How time flies when you disappear off to have a baby...  Lately I’ve been spending my sleep deprived days getting to know our gorgeous little boy.  Things are a little chaotic.

In my last week of pregnancy I suddenly found the urge to cook but the seasons also changed on me and now this cherry crumble looks a little wrong.  Throw in plums or blackberries or whatever autumn fruit tickles your fancy.  Recipe here from Green Kitchen Stories along with impossibly beautiful photography.

I also made these incredible sugar free cookies.  In fact I took a batch to give me much needed energy while I was in labour.  Ha, that didn’t happen.  Labour and food did not go together.  This recipe is so good.  I’ve managed to make a couple of batches since and can’t stop munching my way through them.  Recipe here from A Sweet Spoonful.  I used pecans, pistachios and cacao nibs in place of the walnuts. Make sure you top with flaked sea salt.  Don’t skip this part, it’s key to the overall taste of the cookie.

Now that autumn is well and truly under way I’ve been getting back in to soup in a big way.  I’ve been making batches of this curried sweet potato soup at the weekends and I also made a parsnip version of this carrot and ginger soup and added a pinch of cumin to spice things up a little.  So glad it’s parsnip season again!

Banana Bread Granola Bars

These granola bars have been giving my work day snacks a real lift over the last couple of weeks.  I’ve made two batches so far using a mix of different nuts, seeds and dried fruit and both were equally delicious.  By Thursday we’ve always run out.  I have a bad habit of getting home from work ravenous and these bars have been far too easy to reach in to the fridge for and start nibbling.  They are the perfect texture, slightly chewy but with bite.  It’s no surprise that nuts and dried fruit are made to work together, the chocolate takes them up a level.  For banana haters, you can’t really taste the banana but it works as a great binder along with the almond butter. 

The recipe comes from the beautifully photographed blog The First Mess which is packed full of tasty and healthy recipes.  Pop over there for the recipe and to see how chocolate drizzling can be accomplished neatly.  My first effort looked like the work of a small child not yet in control of their motor skills.  The second batch, photographed is only marginally better.

I used maple syrup instead of brown rice syrup because I didn’t have any.  You can choose your own combination of nuts, seeds and dried fruits/chocolate.  I used brazil nuts, pistachios, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, raisins, cranberries and cacao nibs.  Make them, your lunch box will thank you!

Find the recipe here.

Gluten Free Almond Cookies



Cookies and sunshine, what more could a person ask for.  These are quite possibly the cookies of my dreams, if I actually ever dreamt about cookies that is.  In reality I’d probably end up dreaming about cookies that were chasing me or stopping me getting somewhere.  That’s the real stuff of dreams. 

When I pulled them from the oven for about the fourth time I said to my husband that I didn’t think they’d worked.  They were so soft on top when I prodded them. (I’m not sure prodding is a proper cooking technique but that’s what I did).  Half an hour cooling later they had transformed themselves in to a chewy, soft centred cookie with just the right amount of crunch and crumble that yields to the first bite.  This is great recipe from Cookie and Kate.  I love the mix of ground almonds and coconut flour.  They are also egg free so can easily be made vegan.  I’m trying to experiment more with coconut flour.  A little goes a long way and there have been a few failures to date but I’m happy to say this one was a resounding success.

The recipe was in cups which for me is always a little tricky to adapt to weight.  I can only tell you what I did and that it worked for me.  Instead of using just chocolate I threw in some cacao nibs for a little healthy substitute and some dried cranberries for added chewiness.  The balance was perfect but if you prefer full on chocolate cookies then go with that all the way.  I think I’ll be making more this weekend.  I miss them already.

Recipe adapted from Cookie and Kate *the original recipe makes 24 small cookies but I only got 16 out of my dough which also meant they took a little longer to cook.

75g / 3oz (¾ cup) ground almonds

25g / 1oz (1/4 cup) coconut flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

100ml (1/2 cup) butter or coconut oil (I ended up doing 75ml butter and 25ml coconut oil because I didn’t have enough of either)

100ml (1/2 cup) maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

50g / 2oz dark chocolate broken up in to small chunks (I used 70% cocoa solids)

50g / 2oz cacao nibs

50g / 20z dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4, 180°C, 350°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment. 

In a bowl mix together the flours, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon.  Pour in the melted butter or coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract.  Combine well with the flour mixture and then add the chocolate, cacao nibs and dried cranberries.  Place the bowl of dough in the fridge to chill for ten minutes.  (This allows the coconut flour to absorb some of the moisture).  Scoop a tablespoon of dough for each cookie onto the baking sheet allowing space between each cookie.

Bake for 11 to 15 minutes until golden brown.  Mine needed about 20 minutes in the end.