Sugar-free raspberry Spelt Scones

I tried baking these scones for the first time only this evening – and they were a success! Minus a few tweaks which I will share in the recipe so that you may perfect yours!

This recipe is adapted from Green Kitchen Stories Raspberry and Nettle Spelt Scones, you can get their recipe (among many others) on their app, also called “Green Kitchen Stories” – I highly recommend!

These scones are made with spelt flour and are free of any sugar or sweetener besides the fresh raspberries. I recommend eating them smothered with almond butter or fresh jam – you could also make these into savoury scones quite easily as well by omitting the raspberries and adding any flavourings of your choice!

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups Wholemeal Spelt Flour (may need to add more, but start with this)
• 2 ½ tsp Baking Powder
• Pinch Salt
• 2 tbsp Ground Flaxseeds
• 50g cold Butter (good quality)
• 125g fresh Raspberries (1 punnet)
• 1 Egg (organic free-range only!!!)
• 125ml (or ½ cup) Soy milk or other plant based milk of choice – could even use regular milk here (good quality milk)    

Method: 

Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees Celsius

Mix together flour, baking powder, pinch salt, ground flaxseeds in a large bowl.

Cut the butter in to small pieces and rub into dry ingredients using only your fingertips, until it resembles breadcrumbs and is well combined.

Stir in the raspberries (don’t be alarmed if they mash up in to smaller pieces, this will happen inevitably and it is a good thing!)

Whisk together the egg and the milk until combined.

Make a well in the centre of the raspberry and flour mixture and pour in the egg and milk.

Use your hands to begin with to incorporate the flour mixture in to the wet mixture, drawing the dry mixture towards the centre until it is all combined (I like to finish off mixing using a spatula).

You may need to add more flour here, do this by eye, depending on how wet the mixture is – it is a wet mixture but should be able to come together in to one dough ball (that is what we are aiming for here).

Once you have achieved this – place the dough on to a baking tray lined with baking paper, and cut the mixture in half and place on either side of the tray.

Then slice each half in to 4 different pieces, but don’t fully cut all the way through the dough (as once they are baked, you will be able to then break them apart!)

The recipe says to bake the scones for 10 minutes in a 220 degree Celsius oven – it took me 25 minutes in my slow Irish gas oven but this really varies depending on your own oven – I would be checking them after 10 minutes anyway.

They will be cooked when you can break them apart and they are evenly cooked through (it’s okay if they are a little doughy).

Serve immediately however you please and enjoy!

Tips:

·      The original recipe called for ½ tsp salt, I used this much and for a sweet scone, they are too salty, so I have amended this to just a pinch of salt in this recipe – if you are making savoury scones, then you could keep it at ½ tsp.

·      If you want to make them savoury, you could add any additional ingredients such as dried herbs, olives or sun-dried tomatoes – delicious!

·      If you want them to be even sweeter than this recipe, you could add in some sweetener of your choice such as a small amount of coconut sugar, some maple syrup or some honey – but I recommend leaving this out and eating them with jam or some nut butter, this way they are a low sugar treat and you can add as little or as much sweetener on top as you like – also makes them suitable for breakfast!

THE BEST (VEGAN) COOKIES IN THE WORLD

Before I start gushing about these biscuits, I would just like to acknowledge my lack of blog posts for the past two years or so, not too long really...I have recently made the move to Dublin, Ireland for the next 9 months or so - I am currently living here with an oven I barely understand, but that's what this is all about and my plan is to revitalise my passion for this blog because it has been way too long! I thought what better way to do that, than to blog about these little pieces of heaven. So without further ado... 

These cookies are by far my most favourite thing ever to bake, which is a huge statement – but I am going to make that statement! I really am! The reason that they are my favourite thing to bake, is because they are my favourite baked thing to eat. These are the only baked item that I make and absolutely gorge myself on – no joke, I will eat 4-5 of these a day (which is kind of disgusting) but I’m not going to deny it, I may as well own it. These biscuits/cookies are gluten, dairy and refined sugar-free as well as completely vegan. They are expensive to make as they use expensive ingredients but they are quality ingredients and therefore quality cookies - they're "class" as the Irish would say.

They are inspired by my friend Juanita – it is her recipe and we usually call these cookies ‘Baked Juanites’, but I have tweaked mine slightly to make them vegan and to suit my tastes; as well as using ingredients that I can access more easily in Ireland! So Juanites – this post is for you! But almost this entire batch of cookies, is for me :) 

*This recipe yields approximately 25 small-medium sized cookies

Ingredients:

·      - 4 cups Almond Meal

·     -  1 cup chopped Walnuts

·      - ½ cup Pumpkin Seeds

·      - 1 cup Shredded Coconut

·      - 90% Cacao Lindt Chocolate

·      - ¾ cup Dried Cranberries

·      - ¾ cup Coconut Oil (original recipe calls for Macadamia Oil which is a delicious alternative to Coconut Oil – but more expensive!)

