Category: packed lunches

Blueberry muffins

I do have a fondness for blueberry muffins, they’re a great excuse to eat cake for breakfast, or anytime for that matter! Are blueberry muffins a little out of favour these days? They don’t seem to be on my radar anymore… maybe it’s because you don’t come across them often, or maybe it’s because I don’t get out very often these days 😂

Maybe it’s time to put the humble but rather delicious blueberry muffin centre stage once again? Well you can certainly do just that with these friendly versions. The sponge is light and fluffy just like a muffin should be, and once you’ve added a good handful of blueberries, the fruity tart morsels and delicate sponge make a stunning combination. If like in this house, some people have an aversion to fruit in baked goods, it’s pretty simple to divide the batter and add choc chips to half and blueberries to the other, then everyone is happy 😉

If using choc chips simply replace the lemon zest with 1 tsp vanilla extract and use a big handful of choc chips rather than the blueberries.

These muffins keep well for a few days in a loosely cover container, or freeze well if you’d rather 😀

Blueberry Muffins

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 12

230g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp cornflour

Pinch of salt

170g caster sugar

Zest of 1 lemon (for the blueberry version)

200ml dairy free milk

70g dairy free margarine, melted

1 tbsp cider or white wine vinegar

A big handful of blueberries

  1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade and line a muffin tray with paper liners.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients together and add the zest if using.
  3. Combine the milk, melted margarine and vinegar and pour into the dry ingredients.
  4. Gently mix so the batter is a bit lumpy but there are no patches of raw flour.
  5. Stir in the blueberries.
  6. 2/3rds fill each muffin liner and bake for 15-20 minutes until we’ll risen and golden. Cool.

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Tropical flapjacks

Sunny days call for not just food for outdoors but also bright tropical flavours, hence the inspiration for these deliciously lush oaty bars.

Flapjacks are one of the best packable foods- they’re sweet and delicious and stand up to be lugged about in a hot backpack, and even in the worse case scenario of them getting squashed they still make a rather delicious crumble. Besides they’re energy giving qualities are legendary and not surprising once you see the quantity of sugar and syrup they contain!

The tropical flavours are provided by a good dose of desiccated coconut, a handful of dried mango and a smidgen of pineapple juice, all topped with a optional squiggle of pineapple icing. It may be optional but it certainly looks nice!

Another of the beauties of flapjacks is that they freeze brilliantly. I often make a batch, portion them up and then freeze most wrapped in parchment. When it comes to making picnics or packed lunches you simply pop a frozen flapjack into a lunchbox first thing in the morning and by lunchtime you have a delicious fresh homebred treat.

Tropical Flapjacks

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, can be gluten-free if use gluten-free oats, vegetarian and vegan)

200g dairy free margarine (I use Pure soya or sunflower)

200g demerara sugar

180g golden syrup

2 tbsp pineapple juice

400g oats (preferably not giant oats)

1/2 tsp salt

50g dried mango, chopped

50g dessicated coconut (optional)

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Centigrade
  2. Line a 30×20 cm (approx.) baking tray with parchment
  3. Melt together the dairy free margarine, sugar, syrup, pineapple juice and salt
  4. When the sugar has dissolved mix into the oats, coconut and dried mango
  5. Spread into the lined baking tray
  6. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden
  7. Cool well before cutting into bars/squares.
  8. Serve plain or top with a squiggle of pineapple icing (125g icing sugar mixed with 1 tbsp pineapple juice)

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Victoria Sponge Cake Jars

I’m going to go a bit of a picnic theme over the next few recipes.

It’s June and sunny and so it’s just perfect to get outside and have a picnic kind of weather, and I feel the need for some more easily transportable goodies to take on days out. Some picnic foods make sense (sandwiches, bars and robust salads) but some things which are recommended for outings just don’t seem suitable. Books and magazines always suggest taking cakes on picnics, probably because they look appealing in the styled picnic photos but in my opinion cake never transports well, especially once it’s sat in the heat for a while and been jiggled about in a Tupperware box. Until now that is! With these delightfully tempting Victoria sponge cake jars you can have your cake and eat it, even on a hot picnic.

