Chickpea Cookie Dough

Chickpea Cookie Dough

from fitsugar.com

Ingredients:

1 can of chickpeas drained, well rinsed and peeled

¼ cup peanut (or any nut) butter
¼ cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

Blend until very smooth in food processor or blender

Once blended add ½ cup chocolate chips – mix with spoon

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Try not to eat the whole batch in one sitting!

Banana Blueberry pancakes

Banana Blueberry Pancakes

from ohsheglows.com

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup spelt (rice?) flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• tiny pinch sea salt
• 1 tsp baking powder (I use aluminum-free)
• 1/2 c unsweetened almond milk (or milk of your choice)

Syrup + filling:

• Pure maple syrup
• Peanut butter
• Jam
• Unsweet. coconut
• Cacao nibs
• Sliced banana
• Blueberries
• Raspberries

 

Directions: Mix all dry ingredients together the night before and place in container. In the morning, heat a skillet on medium while mixing the batter. Add the milk to dry ingredients and stir well. Spray the skillet with non stick oil and spoon the batter onto the skillet on med-low temperature. Flip pancakes when bubbles pop and cook other side. Layer with sliced banana, peanut butter, jam, and other toppings as you wish!

Makes 4 baby pancakes.

No-Bake Date Squares (GF)

Vegan Date Squares

from ohsheglows.com

 

No Bake Vegan Date Squares

Crust:

• 1.5 cups whole raw almonds
• 1.5 cups regular oats (for Gluten-free, use GF oats)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 10 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup coconut oil

 

Date filling:

• 25 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped (~2.5 cups)
• 1/2 cup water

 

Directions:

1. Line a square pan (I used 8in x 8 in) with two pieces of parchment paper going opposite ways. In a food processor, process the almond, salt, and oats until a fine crumble forms. Now add in the dates and process until crumbly again. Melt the coconut oil and add to the mixture and process until sticky. You can add a tiny bit more oil if the dough is too dry. I didn’t need to though! Remove from processor, set aside 3/4 cup of the mixture for later, and press the rest of the mixture very firmly and evenly into the pan.

2. Grab your pitted and roughly chopped dates and water and process in the food processor until a paste forms. You will have to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl often. You can add a tiny bit more water if needed, but you want the paste quite thick. Scoop out the date mixture onto the crust and gently spread with the back of a wet spatula until even.

3. Sprinkle on the 3/4 cup of mixture you set aside and gently press down with fingers. Refrigerate in the fridge until firm for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. Cut into squares and serve. Store in the fridge or freezer.

 

Pecan and Maple sweeto potato

 

Pecan and Maple Sweet Potato

from drizzleanddip.com

 

This recipe is a flavour bomb of fresh herbs, sweet potatoes, zesty citrus and crunchy pecans, and has to be one of the best ways to spice up this lovely root vegetable.

It comes out of ‘Ottolenghi – The Cookbook’ and they mention that its origin is from Epicurious.com.

I never shy away from flavour so this recipe instantly appealed to me. I have had a ‘Post It’ stuck to its page for a while now, along with many other pages in this incredible cook book.
I was thrilled to see that Woolworths are now stocking red fleshed sweet potatoes. Having recently been in search of them for a recipe and establishing that they are quite seasonal and not always available, I pounced on a bag the minute I saw them. They are much healthier than potatoes because they are in lower in GI and have a lovely taste.

This recipe serves 4

I left out the sultanas and substituted the sherry vinegar with red wine vinegar.

• 2 Sweet potatoes (850g)
• 3 T olive oil
• 35g pecan nuts roasted and chopped
• 4 spring onions chopped
• 4 T chopped flat leaf parsley
• 2 T chopped coriander
• 1/4 t dried chilli flakes
• 35g sultanas ( I left this out)
• Salt & pepper

Dressing:

• 4T olive oil
• 2 T maple syrup (I used 3)
• 1 Tb sherry vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
• 1 T lemon juice
• 2 T orange juice
• 2 t freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon

Heat the oven to 190 C, wash and cut the sweet potatoes into a chunky, small dice. There is no need to peel them. Coat them in the olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes. If you havent yet roasted your pecan nuts, you can do it directly after the sweet potatoes or whilst they are cooking on another shelf for 5 minutes. Put the chopped pecan nuts, spring onions and herbs in a bowl then mix all the salad dressing ingredients. As the sweet potatoes come out the oven, toss everything together and serve immediately warm. It can also be served cool at room temperature as a salad.
I totally love this dish and next time I will consider adding a little more chilli to give it a slight kick and perhaps a sprinkle of cumin to warm it up.