·      - ¾ Maple Syrup (original recipe calls for Rice Malt Syrup which is also a delicious alternative to Maple Syrup – and cheaper!)

·      - 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (the more expensive here – the better!)

Method:

·      1. Preheat oven to 150 Degrees Celsius (Or in my case, try and figure out how to use the Irish Gas lit oven and hope for the best)

·      2. Combine all dry ingredients in one large bowl and mix together

·      3. Whisk together wet ingredients (maple syrup, oil and vanilla) until well combined

·      4. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until well combined

·      5. Form into cookies as big or as small as you like – I figure, the smaller you make them, the more you can eat! (at least that is my reasoning)

·      6. Bake in the oven – this will vary depending on your oven – in my normal fan forced oven this would take around 17-20 minutes for the cookies to bake; in my Irish oven – they took about 30 minutes

·      7. They are finished cooking when they are lightly golden brown – remember they will continue cooking a little bit out of the oven so try to avoid overcooking them – these are a dense, moist and filling cookie so will be a little softer than your regular chocolate chip cookie

Coca-Cola Cake - an ode to the Anderson fam

 

Coca Cola Cake

I don’t want to cloud this post with commentary, but what can I say? This cake is just, awesome.

It is incredibly (for lack of a better word) moist, chocolately, sweet and will last for up to a week (if it hasn’t been eaten already).

It’s funny that there is coca cola in the cake batter as well as the icing, as really there is only a hint of coca cola flavour, really it is best described as a really good chocolate cake.

I found that one regular can of coke was enough for the cake, the icing, and a small glass of it for my mum to drink!

Do make it though, it is so easy and will definitely please a crowd.

You can find the original recipe here (BUY THIS BLOODY BOOK ALREADY!): https://www.google.com.au/search?q=nigella%27s+jam-doughnut+muffins&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb&gfe_rd=ctrl&ei=oJOdUov5HOjC8gen-YDADw&gws_rd=cr#channel=fflb&q=how+to+be+a+domestic+goddess&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&tbm=shop

Ingredients (can be made into one cake, or 12 cupcakes)

For the cake:

• 200g plain flour
• 250g golden caster sugar (I just used regular caster sugar)
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 125ml buttermilk (or 30g natural yogurt mixed with 100ml skim milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 125g unsalted butter
• 2 tblsp cocoa powder
• 175ml coca cola

For the icing:

• 225g icing sugar (sifted)
• 2 tblsp (30g) unsalted butter
• 3 tblsp (45ml) coca cola
• 1 tblsp cocoa powder
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and put in a baking sheet at the same time (the cake tin will go on top of this). Grease the cake tin and line it (I lined mine with foil, wrapping the foil around the outside of the tin as well to avoid the mixture leaking – it is quite a runny cake mixture). While the foil is a slight pain to peel off the cake at the end, you could try baking paper instead, but don’t say I didn’t warn you…
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
3. Beat the egg, buttermilk (or yogurt and milk mixture) and vanilla in a measuring jug.
4. In a heavy based saucepan, melt the butter, cocoa and coca cola, heating it gently.
5. Pour this into the dry ingredients and stir well with a wooden spoon, and then add the liquid ingredients in the jug (buttermilk, egg and vanilla), beating until it is well blended.
6. Pour into the prepared tin and bake on the warm sheet for 40 minutes or until a tester comes out clean (my cake needed about 45 minutes).
7. Leave to stand for 15 minutes in the tin before unmoulding. Then, turn the cake out on to a wire rack, and place some throw away newspaper underneath the wire rack (this is to catch any icing that drips through).
8. Sieve the icing sugar and set aside for the moment. In a heavy-based saucepan, combine the butter, coca cola and cocoa and stir over a low heat until the butter has melted.
9. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla, and spoon in the sieved icing sugar slowly, mixing until you have a good, spreadable and well-combined icing. It will be runny and this is okay. 
10. Pour the icing over a cake, letting it drip a bit, it looks great and it will set slightly after some time. You do this step while the cake is still warm, not piping hot, but warm. Leave the cake to cool until transferring it to your serving plate and sharing with your friends and family…. Right? 

 

Jam-Doughnut Muffins - that's right...doughnut...

