Chocolate Waffles with Crushed Nuts and Raspberries. Dairy free. Egg free. Vegan.

When it comes to weekend treat breakfasts, waffles are a firm family favourite. They are so easy to make and take very little time to prepare. We love experimenting with different ingredients and flavour combinations. I’ve already posted recipes for our Easy Vegan Waffles and Gingerbread Waffles and today, we’re sharing the recipe for our quick and easy Chocolate Waffles.

Chocolate Waffles with Crushed Nuts and Raspberries

These waffles have a decadent dark chocolate flavour, which works in perfect harmony with the nutty, berry toppings. Continue reading “Chocolate Waffles with Crushed Nuts and Raspberries. Dairy free. Egg free. Vegan.”

Vegan Gingerbread Waffles

The waffle obsession continues! And for this month’s Suma Blogger’s Network entry, I thought I’d share another one of our favourite vegan waffle recipes. Filled with the warming spices of cinnamon, ginger and Blackstrap molasses, these waffles are perfect for this time of year  

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I wrote about the amazing nutritional profile of Blackstrap molasses in this Gingerbread Cookie post. With just one tablespoon containing 3.6 mg of iron (more iron than 1/2 cup of cooked lentils, beans or spinach), it’s easily one of my favourite ways to boost iron levels.

The recipe is largely an amalgamation of our favourite gingerbread and banana pancake recipes, with a slight reduction of the liquid to make a sturdier batter. Banana acts as a great binder for the waffles and adds a touch of extra sweetness.

Gingerbread Waffles

I’ve really enjoyed reading about your favourite waffle toppings under last week’s Easy Vegan Waffle Post. As I would have expected, maple syrup came out on top. Nuts, banana and chocolate were very popular too, and I’m totally with you on those. One of my favourite lazy Sunday breakfast/brunches is these Gingerbread waffles, served with banana slices, chopped walnuts and pecans, and a big drizzle of chocolate sauce.

Gingerbread Waffles with Chocolate Sauce

Sometimes I make the chocolate sauce myself, other times I simply grab a bottle of Sweet Freedom Choc Shot. Have you tried Choc Shot before? As well as tasting yummy, I love the fact that it contains all natural ingredients, is free from cane sugar and has a low glycaemic load (GL). Can you see how shiny it is too? It’s got the most awesome sheen!

And if I’m going all out, I’ll also top them with a sprinkling of desiccated coconut.

Pure. Waffle. Heaven

Gingerbread Waffles with Chocolate Sauce

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Makes around 10-12 waffles
Hands on time: 20 minutes Ready in: 20 minutes

Waffle Batter
1 ripe banana, sliced (or ¾ cup frozen banana slices)
180ml / 6 fl oz / ¾ cup soya milk
140g / 5 oz / 1 cup wholemeal (wholewheat) or chapatti flour (or GF flour mix e.g. Doves Gluten-Free Brown Bread Flour or Doves Gluten-Free Plain White Flour)
50g / 1¾ oz / ½ cup rolled oats (use certified GF, if needed)
2 TBSP Blackstrap molasses
1 TBSP maple syrup
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

1 tsp oil or coconut butter, for greasing

Suggestion toppings
Banana slices
Chopped walnuts and pecans
Chocolate sauce
Desiccated Coconut

Method
Place the milk and banana in a high speed blender and blend until smooth (alternatively you can use a bowl and hand blender). Add all the remaining batter ingredients and blend to combine. The batter should be thick, but pourable. (If you’re using GF flour, you will need up to 4 tablespoons of extra liquid). Pour the batter into a bowl and leave to rest for a few minutes (this can happen while the waffle maker heats up).

When the waffle maker is hot, brush with oil or coconut butter using a silicone brush. Add the appropriate amount of batter according to your waffle maker’s instructions. (I have a VonShef Quad Waffle Maker and drop two tablespoons of batter into each of the four waffle quads). Close the lid and leave to cook for 3 minutes before checking (with my waffle maker, I leave the waffles until the green light goes out). If the waffles are golden brown, they are ready. Transfer them to a wire cooling rack while you prepare the remaining waffles.

Serve warm with your favourite toppings.

Any leftover waffles can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days or frozen for weeks. Heat them through in the toaster before serving.

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Products used in this recipe
Doves Farms Gluten Free Brown Bread Flour  or Doves Farm Gluten Free Plain White Flour
Meridian Organic Blackstrap Molasses
Sweet Freedom Choc Shot

And now for my favourite part of the photo shoot. Tucking in time! 😛

Gingerbread Waffles with Chocolate Sauce

Easy Vegan Waffles & VonShef Waffle Maker UK Giveaway

I have always loved waffles. There’s something about those cute indented squares that makes them such a pleasure to eat. I especially love them this time of year, warm straight from the waffle maker or toaster. They make such a yummy breakfast or mid-afternoon snack.

