95 CALORIE ANZAC BISCUITS

Who doesn’t love a good anzac biscuit? Especially one that you can eat without feeling guilty whilst following a healthy eating plan! These anzac biscuits are super cute and very moreish. Be mindful that they are 95 calories each, so only 1 per day as a treat. 

After giving away all of my Mini Cacao Fudge Treats that I made last week, I decided that it was time for another treat. Michelle Bridges recipe for these biscuits calls for ¼ cup brown sugar, however if you use granulated stevia you save a massive amount of calories overall. I always like to bake with gluten-free flours, however you can use plain flour if it is more accessible to you as it contains the same amount of calories. I added more cinnamon than Michelle, as I love this spice and like to really taste it in desserts. I replaced golden syrup with honey as honey is slightly lighter in calories and I am not a big fan of golden syrup, even though theres a very neglected bottle of it in my pantry that desparetly needs to be used! No doubt I'll be sharing these bad boys around so I can clear my kitchen of sweets and be able to make another treat recipe next week! 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats (150g)
• 1/2 cup gluten-free plain flour, plus extra (75g)
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut (45g)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (8g)
• 1/4 cup granulated stevia 
• 1/4 cup honey (85g)
• 1/4 cup olive oil / rice bran oil (60g)
• 1 teaspoon bicarb of soda (5g)

Baking  

1. Preheat a fan forced oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. 

2. Combine the oats, flour, coconut, cinnamon and stevia in a large bowl and stir well. 

3. Pour the honey, oil and 1/4 cup water (60g) into a small saucepan and heat over low-medium heat, stirring until all ingredients are mixed. Stir in the bicarb of soda and once the mixture has foamed, remove from heat. 

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl and stir until well combined. To shape the biscuits, make sure your hands are slightly wet (you will need to re-lubricate your hands a few times).   Roll heaped tablespoons of the mixture and place on the prepared tray 2cm apart. Press each ball lightly with a fork covered in flour, just to flatten the biscuits slightly. 

5. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on the tray (during this cooling time the biscuits will harden slightly, so do not worry if they are a little soft when you remove the tray from the oven). 

Makes  / 20 

Each biscuit / 95 calories

Total Preparation time / 20 minutes 

Total Baking time / 10-12 minutes 

x Emily 

GLUTEN-FREE CHICKEN NUGGETS

Chicken nuggets are such a pastime for me. I remember my mother making them for us four kids when we were little (healthy chicken nuggets of course, with cornflakes and no oil). After tasting her delectable chicken nuggets, I never understood why my friends loved the same dish at MacDonald’s. A massive blow with my new gluten-free diet was that cornflakes and breadcrumbs were out of the picture. Or were they? These days gluten-free bread has become almost as ubiquitous as white floury bread. So much so that when I was ordering breakfast at a brand new café the other day (open for 3 days at the time) the waitlist apologized to me profusely for not having gluten-free bread on the menu as of yet and told me that they would get it in just for me! So, my longwinded point is, I use gluten-free breadcrumbs instead to make chicken nuggets. And I’ll let you in on a little secret- my nuggets taste BETTER now.

INGREDIENTS

• 600g chicken breast fillets, cut into even cubes / pieces
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 4 pieces of gluten-free bread (preferably seeded)
• sea salt 
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten 

COOKING 

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius fan-force. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. 

2. Tear the gluten-free bread into pieces and place in a blender. Blend for around 30 seconds, making sure that all bread pieces have been processed into fine breadcrumbs. Remove from blender and place in a small bowl and combine with sesame seeds and salt. Place lightly beaten eggs in a separate bowl. 

3. Prepare the chicken by placing each individual nugget in the egg first, then covering with breadcrumbs and lastly placing on the lined baking tray. (Having a kid help you with this can be super fun!)

4. Bake chicken nuggets in the oven for around 15-17 minutes. Remove after this and slice the biggest chicken nugget you can find, making sure that no red flesh remains. 

These chicken nuggets taste great served with plum sauce. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 17 minutes 

x E

GLUTEN-FREE DAIRY-FREE CARROT CAKE

I have spent the last 3-5 meals at my mother’s house and therefore have had no new meals for my lovely blog! Whilst my mother cooks amazing food, I was feeling the pull to get back into my kitchen and cook, bake, sauté, chop and grate. Whilst I work on new recipes today, I have a carrot cake recipe I tried out last week that deserves to be blogged around. Now, just to be clear, this carrot cake is not for anyone that loves sugar and sweet cakes, as there is barely any sugar in it. Instead this cake tastes strongly of orange and cinnamon, which is actually an alluring autumn pair. This cake is gluten-free, dairy-free and preservative-free. To make it nut-free, replace the walnuts & almonds for chopped pieces of dried apricot or remove without substituting. A flavorsome cake that tastes even better a few days after baking.  

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup brown or raw sugar 
• 1/4 cup grape seed or sunflower oil, plus a little extra to grease
• 1/4 cup light agave syrup
• 2 cups freshly grated orange carrot
• a pinch of ground nutmeg 
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons silvered or chopped almonds
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg white 
• 1 cup buckwheat flour

COOKING 

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius fan-forced. Lightly grease a long narrow baking tin with oil. 

2. Combine the sugar and oil in a large bowl. Beat in the 2 whole eggs. Continue by stirring in the orange zest, nutmeg and cinnamon. Softly stir in the flour, walnuts, almonds & carrot. 

3. In a smaller bowl, beat the 1 egg white until very stiff and peaks begin to form. (This should take around 3- 4 minutes of intense beating/whisking). When complete gently fold the egg white into the cake batter. 

4. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin and bake for around 25-30 minutes or until cake is golden and a skewer is able to come out clean from the centre of the cake. Remove cake from oven and sit for at least 10 minutes to cool, before transferring to a wire rack. 

Serves / 8 

Adapted from Carrot Cake from cookbook 'Cut out the Crap' by Collette White 

x E

DOUBLE-CHOC BROWNIES

I learnt so much from making these brownies (adapted from Gwyneth Paltrow’s unrated cookbook ‘My Father’s Daughter’). I was introduced to Agave Nectar, a beautiful mild-tasting natural sweetener that is lighter and cleaner tasting than honey. I purchased my first jar of unrefined, organic Coconut Oil and delighted in its rich tropical smell. Coconut oil has now replaced butter for me. Lastly, I used Spelt Flour for the first time, and have decided to cease buying white, processed flour from the supermarket shelves. And did I mention that the no egg, no butter and no artificial sugar brownies tasted out of this world?

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups white spelt flour
• 1 cup high-quality cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• a pinch of fine salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 cup light agave nectar
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla essence/extract
• 1 cup high-quality dark chocolate chips 

COOKING 

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease a baking dish with a small amount of coconut oil. 

2. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. In a seperate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, agave nectar, maple syrup, milk and vanilla. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, taking care not the overmix (as this results in tough brownies!). 

3. Pour half the batter into the baking dish. Sprinkle half the chocolate chips on top. Pour the remaining batter into the baking dish and sprinkle with the rest of the chocolate chips. Bake in the oven for around 30 minutes or until a toothpick or skewer has just a small amount of chocolate on it when it is inserted into the middle of the cake. Let it cool (if you can!), then cut into squares and serve warm. 

x E