Vegan Flourless Oat Cookies

I made oat cookies yesterday - and they were delicious and crunchy. Today, I felt like making something healthier and I decided not to add any flour to the batter. Since I was already going this far, I decided again to go the extra mile and make it vegan. These are the ingredients, or what you would need:

• 50g Rolled Oats
• 1 Tbspn Brown Sugar
• 1/4 Tspn Sea Salt (pinch)
• 15g Coconut Oil
• 1/2 Tspn Vanilla Essence

Simple and healthy, I made this in also about 50 minutes. All the ingredients, put in a food processor and then pulsed a second each time for three times. Scrape down the sides and pulse again if required. Now, what you want to do is to sprinkle some water, stir it up with a spatula/spoon/your hands and then refrigerate for half an hour so that it is easier to work with. 

After refrigeration, they should be easier to shape. Divide into several portions and put them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. With a fork, gently press down so as not to make the dough crumble too much.

Bake in an oven preheated to 160'C or 300'F for 10-12 minutes. When this is done, put them on a rack to cool, and then serve.

So there you have it, vegan flour-less cookies

Thank me later!

• Kii

Oat Cookie Recipe

I am Kii, and this is my take on crunchy delicious oat cookies. These are what you will need to make fourteen cutesy bite sized cookies.

• 45g Plain White Flour
• 1 Tbspn Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbspn Rolled Oats
• 1/4 Tspn Sea Salt (I used a pinch, not sure if that amounts to 1/4 tspn)
• 30g Butter
• 1 Tspn Cold Milk
• 1 Tspn Vanilla Essence

As a rule of thumb, I love to find the simplest way to do things, and so this recipe will show you how to bake these crunchy delights without taking too much time. I made this in 50 minutes.

What you want to do is to measure the flour, brown sugar, salt, rolled oats, butter and vanilla essence (Basically all the ingredients except milk) and then put them into a food processor. Pulse them three times for one second each. I use Thermomix, so there was no real need to scrape down the sides and pulse again, but if necessary please do so. Once this is done, empty the processor and you should get a mixture that looks like this.

So what you want to do now that you have this mixture is to mix in one teaspoon of cold milk, and that should be enough to hold these crumbs together. Bear in mind that if you want to make double the amount to be served, just use double the ingredients. Roll with cleaned hands and you should get a cookie dough as such:

Perfectly round and serene, like the moon. Now roll them to make them like a small rope (like what you normally would to when making Challah bread, but not to that length). Use a knife or a spoon to divide them into balls of dough to be rolled of size to your liking (I made fourteen!). Decorate the top of the mini balls with rolled oats and press down with a fork on a baking tray lined with a baking sheet as such:

Notice how uneven the cookies are - I can't be bothered to make them even so I just went with the flow. You want to press the rolled oats into the cookie dough and not just sprinkle them on top. Now Bake in a preheated oven of 160'C for about 12 minutes.

And there you have it, beautiful crunchy oat cookies.

Thank me later!

• Kii

FIRST TRY! APPLE ALMOND TART

So I was feeling kinda adventurous today

Not. I was scanning my laptop for malware and viruses and it was taking freaking long and so I thought; why not make something while waiting?

I looked into the fridge and saw a slab of butter and two apples. And then there was a packet of flour under the sink. I was like - why not make an apple tart?

What I used:

• 120g Plain White Flour
• 60g Butter
• 1 Tsp Cold Milk
• 2 Apples
• A few Almonds
• Cinnamon Powder
• Brown Sugar

I poured the flour into the processor and it weighed 120g. I then cut up the butter into a few pieces at 60g and processed them together. They processed real nicely (pulsed just three times for one second each) and then it's time to make the dough. A teaspoon of cold milk was enough to hold them together to make a pretty dough. I then added a tablespoon of sugar and packed them together into a ball and froze the dough for half an hour while I prepared the apples.

Once the dough was cold enough, I took out the tart tin and pressed them down evenly. This I poked holes around to prevent rising, and then baked for 15 minutes at 180'C. While waiting for that, I started to poach the apples in sugar and cinnamon (some water as well).

I thought that it would taste good as well, so I added some almonds I soaked in water for about a few minutes. When the apples have caramelized, the tart shell was done baking, and so I took it out and poured these naughty boys in em.

Then, it was time for baking. I baked them at 160'C for 15 more minutes. Removing the tart from the tin was hard, cause it was really - really hot.

Then, it was done. It tasted so wonderful and majestic with yogurt. I noticed, however that the middle of the crust was a little raw (from the image) even though they taste normal to me. Reminder to self to bake the crust longer maybe around 25 minutes at 180'C before pouring the apples and almonds in. All in all, a very educational session!

My Second Shakshuka

I am a lazy person

Yeah, second time mentioning that.

When I cook stuff, I prefer it to be fast (especially when I am hungry). Today, I made Shakshuka for dinner. I know that there's the traditional way of making it properly, but I just couldn't wait. I had all the right ingredients so I was just like you know: "Bring it!".

Hereby starts the journey of Shortcut Shakshuka

I prepared the most basic of ingredients:

• 1 chopped onion (big ones)
• 1 tspn cumin (the seeds, cause I didn't have the powdered ones)
• Pinch of salt
• Some pepper
• Heinz tomato paste
• Chilli Sauce (I used Life Chilli Sauce)

I do also know that paprika should be essential to the Shakshuka, but unfortunately I don't have them with me.

1. So I light up the stove, throw all the ingredients into the pan and begin to stir fry.
2. When the onions turn slightly golden, I pour in the tomato paste, sprinkle some basil and add in the chilli sauce.
3. It begins bubbling, and so I turn off the flames, pour the mix into a baking bowl (Pyrex) and then preheat the oven to 160'C (320F).
4. I then make two wells and add in two eggs and then stash it (the bowl) into the oven for 20 minutes.

• Inspired by Joy of Kosher; Jamie Geller
• Shortcut Shakshuka

Raw Oats

I am freaking lazy.

I am the epitome of laziness.

Because of that, sometimes when I am too lazy to make myself something to eat - I just eat oats and cold milk. Thing is, I don't steep them first. Of course, I buy only rolled oats so I don't have to nibble through the tough husk. It is generally fine to eat rolled oats raw because the process of making them involves steaming and so they are actually already cooked beforehand. Besides that, the flattening makes it easier for our digestive systems to break them down for consumption [1].

I read that grains generally contain phytic acid, that if untreated can combine with other nutrient in the digestive system and prevent absorption which will then lead to mineral deficiencies. Soaking with warm water will then neutralize the phytic acid and make the oats suitable for consumption [2]. Oats are good fiber material, but excessive consumption can lead to irritable bowel syndrome and constipation - an adverse effect.

I normally try to eat healthy and cook everything from scratch - like if I want to make pasta, I will make them from flour and eggs instead of buying those instant ones you need to steep. This year, I got to know an Australian exchange student from my class (Hey Hugh!) that regularly brings fruits and vegetables to nibble on. I would see him munching on nuts, eating apples and oranges and most recently nibbling on carrots. Raw carrots. That actually piqued my interest to eat things raw (except meat of course).

The breakfast I have now is most commonly oats and yogurt. Not sure if it makes me any healthier, but I certainly don't feel anymore different. I also add in two eggs, either half or hard-boiled - no sauce, no salt.

Being lazy might actually be beneficial for my health - lets see how this goes in the long run.

[1] Stakal, K 2011, "Can You Eat OatsRaw", Energetic Health, Organic Authority, read 24 November 2015

[2] "Why you should never eat raw oats" 2014, Claire Obeid, The Wellness Project, Sydney, Australia, read 24 November 2015