This sourdough discard pizza dough made with spelt, is my go-to for pretty much any flatbread application. The sourdough starter discard (or simply un-fed sourdough starter) provides extra flavour, while the active dry yeast makes this dough ready to use in just over an hour. The dough also benefits from a long cold ferment in the refrigerator, so it truly works with your schedule!

As for the method, a rough mix followed by a short autolyse turns a shaggy mass into a smooth and supple dough just by leaving it alone for 10 minutes. The first ‘knead’ is a initial stretch and fold, and a few slap folds against the side of the bowl – just enough to work the pizza dough into a relatively smooth ball.

The two 30 minute rises are each followed by a coil fold. Although you can do a stretch fold instead if you prefer.

After the second rise, you have a couple options. First is to go straight into making pizzas. Skip the refrigeration, divide dough and form into balls, then let rest 20 – 30 mins while you preheat your oven or pizza oven.

The second option is to cover the bowl with a lid or something air-tight, and refrigerate for up to 36 hours before portioning and shaping. You could probably push it to 48 hours, but a day and a half is usually all I do. This long cold fermentation will add flavour as well as making the gluten a bit more easily digestible.

While the recipe below makes 4 x ~10 inch pizzas (depending on how thin, or not, you go with it), it can also be used to make pita bread, skillet flatbread, or even a sliceable loaf.

The video features a voice over by my (then) 5 year old niece. It’s everything you didn’t know you needed. There are a couple more reels featuring her – Lemon Marmalade and Almond Choc Chip Cookies – over on Instagram.

A few points worth mentioning…

• Using wet hands for the kneading, regardless of style, gently adds a touch of extra hydration to the dough, as well as allowing it to easily release.
• Dough hydration is impacted by multiple factors such as the brand of flour you use, the age of the flour and storage method, and climate, including humidity levels and temperature, in your kitchen. I live in Los Angeles, which is quite dry with very low humidity, as such, the dough in the video may look dryer than what you end up with – but trust the autolyse process before adding more flour or less water!
• I use Central Milling flours where possible, as I really like their product, but I have made this recipe with more readily-available grocery store brands. I’ve also used all purpose white flour and bread flour in place of the 00 pizza flour.
• The initial dough mixing is about making sure there’s no dry flour left in the bowl. If you feel there is flour that simply won’t incorporate, add a teaspoon or two of water at a time and work the dough with a wet hand to incorporate. If you feel the dough is too wet, wait until after the autolyse stage before adding any more flour. It may all hydrate and result in a super silky dough.
• Don’t miss the tips at the end of the recipe on how to create a blistered pizza oven style crust in your home oven!

Equipment

• Get a digital scale. Really. Once you start working with dough, you can often go by feel, but a scale is a lifesaver. This is the one I have – it charges with a USB cable which I love (my last one used coin batteries and I was forever having to replace them).
• For resting and rising I usually just cover my bowl with a plate, but for a longer ferment you don’t want any air to get in and dry out the dough. This Pyrex set is similar to my plain glass bowls, but these have a gorgeous ridge pattern, and these glass nesting bowls come with bamboo lids (!). Or if stainless steel is more your thing, these are cute and functional. Of course if you have enough bowls already, the two main types of silicone covers – ones that stretch to seal, and ones that sit on top and create suction – are a great option too.
• A dough scraper will cost you about $1 at a kitchen store (maybe $2), it’s great for mixing and transferring dough. In the video I use a dough cutter (also called a pastry cutter) to divide the dough, but the scraper can be used for cutting too.
• I love using a wooden pizza peel to build and launch the pizza, with a light dusting of flour it releases more easily than metal. But I have a smaller metal peel for turning the pizza in the oven, I use it for both my 16″ gas stand-alone pizza oven and my home oven.

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Spelt Sourdough Discard Pizza Dough

This half spelt sourdough discard pizza dough is my go-to for homemade pizza and flatbread. The sourdough starter provides extra flavour, while the yeast means it's ready to use in just over an hour!

