Fruity Chocolate Truffles for Junelle - and they are gluten, egg, and dairy free

Little Miss has had a great term of swimming with Junelle at Aquagym. We always make a little home-made baked gift for her swim teachers at the end of each term. In this case there wasn't much baking involved; one of my gluten free colleagues gave me this recipe a while ago. At the time our kitchen whizz had just blown up, so the recipe got filed. Time poor as usual, and scratching my head about what to make, these were the perfect, quick and tasty treat for a Saturday morning.

I have adapted the original recipe to use different fruits and seeds, and you too can substitute whatever you happen to have in the pantry. The original recipe used walnuts and coconut instead of pumpkin seeds and chia. The combination of natural fruit and energy rich seeds makes them a perfect brain food snack.

Fruity Chocolate Truffles

1 cup pitted dates
1 cup sultanas
1/4 cup dried apricots
a handful of goji berries
1/4 cup preserved ginger - choose the ones without the sugar coating, or just rinse the sugar off.
1/4 cup dried mango - chopped into smaller pieces
1 cup pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons dark cocoa
1 tablespoon sunflower or canola oil

1/4 cup chia seeds for coating the truffles

First toast the pumpkin seeds in a hot pan. 

Keep them moving around the pan or they will quickly burn. tip into a bowl and set aside to cool.

Once the pumpkin seeds are cool, place all the ingredients except the chia into the food processor. 

Be sure to choose fruit that is not too dried out, or the truffles wont hold together.









Process the mixture until it forms sticky chunks. Don't over process or all the texture will be lost. 

Roll the truffles into even sized balls, then toss them in the chia seeds. 

Leave to sit for a little while so they set. And your done! A tasty snack in no time.

Little Miss just loves Junelle, and so she was very happy to give her this little gift to show our appreciation for all her good teaching.

Mrs Murray's Chocolate Chip Biscuits

This recipe was given to me by a great friend of our family, Anne Murray. It's perfect for when a bulk bake up is required for family, friends or even fund raising efforts. Anne often makes a batch each for her sons and their families. 

I've made this lot for my family at the farm. Hamish and Emily are busy shifting stock, feeding out and break fencing, and Mum and Dad are caught up in the nightmare that is earthquake repairs. You'll need a large bowl, a strong(ish) arm and plenty of time to bake each tray to make this quantity. They keep really well in an airtight container, so are perfect for taking away on holiday road trips. Their deliciousness will mean they wont last long anyway.

Anne Murray's Chocolate Chip Biscuits

500g butter
500g caster sugar
395g can condensed milk
5 cups plain flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
250g bag chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 175deg. C. and line a couple of baking trays with paper.

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. 

Beat in the condensed milk.

Fold in the sifted flour and baking powder. 

Then fold in the chocolate chips.

Roll into walnut sized balls and flatten onto the baking trays. 

Take care to leave a couple of cm of gap between each biscuit as they will spread during baking.










Bake for 8 minutes. 

The biscuits will brown a little due to the sugar content. 

They come out of the oven soft, but harden once cool. 

Transfer to a baking rack, then repeat with the next tray. 

I think I made about 80. I lost count. They were delicious.

Making Lollie Cake with Little Miss 4

Little Miss 4 has a huge thing for Lollie Cake at the moment. The moment she spots it in a cafe cabernet, its all she wants. I wouldn't actually consider Lollie Cake as actual baking, given that almost all the ingredients come preprepared in a packet ready to be squashed and mixing; however, she was mad keen to make it, so we gave it a try. We didn't take an actual recipe to the farm, so I had to just wing it.

Lollie Cake

1 packet of malt biscuits
1/2 tin condensed milk
100g butter
18 eskimo or 25 fruit puffs lollies

Using a food processor blend the malt biscuits into fine crumbs.

Melt the butter and condensed milk together until just mixed. 

Mix in the crumbs followed by the lollies. 

I broke the eskimo lollies up into three before adding them.

Form into a log, wrap in plastic film and refrigerate until firm.

Cut into slices as required.

Cake all done with plenty of time left over to go and feed the animals with Nana.