Peanut Butter Loaf (SRC)

It's Secret Recipe Club time again! Is it just me or does it seem like each month is going by faster and faster these days? For those counting there are only 4 more SRC reveals until Christmas!!

Anyway, for those who are new here, every month SRC members are assigned a blog in secret to choose a recipe from, then we all post on the same day. Today is reveal day for group C.

This month I was assigned Our Eating Habits by Jamie - a Disney-obsessed, Christmas-loving mother of 3 from Calgary. Jamie actually had my blog last month so it was extra fun looking through hers this month. Jamie also homeschools her kids which I find so fascinating because that's pretty rare here in Australia. She has also posted loads of restaurant reviews which I had a look through even though I am on the other side of the world!

Jamie has so many recipes to choose from that she has divided her recipe index into 2 categories - cooking and baking. I started making a list of possible recipes but it got a little out of hand so I will share just a few that caught my eye.

Firstly, my kids would go crazy for Spaghetti Tacos, this Sweet Shepherd's Pie is a great twist on a classic, I'm always looking for interesting vegetable side dishes and the Broccoli with Asian Garlic Sauce and Cumin Honey Carrots sound delicious, and lastly Kung Pao Chicken which I've never seen on a menu here but it always seems to feature on American TV shows for some reason.

I moved over to the baking section and bookmarked these Molasses Muffins. Then I noticed Jamie has not one, but two recipes for peanut butter loaf - Amish Peanut Butter Loaf and Peanut Butter Loaf. I've never heard of this before but we love our peanut butter around here so I had to give it a try!

Basically this is exactly what it sounds like, a loaf cake made with peanut butter. If you love peanuts and peanut butter, this loaf is for you!

I'm still doing my gluten-free experiment so I made it gluten free and swapped out the sugar for rice malt syrup as well. I also added a scattering of peanuts over the the top for some extra crunch.

This was a huge hit with my boys! Seriously, my husband missed out completely because it was completely devoured for afternoon tea before he got home. I used my own blend of gluten free flour and it made a moist, chewy loaf with a crispy crust. So delicious! I was imagining it would be amazing toasted but it didn't last long enough for me to find out! Guess I will just have to make it again.

We usually buy freshly ground natural peanut butter but we only had peanuts in the pantry so I made my own peanut butter for this recipe. I used the Thermomix but any high powered blender or food processor will work. If you are using regular peanut butter you might want to adjust the amount of sugar or salt you use in the loaf.

Homemade Peanut Butter

160g roasted natural peanuts
15g coconut oil

Place the peanuts into the Thermomix bowl and chop 15 seconds / SP 8. Scrape down the sides, add the coconut oil and process for 6 seconds / SP 6. Makes exactly 2/3 cup needed for this recipe.

Peanut Butter Loaf - Gluten, Dairy and Fructose Free
Adapted from here and here

2/3 cup natural peanut butter
110g rice malt syrup
1 cup rice milk
2 cups gluten free plain flour
1 tbs gluten free baking powder
1/4 ts sea salt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 350 degrees F. Grease and line a standard loaf pan with baking paper and set aside.

Beat together the peanut butter, syrup and milk until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and fold through until well combined.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for approximately 50 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack before serving sliced with strawberry jam.

Thank you for a great recipe, Jamie - this one is a keeper!

An InLinkz Link-up

Coconut Oil and Sea Salt Brownie Cookies (SRC)

And just like that it's Secret Recipe Club time again! Each month members are assigned a blog in secret to peruse and choose a recipe from, then we all reveal our posts at the same time. It's a lot of fun and I always look forward to reveal day.

This has been an interesting month for me, in terms of food, as I have decided to cut out gluten for at least 4 weeks to see if it helps my energy levels and thyroid symptoms. After just the first few days I noticed my brain-fog lifting and I'm nowhere near as tired as I have been, so it seems like the experiment is working. On the one hand, yay! On the other hand, no more decent bread?? :(

Anyway, being temporarily gluten-free meant I had to look more closely at the recipes on my chosen blog for the month, which is Our Table for Seven by Erin.

