Coconut, Berry & Buckwheat Granola

          Hello everyone! The recipe I'm sharing today came about from a happy accident. While i was baking my last recipe, the Anzac Cookies, I made the rookie mistake of forgetting to line the baking tray of the first batch. As a result I ended up having to scrape what was left off of the tray, ending up with a really tasty granola.

           From there, I swapped out the oats to buckwheat groats, and added in dried berries, because berries and macadamias are a match made in heaven! I used a mix of dried sour cherries, organic cranberries and wild blueberries, which gave it a few different flavours, but if you cant get your hands on all of these just use what dried berry you like the best!

           You could use this granola a few different ways, as it has a delicious crunchy texture, you could add it on top of stewed fruit as a crumble topping, or on top of banana nice cream, or you could simply eat it as you would a normal cereal, with fresh fruit and a plant-based milk.

Coconut, Berry & Buckwheat Granola

Plant-based - Gluten Free - Dairy Free

Makes: 4-5 cups of granola

Time: prep- 10 minutes

Cooking- 15 minutes

Ingredients:

- 2 cups raw buckwheat groats

- 1/2 cup macadamias, chopped

- 1/2 cup dried berries (I used a mix of sour cherries, organic cranberries and wild blueberries)

- 2/3 cup shredded coconut

- 1/4 cup buckwheat flour

- 1 tbsp maca powder

- 1 tbsp mesquite powder

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 tbsp cinnamon 

- 1/4 cup coconut nectar

- 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

Method:

- Preheat your oven to 160C.

- Place all of your ingredients into one large bowl and stir them around until it is all combined.

- Pour your mixture over a baking tray so that it forms a single layer. You may need more than one baking tray for this, as it will cook evenly when it has the room to spread out. 

- Mid-way through the cooking time, take it out of the oven and stir it around to make sure it doesn't burn around the edges of the tray, then pop it back in for the remainder of the cooking time.

- Once it has cooked, take it out of the oven and give it another mix before leaving it to cool completely on the tray. It will seem quite sticky and gooey when it first comes out if the oven but as it cools it will firm up.

- Store it in an air tight container, and you can serve it with fruit, banana nice cream, yoghurt, on top of stewed fruit, or simply with a dash of almond milk.

Anzac Cookies

    Oh hey guys! Long time no see. I'm so sorry I have been away from here for a while. I'm currently having quite a bit of trouble with my computer, I was unable to open any of the documents and recipe posts I had started and saved. Totally weird, and if you know me, you know I am completely not a tech savvy person and I couldn't figure out what was going on! Anyway, I have found a temporary solution to the glitch but I'm going to have to figure out a better way to write, save and store my half written posts.

    Now that that boring part is out of the way. I have always loved Anzac cookies, but it's kind of a given for me as I absolutely love oats! So oats in a delicious, portable cookie form is definitely a winner in my books.

Anzac Cookies 

Makes: 20 medium cookies

Time: prep- 10 minutes

Cooking: 15-20 minutes

 

Ingredients:
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
- 3/4 cup shredded coconut
- 3/4 cup macadamias, chopped
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 2 tbsp hulled tahini
- 1/2 cup rice malt syrup (or your chosen liquid sweetener ie, maple syrup, coconut nectar)
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of Himalayan pink salt

Method:
- Preheat your oven to 180C and line a baking tray with baking paper. This really is a key step as the mixture will stick like glue to your baking tray without it, and like with my first test batch of this recipe, you will end up with a super tasty granola instead of cookies.

- Pop all of the ingredients into one bowl and combine them together.

- Scoop out small amounts of the mixture and roll it into little balls and place them onto your baking tray. Press down on each one, to flatten it into round cookie shapes. I found it was a lot easier to handle the mixture with damp hands, that way it stuck more to itself than to my hands.

- Place the tray in the oven for 15-20 minutes, allow them to cook until they are nice and golden. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking tray a bit before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.


Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram and tag me with @cinnamon_courtney so I can see all of your recreations!

'I take the win-win approach' - Stephen R. Covey

Cinnamon Buckwheat Pancakes

            When I was little we would often have pancake Sundays, and if I’m completely honest, I really didn’t like pancakes (I was a pretty fussy eater). Although I loved how my family would all come together and cook up a lot of pancakes for a lazy Sunday breakfast together. The left over pancakes would be eaten by my dad and brother throughout the week. So whenever I cook pancakes, it’s ingrained in me to cook up a large batch, so if you don’t want to end up with as many pancakes as this recipe makes, feel free to halve it!

