Baking and Cooking Ideas
Simple Iced Biscuits
- Prep:30 mins
- Cook:20 mins
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Makes 40-45
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Make these sweet iced letters and numbers with your kids. They'll have fun making them and then devour them once ready.
Ingredients
- 200g unsalted butter , softened
- 200g golden caster sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract or 1 lemon, zested
- 400g plain flour , plus extra for dusting
To decorate
- 8-12 x 19g coloured icing pens , or fondant icing sugar mixed with a little water and food colouring
Method
- STEP 1
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the butter in a bowl and beat it using an electric whisk until soft and creamy. Beat in the sugar, then the egg and vanilla or lemon, and finally the flour to make a dough. If the dough feels a bit sticky, add a little more flour and knead it in.
- STEP 2
Cut the dough into six pieces and roll out one at a time to about 5mm thickness on a floured surface. The easiest way to do this is to roll the mixture out on a baking mat. Cut out letter and number shapes (we used 7 x 4cm cutters) and peel away the leftover dough at the edges. Re-roll any off-cuts and repeat.
- STEP 3
Transfer the whole mat or the individual biscuits to two baking sheets (transfer them to baking parchment if not using a mat) and bake for 7-10 mins or until the edges are just brown. Leave to cool completely and repeat with the rest of the dough. You should be able to fit about 12 on each sheet. If you are using two sheets, then the one underneath will take a minute longer.
- STEP 4
Ice the biscuits using the pens to make stripes or dots, or colour in the whole biscuit if you like. They will keep for five days in an airtight container.
Rice Krispies Treat (no bake!)
Ingredients
for 9 servings
- 1 cup smarties/M&M's (175 g)
- 2 ½ cups marshmallow (140 g)
- 3 cups puffed rice cereal (90 g)
Preparation
- Prepare a square glass baking dish with cooking spray.
- Melt marshmallows over medium heat in a nonstick pan. Stir every 30 seconds to avoid burning. (TIP! spray your spatula with nonstick cooking spray to make stirring easier.)
- Once the marshmallows are melted, add in the rice cereal and chocolates.
- Stir until fully combined.
- Scoop the mixture into the sprayed baking dish and flatten with a spatula.
- Cool for 30 minutes, then cut into squares.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Info
- Calories267
- Fat3g
- Carbs56g
- Fiber0g
- Sugar25g
- Protein2g
Estimated values based on one serving size.
Mini egg Cookies
Simple fork biscuits
Flapjacks
Cookies
Nutella Fudge
5 minute Nutella fudge
200g chocolate chips or chocolate broken into small pieces
1 397g can sweetened condensed milk
25g butter
300g Nutella
- Line a baking dish with greaseproof paper to help you get the fudge out easier when it’s ready.
- Add the chocolate chips, condensed milk and butter to a pan and melt them together over a low heat, stirring constantly.
- When they’re totally combined, add the Nutella a dollop at a time and stir it into the mix.
- Pour the mix into your lined baking dish being as quick as you can as it does set quite quickly.
- Pop it in the fridge to set – we left ours overnight and it was perfect in the morning.
- Use a sharp knife and cut the block of Nutella fudge into strips and then into small rectangles trying to touch it as little as possible as your warm hands could start to melt the fudge.
- Pop it back in the fridge for a while once you’ve chopped it up to make sure it's completely set.
Sausage and Pesto Pasta Bake
How to make Sausage and Pesto Pasta Bake
500g dried pasta
1 jar pesto (or you could make your own)
1 pack chicken sausages
1 green pepper, sliced
1 red onion, chopped
1 ball mozzarella
A handful of grated cheese
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Before you start cooking – bring a large pan of salted water to the boil ready for the pasta and chop each sausage up into quarters.
- Boil the pasta for 8-9 minutes so it’s al dente.
- While your pasta’s boiling, heat up a tablespoon of olive oil (or Frylight if you prefer) in a frying pan or wok and brown the sausages for 3-4 minutes.
- One the sausages have started to go brown, add in the peppers and the red onion and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- Drain the pasta, reserving about 100ml of the cooking water.
