Variations on a pancake

I tweeted about these pancakes back in October last year, but have only just got around to finishing the blog - life somehow got in the way.

We often enjoy pancakes as a family, and have been using the same recipe for dairy-free pancakes for ages now.  They go very well with bacon, or with maple syrup and banana and the recipe works every time.

I've been trying some recipes from my most recent Weightwatchers cook book, and when I noticed there were not one, but two pancake recipes in it I knew I would try them out sooner or later.


Recipe 1: Apple Drop Scones

We had a bowl full of apples that we were struggling to eat, the first one I tried was this recipe for apple drop scones.   I adapted the recipe to make it dairy-free and I thought the results were pretty good.  The kids, however, were not so sure.  They didn't like the bits, and only ate them after taking out the raisins and the apple pieces.  (in fact, they were so against the bits that even several months later whenever I make pancakes they say "without bits mummmy" in a slightly anxious voice)



Ingredients

100g self -raising flour
50g muesli (I used sugar-free Alpen)
1 eating apple - peeled, cored and finely chopped
25g golden caster sugar
1 large egg
150 ml soya milk (sweetened)
2 teaspoons vegetable oil (I used oil spray)


Method

Mix the flour, muesli, sugar and apple together.  Beat the egg in the milk, then add to the dry ingredients and beat well
Leave to stand for 15 minutes
Heat a large frying pan with some oil spray
Put tablespoons of the mixture into the pan (as you can see, I could cook 5 at a time in my pan)
When bubbles form on the surface turn them over

The original recipe suggests serving these with low fat spread and jam, but we had them with maple syrup, which I can heartily recommend.

Makes approximately 18 pancakes.  Propoints value: 3 for 2 pancakes with 1 tsp maple syrup

Recipe 2: Maple griddle cakes with apple 'jam'

A few days later we still had loads of apples left, so I thought I'd try again. This time I adapted a recipe for 'Griddle cakes with banana jam'  My version is almost unrecognisable, being made with maple syrup and soya milk and with apple puree instead of banana jam.  The 5-yr-old loved the 'apple jam' and ate several pancakes without any maple syrup at all - a first for him.  And it has the added bonus of legitimately being one of your 5-a-day.

Ingredients - Pancakes

100g self-raising flour
1 egg
1 tablespoon maple syrup
150 ml soya milk (sweetened)
vegetable oil spray

Ingredients - apple jam

3 eating apples
1 tbsp caster sugar
pinch cinnamon
1 tbsp water

Method

Mix all the pancake ingredients together to make a smooth batter
Leave to stand for 10 minutes

Peel, core and chop the apples
Cook them in a covered pan with the cinnamon, water & sugar until cooked.  Mash gently with a fork to form a coarse puree

Put tablespoons of the mixture into the pan 

When bubbles form on the surface turn them over

They are done when they are set and golden brown on each side

Serve with the apple jam

Makes approx 16 pancakes.  1 propoint per pancake (with apple jam)

Recipe Evolution

Both these recipes were inspired by recipes found in this Weightwatchers cook book, which can be bought on Amazon:

Banana and Chocolate Muffins

These muffins are the result of many attempts at perfecting a banana and chocolate chip recipe.  I have experimented with this many times - mainly because we seem to always have 2 or 3 bananas that are just too ripe to eat, but not so over-ripe that they should be put in the compost.

They are always a huge hit in our house, and work particularly well as an after-school snack for the 5-yr-old.  I do still occasionally make my grandmother's banana bread when I have some old ripe bananas hanging around, but these muffins have become a firm favourite.

I've not tried them with nuts yet, but I'm sure they would taste good with walnuts or pecan nuts in them.

Recipe

Ingredients

125ml sunflower oil
250g plain flour
2 eggs
100g caster sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 medium ripe bananas
100g dark chocolate chips

Method

Whisk the eggs, maple syrup and oil together
Mash the bananas
Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl together
Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together
Mix in the bananas and chocolate chips

Divide equally between 20 small muffin cases and bake at 200 C for 15-20 mins, until golden brown on top

Recipe Evolution

These are based on this recipe in Nigella Feast.  By replacing the butterscotch chips with dark chocolate (as recommended by the good lady herself)  they are dairy-free.   I reduced the amount of chocolate by a third initially to reduce the propoints, but then the next time I made them added some maple syrup as with less chocolate they were slightly less sweet.

Weightwatchers

These come out as 4 propoints each using the recipe builder on the website.  If you make more or fewer muffins from the mixture then adjust the propoints accordingly.