            I recently got my hands on some banana flour and I have to say that it’s delicious! For this recipe if you can’t get your hands on any banana flour, you can just substitute it for buckwheat flour and it works just as well. I got my banana flour from my work at The Source Bulk Foods in Camberwell.

            Also I used coconut nectar as my liquid sweetener, but you could substitute this with your preference of liquid sweetener; like rice malt syrup, molasses, pure maple syrup, agave syrup or honey if you aren’t vegan.

Cinnamon Buckwheat Pancakes

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Makes: around 20 medium pancakes

Time: prep- 10 minutes

Cooking- 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup buckwheat flour

- 1 ¼ cup banana flour, (could swap this for buckwheat flour)

- 2 cups almond milk (or your choice of plant-based milk)

- 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted

- 2 tbsp coconut nectar (or your chosen liquid sweetener)

- 1 tbsp baking powder

- Pinch of Himalayan pink salt

- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon (or more if you’re a cinnamon addict like me!)

- Coconut oil for cooking

To Serve per person:

- 1 Banana, sliced

- Drizzle of coconut nectar

- Sprinkle of goji berries

- Sprinkle of shredded coconut

Method:

- Combine the dry ingredients together in a bowl, then form a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add in the wet ingredients. Combine them both together really well until there are no lumps in the batter.

- Heat up a pan to a medium heat and pop a small amount of coconut oil in the pan.

- Once the pan has heated and the coconut oil has melted, pour in around a ¼ of a cup of batter for each pancake, and leave it in there to cook until the little bubbles appear over the top of the pancake. Flip it over to cook for a further minute on the other side, or until it’s golden. Transfer them to a wire rack once they are done, to stop them from getting soggy while you cook up the rest of the batter.

- Cook up the rest of the batter the same way; you may need to add in a touch more coconut oil to the pan as you go.

- To serve, pop them on a plate with fresh sliced banana, a drizzle of coconut nectar, goji berries and shredded coconut. Or just eat them straight from the pan!

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations!

‘There is plenty for everyone, including me’ – Louise L. Hay

Chocolate Chia Mousse

            Happy Easter everyone! Or happy chocolate and hot cross bun weekend if you don’t celebrate Easter. I have a little naughty but nice chocolate recipe for you here today, that is my go to healthier version of a chocolate dessert when nothing but chocolate will do!

            Now I know a lot of people out there try out ‘healthy swap’ recipes and are disappointed because they taste nothing like the dish they are trying to recreate, I’ve been there too!

            So when I was testing out a chia pudding recipe, I was using almond milk and berries, which did turn out nice but not really what I wanted, I changed it up and used coconut milk and raw cacao powder… and was blown away. I had to force myself to stop eating the whole batch…

            It has an awesome light mousse texture but the coconut milk and raw cacao make it taste like it is a really decadent and rich dessert.

A little bit about C H I A  S E E D S ;

These powerful little seeds are jam packed full of omega 3, fibre and protein.

            ~ One tablespoon of chia contains 3 grams of omega 3 and 6 grams of dietary fibre. This helps increase energy levels, improve digestion and promote healthy hair, skin and nails. They also love to absorb liquid, they can absorb up to 16 times their own weight! This can increase your feelings of fullness after eating as well as helping your body regulate hydration levels.

            ~ As a vegan protein source they are also pretty amazing as they contain all nine of the essential amino acids, which are the building blocks in our bodies and essential for maintaining a healthy functioning you!

            ~ There is also no nutritional difference between the white and the black chia seeds so feel free to use which ever you like for this recipe.

Chocolate Chia Mousse

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Serves: 2 people

Time: prep- 10 minutes

Setting- 5 hrs or overnight

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup chia seeds

- 400ml or 1 ¾ cup coconut milk

- 3 tbsp liquid sweetener

- 1 tsp Maca (optional)

- 1 tsp Mesquite (optional)

- ¼ cup cacao/carob powder

- ½ tsp vanilla extract or ¼ tsp of vanilla powder

- pinch of cinnamon

- pinch of Himalayan pink salt

Top with:

- Fresh berries, shredded coconut and goji berries – it is quite rich so the fresh berries really help to cut through it.

Method:

- Add all ingredients into a jar and make sure you stir and combine everything well.

- Pop the jar into the fridge to set.

- Serve with a layer of fruit in the centre and then top with fresh berries, coconut and goji.

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations.

‘When I decide to be happy, I attract great things I my life’ – Robert Holden

Source:

The Chia Co. – www.thechiaco.com

Hot Cross Bun Muffins

            Autumn has to be one of my favourite seasons. It’s no longer crazy hot outside, but still a nice enough temperature to want to get out of the house and be outside. I also love storms, the rain and weather that isn’t a simple sun in the sky. It all just seems so amazing to me.

