Healthier Banana, PB and Chocolate Cookies

I took down my Christmas decorations at the weekend. I used to hate taking them down, everything looking so bare. But now I kind of quite like it. It signifies getting back to a routine and on with New Year sensible eating habits!

As I’ve said in my last post, I’m trying to lose a bit of weight and January is going to be mostly about healthy treats. I decided to give making healthy cookies a bash. So, these were a bit of an experiment, but I think they turned out lovely.

The fact these contain no dairy fat, no eggs (plus no sugar), makes them quite vegan virtuous indeed. They aren’t gluten free, but you could swap the wholewheat flour I used for another, such as almond or spelt flour.

I used a low-fat peanut butter in these, but a full-fat version would be okay too. Peanuts contain ‘good’ fats and there isn’t too much in these anyway. And coconut butter is such a good alternative to regular butter. A lot of health shops stock it for quite a hefty price. But I picked a jar up for next to nothing at my local Chinese supermarket.

To replace some of the sweetness and the binding of the egg, I went for an over ripe banana. I chucked a banana in the freezer and when frozen, let it come to room temperature and it slips out of it’s skin in a much pulp, perfect in the cookie batter. Also to replace some of the sweetness, I used sachets of Stevia – each one comes in at 1.5 grams which equates to 1.5 grams of sugar. I added 6 of these but as they are calorie free you could add more if you like things sweeter, without affecting the consistency of the cookie dough. And I added a tablespoon of raw cacao powder. This added a subtle chocolaty flavour too.

One last tip, I used a scoop to measure these out, so they were round domes on the baking sheet. I presumed they would spread and flatten out when baked. How wrong was I? They kept their shape, and I quite like the round shape. But if you prefer your cookies a little flatter, press them down with the bottom of a glass. They won’t take quite so long to bake either, so adjust the oven time accordingly.

The cookies are a great snack, full of flavour, slightly sweet, slightly peanut buttery and slightly chocolaty. They are crisp on the outside with a slight chew in the middle just as I like my cookies. And of course, they are much better for you! Enjoy if you give them a try yourself.

Yield: 16 cookies approx.

Ingredients:

115 grams coconut butter

60 grams peanut butter (low-fat optional)

1 medium banana, very ripe and mashed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 sachets (9 grams) Stevia powder

1 tablespoon raw cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa powder)

150 grams wholewheat flour

Method:

Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 180C.

In a bowl, either by hand or with a mixer, cream together the coconut butter and the peanut butter. Add the mashed banana and vanilla extract and beat this in until smooth.

Add the dry ingredients (the flour, stevia and cacao) and combine until a thick dough is formed. Divided the batter into 16 rounds and place on the baking sheets. Press down slightly into a flat cookie shape if desired.

Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until dry looking and lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before enjoying.

I am entering these cookies into this month's Treat Petite hosted by myself this month, and my co-host Kat from The Baking Explorer. The theme this month is Healthy Treats.

I'm also entering these cookies into this month's Biscuit Barrel Challenge hosted usually by Laura at 'I'd Much Rather Bake Than...' but this month my Alexandra 'The Lass in the Apron'. The theme this month is 'Innovations and Discoveries'. These cookies were a bit of an experiment so I think they fit the bill of innovation!

Treat Petite January 2015

Thank you to all who sent in bakes for Treat Petite Christmas. Kat and I were overwhelmed by all the lovely entries, and they made us feel very festive (and hungry) indeed.

And that brings us to the theme for January. I’m sure we are all feeling a tad over-indulged at the moment. I know I have put on a fair bit of weight recently and plan to do something about that after our January visit to London in a few days’ time.

And as a few of you may be hitting the gym like me, I’d love to see some healthier bakes this month. This may be sugar-free desserts, low-fat, vegan friendly, gluten-free – anything you feel is a bit more virtuous in the baking stakes. And you don’t even need to bake - for example last year I made some sugar-free jelly stripes which were a big hit. Or you could even try a healthy smoothie. So get your minds to thinking and let us see what you come up with.

 ‘Here’s the rules…’

Treat Petite (this month) is for all of those delicious (healthy) bites, which can be individually portioned. Tray bakes are fine, cookies, cupcakes, brownies, macarons and so on. No cakes, puddings, whole loaves – you get the idea…here are those all-important rules.

1.       Add your petite treat to the Linky at the bottom of this post by the 25th of the month, midnight at the latest.

2.       Post your bake onto your blog and link back to Cakeyboi and The Baking Explorer, stating who is hosting this month.

