Baking

Waffles

~ nzthermomixmum
Sugar free waffles
Sugar free waffles

http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/basics-recipes/waffle-mixture/137187 There are endless waffle recipes on the community to chose from, I was keen to try this sugar free waffle batter in the thermomix. This one from  the recipe community was well liked ( link above) and made with yoghurt and separated eggs. The one we had tested previously was an easy waffle recipe in which all the ingredients for the batter were mixed all together.  (egg whites were not separated) We’ve decided we prefer the crispness of a waffle batter that has whipped eggs whites. Although this sugar free waffle recipe is  a good recipe, the kids cleverly thwarted my attempts to reduce sugar by slathering  the waffles with huge amounts  of maple syrup which really defeats the purpose of a “sugar free waffle”. So after trying two popular recipes from the community, we’ve decided our own family recipe is still our favourite. Separating the egg whites makes the waffles lighter and crispier. Here it is converted for the thermomix :-

Our family favourite waffles

  • 2 eggs
  • 1.5 c milk (355 g)
  • 0.5 c vegetable oil (90 g)
  • 1.75 c flour (245 g)
  • 1 Tb baking powder
  • 1 Tb sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  1. Preheat waffle maker.
  2. Butterfly in, Beat eggs white in thermomix bowl 1 minute, speed 4. Set whites aside.
  3. With butterfly still in, Add egg yolks, mix 30 seconds, speed 4.
  4. Add milk, oil, dry ingredients, mix 5 sec, speed 4.
  5. Add egg whites back in  mix 5 sec, reverse sp 2. (Or just fold in whites )
  6. Cook in waffle maker.

This recipe makes about 6, 4 section waffles. Enough for two breakfasts and great frozen and toasted later for quick easy breakfast.

Soft buttery pretzels

~ nzthermomixmum
Pretzels
Pretzels

Amazing pretzels! Made the dough in the thermomix for Sunday brunch in less than five minutes. Recipe from “Festive flavour” only needs yeast, milk, flour, sugar and olive oil.  Recipe uses 550g of flour for this recipe and we made 14 pretzels. The pretzels are dipped into a baking soda and water before being baked. The trick we’ve learnt with the dough is to let the yeast rest in the first mix of milk yeast and sugar for 10 minutes, it starts to froth on the top as it activates. Then add the flour and salt and use dough mode to knead for two minutes. Proving the dough (we just left it in the thermomix bowl) till it doubled in size took less than an hour. So while you have to think in advance when you want to eat, the dough is so easy to make and it’s a great fun activity for the kids to roll the pretzel shapes.  Baking only takes between 8-12 minutes at 200C. Brushed with butter and sea salt after coming out of the oven.

This recipe is also available on the thermomix app, the one with the green thermomix symbol. A lite version is free to download from the App Store.

Raw Cacao Bliss Balls

~ nzthermomixmum
Raw cacao bliss balls
Raw cacao bliss balls

These paleo raw organic cacao balls are soooooo good. Processed simply in 20 seconds in thermomix and then hand rolled into coconut. Kept in the fridge they are perfect sugar free sweet treat for lunch boxes and coffee or morning  tea. Miss 8 said “so yummy… I like the chocolate centre” Ground raw almonds to flour, then added medjool dates, coconut oil, chia seeds and cacao powder. Recipe link below from the thermomix community. It’s only takes seconds at speed 9 to convert raw almonds to almond flour.

Almond flour/meal
Almond flour/meal

http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/desserts-sweets-recipes/organic-raw-cacao-bliss-balls/122176

Pretzels

~ nzthermomixmum
Pretzels hot out of the oven
Pretzels hot out of the oven

Miss 14 was looking through our new thermomix cookbook ‘Festive Flavour’ for a new recipe to try and the pretzel recipe  jumped out. We love the pretzels from the hole in the wall pretzel shop in upper Queen St. Their apple and cinnamon pretzels are super yummy so we’re hoping this recipe measures up. The recipe is simple and dough is prepared in a few minutes and left to prove in warmed thermoserver. Miss 14 shaped into pretzels, dipped into hot water mixed with baking soda before baking for 10 minutes. Half sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Fab homemade pretzels.

