Category Archives: snack

Nutella pizza stars

Posted on December 15, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Nutella pizza stars

We had so much fun making our mini pizzas, that we’ve been using the pizza dough to make other things, sweet things!

Cooking the pizza dough a bit longer and without any topping, creates a lovely crispy biscuit texture. And even though the dough isn’t sweet, adding something sweet on top is enough to turn the savoury dough into a sweet treat.

Little ones can help make the dough, roll it out and cut out the shapes, and there’s no easier decoration than spreading Nutella and dusting with icing sugar. They’re going to love their creations!

NUTELLA PIZZA STARS

Prep time: 1 hr 40 mins (for dough to rise twice)
Cook time: 5 mins
Makes about 30 biscuits
Uncooked dough can be frozen

7 g dried yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups strong white bread flour such as “OO” flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup cold water
A handful of semolina (optional)
1 jar of Nutella
icing sugar to serve

Put the warm water in a small bowl and add the yeast. Leave for 15 mins for it to froth up.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, olive oil and cold water. Add the yeast mixture and mix until it comes together in a ball.

Knead the dough on a floured work surface for about 5 mins. It should feel elastic and soft, and be a bit sticky.

Put the dough back into the bowl, cover and leave to prove for 20 mins.

Divide the dough into two, place the second piece in another bowl, cover both and leave to prove again for an hour (the dough should double in size).

Heat oven to 220C and leave the tray you’ll use (preferably a heavy-based one) inside to heat up (this helps cook the bottom of the pizzas).

Lightly flour your work bench and roll out one piece of the dough as thin as you can. Use a star-shaped cookie cutter to cut out your shapes.

Lightly cover a cutting board with semolina, place your pizza stars on top and drizzle with a dash of olive oil. Open the oven and bring the hot tray out enough so you can sprinkle on some more semolina and slide the stars from the cutting board on to the tray (the semolina will help them move more easily).

The time it takes to cook your pizza stars depends on the thickness of your dough, but they should only take about 5 mins so keep a close eye on them. They’ll probably puff up a little. They’re done when the dough is golden brown on the edges.

Put the stars on a wire rack to cool. Once cool, spread with some Nutella and dust with icing sugar.

Nutella pizza stars

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Posted in cooking with toddlers, dessert, recipe, snack, toddler and tagged Christmas, Christmas biscuits, cooking with kids, Nutella, recipe, sweet pizza. Bookmark the permalink.

Mini pizzas (pizzettas)

Posted on December 3, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Nicholas loves pizza. Does any child not love pizza? So I thought, let’s try making it together for our next cooking adventure. There’s lots of fun to be had rolling and shaping the dough, and then there’s the toppings.

I prepared the dough on my own, then involved Nicholas in making the mini pizza bases. He has a little plastic roller that was absolutely perfect for rolling out the dough, so perfect in fact we kind of fought over who used it! I’d already prepared some toppings in separate little plastic bowls ready for sprinkling over the bases, but the dough was much more interesting and Nicholas left the topping selection up to me. Perhaps he’ll be more interested next time.

mini pizzas

On the subject of pizza dough, hubby is always searching for the perfect recipe. The leftovers of his quest are lurking in the dark corners of our freezer. I’m not convinced he’ll find his pizza ‘grail’, but don’t tell him that otherwise I won’t get to eat his experiments.

Not being Italian, I’m not so fussy with my pizza dough. And I also have this theory that if you make your bases as thin as you can, you can be almost guaranteed your pizza will be yummy (I have to whisper this next bit: even without using the proper Italian flour).

If you’re making these with your munchkin, use toppings they like. And remember that children generally like their food very colourful, much more than us boring adults. We topped our pizzettas with a little tomato puree, grated courgette/zucchini, pieces of buffalo mozzarella and diced fresh tomatoes. Oh, and no matter what you put on top, a final drizzle of olive oil over the top makes them perfect.

MINI PIZZAS

Prep time: 1 hr 40 mins (for dough to rise twice)
Cook time: 5-10 mins
Makes about 30 mini pizzas or 2 medium pizzas
Uncooked dough can be frozen

7 g dried yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups strong white bread flour such as “OO” flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup cold water
A handful of semolina (optional)

Put the warm water in a small bowl and add the yeast. Leave for 15 mins for it to froth up.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, olive oil and cold water. Add the yeast mixture and mix until it comes together in a ball.

Knead the dough on a floured work surface for about 5 mins. It should feel elastic and soft, and be a bit sticky.

Put the dough back into the bowl, cover and leave to prove for 20 mins.

Divide the dough into two, place the second piece in another bowl, cover both and leave to prove again for an hour (the dough should double in size).

Heat oven to 220C and leave the tray you’ll use (preferably a heavy-based one) inside to heat up (this helps cook the bottom of the pizzas).

Lightly flour your work bench and roll out one piece of the dough as thin as you can. Use a round cookie or scone cutter to cut out your shapes and try to tease each circle a little more with your fingers to make it even thinner.

