Dairy free sponge cake

                             

                             

The other day I had a real craving for cake but after searching through my cupboards we didn't have a lot of the ingredients I would normally use for a vanilla sponge cake.

Banana Pancakes

When I first saw this recipe I really didn't expect to like the finished product but they are lovely! I'm not the biggest fan of banana's in their raw state but after trying the banana bread loaf as featured here, I thought I would try something else that was banana related.

Healthy Chocolate Brownie Bites

These brownies are super quick and easy and a recipe that I've adapted from a few others that I've seen online.

Brunch Snacks // Flour-less Banana and Apple Bread Loaf

Whilst spending far too much time on Bloglovin' I came across a recipe for flour-less banana bread. Thankfully I don't have any intolerance's to flour/wheat etc but the recipe looked so yummy I had to give it a go!

The recipe is by Amanda from Running with Spoons so be sure to check out her blog for the recipe. She has made them into muffins but I thought I would just make a loaf so I could cut it into slices to eat at work.

The first time I made this recipe I substituted the almond butter as it seemed to be sold out everywhere, and used wholenut peanut butter (healthier than regular peanut butter) and it tasted so good! I couldn't believe how easy it was to make so whipped up another batch but this time with almond butter and I threw in a chopped up apple.

I would say that adding an apple made the bread quite soft which I liked but it was a bit messy (crumbs everywhere!). Although it's called a bread it has a cake texture and is so tasty. I've been making a batch on a Sunday evening and taking it to work with me for a mid-morning snack and it really fills the gap before lunch.

Have you given this recipe a go? What are your favourite morning snacks?

Betty xXx

Brunch Snacks // Mini Pasties

Following on from my first 'Brunch Snacks' recipe I decided last night to try another recipe. When cooking I generally like to just chuck a load of things together and hope for the best - obviously for most things I do follow some kind of recipe but generally I like to mix flavours and see how they turn out.

This week I bought some roll out puff pastry to make a spinach type cheese tart thing and had some left over so thought why not try some mini pasties to take to work for my mid-morning snack. This is super easy and can be adapted to your own taste, adding pretty much any ingredients that will fit. I only managed to make four from the left over pastry but I think with a whole sheet of it you could probably get at least 8 depending on size. You could, of course make bigger pasties too! Here's what I did...

Ingredients:

Roll out puff pastry
Fillings: I used Spinach, Cheddar Cheese, half of one Red Pepper. (Other suggestions: cherry tomato, pesto, broccoli (small), curry potatoes, quorn mince and onion - or real meat of course)
Seasoning: Black Pepper

1. With your pastry rolled out decide how big you want your pasties to be - I just did this by eye and cut a rectangle - it will be folded over so bear in mind what you want to put inside and if you have enough room
2. Arrange your filling in the centre of one side of the pastry. I did a couple of spinach leaves folded, then cheese, a few slices of pepper and then another spinach leaf
3. Fold over the pastry and use a fork to crimp and seal the edges
4. Optional - brush the top of the pastry with some beaten egg (I didn't do this and they came out fine)
5. Pop in a pre-heated oven on 180C/Gas 4 for 20 minutes until slightly golden. 

I've tasted one this morning and they came out yummy! One tip I have is to use a mature cheddar - the stronger the better if that's your thing! It adds a lovely flavour.

Enjoy!

Betty xXx

Brunch Snacks // Mini Omelettes

When at work I often find myself really hungry come mid-morning. I try to be healthy and not tuck into the biscuits (until later!) so finding something to fill the hole until lunch time can prove to be tricky, especially when you don't want to have something really sugary.

A while ago, Gemma posted a picture on Instagram of her mini omelettes as an easy snack idea, so I thought I would give it a go. Now, I don't want to be patronising and tell you how to cook eggs but here's what I added to mine:

Ingredients (makes around 8):

4 Eggs
Dash of milk
Vegetables - I added chopped fresh tomatoes and peppers. Of course you can add what you like
Seasoning - This is to your own taste, I added pepper, garlic granules and smoked paprika
Chedder Cheese - optional
Small amount of oil

You will also need:
 
Muffin Baking Tin
Jug
Whisk or fork


What to do:

1. Preheat your oven to around 180C/Gas Mark 4
2. Take your oil and dab it on some kitchen towel and wipe each section of the muffin baking tin
3. Crack 4 eggs into your jug and and a dash of milk and beat eggs with your whisk or fork
4. Add your vegetables and mix in
5. Add your seasoning and again mix
6. Now carefully pour the egg mixture into each of the muffin sections about two thirds of the way -    they do expand/rise slightly
7. Pop them in the oven for around 15 minutes
8. After 15 minutes, take them out of the oven and if you are adding cheese, place a small about (or more if you like!) on top of each mini omelette. Put back in the oven on the grill setting for about 5-10 minutes depending how you like your cheese melted.
9. Let them cool down and they can either be eaten warm or cold. I stored mine in a Tupperware box and kept them in the fridge.

Have you tried this recipe? What are your favourite brunch snacks?

Betty xXx