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Saturday, 8 February 2014

Date and Pecan things!

Raw bites, Sugar Free and Wheat free Cookies and  Pecan Crumble Muffins!


 I love the combination of dates and pecans! Especially if they are lovely soft, squishy dates!

Here are some things I have done with them recently...

Date and Pecan bites
1,The simplest kind...put pecan inside date. Eat! (yum!)



2, Slightly more effort-blend dates and pecans, roll into balls, and coat in chopped pecans!

Raw date and pecan bites

Soft date and oat breakfast cookies. No added sugar, no wheat, no added fat, no soya!

150g soft dates such as medjool or deglet
50g of pecans, plus a few extra.
100g apple sauce
50g oat flour (made by grinding oats in a blender)
40g whole oats


Preheat oven to 175 C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Blend 50g oats to flour.  Set aside.
Blend dates, add pecan nuts and blend again until fairly smooth. Add apple sauce and oat flour and blend again.
Tip mixture out into a bowl, and stir in oats and a few extra chopped pecans.
Form into 12 blobs and flatten slightly.
Bake for 8 mins. Leave to cool on the tray for 5 mins, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool fully.
Keep in an airtight container and eat within 2 days.

Soft date and pecan vegan cookies

Date and Pecan cake or muffins

-To make as a sponge bake in a lined 8" tin at 180 C for 30 minutes.
-To make as muffins bake at 175 C for 15-20 minutes.

  • Sponge 
  • 1 cup soya or almond milk
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
  • 2/3 cup plain flour
  • 1/3 cup wholemeal plain flour (or more plain flour).
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup muscovado sugar (or more granulated sugar).
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
200g dates
1/4 cup water

Crumble
  • 1/2 cup plain flour 
  • 1/2 cup wholemeal flour (or more plain flour )
  • 1/4 cup soft brown sugar (or granulated sugar)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/3 cup oil  or melted margarine

If making a cake either grease the tin or line with baking paper.  If making muffins put muffin cases in the baking tray.

Chop dates and cook in a saucepan with 1/4 cup of water for 10 mins or so, stirring often until the dates are softened slightly.

Preheat oven to 175C-180C.

To make the crumble, mix all of the crumble ingredients with your finger tips, until the mixture is..well, crumbly. If the mixture is too wet add a little extra flour. 

To make the cake..

Sift flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt into a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl whisk vinegar into the soya milk. Whisk in oil and sugars. (make sure sugars are well mixed, and that no lumps of brown sugar remain).

Make a well in the bowl of flour, and add milk mixture.  Stir with a spoon or spatula until no dry flour remains.  (But be careful to not over-mix.)

Spoon the mixture into cake tin or muffin tray.

Spoon cooked dates evenly over the cake mixture. Sprinkle on the crumble mixture.

-Bake muffins for 15 mins and test with a toothpick. If the middle is still gooey set a timer for 2 more minutes and check again, then at further 2 minute intervals if needed until they are cooked. Once done remove from tray and cool on a cooling rack.

-If making a cake, bake for 30 minutes, and test with a toothpick. If the middle is still gooey set a timer for 5 more minutes and check again, then at further 5 minute intervals if needed until the cake is cooked. 

Delicious served warm with ice cream!

Date and pecan vegan muffins


Date and pecan vegan muffins

Date and Pecan Cake Vegan













Sunday, 2 February 2014

Home made instant porridge-just add water!

I've noticed a few "instant porridge" products popping up on the market lately
They seem to be aimed at office workers or campers, or anyone who doesn't have access to facilities to transport and heat milk, or the time to make real porridge.

At £2 a pot they make for quite a pricey breakfast!

Looking at the ingredients they seem simple enough to replicate -- Oats, milk powder and sugar.
So to make our vegan version we can just sub the milk powder for soya milk powder, and voila! -instant (vegan) porridge! Just add boiling water!

Much cheaper than the store bought (non-vegan) kind, and easy enough to carry in a little tub, or a zip lock bag. (It can then be mixed with boiling water in a bowl or mug.)

I had a go at making a batch to see how it would turn out...

I ground the oats in a blender first, to make them finer, then added soya milk powder and sugar.
I forget the exact measurements but I think it was something like half a cup of ground oats, one tablespoon of soya milk powder, and one tablespoon of sugar (which in hindsight was probably a bit much!), and then added enough boiling water to make a nice porridgey consistency.

Obvious additions to the porridge could be: cinnamon, raisins or other dried fruit.  I've even seen some shop bought kinds with coconut in!

If I am ever in the unfortunate situation where I can't make a saucepan of porridge with bottled soya milk, this is what I will turn to!