I had some over ripe bananas so decided needed to make some banana bread.   After the success of the Anzac biscuits from The Healthy Chef website I decided to give the banana bread recipe a try, you can find the recipe here.   I ground my own almond meal and flaxseed in the Thermomix and set aside.   You then whip up the rest of the ingredients like a smoothie on speed 5-6 for 20 seconds.   I then added the almond meal and ground linseed and mixed for another 20 seconds on speed 5-6.   The mixture pours into the loaf pan like a batter.   I sprinkled the top with walnuts, cinnamon and some organic raw sugar before baking for about 60 minutes on 160 degrees celsius.   I did oil and flour the pan but had some trouble getting it out and some of the base stuck to the bottom, think maybe needed to cool a bit more before removing from the pan.    Served it with ricotta, blueberries and drizzle of organic maple syrup, made a delicious brunch with coffee, I think my cat Peppa agreed!

It is Anzac Day and felt inspired to try and bake some gluten free Anzac biscuits.   I checked out various recipes and consider making some with my supply of Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Free Oats from USA.   Oats that are not contaminated are considered gluten free in USA but in Australia they are not considered gluten free, mainly due to contamination issues but also as oats do contain a type of gluten known as Avenin.   I have been eating a moderate amount of Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Free Oats for a while now with no ill effects.   Consult with your health professional and read the Coeliac Australia position statement on oats here before you consider consuming them.

So oats debate over found a recipe for gluten free Anzac Biscuits at Teresa Cutter’s The Healthy Chef website here.  I did not have any flaked almonds so added more almond meal.   I also used half cup of coconut and half cup of the World’s Best Cereal Porridge with Brown Rice Flakes, Quinoa, Cinnamon and Rapadura Sugar.

150g ground almond meal (in the Thermomix)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup WBC porridge
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
1 tablespoon water

Combine almond meal, coconut and WBC porridge.
Combine honey and oil in small saucepan and heat gently.
Mix the bicarb and water and pour into saucepan and mix until starts to go frothy.
Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until combined, add a little water if needed.
Form into small balls (about a teaspoon each) and place on baking sheet, flatten with a fork.
Bake in low preheated oven, 120 degrees celsius, for about 30 minutes until golden.
Allow to cool slightly before eating, taste delicious with a cup of tea!

It was Aubrey’s 40th birthday and we had friends over for drinks and nibbles and needed cake so went into The Cheesecake Shop to get a black forrest cake for everyone.   I was planning on being cake free as over Easter and school holidays have over indulged.   But there was a sign at The Cheesecake Shop saying try our gluten free chocolate mud cake so on impulse bought a whole one!   I was impressed as the staff member tells me they are baked in a dedicated facility and then plastic wrapped and sent down to Bunbury.   Of course this means has been frozen and the list of ingredients is long, probably not the healthiest choice but for convenience factor worth buying and great for a kids birthday cake!   It tastes delicious, not that different from their other chocolate mud cake, but best warmed slightly with some vanilla ice cream! (I like the Weiss for a gluten free vanilla bean ice cream)

Autumn Coles magazine also had a section on gluten free Easter recipes and decided to give this gluten free brownie a try as but different as uses ground up gluten free rice cakes as the base.

120g thick gluten free rice cakes
100g macadamias chopped
125g butter chopped
100g Green & Blacks 70% dark chocolate chopped
1/2 cup pure icing sugar (plus extra for dusting)
1/2 cup cacao sifted
2 free range eggs lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
fresh raspberries & cream to serve

Preheat oven to 150 degrees celsius and grease and line 20cm square cake pan.

Place rice cakes in TM and grind on speed 9 for 1 minute or until fine crumbs, transfer to a bowl.

Chop macadamias in the TM and add to the bowl, stir to combine.

Place butter, chocolate, icing sugar and cacao in a saucepan and stir on low heat until melted and smooth.

Add to rice mixture and mix to combine.

Add eggs and milk and mix well.

Put into cake pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake for 15 minutes or until just set, cool in the pan.

Dust with icing sugar and slice into fingers.   Serve with raspberries and either cream or ice cream.

One of the best blogs for gluten free and Thermomix is Quirky Cooking.   Jo is amazing at creating tasty and healthy recipes and I have tried many but this latest one just might be my new favourite.   We had some salmon for Good Friday and wanted to do something different, Aubrey wanted a curry, so best of both worlds with this recipe.   We did not have any quinoa and so used basmati rice instead which came out like coconut steamed rice.   Check out the recipe and Quirky cooking blog here.