Recipes

Bluebbery Muffins

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Ingredients

  • 100g unsalted butter, softened
  • 140g golden caster sugar
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 140g Greek yogurt
  • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 250g self raising flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 125g punnet of fresh blueberries
  • 1 tbsp flour (to coat the blueberries)
  • Oats/ brown sugar (optional)

Method

Beat the butter and sugar together till light and fluffly.

Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the yogurt, milk and vanilla extract. Beat till everything is mixed well together.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt together and add to the butter mixture and mix till well combined.

Roll the blueberries in 1 tbsp of flour to stop them getting to the bottom of the cake , then add them to the muffin mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon and ensure the blueberries are evenly dispersed.

Transfer the batter to muffin cases and top with oats or brown sugar (optional) and bake them in a pre heated oven for around 20 minutes at 170c fan assisted oven.

 

Shakshuka

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I can’t believe I haven’t posted on the blog for such a long time! Well here I am now with a Slimming World friendly recipe which I hope you will enjoy recreating, perfect for breakfast or any time of the day really. If you’d like to, you can have one wholemeal pitta bread as part of your healthy extra B choice with this meal or have it on its own making this a syn free recipe which is also perfect if you are doing an Extra Easy SP day! Hope everyone is keeping safe during these unprecedented times x

 

Shakshuka

Shakshuka

Serves: 2

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 20 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 1cal spray oil
  • 1 small red onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 pepper (red or yellow), chopped
  • a few chestnut mushrooms, chopped
  • 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 1tsp chilli powder
  • 1/2tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2tsp paprika
  • 1tsp ground cumin
  • 3 or 4 eggs
  • Seasoning to taste
  • Fresh coriander to garnish

Method

Spray a frying pan with spray oil and fry your onion, garlic, pepper and mushrooms until soft and the onions start to turn brown (add water if needed to stop it sticking to the pan).

Add the tomatoes and all the spices bringing the pan to the boil, stir and simmer for around 5 minutes.

Make wells in the tomatoes with the back of a large spoon to make space for the eggs.

Crack the eggs in, cover and simmer for around 10 minutes or until the eggs are cooked to your liking.

Season to taste and garnish with fresh coriander before eating.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

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The kids and I just love these cookies – soft and chewy oozing with chocolate. I always use dark chocolate but you can use a mix of dark and milk or just milk chocolate if you prefer. Hope you enjoy these as much as we do.

Ingredients

  • 225g butter, softened
  • 350g soft light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 200g chocolate, chopped

Method

Pre heat oven to 160c.

Cream butter and sugar together till light and creamy.

Add eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl to ensure that they are mixed in well. Add the vanilla.

Slowly add the flour and bicarbonate of soda and mix till it is well combined.

Add the chopped chocolate and evenly distribute to the cookie dough.

Spoon a spoonful of cookie dough onto a non stick baking sheet, leaving some space between the cookies and bake for 10 minutes. The cookies will still be soft when you remove them from the oven, let it cool on the baking sheet for a further 10 minutes before cooling completely on a cooling rack.

Ginger Cookies

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This is a recipe I found in a supermarket magazine years ago and saved it as it is one of our favourite, slightly crunchy and gingery cookies. For an extra indulging treat, we like to drizzle some dark chocolate over them.
Ginger Cookies

Ginger Cookies

Ingredients

  • 225g self raising flour
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 125g butter, chilled, cut into cubes
  • 100g soft dark brown sugar
  • 100g golden syrup
  • 100g dark chocolate (optional)

Method

Pre heat the oven to 160c. Sift the flour and spices together. Add the cubed butter and combine (by hand) into the flour to resemble breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, followed by the golden syrup. Mix by hand to form a dough. Make small balls with the dough and put them on a baking sheet, pressing them down slightly. Leave some space between the cookies and they will expand as they cook. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Once baked, allow them to cool on the baking sheet for a further 10 minutes before moving them onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Optional – melt the chocolate in the microwave. Fill a piping bag with the melted chocolate and drizzled over the cooled, cooked cookies.

Easy Biscuits

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You can’t get easier to make biscuits than these! A Mary Berry recipe that always goes down a treat with the kids. You can keep the biscuits as they are or if you prefer, you can add some sprinkles on the top before baking, or dip the biscuits in some melted chocolate once they are cooked. The recipe makes 12 biscuits.

Ingredients

  • 100g butter, softened
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 150g self raising flour

Method

Preheat the oven to 160c. Put some baking paper onto a baking tray.

Beat the butter and sugar together till light and creamy.

Add the flour and bring the mix together with hands to form a dough.

Form 12 small balls. Use the back of a fork to slightly flatten the biscuits and give it a nice shape.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Easy Biscuits

Easy Biscuits

Overnight Weetabix

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This is one recipe I get asked about a lot for some reason, so I have finally done a video showing you how I make mine. You can replace the Weetabix with oats if you prefer (40g porridge oats is a healthy extra B choice) but I personally do not like overnight oats, hence why I make with Weetabix instead and I almost always have chocolate Weetabix!