Lil’ L shares my love of waffles and can easily get through a dozen a week. He says there are two Autumn/Winter foods that he’ll never get sick of and that’s apple crumble and waffles!

Easy Vegan Waffles (GF Option)

These vegan waffles are so easy to make! It’s simply a case of blending up the ingredients (I use my Froothie for this job), scooping the batter into the waffle maker and waiting 3-4 minutes. And then they’re ready to eat!

We use a slightly thicker version of our breakfast pancake batter for these waffles. To replace the egg, we use a banana or two small-medium organic apples. On balance, I prefer the texture of the waffles made with banana as it’s slightly firmer and more robust. The riper the banana, the stronger the flavour will be in the waffles. For the mildest flavour, use ripe yellow bananas rather than brown ones.

The batter also includes wholegrain flour and oats for protein and slow release energy. The waffles happen to be fat free and cane sugar free too. This means they’re scrumptious and healthy, so perfect for treating the kids (and yourself!) Lots of Lil’ L’s friends have tried these waffles and they’ve all given them a big thumbs up.

While his friends tend to prefer them with a simple drizzle of maple syrup, Lil’ L loves to fill his squares with little pieces of chopped walnuts or pecans, for some crunch…

Vegan Waffles with walnuts and maple syrup

… while I love to top mine with raspberries and chopped almonds

The waffles in the photo below were made using GF flour. I was so delighted to find that the recipe works gluten-free too as it means all our GF friends can tuck in too 😀

Vegan Waffles with Raspberries & Almonds

We make the waffles small enough so that they’re easy to pick up, fit in the toaster, and so you can scoff two or three at a time (‘cause one waffle is never enough 😉 ). We often make them as an afterschool snack, then leftovers get stored in the fridge for breakfast the next day. A quick warm through in the toaster and they’re ready to be served.

Here’s how we make our basic vegan waffle…

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Makes around 10 waffles
Hands on time: 20 minutes    Ready in: 20 minutes

Waffle batter
1 ripe banana, sliced
180ml / 6 fl oz / ¾ cup soya milk
140g / 5 oz / 1 cup wholemeal (wholewheat) flour (or use a GF flour mix if needed e.g. Doves GF Brown Bread Flour)
50g / 1¾ oz / ½ cup rolled oats (use certified GF, if needed)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
2 TBSP maple syrup

1 tsp oil or coconut butter, for greasing

Suggestion toppings
Maple syrup
Chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds
Fresh or frozen berries

Method
Place the milk and banana in a high speed blender and blend until smooth (alternatively you can use a bowl and hand blender). Add all the remaining batter ingredients and blend to combine. The batter should be thick, but pourable. Add a touch more milk if needed, to attain the desired consistency. (If you’re using GF flour, you will need around 4 tablespoons of extra liquid). Pour the batter into a bowl and leave to rest for a few minutes (this can happen while the waffle maker heats up).

When the waffle maker is hot, brush with oil or coconut butter using a silicone brush. Drop two tablespoons of batter into each of the four waffle quads. Close the lid and leave to cook for 3-4 minutes before checking (with the VonShef Waffle Maker, I leave the waffles until the green light goes out). If the waffles are golden brown, they are ready. Transfer them to a wire cooling rack while you prepare the remaining waffles.

While the waffles are cooking, prepare your toppings.

Serve warm with a drizzle of maple syrup and a sprinkling of your favourite nuts and berries.

Any leftover waffles can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Heat them through in the toaster before serving.

Products used in this recipe (UK Stockists)
Tesco Chapatti Flour, Doves Spelt Flour or Doves Farm Gluten Free Brown Bread Flour
Mornflake Superfast Oats, available from Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, The Co-operative
Clarks Original Maple Syrup, available from most major UK supermarkets

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Forks are optional 😉

Vegan Waffles with walnuts and maple syrup

We purchased our waffle maker last October while it was on sale, and we’ve been really happy with it. It’s easy to use and, even with all our batter experimenting, we’ve yet to have a single waffle fail (which is pretty incredible!) The machine’s simple to clean too… while it’s still warm (but not scorching hot) I just wipe it over with a piece of kitchen towel.

While I’ve seen the waffle maker selling at a range of prices these past couple of months (the RRP is £64.99) you can get some amazing offers if you keep a watch out. It’s currently selling for £24.99 on Amazon and, at this price, you can’t really go wrong. We use ours 3-4 times a week and have made hundreds of waffles, so we’ve definitely had our money’s worth.