- Add the jar of pesto to the sausage mix and give it a good mix.
- Pour the sausage and pasta mix into the pasta pan, add in the reserved cooking water and stir it all together.
- Spoon it into a baking a dish.
- Tear the mozzarella into small pieces and spread it around on the top of the pasta.
- Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top of this mix.
- Pop it in the oven for 10 minutes until the cheese is bubbling.
No Bake Unicorn Fudge
Ingredients:
- 800 g Icing Sugar
- 10 tbsp condensed milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Food colouring (I used red, blue and green)
- 100 g softened butter
Instructions
- Cream the butter, condensed milk and vanilla extract together.
- Add in the icing sugar and give the mix a good whiz with an electric mixer - you could do it by hand but it will take much, much longer and you'll end up with a very achey arm!
- When the mixture starts to look a bit like breadcrumbs then you can get your hands in and pull it all together into a ball.
- Split the mix into 3 balls and add a few drops of food colouring to each one. I added red to one ball, blue to another and green to the last one and gave each a good squidge to evenly distribute the colour throughout.
- If you feel the mix is getting too wet then just add a handful more icing sugar.
- The next stage is hard to describe but basically you need to assemble your Unicorn Fudge. I used a small (18cm x 30cm) sized silicon baking tray for my fudge and I basically just split the red ball of fudge into about five smaller balls and dotted them randomly in the baking tray. I did the same with the blue and then used the green to fill in any gaps. Then I squished it all down quite hard using my hands making sure that it was all joined together and would set as one piece rather than break apart where the colours met.
- After that you can squish lots of sprinkles into the top and put it in the freezer for an hour to set (which I do because I'm too impatient to wait for it to set in the fridge overnight).
- You can then cut it to size and pop it in the fridge until you're ready to use it. I don't know how long it stores for as we've never had a batch last longer than five days before it's eaten but I can say it definitely lasts the five days.
Healthy Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons ground flaxseed + 4 tablespoons warm water*
- 1¾ cups whole-wheat pastry flour, (or white/wheat mix)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅔ cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup olive oil or any neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup mashed ripe banana, about 2 bananas
- ½ cup chocolate chips, optional
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 200°C/ gas mark 6 and lightly grease or spray a 12-cup muffin tin.
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In a small bowl, combine the flaxseed and warm water and set aside to thicken for 5 minutes.
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In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
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In a medium bowl, combine the almond milk, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, oil, and vanilla and stir to combine. Stir in the flaxseed mixture.
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Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the mashed banana and chocolate chips, if using. Use a ⅓ cup measuring scoop to divide the batter into the muffin tin.
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Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out almost clean. Let cool 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Falafel Flatbread
- 2 cups chickpea flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Yogurt or Tzatziki
- Chopped cucumbers/ or peeled ribbons
- Sliced tomatoes
- Diced red onion
- Fresh herbs (cilantro/parsley/mint)
- Lemon wedges, for serving
- Red Pepper Muhammara, recipe below (optional)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- In a large bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, salt, garlic, parsley, cilantro, cumin, coriander, chili powder, lemon juice, 2 cups water, and 6 tablespoons of the olive oil. Let the mixture soak for 30 to 60 minutes to hydrate the flour.
- Preheat the broiler with the rack in the center position.
- Place a 10-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven to heat up, about 5 minutes. Carefully remove the pan. Swirl in 1 tablespoon of oil to coat the bottom, then pour in half the batter. Tilt the pan until the batter is evenly spread. Return the pan to the oven and broil for 5 to 15 minutes, until the edges are brown and toasty (broilers tend to vary widely in heat/temperature from oven to oven).
- Remove the pan from the oven and gently slide the flatbread onto a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter to make a second flatbread.
- Smear the flatbreads with yogurt and top with desired toppings and dollops of the muhammara, if desired. Drizzle with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.
4 jarred roasted red peppers
3/4 cup toasted walnuts
1½ teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt, to taste
To a food processor, add the red peppers, walnuts, lemon juice, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, maple syrup, pepper flakes, and olive oil, and process into a smooth paste. Season to taste.
