I had overripe bananas lying around and I ended up making the best banana bread I've made so far (and I've made many!) Happy days.

BANANA BREAD (sugar-free)

230g light spelt flour
1tsp baking powder
0,25tsp baking soda
0,25tsp salt
0,25tsp cinnamon
3 very ripe bananas
100g coconut oil
80g honey
2 eggs


Mix the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mash the bananas with a work and add coconut oil, honey and eggs and mix. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and pour the batter into a bread tin greased with coconut oil or butter. Bake in 175 celsius for about 50 minutes. Let cool in the tin on wire rack for a while.

Try this toasted with almond butter on top, oh man!

These crackers have become an ultimate go-to recipe lately..

SEED CRACKERS

(tweaked from Green Kitchen Stories)

65g sunflower seeds
60g sesame seeds
40g ground flaxseeds
75g flour (almond, oat, rye, chickpea, buckwheat.. I use a 50/50 blend of two of these)
0,75tsp salt
3tbsp olive oil
225ml water


Place a bowl on a scale and first measure sunflower and sesame seeds in, reserving a quarter of the mixture for sprinkling on top. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix. Add olive oil and water and stir until combined. Spread the mixture out immediately on a baking tray, as thinly as possible, (the dough will thicken quickly and then it'll be a lot harder to spread evenly) and sprinkle the remaining seeds (and a little more if you will) on top.

Bake in 150 decrees first for 20 min, cut in squares with a pizza slicer or a sharp knife and bake for another 20-30 minutes. Keep peeking in the oven after 15 minutes or so; the baking time can vary alot depending on your oven. The crackers should get just a little golden on the edges. Break gently into individual crackers and let cool on a wire rack.

Beware of addiction.

Potato flat bread love

I may have fallen a little in love with potato flat bread.

PERUNARIESKA (POTATO FLAT BREAD)

(makes about 10 little flat breads)

about 700g unpeeled, unboiled potatoes / 500g boiled, peeled potatoes
200ml water or milk
1,5tsp salt
a dollop of oil
2 eggs
200ml flour (barley, oat, wheat etc)


Peel and boil the potatoes, let cool and mash them with a hand blender in a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with a spatula. Spoon dollops of dough on a tray lined with baking paper, sprinkle each generously with flour (the dough will be very wet) and pat them into breads 1cm or a little less thick (about 10cm in diameter). Bake the flat breads in 250 celsius for 12-15 minutes until nice and browned (start peeking in the oven after 10 minutes or so because baking times vary depending on your oven). Eat warm with butter melting on top, or course.

Mornings around here are calm and slow. I am taking everything out of this time I now have with no agenda; I make good breakfasts and spend lots of time with the Bible. I've also finally gotten around to trying baked oatmeal. Here's how I've been making it, in praise of autumn.

BAKED APPLE OATMEAL

(serves 2-3)

300ml oatmeal
0,75tsp salt
0,75tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
0,5tsp pure vanilla powder
400ml coconut milk
1 organic egg
1-2 apples
coconut oil (or butter) for greasing
natural yoghurt, almonds, blueberries etc. for serving


Mix the dry and wet ingredients first separately and then all (except the apples) together. Grease an ovenproof dish (about 25cm in diameter) with coconut oil and pour the mixture in and top with sliced apples. Bake in 175 celsius for 30 minutes. Serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt, blueberries and chopped almonds (or go crazy like we did one morning with a little bit of everything; bananas, homemade apple jam, dried mulberries, and everything I already mentioned!)

Oatmeal raisin cookies

I went to visit old workmates at the theatre yesterday and since I'd been craving oatmeal raisin biscuits for days, I made them some. On the way home I went to GLC for a double espresso and got Suke Quto from The Barn, my lucky day!

OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES

(makes about 24 small biscuits)
(adapted a little from Smitten Kitchen)

115g soft butter
125g muscovado sugar
1 organic egg
120g rolled oats
95g flour (I used light spelt)
0,5tsp baking powder
0,5tsp cinnamon
0,5tsp salt
0,5tsp pure vanilla powder
70g raisins
40g chopped dark chocolate


Cream together the soft butter and sugar. Add egg and mix. In a separate bowl combine oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients, raisins and chocolate to the sugar butter mixture and mix with your hands to have everything well combined. Scoop the dough onto two sheets of baking paper and roll them tightly and place in the fridge for half an hour or so. When chilled, cut the rolls into biscuits, divide on two baking sheets and press each a little to flatten them out. Bake in 175 celsius for 8-9 minutes, until golden at the edges but still pale on top. (We're aiming at crunchy edges and soft, chewy middle. Chilling the dough makes the biscuits a little thicker and chewier; a warm dough bakes faster and spreads more.). I made small biscuits (about 5cm) but next time I think I'll go for proper cookies and make bigger ones. Baking time will vary a lot depending on your oven, how big you make the biscuits and how cold the dough is. Just do as my grandma always did; bake a test biscuit or two first!

