Pumpkin Seed and Cherry Flapjacks

Flapjacks are a great and easy baking standby - they taste great and you can put anything in them you have in your store cupboard

These ones I put together to take on a family day out to a theme park and wanted something we can grab and eat on the go, will satisfy the sweet cravings of the younger members of the family while giving the older ones some energy to keep going and wont end up looking like a pile of crumbs after a day rattling around in the bottom of rucksack.

Ingredients
80g flora buttery (or similar)
80g brown sugar
60g golden syrup
130g rolled oats
25g pumpkin seeds
20g white chocolate chips
20g dark chocolate chips
100g Glace Cherries - cut into quarters








Put the flora, sugar and golden syrup into a pan and melt together over a low heat. Put the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Pour over the melted sugar mix and stir well to combine it all together.

Pour mix into a greased baking tray - I use a 20cm square one, and smooth it out with the back of a spoon until is evenly covering the bottom.

Place in a preheated oven 180 for 18 - 20 minutes.

Flapjacks need to stay in the tin for at least 10 minutes as it sets as it cools

Slice into even squares - should make 16 small square bars, and place on a cooling rack to fully cool - although a warm flapjack just out of the oven is one of lifes little luxurys! Keep in an airtight tin - or freeze (if they last that long)

Pretzel Dayz

When is bread not a bread . . . when it's a pretzel!

This week I have been on a journey of discovery into the world of pretzels - it all started with himself complaining as to the lack of savoury snacks in the house as I refuse to buy crisps now and so I thought I would have a go at making salty pretzels - the ones I had in mind were those hard stick things you get on airplanes but having wandered in the wilderness of google I discovered that in fact the real Pretzel is a soft dough more a kin to a bread roll than a twig.

So first up I made a batch of savoury ones (got to keep the troops happy) and so the first ones were topped with sea salt

But having tasted them (and flicked off the salt) and looked at the calories I got to thinking - the two things I have REALLY missed since getting on the health kick is white bread rolls and chocolate . . . so if I combined the pretzel dough with some dark chocolate chips I could get a hit of both with out the excess of calories!

Pretzel dough ingredients

1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
packet of dry active yeast - the type you can use in a bread maker (2 tsp if you have it in a tin)
280g Strong plain flour
1 egg
6fl oz of warm water

Toppings

Coarse Sea Salt
50g dark choc chips (refridgerated)
1 tsp brown sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon - you wont use it all so pop the excess in a little pot ready for next time

To Make the dough

In a large bowl place the flour, salt and sugar and mix together - sprinkle the yeast over the top and pour in a third of the water - mix with your hands and keep adding a bit of water and mixing until it is all combined - now you can do all this in a mixer or bread maker but I prefer to do it by hand.

Once you have combined most of the flour into the water tip it out on to a dry board and carry on kneading until your hands are clean and you have a smooth dough - resisiting the urge to add more flour - which when pinched gently returns to its shape - it will take about 10 minutes

Place in a greased bowl with a clean tea towel over the top and leave some where warm for 30 minutes for the dough to proove and double in size (if you dont have a warm place then put your oven on to its lowest setting for 10 minutes switch it off and then place your dough in there.)

Once it has prooved you need to decide what kind of pretzels you want to make

Savoury pretzels

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a dry board. Divide it into 24 equal pieces. Cover any pieces you are not using to prevent them drying out

Take one piece and roll it into a long sausage. Take the two ends and cross them so you have made a circle with a cross at the top shape. Gently pull the crossed ends over so they overlap the bottom of the circle and form the distinctive bow shape of the traditional prezel. Place your pretzel on to a greased baking tray and repeat until all 24 are made.

Gently brush the top of each pretzel with egg and then sprinkle over some of the rough sea salt

Place in a preheated oven 200 degrees and bake for 10 - 15 minutes (dependant on your oven) until they are golden brown on top and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom - allow to cool and store in an airtight container or freeze in batches

Mine did rise a bit more than anticipated but they are lovely and chewy and more of a mouthful even if they did loose their shape!

