I’ve just munched down two of these before 9.30am and I had breakfast as well so I can’t say I was starving hungry.  I didn’t even eat them properly with a nice cup of tea and a book in hand.  I picked at them.  I took half a cookie from the tin, just to fuel me through the washing up.  The other half as a reward for doing the washing up.  I then decided that if I was eating cookies I would require a cup of tea but before the kettle was even boiled, oh look at that, another half eaten.  Finally I made it with my tea and the other half cookie to my laptop.  So there you have it, so delicious I can’t even wait for the kettle to boil.  That’s recommendation enough I think.

I found this recipe on My Darling Lemon Thyme, a brilliant blog full of delicious gluten free creations.  I’m going to be lazy and link to the recipe because I followed it almost exactly.  The only changes I made were to use cacao powder instead of cocoa and to use pistachios chopped up in the cookie instead of almonds because...have you seen the price of almonds lately?  The end result is a densely chocolate cookie with a nice kick from the cayenne pepper which apparently I can’t stop eating.

Recipe here.

Lately...

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!

Vanilla Almond Coconut Cookies

Yesterday I was in need of a distraction.  Yesterday my inner child (the one that wants to throw tantrums and stamp her feet for no good reason) needed to be kept in check.  Bruce Springsteen was playing Wembley Stadium and I couldn’t be there.  I felt like a small child who missed out on a friend’s birthday party.  There was a bit of sulking, it wasn’t my finest hour.  However, good things can sometimes come out of a sulk and that’s sort of how these cookies happened.  Really tenuous link I know but I felt the need to distract myself with baking and whilst idly flicking through a magazine I came across this recipe, they sounded easy and delicious and just suited my mood.

These flourless cookies are wonderfully light and full of healthy ingredients.  The coconut takes centre stage working perfectly with the more subtle vanilla and almond flavours.  The cookies are quite small so you really can’t stop at eating just one, especially if you are sulking about something.

Recipe slightly adapted from Natural Lifestyle Magazine.  Makes about 20-22 cookies.

112g ground almonds

80g unsweetened desiccated coconut

¼ tsp sea salt

80g agave syrup (I guess honey would be fine but I haven’t tried).

56g coconut oil

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

½ tsp almond extract

1-2 free range eggs*

*The original recipe didn’t include eggs.  I think this was a typo as the ingredients were far too dry.  I added an egg to my half batch and it worked perfectly.  I’m guessing if you are making the full batch of 22 you will need two eggs.  Start with one and see how the mixture is.  If it’s still a little dry mix in a second egg.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3, 170°C, 325°F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment.

In a bowl mix together the almond meal, desiccated coconut and salt.  In a separate bowl beat together the coconut oil, agave syrup, vanilla and almond extracts and an egg. Combine the dry and wet ingredients together.  If the mixture is still a little firm add the second egg.  Place small rounded scoops of dough on to the baking sheets.  Bake for 18-20 minutes until the cookies turn golden brown.  Remove from the oven, leave the cookies to stand on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  The cookies may be a little soft but they will firm up as they cool.

For those who understand my pain, here is a bit of raw young Bruce playing Darkness on the Edge of Town which I hear was the centre piece of his Wembley set last night and my favourite album.

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.