SRC: Healthy Raspberry Bars

It's the 4th Monday of the month which can only mean one thing.... It's Secret Recipe Club Group D Reveal day! I love the Secret Recipe Club and look forward to reveal day every month. The concept is simple - each blog is assigned another blog in secret and the idea is that you choose a recipe to make from your secret blog and reveal it on the same day. It's a great way to discover new blogs and exciting recipes. 

This month my assignment is Without Adornment written by Bean. Her favourite hobbies are baking/cooking and photography, both of which she showcases on her blog. She is gluten intolerant and loves to experiment with vegan baking so her blog is a treasure trove of gluten free/dairy free/vegan recipes. I know more and more people with gluten intolerance and food allergies so this was a good opportunity to experiment with recipes and to bake outside my comfort zone. 

I had a real nosey round her blog and I do encourage you to pop over and say hi. She writes a beautiful blog with lovely accompanying pictures. I shortlisted a few recipes to try and in the end went with this raspberry bar as it sounded good and I had some fresh raspberries to hand. Her recipe is a gluten and refined sugar free vegan bar. I've made some adjustments as I did not have all the ingredients to hand so mine is not quite gluten free but it's dairy free with minimal refined sugar. I was really pleased that mine turned out almost exactly the same as Bean's. It tastes like a crumble and the sweetened, spiced tart raspberries are the perfect filling. These would be great for lunch boxes or picnics.

Other recipes I shortlisted to try are banana coconut cream pie, Vegan GF strawberry banana loaf with walnuts, Health(ier) Peanut (Not Quite) Brittle and Vegan Polenta Pizza. 

 flour and oat mix 

 adding coconut oil 

 looks like a crumble mixture 

 mix the raspberries with honey and spices 

 press more than half of the flour mixture onto a traybake tin 

 add a layer of raspberries 

 top with the remaining flour mixture 

 delicious!

Recipe adapted from Without Adornment

55g ground almonds

80 g brown rice flour

100g oats

55g wholemeal flour

100g spelt flour

1 teaspoon baking powder 

50g dark brown sugar

100g coconut oil

450g fresh raspberries

4 - 5 tablespoons honey (adjust to taste) 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• In a large bowl, mix the ground almonds, brown rice flour, oats, wholemeal flour, spelt flour, sugar and baking powder.
• Add the coconut oil and rub into the flour mixture with your fingers until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• In a separate bowl, mix the honey, spices and raspberries together. 
• Spray a traybake tin with non stick spray. Press more than half the flour mixture into the tin and smooth out the top with a spatula.
• Spoon the raspberry layer on top and finish with the remaining crumble mix.
• Bake for approximately 30 - 40 minutes or until golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before slicing into squares.

An InLinkz Link-up

Peanut Butter Granola Bar

I felt like making granola bars one weekend. It's not something that I regularly bake but I decided it was a good way to clear out my baking cupboard as I could put in a combination of seeds, nuts and fruits all of which were sitting in my cupboard gathering dust. I often buy ingredients in case I want to make something or it's on offer and sometimes I forget about them or change my mind and they end up sitting there for ages. So this recipe is slightly made up based on ingredients I had available but you can easily adapt this your tastes. 

The bars were really tasty and I got lots of compliments about them. I love the peanut butter in there and the mix of fruit, nuts and seeds make it seem healthy. Definitely a good on the go snack or lunch box treat. 

I'm entering this to Tea Time Treats hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage this month and co-hosted by Kate from What Kate Baked on alternate months. The theme this month is Flapjacks, Oats and Tray Bakes.

I'm also entering this Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. The challenge was started by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla at Fab Food 4 All inviting us to share our frugal food recipes.  This recipe is a great way to use up bits of dried fruit, nuts and seeds that you have lying around in your cupboard. It's probably not cost effective if you had to buy all the ingredients separately as seeds and nuts are generally on the expensive side. However, I didn't have to buy anything to make this recipe as I had everything to hand so I think it fits the bill for credit crunch munch.