As you can tell by the name of her blog, Erin has a lot of mouths to feed! Erin says she only really got into cooking and baking when her eldest son developed some picky eating habits and she wanted to make the foods he would eat a bit healthier. Erin, I hear you! I have the same issues with my Mr 5.

I decided I wanted something sweet and simple this month and found loads of recipes to choose from that I could easily adapt to gluten and dairy free. Like this Flourless Chocolate Cake that looks so rich and decadent, these Walnut and Maple Syrup muffins and this Simple Homemade Caramel Corn which I am planning on taking to a Christmas in July party next weekend!

But when I saw these Coconut Oil and Sea Salt Brownie Cookies the search was over. We love our coconut oil in this house (in fact we love it so much I buy it in huge 5kg tubs!). It tastes amazing and it's a brilliant substitute for butter in baking.

So these cookies were in a word, AMAZING. The mixture was so rich and chocolatey and I couldn't stop sneaking little tastes as it rested in the fridge. Once they came out of the oven my boys were hovering and couldn't wait to try them. They were fascinated by the salt on top (which according to Heston Blumenthal helps balance out the bitterness in dark chocolate in case you were wondering).

I made very minor changes to the recipe, swapping out the flour for gluten free varieties, reducing the sugar slightly and using chopped dark chocolate instead of chocolate chips.

I've only included the Thermomix instructions here but it can easily be converted to stove top (you really just need to melt the coconut oil in a saucepan then mix everything else together) or just check the original recipe for Erin's instructions.

Coconut Oil and Sea Salt Brownie Cookies
Gluten and Dairy free
Adapted from Our Table for Seven

1/2 cup (100g) coconut oil
2/3 cup (130g) coconut sugar
3/4 cup (120g) buckwheat flour
1/4 cup (40g) gluten-free plain flour
3/4 cup (80g) raw cacao powder
1 ts vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 ts sea salt (plus extra for sprinkling on top)
1 ts bicarb soda (baking soda)
1 tbs very hot water
150g dairy-free dark chocolate, roughly chopped (I used Lindt 85%)
 
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper and set aside.

Melt the coconut oil (TMX 2 minutes / 50 degrees / SP 2). Add the coconut sugar and beat for 20 seconds / SP 4. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again for 20 seconds / SP 4. Mix the bicarb soda and hot water together and add to the mixture (4 secs / SP ).

In a small bowl whisk together the flours, cacao and salt.

Add to the egg mixture and mix for 10 seconds / SP 4.

Add the chopped chocolate and mix for 6 secs / REVERSE / SP 3.

Place the bowl into the fridge for 15 minutes to allow the mixture to firm up.

Roll spoonfuls of mixture into balls and place on the prepared trays. Flatten the tops very slightly then sprinkle with extra salt.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Leave on the trays to cool for 5 minutes before carefully placing them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 24


Thank you for a wonderful month, Erin! I so enjoyed getting to know you and your family :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Wholefood Banana Custard Slice (Gluten and Dairy Free)

Baking desserts has always been one of my favourite things - not only because I get to eat what I make, but also because bringing out a special dessert to the table always lights people up. I love it when people love my food!

Not too many years ago I was baking regularly and going through a staggering amount of sugar. Rather than beat myself up about that I choose to see that just by making it myself I was avoiding all the artificial additives you find in processed versions of desserts.

After quitting sugar and when food intolerances became an issue for the boys and me, I was worried  I wouldn't be able to bake anymore, or at least not anything that other people would enjoy. While I've had quite a few flops I am now at a point where I can quite easily convert a recipe to be free of wheat or gluten, dairy and refined sugar without any drama.

And the results can be spectacular!

You know how you always have a soft spot for the sweets from your childhood? For me it's custard - think vanilla slice, custard tart or just plain custard with sliced bananas. So with that in mind I decided to create my own version - something that would be free of gluten, dairy and refined sugar, something that would be sweet and luscious and feel a bit special.