3.       Follow Cakeyboi and The Baking Explorer blogs on Google + (see sidebar links), if you haven’t already.

4.       If you tweet use  #treatpetite and mention @MrCakeyboi and @BakingExplorer – we will retweet.

5.       Add the challenge logo to the post and ‘Treat Petite’ as a label to the post

6.       Use any recipe as long as the source is noted.

7.       If you like, add your photo to the ‘Treat Petite’ Pinterest board (request access from me – Cakeyboi).

8.       Feel free to enter old posts as long as you update the post and meet all the requirements above!

Above all else – have fun!!

The Best of the Boi - 2014

That's another year done and dusted then!

Where does the time go? It only seems like a couple of weeks ago I was writing my review of 2013. But then, as you will see, I have had a pretty packed year, which always makes time fly by! This isn't a recipe review by the way - I did that a couple of posts ago.

courtesy of greatbritishbakeoff.co.uk

The start of the year saw me audition for the Great British Bake Off. I applied in the latter part of 2012, but didn’t have my first audition until January in cold Manchester. I made a Hummingbird cake decorated like a watermelon to take along. 

And they must have liked it as at the beginning of February I found myself in the final 50! I won’t go into great detail (I had to sign papers forbidding me from talking about it too much), but I had another audition, this time in London, where I had to take part in a technical challenge. It was nerve-wracking, and I waffled into the camera.

courtesy of greatbritishbakeoff.co.uk

 I also met Norman, Jordan and Diana there who did make it to the final show. I got my call mid-February saying I hadn’t made it. I was pretty gutted to be honest! As for this year?  I haven’t even applied this time, even though everyone says I should! 

 Mid-March saw one of my healthier recipes from January get picked up by a Sugar-Free Magazine and Cakeyboi appeared in print (not for the last-time)!

 The next few months were pretty busy and I baked away, posting my recipes regularly for you all to enjoy. Then June came along and I attended Food Blogger Connect in London. As the picture above shows, it's the world's leading international food blogging conference. A yearly gathering for fellow food bloggers, I met loads of familiar faces including the lovely Lisa from United Cakedom.

 I learned so much about the intricacies of food blogging. Someone called Ottolenghi was there (I am a baker, forgive me that I didn’t really know who he was) and excitingly for me I met Anna Olson the Canadian chef and TV presenter. I was definitely star-struck by her.

 I also met Luca from 'Oh La Vache', and we started up a baking boys Facebook group. I have to admit my participation has dwindled somewhat in the past few months, but it is great to connect with other male bloggers. If you have a blog, are male and bake, email me and I can send you an invite to the group.

 On a personal level, July was a great month as I proposed to my best friend and partner of 11 years. Yes, Disneyboi and I are engaged. No date set yet to get married, house-hunting in the New Year first…

August was also an exciting month as we attended the Foodies Festival in Edinburgh. Sadly the day we went there was torrential rain. 

But to brighten things up we saw Glenn Cosby from 2013’s GBBO do his thang on stage. He baked and cracked jokes, and is actually a very funny guy. 

Plus we met ‘Fanny’ of the brilliant blog ‘Keep Calm andFanny On’. ‘Fanny’ gave me a copy of the treasured Christmas Cookery booklet which I now cherish! And ‘Fanny’ has since become a very good friend. We food bloggers are lovely people!

 We went on our summer hols in September, but just a few weeks later in October, it was the BBC Good Food Show in Glasgow. A few months earlier I had been contacted by Katy Truss who organises the show and she asked if I would like to be interviewed on the stage all about this blog. After some consideration, I said yes! It was nerve-wracking but the interviewer, the lovely Lotte Duncan (of the Food Network) put me at ease and we chatted and laughed. 

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and even signed my first autograph (thanks Melanie!). The Good Food Show itself was as enjoyable as ever. We saw Paul and Mary bake, John Torode cook and visited loads of stalls and sampled great food.

 November was a really busy month! I was asked to appear as a guest on the BBC Radio Scotland show ‘Kitchen Café’. It was ‘Children In Need’ weekend and they were doing some baking, hence I came in as a sort of ‘expert’. Sadly, I didn’t feel this went nearly as well as the Good Food Show. I was more nervous and waffled. But everyone who listened to it said I was really good and sounded like I knew what I was talking about. I still can’t bring myself to listen to it…

 November also saw me, and four other intrepid food bloggers – Janice at Farmersgirl Kitchen, Jac at Tinned Tomatoes, Rachel Cotterill of her self-titled blog and Becca from Amuse Your Bouche – visit the Thornton’s factory in deepest, darkest Alfreton. I felt like Charlie Bucket visiting Willy Wonka for the day. 

