Dairy Free, Free From Refined Sugar Easter Fruit Oaty Snack - An Alternative #FreeFromEaster with Aldi

Recently I have been experimenting more and more with free from baking so when Aldi challenged me to create an alternative Easter bake I jumped at the chance. At the end of the week the children break up for the Easter holidays and we all know how important it is to keep them busy. This weeks Aldi recipe is perfect to make with the children and I even had a little helper when I made these.

These lovely little fruit oaty snacks are a bit like a soft flapjack that can be cut into a range of shapes and decorated as you wish. They are dairy free and free from refined sugar. We added fruit and honey to give them a natural sweetness. Aldi have got lots of delicious Easter recipes, including some free from treats, in their Easter section. But for now let me and my little helper show and tell you what we did...

8 Easy Halloween Cupcake Decoration

Halloween is upon us again and the kids always want some deliciously spooky treats. Last year I shared with you some healthy fruity treats, the year before I shared a spider web pizza along with banana ghouls and mini pumpkin pies. This year I thought that I would share my top, easy cupcake decorations. Time can be a big issue when it comes to decorating cakes and creating a spooky treat. All 8 of the following ideas are quick, easy and child friendly. Get the kids in the kitchen and let their imagination go wild!

Aldi have challenged me to create a Halloween themed bake using their products. In the past I have told you about their fantastic baking range The Pantry, which I have used in today's bake along with some great products that made the perfect toppers.

Here are my 8 easy Halloween cupcake decorations...

Homemade Pizza

For this weeks baking post with Aldi I thought that I would share with you a perfect recipe for easy homemade pizza dough. If you are looking for a fun meal that can be made with the kids then this is the recipe for you. Pizza dough is so quick and easy to make all you need is a good quality flour. On a recent shopping trip to Aldi I found the perfect flour on special buy. The Italian tipo '00' flour is a lovely fine flour that is ideal for pasta, pizza and grissini. As soon as I saw it, it was placed in my trolley and I went on the hunt for toppings. 

On Saturday I needed to keep the kids busy as the hubby was out so what better way to keep them busy than to bake? I prepared the dough then gave them a ball of dough each, the toppings and let them go!

This is what we did...

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes - Baking with Kids and Degustabox Contents

For this months Degustabox post I thought that I would share with you a recipe that I made with the twins. Each month Degustabox comes with a wide variety of products that can be enjoyed as they are or they can be used to create delicious meals and treats.

Today I am sharing with you an easy chocolate chip cupcake recipe that the twins love to make. This month we received a jar of Canderel Sugarly in the Degustabox so we substituted caster sugar for the sweetener to see how the cakes turned out. Canderel Sugarly looks and tastes like sugar but without the calories!

Before I tell you how we got on let me tell you about the contents of April's Degustabox.

Using Leftover Easter Chocolates

I don't know about your house, but here, each and every year we end up with leftover chocolate from Easter. It is usually down to me to use them in bakes and desserts.

So when Aldi challenged me to come up with a way to use leftover chocolate, I knew it would be fun. Today I will be sharing my ideas for how to use up some chocolate decorating cakes. After reading this you will be looking for leftover chocolate to use!

Top Baking Kits from House of Fraser

Now that the children are enjoying the Easter holidays it is time to have some activities lined up for any rainy days. In our house, one of our favourite activities has to be baking. Baking is the ideal way to introduce the children to food preparation, cooking and kitchen safety.

When I was taking a look on the House of Fraser website I found some perfect baking kits that are going to be great to use with the kids over the holidays. Today I am going to tell you about the kits that I got and give you an ideal, quick recipe for the kids to try over the holiday!

These are the products that caught my eye...

Easter Rock Cakes

Having a long weekend is the perfect time to bake with the children.

Joseph loves getting in the kitchen with me but we simply do not always have the time. I usually do my baking while he is busy at school. But we have started the long weekend with a bit of Easter themed baking.

We have made some Easter style rock cakes. Rock cakes are a great easy recipe for children to make. A great recipe for them to get their hands in quite literally!

Easy Recipes To Make With The Grandchildren - Guest Post

It’s that time of year when staying indoors and spending time with family takes centre stage.

