We are all going to crave sweet things, that is a fact of life. BUT what we don’t all have to eat when we get these cravings are sweet snacks that are not nourishing to us and can in fact damage our health. Especially if they are a regular go to food. Those ingredients damaging to our health that are typically found in convenient snacks are those that are;
- made in a factory,
- filled with refined sugar
- and/or additives,
- and/or preservatives,
- and/ or colourants
- and/or trans fats.
So, today I’m sharing a very easy to make biscuit recipe that by keeping my biscuit barrel filled up with them (or something similar), helps to ensure my family has a healthy snack on demand to eat that satisfies the sweet tooth when it comes calling. These biscuits are also filling and full of nourishment also, with a little unrefined natural sugar coming from a combination of chopped dates and date syrup in each biscuit. (Which by the way, is suitable for children under 1 (unlike honey) and recent research that was shown at the Society for General Microbiology’s Annual Conference in 2015, has suggested that date syrup possesses anti-bacterial properties that rival raw Manuka honey. This was discovered by a student named Hajer Taleb from Cardiff Metropolitan University in the UK.)
We do generally like to ensure in our family house that we have something within easy reach for all of us to snack on, to also stop us feeling like we are ‘restricting ourselves to boring healthy food’ or that we are ‘missing out on something yummy’ to snack on.
I also prefer to let my son go and grab snacks as and when he feels he is hungry in-between meals. I do the same to be honest as an adult, and I am by default, such a grazer with my food. And I do feel that allowing children, to eat when they as owners of their own bodies want to, is what helps to reduce the chances of having issues with food such as addictions and binge eating, later on in life. THIS IS SO LONG AS; healthy snacks are available and there is little junk food in the house, there are regular home cooked meals made AND as parents we are constantly educating our children alongside this ‘food freedom’ as to what food is the most nourishing to our bodies, what foods are least nourishing and what the consequences of eating food that isn’t nourishing can do to our mental and physical health.
I digress. Here is today’s easy and versatile recipe! (It is versatile in that you can *swap out all the ingredients for something else similar. And this allows you the chance to make something new each time based on what you have in your cupboard.)
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Hazelnut and Date Oat Biscuit Recipe (Dairy, Gluten and Refined Sugar Free)
Yields: 20 biscuits
Time to make: 30 / 35 minutes (including cooking time)
Ingredients:
- 180g organic rolled oats (gluten free) (*could be swapped for buckwheat oats if you can’t tolerate oats)
- 6 table spoons of date syrup
- 100g hazelnuts (blanched and skin removed) (*could be swapped for cranberries)
- 3/4 cup organic unrefined coconut oil (melted) (*could be swapped for organic eggs)
- 200g dates (pitted and chopped)
How to make my hazelnut and date oat biscuit recipe:
- Add all ingredients to a food processor. Whizz around until everything has been mixed well and chopped finely.
- Line a baking tray with non-stick paper, and take a palm size amount of mixture and roll and flatten into a biscuit shape.
- Continue with the above step until you have used all of the mixture to make 20 biscuits.
- Cook on 180 degrees centigrade in the middle of the oven until the cookies become slightly golden brown and more solid. (Roughly 20 minutes)
A FEW TIPS: Each biscuit can take time to shape, and it is normal for them to fall apart as you make them. But just go with it. They will be worth it in the end! If you feel they are too dry and really breaking a lot, add a little more coconut oil or even an organic egg.
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Keeping something healthy on hand to snack on in-between meals really can make all the difference to ensuring you don’t binge on the next best snack around you for sale, i.e. crisps, cakes or chocolate bars stripped of nutrients when they are processed in mass quantities in the factories. Your body and mind deserve only the best, so ensure you feed it the right fuel to get you through the day, and for children to grow properly. Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my gluten free, dairy free and refined sugar free hazelnut and date oat biscuit recipe.
