Flapjack Fingers

My usual packed lunch flapjacks are low in fat and sugar and have loads of fresh fruit added, but spotted this recipe yesterday and thought I'd make something a little different for the holidays (I'm also taking advantage of being able to add nuts, but these are optional). I hate shop bought pre packed flapjacks that are soft and doughy, almost like uncooked mix. To me, they should be crispy and taste like the ones I grew up with.

These have 30g of Nutribrex too as I didn't quite have enough oats left!

I sort of followed this recipe, but made a smaller quantity and reduced the sugar a little, oh, and cooked them for longer, because 20 minutes was never going to be enough!

150g Dairy and Soya Free margarine

80g Soft Brown Sugar

90g Golden Syrup

300g Oats

nuts/seeds/dried fruit/chocolate chips

Melt margarine, sugar and syrup together in a bowl in the microwave.

Stir in oats and fruit, seeds etc.

Tip into a lined tin (mine is 25cm x 18cm)

Press down with the back of a spoon.

Bake at 180ºc for 30-35 mins.

Cut into 16 fingers while still warm and leave to cool in the tin.

Lemon Drizzle Cake

For the last few weeks, M has been asking for lemon drizzle cake, so on Thursday afternoon I thought I'd give it a go in time for an after school snack. Rather than just using one of my basic cake mixes, and adding lemon, I had a quick look online for some ideas. I spotted this one, which was another of those pictures that you look at and are not convinced the picture is the actual recipe shown… Gluten free cake tends to be much paler than this. I wanted to give it a go, just to see. 

Just 2 little problems…

• Reading the ingredients and the method, they didn't match. Add the lemon juice? what lemon juice? I guessed that it should have said zest and juice of 2 lemons, not just zest. 
• L is allergic to chick peas, so gram flour was not an option. I considered just doing it with extra self raising flour, but having looked through my cupboard decided on substituting it for something else high in protein. 

I decided to use my Fava bean (broad bean) flour because it needs using up by the end of the month, but even with only 20g (my hand slipped), I could taste it. I think I'd just add 50g of ground almonds next time (although, then it's no use for school lunchbox!).

As expected, my cake was still very pale after the suggested time, so I turned the temperature up to get a little colour. It also sank, a lot, when it came out of the oven. That said, it was a nice moist texture inside, and the boys loved it, which is the whole point (I may have had two slices as soon as it was warm enough to cut too…). Definitely one to adapt next time, but thought I'd post the recipe now anyway in my attempt to publish more recipes than stay in my drafts folder this year!

Cake Mix

235g Gluten Free Self Raising Flour

15g Gram Flour/Fava Bean Flour/Quinoa Flour/or other high protein flour. (I'm going to try with 50g Ground Almonds next time)

150g Sugar (I used a mixture of caster and soft brown)

85mls Vegetable Oil (I used mix of olive and rapeseed, which gave it a nice yellow colour)

265mls Milk Substitute

Zest and Juice of 2 Lemons

Syrup for Drizzling

3tbsp sugar

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Weigh out flours and sugar into a large bowl.

Mix lemon juice & zest (keep 1/2 tsp back for the syrup), milk substitute and oil in a jug or a bowl.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well with a balloon whisk.

Pour into a lined 2lb loaf tin and bake at 170ºc for 50mins (I might try 180ºc next time).

To brown cake slightly, turn up to 200ºc for a further 10 minutes.

While it's baking, add the syrup ingredients to a bowl and microwave for 1 minute until lightly boiled and clear. 

Remove cake from oven and cool for 10 minutes.

Prick cake all over with a skewer and pour over the syrup. Leave in tin to cool for another 30mins before removing to cooling rack.

Tasted much better than it looked at this stage!

Not sure why this one is sideways, but you get the gist...

English Muffins (2017 version)

Not quite sure why it's so long since I last made muffins. Buoyed on by by watching Junior Bake Off, Mini Monster wanted something he could make by himself. He managed to make 6 English muffins from my old recipe (done just after he went wheat free). They were great, if a little wet inside, but had all been finished by mid afternoon. So much for having some for this weeks packed lunch! 

My expertise in MEWS free baking has come a long way since those days, so I set about making a second batch with a few tweaks (these did make it to packed lunches, but only because I split and froze some to take out as needed).

