Peanut Butter Choc Chip Cookies...

I had the pleasure of tending to the meal requirements of 12 amazing women last week end at Soul Medicine Women's Retreat on the Sunshine Coast held at Amara's Retreat.  I've attended many retreats in the past, and as most people who know me, know that I love food. A small detail I've looked for when I've been on a retreat to relax myself, was a little mid morning snack, other than fruit. So for all who attended last weekend, I made these biscuits.

Although most of the things I prepare in my kitchen today are pretty healthy, I will still bake biscuits and treats using a little sugar. They are gluten free, and this version uses a little honey, but no processed sugar.  Hit the spot perfectly!

Ingredients:
4 tbs peanut butter
3 tbs honey
1 ¼ cup almond meal
60g dark chocolate (finely chopped)  I like to use dark Lindt dessert choc here.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°c.  Line 2 biscuit trays with baking paper and set them aside.

Mix together the peanut butter and honey until combined. add the almond meal, mixing well with your hands until a dough forms, before adding the chocolate.
Press the mixture together, making into balls, before lightly flattening on the tray.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a little golden in colour.
Leave them to cool on the tray, perhaps around 10 minutes.

Now because these biscuit don't have the usual butter, eggs, sugar and flour of most biscuits, they don't actually rise or spread that much.  Don't be alarmed, they still go perfectly with that morning coffee 😍

p.s  Photo to be added at a later date.  We ate them all..... before I could take my photo..😇

Orange Polenta Poppyseed Cake

Looking for options for those who have taken sugar out of their diet, I have modified a recipe I made some time ago.  This version of the cake is sugar free, using rice malt syrup for the sweetener.  The oranges are also sweet, which adds to that natural sweetness.

For those not too worried about a little sugar, my first version of this cake was Lemon Polenta.  Using 2 lemons, 200g of raw castor sugar, and omitting the poppyseeds in the main cake batter.  

The drizzle syrup has 80g raw castor sugar and the juice of 1 lemon... 

The lemon, as you can imagine, is tart and I'm not sure just how well this lemon cake would go using the rice malt syrup?? Sometimes food, so perhaps just use the sugar with the lemon cake..

Oh, and it's gluten free...  Yay!!!

Ingredients

2 oranges

140g organic butter

3 free-range eggs

½ cup rice malt syrup

200g almond meal

175g polenta

2 tbsp. poppy seeds

1 tsp. gluten free baking powder

Drizzle: 2 tbsp. rice malt syrup & the juice of one orange

Method

Line a 23cm cake tin. and set aside. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºc.

Rinse the oranges and place in a saucepan of cold water, bringing to the boil.  Drain and pour over more cold water and bring back up to simmer for about an hour or until they’re really soft.  Keep an eye on them and add more water if needed.  Drain the water once the oranges are soft and allow them to cool a little before halving them, removing the pips and blitz to a puree in a food processor.

Add the remaining cake ingredients and continue to process until a loose batter forms.  Scrape into your prepared tin & bake for approx. 40-50 minutes or until golden and the cake is just shrinking away from the sides.

While it’s cooking, you can mix together the rice malt syrup and the orange juice to make the drizzle.  When the cake is cooked, allow it to cool a little before spooning over the drizzle and leaving to completely cool.

Serve with a little natural yogurt or a vanilla bean cream (chilled coconut cream, scraping of vanilla bean and 1 tbsp. pure maple syrup whipped together).

*(I have used mini rectangular cake tins here, purely because I found the cake tin and thought it was a pretty cute and easy way to share).

                                                                 Enjoy ♡ Shaz

Jamu

So many food and drink experiences really need to be shared with all.  This is most definitely one of these moments.  First being served this cool, somewhat strange tasting drink on arrival to our accommodation whilst on holiday, I can't say I was too keen at all. In fact, we sipped and then left it on the bench.  We soon discovered how amazing it tasted warmed, and so I have played a little with my quantities here and come up with my Jamu with a zing.  Kick of ginger and a tiny bit of honey for sweetness, and I've shared a few batches now and love it!

Just a little tip to serve in small quantities to start with for this one. 

