Friday 23 May 2008

Treats for Kids


The other day we took a trip to Ryton-on-Dunsmore Organic Gardens and we had such a lovely day, which culminated in tea and cakes an ice lollies for the girls. DH took a lick of the littlest girl's lolly and said it was the nicest one he'd ever eaten. He was right, it was such a good lolly and I was intrigued by the ingredients as all of the natural ice lollies I'd ever tried to make did not have that requisite "proper lolly" sweetness. It said on the back of the wrapper that the lolly was made from organic orange juice, organic grape juice and organic banana. Having the banana and the grape juice added to the lolly mixture was such a good idea and really does add that extra sweetness and proper texture. Anyway, today we made out own and here is the recipe:

1 small organic banana
400 ml of orange juice (with bits)
100 ml of grape juice

Blend together and freeze for at least three hours.

NB. This makes 4 large lollies, but if you want to make six I wouldn't add more banana, however, eight lollies would need two bananas.

Then we made a lot of cookie dough to put in the freezer. However, we did bake fifteen today, just to be getting on with! Anyway, here's the recipe...oh, these are my kids favourite cookies, and I used to make them with almond butter, rather than peanut butter, however, my youngest seems to have toughened up now and has none of her former food intolerances so we allow one or two peanut butter cookies every now and again.

1 cup of butter
1 cup of nut butter
3/4 cup of white sugar
3/4 cup of soft brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups of flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Mix all of the ingredients together and form dough into walnut sized balls. Leave room for expansion between cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press down each cookie with the tines of a fork. Bake for fifteen minutes at 220 degrees. Makes 45 cookies (approx). Enjoy, with milk!

12 comments:

Zillah said...

DD, at what stage do you freeze the cookie dough? In a lump? In balls?

And, oh, you make me homesick for Warwickshire talking about Ryton!

Zillah

Gumbo Lily said...

I'm a cookie-ball freezer too. I love going to the freezer and finding those cookie balls all ready to place on a sheet and bake!

One meal I was thinking about (that's quick & easy) is garlic shrimp over pasta. I like to keep a couple of bags of shrimp (deveined, raw) in the freezer for quick meals. It takes only minutes to cook angel hair pasta and then the shrimp and garlic sauted until pink and tender (10 min). Scissor a little fresh parsley or chives over it and you've got supper!

Jody (who just made this meal last night)

Ann said...

Thanks for the banana hint. My daughter loves ice lollies so I'll try this.
Enjoying your posts.

Dulce Domum said...

Hi Zillah
You can either do as Jody says and freeze in balls and put them in a large sandwich box, not letting the balls touch. Or, if you're stuck for space, roll the dough up in sheets of baking parchment so it resembles a Christmas cracker. Then wrap the whole thing in foil. When you want to use the dough, semi-defrost, and slice through the dough (width-wise)so that you have rounds about a cm thickness, then bake for 15-20 minutes. Jody's way is the easiest way, but I know you're short of freezer space.

Hi Jody
That recipe sounds lovely. I love garlic prawns, I do something similar with crab and chili, yummy!

Hi Still at Home
Yes, I think the banana made all the difference, and the lollies did taste good!

Gumbo Lily said...

Zillah and Dolce,
I quick freeze the cookie balls on a cookie sheet for about 20 mins. and then when they are hardened I put them in a plastic bag so it saves on freezer space. I like the log/slice idea too.

Jody

Niki said...

Delicious sounding lolly's, I can't wait for Henry to enjoy treats like this :)

I prefer to shape the dough into a log and slice as needed. Not that it lasts very long around here.

Blessings,
Niki

Marie N. said...

Hello! I've missed you! I look forward to reading again.

Dulce Domum said...

Hi Jody
Good thinking!

Hi Niki
That little Henry of yours is a proper sweetie!

Hi Marie N
Nice to see you again!

Jenny said...

Yum.

simplelife said...

I'm so glad you are back. I really enjoyed your post about transition towns, what a great idea. I love the idea of 'community'.

cheers Lenny

Anonymous said...

They look and sound delish chuck.

Dulce Domum said...

Hi Jenny
Yum indeed!

Hi Lenny
Yes, transition towns are really interesting, and could do a lot of good.

Hi Linnet
Nice to see you back!