I had the opportunity to bake it when we had family over for morning tea during the school holidays and I had some time to play in the kitchen. I find a slice is always a crowd-pleaser and it's certainly easy to do a big tray of something and slice it up to feed everyone.

We all LOVED this slice. Perfect for morning or afternoon tea, but special enough for dessert.

Wholefood Banana Custard Slice (Gluten and Dairy Free)

Base:

1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup almond meal
2 tbs coconut sugar
150g coconut oil

Custard:

400ml coconut cream
300ml rice milk
4 egg yolks
2 tbs arrowroot flour
125g rice malt syrup
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (save the bean for something else)
2 tbs gelatine (I use Great Lakes - the red one)

Topping:

3 bananas, thinly sliced
1/2 lemon, juiced
fresh nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease and line a 20 x 30 cm slice tray with baking paper and set aside.

To make the base, mix all ingredients together (TMX - 6 secs / SP 4), then tip into the prepared tin and press in firmly with your hands or the back of a large spoon.

Bake for 15-20 minutes - when done it will be  evenly golden brown and still a little soft, it will firm up as it cools.

Remove from the oven and place the tin on a wire rack to cool completely.

While the base is cooking, start to prepare the custard.

If you're using the Thermomix, place all custard ingredients into the bowl and cook for 9 minutes / 90 degrees / SP 4.

No thermomix? Place the coconut cream, milk and vanilla into a medium pan over medium heat until it starts to steam. Meanwhile, use a whisk to beat together the egg yolks, arrowroot and syrup until smooth. When the milk is steaming pour it over the egg mixture and whisk together. Place a few tablespoons of the mixture into a small bowl, sprinkle over the gelatine and stir to dissolve. Pour all the custard mixture back into the pan, add the gelatine mixture and cook over low heat until it starts to thicken, stirring constantly with a large spoon or spatula. This could take 20 minutes so be patient!

Leave the custard to cool for 10 minutes before pouring over the cooked base, then place in the fridge to chill until set (at least 4-6 hours or overnight).

Just before serving, slice the bananas into thin rounds and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle over the lemon juice and toss gently to combine, making sure all the banana gets the juice. The lemon stops the banana going brown but also adds a lovely flavour.

Using the baking paper on each side as a handle, carefully lift the slice out of the tin and place onto a serving board. Gently slide the paper off and discard.

Layer on the banana pieces and dust the top generously with nutmeg.

Cut into 12-16 pieces and enjoy!

What was your favourite childhood sweet treat?

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

We're coming to the end of 2 weeks school holidays here and while I've been baking up a storm I've taken a bit of a break from blogging. I do have a slew of awesome recipes lined up for the next few weeks though! 

Having all 3 of my boys for 2 weeks has been wonderful and they've been very willing guinea pigs for my baking experiments. Some hits, some misses ... but they've devoured the lot!

This recipe was an unexpected hit with my boys - they LOVED it! I had a couple of beetroots leftover at the end of the week and rather than make juice or a beetroot dip as I normally would I decided to make something sweet.

As you know I love boosting the nutrition of my baked goods by using spelt instead of wheat, adding nuts and seeds and of course, adding vegetables. Carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato and zucchini all work brilliantly. I wondered if the earthy flavour of the beetroot would be too much for the kids but I needn't have worried, they just saw it as a chocolate cake and each had seconds, and then thirds!

The boys had theirs with butter and then the next day I had a piece toasted and topped with my homemade roasted strawberry chia jam. SO delicious.

You can increase the chocolate flavour by replacing 1/4 cup of the white spelt flour with 1/4 cup raw cacao powder.

Wheat-free, Dairy-free Chocolate Beetroot Cake

120g coconut oil
80g dark chocolate (Green and Black's 70%)
2 beetroots, finely grated (mine was 286g peeled)
2/3 cup coconut sugar
1 cup white spelt flour
1/2 cup wholemeal spelt flour
3 ts baking powder
pinch salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.

Grease and line a loaf pan with baking paper and set aside.