 Jam-Doughnut Muffins – that’s right…doughnut….

These were a bit risky with no picture to refer to, so I took a chance – and what a great outcome!

I did make a couple of mistakes though, which is good because now you won’t make the same!

My advice – coat with butter and sugar when warm, and eat warm, just like a fresh, jam-filled vanilla doughnut, only in a muffin form and SUPER easy!

These couldn’t really be simpler – and there is no fiddling around with a deep fryer like for regular doughnuts; nor is there a requirement for a special doughnut baking tray – simple pimple. Wait….

You can get the recipe from the same book as the Blueberry Muffins, I’m telling you, well worth the money! – https://www.google.com.au/search?q=nigella%27s+jam-doughnut+muffins&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb&gfe_rd=ctrl&ei=oJOdUov5HOjC8gen-YDADw&gws_rd=cr#channel=fflb&q=how+to+be+a+domestic+goddess&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=shop

Ingredients (makes 12 muffins)

• 125ml milk (1/2 cup, FULL CREAM do not even bother anything else)
• 85ml vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 200g self-raising flour
• 100g caster sugar
• 12 tsp strawberry jam
• 100g unsalted butter
• 150g caster sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Grease a 12-bun muffin tray (not the huge muffin size, the regular size), and grease incredibly well (with the oil) – I used muffin patties for mine and that was mistake one (incredibly hard to peel off!)
2. With a fork, beat together the milk, oil, egg and vanilla extract.
3. Stir this into the flour and caster sugar to combine (just, do not over mix and lumps do not matter!)
4. Spoon the mixture into each muffin cup so that it’s just under a third full.
5. Then, add a tsp of jam to the centre of each muffin mix, and finally top with the remaining muffin mix so that the cases are just about full.
6. Put them into the preheated oven and cook for about 20 minutes or until the tops feel springy and resistant and the muffins have puffed up into little toadstools.
7. Once you have taken the muffins out of the oven, melt the butter slowly in a thick-bottomed pan, and lay the sugar out in a wide and shallow bowl.
8. As soon as the muffins are manageable to handle (but still warm), take them out of the moulds, dip them in the butter (the whole muffin) and roll them in the caster sugar.
9. Eat warm – just like a fresh doughnut J

An ode to Nigella - beginning with Blueberry muffins

 

Nigella’s Blueberry Muffins

This recipe and the few to follow are all a result of my Sunday afternoon spent non-stop baking, and of course, inspired by the one and only Nigella Lawson.

I don’t care what people say, she is still my idol, and she is still the original domestic goddess in my eyes.

I love when I get on a baking role, and these muffins were the first off the mark this past Sunday afternoon. I had spent much of the weekend looking through all of my Nigella cookbooks after a big room clean out (yes, I have all of her books) and this recipe caught my eye.

These muffins actually aren’t terribly sweet, which is good! They taste just that little bit healthier…

I am a muffin rookie (cupcakes are my thing, and there is a big difference between the two!) and I was able to make these with ease, so you should find these a breeze! 

You can find this recipe in Nigella's most faaaaabulous book for the baking mad (and one of her oldest) "How to be a Domestic Goddess - Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking"  - you can purchase the book here (I HIGHLY recommend) - https://www.google.com.au/search?q=how+to+be+a+domestic+goddess&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb&gfe_rd=ctrl&ei=W5GdUt_VEsyN8QfM24DICQ&gws_rd=cr#channel=fflb&q=how+to+be+a+domestic+goddess&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=shop

Ingedients

• 75g unsalted butter
• 200g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 75g caster sugar
• pinch of salt (I used Himalayan pink salt)
• 200ml buttermilk (alternatively, use 100g natural yogurt and 100ml skim milk)
• 1 egg
• 200g blueberries

Method

1. Melt the butter, and set it aside to cool a little. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl, and in a measuring jug beat together the buttermilk (or yogurt and skim milk), egg and melted butter.
3. Using a wooden spoon and a light hand, pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix gently to combine. Don’t worry about the lumps: the important thing with muffins is that the mixture isn’t over worked, as this will result in a tough and dry muffin (yuk). This step definitely tests my heavy-handedness…
4. Fold in the blueberries, again keeping the mixing to an absolute minimum.
5. Spoon into the muffin cases, best way to ensure they are all the same is by using an ice cream scoop, but any spoonful will do.
6. Bake for 20 minutes, until the muffins are risen and golden, and firm to the touch.
7. EAT. Warm, cold, with butter (you don’t really need it though) – they are fabulous warm because the hot fresh blueberries creates its own jam.