Make the most of the long winter days by getting stuck into some easy and fun recipes that kids will love to get involved with.

Here are a couple of ideas to get your started:

Super Simple Sugar Cookies

These basic biscuits by Sally’s Baking Addiction are incredibly easy to make. Children will love picking out their favourite cookie cutter shapes and decorating them however they fancy – sprinkles at the ready! The icing used here is different from the traditional royal icing that requires expensive meringue powder or fiddly egg whites too so it won’t cost you a fortune.

What you need:

Cookie dough:

170g butter (unsalted)
150g sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract
280g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder

Icing:

180g icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp light corn syrup (optional)
2-3 tbp water
pinch salt

How to make:

1. Beat the butter until creamy, then add sugar and beat for another 3-4 minutes
2. Add egg, vanilla, and almond extract and beat until fully combined
3. Whisk together the flour and baking powder. Add to the wet mixture in two parts, mixing until all the dry ingredients are combined
4. Divide the dough in half and roll out to ¼ inch thickness and chill for at least an hour, preferably longer and up to a day
5. Preheat oven to 170° and cut out cookie shapes. Place on a lined baking tray
6. Bake for 8-11 minutes, turning half way, until very lightly coloured
7. Allow to cool completely before making the icing (whisk the icing sugar, vanilla, corn syrup, and 2 tablespoons of water – if the mixture is too thick then you can add ½ tablespoon more water or if it is too thin you can add a little more icing sugar) and decorate as desired.

Mozzarella, Ham and Pesto Mini Pizzas

A warming snack, quick dinner or, with a little pizzazz, a simple canapé. Set up a production line for each topping and feel free to customise the recipe to suit fussy eaters. This recipe is taken from BBC Food but there are plenty of similar options available online.

What you need:

4 mini pitta breads
150g mozzarella
4 tsp pesto
85g wafer thin ham

How to make:

1. Preheat grill to high and heat pittas for a minute
2. Turn over and spread over a teaspoon of pesto, followed by a few slices of ham, and top with some torn pieces of the cheese
3. Grill for 3-4 minutes until the cheese has melted and is beginning to turn golden

Cooking is a great way to have fun, learn new things and spend time with loved ones during your retirement.

Your culinary adventures could even win you a KitchenAid standing mixer and Mary Berry Baking Bible if you’re lucky! This is thanks to a great Pinterest competition being organised by retirement home specialists McCarthy & Stone. Take a look and get involved for your chance to win.

This is a collaborative guest post.

Green's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cupcakes

To celebrate the release of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie Green's have released a new Turtles cupcake set. We were sent a box to try out for the purpose of this post.

As soon as Joseph saw the box he decided that he wanted to bake the cakes. The great thing about the cupcake boxes is that children are able to make these quick and easy cakes. It is an ideal way to introduce baking to children who want to bake more independently.

This is how we got on...

The kit contains all of the dry ingredients needed.
To make the cupcakes just add an egg and water.

Joseph poured in the dry cupcake ingredients into a bowl
with the egg and water.

Joseph mixed the ingredients together.

He divided the cake batter between the cupcake cases.

Once the cakes had baked and had cooled it was time to ice
and decorate them.

The cupcakes finished!

Joseph really enjoyed baking Green's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cupcakes. They are a great way to get more children into baking!

Disclosure: I was sent the cupcake kit for the purpose of this post. No payment was received. All views and opinions are my own  and 100% honest.

Healthier Halloween Treats

We all know that Halloween and sweet treats go hand in hand. The children get an overload of sugar, which is not great for them and often results in hyperactive little ones! Don't get me wrong I would never say no treats in moderation, but I do think that we should try and encourage more healthier snacks.

Sykes Cottages have challenged me to come up with some treats that the children will enjoy just as much as a bag of sweets, but treats that are healthier. This was a challenge that I have enjoyed coming up with and the twins have loved the spooky themed food and helping me in the kitchen.

The spider web pizzas and the banana ghosts are great recipes to cook with the children. The twins had so much fun helping me make them.

This is what they have been enjoying...