With these jars you get all the taste and elegant beauty of a Victoria sponge neatly squeezed into a jam jar, giving not only easy transportation but also the perfect individual servings. I’ve given two versions: one a traditional raspberry Victoria sponge and the other a more unconventional chocolate version. Take your pick, or do as I did and make two to please everyone 🙂

This sponge recipe is really fantastic; the yogurt and custard powder gives a taste and a structure is so authentic with none of the crumbliness that some egg-free sponges can suffer from. I hope you like it as much as we do 🙂

Obviously these jars can be dressed up anyway you like, add whatever additions you fancy and you’ll certainly have a show stopper dessert in your cool bag.

Victoria Sponge Cake Jars

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

For the sponge: (makes up to 8 jars worth)

185g self-raising flour

1 tbsp custard powder (or cornflour)

110g caster sugar

3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

145ml dairy-free milk

1 tbsp dairy free yogurt

50g dairy-free margarine, melted

1 tsp vanilla

  1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade/Gas Mark 5. Grease and line 1 cake tin
  2. Sift together the flour, custard powder, bicarb and salt
  3. Stir in the sugar
  4. In a separate bowl, mix together the dairy-free milk, melted dairy-free margarine, yogurt and vanilla.
  5. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix gently until well combined.
  6. Pour into the cake tins and bake for 30 minutes, until a knife comes out clean
  7. Cool in the cake tin for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.

for the icing: (enough for 4 jars, multiply as necessary)

3 tbsp dairy-free margarine

1 tbsp vegetable shortening (or just use 4 tbsp of dairy-free margarine in total)

200g icing sugar

1 tsp dairy-free milk

  1. Whisk together the margarine and shortening and well combined and soft
  2. Gradually add the icing sugar and the milk until you have a light and fluffy buttercream

chocolate ganache drizzle: (for the chocolate version, enough for two jars)

20g dairy-free chocolate

1 tsp dairy-free margarine

1 tsp dairy-free milk

  1. Melt the ingredients together until you have a smooth ganache

To assemble:

  1. For the raspberry Victoria sponges: pipe in a dollop of buttercream, top with a circle of sponge (cut out using a cookie cutter so it fits snugly in the jar), top with 1 tsp raspberry jam and a swirl of buttercream, repeat.
  2. For the chocolate Victoria sponges: pipe in a dollop of buttercream, top with a circle of sponge (cut out using a cookie cutter so it fits snugly in the jar), top with a swirl of buttercream and a drizzle of ganache plus a few chocolate chips, repeat.

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Easy Cinnamon Bun Twists

I love an easy pastry, one of those recipes that throw a few ingredients together and end up with a superb tasty sweet treat that everyone wows over. These easy cinnamon bun twists are just that, taking only a few minutes and little skill to end up with something that’s sure to get plenty of compliments. After all, who doesn’t love the sweet combination of spiced sugar with flaky crisp pastry?

These little puff pastry twists filled with a sugar and cinnamon mixture, akin to the filling of a cinnamon bun make a drool-worthy delicious pastry. Serve them as a quick homemade easy breakfast cinnamon roll, a perfect addition to coffee time or as a dessert with a pile of berries and some cream or ice cream.

The twisting may make these pastries look fancy but it’s terribly easy – just hold both ends and twist each away from each other until you have a loose ringlet of dough. Once baked they’ll puff up into a delightful twist of deliciousness. You don’t need to add the icing but i do think it makes them seem a bit more like a cinnamon bun, and who doesn’t love a little drizzle of icing?

Easy Cinnamon Bun Twists

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 8-10

1 pack ready make puff pastry (ready rolled is easiest as you already have the required rectangle)

2 tbsp dairy-free margarine

3 tbsp caster sugar

3 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp icing sugar to dust the pastries before baking

water icing (3tbsp icing sugar mixed with 1-2 tsp water)

  1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade and line a baking sheet with non-stick parchment
  2. Roll out the puff pastry and spread half with the margarine, sprinkle over the sugar and cinnamon
  3. Fold over and cut into 8-10 stops with the one end being held together where the join is (it’s easiest to use a pizza roller)
  4. Twist each strip into a pastry ringlet and place on the lined baking sheet. Dust with the 1tbsp icing sugar
  5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden brown.
  6. Cool and then drizzle with the water icing.

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Popcorn cereal bars

Next up in the recipes from cupboard odds and ends and these stunningly delicious popcorn cereal bars.

