Superfood Energy Balls & Bites: Nutrient-rich, healthful & wholesome snacks by Nicola Graimes

I love how the author starts by saying that "Although 'superfood' may have become a buzzword in recent times, certain foods are undeniably blessed in that they provide superior nutritional value for the amount of calories they contain." because it is a buzzword. One that I generally roll my eyes at whenever I read it, as it's usually accompanied by someone who uses it to feel superior.

Drawn to the book, despite my assumptions on the word 'superfood,' I was pleased to have those same assumptions erased by the time I read through this book! Nicola Graimes, an award-winning writer, shows us how to use these superfoods in a variety of snacks and treats to get us through our day.

The author gives us an A-Z list of all the superfoods used in the book, most I have heard of, like the avocado and quinoa and some I haven't like guarana which is a powdered berry from an Amazonian plant. Then we get chapters that cover raw and cooked superfoods as well as savoury superfoods and it covers other snacks and treats!

A few of the recipes I would like to try are:
Blueberry Bites
Carrot Cake Balls
Morning Mocha
Berry Bounty Balls
Double Raspberry Maca Balls
Chocolate Goji Bars
Lemon Bliss Bites
Coconut & Cherry Drops
Banana Oat Bites
Raspberry, Coconut, & Lemon Bars
Cauli-Chickpea Power Balls
Sweet Potato & Quinoa Bites
Japanese Rice Balls
Satay Rice Balls
Cashew 'Cheese' Balls
Wasabi-Roasted Edamame
Cauli 'Cheese' Bites
Raspberry Kefir Gels
Fruit 'n' Nut Chocolates
Strawberry & Cream Balls
Salted Caramel Banana Bites
Mango & Brazil Nut Wonder Balls

The majority of the ingredients can be found in your local supermarket. There are nuts and dried berries and a few of the not so common ingredients are easily sourced via health food stores or online. They are also very straightforward and simple to put together. 

This book gives us every reason to indulge in our snacking! A nation who loves to snack it's nice to have an alternative to all the sugar or salted ones that line our supermarket shelves. If you like me are weary of the word 'superfood' please do not let it put you off this title, it's full of delicious looking snacks and treats and can change your snacking habits for good! 

* I was provided a copy of Superfood Energy Balls & Bites by Nicola Graimes to review by the publisher, Ryland Peters & Small, retails at £9.99 and available now from your local book retailers or online! All opinions are my own, I was not given any other compensation nor was I asked to give a positive review, please see my contact/policy page above for more information. 

Caramel Biscuit Fudge aka Twix Fudge

The blogging world has changed. Years ago people followed and read blogs all the time, but not any more. First because the world wide web is saturated with blogs. Blogs of fashion and beauty, food and parenting, gaming and movies the topics are endless. Then we have the internet aka social media outlets feeding our need for instant gratification with short videos showing us how to make ... well anything and everything!

Of course I am in the foodie world so my social media channels are full of short videos making fun recipes and one of the things that keeps showing up is fudge. How to make fudge with only 4 ingredients or by just using this or that! So, I thought I would give a few of these recipes a try. See if these simple recipes are that simple and to see if they taste like the fudge that takes forever......

So, I started with this recipe from Sally's Candy Addiction by Sally McKinney and Sally's Baking Addiction blog - One of the blogs I follow like a groupie.

Caramel Biscuit Fudge

1 can of sweetened condensed milk (from 14 oz can)
2 tablespoons caramel sauce
546g white chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla
⅛ teaspoon salt
140g Twix Bites

Line 8-by-8-inch pan with foil, leaving overhang on sides to remove fudge later.
In medium saucepan over medium heat, combine condensed milk, caramel and white chocolate. Stir constantly with a rubber spatula until the chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat before stirring in vanilla and salt. Cool mixture 10 minutes.
Slowly and carefully fold in chopped Twix bars (to keep chocolate swirl intact). Pour and spread mixture into prepared pan. Cover pan with foil and refrigerate 4 hours or store at room temperature overnight.
Remove fudge from pan using foil as handles. Use sharp knife to cut fudge into 64 1-inch squares (if fudge has been refrigerated longer than 4 hours, let fudge sit at room temperature 20 minutes before cutting).

