Back to School Series: Granola Bites

Now coming back to school means that I tend to eat more biscuits... if that is even possible. And trying to come across healthy biscuit/cereal bars is very difficult. HOWEVER, in Tesco they sell these things called "Seedy, Crispy, Nutty Bites" or something along those lines.

But they are ridiculously expensive for something so small and cheap to produce, thus I had to recreate them with my own little twist.

Ingredients:
100g raisins/sultanas
120g rolled oats
40g brown sugar
150g chopped mixed nuts
25g sunflower seeds
1 tbsp poppy seeds
20g desiccated coconut
115g butter
60g honey
60g golden syrup

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. Heat the syrup, honey, sugar and butter in a pan

3. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and pour the melted mixture in to the bowl and combine. If the mixture doesn't look dense enough add a tbsp more oats.

4. Shape the mixture into small balls and place on a greased tray.

5. Bake for around 8 minutes and leave to cool.
6. Allow to cool and then remove from tray.

Now, I would have a beautiful array of pictures of the end product but unfortunately there were some technical difficulties...

Anyway, although these aren't the most healthy snacks in the world, they are better for you than chocolate chip cookies so to me they are the epitome of health.

Until next time,

Gracie x

Back to School Series - New year round 2?

We are coming into a new school year, my final school year - weep, and this is the time for change and self-improvement. The second chance for all of us who have clearly failed our New Years resolutions. Remember those from January? Yeah thought not...

 Back in January I was going to run more, drink more water and be super organised with work and go to bed earlier each night. Guess how long that lasted? Approximately until the evening of January 1st when it reached midnight and I was still watching YouTube videos rather than sleeping.

For round two I am going to set myself the challenge with a deadline of sorts and a step I have taken to achieve it. I am hoping that this is a bit more effective than the random declaration "I WILL EAT MORE FRUIT" which poses the question- but how?

So let's go. New Years resolutions round 2:

Run more

I have new trainers which fit so I am hoping that this will act as a form of encouragement... Hopefully... 

By the 1st November I will have run 24 times.<- gaaaah scary 

Be in bed at 10 every single school night

I have set a timer so that my phone, iPod and laptop will turn off at 10 so that I will only be able to read and will be forced to avoid screens!

Stay organised

Normally at this point in the academic year I decide that I will do every piece of work when it is set and that will be that. This never lasts and so I have gone for a more open option which I hope will be helpful.

Blog more

I don't use this enough. This is mainly down to the fact that there is not enough time in the world to do both bake and blog. But to remedy this I am going to do a few more posts and this is the start of my back to school series over this week and next. So stay tuned for that.

Anyway- if you are going back to school, good luck you will be awesome and if it doesn't go as planned- just eat cake.

Grace x

Banana Muffins

We had three bananas just wasting a way on our counter so I was requested to put them to use as they reached the point when no one wanted to eat them. So muffins were the answer- I have slightly edited a Nigella Lawson to suit the quantities I had and the way that I wanted them. 

115g grams butter (melted)
325 grams self-raising flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
175 grams caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon honey
3 large bananas 
3 medium eggs
190 ml milk
30g oat

Preheat oven to 190c

Leave melted butter to cool

Mash the bananas well

Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, oats, cinnamon and nutmeg into a bowl. Add the sugar and mix well. In a second bowl, with a folk, beat together the eggs, vanilla extract, honey, butter and milk.

Add the bananas to the egg mixture and stir.

Make a well in the dry mixture and add the egg mixture. Stir roughly with a folk. (Don't stir too much - its meant to be thick and lumpy!)

Grease a muffin/cake tin well and fill each space with the mixture. 

Put in the over for 20-25 minutes.

Once golden brown and firm remove from oven leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin and then 5 minutes on a wire rack.

Brush some honey over the top and sprinkle with oats.