            It also happens to be the season when my birthday is! I had an amazing birthday last weekend with family and friends, and I decided I wanted to make myself a birthday treat! I love fruit and spices in baking and since it’s so close to Easter, I thought, why not add in an Easter theme? So I decided to make myself Birthday Hot Cross Bun Muffins.

These actually work just as well when you just form them into a ball and place them on a greased baking tray, if you don’t feel like making them in muffin tins.

Hot Cross Bun Muffins

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Makes: 8 – 10 medium buns

Time: prep – 20 minutes

Cooking – 20 minutes

Ingredients:

- 2 cup almond meal

- 1 cup arrowroot flour

- 2/3 cup buckwheat flour

- 1 tsp baking powder

- ½ tsp baking soda

- 1 tsp cinnamon

- ½ tsp nutmeg

- ½ tsp clove

- ½ tsp ginger

- pinch salt

- 2/3 cup sultanas (could also use dark dairy free chocolate here instead)

- 3 flax eggs (1 tbsp flaxseed meal to 3 tbsp of water, left to set for a few minutes)

- ½ cup coconut oil, melted

- 1/3 cup coconut nectar (or chosen liquid sweetener)

Topping:

- 2 tbsp coconut oil, not melted

- 4 tbsp coconut nectar

- 4 tbsp of banana flour or buckwheat flour

(*If you were making chocolate cross buns you can add in a tbsp of cacao powder)

Method:

- Pop the oven onto 170c and line a muffin try with liners or grease with coconut oil. If you don’t want to have them in muffin tins you can simply bake them spread out on a greased baking tray, they do tend to crack on top as they cook because they have a lot more room to move.

- Combine all the dry ingredients except the sultanas, together really well in one bowl and in a separate bowl mix together all of the wet ingredients. Now just pour the dry in with the wet and mix until you have a smooth mix. I put mine into a mixer for a few minutes to ensure the flax egg and all the other ingredients were really well incorporated. Then stir through your sultanas (or dark chocolate chunks), distributing then evenly.

- Form the dough into balls and place them into your muffin tins or onto your baking tray, and then place them into the oven. Bake these for about ten minutes before removing them to pipe on the topping.

- While the buns are in for their first ten minutes of baking, you can put together the icing. Firstly combine the coconut nectar and the flour to form a liquid paste, now add in the coconut oil.

* I have found that the coconut oil needs to be soft but still white and not completely melted. If you use completely melted coconut oil it will split from the coconut nectar and flour when you go to mix it in.

- You can either pipe the topping on to get a neat cross or you can use a knife and spread it on for a more rustic look, then pop them back in the oven for another ten minutes to finish cooking and give the topping a warm golden colour.

- After being in the oven for 20 minutes altogether, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for a while on the trays before transferring them to a cooling rack. Or if your anything like me, just eat them warm straight from the oven!

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations.

‘My mind is tranquil. I allow peace into my life’ -Leon Nacson

Millet Meal Porridge Two Ways

 

            So today I have a double whammy for you, because I’m such an indecisive person (you just need to ask my partner how hard it is for me to decide on anything). I have tried each of these versions of millet meal porridge and loved them both, so I couldn’t choose which of the recipes to share. So I ended up deciding, why not both?

            As much as I absolutely love oats, and could gladly eat them everyday, it is nice to try out different ways of doing things. The millet meal porridge base of this recipe was pleasantly surprising for me. I was half expecting it to taste a bit like a gooey, savory, cous cous kind of thing, but it has an amazing creamy and hearty texture that really just warms you up on those cooler mornings. Also millet is actually a seed, and is gluten free, making it a great alternative to porridge oats.

Although both of these porridge toppings are more on the decadent side of breakfasts, the base recipe of this millet meal porridge would be just as delicious simply topped with warm berries, dried fruit or just a tablespoon or two of coconut nectar.