Ingredients

1 litre filtered water

2 dessertspoons tamarind puree

80g piece fresh turmeric

6cm piece fresh ginger

1-2 dessertspoons honey (add 1 and taste before adding the second)

Method

Place the fresh turmeric into a small bowl of a food processor and chop well.  Pop into a large saucepan.  Then add the ginger to the processor, chopping and placing into the saucepan with the turmeric, the tamarind puree and 1 litre of filtered water.

(If you don't have a processor, chop ginger and turmeric finely by hand, but do wear gloves.  The turmeric will stain your hands, and everything it touches!!!)

Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Allow this to cool a little, before straining into a glass jug, removing all the chunks of ginger and turmeric.  
Lastly, add the honey, one dessertspoon at a time, taste testing after the first spoonful to double check the sweetness before adding more. You can't take it out once it's in there! And you don't want to waste it by making it too sweet either.

Because of the high amount of turmeric contained, store in a glass jar to prevent staining your equipment. 

You could also experiment by adding a little cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves.

  

Enjoy ☺ Shaz

Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup

Now I know this is not one bit a raw creation, but I cooked it up yesterday and it's just too tasty not to share this simple recipe.  💕 Warming the heart and soul 💕

I'm sure everyone has a stack of cook books they hardly ever use sitting on the shelf.  I have a very well worn book that was given to me many, many years ago, with loads of Aussie homestyle dinners and baked treats. Classic Country Collection, written by Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen, wife of one of Queensland's Premiers a few years back now.  I have drawn upon her Pumpkin soup recipe and modified it to suit my tastes for the moment. 

Warm and nourish with this one.

Ingredients:
30g butter
2 onions
1 kg pumpkin (chopped)
half a medium sized sweet potato (approx 300g)
750ml vegetable stock
1 cup milk
salt and pepper
1 tsp. favourite curry blend (optional extra)
chopped parsley for garnish

Method:

Chop the onions set aside.  Peel and dice the pumpkin and sweet potato and set them aside.

Gently melt the butter in a large pot and cook the onions until they are a rich golden colour, watching and stirring regularly so they don't burn. Add the curry blend if using, and stir for a minute, releasing those flavours.  Add the pumpkin, sweet potatoes, vegetable stock and milk.  Cover and bring to the boil, simmering until veges have softened. About 25-30 minutes. 

Take off the heat and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Then blitz with a stick blender, or pop in your blender, blending until smooth and silky.  Taste and add a little salt and pepper to achieve your desired taste.

Serve with a sprinkle of fresh parsley and a little freshly cracked pepper for garnish.

  

(Any leftovers can be frozen and used for a quick meal down the track some time.  Perhaps freeze in small portions so you can just thaw enough for one meal at a time.)

Enjoy 💖 Shaz

  

Sesame & Macadamia Slice

This is a great snack to make to have on hand when you need a little mid afternoon lift.  It's super tasty and you'll want to just pull out a couple of squares at a time when you sit down with that cuppa, or you'll probably want to eat more.  Hope you love this one as much as I do.  I've made a few of these now, so any questions if you make for yourself, ask me.  Happy to help...

Ingredients:

1 cup buckwheat puffs

½ cup sesame seeds

⅓ cup well crushed macadamia nuts

½ cup coconut flour

½ cup sultanas

75g organic butter

2 tbsp. honey

¼ cup rice malt syrup

¼ cup almond spread

2 tbsp. coconut oil

150g 70% melted dark cooking chocolate *(optional extra)

Method:

Line your square slice tin with baking paper and set aside.

Pop the coconut oil into a non-stick pan and heat gently.  Add to this all the dry ingredients except for the sultanas, and gently toast over a medium to low heat until a light golden colour is achieved.  About 10 minutes. Mix through the sultanas.

Then in another small pan, gently heat the butter, honey, rice malt syrup and almond butter until they’re melted together forming a caramel consistency. 

Add the caramel mix to the lightly toasted dry mixture and fold through until fully coated.  Press this mixture into your prepared tin * and place in the fridge to set for an hour or so, before slicing to serve.

*As an optional extra here, you could pour the melted chocolate over the top here and allow it to set.

Enjoy 💖 Shaz – rawfordaze