Dairy free rocky road

Happy Mothers Day! 

When I was young, my mum made home made chocolate, using kremelta. It was a family favourite that everyone enjoyed.

So in honour of my mum, who will get a wee batch of this later on today, I decided to re-create it, without dairy and less sugar.

Of course, these can’t be labelled sugar free, because we are going to be using marshmallows.

The chocolate isn’t gluten free either because of the glucose in the marshmallows and the malt in the rice bubbles. However, you can replace both with the gluten free kind.

There are ‘sugar free’ marshmallows, but who are we kidding, they have just replaced one nasty kind of sugar, with another nasty kind.

This recipe is so easy, you are just going to melt and mix and it’s one the kids can help you with.

P.S – I am blessed with such great friends, this is a shout out to Emma James, who very kindly came and took some pics of my baking. Check out her FB business page:

Emma James Photography

So, here we go:

200g kremelta

3/4c cacao or cocoa

3tsp norbu

1c rice bubbles

1/2 c coconut

1/2c marshmallows – chopped in half

1/2c sliced almonds or macadamia (optional)

Melt kremelta, norbu and cocoa till kremelta has completely dissolved

pour into a bowl and add all the other ingredients and completely combine.

Grease a tin, and pour the mixture in, making sure the marshmallow and nuts are spread evenly throughout.

Place in the fridge for about 2 hours, then cut and devour with gusto.

Keeps in the fridge for 1 week.

If you are a big fan of traditional rocky road, try this one: 

200g milk chocolate

100g dark chocolate – 70% or more

1c chopped marshmallows

1/2 c jelly babies – chopped

1c whole peanuts or almonds cut in half.

Melt chocolate, add all other ingredients, pour into a greased tin and set in the fridge.

For a bit of zing – add crystalised ginger or a pinch of chilli.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easy-peezy turmeric feta puffs

I love turmeric.

It’s a beautiful tasting spice and is so versatile.

I use it mainly in savoury baking and in casseroles or curries and also as a coating for roast chicken, it adds such a unique taste to the gravy.

Not only does it give these puffs a great taste sensation but it’s also going to add intense colour too. Don’t tell anyone what it is and keep them guessing.

Ingredients:

40g butter, melted

1.5 c gluten free flour, I like Healtheries brand, available at New World. Healtheries gluten free baking mix

2tsp baking powder

1.5tsp ground turmeric

80g feta cheese, crumbled

1/2c grated cheese

1 egg

1c milk

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Prepare muffin tins.

Melt butter and set aside to cool slightly.

Mix egg and butter together.

Add all other dry ingredients and the cheese and start folding in while slowly pouring milk till it comes together. Don’t overmix.

Once it resembles a thick creamy, slightly lumpy mixture, use a 1/4c to pour into muffin tins and bake for 12-15mins or until cooked.

If not yet baked through, continue baking, checking every two mins, until they are cooked.

Devour with gusto.

 

 

 

 

 

Feijoa and ginger muffins

Since feijoas are in season, I decided to really utilize them in my baking while the season lasts.

I promise, I will offer up recipes using other ingredients.

The recipe is the same as the feijoa and lemon muffins, we are just removing the lemon and adding 1tsp ground ginger and adding 2Tbsp coconut sugar.

If you absolutely love ginger, sprinkle finely diced crystallized ginger on top.

Enjoy.

90g softened butter

1 Tbsp honey

2Tbsp coconut sugar (optional)

2 eggs separated

1tsp ground ginger

1.5c white flour

1/3c LSA (linseed, sunflower and almond) or ground linseed

2tsp baking powder

1/8tsp baking soda

4 lg ripe feijoa – mashed

3/4c milk

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Separate eggs and beat whites till soft peak stage. Set aside.

Mash feijoa. Set aside.

Mix butter and honey till creamy and doubled in size.

Add yolks and mix to combine.

Sift dry ingredients – leaving out LSA.

Fold into butter mixture.

Add LSA, feijoa, egg white and milk.

Fold in till egg white is incorporated.

