Showing posts with label dairy free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dairy free. Show all posts

Thursday, April 12, 2012

{ homemade rice crackers }

Continuing on from here, I was recently insipred by a dear friend who is also having to make a lot of specialized home made food and snacks for her little Miss, she'd made little crackers using quinoa, so that she was able to give her a little snack food and something different with a bit of crunch.

Due to Miss 1 being unable to tolerate less and recently no longer being able to tolerate rice cracker she was previously eating either due to the potato starch or the small amount of sugar that was in them I had to come up with something new. So I set my self a challenge to create some rice crackers using only water, rice and salt. There were not recipes on the net so I had to be creative!

Initially I used a combination of rice puffs that I ground using a mortar and pestle, added some rice flour so it was a 50:50 minx, then a few twists of salt and water to make a paste like mixutre. Spread this mixture on baking paper, baking in a hot oven, turning over part way through and then finishing baking until crispy. This is the result:



The not so great rice crackers, scroll down for the great ones!


They were ok, they were crunchy, and Miss 1 would eat them sporadically, but after a few days them became chewy and not so great, you know the stuck in your teeth kinda food. So I had to come up with something new... and like all good ideas it came to me at 1am when I was just finishing up work, and as I wasn't going to fire up the oven in the wee hours of the morning it had to wait until the next day, but it was so worth it and the results speak for themselves!

{Light Crispy Rice Crackers}

Part 1. Preparing the rice:

1 cup of long grain rice
2 cups of water

Place rice and water in a medium saucepan and cook on a low heat, this is the absorption method for cooking rice, so you will need to keep an eye on it so that it doesn't end up sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. If you find that the rice hasn't cooked through enough with that amount of water, just add in small amounts, mix it through and continue to cook for a couple of minutes longer.

Part 2. Making the Rice Crackers

1 cup of cooked (absorption method) rice
1/4 cup water
Salt (I use a salt grinder)

Preheat your oven to 210°C (fan forced) or 410°F, and line a large baking tray with baking paper


Take 1 cup of the cooked rice, place it in mortar and pestle and bang, smash grind as best you can, it doesn't have to be pefectly smooth, I seasoned it with 3-4 grinds of salt.


Slowly add water and mix through the rice to create a paste, you don't want it runny, needs to be so you can spoon it and it not drip.



 Using approximately a heaped teaspoon of the rice mixture and form roughly 5cm across "crackers, no need to be picky. as they will change as they cook.


Place in the oven for approximately 15minutes, they will be starting to brown on the edges, but the rice is still soft in the middle.


Using an egg slide, gently lift the crackers off the paper and turn them over, you will notice they the underneath has a crinkled shape from the paper absorbing the moisture from the rice. Place back into the oven for a further 5 minutes, if you want them crispier or browner just increase the length of the second cook.


The results, light crispy rice crackers, with no fat or oil, feel free to sprinkle salt on them or for a bit of extra flavouring you could also try chicken salt on them as well (but those with allergies or intollerances chicken salt often contains milk solids, garlic and/or onion.

Enjoy xxoo

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

{ chocolate brownies }

Welcome to my blog and where better to start than with something naughty but oh sooo good at the same time {chocolate brownies}! I was given this recipe some time ago when we began dietry restrictions for my youngest, I was craving something chocolatey and sweet and a dear friend with a little boy with a range of allergies, so they'd made changes to an original recipe and the results are a beautiful moist and chocolately gooey centre and a shiny and a bit of a crunch to the top.... mmmmmm

Ingredients

 ~   2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
 ~   2 cups raw sugar
 ~  3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
 ~   1 teaspoon baking powder
 ~   1 teaspoon salt
 ~   1 1/2 cups water
 ~   1/2 cup vegetable oil
 ~   1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F).
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Pour in water,   vegetable oil and vanilla; mix until well blended. Spread evenly in a 9x13 inch baking pan.
  3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top is no longer shiny. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into squares. If you want them more crunchy and less gooey cook them for longer.



Dry ingredients ready to be mixed


Mixed ready to go in the tray and into the oven



The finished product

Variations
  • Add in a cup of frozen raspberries for a fruity change, you may or may not need some extra baking power to help offset the weight of the berries, it is a bit of trial and error with this one
  • Add in 2 teaspoons of peppermint escence for a mint chocolate brownie
These are fantastic, they keep well in a sealed container and don't need to be refridgerated.... ENJOY!