Yumtastic! It's the weekend and so I'm treating my sweet tooth to some delicious biscuits. My friend gave me a gorgeous bird biscuit cutter so these are extra cute. The recipe is based on one I found on the WeightWatchers website (I've recently signed up - it's a great resource and I've lost 3lb in my first week, wow!), but I've added some littlePod sparkle to it.
Double Vanilla Biscuits (based on WeightWatchers Christmas Cookies)
makes about 30 biscuits
Ingredients:
115g caster sugar
65g polyunsaturated margarine
1 small egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp lemon juice
1.5 tsp LittlePod vanilla paste
175g plain flour
0.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
0.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice
50g icing sugar
1 tsp littlePod vanilla extract
1 tsp (ish) hot water
Instructions:
Mix the sugar and marg in a large bowl with an electric whisk until it is smooth. Add the egg, golden syrup, lemon juice and LittlePod paste and whisk some more.
In another bowl, sift the flour, bicarb, baking powder and mixed spice and mix. Add the dry mixture to the first bowl a little at a time, beating thoroughly. You're aiming for a stiff dough, so if you're mixing isn't making any difference, sift some more flour in a little at a time.
Divide this mix into two balls and wrap each ball in cling film and leave in the fridge for 30min. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4.
Lightly spray 2 baking trays with cooking spray. Lightly flour your worktop and knead the two balls of dough together again. Now roll it evenly so it's about 0.5cm thick all over. Use your cute cutter and transfer them over to the trays, leaving a gap of at least 2cm between each shape. Re-roll and repeat to use as much of the dough as possible. (I added eyes to my birds at this point with a skewer.) Put in the oven for about 8min, check and turn after 5min. You want them to be an even golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack.
When they're completely cooled, mix the remaining ingredients to make a delicious icing. Use an icing bag to draw something pretty on each of your biscuits, it doesn't need to be the same each time! Let the icing dry, then keep the biscuits in an airtight container for up to 4 days, if they last that long!
There are some lovely recipes on the main LittlePod website, along with lots of information about the products and our company. Check it out! (Click on image to go to www.littlepod.co.uk)
I love to start the day with a really satisfying and tasty breakfast, that will keep me full until lunchtime. Granola is a bit like musli really, and this one is delicious! I adapted the recipe from one I found at www.answerfitness.com (link at bottom of post), and have kindly translated it from American cups into grams and spoons for us Brits. Enjoy this cereal with milk (and sweetener), or as a treat add some low fat yoghurt and fruit! A perfect fuel for a busy day.
Orange & Vanilla Granola
Ingredients:75ml freshly squeezed orange juicezest of 1 orange2 tbsp honey1 tsp cinnamon1.5 tsp LittlePod vanilla extract225g rolled oats25g wheatgerm25g flaxseed/linseed1tbsp flaked almonds1tbsp sunflower seeds100g dried blueberries25g dessicated coconut (optional)Place the orange juice, zest, honey, cinnamon and LittlePod vanilla extract in a small pan and warm on a moderate heat until it is all combined. Leave to one side. Mix the remaining ingredients (apart from the blueberries and coconut!) in a large bowl, then add the liquid from the pan. Mix with your hands, it should go a bit like a topping for a crumble. Spread this mixture on a large baking tray and bake at 180 degrees (gas mark 4) for about 20min, taking it out to turn and 'shuggle' halfway through. Add the coconut at this point if you're using it. It should be fairly dry by now, but if not, put back in the oven for another 5mins, no longer as it could burn and that won't be nice. Then leave it to cool, adding the blueberries when it is. Put your granola in an airtight container to make it stay nice and crunchy for longer!This should make enough for about 14 helpings, I find you don't need too much of it to feel full. And it's good for you, so no feeling guilty, just full of energy!
Original recipe can be found here:
http://www.answerfitness.com/49/low-fat-homemade-vanilla-orange-granola-healthy-recipes-from-answer-fitness%C2%AE/
Hi there! I'm Harriet, I love food, and I love to cook. I'm also involved in littlePod, a lovely Devon based company that produces delicious vanilla products. Combine these factors with the fact that maybe I love food too much and need to lose some lbs, and 'poof'! The littlePod diet blog was born. I hope you'll be inspired by recipes I've found and made, that use vanilla in a low fat way. There's more to vanilla than yellow ice cream!
If you have any recipes that you'd like to share, please get in contact: hblikethepencil@hotmail.com