* for more delicious recipes like this check out Sally's blog (link above) and if you want to know more about her book Sally's Candy Addiction you can check out my review here! 

Rice Krispie Heart Treats {Easy Valentine's Day Treats}

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be all about the showy lovey dovey stuff, it can be about the simple things that make you or the person that you are with happy! 

Rice Krispie Treats make me happy. They might not be something new or flashy, but they are made out of a crispy rice cereal, melted marshmallows, butter and everything good in this world. They have been made for years - since like 1939 or something? That’s a long time. 

The other reason these are great is because they can be shaped and manipulated into pretty much anything you want! I use my heart shaped donut pan and my heart cookie cutter to make these into hearts for Valentine’s Day! 

Then decorated them with red candy melts, I also used the candy melts to make heart candies from a random heart tray I had acquired from who knows where? It worked well though! If you rather not use candy melts, melted chocolate and/or sprinkles of varying colors and shapes would work well too! 

Rice Krispie Treats: 

50g unsalted butter

280g marshmallows

180g crispy rice cereal 

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract (optional) 

1 bag of red candy melts (optional) 

Butter heart shaped donut tin or line a tray bake tin with grease proof paper (make sure the paper over hangs the tin). 

Melt the butter in a large pan over a low heat. Add the marshmallows and continue to stir until completely melted. Add the vanilla extract if using. Then add half the cereal and stir to coat before adding the rest and mixing until completely mixed. Wear latex gloves or butter your hands a little so you can handle the mixture. Beware it will be hot/warm and hot sugar can burn. Shape to fit your donut and press down and/or in your baking tin do the same using the over hang of greaseproof paper to press down and even out the cereal/marshmallow mixture. Leave to set for at least 30 minutes to an hour, then gently release from donut tin or cut into hearts with a heart cookie cutter! Melt the candy melts according to the instructions on the package and drizzle over them how ever you’d like! Then eat them!! 

It is in my opinion that Valentine’s Day is the best day to indulge in things you love to eat and/or to make the things your loved one(s) like to eat too! If Rice Krispie Treats aren’t your thing here are a few other Valentine’s Day Treats you could try: 

Cherry Heart Pies via The Botanical Kitchen

Mini Chocolate Valentine’s Cakes via Tin and Thyme 

Chocolate Valentines Cookies {Dairy Free} via The Hedge Combers 

Raspberry-Rose & Pink Peppercorn Love Bites via Food to Glow 

A few of my past Valentine's Treats: 

Oreo Truffles

Oreo Pops

Cinnamon Roll Hearts (one of my most popular Pinterest pins ever!)

Baked Doughnuts (heart shaped) 

and another Rice Krispie recipe Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats (also heart shaped)

note: all images are used with the blogger(s) permission 

Energy Bites {Jamie Oliver}

It’s that lovely time of year when the leaves start to change color and the skies are clear but you can’t leave home without a coat and everyone is cuddled up with blankets and a hot cuppa (a word I only started using recently). All this loveliness comes at a cost, because with the changing weather we get the dreaded, the most avoided and annoying thing ever!

The common cold.

Last Monday I went to work and it seemed like everyone had one. Tuesday my day off, I felt my throat start to tingle and itch and by Wednesday I knew I was starting to get a cold. So, I sent the hubby to the store for pineapple, oranges, and lemon so I could make the ultimate cold buster juice. Curtesy of The Juice Master himself Jason Vale. The other ingredient for this Buster Juice, as I call it, is Manuka honey.

I already had Manuka honey in my cupboard patiently waiting for me to make these Energy Bites originally called “My Tasty Energy Balls: Apricot, Ginger, & Cashew.” That title and this recipe comes from Jamie Oliver’s latest book Everyday Super Food. Having watched (most) of his shows and following his popular Food Tube YouTube channel I think he probably got a laugh out of calling them “My Tasty Energy Balls.” The 8 year-old in me laughed.

There isn’t a better time then when you have a cold to give yourself as much energy as possible. With the juice and these bites I think I’ve escaped the worst of the cold. I was still sneezy, had itchy ears, and sounded a bit rough, but I could still breath and didn’t have the pressure headaches. So, I would never say that these things cure the common cold, but they have helped me endure it a bit better!

