How to make Skinny Chunky Monkey Cookies

Ok, so the jury is still out on these. I have to be honest with you, I can't make my mind up whether I like them or not. The reason I chose to make them was to do with my quest to find yummy tasting treats that don't pile on the pounds. And this recipe boasted that these are under 50 calories each. Worth a try I thought. So I made them, and took them along to a class I was running, and my family and friends have tried them too. And I think it's fair to say we're split 50/50 into those that like them and those that don't. So you might just have to try them for yourself!  The original recipe I found was here.

Ingredients you will need:

3 ripe bananas mashes

20g oats

100g peanut butter (I used lower fat)

30g cocoa powder

100g unsweetened apple sauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

 

What you need to do:

1. Put all the ingredients in a bowl.

 

2. Mix them together until fully combined, then let it stand for 20 minutes.

 

3. Drop heaped teaspoons of the mixture onto ungreased baking paper on cookie trays.

 

4. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 170 degrees.

 

And this is what they'll look like when they're baked. Excuse the watery picture, it was very sunny in my kitchen when I took this picture!

And there you have it. Easy peasy to make, I'll leave the taste testing up to you and you can tell me what you think.

 

How to make goats cheese, strawberry and honey crostini

 

After spending a week on a French Cake Break with Rhu Strand from Pimp my Cake with Mama Rhu, and being treated to the most amazing cooking, I took inspiration from one of the local delicacies that we were treated to and added a bit of a twist. The results, I can assured you, are amazeballs!

 

Ingredients you will need:

(this is what I used, you might choose slightly different quantities)

 

1 part baked French baguette

1 block of Sainsbury's Taste the Difference, Kidderton Ash Goats' Cheese, thinly sliced

About 7/8 strawberries, depending on their size, thinly sliced

A drizzle of Sainsbury's runny honey

About 5 fresh basil leaves, torn

 

What to do:

1. Slice the baguette into around 15 slices.

2. Place them on a baking tray and bake at 180 degrees for 5 minutes.

3. Transfer to a grill, and place a thin slice of goats cheese on the toasted bread, followed by one or two slices of strawberries.

4. Place under the grill for a few minutes until the cheese starts to melt.

5. Transfer to a serving dish and while still warm, drizzle honey over the crostini.

6. Sprinkle the torn basil leaves over the top, and serve.

 

An easy peasy, whipped up in under ten minutes treat :)

How to make yummy bread rolls, using a bread machine

I love fresh bread, there's little that can beat the taste and texture of it fresh from the oven. But sometimes I just don't have time, or I'm just not organised enough, to make it all by hand. So this is where my bread machine comes into it's own. Hands up who has a bread machine? And hands up who hasn't used it in ages? That's about to change.....

Ingredients you will need:
310ml water
30g butter, chopped
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp. sugar
600g white bread flour
1 egg
2 tsp dried yeast

You'll need to add the ingredients according to the instructions for your machine, but for mine it's this order- water, butter, salt and sugar, then flour, egg and yeast. 

Put it on the dough setting and let the bread machine work it's magic. The dough cycle on my machine takes 1 hour and 20 minutes.

As soon as it's finished, you can tip the dough out and break it into 12 pieces, and roll each one into a ball. Put them onto two greased baking trays and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes at 200 degrees, or until cooked and golden brown.

Then remove them and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Or, leave to cool as long as is needed to enable you to hold them without burning your fingers, break apart, spread with butter and enjoy!!