourless oil)

45g Pure Maple Syrup

3 Very Ripe Bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla

170g Spelt flour

25g dessicated Coconut (without preservatives if you can find it)

1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons Bicarb Soda

1 Egg

small pinch salt

30g Wholegrain Oats (could use walnuts or whatever you like instead!)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C

1.  Add broken up bananas, coconut oil, vanilla and pure maple syrup, mash for 10 Seconds, Speed 4

2.  Add spelt flour, bicarb soda, cinnamon, coconut, oats, salt, and egg, mix for 15 Seconds, Reverse + Speed 4 (or until combined).

3.  Pour into small loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes at 180C (or until skewer comes out clean).  Don't overcook and dry out!

How easy is that!!!  Yummy breakfast on the go option!

Coconut Cupcakes for everyone.. Dairy Free!

This recipe is based out of the recipe for Coconut Cupcakes in the 2012 Food Lovers Calendar - seriously yummy!!!

I thought seeing as it was almost there with the Coconut cream instead of milk etc, that I would take it one step further and remove the butter as well!  And the result was.... perfect!!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
320g sugar
160g coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla essence + 1 vanilla bean OR 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
240g coconut cream (or 1 can Ayam Coconut cream)
4 eggs
430g SR flour
1 tsp baking powder (homemade - in Basics section of Everday Cookbook)
Pinch Salt

Preheat oven to 180C.  Line 2 x 12 hole muffin tins with patty cases.

1.  Place sugar and vanilla bean in TM Bowl.  Mill for 15 Seconds, Speed 10
2.  Add coconut oil and mix 10 seconds on Speed 4 (my oil was solidified because of the cold and worked well!)
3.  Add remaining ingredients and mix for 20 Seconds on Speed 7 or until combined
4.  Spoon mixture into patty cases and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until golden.  Allow to cool before icing.

I did try to experiment with a dairy free frosting as well, but I also tried to lessen the recipe and it all ended in... well, a NOT great result!  And no ingredients left (a rarity!).  So a sprinkle of icing sugar it was!!!

These cupcakes were lovely and light and nicely speckled with the vanilla sugar.  You would never guess they were dairy free (and not using additive-full butter substitutes!).

Tips!
1.  Don't have your 4 and 6 year old boys helping if you don't want it to take about 45 minutes to fill the patty cases.
2.  That's it for this one - I think it would be fairly hard to wreck it!!

Going grain free, sugar free, dairy free, meat free..... Banana Blueberry Bread!

So I haven't been cooking the usual foods lately... I am doing a bit of a detox and am not allowed grains, meat, dairy, sugar, hydrogenated oils..... I don't find too much of it a challenge.. except no grains!  And no meat or chicken leaves me quite hungry all the time!  I am allowed SOME eggs, as I am not supposed to lose weight, and they help bulk up a meal a little.

Thermomix boiled eggs and steamed some potato wedges at the same time.
Do you still use a frypan? I then browned the potatoes in the oven
and sauteed chopped mushrooms, onion, zucchini, capsicum
for about 9 minutes, 100C Reverse + Speed Soft, adding some
semi-dried tomatoes near the end... was yummo! (even though it might
not look it by the pic!)

But a week in, I am starting to look for cheats way out!!  I came across a completely fruit and nut based treat here: http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/node/17448 and they are good to just have a little snack here and there.

CADA has also been good (Coconuts, Almonds, Dates and a Green Apple all turbo-ed a couple of times in the Thermomix), as well as lots of soup with the Thermomix Vege Stock!

But having a look through the Gluten Free Wheat Free Cookbook, I came across the Banana Blueberry bread.  Seeing as it was made on buckwheat flour (which is technically NOT a grain!) and mostly banana and blueberries with raw honey or pure maple syrup, and macadamia nut oil, I decided I could treat myself to this.

I found that it had a few too many blueberries in it - I would usually add less.  But the rest was good, and I ground the buckwheat myself seeing as there was some in the cupboard.

Pull aparts and pizza breads

I'm going to set aside my dairy free and low gluten efforts for the sake of this post for those that don't need dairy or gluten free! Just a quick post about pull apart breads and how handy it is to be able to throw together an amazing side dish for guests or just a tasty snack or easy lunch for the kids!

I had these posted in an old post, but thought I would update with other options...

Pullapart ready for baking!

This pull apart was done using the 1.5 times bread dough quantity using the recipe found here: http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/recipes/herb-and-garlic-pull-apart-bread/26180 .  I used the same instructions for the herb and garlic, however for half of the bread, I made it into a cheese and bacon pullapart. Delicious straight out of the oven and the whole thing cost a few dollars!  You could do pesto (just make sure it is in the folded strips so you don't dry it out too much), sun dried tomatoes etc etc.

Hubby was hungry the other day and made a thick pizza bread using the basic bread recipe (replacing the grain with an extra 100g bakers flour) in the Everyday cookbook, let rise for approx 25 mins, kneaded a little, pressed the dough out relatively flat (about 2cm thick) then sprinkled chopped bacon and a generous serving of cheese over the top.  Put it in the oven as it was still heating to 220 degrees.   It turned out beautifully, like a cross between a pizza and a cheese and bacon bread... Just like you would buy from the bakery!

Yummy vegie pizza bread - pineapple, olives,
mushrooms, capsicum and cheese

Another option is to make thin and crispy pizza breads. Make a batch of pizza dough, rise for 30 mins, punch out and knead a couple of times, roll very thin, brush with chopped garlic covered in olive oil, sprinkle a small amount of salt over the top and bake in a preheated oven approx 215 - 220 degrees for around 15 minutes (depending how hot your oven is). Another option is to add Sundried tomatoes and olives (but watch how hot the oven is, maybe decrease if you find they are browning quickly). These breads are beautiful with soups.

Crispy garlic pizza crust ready for baking 

Use these ideas and be as creative as you like with fillings or toppings adding mushrooms, pineapple, different cheeses, turn into scrolls, pizza pockets etc etc!!

Brunch with friends...

Well, I must say I struggle with "brunch"!  I wasn't really sure what to serve up for some lovely friends coming to visit, so I decided to try something new and followed the croissants recipe from the 2012 Food Lovers Calendar.  They look lovely and so I thought I would give them a go.  In the name of continually experimenting of course!

I did serve them up with some savoury options also, but put on some lemon butter to finish.  Well, the croissants were polished off and the lemon butter was eaten from the spoon... by the guests.  I take that as a win.

Making the croissants, this is WRONG way to do it!!!  That's why I shouldn't experiment with guests... but luckily the end result was still tasty and I realised my mistake and tried to compensate!!!! (and I'm not a neat cook)...

The lemon butter is so easy and only takes 8 minutes, so I actually made it while we were eating.

I find the lemon butter versatile and have even put it into mini biscuit bases as a sweet treat.

I also made a fresh jug of pineapple and orange juice which was delicious, and ended with a fresh fruit sorbet (as by that time we had talked so much it was well after lunch!!).

And, of course, I forgot to take a photo of the croissants before they were all eaten, so I had one remaining piece that I had set aside as it was more cooked than the others (my oven drives me batty!!), so I took a pic of me about to polish it off!!

So neither of these options are really the healthiest in terms of fat and sugar.  But freshly made out of the kitchen, what a pleasure to serve them to guests!!