You can make this syn free by using a natural fat free yogurt and counting the Weetabix as your healthy extra B choice. You can add some vanilla flavouring to your yogurt to add a bit of sweetness and flavour, I only like eating Alpro yogurts so always have to syn mine. The one featured in the video is 1 syn for 200ml which is not bad at all.

This yogurt can also be eaten straight away after it is made, so if you are not as organised as I am most of the time, I eat this as soon as I make it and tastes great too.

Ingredients

  • 1 apple, chopped
  • Cinnamon powder
  • 200ml Alpro mango yogurt
  • 1 Chocolate Weetabix, crushed

Method

Chop the apple and sprinkle some cinnamon on it.

Crush the Weetabix.

Layer a mason jar with some yogurt, followed by the yogurt and the apple. Continue doing this till you’ve used up the Weetabix.

Place in the fridge till you are ready to eat.

Rajma Curry

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Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 cal spray oil
  • 2 red onions, chopped
  • Salt, to taste
  • 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves
  • 1 tbsp ginger & garlic paste
  • 1 tbsp curry powder/bassar
  • 1/2 tbsp garam masala
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 2 tins red kidney beans, drained
  • Fresh coriander to garnish

Method

Spray a pan with 1cal spray oil.

Fry onions with the salt till lightly golden. Add cumin seeds and fenugreek. Add water to the pan if the onions start to stick to the pan.

Add the ginger & garlic paste and continue frying for another couple of minutes.

Add the curry powder and garam masala. Cook the spices for around 5 minutes, adding water if needed.

Add the tomato puree, cook for a minute before adding the kidney beans. If you want to you can add more water if the curry looks too dry.

Cover the lid and simmer. Cook gently for 10 minutes before garnishing with fresh coriander. Serve with boiled rice.

Funfetti Traybake

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Why make a simple school style traybake when you can make a Funfetti Traybake? Super simple to make and a huge hit with kids. If you don’t want to add the sprinkles into the cake, leave it out and you will still have a delicious cake. Serve it with hot custard or if you want to make it more indulging, top it with buttercream instead.

I use a 9×11 inches cake tin.

 

Ingredients

  • 225g margarine
  • 225g caster sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 300g self raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 100g sprinkles

To decorate

  • 150ml icing sugar
  • Warm water as needed
  • Sprinkles

Method

Cream the margarine and sugar together till light and creamy.

Add the eggs, one at a time. Add a couple of spoonfuls of flour to stop the mix from curdling.

Once all the eggs have been added, add the rest of the flour, followed by the vanilla extract and the sprinkles.

Pour the cake into a greased and floured tin and bake in a pre heated oven for 30-35 minutes on 170c till the cake is fully baked.

Once baked, let the cake rest in the tin for a few minutes before turning it out on a wire rack and cooling it completely.

To make the icing, mix the icing sugar with warm water till it is smooth. Use more or less water depending on the consistency of icing you prefer (if you prefer a thicker layer of icing, then add more icing sugar). Spread the icing onto the cake and quickly add the sprinkles before the icing starts to harden up.

Sweet Potato Pakoras

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These sweet potato pakoras reminded me of the Aldi sweet potato burgers! If you’ve had them before you’ll know what I am talking about. The mix makes enough for 12 pakoras making them 1 syn each. I haven’t tried them with regular potatoes but they should work with them too. Let me know if  you try them with regular potatoes. Hope you enjoy x

Serves: 12 units

Syns: 1 syn each

Time Taken: 40 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 3 red onion, finely sliced
  • 1 large sweet potato, grated
  • 75g gram flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Spray oil

Method

Mix the onions and potato together so that they are evenly distributed.

Add the gram flour (a bit at a time, you may not need all the amount) and all the spices. Mix it well again. Add the baking powder. If needed, you may add water to the batter (I don’t as there is enough moisture from the onions and potatoes).

Spray a muffin tin with spray oil (or you can use a baking sheet instead and do them free form). Evenly distribute the mix into each muffin hole, you should have enough for 12 pakoras. Press down the mix into the muffin tin and bake them at a preheated oven at 180c for 30 minutes.

 

Lotus Biscoff Cheesecake

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Ingredients

  • 250g Lotus Biscoff biscuits, crushed
  • 100g butter, melted
  • 400g cream cheese
  • 100g icing sugar
  • 400g Lotus Biscoff spread
  • 250ml double cream

To decorate

  • Crushed Lotus Biscoff biscuits
  • Whipped cream

Method

Add the butter to the crushed biscuits and pour into a dish, flattening it well. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes.

Beat together the double cream with the icing sugar for a few minutes till it starts to thicken up. Add 200g lotus spread followed by the cream cheese. Do not overmix as that could turn the mixture runny.

Add the cream mixture to the biscuit base and let it refrigerate again for around 30 minutes.

Melt the rest of the biscoff spread and spread it all over the cream mixture.