I am in snack heaven since finding Dale Kinnock’s book ‘The Medicinal Chef‘ and I am enjoying cooking and baking my way through his fantastic recipes. So far I have baked only snacks, my sweet tooth getting the better of me as usual, but at least these snacks are good for you and I can not wait to try other recipes like beetroot, red onion and goats cheese tart or beetroot and pea risotto with mint and feta, they sound far to good to be so virtuous, but they are.
These date slices are good for high cholesterol, they are sweet, gooey and filling, just what you need for that afternoon crash of energy and blood sugar. This is my most dangerous time of the day, the time of the day where my will power is weak and a naughty snack is so much easier than something like a healthy piece of fruit, who wants cucumber slices or carrot sticks with their afternoon tea?? Not me !! So making these at the weekend and storing them on the side in the kitchen in jars is the perfect solution for when I am feeling weak.
As is always the case with me I am already looking at ways to make this recipe my own, I am thinking about making an apricot version with finely chopped almonds instead of the seeds, if it works I will be posting the recipe for you all.
Again this recipe is so simple, a few minutes in the kitchen and temptation to slip has gone as you have a gorgeous snack ready and waiting for you, what has also surprised me is that Luca loves them too. I refuse to buy fizzy drinks, squashes, crisps, biscuits, etc, if they are not in the house the Children are not tempted to eat them or drink them, of course I don’t deprive them of every treat, over indulgence at Easter and Christmas is of course a must, naughty birthday cakes and the odd cheeky take away are all allowed, but I just feel that it is important to teach them whilst they are young the benefits of a good diet and also not allow them to become fussy eaters. They have all been extremely healthy, never over weight and have no allergies, so I hope that in some ways that can be contributed to their diets over the years.
Well I had better go, today I am baking a honey and spelt flour cake as my friend Fiona is coming over and we are going to look at a house this afternoon together, looking forward to getting her feed back on the property and as always, Fiona and I love any excuse to eat cake! I will post the recipe if it is a good one 🙂
Buon appetito
150g coconut oil (plus extra for greasing)
200g pitted dates (fat juicy ones), chopped
3 tablespoons honey
75g porridge oats
200g wholemeal flour
3 tablespoons mixed seeds
Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas mark 2.
Grease a 20cm baking tin with coconut oil.
Place the dates in a saucepan with 4 tablespoons of water.Place the pan over a low heat, cover and cook for a minute or two, until the dates form a gooey paste, this will depend on how soft your dates are, mine took a little longer.
In another pan, melt the honey and coconut oil. The smell is amazing.
In a bowl, mix together the oats, flour and mixed seeds. Pour in the melted honey and coconut mixture and stir well to form a dough.
Spoon half of the dough mixture into the greased baking tin, pushing down firmly. Top with the date mixture, and then spread the remaining dough over the date mixture.
Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares, if you rush they will fall apart.
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