Tag Archives: No added Sugar

Cheat’s Gluten Free Loaf

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Cheat's gluten free bread (2)-001

While looking through some cut-outs from old copies of the Australian Coeliac mag, I came across a GF bread recipe using Orgran plain flour.  Even though I can order this blend as part of Mr MaMT’s UK GF prescription every few months, I don’t like using it for baking personally, as I find it renders too dry a, and sometimes rubbery, baked product.  However,  I thought I’d put it to the test in this bread recipe!  I refer to it as cheating, as I feel naughty not milling my own grains to make a flour blend. 😋  Anyway, I tweaked around, thermified and came up with this, with a very nice result:

Add to the TM bowl and heat 3 minutes / 37 degs / speed 2:

  • 450g water
  • 2 tsp dried yeast
  • 40g olive oil

Add and mix for a few seconds / speed 3:

  • 1 egg

Add and blend 5 seconds / speed 5:

  • 500g pack Orgran plain flour*
  • 1 generous tsp sea salt

Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add and then knead 2 minutes:

  • 20g mixed seeds (I use sunflower and pumpkin)

 

The mix will be like a stiff cake batter – scrape into a grease-proof lined 1kg bread tin and place in a warm spot for 20-30 minutes to rise.

Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 220 degs f/f.

Bake for 10 minutes then turn down the oven to 180 degs and bake for a further 35 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack and slice.  Best eaten fresh, but still okay for a day or two after, wrapped up.  Freeze any remainder – lovely toasted. 😍

* available in the UK on prescription (if Coeliac registered) or from health food stores, or in Australia, of course, from Coles, Woolies etc

Ferrero Rocher, gluten/dairy free, with no added sugar

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Ferroro Rocher (2)

I’ve made these a couple of times now as gifts and they seem to go down well.  Hmm, perhaps a little too well, with a coffee …

I’ve thermified and tweaked some weights and ingredients of I Quit Sugar’s recipe, as a lovely Facebook reader kindly asked me for my Thermomixed version, so I figured it would be rude not to share!!!  However, this is quite a rough version, so please let me know of any additional tweaking required, if you make them …

Makes 20-25 balls

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Add to an oven tray and roast for 10 minutes:

  • 110g hazelnuts (about 25-30g of these are for the surprise in the middle; the other 80-85g will be chopped and used for the coating)
  • 130g sunflower and pumpkin seeds (keep the hazelnuts separate from the seeds, as these will be used for the filling)

Rub the skins off the nuts using a tea towel (or a tip I’ve seen elsewhere is whizz them for 1 minute/rev/speed 1 – I haven’t tried this though).

Set aside 25 hazelnuts (about 25g-30g) and set aside the remaining hazelnuts separately.

Add to the TM bowl and process for 10 seconds / speed 9:

  • 130g sunflower and pumpkin seeds

Add and turbo 3 times, then scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again for a few secs / speed 5, until smooth:

  • 40g coconut oil
  • 50g rice malt or maple syrup
  • 20g almond or coconut milk, or milk of choice
  • 20g raw cacao powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla powder

Tip out onto some greaseproof and roll into a ball, then pop into the freezer for a wee while.

Meanwhile, add to the TM bowl and chop for a few seconds / speed 6 (scrape and repeat, if necessary, but bear in mind, we’re wanting to achieve a chopped nut, rather than hazelnut flour!):

  • 80g or so of the reserved roasted hazelnuts

Place on a plate and set aside.

Grab another plate and place a sheet of greaseproof over it:

  • Retrieve your big ball of chocolate filling from the freezer and divide/shape into small balls – aim for 25.
  • Insert a whole hazelnut inside each ball, quickly massaging the mixture over the hazelnut to conceal it. Pop each ball onto the greaseproof-lined plate as you go.
  • Once all done, pop into the freezer for 20 minutes (if time)

IMG_0146-001

Meanwhile, clean and dry your bowl thoroughly.  I say this, as my chocolate didn’t melt properly and I ended up adding extra almond milk to help it along.  It was a little congealed, but I still managed to coat my balls and roll them in the chopped nuts.

Add to the TM bowl and chop 5 seconds / speed 8, then melt 50 deg / 2-3 mins / speed 3:

  • 130-140g 85% dark chocolate (if you can use a {refined} sugar-free brand, all the better; just add a little rice malt syrup to sweeten, if need be)

Tip:  If you have some melted choc left-over, you can always make a hot chocolate!

To finish – work as quickly as you can here:

  • Dip the cooled balls into the melted chocolate, then roll around in the chopped hazelnuts
  • Place back onto the greaseproof lined plate and once all done, pop into the freezer again for half an hour to set – or in the fridge for a couple of hours. Whichever’s more convenient.

They’re worth the fiddling around, because they’re divine and make a lovely gift for a friend or member of the family … 😛

Ferroro Rocher (1)

Chocolate Beetroot Brownie Pudding

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Chocolate Beetroot Brownie Pudding-002

Phew, I’ve tried this 6 times now since Sunday, with numerous variations in ingredients, methods and cooking, but no-one seems to be complaining!  I like the varoma-steamed version the best – the puddings are so moist and ‘chocolate mud-cake like’.