Lightly cover a cutting board with semolina, place your pizza bases on top and then add your toppings. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil. Open the oven and bring the hot tray out enough so you can sprinkle on some more semolina and slide the pizzas from the cutting board on to the tray (the semolina helps the pizzas move more easily).

The time it takes to cook your pizza depends on the thickness of your dough and the amount of toppings you’ve put on. As a guide, check after 5 mins. They’re done when the dough is golden brown on the edges, and the cheese is bubbling and just starting to turn golden.

Finish with some torn pieces of fresh basil.

mini pizzas

Sugar-free flapjacks (oat bars)

Posted on November 23, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

I’ve been looking at flapjack recipes for a while, trying to find a variation that isn’t full of sugar or dripping with butter. They’re a lovely filling snack and you can easily add nutritious ingredients such as seeds or dried fruit, but also adding heaps of sugar cancels out the goodness for me.

I couldn’t find a recipe I liked, so I thought I’d experiment with one of my favourite natural sugar substitutes – ripe bananas. Those horrid looking brown, maybe even black, bananas that often lurk in our fruit bowls are super sweet. I actually have quite a few in my freezer as I always seem to have them at the end of the week and don’t always have the time to use them in something. So instead, I peel them, break them in half, shove them into ziploc bags and throw them in the freezer.

The sweetness in my flapjacks comes not only from ripe bananas, but also from some honey and dates. If you want to experiment with different flavoured sugar-free flapjacks, make sure you include some sweet dried fruit. Flapjacks are great as they can be very simple or full of different flavours and textures. You can experiment with different seeds or different nuts, and you can also add some spice like cinnamon or ground ginger. For me, next time I make these I’ll leave out the walnuts, as the seeds were enough for me with the fruit and coconut.

Flapjacks are a filling snack, especially if they’re soft inside like these are. Hubby, who’s not familiar with flapjacks and their dense texture, suggested having them as a dessert with custard to lighten the taste. And why not?!

Nicholas had a great time helping me make these. He seemed to be excited by how many little bowls of ingredients there were to be mixed into the oats. He’s getting better at stirring (not a lot went on the floor) and is also understanding the importance of tasting as you go 🙂

SUGAR-FREE FLAPJACKS (OAT BARS)

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15-20 mins
Makes 16 squares

200g porridge oats
100g dried stoned dates, chopped
30g desiccated coconut
50g walnuts, chopped
30g pumpkin seeds, plus extra for sprinkling on the top
30g sunflower seeds, plus extra for sprinkling on the top
100g butter
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 ripe bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 175C and grease a 20cm square baking tin.

Gently melt the butter and honey either in a saucepan or in the microwave. Leave to cool.

In a large bowl, mix the oats, dates, coconut, walnuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds together.

Add the vanilla and mashed bananas to the melted butter and honey, and then pour into the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

Press the mixture firmly into your tin and sprinkle over the extra seeds.

Bake for 15-20 mins until golden on top and it’s coming away from the sides of the tin.

Take out of the oven and, while it’s still warm, use a knife to score where you will cut. Leave in the tin to cool before cutting.

Variations:

For simpler flapjacks, leave out the seeds, coconut and walnuts
Add some warming spice like cinnamon or ground ginger
Substitute the dates with another sweet dried fruit such as apricots or cherries
Make dairy-free flapjacks by replacing the butter with a dairy-free margarine

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Spiced apple sugar-free flapjacks

9 Comments

Posted in cooking with toddlers, family, recipe, snack, toddler and tagged finger food, flapjack, oats, recipe, ripe banana, snack, sugar-free, sugar-free flapjack, toddler, vegetarian. Bookmark the permalink.

Cheesy courgette muffins

Posted on November 21, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Nicholas loves being in his kitchen pod, up where all the action is happening, and today as soon as he was in it he started chanting ‘Cook! Cook! Cook!’ Mummy couldn’t have been happier!

Up until now, we’ve just made biscuits together, either my chewy oaty biscuits or a variation of them. I thought it was time to try something savoury, something Nicholas could have as a proper meal rather than a treat. Looking through one of my favourite mummy foodie blogs for inspiration, Gourmet Mum, I knew Filipa’s muffin recipe would be perfect.

I made very few changes to Filipa’s recipe as it’s fantastic as it is. She uses dried as well as fresh herbs, but I just used fresh, and I sprinkled some grated parmesan over the tops of the muffins before baking for an extra crispy cheesy top (What makes cheesy muffins taste better? More cheese!).

If you’re making these with little ones, prepare everything beforehand so they’re just pouring and mixing. Older children can do more of the preparation, especially weighing and measuring the ingredients.

The muffins are wonderful for lunch (you can serve them with some raw vegetables) and would be great for brunch or packed in a picnic basket. And if you’re not a vegetarian, they’d be delicious with some pieces of cooked ham or bacon in the mixture.