I highly recommend muscovado sugar! (This is the sugar I use the most. In Helsinki you find it in Ruohonjuuri and other organic stores.) Muscovado's got a lovely, subtle caramelly taste. Since it's less processed than white sugar it still has some nutrients in it and is easier for your body to digest. Of course you could make these biscuits with any sugar but you will miss a little in flavour if you use white sugar.

The Green Kitchen Project, recipe no.8

Good things often come about slowly. You should know by now that I really like spending lots of time in the kitchen: have good music playing, put effort into what I'm going to serve, try new things and watch something (in my opinion) almost magical take place as simple ingredients turn out into tasty, nourishing and comforting pastries and dishes. This is one those 24-hour projects but it actually requires more time than work.

DARK DANISH RYE BREAD

(makes 1 loaf)

190g whole rye grains
60g sunflower seeds
500ml boiling water
250ml plain yoghurt, at room temperature
3tbsp clear honey
1tbsp sea salt
1tbsp fennel seeds
125g dried cranberries (optional)
5tbsp carob powder (or cacao powder)
4tsp dried yeast
400g whole rye flour
150g whole spelt flour
60g light spelt flour


Place the rye grains and sunflower seeds in a bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let sit for 15 minuten, then add the yoghurt, honey, salt, fennel seeds, cranberries and carob powder and stir with a wooden spoon. Use your finger to test the temperature of the mixture - it should be just warm. Stri in the yeast. Then add rye flour and stir until you have a smooth batter. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave for 1 hour at room temperature, until the dough is slightly bubbly.

Gradually add in enough of the spelt flour to form a dough. Turn out onto a floured work surface (I skipped this step, for I find that rye bread doughs are next to impossible to remove from your work surfaces, and kneaded in the bowl instead). Knead for about 5 minutes, adding the remaining spelt flour until it is firmer, but still slightly sticky and quite heavy. Form it into a ball and return to the bowl. Slap some water on the top with your hands. Cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for 8-10 hours or overnight.

Place the dough into an oiled loaf tin and press down with your fists to get rid of any air pockets. The dough should be quite sticky. Brush the top with water and dust it with rye flour. Cover with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise slightly for 2 hours.

Bake the loaf on the slowest shelf of the oven in 200 celsius for 1 hour. Turn off the heat and leave the loaf in the oven for further a 15 minutes. Remove from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack for at least 4 hours. This is important to allow the bread to set, which makes it easier to cut. Keep for about a week.


My loaf ended up a little underdone; I felt the dough could have taken in more flour but I wanted to give it a chance since I hadn't made this bread earlier and I didn't really know how it should be like. (Also longer time in the oven could maybe have solved the problem though I already gave it some: after turning the heat off and the 15 minutes I had it in the oven without the tin for a further 8 minutes.) The bread didn't hold together very well when cut in slices, though I waited the 4 hours. Maybe I should've waited more? But it tasted really good and had a wonderful smell of christmas! (I used cacao powder instead of carob and skipped the cranberries. I didn't have light spelt flour so I substituted it and some of the whole spelt flour with wheat flour. Also next time I'd halve the amount of fennels seeds.)


Soundtrack for the recipe: Chopin's Nocturne No.11 by Elisabeth Leonskaja

Slow mornings are one my favorite things in life. This morning I enjoyed luscious coffee from Kenia (Tekangu Karogoto), bread fresh from the oven and the sun shining in. This fruit & nut bread just might beat the one it was inspired by (second photo on this post). I am so pleased with this recipe, oh my.

FRUIT & NUT BREAD

300ml water
25g fresh yeast
1tsp salt
1tbsp cane sugar
200ml coarse spelt flour
450ml wheat flour
50ml olive oil
120g dried figs
100g soft dried dates
70g hazelnuts


Warm the water in a large bowl up to 42 celsius. Mix in yeast and after that salt, sugar, flour in parts and olive oil. Lastly mix in figs, dates and hazelnuts (throw them in whole to have beautiful big clumps in the bread). Cover the bowl with cling film (the bowl should be more at least double the size of the dough for it will rise alot) and place in the fridge overnight. In the morning knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes; this is important as the dough warms up and the yeast awakens. Grease a bread tin and have the dough rise in it for 45 minutes in a warm place under a kitchen towel. Bake the bread in 175 celsius for about 45 minutes and to get crispier edges take the bread out of the tin and bake for another 5 minutes without it. Tap the bottom of the bread and if you hear a hollow sound the bread is ready. This bread is really best with just butter on but it goes awfully well with good ham and goat cheese gouda, or the like, as well.

A day can't be so bad that pannari wouldn't save it (Jamie's new Food Escapes in the mail also helped).

PANNARI

(finnish oven pancake)

500ml whole milk
2tbsp sugar
1tsp salt
2 organic eggs
200ml flour (sometimes I use about one fourth coarse spelt flour but really, plain wheat flour gives the best result here)
2tbsp melted butter
cardamom


Whisk everything but cardamom together and let swell for 10 minutes. Cover an oven pan (mine was about 20x30cm and I love how thick the pancake gets) with baking paper. Pour the dough in and sprinkle cardamom on top. Bake in 225 celsius for about 40 minutes. The pancake will rise and swell alot in the oven but don't worry, it'll come down again. Pannari is best eaten a little chilled but still warm. I absolutely recommend homemade blueberry jam with this!