These puds are made without any added sugar (apart from the 15% in the dark chocolate), as I use dates to sweeten.  Yes, yes, they contain fructose, but they also contain iron, vitamin A, potassium and fibre, so they’re okay in moderation.  The beetroot gives it an extra nutritional punch, with vitamin C, fibre,  potassium, manganese and B vitamin folate, as well as emitting a lovely red hue, and the avocado accounts for the oil component, whilst also adding fibre, potassium, vitamin E, B vitamins and folic acid.   I’m sure these three ingredients help count towards your fruit/veg quota for the day too??!!!!  Decadently healthy!

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 Start by greasing 8 small ramekins or dariole moulds/silicone cups.  NB:  I find that the cooked puds remove easier from silicone cups, but if you use ceramic moulds, just make sure they’re well oiled to begin with, and at the end, skim around the inside of the moulds with a butter knife a couple of times to loosen the puddings, then turn upside down and pat the bottom to release.

Add to bowl and whizz up for 10 seconds / speed 9:

  • 130g chopped dried dates (use medjool with pits removed, if you wish)

Set aside

Add and whizz up for another 5 seconds / speed 8:

  • 120g broken up dark chocolate (I use 85% cocoa)

Melt 2.5 mins / 50deg / speed 1

Add to the bowl and whizz for 2-3 seconds / speed 5, scraping and repeating a few times until you have a relatively smooth chocolatey purée:

  • 150g cooked beetroot, roughly chopped.  I steamed my own earlier – whole beetroot in steamer basket / 1000g water / 35 mins / varoma / speed 2 – then peeled and chopped.
  • The flesh of 1 ripe small/med-sized avocado (approx 100g), chopped roughly into cubes

Add and mix 10 seconds / speed 5, scraping and repeating for another 10-15 seconds:

  • 2 eggs
  • 130g chopped dates, set aside earlier
  • 1 tbs (10g) cacao / cocoa powder
  • 1/8th tsp / generous pinch vanilla powder or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 40g gluten free flour
  • 1/4 tsp bicarb of soda
  • 1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp stevia powder or a squirt of rice syrup (optional – just if you like it that bit sweeter)

Spoon into the prepared ramekins or dariole moulds and smooth out the tops with the back of a dessert spoon, dipped in water.  Position in the varoma dish and tray.

Thermo dishes19-001

  • Place 1000g water into the TM bowl, set lid in place and varoma on top with puddings inside.
  • Steam for 25 minutes at varoma temp / speed 2.

Alternatively, pre-heat a fan assisted oven to 160degs (180degs – regular) – Bake for approx 20 mins

Leave to cool for 5 mins and then gently ease out of the ramekins or serve warm straight from the ramekins.
You may experience a little surface cracking and more so with the oven baking – but anyway, the likes of some cashew/coconut cream/ice cream, topped with some fresh fruit, can cover up a multitude of sins!

Chocolate mousse or ganache would be nice too, if you’re a real chocaholic!

Other tips:

  • I also tried a sweet potato variation – delicious too; the colour just wasn’t so – well – chocolately red!
  • Instead of gluten free flour, you might even want to try ground almonds
  • I haven’t tried a grain-free version with coconut flour – let me know if you do!

Chocolate Beanie Brownies

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choc-mudcake

This is a recipe by Empower Total Health, that I’ve made a few times now, varying between using beetroot and orange, depending on what I’ve got in stock!   It’s not only gluten free, dairy free and egg free, but it can also be nut free and doesn’t contain any added sugar!   Wow, you might be inclined to think that it’s also ‘taste free’ – I’ll leave you to decide on that, but we LOVE it and it went down very well with an Aussie visitor and her UK rellie recently.

I’ve reduced the amount of dates I use, added a banana and, as apples are also involved, there is plenty of natural sweetener in the recipe anyway.

So, here is my tweaked recipe …

Add to TM bowl and chop for 3 seconds / speed 4.  Set aside:

  • 110 g walnuts OR sunflower / pumpkin seeds

Grind 20-30 seconds / speed 9, then set aside:

  • 15 g linseeds

Blend for 10 seconds / speed 10:

  • 150-250 g dates – according to how sweet you’d like it. (Alternatively, you could use date sugar:   see here on how to go about it – NB: US site = temps in Fahrenheit)*

Add to dates and blend 15 seconds / speed 10, scraping down the bowl and lid and repeating, if necessary – then set aside:

  • 1 small beetroot –  or substitute for 80g or so of peeled orange

Add to the bowl and chop 10 seconds / speed 8, then cook at 90º / 8 minutes / speed 4 with MC off:

  • 180 g apples or pears
  • few tablespoons of water

Blitz speed 8 / 10 seconds, then scrape down the sides and lid

Add and blend  30 seconds / speed 8, using spatula to aid processing:

  • 15g flaxseed/linseed, ground earlier
  • Beetroot and date mix
  • 400 g cooked / canned (kidney) beans
  • 1 banana
  • 2 tsp natural vanilla extract
  • 30 g cacao powder (or organic cocoa powder)
  • 100 g  gluten free flour
  • 1 tsp bicarb of soda

Scrape down the sides and lid, then blend again 20 seconds / speed 8 until thoroughly mixed in.