Spider Web Pizzas

Ingredients

Mini pizza bases

Tomato puree

Dried oregano

Mozzarella

Black olives

1 carrot

Method

Pre heat the oven to 200C

1 - Place 1tbsp of tomato puree per mini pizza base in a bowl along with 1tsp of dried oregano per mini pizza base in a bowl and mix together.

2 - Spread the tomato puree over the pizza base.

3 - Scatter over the mozzarella.

4 - Using a peeler shave off fine strips of the carrot. Taking a paring knife, carefully slice fine strips of carrot.

5 - Arrange the strips of carrots in a pattern that resembles a spiders web.

6 - Halve 2 black olives and place one half down in the centre of the spiders web. Slice the other halves into 8 strips and arrange around the half of the olive, they will become the spiders legs.

7 - Place in the centre of the pre heated oven for 8 - 10 minutes.

Banana Ghosts

Ingredients

Bananas
Chocolate chips
Cake pop sticks

Method

1 - Cut the bananas in half.

2 - Take the chocolate and place on the banana as eyes and a mouth.

3 - Place the stick through the base of the banana and serve.

Mini Pumpkin Pies

Ingredients

Makes 24 mini pumpkin pies

Flesh of a carved out edible pumpkin

600g sweet pastry

1 tsp mixed spice

150g caster sugar

2 eggs

150 mls milk

25g butter, melted

White chocolate writing icing

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180C

1 - To prepare the filling boil the pumpkin until soft, once cooked, drain and leave to cool.

2 - Cut out discs of sweet pastry that will fit into a muffin tin and line the holders.

3 - Gently prod the base of the pies with a fork, line with baking paper and weigh down with baking beans. Place in the pre heated oven and bake for 10 minutes.

4 - Remove from the oven and take out the baking beans and baking paper. Return to the oven and bake for a further 5 minutes until the pastry has a golden colour.

5 - Once the pastry bases have baked remove from the oven and allow to cool.

6 - Increase the oven temperature to 200C

7 - Take the cooled pumpkin and press it through a sift so that you get a smooth puree.

8 - Beat together the eggs, milk, melted butter, caster sugar and mixed spice.

9 - Stir the egg mixture into the pumpkin puree.

10 - Spoon or pour in equal amounts into the pastry cases.

11 - Place the pies in the pre heated oven and bake for 5 - 10 minutes or until the filling is starting to harden.

12 - Remove from the oven and allow to cool before drawing on a spider web pattern with the chocolate writing icing.

These are sweet treats made with pumpkin and the children will never know that they are eating it. These pies are very similar to custard tarts in flavour and were soon devoured by all!

Have a great Halloween and enjoy x

Disclosure: This is my entry into a healthier Halloween competition that is run by Sykes Cottages. I received a budget for ingredients.

Baking with Children and Flora - Sponsored Post

 

Now that the twins are getting bigger we are able to do more structured activities together. One of our favourite activities has to be baking. I feel a great sense of pride when they tell me what we need to bake cakes. They love listing off the ingredients, eggs, flour, sugar and butter.

When baking with small children it is essential that the recipes are straight forward and not too time consuming. On the Flora website you can find a fantastic section of "Baking with the Family" recipes. You are able to narrow down the search for the required skill, time and budget. These recipes are the ideal place to start when baking with children.

The twins loved baking the Banana Cupcakes and I would thoroughly recommend them for baking with little ones!

This is how we got on...

We weighed out our ingredients.

Taylor put the flour into the mixing bowl.

Isabella added the caster sugar.

Taylor poured in the eggs.



Isabella adds Flora Buttery

 

 

We stirred all of the ingredients together.

 

While Taylor finished stirring, Isabella mashed up the banana.

 

Taylor mixed the mashed banana into the cake mixture.
We spooned the finished cake mixture into 12 cupcake
cases and baked in the centre of the pre heated oven for
20 minutes.

 

Once the cakes had cooled we decorated them with

butter icing and banana chips.

 

 

 

 

 

These are deliciously, light treats which the children, and adults, will love from preparing them to decorating them and of course eating them!

 

You can find the full recipe here.

 

Enjoy x

 

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. All words, views and opinions are my own and 100% honest.