Best vegan & GF brownie

Well it has been a very long time since I have been on here. Life just seems to have ticked along and without any Infant Massage course mamas to nourish I haven’t really been doing that much baking.

Checking out the Manawatu over the long weekend here in NZ

It is the first time I have had lots of allergies in the class so my planned chocolate cookies were out and I needed to find a good alternative. Start the internet search for something just as chocolatey! Thankfully Loving it Vegan came to the rescue with their awesome Vegan Gluten Free Brownie recipe

I have to say that this is the best brownie I have had in a long time – both before and after becoming vegan. Even the non-vegans in and around the house were fighting to get a piece of this delicious stuff 😉 While it is vegan and gluten free it is far, far, far from being sugar free! Probably best baked when you have a crowd to feed as it is very hard to resist having ‘just one more piece’.

Delicious vegan and gluten free brownie

I haven’t made any changes to this recipe however as there is quite a lot of ads and writing before the recipe appears on Loving it Vegan, I thought I would share it here as I used it and highlight some key parts.

The original blog post has both cup and weight measurements however I found that my NZ cup measures didn’t equal the South African weights given. For best results I just went with weights which is what I’ll share below along with the NZ options for great vegan chocolate ….. Whittakers of course 🙂

Another thing I learnt when trialling this recipe was that you need a tin that can separate (expandable ones are perfect). The brownie is very dense and trying to remove it from the tin only resulted in ripped paper and broken up brownie …. much to themselves delight I must say. Thankfully I had one that I picked up in a second hand shop ages ago that expands from a square tin to a rectangle. If you can’t find one or don’t have one then the circular tins with the removable bottom would be the best bet.

The last bit of vital information is to know the actual temperature of your oven. When I first cooked this brownie it came out a bit too gooey so taking the advice from in the blog I got my trusty oven thermometer out – thanks Linette 🙂 – and checked where things were at. The inside oven temp was about 30C below what the dial said so once I cranked it up a bit and retested we were good to go. Of course you can just bake it a bit longer too 🙂

So without anymore chatter onto the recipe ……

Vegan GF brownie

• 272gm GF flour (I used Edmonds)
• 84gm cocoa powder
• 400gm white sugar
• 1.5 tsp Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tb instant coffee
• 240ml soy buttermilk (240ml regular soy milk and 1Tb fresh lemon juice combined and left to curdle)
• 240ml coconut oil (melted)
• 1tsp vanilla essence
• 88gm vegan chocolate chunks (Whittakers Dark Ghana smashed up)
• 88gm vegan chocolate chips (Pak n Save have these)

– Pre heat the oven to 180 C (check your oven temp and adjust if necessary)

– Mix the soy milk and lemon juice and leave to curdle

– In a separate bowl combine all the sugar, flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder and mix well

– Add melted coconut oil and vanilla essence to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined

– Add buttermilk and mix well

– Add chocolate chips and chocolate chunks. Mix well.

– Pour into a lined square tin (preferably one that you can separate)

– Bake for 40 mins or until the top cracks and only thing on the cake tester is possibly chocolate.

– Leave to cool for 15 mins before removing from the tin then put on a cooling rack.

– RESIST the urge to slice and eat now …. it is so much better completely cold – we know, we tried 🙂

– When the brownie is completely cooled then cut into pieces with a hot knife.

Well that is it for this week ….. see you next time I’m inspired to get into the kitchen 🙂

Arohanui

Y

www.becominghealthy.co.nz

Crochet Cake – DF, GF, SF delight

My plan was to share a new recipe on here today …. that is until I got word at the 11th hour that the Infant Massage Course  I was running (through the local Women’s Centre who needs a minimum number of participants) could go ahead.  Then it was all guns blazing to organize everything, including baking some morning tea!

Looking forward to meeting everyone tomorrow 

So I thought I would share, and make, an old favourite to take the pressure off a bit.  This cake got its name after I continually made it for a series of crochet ‘catch-ups’ we were having as a safe option for the GF amongst the group.  It is in fact a very simple and delicious gluten free, diary free and sugar free cake which, if served warm, can also be used as a yummy dessert.  I hope that you enjoy it as much as everyone else does …. it has sparked a big discussion between themselves now that we have happy chickens producing our eggs.  Are eggs, produced by happy hens, which occur regardless of what we do (a bit like fruit on a tree) allowable on a vegan menu?   I think that debate will go on for a bit!!

