Peanut Butter Banana Bread

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When I hear a recipe has peanut butter in it, I tend to leave it as I feel it might taste too strong. Don’t get me wrong, I get a hankering for peanut butter on toast every now and then but maybe it’s those Reese Bites that have turned me off.

I saw this one on a US site and decided to give it a try as it’s gluten free too and a friend had given me a good few very ripe bananas and I just wanted to try something a bit different. I’m glad to say it was a hit and really nice. It freezes well and is perfect with tea or coffee when you want something just a little bit nice 😉

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Triple Chocolate Loaf Cake

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I made this cake in a loaf tin. It’s one of those lovely “stand by” cakes which are great to have for just in case moments or a “I fancy a slice of something nice” moment … you know what I mean. It’s quite dense bake but it’s still moist and full of chocolate yumminess throughout.

A good one to add to your baking repertoire!

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Gluten Free Cookies

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Originally these cookies were made to be sugar cookies where you roll the dough in sugar before baking but I’m not a fan of coating biscuits in sugar. I did add some mini chocolate smarties to these, just a handful to make them look nice and as I greatly reduced the sugar content in the cookies, I thought it wasn’t too bad to add a few for flavour.

You should get about 10 out of this recipe but it will depend on what size you make them.

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Apple & Cinnamon Bundt with Caramel Glaze

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I feel this is a really traditional style cake that could have been passed down from one generation to another. Making it in a bundt tin does just lift it to another level. Any cake looks so special in a bundt shape!

The cake itself doesn’t have any butter. It uses vegetable oil so if you leave out the caramel glaze, you can give to dairy free friends.

There’s a lovely simple caramel glaze over this cake but you could just as easily dust it with icing sugar.

This recipe makes a really tasty, soft and delicious cake and if you decided to serve it with vanilla ice cream, well you will be very popular!!

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Malteser Cheesecake

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Cheesecakes always seem to be a crowd pleaser. They look so impressive when revealed with the high cream cheese mixture sitting on a buttery base. I’m a fan of the no bake cheesecake. I prefer the texture and taste and they are great to make ahead and keep in the fridge till needed. What’s more, they are so easy to make and yet look so good!

This little beauty just raises the bar a bit with the a secret ingredient which lifts the delicious malty taste to another level. Is there anyone who doesn’t love Maltesers? Anyone?? No, didn’t think so 🙂

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Healthy No Added Sugar Banana Muffins

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There are lots of things that help make these muffins a perfect choice for breakfast or to fill that “hungry” gap we all get throughout the day.

Firstly it uses oats instead of flour which makes them a healthier option as oats are complex carbohydrates and have a slow release of energy.

You can turn them into gluten free muffins by substituting the oats and baking powder.

They are sweetened with honey instead of processed sugar or an artificial sweetener and this type of non processed sugar again releases energy slower and if you use local honey it can help with allergy problems.

There’s no butter or oil in these muffins and I replaced the milk with almond milk so they are dairy free.

So what’s stopping you!!

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No sugar, No flour, No butter Apple & Cinnamon Muffins

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Okay, I’ll start by saying the original recipe turns out lovely and it’s relatively quick and easy, all in a blender basically and produces perfectly good muffins which I have to add, taste unbelievably good! Soooo here’s where my slight fussiness comes in … I felt they were sort of a bit well, spongey? Is that a word?

I didn’t feel they were as light as muffins should be so I wanted to try a different method which I hoped would result in a more familiar muffin texture. Call me pedantic but that’s why I started this blog – to take out the guessing from baking and helping (and hoping) that your bakes turn out perfectly.

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Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins

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I tried this recipe out as I hadn’t come across it before. It’s a basic gluten free muffin recipe that you can make up and keep in labelled bags for when you need it. After that, it’s up to you how you flavour it. You can use fresh or dried fruit or leave them plain. Perhaps add some nutmeg or cinnamon just for a little flavour kick? It’s a big world out there so give it a go 🙂

I’ve converted it from US measurements and added a good few handfuls of dried blueberries to give it a sweet flavour and to compensate for the reduced added sugar from the original recipe.

I would feel a gluten free flour mix works better for this rather than just straightforward gluten free flour (that will make sense to those who regularly bake for coeliacs). I also feel that perhaps replacing about 50g of the flour mix for 50g ground almonds can only improve the lightness of these muffins and is definitely worth trying.

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Apple & Blackberry Loaf Cake

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This recipe for Blackberry & Apple Loaf Cake is like a pudding as well as a cake as it’s so moist. It feels like a dessert you would have sitting at your granny’s table with the option of some custard or cream on the side. It’s pure comfort and as it’s not particularly sweet, you don’t feel bad having a slice. I simply sprinkled the top with a little icing sugar but you could do a vanilla glaze if you wanted to dress it up a bit.

I’m still struggling with a top oven grill combi as my fan oven is kaput! I’m waiting for a new Neff one to be installed and will hopefully be flying once that’s sorted. It’s a bit of a guessing game with temperatures and tops burning at the minute!!

One word of warning, do NOT remove it from the tin until it’s out of the oven for at least 30 minutes, preferably even 45/50 minutes if you can leave it and do NOT try to cut it for at least another hour or more till it’s completely cooled. It will simply fall apart on you. I know I used capital letters so I’m sort of shouting but it’s that important 😉 

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No Bake Almond Butter & Oat Cookies

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These are a combination of a protein ball and a soft cookie. I used crunchy almond butter to make these and I replaced the brown sugar with coconut sugar. If you like nuts, I would add a handful of unsalted nuts to give them extra crunch!

They are basically made in a saucepan and then left to set in the fridge. You need to leave them for at least 2 hours before eating as they won’t hold otherwise. I did try to shape them into balls for easy transport but they don’t have enough sticking power so having them in a cookie shape works better.

I’ve adapted the recipe from the “eating well” site and converted it from US to European measurements.

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Chocolate & Guinness Cupcakes Topped with Baileys Cream

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What could be a better combination and more Irish than chocolate and Guinness? They are a perfect combination and instead of buttercream, I topped these cupcakes with fresh cream and Baileys. To give them an even greater Irish flair, I finished them with pieces of green Minty Aero and the taste worked really well with the chocolate, Guinness and Baileys! Winner all round 🙂

You can reduce the recipe by half and make just 6. You do need to use large muffin cases and fill them almost to the top with the batter.

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Gluten Free Soda Bread

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There’s something very comforting about soda bread. It’s such a traditional Irish bake and one that is so easily adaptable from sweet to savoury that everyone should have it in their baking repertoire. It takes about 5 minutes to be oven ready so it’s a great reliable recipe.

On the cozebakes Facebook group page, there’s a recipe for a Crispy Bacon Soda Bread which is really delicious and if you want to try it, here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/notes/cozebakes/crispy-bacon-soda-bread/1419741888044119/ but I’ve been trying to find a gluten free version so no one would be left out and after seeing this one on the “what the fork” website, it was worth a try.

I’ve adapted it to metric and you can add in some raisins or sultanas if you want a sweeter bake or leave it plain with no added sugar if that’s your preference.

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