Breakfast cereal biscuits
A week ago I completed a 12 week low carbohydrate "lifestyle" program. I don't like to exaggerate, but eating meal after meal loaded up with protein, with almonds constantly subbed in to cover for grains, is really the pits. And you can trust me when I say neither cauliflower "rice" nor zucchini "noodles" will never fool a preschool diner. It was with much delight that the family welcomed our old friends wheat, rice and potatoes back to the table. I've been carb binging ever since.
These little biscuits were supposed to be apricot and oat flavoured, but tragically the pantry moths beat me to the oats. (I blame the 12 week porridge hiatus, as well as the Tupperware lady who assured me that there is simply no way a pantry moth can get into super oval modular mate). So I looked around the pantry and decided to try adding some toasted muesli instead. Lucky for me, the moths seem to prefer their oats uncooked, because the biscuits turned out delicious.
Muesli biscuits
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup rapadura sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbs greek yoghurt
1 cup toasted muesli
Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and mix well. If the mixture starts to look a little curdled, add a small amount of the flour and continue mixing until completely incorporated. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add to the butter mix and stir to form a dough. Add the yoghurt and muesli mix well. Roll into small balls, then press down with a fork. Bake until golden brown.
NOTE: I used Woolworths' Coconut and Macadamia toasted muesli because it has no sultanas. Plus it has the added bonus of tasting like the muesli I ate growing up, back in the day when adding fat and sugar was considered the only way to deal with oats. You can use whatever brand takes your fancy.
3 - 2 - 1 cookies!
Biscuit recipes don't get any easier than this, with just 3 ingredients you can't go wrong. The added bonus is that these biscuits make a fantastic base recipe. You can change them by icing them, adding cocoa or vanilla, using coconut oil instead of butter, honey or maple syrup instead of sugar, so many possibilities for one little recipe. Try sandwiching them with lemon butter cream; you won't regret it.
3-2-1 Coconut cookies
Makes 20 small cookies
1/3 cup coconut sugar
2/3 cup butter
1 cup coconut flour
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius. Line a biscuit sheet with baking paper.
Cream butter and sugar. Add flour and mix well.
Form dough into small balls. Flatten with a fork. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes until base has just browned. Allow to cool slightly on tray before removing.
Tres leches with a twist
Pastel de tres leches is right up there as one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. Which is why I'm somewhat perplexed that it isn't more popular in Australia. In fact, the only place I have visited which has this most divine of desserts on the menu is Spice Temple. Great place for food, but a little on the expensive side if you're just looking for a slice of cake.
For those not in the know, pastel de tres leches is essentially a genoise sponge soaked in a mixture of evaporated, condensed and plain milk. The twist in this recipe? Coconut flour, to give my grain and nut-free friends an opportunity to partake in the sweet, milky goodness. As a bonus, you can easily substitute coconut milk and cream for the milks and coconut oil for the butter to make it grain and dairy free. Winning!
Pastel de tres leches
Cake
10 eggs, separated
1 cup panela*
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
3/4 cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup butter, melted
Topping
395g sweetened condensed milk
375ml evaporated milk
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 cups cream (35% fat)
Icing sugar to taste
Method
Preheat oven to 180 Celsius. Grease and line 30cm cake pan.
Combine egg yolks, vanilla and panela. Beat at high speed until light and fluffy. Add coconut flour and baking powder. Fold through, trying not to lose too much volume. Add melted butter, a little at a time until well combined. Set aside. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks appear. Gently fold through batter. Place in prepared pan and bake 45 - 60 minutes until mix comes away from the side of the pan. Remove from oven and allow to cool before turning out. Set aside to cool completely.
Meanwhile, mix condensed, evaporated and plain milk together. Pierce top of cake repeatedly with a skewer or fork. Pour over milk mixture and allow to soak in. Refrigerate if time allows (a minimum of 2 hours recommended). Whip cream, vanilla and sugar. Spread on cake.
* Note that you can substitute any sugar or honey. Panela, also known as rapadura, has a great flavour and is readily available at metropolitan supermarkets.
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