Healthier Chocolate Pear Muffins

Ever since I saw this on Better Homes and Gardens, I've wanted to try this Chocolate Pear Muffin recipe. It looked pretty easy and yummy, and it was already egg- and dairy-free, so I didn't need to make any substitutions.

So I bought the magazine, planning to make these yummy muffins. That was in November last year! I have to say though, it was worth the wait. This recipe is fairly easy and it is delicious as well as fairly healthy.

As for no substitutions, well, I did have to make a couple of little ones as I (yet again) didn't have all the ingredients! Luckily, this recipe was forgiving of my last-minute switches.

Healthier Chocolate Pear Muffins
Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins
Makes 12

Ingredients
250g wholemeal self-raising flour
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
125g golden syrup (I had to substitute half this with treacle)
2 large pears, peeled, cored, grated
100g raisins, chopped (or use sultanas or currants)
100g extra virgin olive oil
185mL non-dairy milk
Extra 1/2 pear, finely sliced

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C (fan-forced 160C)
2. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases
3. Sift flour, cocoa and cinnamon into a bowl.
4. Combine syrup, pear, raisin, oil and milk in a separate bowl. Beat into flour mixture.
5. Spoon mixture into prepared tin and top with extra pear (the cases will be almost full to the top if you make 12).
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Notes

• 28 April '12: I originally posted that ordinary cocoa powder is fine. I substituted Nestle baking cocoa for the dark cocoa powder as that's what we currently have in the pantry. As Jappy pointed out, it may contain traces of milk. If you need to strictly avoid milk, then please use dark cocoa powder and always check the ingredient list on your purchases.

Gluten-Free Five Cup Loaf

I went to visit a friend whose boy is on an elimination diet. So I modified the Five Cup Loaf recipe to try and fit with their current restrictions: gluten-free, soy-free, additive-free. So I substituted gluten-free flour, rice milk and fresh apple and frozen berries.

How did it go? Well, it worked out kind of ok, but it was completely flat. It also needed a lot more cooking, about another half hour. Next time I might try adding some xantham gum, something I've avoided buying so far. At least it tasted good!

Here's the recipe again, with the substitutions.

Gluten-free Five Cup Loaf
Ingredients
1 cup gluten-free self-raising flour (or ordinary gluten-free flour + 2 tsp baking powder)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup frozen berries
1 cup rice milk

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C. Line a loaf tin with baking paper and set aside.
2. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. A spoon will do.
3. Pour into lined loaf tin.
4. Bake for 60-90 mins until cake springs back when lightly touched in the centre.

Five Cup Loaf

Ever looking for things to buy, recently renewed my long-forgotten membership of Simple Savings. Ironic, perhaps?* Still being in a splurge mode, I bought a copy of the $21 Challenge book, even though I figured a lot of the recipes would not be egg or dairy free.

Inside was a recipe for Five Cup Loaf***. It doesn't have any eggs and I realised the recipe could be easily modified for non-dairy milk. It's a nice, easy recipe, something I really like!

Five Cup Loaf
Ingredients
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup sultanas (or any dried fruit, I used a mix of currants & orange peel)
1 cup oat milk (or other non-dairy milk)

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C. Line a loaf tin with baking paper and set aside.
2. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. A spoon will do.
3. Pour into lined loaf tin.
4. Bake for 40-45 mins until cake springs back when lightly touched in the centre.

Notes

• Don't leave the mixture to stand too long, I left mine for a bit and the currants all ended up on the bottom
• I used a large loaf tin, but I think you could do this in a small loaf tin and not cook it for as long, as it doesn't rise that much. The $21 challenge book says 25 min, but this wasn't the case for me.

* Simple Savings is a website devoted to teaching you how to save money. It can actually be very helpful, but initially you do have to fork out some dough!**
** Or just sign up for the free newsletter.
*** I've since found this recipe is quite common elsewhere. OK, that's probably enough with the asterisks now!

Egg free and (mostly) dairy free lasagne

I was missing lasagne a lot, so I decided to make some at last. I am not really sure if goat cheese counts as dairy-free, but it's not cow's milk cheese anyway. If you don't have goat cheese, you can leave it out as it only adds a little bit of extra taste. Or try tofu! I am tempted to try one of the tofu substitutions I've read, the next time I make lasagne.