Vegan Waffles & VonShef Wafflemaker

Giveaway Time!

I’m not sure how many of my readers have waffle makers, and it seemed a bit unfair to share a waffle recipe without giving you the opportunity to make some yourself, so I contacted Designer Habitat and they have kindly offered to give away a VonShef Quad Waffle Maker to one of my lovely readers

To be in with a chance of winning, simply leave me a comment under this blog post answering the question featured in the Rafflecopter below. Do make sure you tick the box in the Rafflecopter to register that you have done so. There are a number of additional ways you can enter in order to increase your chances of winning. You will find these listed in the Rafflecopter. All entries will be verified prior to the winner being selected.

This giveaway is open to UK residents aged 18 and over (sorry international readers)

The closing date is Friday 16th January 2014 at midnight GMT. The winner will be selected at random and notified by email. The winner will have 7 days to respond. If they fail to do so, another winner will be selected at random.

New to Rafflecopter? It’s pretty easy! Simply click on ‘Use Your Email’ and enter a name and your email address (rest assured it won’t be published anywhere). You can also log in using your Facebook account, if you wish. A quick demo of how to use Rafflecopter can be accessed here.

* If you experience any technical problems when trying to enter the Rafflecopter, let me know in the comments section below and I’ll submit your entry for you *

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck everyone! xx

 

Chocolate Granola Clusters with Hazelnuts, Pecans and Cranberries

Today, I’d like to share another of my family’s favourite granola recipes. Filled with hazelnuts, pecans, cranberries and chocolatey goodness, this granola is perfect for this season.

Chocolate Granola Clusters with Hazelnuts, Pecans & Cranberries

My garden is bordered by cob nut trees, and this year they produced the most amazing crop. I made a deal with the squirrels whereby I would collect nuts from the low hanging branches, and they could have the rest. They then got to work, burying nuts all over my lawn and flower beds, and in my plant pots. Invariably they forget where they’ve buried them and we end up with nut trees growing literally everywhere!

Cob Nuts

I’m not going to complain though. Nut trees are awesome!

And once they’ve matured, cob nuts are very similar in taste and texture to hazelnuts, so I put them to good use in yummy recipes, like this granola.

Hazelnuts

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Lil’ L loves home-made granola, especially when it’s formed into clusters. It’s so easy to make. You simple press down the mixture as if you’re making a thin granola bar then, once completely cooled, you break it into clusters.

Granola Cluster Making

Our favourite sweetener for granola is maple syrup. This adds a delicious caramel-like sweetness, rather than a ‘sugary’ flavour. I use Clarks Original Maple Syrup, which is a blend of maple and carob syrups. It’s widely available in the UK, and a fair bit cheaper than pure maple syrup. I really like its flavour and consistency, which is slightly thicker than the pure grade syrup.

Granola Clusters

These granola clusters are wonderful for breakfasts, snacks and desserts. For breakfast, we like to serve them with natural non dairy yogurt (such as Alpro) or milk. For an omega-3 boost, I often add a light sprinkling of ground linseed and finely chopped walnuts before serving. I also sprinkle in a few extra cranberries to brighten up the bowl.

Chocolate Granola Clusters with Hazelnuts, Pecans and Cranberries

Layered with yogurt and fresh or frozen fruits, the clusters also make a delicious dessert or after-school snack. They look really fancy yet take literally seconds to throw together!

Chocolate Granola Parfait

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These granola clusters make a wonderful breakfast, snack or dessert. While they taste decadent, they are packed with healthy nutrient-rich ingredients including wholegrains, heart-healthy fats, minerals and vitamins. For a fancy treat, layer up the granola with yogurt and fruits to make a parfait. Despite taking only seconds to prepare, it looks really beautiful and is bound to impress family and friends.

Makes around 12 servings
Hands on time: 10 minutes    Cooking time: 40 minutes
Ready in: 60 minutes

Ingredients
300g / 10½ oz / 3 cups rolled oats (use GF oats, if needed)
100g / 3½ oz / ½ cup buckwheat, rinsed and drained
4 TBSP cocoa powder
3 TBSP coconut sugar (or unrefined caster sugar)
¼ tsp salt
75g / 2½ oz / ½ cup hazelnuts
65g / 2¼ oz / ½ cup pecans
70g / 2½ oz / ½ cup dried cranberries
150 ml / 5¼ fl oz / ½ cup maple syrup (or agave syrup)
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 TBSP virgin coconut oil, liquefied

Method
Get prepared
Preheat the oven to 150C (130C fan) / 300F / Gas 2.
Line a large baking tray (38 x 26cm / 15 x 10 inches) with non-stick baking paper.
If your coconut oil is solid, place in the oven in a heat proof bowl for a couple of minutes until it has liquefied.
Roughly chop the nuts.

