It seems that more and more the message we get is stay home, do not travel, do not visit, do not, do not. I am sort of okay with being homebound—we have places to walk and things to do—but I seem to be consumed with thoughts of having something to nibble on more and more.
My task has become to find snacks that are healthy and still satisfying to one’s palate. The granola cookies work nicely and the rice pudding is a real hit for all of us.
Granola Cookies
These cookies are a treat and healthy. They are not sweet! I also changed up a few of the ingredients and they still turned out. Spelt flour instead of whole wheat flour, pumpkin seeds instead of almonds, and raisins went to a mix of dried fruit (blueberries, cranberries, apples and mangoes).
2 eggs
1 very ripe banana, mashed
3/4 cup honey or maple syrup
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup coconut oil or your choice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp of ground flaxseeds
1 Tbsp of cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
3 cups large-flake rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup roasted almonds coarsely chopped or your choice
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut
1/2 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 350°F and line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Beat together the eggs, banana, honey, applesauce, coconut oil and vanilla until thoroughly combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, flaxseeds, cinnamon, and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat until smooth.
Add the oats, nuts, coconut, and raisins and mix until well blended.
Roll dough into one-inch balls and place them fairly close together on the cookie sheet (they won’t spread much during baking). Press to about 1/2 inch thick. Bake until firm and golden, 15 to 25 minutes or so. Cool on a rack.
Creamy Rice Pudding
It has been awhile since I made this rice pudding! It is still one of my favourite desserts. The original recipe tells you to cook the pudding in a double boiler, which I once did but found a heavy bottomed pot on low heat, stirring the rice at the very start every few minutes worked just as well. The sugar in the milk and the starch of the rice at the start will burn very easily. This time I actually made the rice pudding using a full fat coconut milk. No issues at all with the rice burning and the pudding had a lovely flavour.
5 cups homogenized milk
1/2 cup short grain rice— Arborio rice
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar or honey or maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
Beat the eggs with the sugar, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Set aside.
Place milk and rice in a double boiler or heavy bottomed pot. Cook until rice is tender, about 30 minutes. Add the egg mixture and cook for another five minutes, stirring the whole time.
Let cool covered. Very important!