Chocolate pretzel balls

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a dry board. Flatten out the dough and pour over the chocolate chips - fold over and knead to distribute the chips

Divide into 24 equal pieces and shape into balls and place on a greased baking tray

preheat oven to 200 degrees and allow balls to proove for 10 minutes (while the oven heats up) Brush with egg and sprinkle over the brown sugar and cinnamon mix.

Bake for 12 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped

Allow to cool

Store in an airtight tin or freeze in batches

You can of course make them into the traditional pretzel shape if you like although the chocolate chips will limit your actvity a bit.

Equally if you want to make them bigger - the balls are a about golf ball sized then simply divide the dough less times - happy baking!

warm mango and chocolate pancakes

There are some days (or evenings) when you're home alone and you just really fancy a treat and it has to involve chocolate! You could reach for the dairy milk family sized bar, you could break into a lump of chocolate fudge cake or you could try one of these - which is my preference! These are not healthy (although compared to a large slab of dairy milk or cake it probably is) so not something to indulge in when you have blown your calorie limits already - they are something to be savoured and enjoyed and eaten as a treat!


The recipe will make two large pancakes

Ingredients
Pancakes :-
1 medium egg
55g plain flour
137ml milk
1 tsp oil

filling:-
100g ripe mango cut into small chunks
2tsp fresh orange juice
1tbs chocolate spread

Begin by making your filing - in a small pan place the mango and orange juice and heat gently until the mango softens and the orange juice comes to a simmer - remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate spread - stir gently - the heat of the pan will be enough to melt the chocolate into a gooey sauce with the mango and juice. Put to one side

In a large bowl mix the flour and egg and whisk until combined - add the milk a little at a time whisking well until you have a smooth batter.

Place a large frying pan on a medium heat and add half the oil. Once oil is heated add half the batter (if making two big ones) and tilt the pan to get an even coating. Cook for a couple of minutes and then flip to brown the other side.

Remove from the pan and spread half the mango mixture - roll the pancake and repeat to make your second one.

If you are really pigging out the a spoon of ice cream or cream will add to the experience but it is just as nice with out.

You dont have to be home alone to enjoy this treat - just double/triple the recipe to make enough for everyone!

Slow roasted tomato and pepper soup

October has arrived bringing with it colder damp days (as opposed to the warm damp days that have made up the uk summer this year) and my thoughts turn to warm and comforting food - what can be more comforting that a hot bowl of home made soup - it's cheap, it's good for you and it tastes a million times better than the stuff you buy! It is also very easy to make and even if you think you can't cook you can make soup!

This one takes a bit of forward planning as you want to give the tomatos a chance to slow roast and develop their flavour but it is well worth the effort!

Serves 6 (large bowls)


Ingredients
15 Salad Tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 red pepper
2 carrots (grated)
1 large onion (diced)
clove of garlic (finely diced)
Chicken stock cube
1 1/2 litres hot water
1 tbs tomato ketup
1tbs clear runny honey


Halve the tomatoes and place in a large baking tray cut side up - season with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 50C and place the tomatos in for a couple of hours - basically you are almost drying them out

Once the tomatos are soft remove them from the oven

In a large saucepan heat 1tsp of oil and add in the onion and garlic. Cook over a low heat until the onion is soft and clear.

Deseed the pepper and cut into chunks and add to the onion and garlic - fry over a low heat for 5 minutes until it starts to soften. Add in the roasted tomatoes, ketchup and honey and stir. Crumble the stock cube into the hot water and add.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes stiring occasionally.

Turn off the heat and blitz the soup until it is smooth

The pepper gives this tomato soup a very warming and sweet flavour - if you want it a bit hotter then add in a bit of chilli.  The finished soup has a sweet and sour edge to it - delicious with a chunk of crispy bread and perfect for a cold autumn day and at around 70 cal a bowl you can afford to have seconds!