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Delicious Gluten and Dairy Free Banana Bread

Our household tends to have a few extra brown bananas this time of year thanks to those warm summer afternoons.  I used to keep those bananas in the freezer to make my mum's banana bread recipe but unfortunately my stomach can no longer tolerate her yum bread. Over the past few months I've been working with a great local nutritionist to get down to the root of my health issues. Turns out that my body just cannot process most gluten and dairy products.

Queue Slim Palates (found via Pinterest) amazing gluten and dairy free banana bread recipe. I've always been a bit skeptical of gluten and dairy free baking recipes as they can tend to be quite dense and flavourless - not this one!

This banana bread recipe tastes just like the real deal and best of all - doesn't cause me any discomfort - win win. Below is my version of Slim Palate's recipe but you can see his original version here.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Friday everyone! With a house still full of sickness I decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies this week. They brought great comfort and were a big hit with their crispy outside and gooey inside. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour (I used wholemeal spelt flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 190mL baking oil
• 1/2 C of granulated white sugar
• 3/4 C of firmly packed golden brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 190C degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine oil, both sugars, vanilla and salt. Beat on medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.
4. Add egg and egg yolk, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.
5. Add in flour mixture and continue mixing until incorporated.
6. Add in chocolate chips and give a final stir.
7. Dough will be soft, but should be firm enough to shape into balls.
8. Place cookie dough on baking sheet and top with additional milk chocolate chips.
9. Bake about 9 minutes, just until edges are a light golden brown.
10. Don't over bake as cookie will continue baking as it cools.
11. Enjoy

Photo by Averi Cooks

2-Ingredient Healthy Banana Bread Breakfast Cookies

Image from Ambitious Kitchen

I have a confession to make - I haven't baked in close to a year. With cutting most sugar out of our lives and being sensitive to dairy and gluten it just makes life way easier. But! We had some bananas that needed using and with the weather changing my heart couldn't help but want to turn them into delicious baked goodness vs frozen smoothie healthiness. Usually I would make my mom's banana bread but with no butter or milk in the house I decided on oatmeal breakfast cookies. These cookies are super easy to make and relatively healthy! Plus they only take around 15 minutes to make and are about 60 calories per cookie (depending add ons), win win!

The recipe (if you want to even call it a recipe) is simple 2 mashed bananas plus 2 cups oats. Then for fun flavour you can add in basically anything you want!

• vanilla extract
• peanut butter chips
• peanut butter
• nutella
• dried cranberries
• sultanas
• chopped walnuts, almond or pecans
• coconut flakes
• cocoa nibs / chocolate chips
• baking spices
• salt
• milk (almond, coconut, soy - helps blend it all together and lighten the cookies)

I personally made 2 batches as we had 4 bananas.

Batch 1 had: banans, oats, peanut butter, pumpkin pie spice mix, cinnamon, salt.

Batch 2 had: bananas, oats, almond milk, sultanas, chocolate chips, nutmeg, spiced cake mix, salt.

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 170C
• Mix all ingredients together in mixer until smooth
• Let sit for about 10 minutes before putting in oven (especially if you add milk to help set mixture)
• Cook for approximately 10 minutes 

Enjoy!