We saw Easter Eggs being made, decorated a chocolate casket ourselves, saw toffee being made, broken and smashed into pieces and sampled loads of lovely choccies. The staff were really hospitable and gave us a great insight into a British institution.

 Which brings us up-to-date and into December. Christmas is always a busy period but I did find the time to write the foreword to the December issue of Brilliant Baking Magazine with Edd Kimber on the cover!

It has been a great year and I want to thank those of you who have been there throughout!

Here’s to 2015 and whatever that may bring (hopefully losing a few pounds personally!!). Happy New Year when it arrives folks!

Mini Macaroni Pies

I always like to bring you a bit of a party snack for New Year. And this year is no exception.

Macaroni Pies are a Scottish staple where you find them next to steak or mince pies in the supermarket. I call them all ‘Flemings Pies’ as they are often made by a butcher up here with that name. However, Macaroni pies are essentially mac ‘n’ cheese encased in a pastry shell – (it is still before New Year and we are still indulging!).

The regular crust on ‘Flemings pies’ involves lard and flour, which makes a firm casing for the delicious ingredients inside. But for my recipe of mini macaroni pies, I am opting for a shop-bought, ready rolled shortcrust pastry. Unless you have time to knock up a batch of shortcrust yourself of course!

For the filling, I used the smallest macaroni type pasta I could find, which was meant to be used in soup. It was perfect for my mini pies though. And I used the strongest, most mature cheddar I could find for the cheese sauce. You have to be able to taste the mac ‘n’ cheese after all!

I blind baked my pastry in a cupcake tray, each cup weighed down with baking beans. Then I added the cooked mac ‘n’ cheese into the shells, sprinkled with more cheese and baked them just until bubbling.

The result was a delicious miniature combination of crumbly pastry with a rich cheesy pasta filling. Imagine handing these around at your New Year shindig? To gussy them up a bit, I added some chopped spring onion for garnish.

Here’s how I made them;

Yield: 12 mini macaroni pies

Ingredients:

I roll of short crust pastry (about 375 grams)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons plain flour

250 ml milk

125 grams grated mature cheddar

½ teaspoon mustard (I use American yellow)

Black pepper, to taste

125 grams mini macaroni

1 spring onion, shredded for garnish

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C.

With a circular cutter, cut rounds of the pastry, so that it fills a cup in a cupcake tray. You want the pastry to go up the sides of the case. When all twelve have been cut, add foil on top of each bit of pastry and top with baking beans. Cook for 12-15 minutes until the edges of the pastry cups are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and carefully remove the beans and foil. Allow to cool slightly then make sure you can remove the pastry easily from each cup of the tray, then place back in.

To make the mac’n’ cheese, boil the pasta as directed and set aside. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and then add the flour. Whisk together for a couple of minutes over medium heat. Add the milk, and keep whisking until the sauce reaches a boil and thickens. Remove from the heat and add the mustard and cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted into the sauce. Season to taste with black pepper. Add the macaroni and stir this through.

Carefully spoon the mac ‘n’ cheese into the pastry cups and top each with a little more grated cheese. Place back into the oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melty and bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to cool then garnish with some chopped spring O’s.

And that is mini macaroni pies. A bit posher than the usual variety you find here in Scotland. But a sure-fire winner at your New Year’s soiree!

My #ChristmasFridge for Random Recipes #46

Just a quickie today as we are all mid-festivities!

I am entering Dom’s Random Recipes this month, over at Belleau Kitchen! Which isn’t actually about recipes this December would you believe.

Instead Dom is being particularly evil this month and asking us to share images of our Christmas fridges, that is the contents of our refrigerators heaving with the goodies, ready to be snaffled on Christmas day and beyond.

I took my snap when I was defrosting my turkey as you can probably see on the top shelf. Now, don’t get on at me for stacking my raw meats at the top etc. There is no cooked meats in there, so we are okay (well, I was at the time of writing this!).

Would you believe that I am only catering for three. There will be plenty of leftovers which will do us well into the new year.

I hope you are all enjoying your Christmas festivities and I’d like to ‘thank’ Dom for this cruel challenge!!! It is good to have a wee nose around other’s fridges isn’t it…?