Crochet Cake – aka diary free, gluten free, sugar free delight

1.5 Cups dates

1.5 Cups of boiling water

1/2 Cup Rice Bran

2 eggs

2 ripe bananas – mashed

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp mixed spice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp GF baking powder (2 parts cream of tartar, 1 part baking soda, 1 part arrowroot)

1 Cup rice flour

1/2 Cup desiccated coconut

• Soak dates in the boiling water for 10-15 mins (in a large bowl) before mashing into a smooth thick paste.  If this is still a bit watery you can heat it slightly.
• Mix in olive oil to the date paste and stir until blended.
• Add eggs and bananas to date/olive oil mixture and mix until blended fully.
• Add all the remaining dry ingredients and mix until everything is blended.
• Line a cake tin with baking paper and pour in the mixture.
• Bake at 180C for 50-60 mins or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Near the end of baking you may want to cover the cake with tin foil to allow it to keep cooking without the top getting too dark. It does take a while to get it fully baked.
• Enjoy warm with yogurt/whipped cream or allow to cool on a rack to enjoy later.

Hope this finds you enjoying lots of natural sweetness in your life and sunshine to warm your days.

Arohanui

Y

www.becominghealthy.co.nz

Something for the cold nights

Here we are back in the South Island after a quick trip up North for himself to do work.  For the first time I was really looking forward to getting back to the South Island and parking up the bus, which has to be a good sign I think,  and themselves were super excited to get back so they could snuggle some chickens!

Themselves with Bertie and Gertie

While the days are gradually getting shorter and cooler I have been enjoying a delicious evening drink thanks to a post from the Minimalist Baker.  I have pretty much followed it by the book this time (I know shock, horror …. or as a friend used to say hock, shorror!)  Though as we didn’t have any ground black pepper in the bus, much to the disgust of himself, I decided to add a few grinds from our pepper grinder.  I’m not sure of the overall impact, as combining pepper and turmeric magnifies their effects, however I do know that I keep forgetting about my pepper ‘grinds’ and biting down on the lumps I find and, well ….. spicy bursts do occur!!

Straight out of the fridge 

Anyway here is the recipe and to see more then please visit Minimalist Baker’s post.  You only need an old jar to shake the dry ingredients up in first then pour in the wet and stir.  I have been storing it in the fridge and using 1 heaped teaspoon full of an evening with some warmed rice milk.  There are loads of health benefits to this turmeric drink (which you can see on the original post) however I confess that I’m more about the taste which is why I’m still using this recipe, drinking it, enjoying it and sharing it with you 🙂

Evening Turmeric Drink Mix

4 TB ground turmeric

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground black pepper – or if you’re daring a few grinds of the old pepper mill 🙂

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground clove

1 Tb melted coconut oil

4 Tb maple syrup

2 Tb hot water.

• Mix (or shake) the dry ingredients up in an old glass jar – gotta love recycling!
• Pour in the wet (water, oil and syrup) and stir until everything is blended.
• Store, sealed, in the fridge until needed.
• Mix 1-2 tsps with warmed milk (or milk alternatives) and stir well before enjoying.

Almost ready to enjoy

Until next time I hope this finds you happy, healthy and revelling till your heart’s content

Arohanui

Y

www.becominghealthy.co.nz

Quick and easy Scones

With all that walking up and down the hill, from the road-schooling camp to the farm, to milk herself and a friend collected quite a stash of blackberries which were going wild along the roadside along with some rose-hips.  I think one of my favourite things about travelling around NZ is watching themselves ‘harvest’ all kinds of wild growing fruit.  Apples in Otago,  Plums in Canterbury, blackberries where ever we can find them, kawakawa fruit in Kāpiti, rose-hips in Hawke’s Bay and even the odd raiding of friend’s raspberry or strawberry patches 😉

Anyway …. what do you do with a big bowl of berries and a pocket full of rose-hips?  Make blackberry jam and rose-hip tea for afternoon tea for your siblings!  However that still leaves a gaping hole … what do you put the jam on and still cater for the vegans in your midst?  Vegan scones of course 😉

Preparing the tea party

This recipe is quick and easy  to whip up for an afternoon tea snack and super delicious.  I got it in my in-box a while ago courtesy of ‘Cook the Beans’ which is a blog I follow. She had called them Watercress Scones though I think she may have forgotten to add the said watercress into her recipe as I couldn’t find it mentioned anywhere.  Either way I made it, and modified it as I usually, with great results so there are no complaints here ….. no even from the meat, gluten and diary eaters on the bus 😉

Ready to munch

Vegan Scones

• 200 gm flour (GF or plain, white or wholemeal or a mixture of both as in original)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 30 gms coconut oil (cold from the container)
• 1 flax-seed egg (1 TB ground linseed/flaxseed and 2.5 TB cold water)
• 100 ml non-diary milk (I used rice milk)

– Put the flour and baking powder into a bowl and rub in the coconut oil so that it is fully blended with the flour.

– Add in the flaxseed egg and milk then ‘cut’ the liquid into the dry ingredients with a knife until a dough is formed.  You may need to help it with your hand near the end to form a ball

– Flour a baking tray and flatten dough into a fat rectangle shape.  Cut this into 12 or 16 pieces depending on the size of scone you desire.

