Brown Sugar Cookies

Any recipe that contains brown sugar and cinnamon immediately grabs my attention.

Also, I'd been on a bit of a "cupcakes and nothing but cupcakes" roll, so I thought some simple cookies were probably in order.

As I reported to a friend, these brown sugar cookies that I found at Joy the Baker's blog (<<< link here) are kind of a lighter, lazier version of snickerdoodles, with the sugar and cinnamon (plus a little ginger) on the inside.

I didn't read the recipe very well and accidentally put in baking powder instead of soda... so then I added a little baking soda as well for good measure (about a teaspoon on top of the original two of powder). This no doubt contributed to their lightness. Next time I'll try the suggested amount and see whether it makes much difference.

Although I expected darker, moister cookies, these were cute and very more-ish. In the future I'd probably make them bigger so people (aka. me) don't feel the need to eat a few at time!

Banana Bread (gluten & dairy free)

When I decide to make banana cake I don't go to the fruit shop in search of bananas that look like this.

I go in search of bananas that look like THIS. These were only $4.99 a kilo and perfect for baking with so I got nearly a whole kilo and froze some for next time!

This was part of my foray into gluten and dairy-free baking - a banana bread recipe from The Australian Women's Weekly "Gluten-free & Allergy-free Eating." You can find a link to the recipe >>here<<. This one also happens to be wheat, yeast and egg-free!

What DOES it contain? A whole lot of mashed banana and some brown sugar make a lovely start.

I very nearly forgot to add baking powder, but a final moment of thoughtfulness saved me from a very flat cake. The dark colour of the batter comes from the linseed, sunflower and almond meal (LSA). I didn't even know this stuff existed before, but it's pretty amazing, and I get the impression it might even be good for you.


Here's the baked product. It cracked a little when I turned it out, but I was just glad I got that baking powder in at the last minute!


This tasted really good. Very moist from all the banana (yum) and vegetable oil, and the LSA gives it a lot of substance. I would happily serve this up again, even if my guests didn't particularly need to avoid dairy, gluten, wheat, yeast or eggs :)