These were left under the grill a little longer than I intended...

The pictures don't quite match up with the method as some were taken while Mini Monster was making the first batch with oil, I haven't missed something from the ingredients!

300mls Milk Substitute

100mls Boiling Water

2tsp (1 sachet) Dried Yeast

300g Gluten Free White Bread Flour

60g Dairy & Soya Free Margarine (I used hard Stork that had been left out to soften, but spread would work too)

Polenta (or ground rice) for lining the tray/tins

Mix milk substitute and water in a jug or bowl. Sprinkle on the yeast, stir and set aside for 15 mins to froth.

Ignore the jug of oil, this was the first batch of the day!

Put flour into a bowl, add frothed yeast mixture and beat until a smooth thick batter is formed.

Cover and set aside for 30-40 mins until dough has expanded in size (may not double). This stage is not essential, but as a bread baker pre kids, I always preferred a double rise (think I just do it for psychological reasons now!).

Grease a tray and the inside of 6 baking rings. Sprinkle on polenta to cover evenly.

Add the soft margarine to the dough and beat again with the whisk until evenly incorporated.

Ladle the mixture into the prepared rings. Cover with greased cling film and allow to rise until just below the top of the ring.

Bake at 190ºc for 20-25 minutes, or until the muffins are just coming away from the edges of the tins.

Remove from tins and place on a cooling rack.

Gingerbread Flapjack

Another variation on a theme, a slight tweak to the normal fruity packed lunch flapjacks to give them a more seasonal feel. 

75g Hard Vegetable Margarine 

75g Date Syrup

Zest of 1/2 Orange

2 Grated Apples

1tsp Ground Cinnamon

1tsp Ground Ginger

1tsp Ground Mixed Spice

260g Rolled Oats

Put syrup and margarine on a bowl and melt together in the microwave.

Add fruit, spices & oats to the syrup mixture.

Mix well and tip into a lined or greased tin (mine is 18x25cm).

Spread out and press down in the tin with the back of the spoon.

Bake at 170ºC for 40 minutes. Cut into 12 bars with a sharp knife and leave to cool in the tin.

GBBO - Week4 - Batter

Well, while most of us are still reeling from the news that Great British Bake Off is moving from the BBC, it's important to keep sight of what we're here for. Baking. Specifically free from baking. This week it's batter. Still not sure what my bake off challenge is going to be this week, but if you're new to free from cooking, batter is your friend! Thought I'd just post a couple of old recipes to get you started.

When my first son came up in blisters where he'd touched some eggy bread at 7 months old, it was time to start approaching cooking a bit differently. I've been lucky that the progression through exclusion of egg, milk, soya, wheat and pulses (lentils or any type of bean) has been gradual, allowing me to adapt recipes one step at a time. 

I was delighted to discover pancakes worked just as well without the egg. All I had to do was increase the fluid by 50-60mls per egg. I used egg replacer initially, but since forgetting to add it one day and finding they worked just as well, I stopped bothering. The switch to wheat free was just as easy.

Pancakes are a great thing to start off with if you're not used to baking. There is much less to go wrong than with cake and the possibilities are endless. Basic thick pancakes are so simple, even my 6yo can make them on his own!

Basic Thick (Scotch/American) Pancake

Raspberry Pancakes (has pictures of basic steps not shown in above recipe)

Basic Thin Pancake (scroll down for the wheat free version) 

If you're feeling more adventurous and want to try a less forgiving batter, my Yorkshire pudding recipe is here…

Technically waffles and my baked doughnuts use a batter type mix too... 

Waffles

Herb Waffles (great for packed lunches)

Baked Doughrings

Cheese and Herb Bread Rolls

Anyone who follows me on twitter will know I'm a big fan of a couple of mixes for bread making (Coori and Bakels). Biscuits and cake can be made with any of the flour blends easily available, but if you've had a go at making bread with wheat flour, you will know that making gluten free bread is a very different story. No kneading required as its almost cake mix like consistency can only be poured into a tin to contain it. In the early days of being wheat free, I had a go at trying to use a thicker workable dough, but just ended up with ugly, cracked, brick like breads (yes, really, I have bad days in the kitchen too!). 

