We love 100's & 1000's!

As a child I loved 100's and 1000's, and even though I make it my mission to fuel my little girls with nutrients rather than artificial chemicals, you've got to let your kids have some fun right?! So what better way to compromise than by giving them a wholesome cookie topped with a little of what they adore! Mummy's homemade goodies need to have an element of fun after all or they won't be back for more!


These biscuits remind me a little of chocolate digestive biscuits . . . that wholegrain crunchy texture with a layer of chocolate. Of course, it's much lovelier to bake your own additive-free version with 'real' chocolate rather than compound chocolate. These are perfect for the school lunchbox. They are nutritious, pretty and fun all wrapped into one biscuit! You could even serve them up at a children's birthday party.

Chocolate spelt and oat biscuits

100's & 1000's fun for the children . . .

. . . or simple & lovely with a cuppa!

ingredients

110g sucanat (rapadura) sugar
110g organic wholegrain oats
90g butter (or coconut oil), cut into chunks
1 large egg
20g desiccated coconut
110g wholemeal spelt flour
185g good quality dark (semi-sweet) chocolate, melted

method

1. Grind sucanat sugar for 3 seconds on speed 9. Decant into a small bowl. 
2. Add whole oats to the TM bowl and grind for 10 seconds on speed 9. Decant into a separate bowl to the sugar.
3. If using butter straight from the fridge, add to the TM bowl and soften for 40 seconds at 50°C on speed 4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Coconut oil will not require softening. 
4. Add ground sucanat and beat for 1 minute until smooth on speed 4, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. Add the egg and beat for a further 10 seconds, scrape the sides.
6. Return the ground oats to the TM bowl with the coconut and wholemeal spelt flour. Combine on reverse speed 4 for about 10 seconds until the mixture comes together. Don't worry if it is a little sticky. Remove biscuit dough and press together into a ball. 
7. Roll dough between two sheets of baking paper until 5-6mm thick. Carefully place on a tray in the fridge for 30 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 180°C and prepare two oven trays with baking paper or silicon sheets.
9. Cut 7cm rounds or fluted rounds from the dough and place them about 2cm apart on trays. Press the scraps together and roll out again to make a total of 18-20 biscuits.
10. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes on trays before removing to a cooling rack.
11. Spread bases of biscuits with melted chocolate. Make a pattern with a fork if you like or sprinkle with 100's and 1000's. Stand at room temperature until set. Store in an airtight container, in the refrigerator if the weather is hot. 

no thermomix?
Grind your oats in a food processor or use a 50/50 mixture of porridge oats and oat flour. Cream the butter and sugar using an electric mixer, add your egg, mix again, then add your dry ingredients and mix until the dough comes together. 


variation

• use brown rice flour in place of the wholemeal spelt to make these wheat-free
• use coconut oil and dairy-free chocolate and make these dairy-free!
• spread with white chocolate instead of dark
• ice with royal icing instead of chocolate & decorate as you please :)
• try adding some cinnamon, plus dried fruit such as cranberries or currants at step 6 . . I might try this next time!

May 22, 2012 
Today I tried the cinnamon (1 tsp) + dried cranberries (60-70g) variation idea . . .

. . . and topped with white chocolate they are even more devine!

I chopped the dried cranberries using Turbo before I ground the sugar (step 1). Whatever you do, don't try the biscuit dough or you'll have a hard time stopping at one taste! I lurve this variation! 

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Cacao Anzacs!

April 25 is of course Anzac Day which commemorates the first landing of the Anzacs during WW1 at Gallipoli in 1915. For most Australians and New Zealanders, it is an important National day where we remember the sacrifice of those who died in the war. 

The traditional Anzac biscuit recipe is said to have been developed during WW1 and of course stands for Australian New Zealand Army Corps. The story goes that during the war, Anzac biscuits were baked by the wives of soldiers and posted to their loved ones abroad. Due to the fact that the ingredients do not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation, they were a sought after package of much needed energy for the soldiers and not to mention a taste of home. 

Anzac biscuits, much loved by Australians and New Zealanders, are a big favourite in our household. My girls love them in their lunchbox and they are often my snack of choice. They are also so quick and easy to make, especially in the Thermomix :) I have a favourite 'traditional' recipe which I haven't made for quite a while, but this is because traditional recipes rarely remain traditional once I add them to my repertoire! . . .I just can't help myself :) 
My most recent take on the Anzac biscuit is the wholesome version below featuring freshly ground raw cacao beans. . . yummo!

I just love a crunchy Anzac with a chewy centre, and my latest version definitely meets my expectations, and best of all is powered by chocolate! These Cacao Anzacs also happen to be vegan, wheat-free and higher in fibre than conventional ones. I have used coconut oil in place of butter and added some extra nutrition by using freshly ground oat and brown rice flour instead of white flour and also adding flaxseeds to the mix. I have also used sucanat sugar (which is easy to find in Hong Kong) in place of conventional brown sugar. For more about sucanat, see the Nutrition tid bits below. 

Cacao Anzacs

Ingredients
60g organic raw cacao beans 
2 tbsp flaxseeds
40g brown basmati rice
90g whole rolled oats (or steel cut oats)
110g organic virgin coconut oil

60g golden syrup

1-2 tbsp water
1 tsp bicarb soda
60g desiccated coconut
90g whole rolled oats, extra
150g sucanat (rapadura) sugar

method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
2. Place the raw cacao beans, flaxseeds, 90g oats and basmati rice in the TM bowl and grind for 1 minute on speed 9. Decant into a bowl and set aside.
3. Place coconut oil, golden syrup and water in the TM bowl. Mix at 60°C for 1-2 minutes on speed 2 or until fully melted and combined. Use less water for thicker, chunky biscuit and more for a thinner, chewier one :)
4. Add bicarb soda and mix for 5 seconds on speed 3 until dissolved.
5. Return the ground cacao beans, flax, oats and rice to the TM bowl along with the remaining dry ingredients, including the extra whole oats, and mix on reverse, speed 4 for 10-15 seconds until the mixture is just combined and comes together.
6. Drop tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto the prepared trays and flatten slightly with the back of a spoon, leaving enough room for spreading. Bake for approx 10 minutes or until they just darken evenly. First you'll see the edges brown and they'll just be a minute or so more. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on a tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days. 