CHEESY COURGETTE MUFFINS

Prep time: 10-15 mins
Cook time: 20-30 mins
Makes 12 regular-sized muffins
Freezable

200g self-raising white flour
100g self raising wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
80g cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
1 small courgette / zucchini (about 120g), coarsely grated
2 eggs, lightly beaten
210ml milk
90ml vegetable oil
1 tbsp fresh chives or parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
4 tbsp grated parmesan

Preheat the oven to 200C. Either lightly spray a 12-hole muffin tray with cooking spray or line with paper cases.

Mix the white and wholemeal flours, baking powder and grated cheese in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl or jug, combine the courgette, eggs, milk, oil, herbs and salt (if using). Add this to the flour mixture, mixing until just combined (mixing as little as possible keeps your muffins light in texture).

Divide the mixture evenly between the 12 muffin holes. Sprinkle the grated parmesan over the tops of the muffins.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden and cooked through when tested with a skewer.

Tip out onto a wire cooling rack.

Variations:

Add a handful of chopped cooked ham or bacon to the muffin mixture.

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Posted in cooking with toddlers, family, lunch, recipe, snack, toddler and tagged cheddar cheese, cooking with kids, courgette, family, finger food, Gourmet Mum, lunch, picnic food, recipe, savoury muffins, snack, toddler, vegetarian, zucchini. Bookmark the permalink.

Baby oat cakes

Posted on November 12, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

My regular readers will know by now that I always need inspiration for breakfast. So when I came across Laura’s microwave raspberry oat cakes, I woke up the next morning with a spring in my step, eager to try them.

I’m a big fan of porridge for little ones as there are so many variations you can do, and this is a brilliant different way to use porridge oats. It’s also super quick and open to variations.

These mini oat cakes would be perfect for baby-led weaning, ideal finger food for a toddler snack, and I even made another for my afternoon tea!

Laura makes hers with frozen raspberries. I first tried frozen strawberries and then some raisins I’d soaked in warm water (if giving to a baby, it’s important to first soak any dry fruit to avoid any possible choking hazard). Try to use a banana that’s as ripe as possible as it will be sweeter (actually this is another great recipe for using up overripe bananas).

They were a great success with Nicholas who called them biscuits and dunked them in milk. He said ‘yum’ in English and Italian as well as signing it, interspersed with requests for ‘more!’. I couldn’t have been happier 🙂

Check out more of Laura’s budget-friendly family recipes on her blog Small Wallet Big Appetite.

BABY OAT CAKES

Prep time: 3 mins
Cook time: 4 mins
Makes 1 oat cake

1/2 medium banana
1/4 cup (20g) raw porridge oats
A pinch of cinnamon
4-5 pieces of chopped frozen strawberry

Mash the banana in a small microwave-safe bowl (I used one that was about 10cm across at the bottom).

Add the cinnamon and oats, mixing well so all the oats are covered in banana.

Gently mix through the frozen pieces of strawberry.

Press the mixture down firmly into the bottom of the bowl and cook in the microwave on high for 3-4 minutes until it turns into a firm little cake.

Tip the mini cake out. Once cooled, cut it into wedges.

Variations:

use other frozen berries instead of strawberries
use dried fruit (raisins, chopped apricots, etc) instead of strawberry, but soak them beforehand if giving to a baby

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Posted in baby, breakfast, family, recipe, snack, toddler and tagged baby, baby-led weaning, breakfast, dairy-free, finger food, oats, porridge, recipe, Small Wallet Big Appetite, snack, toddler, vegetarian. Bookmark the permalink.

Mini vegetable pakoras

Posted on November 9, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Pakoras were my inspiration for these golden vegetable nuggets. You can use almost any vegetable you like and make them as mild or as spicy as you like. See if you or your little ones can resist them!

My recipe is over at Mindful Mum.

Happy Halloween

Posted on October 31, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

In case you needed some more inspiration to create some fun food for Halloween, here are some more ideas.

My dear friend Kath sent me another picture of some more of her scary finger biscuits. These are less hideous and playing a tune!

These howling (or are they screaming?) strawberry ghosts from Taste of Home would be a quick and semi-healthy treat.

Meaghan over at the Decorated Cookie has loads of the cutest Halloween goodies. Kids would have lots of fun making their own zombie marshmallows.

And her monster cookie sticks are super easy and another great baking activity for kids (you could use the same biscuit dough as Kath’s scary fingers and make both!).

Gingerbread skeletons are all over Pinterest. These are from Family Fun. You could use any animal or person shape and add an icing skeleton.

Who said gingerbread houses were just for Christmas? You certainly wouldn’t if you saw the amazing constructions created on this year’s Great British Bake Off, and why not a Halloween house? Emma at Mummy Mummy Mum made this spooky house with her munchkins (and look to see what she used for scaffolding during construction).

Finally, what can you do with the leftover pumpkin after you’ve carved your jack-o-lanterns? Pumpkin muffins of course! And the Breakfast Lady has a lovely yummy recipe.