I'm also entering this to a new blogging challenge called Treat Petite. It's hosted by Kat from The Baking Explorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi and the idea is to submit any sweet treat that's individually portioned and not a big cake. The theme this month is 'No Theme' so anything goes. These are perfect bite sized sweet treats! 

 brown sugar, crunchy peanut butter, honey, golden syrup, oats, dried cranberries, flaked almonds, roasted chopped hazelnuts, seed mix

 I also had an opened pack of this pineapple and papaya mix so I added it in as well 

 Love the colours! 

 Melt honey and butter 

 toasted granola 

 make the peanut butter mixture 

 drizzle with chocolate before serving 

100g butter
100g honey
480g oats
100g flaked almonds
100g toasted chopped hazelnuts
60g seed mix (pumpkin, sunflower, hemp seed, linseed, sesame seed)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
100g dried cranberries
145g pineapple & papaya mix
100g crunchy peanut butter
125mls golden syrup
70g soft brown sugar
50g dark chocolate (optional) for drizzling at the end

• Melt honey and butter in a small pan.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.
• Pour melted honey and butter mixture over the dry ingredients and stir well.
• It should be a dry mixture at this point.
• Spread out thinly over 2 lined large baking trays and bake for about 10-12 mins, stirring half way until lightly toasted and slightly browned. Be careful not to burn your granola at this point!
• In a medium sized saucepan, melt peanut butter, golden syrup and brown sugar. 
• Transfer cooled toasted granola into a large mixing bowl.
• Pour over the peanut butter mixture and mix well.
• Press into a large rectangle tin as shown and allow to set completely. (I put mine in the fridge for about 20 mins)
• Drizzle with melted chocolate if using. 
• Slice into large squares and serve. 

Apple and Sultana Crumble Bars

This is my second entry for Tea Time Treats hosted on alternate months by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Kate from What Kate Baked. The theme for November is Ginger and Bonfire Treats, hosted by Karen.  I was leafing through my Hummingbird bakery cake days book and came across this recipe which is in the 'Halloween and Bonfire Night' section. It's a lovely recipe which is relatively simple to prepare. I love the spices mixed with the apples and sultanas. I'm sure I've mentioned previously that I'm not a fan of ginger but you can barely taste it in this recipe which is perfect for me. The crumble is buttery and soft with the chewiness of the oats, plus it makes it seem slightly healthier! 

 making the base 

 add the spiced apples

 sprinkle sultanas on top 

 finish with more crumble - I didnt have enough to cover the whole top so some of the sultanas were burnt!

 fresh from the oven 

Recipe from the hummingbird bakery cake days

200g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

200g unsalted butter, softened

250g light brown sugar

120g rolled oats

300g granny smith apples (approximately 2.5-3 apples peeled, cored and chopped)

4 tablespoons cornflour

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground ginger

175g sultanas

• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. 
• Add the butter and rub together until they resemble breadcrumbs. 
• Stir in the sugar and rolled oats.
• Press half of this oat mixture into a greased and lined tray (approx 22cm x 31cm). 
• Peel and core the apples, then cut into small chunks. 
• Mix the apples with the cornflour and ground spices. 
• Place the spice-coated apples on top of the oat mixture then sprinkle over the sultanas. 
• Spoon the remaining oat mixture on top and press down gently. 
• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the mixture is golden brown.
• Allow to cool completely in the baking tray before slicing and serving. 

Butterscotch Marshmallow Bar

I finally got round to making something from the Hummingbird bakery cake days having bought the book months ago. It's quite a good book (lovely pictures with a good, clear layout) although some of the recipes are similar to the original hummingbird bakery cookbook. I've already bookmarked quite a few but it joins my eternal 'to bake' list which seems to get longer everyday! 