No Thermomix?

Use my list of ingredients and make these using the traditional method for making Anzacs. Grind the cacao beans and flaxseeds in a coffee grinder, use any combination of flour instead of grinding your own to 130g (you could even use plain wheat flour if you prefer) and combine with the other dry ingredients. 

Nutrition tid bits
Sucanat or rapadura sugar as it is also known, is essentially dried cane juice. It still retains the vitamin and mineral rich molasses which is removed during the refining process to make white sugar. Brown sugar is commonly refined white sugar with added back molasses. 

Raw cacao beans, hailed as a superfood, are of course best eaten in their raw state in order to reap their potential health benefits. They are nutritionally a better choice than conventional cocoa or roasted cocoa beans because many of their active ingredients are preserved and not destroyed during heat processing. I utilise them raw in my Raw Cacao treat balls. Raw cacao beans are a rich source of a range of anti-oxidants, minerals and vitamins. 

Variation ideas

There are so many! 

For White Chocolate Cranberry Anzacs:  use 1/2 cup dried cranberries in place of the cacao beans, add 1 tsp cinnamon & drizzle with 100g melted white chocolate.

For Orange & Almond Anzacs: add 1 tbsp orange zest and 70g of flaked almonds in place of the cacao beans.

You can use raw cacao powder in place of the cacao beans and butter in place of the coconut oil if you don't have these in your pantry :)

The basic recipe for Anzacs is so versatile! I have made Anzac slice, Anzac muffins (recipes not as yet converted for the Thermomix) and have also been known to sprinkle crumbled homemade Anzac biscuits over stewed fruit as a quick fruit crumble. Try it sometime :)

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Nutty (and not too naughty) choc chip biscuits

I developed this recipe a while back and thought I'd share it this week while I have a little more free time on my hands to compose a post . . .

Do you say "biscuits" or "cookies" ? 

Well, I suppose it depends on where you are from.  Although I use both terms interchangeably (which comes with living among a community of expats from all over the world), I do tend to more frequently stick with my Australia-British heritage and use the term 'biscuit' . . . but what really matters is how they taste right?

My challenge was to make a healthier version of the everyday chocolate chip biscuit / cookie which could still hit the spot . . you know, that spot that only a good biscuit can possibly reach when you are craving that fix of carbohydrate for a mid morning or afternoon snack. Of course, you don't want to be feeling oh so guilty for eating them if you don't have to . . . would you agree? A good biscuit which has that crisp, crunchy, even chewy texture does need both fat and sugar. I have opted to use plant based fats and dehydrated cane sugar in the form of sucanat (or rapadura) in place of refined sugar. I have swapped refined white flour (the other carbohydrate ingredient) for wholemeal spelt flour and oats. You could try gluten-free flour. The addition of dried fruit to sweeten the biscuit further or used in place of the dark chocolate is an option of course, but then we would be moving away from the basic choc chip formula wouldn't we! That is for another recipe :)

My version is not over-sweet, making the dark chocolate a welcome addition. Good quality dark chocolate is great for you, as it is loaded with antioxidants. The added fats in this recipe are nutritious cold pressed plant oils from nuts and coconut rather than butter, so this recipe can be adapted to be vegan if you replace the egg with a flax-egg and use a dairy-free chocolate which you can make in your Thermomix! Owing to the nut component you couldn’t send these to school, but they would certainly be a fab high-energy and nutritious after-school snack. They are loaded with dietary fibre, and if you use walnuts, omega-3 fats too!

Nutty (not too naughty) chocolate chip biscuits

ingredients

80g whole oats

90g raw walnuts or cashew nuts

40g virgin coconut oil

50g sucanat (rapadura) sugar

50g raw caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 large egg

100g wholemeal spelt flour

20g water or milk

120g semi-sweet (dark) choc chips

method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line two baking trays with baking paper.
2. Place whole oats in TM bowl and grind at speed 9 for 30 seconds. Decant into a small bowl and set aside.
3. Add walnuts or cashew nuts to the TM bowl and grind for 5 seconds at speed 10. Add coconut oil and blend for 5 seconds more on speed 4, scrape with spatula. The mixture should similar to the consistency of peanut butter.
4. Add caster sugar, rapadura and vanilla and mix on speed 4 for 1 minute. 
5. Add egg and beat on speed 4 for 10 seconds.
6. Return the ground oats to the TM bowl and add spelt flour and 20g of water or milk. Mix for about 10-20 seconds on speed 4 or until combined.
7. Either add choc chips and mix on reverse speed 1 until evenly distributed, or use a spatula to incorporate by hand.
8. Roll heaped tablespoonfuls of cookie dough into balls and place on prepared trays. Flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Stand on trays for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze.

variations

add 2 tbsp of desiccated coconut
swap dark choc chips for white
use a flax-egg instead of a chicken egg

no thermomix?

• use oat flour instead of whole oats
• use a commercial nut butter instead of the nuts and coconut oil or try grinding the nuts in a food processor
• use an electric mixer for steps 4-7