Coconut, almond and tahini cookies

Yesterday I decided to do some baking so I could have some treats with me at the Trade Show (eating at those things can be tricky and there's nothing like a good sugar boost!). I saw that Lauren from Needle & I had posted what appeared to be a 'healthy' cookie recipe that sounded delicious! So yesterday I headed to the supermarket in the morning and purchased a few missing ingredients. I will warn you now, these cookies are aaaaamazing! I made a couple alterations to Lauren's recipe to be just a wee bit healthier / it's what I had at home. This recipe is dairy free, gluten free, and only contains natural sugar and still takes good. If you're looking for some new items to cook or bake make sure to check out her In the Kitchen section of the blog, there are some real gems in there! Enjoy! INGREDIENTS (makes approx. 30 cookies) 150g coconut oil – at room temperature (original recipe used butter) 1/3 cup liquid honey (I used Clove Honey) 85g hulled tahini 1/4 tsp vanilla extract 1.5 cups desiccated coconut 1 cup ground almonds (I used both almond meal and LSA, again it's what I had on hand) 1.5 cups gluten-free flour (I used barley rice flour as it's what I had on hand) METHOD 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line two oven trays with baking paper. 2. Put the oil, honey, tahini and vanilla into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high speed until thick, creamy and pale. 3. Add the coconut, almonds and gluten-free flour and mix on a low speed until everything is just incorporated. The dough will be quite sticky. 4. Roll tablespoons of the dough between your hands into walnut-sized balls. 5. Place the balls onto the lined oven trays allowing about 5cm between each cookie. Flatten each one slightly with the back of a fork. 6. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes – set a timer as they will burn quickly if left any longer. They should be a lovely golden brown. 7. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. 8. Store in an airtight container. These cookies will keep well for up to a week - if they last that long...

(All photographs taken by Needle & I)

Note: My cookies didn't come out quite as thick as pictured here due to using a hand electric blender and using butter but they still taste fantastic!

Chocolate Chunk Oat Cookies

Hello again Toodles Noodles readers, it’s Lydia from Lydia Bakes here again bringing you another yummy recipe. These cookies are an absolute favourite in our house. Everyone I’ve shared the recipe with has kept it as their go-to cookie recipe, once you taste them you’ll know why. The cookies are delicious and chunky, with a bittersweet chocolately kick. The best part is they’re made with oats so they’re filling too! Chocolate Chunk Oat Cookies Recipe by Jo Seagar Ingredients: 250g Butter, softened 3 T Sweetened Condensed Milk 3/4 C Sugar 1 1/2 C Flour 1 1/2 C Rolled Oats 1 t Baking Powder 200g Dark Chocolate, roughly chopped (I use Whittaker’s 50%) Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line two baking trays with baking paper. Beat butter for about 30 seconds then add the sweetened condensed milk and sugar. Beat until light and creamy. Sift in the flour and baking powder then throw in the oats and chopped up chocolate. Mix together until nicely combined then roll heaped tablespoons full of mixture into balls and place on baking trays. Flatten with a fork (I love the look that gives them!) and cook for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool cookies on wire racks and then try not to eat them all at once, believe me, you'll want to!

The Make Cafe

Last Thursday I was extremely lucky to be invited by Hazel of Hazel Loves Design to The Make Cafe to meet a great group of Christchurch bloggers. The night involved all types of discussions including crocheting tips, how to best optimise your blog and social media outlets, art fairs, and much more. The location the bloggers choose couldn't have been any better. The Make Cafe in Upper Riccarton is bursting at the seams with colourful goodies. Their motto is 'come hoping, leave inspired' - and I couldn't agree more. I left that evening full of inspiration, adoration, and nine new rolls of washi tape! The Make Cafe is sectioned off into three areas, one room full of beautiful products, a delicious cafe, and a workshop room where they hold a whole number of 'how to' classes. It was such a lovely evening watching ladies turn simple pieces of yarn into amazing art right in front of my eyes, while we all drank the most delicious hot chocolates! If you're ever in Christchurch I strongly recommend stopping by this shop for a brows and a sweet treat. I would like to thank Hazel again for inviting me meet such a fantastic group of ladies!

Weekly Roundup 2 August

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you've all had a good week as we head into the month of August. This week has been a big one for us behind the scenes. We met with some amazing people, had a sample of an exciting new product arrive, had an stellar Once'it sale, and started to plan our stand for the NZ Gift Fair! With so much planning and the to do lists growing, stress levels have gotten a bit high. And when stress rolls around, the comforts come out. This week's round up is influenced by things that represent comfort to me - as you can see, I rely a lot on cooking and wine in times like these! Have a great weekend everyone - I'm personally super excited to attend the Auckland Food Show on Saturday and eat way too many tasters.