This is a quick and simple bake and guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser as most people love marshmallows (weirdly, not me!), butterscotch (yum) and nuts. The blurb in the book says "they're unlikely to last long - your friends just won't be able to resist" Well it definitely disappeared quickly at work with lots of compliments :) 

I have to say it does not look like the picture in the book but it definitely tasted good. I also got to learn about cooking sugar until it reaches the soft ball stage. 

 base 

 the soft ball stage (this was a new learning experience for me so I thought I'd add in a photo to try and illustrate what it should look like - I have now ordered a jam thermometer so should be easier next time!)

 sprinkle marshmallows on top 

 Add the butterscotch and nuts 

For the base

150g flour

40g icing sugar

120g unsalted butter, softened

For the topping

100g pink and white mini marhsmallows

210g caster sugar

150g soft light brown sugar

190g golden syrup

70g unsalted butter

60ml double cream

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

60g crunchy peanut butter

30g mixed chopped nuts (I only had pecans so went with that this time)

• Preheat the oven to 170C; grease and line a 22cm x 31cm baking tray.
• Mix the ingredients for the base until a dough forms (by hand or with an electric mixer using the paddle attachment).
• Press the dough into the prepared baking tray, making a slight lip around the edge and bake for 20 minutes or until the edges are a light golden brown and the middle is pale but cooked. 
• Place the marshmallows on top of the baked base, spreading them out evenly. 
• Place both types of sugar with the golden syrup and 240ml of water and bring to the boil.
• Allow the mixture to boil until the sugar reaches the soft-ball stage (see notes below and picture above).
• Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. 
• Bring the butterscotch back up to the boil and allow to bubble away for approximately 3 minutes.
• Take the pan off the heat and stir in the double cream, vanilla essence and peanut butter. 
• Stir continuously until the peanut butter has melted.
• Pour the mixture on to the base and sprinkle the chopped nuts on top. 
• Allow to set at room temperature for a few hours or preferable overnight. 
• Slice into bars and serve. 

Notes: 

To check whether your sugar syrup has reached the soft ball stage, use a spoon to drop a small amount into a bowl of very cold water. 

If the syrup has been cooked to the correct heat, it will form a soft ball in the water.

Removed from the cold water, this ball won't retain its shape but will flatten in your hand. 

Congo Bar

I came across these on Bakerella's blog recently and knew I had to make it. If you've not read bakerella's blog, I highly recommend it. She makes the best baked goods around including really cute cake pops.

So what is a congo bar? I've never even heard of it until now. It's apparently a cross between a brownie and a cookie. Heaven. Sometimes you just can't decide especially for a self confessed cookie-holic and brownie-holic like me. Beats cake anyday in my book :)

I took Bakerella's advice and made these by hand. They turned out beautifully and I'm pretty sure I could have eaten the whole tray! It's like a really decadent chocolate chip cookie with the texture of a brownie. I made these late at night (again!) and didn't have all the ingredients to hand. So I improvised and think it's probably better this way! I didn't have enough chocolate chips so I added some M&M's and chopped chocolate. I have to say I was shocked when I saw how much sugar was required - 1lb (454g) so I reduced this and it still tasted a little sweet to me.

Give this a go and I guarantee you'll love it :)

I love the brightly coloured M&M'sYummy batter Fresh from the oven. I added some chocolate shavings on top for fun. Might even try sprinkling some 100s&1000s next time.

Would you like a slice?

Recipe adapted from Bakerella

 

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter, softened
325g light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
100g milk chocolate chips
185g M&Ms
~50g chopped chocolate (optional)

• Preheat oven to 180C
• Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.
• Stir brown sugar into softened (not melted) butter in another large bowl until butter disappears.
• Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture and stir well after each egg.
• Add vanilla, chocolate chips, M&Ms and chopped chocolate if using. Mix well.
• Add dry flour mixture and stir until well combined.
• Pour into baking pan (I used a square one as pictures) and bake for 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.