– Separate the scones a little on the floured tray and then bake at 200 Celcius of 10 mins or until golden on top.

– Spread with jam (and butter for the non-vegan among you) and enjoy

Hope this finds you enjoying the fruits of life

Arohanui

Y

www.becominghealthy.co.nz

 

 

Vegan Banana Bread

Well hello again!! I know it has been a while since I’ve been on here and in that time I have really enjoyed the time off the computer and trying out a few new recipes. There is a lot to be said for down-time from the screen and sampling baking 😉

Parked up at Cass

After being parked up in Kaikōura for nearly 9 months last year we are now back on the road in our bus enjoying life on the road. This summer has been an absolute scorcher and on the days when we have struggled for shade our little tin can has nearly baked us alive! Thank goodness for cool winds, big trees, clear rivers to splash in and the ability to get to them with our home.

Swimming at Wai-iti Domain

We have made our way up to Kāpiti again for me to teach some Infant Massage which is always a highlight for me.  It also means that there is weekly baking to do in order to keep those parents sustained as well as extra baking for all the catching up with family and friends we are doing.  With himself still being Vegan I have been signing up to a few more cooking blogs in order to get a good range of things to offer, some with success and some which I’d rather not discuss 😉

I’m always on the look out for good Vegan recipes that can replace our old favourites … baking two cakes at a time is a bit too much of a mission for me.  This recipe I found in a free magazine which a local health shop issues and came up a treat even with my adaptions.  It comes from a book by Daisy Dagg and Amber Vito called Kai for Kids eBook and while the original recipe had honey in it we have just replaced this with Maple Syrup without much change to the flavour.  Likewise we have used GF flour instead of the regular wheat flour they had listed and as with so many of the recipes I enjoy enough to share it is pretty much a one pot wonder 😉

Ready for morning tea.

1 3/4 Cup GF self-raising flour

1/3 C melted coconut oil

1/2 C pure maple syrup

4 mashed bananas (large)

1/2 C shredded / desiccated coconut

2 Tb chia seeds

1/2 C rice milk

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla essence

sprinkle of salt

1/2 tsp mixed spice

• Melt coconut oil in a pot and stir in the maple syrup, rice milk, vanilla essence and mashed banana
• Add in the chia seeds and stir well
• Add in all the other dry ingredients and mix until blended well
• Pour into a baking paper lined tin and bake at 180 Celsius for around 35-40 mins or until a cake-tester (skewer) comes out clean.
• Cool and Enjoy

Hope this finds you enjoying the new year, trusting in yourself and loving the life you’re in.

Arohanui

Y

www.becominghealthy.co.nz

 

GF, Dairy and refined Sugar free Banana Cake

Many years ago in Ireland I purchased a great book ‘Eat with Joy on a Wheat-free Gluten-free diet’  By Ann O’ Dowd Fogary.  Since then I have used and loved her book – carrying it across countries – partly because 50% of the recipes are also dairy free and mostly because her recipes are so yummy and adaptable.

In cupcake form which is easier when heading out with the kids.

This recipe is an adaptation of her Carrot Cake recipe and it is one that I regularly make.  It doesn’t rise huge amounts so I usually use a loaf tin to bake it in or it can be made into cupcake size cakes. If you are making the cupcakes I haven’t actually timed it sorry as I just go with smell and a test – usually around 12-15 mins though:) So without further ado here is the cake recipe.

GF, Dairy and refined Sugar free Banana Cake

100 gm rice flour

25 gm cornflour

1.5 tsp GF baking powder

2 eggs

75 gm runny honey

100 gm coconut oil

2 tsp ground ginger

2-3 mashed bananas

• Melt the coconut oil and honey together
• Add the dry ingredients
• Add the eggs and banana
• Mix well to ensure no lumps
• Pour into a lined loaf tin or patty tins if making cupcakes
• Bake at 190 C for 30-45 mins (cake) or until a cake tester comes out clean.
• Enjoy

Hope this finds you filling your bodies with delicious healthy goodness.

Arohanui

Y

www.becominghealthy.co.nz

Ugly Muffins – dairy and ‘sugar’ free treats

You need:

2 – 4 ripe bananas ( I usually use our frozen ones which have quite a bit of liquid with them)

1 diced apple with the skin left on

3 Tb olive oil (use only 2 Tb if using more than 2 bananas)

2 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cup white flour (you can replace this with wholemeal I just found it to be a bit too heavy with 1 cup of wholemeal)

1/2 cup wholemeal flour

1/2 tsp mixed spice

1/2 tsp baking power 

1/2 tsp baking soda

– mix everything together till well blended.

– grease muffin tins (we used the mini muffin kind) and put mixture into each ‘muffin’ space

– bake at 180 C for around 15 mins or until cooked.