I finally got around to trying this bread that is basicly just nuts and seeds. (Here's a slightly different version of the same thing.) I was quite pleased with the bread! It is especially good toasted and it holds together better if you store it in the fridge. (The lace patterned plate in the picture, my absolutely most beautiful plate, is from Valkoinen Puu. I am so incredibly inspired by the lovely couple who makes these!)

In this season I love the rustling of leaves, lots of hot chocolate (recipe coming soon) and listening to autumn music. The nights are dark but snuggling on the couch is good.

People who bake you banana bread in an instant when you ask if they would make life wonderful. There's so much goodness and love around. (Also people who knit you socks are quite amazing!)


"A good story simply gets better with every new chapter."

Grandma spent her life in the kitchen and now that she only has others cooking for her I love using some of her old kitchen utensils and carrying on the traditions; last weekend I made banana bread in a cake mold inherited from her with Green Kitchen Stories' recipe (the only sweeteners in this recipe are bananas and applesauce). And I discovered Rachel Khoo and her inspiring kitchen.

This weekend I started off with 13 hours of sleep and I continue slowly. I find it very intriguing to suddenly be absorbed in a new place and a new group of people. People and their stories and ways of doing things are so interesting! A new job takes so much of your energy though as everything is new. Learning it all (the routines, the new pace, the people) takes time and drains you but is also very rewarding. I came across a wonderful statement:

"Taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it's more like a cha-cha."

I had Helena over for breakfast and thought it was about time to make banana bread again. I appreciate and cherish time with Helena all the more now for she's moving abroad in May. She's a gem and she makes me very happy.

BANANA BREAD

100g almond flour
90g wheat flour (300ml flour altogether)
40g (230ml) shredded coconut
50g (75ml) cane sugar
a pinch of salt
1tsp baking powder
1/4tsp baking soda
1tsp cinnamon

3 ripe bananas
2 eggs
100ml oil


Combine the dry and wet ingredients separately, beat the wet mixture a little and then mix all together. Bake in a greased bread tin in 180 celsius for 50-60 minutes. Serve toasted with Philadelphia (or as it is).

The original recipe has 230g wheat flour; I've tried different combinations and I have to say this was my favorite. You can make the bread gluten free by using a combination of almond and rice flour for example but I like using some wheat flour because it helps the bread stay together better and not crumble so easily. I've also reduced sugar to a third and replaced butter with oil (which makes the bread moistier and a little lighter). The bread stays good for about 3 days.

Have a happy Tuesday!

BANANA BLUEBERRY BREAKFAST MUFFINS

(makes about 8)
(adapted from Donal Skehan)


60g light spelt flour
40g oat flour
100g rolled oats
30g muscovado sugar
0,5 tsp salt
1,5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
0,5 tsp cardamom
1 egg yolk
125ml milk
1,5 tbsp oil
1 very large or 2 small ripe bananas mashed
1 egg white
130g blueberries


Mix the dry ingredients. Add egg yolk, milk, oil and mashed banana and mix with a spatula. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold the egg white gently in to the batter and last add the frozen berries (mix quickly; the blueberries color the batter easily when they start melting). Divide the batter into 8 paper cases on a muffin tray and bake in 200c for about 20 minutes.

I keep coming back to this recipe, these are my favorite breakfast muffins!

Monday morning! I got up early to do laundry and made rice porridge while waiting for the first load. (Boy it tastes comforting.) I also made pumpkin coconut muffins with a recipe from Green Kitchen Stories (for which I bought my first ever pumpkin yesterday! An exciting and very yummy recipe; next time I think I'm leaving the ginger out though and using a little more pumpkin. The hint of orange gives the muffins a really nice taste!) I love my roomie's bedding!

I tried out carrot cupcakes yesterday for a night at Helena's and they were so good I made them today as well for girls at work.

CARROT CUPCAKES

(makes 12)

250ml flour (I've been using different combos of almond, rice and spelt flour, you could also just use plain wheat flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1,5tsp cinnamon
a good pinch of ground cardamom
a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
a pinch of ground ginger
0,5tsp salt
200ml raw cane sugar
180ml oil
3-4 carrots
2 organic eggs (room temperature)

120g cream cheese
100ml powdered sugar
25g melted butter
organic almonds/hazelnuts for garnish


Mix the dry ingredients. Grate the carrots and mix them and the oil and the eggs with a spatula and add the mixture to the dry ingredients. Place paper muffin tins in a muffin tray and divide the batter into them. Bake in 175 celsius for about 10-15 minutes. Let cool complelety on wire racks. Make the frosting by mixing together cream cheese, sugar and butter until creamy. Cover completely cooled cupcakes with the frosting and sprinkle chopped almonds on top. Keep the cupcakes covered in the fridge overnight before serving; they'll taste a lot more and better the day after.

(You can also make a cake with the same recipe; just pour the dough into a lined or greased tin (diameter about 24cm) and bake for about 15-20 minutes, just until a toothpick comes out clean.)


(photo by Helena Mackey)