Add and mix for 10 seconds on Reverse / speed 3:

  • the chopped seeds from earlier

Spoon the mixture into a 30 cm x 25 cm tin and bake at 180º for 30-40 minutes or so, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

If you’re not ‘nut free’, top with Quirky Cooking’s almond ganache or carob icing or gooey chocolate icing or for a nut free option, try:  The Mindful Foodie’s chocolate coconut icing or Clever Cook’s “Another Frosting”.

Add a sprinkle of desiccated coconut before the topping sets and cut into brownies, then watch them fly off the serving dish!!!

* To convert from Fahrenheit to Centigrade, subtract 32, multiply by 5, then divide by 9 to get the Centigrade figure.  Or, just use Google to automatically convert, like I do!!!!

Some useful pointers about date sugar:  http://www.glutenfreegigi.com/resource/date-sugar-and-how-to-use-it-in-gluten-free-baking/

Pea and Mint Soup

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Pea & Mint Soup

Pea & Mint Soup

This is a quick post ‘on the run’ for http://www.theannoyedthyroid.com/!

I used an Aldo Zilli recipe as the basis for this.  It should have potato as the thickener, but I was out of taters, so used lentils instead.  I also halved Aldo’s quantities to make a lunch-time soup for Mr Thermie and myself, with a spare portion (or two) for another day.  As it happens, Mr Thermie wasn’t too keen on the pea and mint combo, so maybe it’s not a bad thing that I made less.  You can’t always please everyone!  See gestimate at the end for adjusting to a larger soup portion!

Add to TM bowl and whizz on speed 9 / 30 seconds, then set aside:

  • 20g lentils (I used red – green more in-keeping with the colour, but use what you have; rice even, or better still use a medium sized potato).

Make some almond milk by adding to bowl and whizzing on speed 9 / 10 seconds:

  • 50g almonds

Add and whizz on speed 9 / 1 minute, then pour into a bowl or jug for the time-being (I don’t bother straining for this):

  • 300g water

Add to bowl and whizz on speed 7 / 2-3 seconds, then saute 100deg / speed 1 / 5 minutes:

  • 1 celery stick (or 6 spring onions or a small onion, if you wish)
  • {1 medium potato – if you’re not using lentils to thicken}
  • Splash of olive oil

Now add and cook speed 2 / 15 minutes / 100deg:

  • 250g peas (fresh or frozen)
  • 20g lentil flour from earlier
  • 350g almond milk from earlier
  • 300g water
  • 1 generous tbs stock paste
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Once cooked, add, then purée 1 minute / speed 9:

  • A few sprigs of mint

Adjust seasoning and serve with a drizzle of cashew cream / coconut cream or crème fraiche – if not dairy free – and a small sprig of mint

This serves 3-4 smallish portions.  For a bigger yield, add an extra 10g lentils, double the celery and peas, increase the almonds to 80g almonds:470g water and increase stock water to 500g or so – taking care not to exceed the 2L max

E&OE!

Choc Chunk Cookies

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Image

For this recipe, I’ve previously made my own butter first and popped into the freezer to harden up.  On this occasion, however, I left 11 yo Miss Thermie to it and as we were strapped for time due to visitors popping over, I told her to use coconut oil instead.  Hence, here we have a dairy free version…

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Preheat oven to 190deg / 180 ff and line 2 baking trays with baking paper

Place into TM bowl and turbo a few times to make chunks* and set aside in another bowl:

  • 100g dark chocolate (we use 85%)

* You may need to pick out any extra big chunks and re-turbo those pieces until smaller 

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Place into empty TM bowl, set dial to closed lid position and press the turbo button twice for 1 second each.  Pour into bowl with choc chunks:

  • 50g nuts of choice (we used almonds)

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Place into bowl and mill on speed 9 / 20 seconds:

  • 100g dried chopped dates

Add and blend together on speed 6 / 20 seconds, scrape down the sides and blend again at speed 3, if necessary:

  • 125g cold butter, cubed (or coconut oil for dairy free)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Add and whizz up on speed 4 / 10 seconds:

  • 2 bananas
  • 1 tsp ground linseeds (flaxseed)

Add and mix in on speed 5 / 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides and mix for 30 seconds / interval speed:

  • 200g gluten free flour – see here or here or use your own combo or a commercial pre-made version
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • Pinch salt

Add and mix on reverse / speed 1-2 / 10 seconds, using the spatula to aid mixing:

  • Choc chunks and nuts mix

Form into small balls on the baking sheets, then push down with a fork to make a biscuit shape.

Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes until golden, then indulge!

Fabulous job, Miss Thermie!