Posts Tagged ‘Coconut Sugar’

Simple Tea Biscuits

Posted 11 Feb, 2010 in Dessert, Recipes [ 2 Comments ]


I don’t have a major sweet tooth, but there are times when I do enjoy having a treat after dinner. In New Zealand, people take “tea” breaks which consists of drinking black tea with milk in the morning and afternoon. This is often accompanied by cookies or “biscuits” as they call them. It’s a nice tradition and one that is very English.

I’m not one to take regular tea breaks during the day, but I do like finishing off dinner with a mug of herbal tea and a small “biscuit.” I don’t like commercially baked biscuits are they are overly processed and high in sugar. I came up with the following recipe which is made with coconut sugar and oat flour. It’s easy to make and keeps well.

Coconut sugar is a low GI sugar made from tropical coconut palm sugar blossoms.  It is a low glycemic sweetener with a GI of 35 (compared to Honey which has a GI of 55 and plain sugar which has a GI of 68).  I buy mine from the Asian grocer.  Oat flour is ground up oatmeal and it can be substituted for flour in most baking.  I just grind up oatmeal in my blender for a few minutes.

Print This Recipe Print This Recipe

Simple Tea Biscuits

200 grams oat flour
120 grams butter
1 tbs milk
1/4 cup coconut sugar

  1. Beat butter and coconut sugar until creamy.
  2. Add in the milk and stir until mixed through.
  3. Mix through the oat flour to form the dough.
  4. Shape the dough into a round ball and wrap in plastic.  Chill in the fridge for an hour.
  5. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface.  Use cookie cutters and cut into desired shapes.
  6. Bake at 180° for 15 minutes.
  7. Cool completely and Enjoy.

Cinnamon Raisin Ice Cream

Posted 2 Jan, 2010 in Dessert, Recipes, Summer [ 2 Comments ]

It’s summer in New Zealand. I love it that the seasons are reversed in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. This year, I was fortunate to have summer twice. I went back home to California in August for a month of summer and now I’m getting my turn at the second round of summer in New Zealand. Hot summer weather means lighter and cooler foods. The quintessential summer food for me is ice cream.

I absolutely adore ice cream. What I don’t like about most commercial brands of ice cream is that it’s a little too sweet for my liking and often chemically processed for mass production. So this summer, I decided to purchase an ice cream maker to have a go at creating my perfect scoop.

The custard has to be of the right consistency and that often means using higher fat ingredients. The traditional french ice cream calls for 2 cups of cream, 1 cup of whole milk, and up to 6 egg yolks. I did try making a batch of ice cream with this traditional formula but found it to be too rich for my liking.

The goal was to create an ice cream custard that is healthy and easy to make. After various experiments, I came up with my perfect formula for a healthy low-sugar ice cream. I used chia seeds, which I know is a natural thickener but also full of fibre and protein to thicken up the custard. I used soy milk and flavoured it with a cinnamon stick and coconut sugar. I added 2 tablespoons of vodka to ensure a softer consistency.

Print This Recipe Print This Recipe

Cinnamon Raisin Ice Cream (with Chia Seeds)

4 cups milk or soy milk*
1 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup chia seeds
1 stick cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tablespoon real vanilla essence
2 tablespoons vodka
100g raisins

  1. Blend all ingredients except raisins in a high speed blender to create the “custard.”
  2. Place the custard in the fridge for 30 minutes to thicken.
  3. Pour custard into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers’ instructions.
  4. Pour in the raisins into the ice cream maker during the last 5 minutes of churning.