Vegan Sugar Cookies
- ½ cup raw macadamia nuts
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 2 to 4 tablespoons almond milk
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- scant 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons chilled coconut oil
- ½ cup cold almond milk
- 1½ tablespoons lemon zest
- Sprinkles for decorating
- Make the frosting: In a high-speed blender combine the macadamia nuts, cashews, 2 tablespoons of almond milk, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt. Blend until smooth, adding up to 2 tablespoons more almond milk, if necessary, to blend. Use the blender baton to help blend. Chill the frosting while you bake the cookies so that it firms up. (Frosting can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for up to 6 days.)
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees/ gas mark 6 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a food processor to combine the all-purpose flour, almond flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the coconut oil and pulse until combined. Add the almond milk and lemon zest, and pulse until combined.
- Scoop the dough out of the food processor and knead gently to form a ball. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each into a smooth ball. Place the balls onto the baking sheet and gently press each down to form small disks.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until very slightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Let the cookies cool completely before frosting.
Mac and Cheese
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 271
Ingredients
- 8 oz macaroni uncooked
Cheese Sauce:
- 2 TBS butter
- 2 TBS all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder (optional but recommended)
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¼ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
-
Cook macaroni according to package instructions. Be sure to add ¼ tsp salt to the water. Drain, and set aside.
Make the cheese sauce:
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Mix flour, sea salt, and garlic powder together in a small bowl. Set aside.
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In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
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Add flour mixture and whisk to combine.
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Cook for 1 minute until mixture is slightly brown.
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Add 1 cup milk and whisk until the mixture is smooth.
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Add sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and whisk until smooth.
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Cook on medium-high heat until the mixture is thickened (about 3-5 minutes). Do not let it boil.
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Once mixture is thick (sticks to the back of the spatula), reduce heat to low and add cheese. Whisk until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth. Taste and add more salt/seasoning if desired.
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Add cooked pasta to the pot of cheese sauce and stir until the sauce is evenly distributed.
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Let the mac and cheese cool for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese sauce has thickened a little bit and sticks to the noodles. Serve warm!
Turkey Chilli
Serves: 8- 10
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 500 g turkey mince
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 large red bell pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tins of red kidney beans, drained
- 1 tin of diced tomatoes
- 6 table spoons tomato puree
- 1 teaspoon chilli seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
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1 chicken stock cube dissolved into 450ml of boiling water.
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1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Topping options:
-
Shredded cheddar cheese
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Cheddar cheese crackers
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Sour cream or Greek yogurt
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Chopped scallions
Instructions
-
Brown the turkey mince. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the turkey and use a spatula to break it up into large pieces. Season with the salt and cook undisturbed until browned on the bottom, 4 to 5 minutes. Break the meat up into smaller pieces with the spatula and continue to cook until the meat is evenly browned with no visible pink, 2 to 3 minutes more.
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Add the vegetables and aromatics. Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic and cook until the onions have softened and are starting to become translucent, 7 to 8 minutes.
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Add the cooking liquid and spices and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the drained beans, tomatoes and their juices, tomato puree, chilli seasoning, oregano, cumin, and 450ml chicken stock and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the tomatoes and beans are tender and the chilli is thickened, about 30 minutes.
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Taste and adjust the liquid and seasoning as needed. After simmering, the turkey may have absorbed most of the cooking liquid. If needed, add up to 1/2 cup more stock until chilli reaches desired consistency. Taste and add more chilli seasoning or salt if desired.
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Serve with desired toppings. Serve bowls of chili with desired toppings. For kids, cheese crackers are the perfect crunchy, cheesy topping that they love.
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Recipe Notes
Storage: Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
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Pepper Pizza
INGREDIENTS
- 4 bell peppers, halved and cored
- 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- pizza sauce
- shredded mozzarella
- finely grated Parmesan
- mini pepperoni
- 1 tbsp. chopped parsley
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 200°/ gas mark 6. On a sheet tray, drizzle peppers with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Spoon sauce onto each pepper half. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan and top with pepperoni. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the peppers are crisp-tender and the cheese is melted.
- Garnish with parsley before serving.