In a small pan, melt the coconut oil and chocolate together over low heat, stirring until it is smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Place the coconut sugar, flours, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and stir with a whisk until well mixed. 

Pour in the cooled chocolate mixture, grated beetroot and eggs, and fold together with a spatula until just combined.

Thermomix - roughly chop the beetroot then grate for 4-5 seconds / SP 6. Tip out the beetroot into a small bowl and scrape down the sides well. Add the chocolate and chop for a few seconds / SP 6-7. Add the coconut oil and melt for 3 minutes / 37 degrees / SP 3. Add the coconut sugar, flours, baking powder and salt, followed by the beetroot and eggs. Mix for 10 seconds / REV / SP 3. Scrape down the sides and repeat if needed.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for approximately 50 minutes or until the top springs back when pressed and a skewer comes out clean.

Leave in the tin to cool for at least 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

Have you tried hiding vegetables in cakes and muffins? Do you have a favourite recipe you could share? I'm always looking for inspiration!

~ Susan

One-bowl Banana Bread

When I first got into cooking again as an adult I was all about trying new things, sourcing new ingredients and making every meal spectacular. I now have 3 young children and while I still want delicious food, my priorities have definitely changed!

What I look for now is - how long is this going to take me to make when I have a dozen other things I need to do right now? how many ingredients do I need to search for in the supermarket when I have a fussy, whingy toddler in the trolley trying to grab everything off the shelves? will my kids actually eat this or am I wasting my time?

One-pot dinners and one-bowl bakes - those words are music to my ears!

While I have made a hundred different banana breads this one is my simplest yet. Real ingredients, nothing fancy and just one bowl. Hallelujah.

I did this in the Thermomix (which to me is the epitome of one-bowl cooking) but a large bowl, a fork and a spoon will do the job just as well.

My husband scored a 15kg box of bananas for just $7 on the weekend so we have bananas coming out our ears at the moment. Most of these have been peeled and frozen so I am down to the last couple of bunches which are getting nice and brown and spotty, perfect for banana bread.

So here you go, the simplest wholefood banana bread around. This recipe is a keeper!

One-Bowl Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas (250g peeled)
2 extra large eggs
1/3 cup oil (coconut, macadamia or olive oil)
1/3 cup sweetener (rice malt syrup, honey or maple syrup)
1/4 cup milk (rice, almond or coconut)
1 1/2 cups wholemeal spelt flour
3 ts baking powder
1 ts cinnamon
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius / 150 degrees fan-forced. Grease a loaf pan and line with baking paper.

In a large bowl mash the bananas, then add the eggs, oil and sweetener and beat together until smooth (TMX - 10 secs / SP 6).

Add the remaining ingredients and fold together until just combined (TMX - 10 secs / SP 3 - scrape down the sides and repeat if you need to).

Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until it is golden brown and the tops springs back when you press lightly.

Remove from the oven and leave in pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Delicious still warm from the oven or cold in lunchboxes.

Have you scored any amazing fruit and veg bargains lately?

What would you do with 15kg of bananas??

~ Susan

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

There are some flavour combinations that just work.

And peanut butter and banana is definitely one of the best!

While peanut butter gets a bad rap sometimes (and of course if you're allergic you should steer well clear), it's actually packed with protein, potassium, magnesium and good fat that will help keep you full.

My Mr 5 has lots of sensory issues to do with food but he has always loved peanut butter so it's a staple at our place. We buy tubs of freshly ground peanut butter from our local health store, that is made from 100% organic peanuts, nothing else added.

Staying away from commercial varieties which are full of added salt, sugar and vegetable oils is a good idea. Most supermarkets will have at least one brand of natural peanut butter so check the health food section and get reading those labels.

Apart from sandwiches we add peanut butter to smoothies, spread it on celery and top with sultanas to make ants on a log and serve with apple slices. And now we can add muffins to the list because these were delicious!

My boys absolutely devoured these - they couldn't get enough and ate 3 each for afternoon tea (and yes still ate dinner afterwards).

