Being health conscious and only wanting the best for my daughter, I am always on the lookout for healthier versions of recipes out there. I have converted a couple and made up some of my own. These recipes are wheat-free, sugar-free and gluten-free (mostly), and are absolutely delicious for the whole family.

Healthy cookies

1 cup oat flour
½ cup rice flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ cup ground almonds
½ cup raw honey
? cup cold pressed olive oil
1 tsp finely grated orange rind
1 TBS freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat the oven to 180°C and lightly grease an oven tray. In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder and almonds. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and mix well to combine. Drop heaped spoonfuls of dough 5 cm apart on the oven tray. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 10 – 15 minutes or until crisp and golden. Store in an airtight container. Makes 12 -14 biscuits.

Variations:

    * Substitute almonds with cashews, walnuts, pecans or a mixture these.
    * Lemon zest and juice can be used instead of orange.

Try making your own oat flour by blending raw oats in a blender.

Butternut muffins

This one is great for those kids who are fussy about eating their vegetables. My daughter is not mad about all vegetables so when I feel she needs a boost, I make these and they go down superbly. Great for a snack or an alternative to the usual muffin.

500ml cooked butternut pureé
5ml vanilla essence
2 eggs, lightly whisked
125ml rice flour
25ml fructose (optional)
5ml baking powder
Ground cinnamon (and/or ground ginger)

Preheat the oven to 200°C and grease the hollows of a muffin tin. Mix the butternut pureé, vanilla essence, eggs, rice flour, fructose, cinnamon and baking powder. Spoon the mixture into the greased muffin tin. Bake for 30 minutes or until done.

Variations:

Try pureéd butternut, carrot and baby marrow or any other vegetable that can be pureéd.

Banana cake

450g rice flour
3 heaped tsps baking powder
1 tsp each:
Ginger, bicarb, cinnamon and cloves or nutmeg
9 TBS olive oil
3 TBS honey
3 TBS fructose
1 cup warm water
2½ cups mashed banana

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Into another bowl, put the oil, fructose and honey, adding the cup of warm water. Mix well and add to dry ingredients. Bake in a well-greased tin for 30 – 40 minutes or when ready.

Variation:

Try grated apple with the banana, or on its own.
 
Mango Oatmeal Muffins

250ml oatmeal
250ml hot, rice milk
1 apple, peeled and grated
125ml chopped dried mango
1 egg, lightly whisked
50ml fructose
15ml sunflower oil
250ml rice flour
10ml baking powder

Put the oatmeal in a dish and pour over the hot milk. Leave to soak for an hour. Preheat the oven to 200° C. Line a muffin tin with 9 paper cups. Add the apple, mango, egg, fructose and oil to the soaked oatmeal and stir to mix. Sift the flour and baking powder over the mixture and stir gently until just mixed. Spoon the mixture into the paper cups. Bake to 20 – 25 minutes or until the testing skewer or toothpick comes out clean.

Variation:

Use bran instead of oatmeal and / or any other fried fruit (preferably preservative free).

Tuna and Sweetcorn Fritters

1 can tuna in brine
2 cooked sweetcorn, cut off the cob
50ml rice flour
2 eggs, separated
Seasoning

Mix the drained tuna, sweetcorn, rice flour, egg yolk and seasoning together. Beat the egg whites until soft peak and fold this into the mixture. Heat a frying pan with olive oil and drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a relatively hot pan. Do not turn the mixture over until it has set otherwise the mixture will break apart. Cook until browned on each side.

Variation:

Add cooked cut up carrot or any other vegetable with the sweetcorn. A great way to get kids to eat their veges.