Don’t over mix.

Use a 1/4c to scoop into muffin trays, fill all the way to the top.

Bake 15mins, or until cooked.

 

 

 

Mocha protein bliss balls

Bliss balls are a fantastic snack to fight food cravings. I mean, 1-2 not 10-12.

I make these often for our weekly editorial meetings. My colleague just loves the espresso hit and goes home with about 15 of these little beauties.

While these are sugar free, they aren’t fructose free, cause you are going to use dates and maple syrup.

I haven’t found a fructose free bliss ball recipe yet – if you have one, I would love it if you shared.

The only reason I suggest adding maple syrup, is the espresso shot can make these bitter, and the syrup just balances that.

These have a strong espresso hit, so if you don’t like them too strong, use a single shot of coffee and adjust the dry ingredients to compensate.

I really do recommend making these with a shot of espresso – not instant coffee. It’s just not the same coffee hit – but if you decide to go ahead with instant, each to their own.

I use Arbonne chocolate protein powder. I have added the link – I also happen to sell it, so the link will take you to my website, where you can buy it. I like it because it’s dairy free, gluten free and vegan.

Arbonne chocolate protein powder

So, without any further blabber from me, here is the recipe.

3Tbsp Arbonne chocolate protein powder

25ml espresso (1 double shot)

2Tbsp desiccated coconut

1c dates – pre-soaked in boiling water for 10 mins.

2Tbsp cocoa or cacao

1Tbsp maple syrup – the pure kind

1tsp vanilla extract

70g pecans, almonds or walnuts

2Tbsp LSA

3Tbsp coconut or cacao for rolling

Method:

Drain dates – preserve the juice

Add everything to the food processor and blitz away till it all comes together.

You know the bliss balls are ready when it comes together in a big ball. If it doesn’t, add more small amounts of dry ingredients of your choice slowly until it does.

To moisten add 1tsp date juice at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

It should be sticky, holding together but not moist.

Use a dessert spoon to scoop out each portion, roll into a ball and roll into either coconut or cacao, coating lightly.

Refrigerate for 15 mins before eating as they are best enjoyed cold, then devour.

Store in the fridge for up to 10 days.

Feijoa and lemon muffins

I love feijoas. I could easily sit down and eat 15-20 in one sitting with absolutely no side effects.

During a season, I would eat, stew, bottle, freeze and bake at least 10 grocery bags full.

Sadly, they are very high fructose, so my love affair with the sweet fruit is over.

All season, I have been turning down bags of them.

We still have them in the house, the kids love them.

My husband was never a fan, so it pleases him to no longer walk in and get hit with the smell of feijoas.

So, with the few feijoas I have, I decided to bake feijoa muffins – it just allows me to continue enjoying the fruit in other ways – using them for the enjoyment of others.

I like to use silicone muffin trays, they require no preparation. I recommend avoiding paper muffin cups, and reduce landfill.

I highly recommend you share these, so make sure you have someone to share them with. if not, why not take them to your local opportunity store, I am sure the volunteers will appreciate them.

They are also very popular in lunchboxes.

Ingredients:

90g softened butter

2 Tbsp honey

2 eggs separated

1.5c white flour

1/3c LSA (linseed, sunflower and almond) or ground linseed

2tsp baking powder

1/8tsp baking soda

Rind of one lemon

4 lg ripe feijoa – mashed

3/4c milk

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Separate eggs and beat whites till soft peak stage. Set aside.

Mash feijoa and grate lemon rind. Set aside.

Mix butter and honey till creamy and doubled in size.

Add yolks and mix to combine.

Sift dry ingredients – leaving out LSA.

Fold into butter mixture.

Add LSA, feijoa, lemon, egg white and milk.

Fold in till egg white is incorporated.

Don’t over mix.

Use a 1/4c to scoop into muffin trays, fill all the way to the top.

Bake 15mins, or until cooked.

Leave to cool and invite a girlfriend over.

Butter and devour accompanied with a cup of tea and excellent company.