  

Millet Meal Porridge Two Ways

Caramelized Banana and Hazelnut Porridge

Or

Candy Apple and Sultana Porridge

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Serves: 1

Time: Prep- 5 mins

Cooking- 15 mins

Ingredients:

Porridge base

- 1/3 cup millet meal

- 1 cup nut milk

- 1 tsp maca powder (optional)

- 1 tsp mesquite powder (optional)

- ½ tsp cinnamon

Caramelized Banana and Hazelnut Topping

- 1 banana, ½ sliced, ½ mashed (mashed half to be stirred through the porridge base once it has cooked)

- ½ tbsp coconut sugar

- 1 tbsp liquid sweetener (optional)

- 6 or 7 hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Or;

Candy Apple and Sultana Topping

            - ½ apple, thinly sliced

- ½ tbsp coconut sugar

- 1 tbsp liquid sweetener (optional)

- 2 tbsp sultanas

(As this version doesn’t have any sweetener in the porridge base, you may need to taste test the porridge base and add some sweetener in as desired)

Method:

- Place millet meal, nut milk and cinnamon in a saucepan and heat it up until you start to see steam, while stirring to stop lumps forming. Then reduce to a simmer and continue to cook it until the millet meal soaks up all of the nut milk (around 5 minutes). If you find that the mixture is too dry just add in some water until it reaches the consistency you like.

- Now each of the different toppings are cooked the same way which keeps things pretty simple, so which ever recipe topping you choose, here is the instructions for both;

- While the millet meal is cooking, place ½ tbsp of the coconut sugar into a pan.

- Pop either the banana slices or the apple slices on top of the coconut sugar and bring it to a med to hot heat. You will notice the sugar around the bananas or apples will liquefy as it starts to caramelize.

- Allow the first side to become golden before flipping to caramelize the other side. Watch them as if the sugar goes too far it will burn and taste really not nice.

- Once it has had a chance to caramelize on both sides, add in either the hazelnuts or the sultanas, and allow them to warm through in the pan.

- If you are making the banana version, and the remaining mashed half of your banana into the cooked millet meal.

- If you are doing the apple version, taste the millet meal to see if you need any sweetener added.

- Then simply transfer your millet meal porridge into a serving bowl and cover it with your chosen toppings.

- You can also add a tbsp of your desired sweetener here (or even 1 tbsp coconut sugar and 1 tbsp water, to continue with the same flavours), and enjoy!

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations!

‘I release all criticism’ – Louise L. Hay

Hazelnut Fudge Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Icing

            Last week I was struggling to come up with an idea of what to bake my friend for her birthday, so as I was going through my cookbooks for ideas I saw Lola Berry’s Paleo Chocolate Ganache Birthday Cake, in her new ‘The Happy Cookbook’ and knew exactly what I wanted to bake her.

            This cake is like a mix between healthy Nutella and Ferrero Rocher, at least that’s what I was thinking when putting it together. Also if you do manage to have a little bit of the icing left over after icing your cake, it makes an amazing healthier alternative to Nutella.

Hazelnut Fudge Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Icing

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Makes: around 10 – 12 servings

Time: prep – 15 minutes

Cooking – 1 hour

Ingredients:

Cake

            - 3 cups hazelnut meal

- ½ cup buckwheat flour

- ¾ cup cacao powder

- 1 cup coconut sugar

- 2 tsp baking powder, gluten and aluminum free

- ½ cup coconut oil, melted

- 3 flax eggs (1 tbsp flaxseed meal to 3 tbsp water per egg)

- 1 cup coconut milk

- Pinch of pink Himalayan salt

Icing

            - 2 cup hazelnut meal

- ¼ cup cacao powder

- 2/3 cup coconut nectar (or preferred liquid sweetener)

- ¼ cup coconut milk (don’t worry if its just under a ¼ cup)

- 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

- Pinch of pink Himalayan salt

Top with

            - ½ cup chopped hazelnuts (optional)

* The quantity of coconut milk used in both the cake and icing is equivalent to one 400ml can.

Method:

- Preheat your oven to 170C and grease a spring form cake tin, as it’s easier to get out. If you don’t have one, you can simply line your cake tin with baking paper.

- Combine all the dry ingredients for the cake in one bowl, and then mix together all the wet ingredients for the cake in another bowl before incorporating them both together. Mix this batter together really well; making sure all the flax egg is dispersed evenly. (ie. no light brown nuggets through your cake.)

 

- After it is all combined pour it into you cake tin and place in the oven for an hour, or until the skewer comes out clean. Once the cake is cooked through allow it to cool for a little bit in the cake tin before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely. You could eat the cake as it is now but I really think the icing is worth the effort.

- When your cake is cool it’s time for the icing. Which is as simple as popping everything into a bowl and mixing it together really well!

I just used what coconut milk was left from the can after measuring out what was needed for the cake, because it adds an amazing creaminess and I hate to waste food, so don’t worry if you have under a ¼ of a cup’s worth of coconut milk. If you feel the mixture is a touch too thick you can add in a bit of water or nut milk to loosen it. Once it’s mixed together you can smother the top of the cake in it and sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts.

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations!

‘I am flexible and flowing' - Louise L. Hay