Big S and I have been on a mission to organise our larder. It’s quite an ongoing project but we’re going from a chaotic cupboard stuffed full to the seams to beautifully tidy pantry full of stacked glass jars and neat baskets of packages. It’s so rewarding! I keep going and opening the doors and admiring our work.

In organising we’ve come across so many odds and ends and multiple packs, they all had to be put to good use. The little bag of popcorn we came across made me think of those Pret popcorn bars. Do they still exist? By no means food allergy friendly, they were quite tasty. Then I found some oats and the dregs of a box of cornflakes. These seemed to make a coherent combination.

On testing it’s actually a stunning combo – toasty oats for a flapjack feel, cornflakes for the cereal taste and texture and popcorn for salty, sweet chewy hits. These bars have been declared delicious and already made twice! I urge you to make a batch for the week ahead – you’ll have a very happy family/friends 😀

Popcorn Cereal Bars

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, peanut-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 8-10 big bars, 16-20 small bites

50g oats, toasted

50g cornflakes

17g popcorn

80g caster sugar

120g golden syrup

60g Biscoff spread

85g dairy-free dark chocolate

  1. Spread the oats onto a baking sheet and bake in a medium hot oven (180 degrees centigrade) for 15 minutes until toasty
  2. Melt together the sugar, syrup and Biscoff spread until you have a thick smooth mixture. Stir in 15g of the chocolate.
  3. Stir in the oats, cornflakes and popcorn mix until everything is coated in the rich caramel sauce
  4. Press into a loaf tin lined with parchment. I used a 2lb loaf tin which is perfect for the amount quoted about. If you want to make more, double the quantities and use a standard square baking tin.
  5. Place in the fridge or a cool place to set.
  6. Melt the remaining 70g chocolate and drizzle over, leave to set.
  7. Cut into bars or squares.

lucylox2 Comments

Cupboard raid cookies

I’m really into baking with what’s to hand at the moment. Restrictions maybe easing here but I think I’ve gotten used to not just nipping to the shops whenever I fancy, and instead fully planning before each shop. But despite meal planning, more often than not an idea strikes and I don’t have the ingredients in, then I’m in a pickle! So to avoid disappointment I’ll take the other approach of opening the pantry doors and seeing what’s around. More often than not some interesting combination can be dreamt up on the hoof. That’s where these cookies come from, a good amount of time staring into the open larder and coming up with plans! We often seem to have bits and bobs of a variety of snacks hanging around and that made me think of Compost Cookies.

Compost cookies are very popular in the USA and the Milk Bar version seems particularly popular (at least on the social media channels I follow) but they’re not familiar in the UK. Compost Cookies are basically a cookie at which you’ve thrown in everything lurking in the kitchen cupboards, resulting in soft cookies studded with salty and sweet morsels with interesting textures. I’m not so keen on the term compost cookie, it doesn’t sound too appetising to me, hence my version ‘the cupboard raid cookie’ (well at least I think the name was concocted by me!)

You could add almost any snack like ingredient to this recipe but I’ve opted for pretzels (salty crunch), salted crisps (more salt), oats (substance), chocolate chips and crushed up biscuits (sweet crunch). I wasn’t sure how they’d turn out, crisps in cookies does sound like a step too far, but they are actually pretty delicious with the sweet salty crunchy ingredients really adding to the flavour profile. Go on have a rummage and see what you come up with 🙂

Cupboard Raid Cookies

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 12

110g dairy-free margarine

100g caster sugar

80g soft brown sugar

1 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp dairy-free milk

1 tsp essence of choice (caramel or vanilla work well)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

225g plain flour

40g assorted chocolate chips

20g broken pretzels

20g salted crisps

20g oats

20g crushed biscuits

  1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Centigrade (160 degrees Centigrade fan). Line two cookie sheets with baking paper
  2. Cream together the margarine and sugars until light and fluffy.
  3. Whisk in the cornflour, milk and essence.
  4. Sift in the flour, salt and baking powder and stir to make a soft but not sticky dough. Stir in the chocolate chips. Then very gently fold in the other additions (remember you can add whatever you like!)
  5. Roll into golf ball sized rounds and slightly flatten. I like to press a pretzels piece into the top of each one.
  6. Place spread apart onto the baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes until turning slightly golden around the edges. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets until they’ve firmed up and then move to a wire rack to enjoy.
  7. These will last for a good few days in a sealed container.

lucylox4 Comments