No bake gooey peanut butter slice

I love peanuts, and fortunately for me, with all my allergies, peanuts isn’t one of them.

I go through at least two jars of peanut butter a week. My husband is often surprised when I ask him to try a new recipe that doesn’t contain peanut butter.

I am the only true peanut butter nutter in our household, everyone else eats it, but I devour it.

I like to eat it by the spoonful, if I am craving something sweet. (I am considerate and I don’t double dip my spoon – and one spoonful is usually enough).

This slice is not sugar free, as you are going to use 100grams of 80 percent dark chocolate. If you want to avoid this, I recommend using cacao or cocoa, depending on how bitter you like it, mixed with melted coconut oil.

The great thing about it, is you don’t have to bake it – this one is made in three stages, all one after the other and it sets in the fridge or freezer depending on how soon you want to eat it.

You don’t even have to wash the food processor between stages, save the clean up for the end.

It does not do well out of the fridge for a long period of time, so it’s not suitable for lunchboxes.

So, without any further a-do, here is the recipe:

Base:

1c pecans

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup ground linseed or LSA

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

2 Tbsp coconut nectar

Blitz in the food processor, adding more flour, by the teaspoon, if you think it’s too wet.

Press into a prepared slice tin, and freeze while you prepare the filling.

Gooey centre:

1cup peanut butter

1/4cup coconut cream (put a small tin of coconut milk into the fridge for about half an hour. Remove without shaking it up, open and take the cream from the top).

2 Tbsp coconut nectar

20g peanuts

Blitz the first three ingredients in the food processor until completely combined.

Pour over base.

Sprinkle the peanuts over and press them into the mixture.

Put tin back in freezer while you make the topping.

100g 85% dark chocolate

1Tbsp coconut oil

• to avoid sugar, melt 1/4c cacao or cocoa and 1Tbsp coconut oil
• If you want it a bit sweeter, add 1/2tsp stevia or 1tsp norbu and mix till granuals are totally dissolved.

Melt together either in a double boiler or in short bursts in the microwave

Once completely melted, pour over the slice straight away.

Put the slice in the fridge to set for at least two hours, or freezer for half an hour.

Cut into small bite size squares (the topping may crack while cutting) and devour.

Keep stored in the fridge for up to a week – if it lasts that long.

Spicy blueberry muffins

I love blueberry muffins, there is something both refreshing and comforting biting into a muffin full of delicious blueberries.

As much as I would love to use fresh ones, frozen are an all around convenience, and cost much less.

In the Waikato there are lots of people selling bags of frozen blueberries for as little as $7 per kg. That’s pretty amazing, considering at supermarkets they can cost $4 for 150 grams.

Using frozen blueberries will stain the muffin ingredients slightly, but it doesn’t affect the overall taste.

The blueberries do have a tendency to sink while cooking. To avoid this, I recommend either poking them into the mixture once you have filled up your muffin tins, this also ensures a consistent amount of blueberries per muffin.

Coating them in flour will also prevent them sinking.

However, flour on frozen blueberries may make a gelatinous mess – best this method is left for fresh blueberries.

I like my muffins light and fluffy and the best way I know how to achieve this every time, is by separating the eggs and whipping the whites into a soft meringue consistency before you start baking.

Don’t throw the yolks, you will need those.

Add the whites at the very end, and either fold in by hand, or use the fold setting on your mixer, until they are just incorporated.

You can use any sweetener you like, I like to use a liquid in blueberry muffins, like honey, maple or coconut nectar.

You can use a smaller amount of honey and coconut nectar to get a good hit of sweetness. I use about two tablespoons.

Maple syrup (and I mean the pure kind) doesn’t seem to stretch quite as far on the same measurements and it’s way more expensive – if you want to use it, use about 1/4 of a cup.

Honey is certainly not cheap either, markets are the best place to get honey at a cheaper price.

I was recently blessed with some delicious liquid honey, gifted to me from a lady in our office. She has her own bee hives and bottles it herself.

