Healthy-ish Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of the many things that I seem to do at the beginning of each year is to give my family's eating habits a bit of a kick up the a***. I start to freak out that we are not healthy enough and then I give our whole pantry/fridge a make-over.

    Anyone familiar with my obsession with food would be aware that I love creating, making and baking sweet treats. I would bake up a storm at least three times a week and then we would eat it all. Of course our meals were always quite healthy, but these were also put under the microscope and given a bit of a shake up.

I really went to town on the sweets though. I haven't stopped baking, it is one of my favourite hobbies after all, I'm just giving our treats a bit of a healthy kick.
This recipe was tested out on friends only last week and was given the big 'thumbs up'. Now they are not 100% healthy, but I have substituted several ingredients to make them healthy-ish.

Healthy-ish Choc-Chip Cookies

3/4 cup rolled oats

1 cup SR wholemeal flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

¼ cup butter, softened

¼ cup canola oil

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

I tsp vanilla extract

1 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Grease and line two baking sheets.

Process oats in the food processor until fine. Transfer to a bowl and add flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add oil, sugars, egg and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy. Add dry ingredients and beat together on low until combined. Fold through the choc chips.

Drop a teaspoonful of dough onto the baking sheets one at a time, 2 Cm's apart. Bake for 15 minutes or so. Cool before transferring to wire racks.

Quickest Chocolate Brownies

I was recently given Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals. As a bit of a Jamie fan I was really excited about the recipes it contained. The concept of cooking a wonderful meal in 30 minutes really appealed to me.

Since having this book I have created an array of meals that are quick, easy and incredibly tasty. I have to admit, however, that the '30 minute' time frame is a tad optimistic. I'm sure that a talented chef like Jamie in a kitchen with all the gizmo's and gadgets and most importantly no interruptions, whizzes through these meal plans. But me? With four children and a disorganised kitchen where half my appliances are either dead or dying? I think 45 minutes is a bit more realistic.

Anyways; I am waaaay off topic here. What I want to share today is a recipe that in essentials is Jamie's, but I have done my usual and butchered it to suit me. This is, quite frankly, the quickest brownie recipe going....and is pretty yummy to boot.

Ingredients;

200 grams dark chocolate
250 grams unsalted butter
200 grams caster sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 heaped tablespoons self raising flour
4 eggs
chopped nuts (optional)

Firstly chop up the chocolate roughly and cut up the butter into chunks. But both into the food processor and add the caster sugar, cocoa, flour. Blend together in the processor. Crack in the eggs one at a time while the motor is running. Once it is all mixed together spoon the mixture into a lined and greased tin. If you're adding nuts sprinkle them over the top. Now bake in a preheated oven for approx 15 minutes. With brownies you ideally want them to be cooked on the top but a little gooey on the inside. Mmmmmm! Serve with cream, ice cream...anything you like!

I would also like to note that some of the chocolate didn't process properly in my food processor. Don't worry if this happens to you as you will only end up with some lovely melty chunks through your brownie.....delicious!

For more Jamie head over to his awesome website.....JamieOliver.com

Doughnut Muffins

'Mmmmmmm' Miss 8 breathed as I pulled these muffins out of the oven, 'Mum, they smell just like doughnuts!' and then a few minutes later......'Ohhhh Yum! They taste like doughnuts too!'

As you can tell Doughnut Muffins are a huge hit with my children. They are easy to make and taste fabulous. You should end up with a light, fluffy, fragrant morsel...as long as you follow the golden rule of muffin-making...no over mixing!

Doughnut Muffins

175 grams of butter
200 grams caster sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups of plain flour
3/4 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarb soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
250 mls milk


Topping

100 grams caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsps butter, melted


Preheat the oven to 180C
Line a 12 cup muffin pan with patty cases.

In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and beat well between each addition. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarb and cinnamon into a separate bowl. Add half to the creamed mixture with half the milk. Gently fold together before adding the rest of the flour mix and milk. Mix very gently until just incorporated.
Spoon into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes until risen and golden.

For the topping, mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. While the muffins are still warm, brush with the melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon & sugar.....Delicious!

American Pancakes

Please excuse my dodgy photography!

Pancakes are a staple in this house. They are the breakfast of choice on a Sunday morning and if the children return from school 'absolutely starving' - as children often are - I'll make them for afternoon tea.

Served with blueberries, raspberries or simply maple syrup and butter - These pancakes are divine. They take a matter of minutes to prepare with the most basic of pantry ingredients. They are fluffy and light and delicious.

Ingredients;

3 large eggs
1 cup sifted plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
140mls milk
2 tbsps caster sugar (if you would prefer savoury pancakes, leave the sugar out)
Pinch of salt
A few teaspoons of butter for cooking

Separate the three eggs; yolks into one bowl, whites into another. In the bowl with the yolks add the flour, baking powder, sugar and milk and whisk until you have a thick batter.
Beat the egg whites and salt with an electric beater until stiff peaks form.
Fold the whites gently into the batter - the batter should look quite foamy - don't be put off by this, I promise these pancakes will be perfect!

Heat a fry pan on a reasonably high temperature (med/high) and melt the butter. Pour in the batter, either making large or small pancakes - whichever you prefer (I tend to make smaller ones as they are easier to handle) once bubbles start to come to the surface flip the cake and cook for a minute on the other side. Continue to do this until all of your batter is used. Serve warm with lashings of maple syrup, berries or even ice cream for dessert!

Switched Off!

Yesterday I had the overwhelming desire to make cake. This longing is typical of me on a Sunday. I love nothing better than drinking tea and eating cake. Not just any old cake mind you.....Chocolate cake in particular is high on the list of most wanted in this household.