Cinnamon and Black Pepper Sugar Cookies

I’m sure you are all busy last minute shopping or trying to sort out Christmas dinner by now. So just a wee cookie recipe for you, which is good for this time of year or anytime really.

It’s a sugar cookie, which are more prevalent at the moment, but I have flavoured my mix with a little cinnamon and black pepper. This imparts a bit of extra sweetness and a bit of a spicy kick.

The batter is really simple and you can keep it in the fridge until ready to roll, cut out and bake. In fact, you could roll it into a log, wrap it up and freeze it. Then when guests arrive, cut them up and bake from frozen.

I iced mine with some royal icing I whipped up from a Martha Stewart recipe and feathered some in the colours of the season – red and green. They are just as lovely plain though, if you are running out of time or simply can’t be bothered!

Here’s how I made them…

Yield: 48 cookies approx

Ingredients:

300 grams plain flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

225 grams unsalted butter, very soft

225 grams granulated sugar

1 medium egg

Method:

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and pepper.

In another bowl beat the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy. Add the egg and beat this in. Add the flour and mix in until no dry ingredients can be seen.

Divide the dough into two and wrap each half in clingfilm. Chill in the fridge for at least two hours, longer if you have the time. Remove from the fridge and roll out onto a work surface dusted with icing sugar. Cut out into desired shapes and place on to a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper.

Once the sheet is full, pop into the fridge and then preheat the oven to 180C. Once the oven is up to temperature, place the cookies into the oven and bake until lightly golden around the edges, 10 – 12 minutes.

Allow to cool fully if you are going to ice them. If not, they are lovely eaten warm.

Alternately, after making the dough, roll it into a log, wrap it in greaseproof paper and then clingfilm and freeze until ready to use. Cut them as required with a serrated knife, into discs about a centimetre thick and back in a 180C oven for 12-15 mins. They will need a bit longer as they are frozen.

If you make them, I hope you enjoy the spiciness of the pepper mixed with the cinnamon sweetness. This is my last post before Christmas, so I’d like to wish all of my readers a very Merry Christmas and I hope you have a fantastic time.

Gingerbread Pancakes with Eggnog Cream Cheese

I love the easy, lazy mornings over the Christmas break. If you are lucky enough to be off your work for a few days in between Christmas and New Year, you’ll know what I mean. I think it takes me back to being a child when I had lots of time off school.

You get up in your jimjams, heating on, and pop on you’re the Christmas tree lights then settle down to watch naff Christmas telly. Usually repeats of old festive episodes of BBC comedies. That’s what we do anyway!

And breakfast, which is my favourite meal of the day, has to be extra special during this time I think. Instead of hoovering up the content’s of a recently received selection box, I like to indulge. We actually have bacon rolls on Christmas morning, and after that I try and make different things such as an After Eight inspired cereal I made a couple of years ago.

But this year, I plan on making more of these gingerbread pancakes. I have tried them already, just so I know they will be a hit with Disneyboi. And they will be. They have all the familiar gingerbread spices you would expect, such as ginger, cloves and cinnamon. Plus some treacle which gives a dark earthy flavour and makes the pancakes a nice rich brown colour.

If that wasn’t enough, I decided to make an eggnog flavoured cream cheese (I know, I know, I’m going eggnog crazy this year!). This cream cheese is the same filling which I used in my eggnog stuffed chocolate cups the other week (grab the recipe here). Like I said a bit of indulgence, but if you can’t do this at Christmas time, then when can you?

Yield: 10 small pancakes

Ingredients:

100 grams plain flour

30 grams granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

1 medium egg

180 ml milk (I used semi-skimmed)

1 tablespoon groundnut oil

1 ½ tablespoon treacle
(Adapted from Williams-Sonoma and Taste of Home)

Method:

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and spices together in a bowl. In a jug, combine the egg, oil, milk and treacle. Keep stirring until the treacle blends into the rest of the ingredients. Add the wet mix to the dry mix and blend just until combined. Don’t over mix.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat and grease very lightly with a little butter or vegetable oil.  Add a heaping dessert spoon to the pan and let cook until bubbles start to appear on top of the pancakes then flip and leave for another minute. Do not press down with a spatula as you want them light an airy.

You can keep the pancakes cosy in a 100C oven, on a baking sheet, until you are ready to enjoy them.

To serve, enjoy with butter, maple syrup or as I did – eggnog flavoured cream cheese. Now, go and enjoy them in front of the TV with your feet up!