Interaction

I tweeted a picture of these muffins and was tweeted back by @ww_uk asking me to send them my recipe so they would publish it.  I duly did so, but didn't really expect to hear anything back. A few days later though, they replied, asking if it was ok for them to share it via social media and when I said yes, they tweeted this:

Fancy something indulgent but low in ProPoints values? Try @bakingdoctor’s chocolate&banana muffin recipe, just 4 PPV! twitter.com/ww_uk/status/2…
— Weight Watchers (@ww_uk) November 1, 2012

I gained 7 new followers as a result, and a great feeling of satisfaction.  Goodness only knows how happy I would be if I ever published an article or a book!

Halloween Cookies

I've had a break from this blog for nearly a year - as I had to concentrate on revising.  I've finally passed the exam and now never have to sit one again.  I can't tell you what a relief that is.  I also can't really believe that I was still taking exams well into my 30s - definitely one of the downsides of choosing medicine as a career.

Now that have more time on my hands I'm getting right back into my baking, and have been particularly motivated by watching the latest series of Great British Bakeoff.

I've always enjoyed making cookies and biscuits using a wide variety of cookie-cutters, so when the kids were invited to a Halloween party it was the perfect excuse for me to get out my tried-and-tested pumpkin cutter and new-and-exciting ghost cutter.  Taking food with us to a party serves two purposes - it's always lovely for the host to receive home-baked goods and it means that the 3-year-old is definitely allowed to eat something sweet.

I've tried these out with a few flavour combination, but find that orange and cinnamon works best for autumn.  The kids like them in all their incarnations (so far), which is pretty unusual, and explains why I've so much practice making them.

Recipe

Ingredients - Biscuits

90g sunflower spread
100g caster sugar
1 egg
230g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
zest of 1 orange
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Ingredients - Icing

100g icing sugar, sieved
1 egg white (I use powdered, as then it is kid-safe)
Juice of 1 orange

Method

Cream sunflower spread and caster sugar.  Beat in the egg, orange zest and cinnamon.  Mix in the flour and baking powder to make a dough.
Cover in clingfilm and put in the fridge for about an hour

Roll out thinly and cut into your desired shapes

Bake for 8-10 minutes at 180 C

Meanwhile, make the icing sugar by combining the icing sugar and egg white with enough orange to make a spreading consistency and colour as required.

When the biscuits are cool enough, ice them.  The icing will set within about 30 minutes, so you have to work relatively quickly at this stage

Recipe evolution

This is based on Nigella's 'cut-out cookies' from her Feast book, but dairy-free and flavoured for autumn

Variations

Nigella's original recipe calls only for vanilla (1/2 tsp), with plain icing.  Lemon also works well (zest of 1 lemon in the dough and some lemon juice in the icing)

WeightWatchers

Using the recipe builder this works out as 2 propoints per biscuit (if 40 biscuits made - adjust points accordingly if making more or fewer biscuits)

Pumpkins from our vegetable patch last year

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

I baked these for a third birthday party last month. The recipe is one that has become a favourite of mine, and that honestly seems to work just as well with either butter or sunflower spread. Unusually, the kids finish them in their entirety - rather than just licking off the icing and discarding the cake beneath.

The recipe is based on Marguerite Patten's recipe for sponge cake, which has never failed for me, whether at Victoria Sponge size or tiny fairy cake size. You can't really see from the picture, but the cupcake cases have fire engines on the side - I tried to make bright red icing to go on top, but it tasted bitter, so I reverted to a pale orange instead.

Recipe and Method

Cakes (about 8 fairy cakes or 6 medium cupcakes)

Weigh the egg

Use same weight of sunflower spread and caster sugar, then cream together

Sift 1 tbsp cocoa powder then make up to the weight of the egg with self-raising flour

Beat the egg into the creamed spread and sugar, then mix in the cocoa and flour

Mix in the zest of 1 orange

Divide equally into cupcake cases and bake at 180 C for 8-12 mins, depending on size. They're done when a skewer comes out cleanly

Icing

25g sunflower spread

100 icing sugar

Juice of 1 orange

Beat the sunflower spread well, then stir in the (sieved) icing sugar, using a little orange juice to bring it all together. You shouldn't need more than a couple of tablespoons or orange juice. Makes enough icing to cover the tops of the cakes (as in my photo). If you want swirling icing then you'll need to double the quantity.

For larger quantities, just weigh the eggs and use that weight for all the other ingredients.

Recipe Evolution

This way of making sponge cakes using the weight of the eggs to determine the weight of the other ingredients was designed for use with old-fashioned balancing scales, so you could use the egg(s) as a counterweight for the other ingredients. It works brilliantly with digital scales, as you can be really accurate with the weights.