Egg-free and cow-milk free lasagne
Instant lasagne sheets
Goat cheese

Tomato Sauce
600g Mince meat
1 large Onion
2 cloves Garlic
1Tbsp. Tomato paste
Dairy-free chicken stock
Salt to taste
half large bottle Passata

Bechamel Sauce
4 Tbsp. dairy free margarine
3 Tbsp. flour
2 cups dairy free soy, oat or rice milk
salt and pepper to taste
pinch nutmeg

Method
Tomato Sauce
This is a pretty rough guide, I am sure everyone has their own bolognaise sauce recipe or a vegetable sauce recipe

1. Sweat off the onions & garlic
2. Brown the mince. I think it's important to make sure all the liquid has evaporated.
3. Add tomato paste & cook for a minute
4. Add passata, stock and salt to taste. Simmer for an hour or until sauce has reduced sufficiently. (You can use canned tomato instead of passata)

Bechamel Sauce

1. Melt dairy-free margarine on low in a saucepan.
2. Add the flour to saucepan and whisk mixture until flour is incorporated and not lumpy, about 1 minute or so.
3. Slowly add the dairy-free milk, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Whisk constantly for about 5-10 minutes on medium or until mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Layering

1. Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan force
2. Ladle tomato sauce on bottom of oven-proof dish
3. Cover with lasagne sheet
4. Spread some of the bechamel on top
5. Top with tomato sauce
6. Repeat layering of lasagne sheets, bechamel and tomato sauce until used up
7. Top with goat cheese
8. Cover dish with foil or lid and bake for 45 minutes
9. Remove foil/lid and bake for further 15 minutes until top is nice and golden. Remove from oven, cool for a little and then cut and enjoy!

Icing for Gingerbread Cookies

My last post was about making Gingerbread Cookies. Here's how we ice them.

Icing in a makeshift piping bag
Ingredients
Icing mixture
Water
Food colouring (if desired)
Plastic snaplock bag (sandwich size is good)
Rubber band

Method

1. Mix icing mixture and water until a thick paste
2. Add food colouring as desired. Be careful - a little goes a long way!
3. Place icing into a snaplock bag. I find it helps to line a cup with the bag and flip the bag over the edge so the cup holds the bag and there's a nice big space to put the icing in.
4. Push the icing into one corner, squeeze out the air and seal the bag. For extra help, put a rubber band just at the top of the icing. This will help stop it escaping and make it easier to push out the bag.
5. Cut a tiny, tiny hole in the corner for the icing to come out. Make sure you don't make too big a hole or it becomes very messy.
6. Decorate!

Here are pictures of Omnivore Girl doing some piping, to compare using the rubber band & without. It still works, but it's harder to control without the band.

Egg-free and Dairy-free Gingerbread Cookies

One of my sister's rituals is to decorate gingerbread cookies with Omnivore Girl. I couldn't leave Vegan Carnivore out of the action this time, so this was a recipe for him.

Egg-free and Dairy-free Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup treacle or molasses
1/4 cup plain soy or oat milk

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour (or a mix of both)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

spice blend:
1/2 teaspoon each ground nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

Method

1. In a large bowl beat together oil and sugar for about 3 minutes. Add treacle/molasses and soy milk. The treacle/molasses and soy milk won't really blend with the oil but that's ok.
   
2. In a separate bowl, sift together all the other ingredients.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches. Mix together with a firm spoon or spatula until well combined. You should have a pretty stiff dough.
   
   
   
   
   Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in cling wrap and chill for an hour or up to 3 days in advance. (If you chill longer than an hour you may want to let it sit for 10 minutes to loosen up a bit before proceeding).
4. Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F. Lightly grease your baking trays or line them with baking paper.
5. On a floured surface roll your dough out to a little less than 1/4 inch thick. You can do this in 2 batches if you don't have the space. Cut out your shapes with your cookie cutters and gently place on cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and let them cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet then move to a cooling rack. They will still be a little soft, but they will firm up a bit as they cool. Wait until they are completely cool before icing.

Cookie Notes

• This recipe is quite sweet, it is good to cut down the sugar.
• I am lazy so I roll out my dough between sheets of baking paper so it doesn't stick and it's less messy. I also line my baking trays with baking paper. My sister uses cling wrap for rolling.

See my next post for how to ice the gingerbread.

Egg- and Dairy-free Pancakes

Vegan Carnivore's dear auntie made pancakes on Christmas day, but they weren't ones that he could eat. So I thought we should try making some egg-free and dairy-free pancakes for him. They were a real hit, even with the Carnivore's dad, who said they were just like "real" pancakes :)

Modified from Kylie's Blog

Egg-free and Dairy-free Pancakes
Ingredients
1 cup Plain Flour
1/2 teaspoon Bi-carb Soda (Baking Soda)
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 cup Soy Milk (or other cow milk substitute)
1.5 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Method
1. Sift flour and baking soda/powder and salt.
2. Add sugar.
3. Add Oil and half the soy milk. Whisk together.
4. Gradually add the rest of the soy milk until thick pouring consistency. If it's too thick, add more. (I did, but I'm not sure how much extra I added)
5. Heat Frying pan – needs to be reasonably hot. I used vegetable oil. Oil/spray for each pancake – they do stick otherwise.

Edit (24/3/2012): The other week we tried this, but I forgot to read the instructions and dumped everything in the bowl together. Don't worry, it still works!