Energy Bites

100g unsalted cashew nuts
20g sesame seeds
80g dried apricots
20g puffed brown rice
thumb size piece of ginger, about 4cm
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
2 tablespoons manuka honey

Blitz 40g of the cashews into a powder - set aside to cover the bites later. Place 60g of the cashew nuts along with the sesame seeds, apricots, and puffed rice into a food processor and blitz until it’s all chopped up. Then finely grate the ginger into the food processor bowl and add the mixed spice, give it a pulse or three before adding the honey. Mix it for a couple of minutes, scraping down the sides if and when needed. Once it’s ready roll into about 24 bites and coat in the cashew powder and store in an airtight container.

tip: You can toast the cashews and sesame seeds in a dry pan on a medium heat for added flavor as suggested by Jamie, but I didn’t. Also wet your hands before rolling the mixture into balls to avoid it being too sticky.

notes: Recipe adapted from Everyday Super Food Jamie Oliver. My husband bought me a copy because he knows I like Jamie Oliver and thought I’d enjoy this book as well. We are terrible gift givers on special occasion’s, but it’s because we do things like buy each other stuff when we see it and just give it to each other instead of saving it.

Five Ways to Use Betty Crocker Box Mixes {five on Friday}

Recently I was sent a variety of Betty Crocker box mixes to use in my baking. Every time I make something with a box mix I am worried about those “only from scratch” bakers getting on my case. However, I do use a box mix from time to time and have written about it on United Cakedom several times before.

There are a couple of reasons why I, an avid baker, would choose a cake mix. First there is very little you can do to mess it up and therefore is a good choice when in a pinch. Secondly cakes made from box mixes always turn out fluffy and soft and taste good so make great bases for special toppings or fillings.

Besides all that there are other ways to use cake, brownie, or cookie mixes and here are my five favorite ways: 

Bundt Cakes:

Using a stylish baking tin is always a way to dress up you cake mix. To Make: Follow the instructions on the box and add a 150g or a ½ cup of peanut butter to the batter. Make sure that the bundt is properly greased and floured before baking. Bake time will be a little longer then the time on the box, but it depends on shape and your oven. So, set the timer for the suggested time. Check the cake and if it’s not cooked add another 10 minutes, if it’s still not cooked add another five and continue adding five until it’s completely done. Use the skewer test to be sure. Leave to cool in the bundt pan for at least 10 minutes before gently tapping it out. Then glaze it! For a Peanut Butter Glaze (pictured): Whisk 250g/1 ½ cups icing sugar, 60ml/ ¼ cup milk, 75g/ ¼ cup peanut butter, and  ½ tsp vanilla extract together until combined. Pour over the top of the cake. Sprinkle 1 or 2 squares of dark chocolate very finely chopped over the top.

Cupcakes:

This is one of those obvious reasons, but cupcakes are always a crowd pleaser and there is so much to make cupcakes fancy or fun! I made these on my recent visit to my parent’s house in America. I used a Betty Crocker Red Velvet Cake Mix to make cupcakes and stuffed a limited edition Red Velvet Oreos in the middle before topping with a Cookies and Cream Frosting. To Make: make the cake batter according to box instructions. Fill the bottom of each cupcake case with a tablespoon of batter, then place an Oreo on top of the batter in each case, top each Oreo with the rest of the batter (about 3-4 tablespoons). Crush up any leftover Oreos and mix in the frosting for a delicious cookies and cream frosting! note: Since these Oreo’s don’t exist here in the UK feel free to use regular Oreos in any flavor cake!

Red Velvet Brownies:

These make a more cake like brownie, but are chewier which is how I like them! To Make: Heat the oven to 180C/350F; line a square tin with grease proof paper. Mix 1 box of red velvet cake mix; 60ml/ ¼ cup vegetable oil (or sunflower); 75ml/ 1/3 cup water; 1 egg together until combined. Add 100g white chocolate chunks and pour into the prepared tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Once cool cover with Betty Crocker’s Vanilla Icing and Rainbow Sprinkle frosting.

