Maple, Pecan, Raisin & Oaty Cookies

I wanted to make a semi healthy cookie to snack on.

I came across this recipe and thought it sounded good. After looking at the ingredients i realised they weren't as healthy as they sounded, but decided to give them a go anyway.

I'm so glad i made them, they have to be one of the best cookies I've ever had, they are crunchie, chewy and SOOOOO yummy!!!
You got the sweetness of the maple syrup, but the salty pecans cut through the sweetness.

I felt the nuts, raisins and oats would kind of even out all the sugar and fat, well that's what i tell myself every time i have one, but it is hard to stick to just one!!

That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!

Makes 24 cookies

Pre heat oven 140c, 275f, gas mark 1

140g oats
50g desiccated coconut
225g plain flour
140g salted pecans roughly chopped (if you can't find salted, just add ½ tsp salt to recipe)
100g raisins
140g unsalted butter
225g light soft brown sugar
3 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsp boiling water
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

In a bowl mix the oats, coconut, flour, raisins and pecans.

In a saucepan over a medium heat melt the butter, with the sugar, maple syrup and golden syrup, when melted remove from the heat.

Combine the bicarbonate of soda with the boiling water and stir into the butter mix.

Stir the butter mix into the dry ingredients.

Form balls of dough about the diameter of a 10p coin, place on baking tray about 3 inches apart and flatten slightly.

Bake for 14/16 minutes, depending on how crunchie you want them.

Let them cool on the baking tray for 10 minutes, as they will be too sqidgy to move.

Banana, Cinnamon & Chocolate Muffins....

I was making a batch of Banana, Cinnamon and Chocolate Muffins. I had made some snazzy cases from parchment paper and spooned the mixture in them all, that was time consuming.
I'd put them in the oven, then noticed the bowl of mashed banana still sat on the side!!!
I did wonder why the mixture was too stiff, luckily they had only been in oven for 10 seconds so I managed to save them.

Needless to say I'd had enough of making the cases, so reverted back to the normal shop bought ones.

They may not have looked so pretty, but they still tasted GREAT!!!

They were moist and light and fluffy too....

Pre heat oven 180c, 360f, gas mark 5

Makes about 12 muffins

2 large eggs beaten
125ml vegetable oil
200g light brown soft sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas mashed
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
50g walnuts toasted and roughly chopped
50g dark chocolate roughly chopped ( i use lindt 70% chocolate)


In a bowl mix the eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla extract, then stir in the bananas.

In another bowl sieve the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir in till just mixed, don't over mix or your muffins will be heavy and tough.

Gently stir in the  nuts and chocolate.

Spoon mixture into paper cases in a muffin tin, about ¾ of the way up.

Bake for 20/25 minutes, till a cocktail stick or skewer comes out clean.

Best served warm.

They freeze well, just revive them in the oven for about 4 minutes.

You can use other nuts like pecans or hazelnuts, and add raisins if you like.

Juicy Chilli Chicken & Cashew Nuts with Noodles

We are very much into Chinese food in our house at the moment, and it's all due to Ching-He Huang, we recently saw a series she made called Chinese Food in Minutes and the recipes she cooked looked delicious!!
So i found the recipes and tried them out, the first dish i made was this one, and it was delicious, so much tastier than a take away and you know exactly whats in it, it also took just as long to cook it as it takes to order and pick up a take away!!

I added my own little touches, and extra ingredients to make it to our tastes.......

Serves 2
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 10 minutes


3 chicken breasts thinely sliced
1 tsp corn flour
1 tbsp water
½ tsp Chinese 5 spice
2 tbsp ground nut oil
1 tsp sichuan peppercorns
1 tsp chilli bean paste (available from Chinese supermarkets)
1 red chilli finely chopped
½ head of broccoli
1 tbsp shaohsing wine (available from Chinese supermarkets)
100g roasted salted cashew nuts
1 tsp light soy sauce
Juice of ½ lime
1 packet of straight to wok noodles
1 tbsp coriander leaves chopped


In a bowl combine the corn flour, Chinese 5 spice and water, mix in the chicken.
Heat the oil in a smoking hot wok, add the sichuan peppercorns, chilli bean paste and the chilli, stir fry for 30 seconds, add the broccoli and a dash of water to create steam to help the broccoli cook and stir fry for 2 minutes.
Add the chicken and the shaohsing wine and stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the noodles, and nuts, stir fry for 2 minute, then season with the coriander, soy sauce and lime juice.