Ready, set, go!
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, buckwheat, cocoa powder, sugar and salt. Stir in the nuts and cranberries*. Pour in the maple syrup and vanilla extract, and stir until all the grains are coated. Add the coconut oil and stir until thoroughly combined.

Spread the granola out evenly on the prepared baking tray. Press down firmly so that the mixture sticks together as if you were making a thin granola bar. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to completely cool.

The granola will firm up on cooling. Break up the granola into clusters and transfer to an airtight jar. Stored in a cool place, the granola should keep for weeks.

*If you’d like to preserve the colour and nutrients of the cranberries, add them to the granola once its baked.

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Products used in this recipe (UK stockists)
Mornflake Superfast Oats, available in Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and The co-operative (Gluten-free oats are available from the ‘Free From’ aisle in major UK supermarkets and health food stores)
Tesco Buckwheat (found in the wholefoods section) (Buckwheat is also available in health food stores and online)
Biona Coconut Sugar, available from health food stores and online
Dried Cranberries (sweetened with pineapple juice), available from the wholefoods sections in Tesco and Waitrose
Clarks Original Maple Syrup available in Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s
Essential Organic Virgin Coconut Oil (available in health food stores and online)

Enjoy! xx

Postscript
Sirilipons … ‘Secret’ nibbling eh? I wondered where the bottom right hand corner had gone. It looks like a giant mouse has been at it. You are so busted!

Granola Cluster Making

Autumn-Inspired Apple and Almond Breakfast Smoothie

After an exceptionally warm and summer-like September and early October, Autumn has finally arrived in Bath. The Virginia creeper seems to have magically transformed overnight from lush green to vivid red, and the river and canal paths are littered with crunchy brown leaves and horse chestnuts. It most certainly is a beautiful time of year

First Signs of Autumn 4

And though the weather has cooled off a little, I’m still enjoying my daily smoothies. I often have them as a breakfast or lunch on the go, so I add ingredients like nut butters and chia seeds for protein, slow-release energy and to keep hunger pangs at bay. Lil’ L also enjoys smoothies as an after-school snack or evening dessert.

One of our current favourites is this Autumn-inspired Apple & Almond Smoothie (which I shared on The Road to Less Cake last month).

Apple and Almond Smoothie

The nut butter, yogurt and chia seeds add a delicious creaminess to the smoothie as well as packing in lots more nutrients. The smoothie provides a good dose of protein, fibre and heart-healthy fats (including omega 3), as well as antioxidant vitamins C and E, and trace minerals such as calcium, iron and magnesium.

And another great thing about this smoothie is that you can sneak in a handful of spinach and it doesn’t affect the taste at all!

Until recently, Lil’ L hasn’t been a fan of green smoothies. He likes his smoothies to be the ‘right’ colour. In his eyes, berry smoothies should be pink or purple, while pineapple or mango smoothies should be yellow. For him, a berry smoothie that’s bright green is just wrong. However, one day it dawned on me that I might get away with adding spinach to our usual apple and almond smoothie. Apples can be green, right?

Green Apple and Almond Smoothie

I decided to give it a try when he arrived home from school one day. Here’s how the conversation went…
“Hi!” I call out. “I’ve made you a smoothie!”
“Great! Thanks!” he replies enthusiastically. I hand him the smoothie and there’s a pause, followed by a despondent “Oh…. it’s green”.
“Yep, it’s a green apple smoothie. Give it a try. I’m sure you’ll love it”.
With trepidation he takes a sip. “Mmm, it’s really nice!” he says with surprise. Then there’s a pause…. “So what’s making it green?”
Darn, 10 year olds are sharp. Clearly the ‘green apple’ thing won’t wash with him, so I decide to own up and tell him it’s spinach. He thinks about it for a moment then decides it doesn’t matter after all. Green or not, it tastes really good.

Hallelujah, the green smoothie hang up is finally over! In hindsight, I wish I’d introduced green smoothies when he was much younger. That way, he would have grown up thinking that green berry or tropical smoothies are normal. Never mind, he’s on board now and I’m really excited to try out lots more concoctions over the coming weeks (especially as I’ve got an awesome new blender to play with).

So if you’ve got any green smoothie phobes in the family, I highly recommend trying this one on them. Start with a small amount of spinach so it’s a delicate light green rather than scary green and see what they think (just don’t mention the spinach until they’ve given it a thumbs up 😉 ).