Gluten free muesli slice

~ nzthermomixmum
Breakfast muesli slice
Breakfast muesli slice

Oops ate a piece before the photo could be taken! Just received a new recipe book and chip “Cooking for me and you”. This book and recipe chip caters for gluten free and vegetarian diets and specifically created for  two person meals, we figured adapting for a family wouldn’t be too difficult. The guided recipe above was made for kids afternoon tea today, called ‘breakfast bars’. This slice is a highly nutritious combination of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. Used prunes instead of apricots, other ingredients ..figs, assorted nuts, 3 eggs, pepitas, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut and maple syrup . Not very sweet because I reduced maple syrup from 60g to 35g. Probably add some chocolate chips for the kids next time as there were no ahhhs today !  But it’s certainly healthy and simple to put together and it will be great for their lunchboxes.

Apple tart

~ nzthermomixmum
Apple tart
Apple tart

I’ve never made pastry before and was keen to try it with this guided apple tart recipe from the Basic cookbook. Ran out of time to make it look pretty hence the fairly rustic look  and didn’t bother to core the apples either.  Seeds and a little peel are all good roughage. The pastry was made in a couple minutes and the hardest part about this recipe is peeling the apples. We absolutely loved the taste of the end result. Homemade apple pie, the short crust pastry is crisp and a slice with vanilla ice cream really really good. Made in a small 20cm tin so only needed half the apples. Was so quick decided to make another one and use the other half of the apples. Again reduced sugar topping on the apples to just a sprinkle instead of 30g. Here’s apple tart number 2 for lunchboxes !

Apple tart second time
Apple tart second time

Caribbean carrot cake

~ nzthermomixmum
Carrot cake with cream cheese icing
Carrot cake with cream cheese icing

This is a carribean carrot cake, made using the guided recipes, super quick because the thermomix grates the carrot and mixes all the other ingredients with carrots, I reduced sugar and used assorted activated nuts instead of walnuts. Great recipe and made up two loaf tins instead of one round cake, reduced cooking time slightly. Here is the pic of the very last slice before it was demolished.

Wholemeal bread rolls

~ nzthermomixmum
image
Wholemeal bread rolls

Thermomix held a course for new owners in Mt Wellington on Tuesday night. Brilliant … Miss 14 and I attended and we came away enthused to try so many more guided recipes from sampling the dishes and drinks there. Can’t wait to make homemade muesli, gluten free bread, lemon and parsley juice, brown rice salad and creamy tomato soup. The peach sorbet served up was ‘wow’ but we are a already  spoilt because we have sorbet/ slushies/ smoothies  use nearly every day with assorted fruits and berries. The inclusion of fresh herbs is definately on the list now that we have a newly planted herb garden and tasted the fab lemon and parsley juice.  One of the consultants demonstrated three methods of plaiting bread rolls using the guided basic bread recipe P218 in the Basic cookbook.  So had to give this one a go.  The rolls are wonderful, used half wholemeal half flour to make the dough. The proving took about an hour rather than the 30 minutes but the worth the wait. The texture was still great the next day for school lunches. And both miss 14 and miss 8 wanted to eat them just plain with butter and pesto.

Strawberry Bliss Balls

~ nzthermomixmum
Raw strawberry bliss balls
Raw strawberry bliss balls

These raw vegan sugar free bliss balls are made from medjool dates, banana, strawberries, activated nuts, chia seeds, and coconut.  Used thermomix to blitz the dates first, then added the other ingredients. Pulsed a few times. Shaped into balls and rolled in desiccated coconut and refrigerated for 20 minutes to firm up. Rolled a few in chocolate hail for kids. But they were happy to eat the sugar free ones. Delicious and a great alternative to biscuits and cake. Recipe from Pete Evans Paleo Family Food cookbook.    Strawberry bliss ball link http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/desserts-sweets-recipes/strawberry-bliss-balls/232564