So, out came all the ingredients. As per usual I used my slap-dash method of cooking. Sort of a half hearted measure and in it goes. I know that contradicts all the golden rules of baking, but hey, it works for me.

Once I had chucked all the dry ingredients in one bowl, I then threw the butter and sugar in the other. Then I prepared to get busy with the hand held beater.

Trouble is.....it wouldn't work.

Damn....Bugger....Blast

I undid the whirly thingos and then plugged them back in. I fiddled with the button whatsit on top. I shook it. I whacked it on the kitchen bench. I swore profusely at it.

Crap, crap, crap I muttered in fury. My third damn mixer this year. This is what I get for buying cheap rubbish, I reasoned.  I yelled out to Hubby that if he expected half decent food he was going to have to buy me a kitchen aid for Christmas. It's either that or divorce, I informed him in a temper.

So, 15 minutes of me cursing and yelling and then I finally resigned myself to mixing the darn cake by hand. While I used my puny arm muscles to beat the butter and sugar into oblivion, I had a moment of blinding clarity, one that made me just a bit shameful of the preceding 15 minutes of pure and utter stupidity.

I picked up the beater......and I plugged it into the wall.............!

Snickerdoodles!

Mouth-sized pieces of perfection!

There is something about the name of this biscuit that sends me spiralling into an Enid Blyton book. I feel that I should be sitting alongside Moon-Face and Silky eating toffee shocks, pop-biscuits and Snickerdoodles. The name conjures up flights of fancy, whimsy and imagination...or that could just be me, with my head firmly planted in the clouds.

My children find the title hilarious..'We're eating Snickerdoodles!' They giggle, 'Snickerdoodles!' It's often a competition to see who can yell it the loudest....joy!

The biscuit lives up to it's fantastic name, it is really quite delicious. Perfect for popping into your mouth. They have a thin, crunchy, exterior with a cake-like crumbly centre.....mmmmm!

Ingredients;
3/4 cup of butter (some recipes call for shortening, but I'm a butter fan through & through)
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups of plain flour
2 tsps cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

1/2 cup of caster sugar and 1 tbsp cinnamon, combined on a plate for rolling the dough balls into.

Preheat oven to 200C.
Line 2x biscuit trays with baking paper.

Using a handheld mixer ( or a kitchen aid if you are lucky enough to own one.....soooo jealous!) beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well between each one.
Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.
Roll the dough into small balls, then roll into the sugar mixture. Space out evenly on biscuit trays.
Bake in the preheated oven for 7-8 minutes for a fairly soft biscuit (which is how I like them - almost like cake) or a few minutes longer for a firmer biscuit.

Now see if you can try not to eat them in one go....I have to say, I failed miserably.

The Poo To-Do

It was early afternoon and I was happy in my work. Unsurprisingly I was in the kitchen and predictably I was baking. I wasn't just baking anything mind you, it was of course Chocolate Cake. I had decided that when the older children returned home from school they would be in the need of sustenance and the sustenance they required was in the lovely, moist, sticky, fabulous form of my their favourite cake.
     I was having a lovely time, measuring ingredients, pouring ingredients and chattering incessantly to myself. I had once again disappeared into my own little world. A delightful little world; all bubble-wrapped and rosy coloured. But, suddenly I came crashing back down to earth. I had realised something....something terrible. It was quiet.....very quiet....too quiet.

Before commencing my little baking/daydream foray I had set up Miss Tornado Two in her room and surrounded her with all the things she loves best; her dolls, her tea-set, her teddies. When I had ducked out of her room I had every intention of popping back into her room every 5 minutes or so to check on the little cherub. Unfortunately I had soon completely forgotten.
  
I really should know better. I am the Mother of four children after all and we Mother's all know that a silent child is certainly not an idle one.

So, I crept down the hallway apprehensively....terrified of what  I would discover in the little room at the end of the house. Relief flooded through me when I heard her little piping voice babbling away in her own special language. Hopefully she was happily playing a lovely little game with her dolls I reasoned.

Unfortunately that myth was dispelled the moment I entered her room.First I detected a slightly earthy smell. A discarded nappy lay on the floor in front of me. A short distance away lay an abandoned pair of pants. In the corner sat my beautiful and charming little girl...but she wasn't alone....she was surrounded by several long brown things...and she was playing with/in them!

The gorgeous darling looked up at me, smiled sweetly and said "Poopy"
'Yes darling,' I muttered weakly 'Poopy'
And so began the long and painful process of cleaning up the precious child...and the carpet...and her dollies...and everything else she had contaminated with her ummmmm, poo.

The Chocolate cake lay discarded, forgotten, rejected. For some reason I couldn't face eating it. I couldn't even look at it. Anyone care to hazard a guess why?

"Banana Bread"

I love baking this kind of thing for my children, although it's laden with butter & sugar (two of my favourite ingredients) it always makes me feel like I'm serving them something wholesome. This recipe is a godsend, it simply does not fail - you can make it again and again and be assured that it will be perfection every time. I have been baking this for years, I hope you love it as much as I do.......

Ingredients;
125grams butter, softened.
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2tsp bicarb soda
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1/4 cup maple syrup (golden syrup works as well)
You can also add 1/2 cup of chopped nuts or 1 cup chopped dates at the end if you wish.

Method;
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well.
Fold through flour, baking powder, bicarb, nutmeg & cinnamon, stir well. Incorporate bananas & maple syrup until mixed through.
Pour the batter into a greased and lined baking tin and bake for approx 45minutes.
Serve with lashings of butter & the obligatory cup of tea.