  

Cake Batter Cookies:

Sally’s Baking Addiction blog’s most popular post is for her Cake Batter Sprinkle Cookies. I adjusted her recipe to suit a UK market. To Make: Sift 1 (450g) Betty Crocker Classic Vanilla Cake Mix and 1 tsp baking powder into a bowl. In a separate bowl beat 2 eggs, 75ml/1/3 cup sunflower oil, and ½ tsp vanilla extract. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until combined. Heat the oven to 180C/350F and line the baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Form one-inch balls with the cookie dough and place on the baking sheet leaving space between each dough ball. Place a few chocolate chunks in the cookie dough. Bake for 9 minutes. Don’t let the cookies go brown, take them out and let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack. They will look pale and under baked, but they will harden while cooling. note: want red velvet cookies? Use Betty Crocker’s Red Velvet Cake Mix and white chocolate chips!

Brownie Bites:

Brownies are already smooshy so they are a lot easier to make then cake pops (another great use for cake mix). To Make: Make brownies according to the box instructions. Once they are cool enough to touch break some up and roll it into about a 1-2 inch ball. Cover in melted chocolate or candy melts. Decorate however you want! Check out the time my sister made Golden Snitch Brownie Bites!(picture above)

If you like this post you might like:     

Star Bar Cake

Slutty Brownies

Hawaiian Coconut Cake

notes: cake mixes were provided for this post all opinions are my own please see above tab for further information. 

Chocolate Pretzel Fudge Bites aka Mouth-Fulls

Chocolate Pretzel Fudge Bites is a bit of a mouth full to say and mouths will be full when you make these… maybe I should have called them “Mouth-Fulls” or something just as silly?

The salty pretzel covered with the sweetness of chocolate is a classic combo that a lot of people love.

Including Mr. Knightley; they are his favorite! I made these with him in mind.

Well, it started because I bought him Caramel & Pretzel Chocolate clusters at Marks and Spencers. They were pretty damn good!

I should know I ate most of them. I figured I better make it up to him, so I had a look in my cupboard…

I had the chocolate, pretzels, and Sainsbury’s mini Cornish Fudge chunks in my cupboard. As I’m in the process of using up things in my cupboard I thought why not!

Fudge and caramel are not they same thing, but they come from the same family of sweets.

They are easy to throw together and make a tasty chocolate treat! You could also use these as an egg nest during the Easter season. Just top them with some chocolate eggs. You could also decorate with sprinkles or use candy melts for different colors. A pretty versatile treat, it’s up to you. Enjoy!

Chocolate Pretzel Fudge Bites

200g milk chocolate

50g (more or less) pretzels, smashed

100g Sainsbury’s mini Cornish Fudge chunks

cupcake/muffin cases

Melt the chocolate using your preferred method. I melted them in a glass bowl over simmering water. Then add the smashed pretzels coating them completely before adding the fudge chunks. Mix thoroughly before spooning them into cupcake cases. I made 11 but it all depends on how you want to divide them up! Let them set before eating! 

notes: Mr Knightley is my husband, see the about me page to be disappointed that I don’t explain it further. I was shopping at M&S because I had a gift card. I bought Sainsbury's mini Cornish Fudge chunks prior to knowing I would use them in this recipe!

Golden Snitch Brownie Bites!! {Happy Birthday Harry!}

I made brownies from a box. But you could make your own; delicious brownie recipes can be found here. When the brownies were cooled, but still warm, I removed them from the pan, cut off the crusts and rolled them into 1-1 1/2 in balls.  Then I dipped them in the gold candy melts. I inserted the wings on either side and sprinkled them with the gold and iridescent sprinkles. (See how to below). Let them cool and enjoy!!

 Happy birthday Harry! Love, Janet

I tinted white candy melts with yellow, a dab of orange, a tiny drop of red and brown. I asked the kids for advice on when the color came out gold.  :) I drew wings on notebook paper then traced the wings on wax paper with the gold candy melt. 

The candy melt was in an icing piping bag with a number 1 Wilton's tip. I added a 'stem' so I could insert the wings in the snitch. Before they dried I sprinkled them with yellow and iridescent sprinkles!