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This smoothie is perfect for breakfast on the go or as a post-school or exercise snack. Unlike regular fruit smoothies, this one is a great source of slow-release energy and will keep you feeling full up for hours.

Hands-on time: 5 minutes

Serves 1 as a breakfast (or two as a snack)

1 medium organic apple, cored and chopped (no need to peel if you have a powerful, high speed blender)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 TBSP almond butter
1 TBSP chia seeds
handful of spinach leaves (optional)
120ml / 4 fl oz / ½ cup almond milk (or other non dairy milk)
120ml / 4 fl oz / ½ cup non dairy natural yogurt
1 tsp maple syrup, or to taste

Place all the ingredients in a blender. Pulse a few times to break up the apple, then blend on high speed until smooth. Taste test, and add more sweetener, if desired.

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Products used in this recipe
Alpro almond milk and natural yogurt, available in major UK supermarkets
Meridian almond butter, available from Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Ocado and health food stores
Chia seeds, now available from Tesco, Ocado, health food stores and online (I knew the supermarkets would catch up 😉 )
Clarks maple syrup, available from most major UK supermarkets

‘Rise and Shine’ Oaty Pineapple Breakfast Smoothie (Dairy-free)

The British winter was more like a monsoon this year. For over two months it rained pretty much continuously, and often accompanied by gail force winds. It’s been yet another crazy weather season, with January recorded as the wettest winter month since 1767! Thousands of homes experienced terrible flooding, especially on the Somerset levels. While our garden has been completely submerged under water three times since Christmas Eve, fortunately our house is elevated and out of harm’s way.

We’re now coming to the end of March and we’re STILL experiencing rain pretty much every day here in the South West. However, there are breaks and when the sun comes out and the clouds disappear, it’s absolutely glorious! I’d forgotten how wonderful it is to feel the warmth of the sun on your skin!

Japonica March 2014

As the sunny spells are so fleeting, I’m grabbing every opportunity to get out there and make the most of them. The garden is starting to come to life and it’s been a joy to see the Spring flowers popping up. Every where I look, there’s a hive of activity in the garden. The bees, butterflies, ladybirds and toads are all out of hibernation, and the birds are busy pairing up and make nests. This truly is a wonderful time of year! Now if the rain could just go away for a while so I can go jogging without getting wet or having to run with an umbrella, then that really would be the icing on the cake 😉

Primroses March 2014

For today’s recipe, I’d love to share one of Lil’ L and I’s favourite ‘power boosting’ breakfast smoothies. This one contains fresh pineapple, which has powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties. For slow-release energy, a protein boost and delicious creaminess, we add oats and chia seeds. The chia seeds also give the smoothie an omega-3 boost and have this amazing satiating effect, leaving you feeling full up for hours.

'Rise and Shine' Pinapple Oat Breakfast Smoothie | Bit of the Good Stuff

To ramp up the nutritional factor even more, we add a spoonful of baobab powder. This natural fruit powder boasts some amazing nutritional stats, including 3 times more calcium than milk and 6 times more antioxidants than blueberries!

When the sun peeked out the other day, I grabbed the opportunity to drink my smoothie in the garden. Five minutes of bliss!

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This smoothie makes a refreshing change from breakfast cereals. It’s packed with goodies that will help to sustain energy levels and leave you feeling full up all morning. It also makes a great after school or work ‘pick me up’. For a lighter, post dinner ‘dessert’ smoothie, simply omit the oats.

Makes 1 tall drink
Hands-on time: 5 minutes

Ingredients
¾ cup sweet, fresh pineapple, diced
1 cup non dairy milk (almond, soya or rice, preferably fortified)
1 TBSP chia seeds
1 TBSP baobab powder, optional (for a nutritional boost)
4 TBSP rolled (porridge) oats (use certified GF oats, if needed)
Maple syrup (or other natural sweetener), optional to taste

Method
Place all the ingredients, except the sweetener, in a high-speed blender and blend until completely smooth. Stop now and then to scrape down the sides. Taste test, and add a little maple syrup, or other natural sweetener, if needed.

As with any acidic fruit drink, allow at least thirty minutes after drinking before brushing your teeth.

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Products used in this recipe
So far, I’ve made this smoothie with Alpro Almond milk & Soya milk and Rice Dream Rice Milk
Chia Seeds, available from health food stores and online, including Amazon

Baobab Fruit Powder from the Eden Project (gifted to me)
Mornflake Superfast Oats

'Rise and Shine' Pineapple Oat Breakfast Smoothie

 

 I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend everyone! xx