Chocolate, Nut and Chia Cookies – dairy and gluten free

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Dr Nancy P

Do you love chocolate? I do! rather too much sadly! So I’m always on the look out for chocolate goodies that will hit the chocolate spot but are a little bit better for me! These cookies are awesome – they’re chocolatey, they’re healthy and they’re full of omega-3’s and good protein and fat. They’re also dairy, gluten and unrefined sugar free! Whoop!

You will need:

1/2 cup Buckwheat flour (you can also use quinoa or rice flour)
1 cup Almonds
1 cup Hazelnuts
1/4 cup Medjool dates (approx 2 – 3 chopped)
1/3 cup Maple syrup
2 tbsp Coconut oil (melted)
3 tbsp Raw cacao powder
3 tbsp Chia seeds
1/4 cup Water
Cinnamon chocolate chilli sugar – for dusting

For the cinnamon chocolate chilli sugar you can buy pre-mixed sugar, but I prefer to make my own. It’s easy! Just mix 100g coconut sugar with 10g of cocoa powder, 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp chilli powder (or more if you want it hotter!). Adjust the amounts depending how much you need but keep them in those ratios. Make up a batch and keep it in an airtight jar. Just shake before use as the sugar tends to sink to the bottom, leaving the lighter cocoa etc at the top.

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

First pop the nuts into a food processor and blend until they are really well ground (almost to a flour). Add in all the other ingredients and process again. It will form a sticky dough.

Take a tablespoon of the mixture and roll it into a ball. Then place on a lined baking tray and flatten until very thin.Sprinkle with the cinnamon chocolate chilli sugar and then pop in the oven. Bake for 12 – 15 mins until firm and starting to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Then eat! 🙂

Fight that grump! Chocolate, Cherry and Chilli Biscuit balls! Dairy and Gluten free

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Dr Nancy P

We all get a little grumpy sometimes don’t we? When I’m feeling the grump I usually reach for the chocolate (Willie’s Cacao is my chocolate of choice!) but I thought this week I’d try something a little different! It’s still chocolate but with a kick, and I guarantee this little beauties will cheer up even the biggest grump!

This a modified version of my great balls of biscuit recipe but I’ve made these bigger – cos you need a bit more biscuit to fight that grump 😉

To make about 16 biscuit balls you will need:

260g Ground almonds

4 tbsp Raw cacao powder (or cocoa powder)

30g Dark, dairy-free chocolate (I use the Willie’s Cacao Drops but any dark chocolate chopped up small will be fine)

30g Dried cherries

5 tablespoons Coconut oil (melted)

1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Himalayan rock salt

1/4 – 1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)

1/4 – 1/2 tsp hot chilli powder (adjust to taste)

1 tsp Vanilla extract

4 tbsp Maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener such as agave or honey)

Preheat the oven to 170 C.

Put the dry ingredients in to a mixing bowl and combine thoroughly. Start with a small amount of cayenne and chilli powder at this stage (unless you are confident in how hot you want it 🙂 ). Then chop the chocolate and cherries into small pieces and add them in to the mixture. Add the coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract and mix together. Have a little taste and add more of the cayenne and chilli is required. I like it pretty hot so I added quite a bit! Mix it in well if you’re adding more at this stage. You should find the mixture will stick together when you squeeze it between your fingers.

Take tablespoon sized portions of the mixture and form in to a ball. Pop on a greased baking tray and flatten a little. Place in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes (start checking at 10 minutes). Remove when they are starting to brown. They will feel very soft when you take them from the oven but just leave them to cool on the tray and they will harden.

Enjoy with a nice cuppa and feel that grump melt away! 🙂

Apple and Cherry Cinnamon Biscuit Balls

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Dr Nancy P

Tuesdays are long, tiring days for me so I have just whipped up a batch of these bad boys to get me through!

To make about 24 small biscuit balls you will need:

260g Ground almonds

40g Dried apple

30g Dried cherries

5 tablespoons Coconut oil (melted)

1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Himalayan rock salt

1 tsp ground Cinnamon

1 tsp Vanilla extract

4 tbsp Maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener such as agave or honey)

Preheat the oven to 170 C.

Put the dry ingredients in to a mixing bowl and combine thoroughly. Then chop the apple and cherries finely and add them in to the mixture. Add the coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract and mix together. You should find the mixture will stick together when you squeeze it between your fingers.

Enjoy with a nice cuppa!