1. Linen Striped Paonia Tablecloth from Portugal.
2. Beautiful wine packaging designed by Australian company Picturelab.
3. Comfort and cheese platters go hand and hand.
4. Fun metric ceramic crocks - currently on sale!
5. One can never have too many nesting serving bowls.
6. Roasted beetroot and goat cheese tart - yum!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Tonight I tried a new cookie recipe - and let me tell you - yum! When I read this recipe and it said that it contains no flour, sugar, oil, butter, or eggs I had my suspicions but they just looked so good. So straight after work I made my way to the supermarket buying the missing ingredients. Prep-time took approximately 10 minutes and with bake time only being an additional 10-15 minutes, these cookies are perfect for midweek baking. Enjoy! Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups canned* chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (165 grams) natural peanut butter (I used 100% pure nutz) 1/4 cup (80 grams) honey (I added a bit more due to peanut butter being quite dry) 1 teaspoon baking powder a pinch of salt (if your peanut butter doesn’t have salt in it) 1/2 cup (90 grams) chocolate chips * My can was a 390 gram can and used 2 full cans ** I added in a bit of cinnamon for extra flavour** Directions: Preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°C. Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they’re combined. Put in the chocolate chips and stir it if you can, or pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky. With wet hands, form into 1 1/2? balls. Place onto a piece of parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don’t do much rising. Bake for about 10-15 minutes. Yields about fourteen cookie dough balls.

Weekly Roundup 14 June

Well Friday is here yet again and June is already halfway gone! This week I've unfortunately had the flu and let me tell you, I wish this upon no one. It has zapped all my energy and landed me straight on the couch. On the upside, I've started watching Boston Legal from season 1 and am thoroughly entertained! With spending so much time at home under blankets I have had some big baking cravings. So this week's roundup is inspired by winter afternoons and the comfort they can bring.

1. Amazing Lemon Blueberry Muffin recipe from Casey Leigh.
2. Beautiful rustic, full kitchen apron handmade in Minnesota.
3. Simply stunning Fantail tea towel available at Father Rabbit, designed by Bayley Collins from Birdinabunnysuit.
4. The new Petite Kitchen Recipe Journal - want.
5. Oversized mugs are the best in winter - perfect for hot coco, soup and massive amounts of coffee.
6. Giving away some baking treats to some lucky friends? Get some fun packaging from Little Ink to make them extra special.

Just as a reminder our upcoming markets are: - Tamaki Drive Mid Winter Christmas Evening Market - 21 June at 6pm - Auckland Art & Craft Market - 29 June from 11am - 3pm Have a great weekend everyone!

Weekly Roundup 26 April

This week the weather has certainly changed to an Autumn feel. With the weather cooling down, rain becoming more constant - my urge to start cooking warm, comfort meals has increased immensely. This week I tried for the first time My Food Bag - a great new company here in Auckland started by nutrionist and 2011 MasterChef winner - Nadia Lim. On Sunday three big bags of food arrived along with four recipes to cook healthy meals during the week. The recipes have proven to be absolutely delicious and quite generous creating leftovers for lunch every time! Not only has this service made it so we no longer have to go grocery shopping - but it's having us eat new meals every night that we know are well balanced and easy to cook. Of course with so much cooking, it makes me want to start upgrading some of my kitchen tools! With that I leave you with this inspirational country kitchen roundup. Have a good weekend everyone!

1. The perfect scarf for you to go and look around the farmers market by Cloth & Ink
2. Love the handmade look of these bowls.
3. Would love to have a set of these baskets around the kitchen and house!
4. If there is one thing I'm learning - you can never have enough cutting boards.
5. Beautiful French linen will surely spruce up any kitchen.
6. Kitchen art at its best.
7. Love everything about this reclaimed wood storage unit - just perfect.