Bean Biscuits (Semi-Healthy Scones)

I stumbled across this recipe today while looking for a dip recipe so I could use up my dry kidney beans in the cupboard. This is a super easy (and semi-healthy) recipe for scones. They taste great & you'd never know that they use kidney beans as one of the key ingredients! They also use some wholemeal flour which is great and a lot less butter than standard scones I believe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup wholemeal/whole wheat flour

4tsps baking powder

1tbsn granulated sugar (I used raw as it's much better for you)

1/2 tsp salt

75g butter

You can use margarine but it's not good for you :)

1cup cooked kidney beans either white or red

(I soak mine overnight or all day, tip out the water and then boil them until slightly soft, but you may have other methods)

2/3 cup milk

Method:

Sift all-purpose flour and baking powder and then stir all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles crumbs. In a food processor or blender, puree the beans with the milk OR mash the beans & stir in the milk. Stir the mixture into the dry ingredients all at once to make a light, soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured board, sprinkle with flour & knead for about 20 seconds. Shape biscuits as you would scones by rolling (1-2cm thick), patting and cutting dough into squares (makes about 16 if doing squares) or triangle shapes or I just used a cookie cutter to make pretty heart patterns & made a lot more pieces by doing it this way. Bake at 180 degrees Celcius (or just under) for about 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. I also brushed the tops of mine with milk before cooking. If making these again, I would probably add a small amount of Parmesan cheese & perhaps some parsley or herbs.

Easy Unbaked Lemon Cheesecake

Lemon Cheesecake with passionfruit/berry topping

Click HERE for the original recipe. I changed a few things so I will put the directions here.

Base
250g biscuits (The original recipe said to use Arnotts but I just used budget malt biscuits)
120g butter, melted (the amount you need may vary, depending on the type of biscuits you use)

Optional: A tiny squeeze of lemon juice

Filling
125g cream cheese (not light otherwise it won't set properly), softened
395g (1 can) sweetened condensed milk
125ml (1/2 cup) fresh lemon juice

I found I needed 3lemons to get the right amount of lemon juice so I grated the lemons first to get the rind and added 1/3 to the base and then the rest to the filling to make it extra lemony.

Topping
250ml (1 cup) cream, sweetened with sugar to taste and whipped until thick

Instead of this I used passionfruit pulp and fruit of the forest jam mixed together

Use a food processor or blender to finely crush the biscuits.

Combine crushed biscuits with melted butter.

Firmly press biscuit mixture into a sprayed or greased 23cm diameter (base measurement), 3cm deep flan pan or pie plate. Use a rectangular dish if you want to serve the cheesecake in small squares or I simply used a cake tin so I could pop the bottom out and make getting it out a whole lot easier. Or use a muffin tin and make individual ones if you can be bothered - they turn out super cute!

Place base in fridge to chill while making filling.

Beat cream cheese in an electric mixer until completely smooth and creamy. Stop the machine occasionally and use a spatula to scrape down the side and base of the bowl. With the mixer running, gradually drizzle in the condensed milk (stop to scrape the bowl down occasionally).

Add the lemon juice and beat until combined. The mixture should thicken when the lemon juice is beaten in. If your filling is a little lumpy at this stage, you can pass it through a fine strainer. Spread filling over base.

Place cheesecake in an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 8 hours to allow the cheesecake to set.

Top with sweetened whipped cream before serving. The original recipe decorated the cheesecake with grated chocolate or fruit. I simply mixed some passionfruit pulp with fruit of the forest jam and poured it over the top. 

 Mmm try not to eat more than one piece at a time!

Blackberry and Apple Teacake

This cake is beautifully moist and absolutely delicious. It does take a wee bit of time to prepare but is well worth the effort. And you can always just buy some stewed apple from Surplus Direct for cheap or a can from the supermarket if you don't have apples or simply can't be bothered making the apple jam. Or if you are super efficient like my mum, you have probably already stocked up your cupboards with homemade bottled apple!

 

So here is the recipe...

1 egg, separated 

1/2 cup castor sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 cup Self Raising flour

125g butter, melted

3/4 cup frozen berries (Ie. blackberries, cranberries, raspberries, etc.)

apple jam*

Grease a 20cm cake tin and preheat oven to 180deg C.

Beat egg white until stiff then beat in egg yolk. Gradually add sugar while beating. Stir in milk slowly. Beat in flour and melted butter until smooth. Fold in berries.

Pour 1/2 of the cake mixture into the tin. Spread or just dollop 1/2 of the apple jam on top. Pour the rest of the batter over. Bake for about 30mins.

Turn out, brush with butter (optional) and dust with caster sugar or icing sugar. Serve warm with the rest of the apple jam and cream or ice cream. Yum!

*Apple jam - peel, core and chop 3 large granny smiths, green or cooking apples. Add 1/4 cup water, cover and cook slowly for 10mins, mashing as they soften. Uncover and add 1/2 cup sugar and a pinch of nutmeg. Cook for 30-40 minutes stirring frequently to prevent burning. Cool before use.