Banana Peanut Butter Muffins

1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/3 cup coconut sugar
pinch salt
2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup coconut milk
2 eggs
1 ts vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 160 degrees fan-forced. Line a 12 cup muffin tray with paper liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt and sugar.

In a medium bowl, mash the bananas and peanut butter together until smooth. Add the eggs and beat until well combined. Add the oil, milk and vanilla and mix to combine.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together with a fork until only just combined.

Spoon the mixture evenly into the prepared tin and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and the top springs back when you press lightly.

Leave in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Serve with a big glass of milk and watch kids and big kids smile!

Makes 12.

Are you a peanut butter fan?

Healthier ANZAC Slice

It just wouldn't be Anzac Day without Anzac Biscuits. I did a round-up of healthy Anzac biscuits on Friday and then posted on Facebook yesterday that I also made some Really Healthy Anzac Biscuits. But I couldn't just leave it at that!

We had friends around for breakfast today and I wanted to make something sweet to finish our meal. A quick search found lots of different recipes for Anzac Slice and I chose one to tweak. This is still very sweet and definitely a sometimes food but overall far healthier than the regular white flour and golden syrup varieties.

It went down a treat - this recipe is a keeper!

Healthier Anzac Slice
Adapted from Cooking in the Chaos

130g white spelt flour
90g rolled oats
65g shredded coconut
150g butter
120g rice malt syrup
40g coconut sugar
1/2 ts bicarb soda

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 160 degrees fan-forced.

Grease a slice pan (mine was 15 x 23 cm) and line with baking paper.

Mix together the flour, oats, coconut and coconut sugar in a large bowl.

Place the butter and syrup into a small pan and melt over medium heat. Add the bicarb and stir as it bubbles and froths. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix well.

Tip the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake for approx 20 minutes or until golden brown and pulling away from the sides. Leave to cool in the pan before slicing into squares (12) or bars (16).

This is a really forgiving recipe and you can easily swap out the flour or sweeteners for whatever you happen to have.

Enjoy!

Turning 7

I can't even believe it but my big boy turned 7 yesterday. 7! We couldn't be prouder of this kind, curious, funny boy with the infectious laugh and big heart. Love him to bits!

No birthday party this year (we've decided to alternate birthday parties for the boys and he had one last year which I talked about here), instead he took some cupcakes to share with his classmates and we had family over for birthday cake and pizza - his choice.

Being a wholefood and low sugar family birthdays always pose a dilemma for me. While we don't want to take an 'anything goes' approach, we also don't want to restrict treats when to me, having something once a year on your birthday is the very definition of a treat.

So while these recipes definitely contain more sugar than is normal for us, they are also free from artificial additives and full of less-refined ingredients such as spelt flour, raw cacao, coconut sugar and grass-fed butter. And I'm totally ok with that.

Mr 7 was very clear that he wanted mini chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing for school, and chocolate number 7 cake with vanilla icing and sprinkles for home.

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes

125g melted butter
100g coconut sugar
2 eggs
1 ts vanilla extract
170 g white spelt flour
2 1/2 ts baking powder
40g raw cacao
2/3 cup coconut milk

Preheat oven to 150 degrees fan-forced / 170 degrees Celsius. Line 2 mini cupcake pans with 36 paper cupcake liners and set aside.

Place all ingredients into a large bowl, in the order listed, and mix with electric beaters for about 1 minute until smooth and well combined.

If you have a thermomix, place all ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix for 30 secs / SP 4, scraping down the sides as needed.

Spoon heaped teaspoons of mixture into the prepared tins, filling each just over half full.

Bake for 9-10 minutes or until the top springs back when pressed lightly. Do not overcook!

Makes 36

Chocolate Icing

90g softened butter
1/3 cup raw cacao
1 1/2 cups powdered coconut sugar (grind coconut sugar in thermomix or high powered blender until as fine as icing sugar and measure after grinding)
1 ts vanilla extract
1 tbs coconut milk

Hoppers 00s & 000s to decorate

Grind the coconut sugar first and then measure out 1 1/2 cups, reserving any extra for another time. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until smooth and fluffy.

