Showing posts with label Dairy-Free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dairy-Free. Show all posts

Monday, 20 January 2014

Healthy Chocolate Banana Muffins


Todays recipe has been an ever evolving process and usually consists of what I have in my pantry.  Healthy Chocolate Banana Muffins.  Now, I know the words healthy and chocolate don't tend to go in the same sentence, but these guys are!  With chia seeds and quinoa flakes, agave nectar and almond milk these muffins are super healthy - gluten free and essentially dairy free (you can substitute the butter with Nutellex).


1 1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup gluten free self raising flour
1tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar
2tbs chia seeds
3tbs quinoa flakes
2 organic eggs, lightly beaten
50g butter, melted
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup agave nectar
1tsp vanilla bean paste
100ml almond milk
125g dairy-free chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  Grease a 12- hole muffin tray with melted butter or line the holes with paper cases.  Sift the almond meal, flour and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl.  Stir in the sugar, chia seeds and quinoa flakes and make a well in the centre.  In a small mixing bowl combine the eggs, butter, banana, agave nectar and vanilla.  Add to flour with the almond milk to the flour mixtures, stir until just combined.  Add the chocolate chips and stir until fully combined.  Divide the mixture into the prepared muffin holes.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted to the centre comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before allowing to cool completely on a wire rack.

These muffins are best eaten on the day, but will keep for 4 days in an airtight container.  They can also be frozen.

Saturday, 11 January 2014

Molten Chocolate Cupcakes - Gluten and Dairy free!!

So as some of you know.. my Man is baked-food-intolerant.  And by that I mean he has intolerances to both gluten and dairy making almost every traditional baked good off-limits (not that he doesn't enjoy eating them).  So every now and then I try something new with those restrictions so he can join in with dessert or other tea-events.  Now working with substitutes can be a little hit and miss, particularly when you are new to the science that is working with intolerances and food allergies, but this recipe nailed it! The almond meal gives these sunken little chocolate cakes a beautifully moist texture and the warm melting centre makes it perfect when teamed with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a handful of fresh berries!




1 1/2 cups almond meal
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup agave nectar
2 eggs
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chips (check for milk solids)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  Grease a 12 hole muffin pan using nutellex or cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl sift together the almond meal, cocoa, baking soda and salt until combined.  In a separate bowl whisk together the agave nectar, eggs and vanilla using an electric beater on a low speed.  Once combined gradually add the wet ingredients to the almond mixture on a medium speed until just combined.  Finally, add the dark chocolate chips, stirring by hand.

Pour approximately 1/4 of a cup of mixture into each prepared muffin tin mould.  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer comes out just clean.  If you want a gooey-er cupcake bake for less time as the longer you bake it, the drier it becomes.  Cool for 5 minutes in the tray before serving.  Best served warm.  Will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.


Saturday, 4 January 2014

Brooklyn Apricot Jam Drops (Dairy-Free)

The recipe for today makes my travel bug itch.  Through my years at university I have spent many holidays travelling, with many trips to the USA, in particular New York City.  This one is from a wonderful bakery in Brooklyn, NYC called One Girl Cookies.  I stumbled into this one-stop cookie shop on my second trip to NYC in the Fall of 2012 when I got lost trying to find my train station.  It was cold and the funky wall decor, aroma of coffee and friendly faces welcomed me in.  I got 3 different cookies, the "Penelope" (Apricot Jam-Filled Almond Butter Cookies), the "Alice" (Decadent Chocolate Coins) and a Chocolate Whoopie Pie.  I loved the cafe - but I didn't live in Brooklyn so my visits back here and across the bridge were limited.

Christmas rolled around and I organised with some friends to do a present swap.  Five of us were all living or travelling all over the world, away from our families and I thought it would be nice to have something underneath our trees to open come Christmas morning (my first real tree! It's usually a little hot in Australia and they drop their needles a little too soon).  So come Christmas morning I was absolutely overjoyed that a friend had found the One Girl Cookie cookbook in a remote little bookstore in Melbourne, Australia and had sent it all the way to me without even realising that the cafe was in 'ma hood' (well, across the bridge...).

I have been loving recreating all their wonderful, easy to follow recipes and tweaking them a little to what I have in my pantry.  Today we have the "Penelope" - however these guys are dairy-free and a little different with Australian ingredients!

Even now I'm working out plans to travel overseas again and I'm sure somewhere along the way I will make my way back to One Girl Cookies in Dumbo, Brooklyn.



1 3/4 cups of plain flour
Good pinch of salt
1 cup (225g) of Nutellex
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 organic egg yolks
1 tsp of vanilla bean paste (though extract/essence is completely fine)
1/2 cup whole raw almonds
1/3 cup of walnuts
1 cup of good quality apricot jam

* In a large mixing bowl sieve the flour and salt together and set aside.
* In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or hand beater), beat together the brown sugar and Nutellex on a medium speed until the mixture is pale and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Add the egg yolks one at a time followed by the vanilla and mix on a medium speed for 1 minute.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture.  Remove bowl from mixer, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.  This recipe does not contain the usual butter so it is not as vital to refrigerate as the mixture will remain sticky, doing so just makes it a little easier to roll into balls.
* Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  Place almonds and walnuts on a baking tray covered with baking paper and roast for 10 minutes or until golden and fragrant.  Remove from oven and leave to cool.  Once cooled chop nuts until just thicker than almond meal.  I like doing this process by hand as it gives the cookies a different texture, however, blitzing them in a food processor is a faster option.
* Remove the dough from the refrigerator.  Using approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons of mixture roll into small balls using your hands.  Dip each ball into the chopped nut mixture and then place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.  Space each cookie approximately 2 1/2cm apart.
* Using the tip of your ring finger, make an indentation into the middle of each cookie, pushing almost through to the baking tray.
* Bake the cookies for approximately 10 minutes or until starting to golden.  Remove baking tray from oven and using two spoons carefully spoon small amounts of jam into the indentation holes in the cookies.  Return cookies to oven for approximately 4 minutes or until golden.  Then remove again from oven and cool completely on tray before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

Fresh out of the oven.