I love that I can get a good workable dough with consistently good results from Coori and Bakels (but both require a little more effort) and finally make some of the things we used to have regularly at home. Have now perfected flatbreads, brioche, cinnamon bun, jam doughnut, sausage rolls, tarte tatin recipes to name but a few...

The first time I used the Bakels Multiseed mix (after the Allergy Show in London in 2015), I had to double check the ingredients as it was not only 'workable' like a wheat containing dough, but also smelt and looked like a malted wheat loaf when it came out of the oven! Of course, it was fine, they just have better food scientists than me and access to ingredients that improve the consistency of the dough…

The other problem I have is that as a Registered Dietitian, I'm not supposed to promote specific brands. This is even more frustrating when doing free from baking as some of the flour blends need more or less liquid to get the same results in a recipe. I've resigned myself to actually saying which flour I used now on the basis that I name several throughout the recipes, so not promoting a specific one on the site. So here goes…

I don't have anything as fancy as a stand mixer, I've tried using my electric hand whisk, but on balance, I've gone back to good old fashioned mixing by hand.

300g Bakes Multi Seed Bread Mix

270mls Milk Substitute (if you use a fortified one, it will add 324mg calcium to your loaf, or 54mg/roll)

1tsp dried yeast

100g Violife Original Cheese* (Grated)

2tbsp Chopped fresh Herbs (sage and rosemary from the garden) or 2tsp dried 

Additional wheat fee flour for kneading (I used Doves Farm white bread flour, but any wheat free (not self raising) flour would do)

Warm milk substitute to 'hand hot'. Sprinkle on the yeast, stir and set aside to foam up (even if you're using instant dried yeast).

Put flour, grated cheese and herbs in a large bowl. Mix together with a blunt knife.

Pour in the milk and yeast mixture.

Stir with the blunt knife until it begins to come together.

Sprinkle on a little extra flour and bring it to a ball with your hand. Knead lightly until you have a smooth ball of dough (you may need to keep adding a little extra flour if your hand get too sticky, but don't be tempted to add too much).

Cover with cling film and set aside in a warm place to rise (I think I left mine for about 45 mins, won't quite double in size like wheat bread, but when you press it with your fingers you will see it sink back down).

Sprinkle with a little more flour and knead lightly again. Shape into 6 rolls (or a loaf) and put on a floured tray. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise again.

Bake at 220ºC for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and sounding hollow when tapped underneath.

Try to leave to cool before eating…

*Violife Original (as you may have found) does not melt with direct heat (like on a pizza), but melts well in toasties, sauces etc, that's why you can see the spots of it on the outside of the rolls where it poked through the dough, the cheese melted will on the inside of the rolls. You could try other dairy and soya free cheeses, but as this is available in most of the main Supermarkets now, it made sense to use as easily accessible.

Bakels mixes are currently available at Sainsbury's and on Amazon.

Jam Tarts

Who doesn't like a jam tart? The problem with the free from ones is they either contain egg, or the few that are really milk, egg, wheat and soya free, contain nuts, making them instantly not suitable for packed lunch (school nut ban).

Key Stage 1 party tomorrow afternoon, with the usual helpful 24hours notice about what food I need to provide! Fortunately, this year, they helpfully suggested that rather than me providing food for 8 children (sausages/carrot sticks etc), I have only been asked to provide a plate of food for Mini Monster. Now I just need to figure out what the others will have and make sure he gets an equivalent…

Obviously, I've started with pudding...

Makes 12 tarts

200g Gluten/Wheat Free Plain Flour 

70g Hard vegetable fat (Stork(the hard one not the spreadable, which contains milk)/cookeen/trex)

5-6tbsp Dairy and soya free cream/milk substitute
Extra Fruit Jam, or Clearspring fruit spread for no added sugar ones

Put flour in bowl and rub in fat until resembles breadcrumbs.

Slowly mix in the milk substitute, using a blunt knife, until the mix begins to come together.

Kneed well.

Roll out thinly between 2 sheets of cling film (means you don't need to add extra flour and risk it drying out).

Cut rounds and place in a greased tart tin.

Fill with 1tspn fruit spread/jam.

Bake at 200ºC for 15-20mins.