Chewy, Crispy Pumpkin Cookies – Dairy and Gluten Free

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Dr Nancy P

This is the last of my pumpkin-based goodies (for now!). It may be the last but it’s certainly not the least! This was my second attempt to make the elusive crispy pumpkin cookies and this time I think it worked! My first attempt was delicious but turned out more like a gingerbread-texture cakey cookie (the recipe for the cinnamon glazed pumpkin cookie cakes is here). These ones however are just as I intended – crispy on the outside and chewy and soft in the middle. They need to be eaten the day they’re cooked if you want them to stay crispy (trust me you’ll have no trouble wolfing them all down on day one!), but you can always pop them back in a low oven for a few mins to re-crisp them up if you want to 🙂

The best thing to do is split the dough and freeze half if you don’t want to eat them all at once. It freezes really well and will keep for several weeks in the freezer.

The secret to these is the use of the pumpkin butter (recipe is here). So the first thing you need to do is make a batch of pumpkin butter! 🙂

For the cookies you will need:

1 cup Dairy-free margarine

1 1/4 cups raw Coconut sugar or other unrefined raw sugar

1 cup Pumpkin butter (recipe here)

1 Egg (or 1/4 cup pureed apple)

2 tsp Vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups Gluten-free flour mix or Spelt flour

1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground Cloves

1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground Ginger

1 tsp Himalayan rock salt

Zest of 1 orange

1 cup dairy free Chocolate chunks (I used Willie’s Chef’s drops)

Preheat the oven to 170 C.

Place the margarine and sugar in a bowl and cream together using a hand mixer. Add in the egg (or apple), vanilla extract and pumpkin butter and mix well together.

Place all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl mix really well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined. It will form a sticky dough. Stir in the orange zest and the chocolate and then wrap in clingfilm and pop in the fridge for 30 mins to rest.

Take small chunks of dough (about a tbsp in size) and flatten on to a lined baking tray. The cookies won’t spread so make sure you spread them out on the tray a little. If they are too thick they will still be delicious but will be a bit more “cakey”.

Pop in the oven for 15 – 20 mins until starting to change colour and slightly crispy. They will harden further as they cool. Allow to cool on the tray for 5 mins then transfer to a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Gingerdead men! Quick and Easy Spooky Biccies!

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Dr Nancy P

Happy Hallowe’en!

I couldn’t resist whipping up a few little Hallowe’en biccies today!

It’s been a bit of a challenge as my oven is broken (yes, broken – an absolute disaster!) but luckily I was able to get the little mini part of the oven working so can bake really really tiny batches of things! Phew!

So these are so easy and so fun! You can choose to keep them plain or add some spices. I have also iced them with a cinnamon icing but you could keep the icing plain or add any flavour you want. I had such fun finding some cool little hallowe’en cutters but obviously you could just use any shapes! For the gingerdead man I used a normal gingerbread man cutter and then iced on the bones.

You will need:

2 cups of Spelt flour (or gluten free flour mix)

1 cup unrefined Icing sugar

6 oz Dairy free margarine

Optional: 2 tsp ground Ginger or 2 tsp ground Cinnamon

For the icing:

1 cup unrefined Icing sugar

1 tbsp Soya, almond or coconut milk

Optional: 1 tsp ground Cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Put the margarine in a large mixing bowl, sieve the flour, icing sugar and spices (if using) and cream it together using your hands. Try not to over mix but make sure the margarine is properly mixed with the dry ingredients. Once it’s formed a dough wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins. If you find the dough is too sticky then add some more flour.

Once chilled, roll out and use biscuit cutters to cut out the shapes of your choice. Use a palate knife to transfer them carefully to a greased baking tray. Sprinkle with a little raw sugar if you like and bake for 8 – 10 mins, or until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray.

Mix the icing ingredients together and then pipe the icing on to the biccies. Enjoy!

These won’t last long!

Cinnamon Glazed Pumpkin Cookie Cake Gingerbread Yumminess! Gluten and Dairy Free

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Dr Nancy P

Sometimes the best bakes are created by accident! This is one of those bakes!

Ok, so these did not turn out in any way like I intended! However, I absolutely LOVE what I’ve created! I don’t know what to call it – is it a cake? is it a biscuit? is it a pumpkin gingerbread? who knows! All I know is that it is scrummy! It’s moist on the inside and so full of flavour and you would never know there was pumpkin in there 🙂

I set out to make a cookie-type of biscuit using pumpkin. These have come out less like a cookie and more like cake or soft gingerbread in texture – a failure? No – not in any way shape or form! They are simply divine – especially with the cinnamon glaze!

