Lunar Cookies

Having seen big cookies on offer in the supermarket, Sous Chef J was inspired to make up a recipe to see if he could have big, Gluten Free cookies too. This is the result of his efforts. It's a simple recipe, with just a few ingredients and can also be sugar free too. He called it Lunar Cookies as it fitted in with the Solar System theme that we were learning about at the time.Here are the ingredients. And the recipe was hastily scrawled on a piece of paper...
Today, we made half the quantity and then split the 'base' mix into two... making big, lunar cookies by decorating with Gluten Free, Dairy Free chocolate beanies and then added a handful of sultanas to the rest to make 6 smaller, sugar free cookies.
The cookies were formed on non-stick baking trays by placing a spoonful on the tray then patting into shape by hand.

The big cookies had the beanies added at this point. The smaller, sultana cookies were placed about 4cm apart. Both sets of cookies were baked on non-stick metal trays.

The cookies were placed in a preheated oven (about 180ºC); the smaller ones were removed after 7 minutes and the large ones were cooked for 10 minutes. Once out of the oven, the cookies were cooled for 10 minutes on the baking tray before being transferred to a rack to cool.
As you can see... the cookies look very inviting and we never have them around for long! However, they do keep well in an airtight container and we have been told by non-GF kids that they think they are yummy too.

This is a great recipe for those on a Gluten Free regime, diabetics wanting to avoid sugar and those who need egg free treats too.

Flipping Good Pancakes

Pancake Day on Tuesday was a great success this year... thanks to the 4 Grain Pancake Mix from Hale & Hearty Foods (http://www.halenhearty.co.uk) as it is wheat and gluten free and very easy to use.To make things as simple as possible, we gathered all the required ingredients together and then the 'making' was undertaken by the household's sous chef.

Having put the contents of one of the bags of flour into a bowl, Sous Chef J measured out the wet ingredients to add to the bowl of flour. He then mixed the ingredients to form a rather thick batter, and it was time to start cooking!






Sous Chef J was in his element and had decided to use a ladle to ensure portion control....The pancakes were a little thick to begin with, so some more milk was added to make the batter rather a lot more runny. (We use almond milk as we still avoid cow's milk wherever possible... but this worked fine) As you can see, the pancakes looked lovely as they cooked... although they were even better once engulfed in maple syrup prior to eating... ... and here's a pic of the chef enjoying the fruits of his labours!


In fact, so successful was the whole thing that the pancakes were eaten as fast as they were prepared... and it was a close run race to get to them prior to Sous Chef J.

Quick Muffin Making

Today we needed another quick baking food 'solution'... so we tried out a packet of Mrs Crimbles Muffin & Sponge mix. As time was tight, muffins were identified as the baking item of choice. My sous chef read the ingredients and assembled them as detailed on the packet.

He was happy to mix the ingredients and added a liberal helping of dried blueberries into the bowl.The mixture was then shared between the 6 muffin cases and baked (for about 10 minutes) in the oven which had been preheated to 170C. Here are the "before" and "after" baking pictures.






The muffins were very simple to make and the result was light and tasty. We will definitely try the mix again and may try to do a Victoria Sponge cake next time. In the meantime, here's a picture of the inside of the muffin...
... it seems the blueberries were a little few and far between!

All in all a good 'quick cook' option for gluten free muffins... although you may need more than one packet if you have a few people to feed.