While I can get it, I have been using it in everything, including honey and soy savoury dishes, baking and on toast for the kids.

And I know it’s fresh honey, just as the bees make it.

So, enough from me, here is the recipe: (results may vary)

Makes 10-12

Heat oven to 190 degrees. Prepare muffin tins, or use silicone, which require no prep.

2 eggs – separated

70 g butter (softened, but not melted)

2 Tbsp honey or coconut nectar, or 1/4c maple syrup.

1 c white flour. (I like Healtheries, gluten free baking mix).

1/2c wholemeal flour, or 1/2c ground linseed to keep it gluten free

1tsp baking powder

1/2tsp baking soda

1tsp ground cinnamon

1tsp ground cardamom

1tsp ground ginger

milk to blend.

3/4c blueberries – frozen or fresh

Method:

Whip egg whites till soft peak stage, set aside.

Mix butter and syrup till it goes a soft creamy colour and slightly fluffy

Add yolks and mix well

Sift in all dry ingredients and mix till just combined.

Fold in milk and egg whites, till whites are just incorporated.

Fill muffin tins to the top and poke in blueberries, so they sit just under the surface. You may like to leave some slightly poking their heads out – just for looks.

Bake 18-20 mins or until mixture is baked through.

Devour with gusto!

A little introduction

Welcome to Moreish Morsels – and that is certainly what I am endeavouring to create, beautiful bite size mouth watering delicacies that you will want to create and devour over and over again.

So, let me introduce myself.

Firstly I am not a baker. I just love to bake and want to share my recipes. I am not a nutritionist either, so I cannot and will not offer advice as such, other than to share my own experience.

I have been married for 10 years. My husband is my biggest cheerleader and mentor, without whom Moreish Morsels will never have been born.

He is also my taste tester, which comes in handy, as not only is he honest – because you don’t want to go posting a recipe that really isn’t all that moreish, but he can eat anything, and I can’t. But more about that later.

I am a mother to two beautiful children.

I love baking sweet treats for lunchboxes, without all the unnecessary sugars.

And they love their mum’s baking.

There is nothing more complimentary (and satisfying) than a big chocolately grin and a thumbs up from your children as they munch on something you baked for them.

I am a journalist. It’s a career path I am extremely proud of. It’s also a useful tool to have in bringing this wee project together.

I can write, I can bake – why not combine the two.

These are two skills I was gifted with from my Father in Heaven – yes I am a Christian – occasionally my blogs may segue into this area, so be prepared, but I promise not to drench you.

Now this one may throw you, but i am allergic to pretty much everything.

I have fructose malabsorption syndrome. Meaning I can’t process fructose. I am also allergic to sucrose, gluten and wheat – eggs, onions, garlic, dairy – blah, blah, blah.

There are plenty of recipes here I haven’t even tried.

That’s why it pays to have honest people around me.

I have more than a few taste testers I trust to each give me helpful feedback.

Rest assured, even though I haven’t tried it, the recipe won’t go onto the page until I have refined it based on their feedback and it has been given the big thumbs up.

Plus, I wasn’t always this way, so I do know what flavours work well together.

It’s why so many of my recipes have either low, or no fructose or sugar, gluten or dairy.

I have spent the last year researching sugars and it’s impact on the body. I have spent time experimenting with different grains, flours and ingredient replacements.

Did you know the liquid from your can of chick peas can replace egg – you can even make meringue with it.

However, some are just full of butter, sugar, eggs, milk and all the good stuff that makes baking so delicious – just the way mum or grandma made.

So, why may you ask am I such a fan of baking, when it’s not something I can even personally enjoy?

The answer is you.

I love to give, and nothing makes me happier than baking a sweet treat for someone – whether they are going through a hard time, or they have no time to bake for the family, or just cause I love them.

I am an unashamed giver.

So, I hope you enjoy what you find here. Feel free to adapt and let me know if you do.

I am always open to new ideas, challenges and unique flavour combinations – and darling husband is always keen to try them.

These recipes aren’t perfect and results may and probably will vary.