Pour 00s & 000s into a small bowl.

Spread icing on the top of each cupcake then dip lightly into the sprinkles to decorate.

I'm told the cupcakes went down very well at school!

Next was his birthday cake for home. Now I've tried many recipes over the years and I knew that not all of them would work for a shaped cake like this one. I need something that wouldn't fall apart when it was sliced. Rather than reinvent the wheel I decided to tweak a few recipes I've made before and come up with my own.

Wholefood Chocolate Sheet Cake

400g white spelt flour
100g raw cacao powder
2 tbs baking powder
250g unsalted butter, softened
1/4 ts fine sea salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
500g rice malt syrup
250ml water
1 ts vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius / 150 degrees fan-forced. Grease a 23 x 33cm tin and line the base and sides with baking paper.

Place all ingredients into a large bowl and using electric beaters, beat together at low speed until combined, then on high speed for 2 minutes until smooth and glossy.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for approx 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.

Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Vanilla Icing

125g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup organic icing sugar*
1/2 cup powdered coconut sugar (see chocolate icing above)
1 ts vanilla extract
1-2 tbs coconut milk

Combine all ingredients in thermomix or large bowl with electric beaters and beat until smooth and pale.

*I have experimented using all coconut sugar for the icing before and while the flavour was amazing it was quite caramel in colour which was not the look I wanted here. Next year I will be pushing harder for a chocolate icing so I can use all coconut sugar and some avocado as well.

I used a template to cut out the number 7 shape and did a crumb coat and second coat of icing before decorating with Hopper's 00s and 000s which are free from artificial additives.

So that's it. Our sweet but additive free birthday cakes for our sweet Mr 7.

How do you handle birthday parties at your place? Do you have certain foods that you just won't serve or does anything go?

My Spelt, Cranberry and Oat Cookies (Thermomix)

I'm never quite sure where I stand in the cookies v biscuit debate. Being Australian I have always called them biscuits but now cookies seems to be more universally accepted. Especially if they have chocolate chips, or in this case cranberries.

Lately I've been baking up a storm but it's been weeks since I made any cookies. If you've been following me on Facebook you will have seen loaf after loaf of bread and several batches of hot cross buns recently and not much else!

Ever since I bought the Well Nourished Lunchbox (not an affiliate link - I'm just a huge fan), my go-to take-a-plate dish has been Georgia's Gruffalo Crumble Cake which is a banana cake with a spiced crumble topping. I encourage you to check out the book if you haven't already because this cake is a standout and I've had rave reviews from kids and adults alike for everything I've made from it. However we were completely out of bananas so instead I thought I would whip up some cookies to take to a play date last week.

The cookies were delightful. Tender, buttery and studded with tart and chewy cranberries. They are not overly sweet (which I liked) but if you are used to sweet things you could add a few tablespoons of your preferred sweetener. If you have coconut sugar it's caramel notes would work perfectly.

Spelt Cranberry and Oat Cookies (Thermomix)

120g butter, at room temperature
60g rice malt syrup
1 egg
1 ts vanilla extract
60g rolled oats
150g wholemeal spelt flour
100g dried cranberries
1/2 ts bicarb soda

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius / 150 degrees fan-forced. Line 2 trays with baking paper.

Place butter, syrup and vanilla into bowl and beat 10 secs / SP 5. Add all other ingredients (except cranberries) and mix for 10 secs / SP 4. Add cranberries and mix for 10 secs / SP 2 / REVERSE.

Place spoonfuls of mixture onto prepared tray leaving room to spread.

Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool on the trays for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely. They will firm up as they cool.

Makes 18

I think this will become a regular on our rotation as it is just so easy and also very adaptable. Use sultanas and add a teaspoon of cinnamon instead of the vanilla or add chocolate chips instead of fruit for a wholefood choc chip cookie. Yum.

Do you have a dish you are famous for? Or do you panic when asked to bring a plate?