This will make around 24 – 30 cookie-cakes.

You will need:

2 cups Rice flour or Spelt flour (spelt is an option if you don’t need gluten-free but want to go for a low-gluten option, or you could also use a gluten free flour blend)

1/4 tsp Xanthan gum (unless you choose to use a ready-mixed gluten free flour blend which has it in – check the ingredients!)

1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

1 1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg

1/2 cup Coconut oil

1 cup unrefined Coconut or other raw sugar

1/4 cup Molasses

1 Egg (or this can be replaced with 1/4 cup of ripe mashed banana or 1/4 cup of puréed apple if you prefer)

1 cup Pumpkin purée (recipe here)

1/3 cup Coconut, almond or soya milk

1 tsp Vanilla extract

For the glaze:

1 cup unrefined Icing sugar

1 tbsp Coconut, almond or soya milk

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1/4 tsp ground Cinnamon (or more – just add to taste)

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Put the flour, xanthan gum, bicarbonate of soda, and spices into a large mixing bowl. Combine well (using a whisk or fork works well for this).

Put the oil and sugar in a separate bowl and mix together. Add the molasses, egg (or egg substitute), pumpkin, milk and vanilla and use a hand mixer (or whisk) to blend together.

Add the flour mix to the wet ingredients and stir well until completely combined. Place generous heaped teaspoons of the mixture on to a greased and lined baking tray and place in the oven for 10 – 13 minutes (until they are slightly crispy on the outside and are starting to turn colour – it’s hard to see as they’re dark but you will see a change).

Place the icing sugar and other glaze ingredients in a bowl and mix together well.

Once the cookie-cakes are done, remove from the oven and let them cool for a couple of minutes. Then spoon the glaze over them whilst they are still warm.

Then enjoy with a cup of tea! 🙂

Goodness, gracious, great balls of…. biscuit!

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Dr Nancy P

I love a good biscuit with a cup of tea and am always searching for gluten and dairy free recipes for biscuits / cookies that actually work! I’ve tried so many and so often they end up too soft or too crumbly or too much effort to make! But I think with these little beauties I’ve found the perfect biscuit! It’s so easy to make and so quick – you can whip up a batch in 20 minutes!

To make about 24 small biscuit balls you will need:

260g Ground almonds

60g Cacao nibs

5 tablespoons Coconut oil (melted)

1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Himalayan rock salt

2 tsp Vanilla extract

4 tbsp Maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener such as agave or honey)

Preheat the oven to 170 C.

Put the dry ingredients in to a mixing bowl and combine thoroughly. Add the coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract and mix together. You should find the mixture will stick together when you squeeze it between your fingers.

Enjoy with a nice cuppa! 🙂

Spice up your summer! Chocolate chilli cookies (dairy free, low/no gluten)

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Dr Nancy P

Chocolate and chilli – what better combination can there be?

I recently baked up another batch of these to welcome home a lovely friend from a trip away and they seemed to go down well so I thought I’d share! They were inspired by a chocolate cookie recipe I found years ago and modified but I can’t now find the original link – when I do I’ll add it! They’re quick and easy to make and taste divine! Oh, and a warning, they smell so good when cooking that it’s pretty hard not to eat them all right there and then!

Makes about 20 (depending how big you make them!)

You will need:

1 and 2/3 cups of white Spelt flour or a gluten-free blend
1/2 raw Cacao powder
1/2 cup Almond oil
1 cup Raw coconut sugar or other raw sugar
1/4 cup Maple syrup (the best quality you can get)
3 tbsp Almond milk (you could use soya or coconut milk too)
1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp hot Chilli powder (I used dried chillies, ground up – and they are hot!)
1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp Himalayan rock salt
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tsp Chocolate extract (optional – available from whole food stores, online, or Waitrose for those in the UK)

You will also need some cinnamon chocolate chilli sugar to coat them in 🙂 You can buy pre-mixed sugar, but I prefer to make my own. It’s easy! Just mix 100g sugar with 10g of cocoa powder, 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp chilli powder (or more if you want it hotter!). Adjust the amounts depending how much you need but keep them in those ratios. Make up a batch and keep it in an airtight jar. Just shake before use as the sugar tends to sink to the bottom, leaving the lighter cocoa etc at the top.

Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease and line a baking tray (or 2!).

Put the oil, sugar, maple syrup and milk in a bowl and mix together using a fork. Add in the vanilla extract and mix well. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and sieve in to the wet ingredients. Mix until you have a dough. The dough will be quite moist and sticky.

Put the cinnamon chocolate chilli sugar on a plate. Take small, walnut sized, balls of the dough and pat into the topping sugar to make discs about 2 inches across. Make sure they are well covered in sugar. Put them on to the baking tray with the sugar facing up. Cook for 10 – 12 minutes until they are crackly on the top and have spread a little. Allow to cool on the baking tray for 5 mins then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!

Ninjabread men! Chocolate, cherry and ginger dairy free biscuits

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Dr Nancy P

Gosh it’s been a long time since i’ve had time to bake – sorry! Real life has got in the way (in good and bad ways!), but oh how i’ve missed it!

Thankfully I had an excuse to bake again 🙂 yippee! I wanted to make something yummy to celebrate (or rather commiserate) the last body combat class with a very special friend of mine. What better way to mark the occasion than by baking some funky little Ninjabread men! I used ginger, dark chocolate and dried cherries in mine but you could flavour the biscuits any way you like 🙂

For the biscuits you need:

2 cups Spelt flour or gluten-free flour mix

1 cups Unrefined Icing sugar

6 oz Dairy-free margarine (get the best quality you can)

2 tsp ground Ginger

handful of chopped dried Cherries

handful of dairy free chocolate (I used Willie’s chef’s drops)

Ninja cutters (available online) or just use normal ginger bread man cutters 🙂

Pre-heat the oven to 180 C. Put the margarine in a large mixing bowl, sieve the flour, icing sugar and ground ginger in and cream it together. Try not to over mix but make sure the margarine is properly mixed with the dry ingredients. Add the cherries and chocolate and combine well. Once it’s formed a dough wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins. If you find the dough is too sticky then add some more flour.

Once chilled, roll out and use the biscuit cutter to cut out your little ninjas. Use a palate knife to transfer them carefully to a greased baking tray. Sprinkle with a little raw sugar if you like and bake for 8 – 10 mins, or until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray.

Decoration

Once the biscuits are cool you can have some fun! I used a variety of ninja designs. For the dark icing you can get black food colouring or use melted dark chocolate. Unleash your best ninja using skills!! 🙂

An array of Easter Biscuits!

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Dr Nancy P

I couldn’t let the day pass without whipping up some tasty treats! These are fun spicy Easter and spring biccies that are great fun to make, and eat! Perfect holiday activity for the kids too!

The icing is flavoured with either lemon, fresh raspberry or fresh blueberries.

For the biscuits you need:

2 cups gluten free or spelt flour

1 cup raw Icing sugar

6 oz Dairy free spread

2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Cloves

For decoration:

Raw coconut palm sugar

Cinnamon and chilli sugar (see here)

Currants

Raw Icing sugar

Lemon juice, raspberries and blueberries

Sugar balls etc

Preheat the oven to 175 C. Mix all the biscuit ingredients together in a bowl – ensuring the spread is well combined with the flour an sugar. Once it forms a dough pop it in the fridge for 30 mins if you have time. Remove and roll out. Use whatever shaped cutters you like to it your biscuit shapes and transfer to a baking tray.

If you are using currants for bunny eyes and noses then add those now. Sprinkle with raw coconut sugar and cinnamon and chilli sugar. Place in the oven and cook for 8 – 12 mins or until golden. Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Once cool you can ice the biscuits. Mix up your icing powder with lemon juice or fresh raspberries or blueberries and then spread on the biscuits. Add sugar decorations if you like. Allow to set and then eat!

Pure and Simple Bakes

delicious, healthy, vegan friendly, low gluten bakes – have your cake and eat it!

Category Archives: biscuits

Chocolate, Nut and Chia Cookies – dairy and gluten free

Fight that grump! Chocolate, Cherry and Chilli Biscuit balls! Dairy and Gluten free

Apple and Cherry Cinnamon Biscuit Balls

Gingerdead men! Quick and Easy Spooky Biccies!

Goodness, gracious, great balls of…. biscuit!

Spice up your summer! Chocolate chilli cookies (dairy free, low/no gluten)

Ninjabread men! Chocolate, cherry and ginger dairy free biscuits

An array of Easter Biscuits!

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