Choc Chip Banana Muffins

This recipe is very similar to Nigella's Choc Chip Banana Muffins but has been changed a little to cater for some allergies as well as be a bit better for you.

Ingredients: 3 very ripe bananas, chopped 120g coconut oil (or vegetable oil) 2 eggs 250g spelt flour (can use plain if not making wheat-free, or try gluten free) 100g rapadura sugar (can use raw sugar if necessary) 1/2 tsp. bicarb soda 1 tsp. baking powder (make sure it's GF - most are) 150g choc bits, or 100g of Dark Chocolate cut into small choc-chip like size ***(see note at bottom of post) Directions: Preheat oven to 200°C and line muffin pans with 12 large muffin papers. Add chopped bananas into thermomix bowl, and mix for 4 seconds, speed 7. Scrape down sides.  Add the coconut or vegetable oil, and the 2 eggs and mix for 10 seconds, speed 4. Add the flour, sugar, bicarb soda and baking powder. Set to locked lid position, and set to interval speed   for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides, then add the choc bits (or whatever you decide to put in) to the mixture.  Mix on interval  speed  for another 30 seconds. Fill muffin papers to 3/4 full, and bake for 18-20 minutes, or when skewer comes out clean. Leave in tins for 2 minutes, then take out muffins and cool on wire rack. Recipe makes 12. *** To make dairy free, I used Lindt's 70% cocao chocolate. There are also other dark chocolate varieties which don't contain any dairy. Although these ones still have a bit of sugar, it's not too much and the rest of the ingredients are good. There are also dairy free choc chips available at some stores. Sweet William make them and they are very good, especially if you don't like dark chocolate, as it can get a bit strong at times!!! **If using the dark chocolate, make sure the chunks aren't too big as they can be too strong, but not too small that they melt and disappear when cooked. If you don't absolutely love dark chocolate, I would recommend using a little less than 100g too, and to make sure the chunks are evened out through the muffin cases when spooned in.  *It would also be possible to leave out the chocolate altogether and either substitute something like sultanas in, or just not put anything in to replace it.

Easy Thermomix Wheat-Free Puff-Pastry

Today I decided to create a meat pie. It took me all morning to try and find a recipe for wheat-free puff-pastry. I couldn't seem to find any I really liked, and decided to search for a normal thermomix pastry, that didn't contain lard. Once I found one, I began by cooking my mince and other ingredients for the inside of the pie. After that, I began on my pastry, and I must say, it has turned out terrific!!!
***Note, I would recommend watching the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVOloNVP2Po&list=UU3YoO0TMNCuwFv6HyzOxnow&index=2&feature=plcp as it explains how to do each part of this process. If using pastry for something other than vol-au-vents, then don't worry about the part onwards from rolling it into a rectangle. Now, I have used the same recipe from this site, but substituted spelt flour for plain flour. I have also used this pastry for a pie, but it would be suitable for any recipe requiring puff-pastry. You may also like to use plain flour as she has, or experiment with a gluten-free flour. If you do happen to try this out, please leave a comment to let us know how it goes.

Easy Thermomix Wheat-free Puff-Pastry

90g ice cubes

180g unsalted butter, frozen (I find it best to chop into small sticks that will fit into the thermomix before freezing)

200g spelt flour

1/2 teaspoon himalayan salt, or similar (can use normal salt if necessary)

2 Tbsp water

• Put ice cubes, butter, flour and salt into Thermomix in the order listed. Chop 7 seconds/speed 7. Mix 5 seconds/REVERSE/speed 5. Knead 3 min/intermittent dough speed while adding the water.
• Compress into a bundle. Wrap in silicone mat or parchment paper and refrigerate for about 30 minutes before proceeding.
• Preheat oven to 200°C and make sure it is at this temperature when you place the pastry into the oven. Then grease your pie dish with extra butter.
• After the 30 minutes, take the mixture out of the refrigerator and begin rolling out on your silicon mat as shown in the video, adding flour when necessary. (I found I had to add flour to my mat, and the top of the pastry after each turn until it became less moist, and more pastry-like. I continued to roll and fold it until it was no longer wet, but all dry-make sure it doesn't get too dry though, as it may crumble. I then rolled it out to a circle to fit my pie dish, with enough left to re-roll for the top of the pie.)
• If you're not making a pie, roll it out to the desired shape.
• I then filled my pie with my savoury mince, wet my fingers to dampen the pastry where I was going to join it and placed the top on, pressing down all around the edges of it to seal it. After this, I brushed some egg wash on the top so it would brown in the oven, cut about 5 slits in the top and placed it in the oven (you could probably use a milk wash or other substitute if you can't have eggs).
• Cook for 20 minutes @ 200°C, then turn the oven down to 180°C and continue cooking until pastry is crunchy and golden brown.