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Cinnamon Pinwheel Date Scones

Makes around 18 scones / wheels.

Developed from here.

Ingredients:

Dough
  • 2 Cups Plain Flour
  • 4 teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 2 Tablespoons white sugar
  • 60g Butter (straight from the fridge)
  • ¾ Cup of Milk
  • 60-100g dates, finely chopped.
Filling
  • 70g Butter
  • ⅓ Cup Soft Brown Sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
Glaze (Optional)
  • 1/2  Cup Icing Sugar
  • 1-2 Tablespoons Water

Method

  • Preheat Oven to 200C
  • Prepare squares of baking paper (around 8x8cm) , to line a muffins tray.
  • Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a medium bowl.
  • Add cold butter that’s been cut into smallish pieces.
  • Using your fingers, or a pastry cutter (looks large a large knuckle duster), rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs and no large bits of butter are there.
  • Add almost all the milk at once, keeping a little aside in case. It should be soft and sticky, if a little dry looking add the remaining milk, stir in quickly, but be careful not to overstir
  • Add the finely chopped dates, and mix in.
  • Tip the dough onto a floured board or bench. Knead and fold 8 – 10 times, sprinkling flour as required.
  • Then roll out to a square about 30 x 30cm, trying to keep the edges as even as possible.

Filling

  • Melt butter in a small bowl (or microwave)
  • Add to this the soft brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well.
  • Using a spoon or knife spread the butter & sugar mixture over the dough, up to the edges.
  • Roll carefully and tightly, and seal the edge with a little of the left over filling mixture.
  • Using a sharp knife slice the pinwheels between 1-2 cm thick and place in the middle of each square of parchment paper, and then place each within each muffin tray well.
  • Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown and remove from the oven.
  • While cooking prepare the glaze.

Glaze (optional)

  • In a medium bowl or mixing jug, add the icing sugar
  • Add water a small amount at a time stirring well until you have a smooth but drizzle-able consistency.
  • Once the scones are removed from the oven, using a dessert spoon drizzle the glaze over the pinwheels.
  • Serve still slightly warm.

 

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Vegan Gluten Free Belgian Waffles

Quick Background Story

I historically plan ingredients that don’t need to be fresh (and particularly not being kept in a fridge or similar).  So these are all generally ingredients I keep in the cupboard at all times.

These are two current variations of the ingredients.  I’m still fine tuning options, and trying to bring the price down per waffle, and take out as many common allergens as I can.

Ingredients:

Makes 2 @ 1/2 cup of mix per full deep Belgian Waffle
  • 1/4 cup Rice Flour
  • 1/4 cup Buckwheat Flour
  • 2 tbls Cashew Milk Powder
  • 2 tbls Soy Milk Powder
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder (Gluten Free version)
  • 1/2 tsp Baking Soda (Gluten Free version)
  • About 20ml Oil (1tbs + 1 tsp)
  • 1 tbls Maple Syrup
  • 1tsp Vanilla Essence
  • 1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup + 1 tbls water

Ingredients:

Makes 4 @ 1/2 cup of mix per full deep Belgian Waffle
  • 1/2 cup Rice Flour
  • 1/2 cup Buckwheat Flour
  • 4 tbls Soy Flour
  • 2 tsp Baking Powder (Gluten Free version)
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda (Gluten Free version)
  • 2 tbls Oil (Rice Bran or similar)
  • 2 tbls Golden Syrup (or Caster Sugar)
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Essence (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 1 cup + 1 tbls water (to get the right consistency)

Method:

  1. Combine all the ingredients with a whisk.  The mix should resemble the consistency of fresh double cream.
  2. Cook for around 5 minutes in a pre-heated deep Waffle Press (1/2 cup of mix per waffle)

 

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Banana bread muffins

Banana bread muffins

Prep time:  15 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Total time: 50 mins

Makes: 6 muffins

Ingredients

  • 2 medium ripe bananas
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp  oil (rice bran, etc.)
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
  • 100 ml vegan eggy milk (see below)
    • 100ml water
    • 1 tsp flaxseeds
    • 1/2 tsp chia seeds
    • a sprinkling of oats
    • a few cashews
  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 cup (112 g) gluten-free oats

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees C.  If not using a silicone muffin tray, line the metal with paper muffin cases.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, add the bananas, baking powder, and baking soda. Mash until only small chunks remain.
  3. Add vanilla, oil, sugars, maple syrup, sea salt, and cinnamon and mix vigorously to combine.
  4. In a high power blender (nutrimix or similar), separately make the ‘vegan eggy milk’:
    1. Put 100ml water, 1 tsp flaxseed, 1/2 tsp chia seeds, a sprinkling of oats, and a sprinkling of cashews.  Pulverise for about 30 seconds
  5. Add the ‘eggy milk’ to the mix, and mix once more to combine.
  6. Add flour and oats, and stir until just combined.
  7. Divide the batter between the silicone muffin tins, filling all the way – this should make about 6 muffins.
  8. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean and the edges are dark golden brown.
  9. Remove from oven and let cool in the tin for 5 minutes (they’ll still be lovely and warm for eating for a while yet).
  10. Finally remove from the tin and let them cool further on a cooling rack.
  11. Serve with butter, or as is.  It’s delicious either way.
  12. Store leftovers in a sealed container for up to 4 days, or in the freezer up to 1 month.
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Choc Oat Chewies

These are based on a ‘Special Oat Chewies’ recipe I picked up from somewhere many years ago.  So when a friend asked for some chocolate chip cookies with oats this morning, this recipe came quickly to mind.  Because of some new dietary restrictions amongst friends, I was able to modify the recipe accordingly below, and they’re delicious!

This makes a good 24-36 ‘biscuit’ sized treats (as I tend to cook them in baking trays of 12 at a time. Smaller is normally better)

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup     rice bran oil (or vegetable oil)
  • 1 cup        white sugar
  • 3/4 cup     agave syrup (honey, or golden syrup)
  • 1/2 cup     non-dairy milk (soy, rice, etc.  or regular dairy if you prefer)
  • 2 tsp          vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups buckwheat flour (or wholemeal flour if you’re not worried about the Gluten Free aspect)
  • 1/2 tsp       baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp       salt
  • 3 cups       rolled oats
  • 3/4 tsp       cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup      sultans or raisins
  • 1/3 cup      hazelnuts
  • 1 cup / 125g         large chocolate chunks (such as 1/2 bar of Whitaker’s Dark Ghana, chopped roughly into half the regular sized chocolate squares)

Method

  • Preheat your oven to around 180 degrees.
  • Blend the oil, sugar, syrup/honey, milk and vanilla extract until smooth.
  • Add the powdered ingredients slowly (mixing in well to the liquids as you go along).
  • Finally add the raisins, whole hazelnuts, and chocolate chunks, and mix in well.
  • Place large spoonfuls of the mixture onto baking parchment, around 12 cookies per sheet.
    • They largely keep their shape, so will look pretty rugged even after baking.
  • Bake them for around 11-14 minutes until just going golden on the peaks and base (rotating the baking trays as necessary).
  • Remove from the oven, and leave to cool on the baking tray for a couple of minutes (to help keep their shape).
  • Then remove carefully from the baking parchment, and allow to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes or so.
  • Enjoy slowly!

Storage:

  • You can store them in an airtight tub for up to a few days easily.
  • I haven’t tested them beyond 4 days yet, because they always get eaten up by then!