GF Pancakes!!

Banana Buckwheat Pancakes (Gluten-free)

from bojongourmet.com

 

 

 

 

Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

A bonus to using gluten-free flours is that you don't have to worry about over-mixing, which activates the glutens in wheat flour and can make for gluey, tough pancakes. If gluten isn't a concern for you, you can sub all-purpose and whole wheat flours for the rice and oat; if you do, be very gentle when stirring the batter, and err on the side of under-mixing.

Since I don't like to wait too long for breakfast, I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve to make the cooking process go faster: I use a spring-loaded ice cream scoop to scoop scoops of batter in the pan, and I keep two wide frying pans going so I can cook twice as many pancakes at once. If you're lucky enough to own a griddle, all the better.

If making these for a crowd, slip them onto a plate or baking sheet in a low oven to keep them warm while you cook.

Makes 2-3 servings (ten fluffy 3" pancakes)

1/4 cup sweet (sticky) white rice flour
1/4 cup oat flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 large egg
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
3/4 cup shaken buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large, ripe banana, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/2" pieces
1/4 cup toasted pecans, plus extra for garnish, coarsely chopped

For serving:
maple syrup (grade B has the deepest flavor and color)
plain, whole-milk yogurt
sliced banana

In a large bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder and soda, salt and nutmeg.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg and maple syrup to combine. Whisk in the melted butter until smooth, then whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla.

Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture until just combined, then gently fold in the banana chunks and chopped pecans. The batter will be thick.

Heat a wide skillet (or two; or a griddle, if you've got one) over medium-low heat and add about a teaspoon of butter to coat the pan. The pan is ready when a drop of batter sizzles on contact. Drop 1/4 cup scoops of batter into the hot skillet, spaced about 2" apart as the batter will spread, and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until well browned and cooked throughout (though the bananas will be soft and gooey, and make it a bit tricky to tell.)

Serve the pancakes with maple syrup, yogurt, sliced banana and pecans. Extras can be kept in the fridge and reheated in a skillet.


GF Breakfast - Breakfast Bars

Almond, Prune and Apricot Breakfast Bars

from bojongourmet.com

Adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

 

Since there is such a small amount of flour here, you could probably substitute a gluten-free all-purpose blend if you preferred. And you could swap out the apricots and prunes for just about any dried fruit that is soft and moist - I think figs would be nice, too. If you or your bar-eaters are very sensitive to gluten, be sure to seek out gluten-free oats and oat flour. A good, flavorful honey will make these extra-delicious (I use an amazing blackberry honey that we get in bulk at our co-op). All ounce measurements are by weight.

Makes twelve 2x3" bars (an 8x8" pan)

 

scant 1/2 teaspoon zest from 1/4 of a large orange

2-3 tablespoons orange juice from half a large orange
1/2 cup (3 1/4 ounces) dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup (3 1/4 ounces) prunes (or dates), chopped

2/3 cup (2 3/4 ounces) sliced almonds, plus a few extra for the top

1 1/2 cups (5 ounces) quick (baby) oats
2 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) flax seed, ground in a coffee or spice grinder
2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) oat flour
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (3 ounces) almond butter
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) olive oil
1/4 cup (2 3/4 ounces) honey
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325º. Line the bottom and sides of an 8x8" square baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Zest the 1/4 of orange into a medium bowl and set aside. Place the chopped apricots and prunes in another medium bowl and set aside. Juice half of the orange into a small saucepan and bring to a bare simmer over a medium flame, swirling occasionally. Pour the hot juice over the dried fruit and let sit to absorb, tossing once or twice, while you get on with the recipe.

Spread the almonds on a small baking sheet and toast in the oven until fragrant, 4-5 minutes. In a large bowl, stir together the toasted almonds, oats, ground flax, oat flour, salt and cinnamon.

To the bowl with the orange zest, add the almond butter, olive oil, honey and almond extract and whisk to combine.

Add the almond butter mixture and the dried fruit mixture to the oat mixture and stir until well combined.

Scrape the mixture into the lined baking pan and use moistened fingers to press it firmly and evenly into the pan. Press a few extra sliced almonds into the top if you like. Bake the bars until the top is golden, 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely, then use the parchment paper "handles" to remove the bar to a cutting board. Use a large, sharp chef's knife to cut the bar into 12 rectangles.

The bars keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.