Weightwatchers

If you make 6 cakes per egg then these have 5 propoints each (using the recipe builder on the website), if you make 8 per egg then they have 4 propoints each

Dairy-free Peanut Butter Cookies

This blog seems to be turning into a 'how-to' for good dairy-free baking - which shouldn't really have come as a surprise to me, as I've spent the last 15 months or so perfecting some dairy-free recipes. My goal is always to bake things that work well without dairy products and that I would be happy to eat even if there was a dairy alternative.

I have experimented with a lot of cookies over the last year or so, and although I've found several combinations that work relatively well, these are the best so far. I'm sure that the peanut butter makes all the difference, and the texture is (if I say so myself) perfect. My son absolutely loved them straight out of the oven, but was less keen once they had cooled down. However my daughter (for whom all this dairy-free baking is done) was not at all keen and wouldn't even take a bite, warm or cold.

Myself and my partner loved them however, so I will definitely be making them again.

Ingredients

170g Sunflower Spread ( I use Pure)

105g Demerera Sugar

100 Gram Caster Sugar

1 Egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

185g Crunchy Peanut Butter

260g Plain Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Method

Beat the sunflower spread and sugars together, before mixing in the peanut butter. Then beat in the rest of the ingredients.

Roll the mixture into approx 2.5 cm sized balls and place on a baking tray. Press down with a fork. Bake them for about 10 minutes at 170 C

Recipe Evolution

This recipe here is the one I adapted, from the excellent website The Joy of Baking

Weightwatchers

If you make 32 of these, then they will have 4 propoints each (using the recipe builder calculator on the website). Without the chocolate chips they will have 3 propoints each, but I haven't tried baking them without the chocolate. I expect they would still be good though.

Dairy-free Chocolate Fudge Cake

My brother-in-law came to stay a couple of weeks ago and we noticed that it was his birthday over the weekend he was with us. Now, when you reach your mid-fifties you tend not to make such a fuss about birthdays anymore, so we thought we'd make him a surprise cake. Even the 3-year-old managed to keep it a surprise and only referred to a 'special pudding' and at the end of dinner we duly turned off the lights, lit a few candles on the top of the cake and sang Happy Birthday to him. He was properly surprised, and and texted later to say he was really pleased we made the effort - which just illustrates the point that you're never too old for a birthday cake.

For my part, I was really pleased with the cake itself. I adapted it from my grandmother's recipe (which I will I'm sure blog about at some point - it is the family's chocolate cake of choice) to make it dairy-free and I have to say that I think this version may even beat the original.

Ingredients (cake)

8oz self-raising flour

3 oz sunflower spread

7 oz caster sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

1 cup (250ml) almond milk

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 eggs

4 tbsp cocoa

Ingredients (icing)

12 oz icing sugar

2 tbsp cocoa

2 oz sunflower spread

a little hot water

Method (cake)

Cream the sunflower spread and sugar, add the eggs and mix well. Then stir in the (sieved) flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Finally mix in the golden syrup and almond mixture. It will seem very runny - that's how it's supposed to look.

Makes enough for 2 8" sandwich tins or 2 7" sandwich tins and about 4 cupcakes.

Bake at 190 C for 20-25 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean. The cupcakes will take 8-10 mins.

Turn onto a rack and ice when completely cool.

Method (icing)

Beat the sunflower spread well, then stir in the (sieved) icing sugar and cocoa, using a little hot water to bring it all together. You shouldn't need more than a couple of tablespoons of water. Makes enough icing to sandwich the two cakes together and ice the top (as in my photo). If you want to cover the sides as well you'll need to make half as much again.

Hints

Keeps in the fridge for at least 4 days. If you don't like cold cake then I can heartily recommend popping a slice in the microwave for 20 secs or so - with amazing results.

I have used soya milk instead of almond milk with good results, but the taste and texture are superior with almond milk.

Dairy-free Pancakes

I experimented with a few dairy-free pancake mixtures until I found the best one - so I thought I'd share it here. They are thick and fluffy, and extremely moreish, and I can honestly say that I enjoy them just as much as my previous efforts with cow's milk.

They are perfect with maple syrup and streaky bacon - both the 3-year-old and the 1-year-old love them and ask for them every weekend without fail. They also work with blueberries in them - scatter a handful of blueberries over the pancake before you flip it for the first time.

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

1 cup soya milk

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

Method

Whisk together until the batter is smooth, with no lumps. Cook in a griddle or frying pan with a small amount of vegetable oil in it. Serves 2 hungry adults or 4 dieting ones.

Hints

They are best made straight after mixing the batter - if it is left to rest for longer than a few minutes it goes a bit grey and thick (although still tastes ok when cooked)

Recipe Evolution

I must credit this website here - the mixture I started with before tweaking it to my taste.