Course Main Course

Servings 4 – 6 People

Ingredients

• 250 g white 00 pizza flour
• 250 g whole spelt flour
• 360 ml room temp water
• 90 g sourdough starter discard (or unfed starter)
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 10 g kosher salt
• millet flour, for shaping bases

Instructions

• To make the dough, place a large bowl on a scale (yes, use a scale). Add white and spelt flours and mix to combine. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add water, starter, and yeast. Use your dough scraper to mix roughly, until the starter is broken up and some of the flour has been incorporated into the liquid.
• Add salt, use scraper to mix ingredients until there are no more patches of dry flour. If necessary, use a wet hand to squidge the dough towards the end of mixing. It will be shaggy and not at all smooth at this stage.
• Cover bowl and leave to autolyse for 10 minutes, this step hydrates the flour, making the dough far easier to work with. Remove lid, wet your hand, and pull and fold the dough by tucking your fingers under one side, pulling the dough into the centre, and repeating three to four more times around the edge until a ball is formed. Re-wet hand if necessary, lift dough and turn over, slap-folding against the side of the bowl a few times, until it's far smoother than it began.
• Cover bowl and let rise 30 minutes. Uncover, wet your hands, and perform one coil fold. Place both hands under the centre of the dough, and lift until the edge furthest away from you folds under. Spin bowl 180 degrees, and repeat with the other edge. Then spin the bowl 90 degrees and repeat.
• Cover bowl and let rise for a further 30 mins. The dough should be very puffy after this rise. Repeat coil fold.
• Cover bowl with a tight-fitting lid or air-tight material. Place in fridge overnight, or up to 36 hours. You can probably push it to 48 hours, but I usually don't go that long. Alternatively, you can proceed immediately to the next step to form bases.
• To make the pizza bases, about 45 minutes before you're ready to eat, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface (I use millet flour, but white will work fine), and divide into four pieces. Pull corners of each portion into the centre to create a ball, pinching to seal. Place balls seam-side down and use your hand like a cup over the top to create tension against the bench-top, and form a firm round.
• Place dough balls on a tray dusted with flour, cover with a tea towel, and set aside for 20 – 30 minutes to allow gluten to relax. Meanwhile, preheat your oven or pizza oven.
• Form pizza bases by dusting a portion of dough well with millet flour. Use fingers to press the centre, moving out toward the edges. Pinch and spin, leaving the edge of the base thicker than the centre, until the dough is 8 – 10 inches (20 – 25 cm) in diameter. Dust a pizza peel with more flour and transfer dough, giving it a final stretch. Spread with toppings and bake. See notes below for baking tips using both pizza ovens and conventional ovens.

Notes

• My sourdough starter is 100% rye, at 100% hydration. This means when I feed it, I use an equal weight of flour and water. If your starter is higher or lower in hydration, you may need to adjust your flour or water amount by up to ~10 grams.
• If you don’t have a sourdough starter, replace the 90 g starter in the recipe with an additional 45 g spelt flour (or rye flour) plus 45 ml water. For extra flavour, mix the starter replacement in a jar and leave, loosely covered, on the kitchen bench for up to 24 hours, prior to making the dough.
• As often as I make this dough according to the method above – and as shown in the video, I also often start with the water, starter and yeast, whisking them together before adding the flours and salt. Either way works.
• Pizza oven: if you have a gas or wood-powered pizza oven, you probably have a solid method already. My 16″ Ooni, when it’s preheated properly, will take less than 2 minutes. I heat it on high, then turn it down to low as soon as I add the pizza. I’ve found one trick is starting to spin the pie pretty much as soon as the base is just cooked enough to slide without sticking. Pulling it away from the flame (towards the opening) so it can cook for a bit longer at a bit of a lower temp. Make sure to turn the heat back up between pizzas.
• Conventional oven: the trick to a blistered pizza oven-style crust in a conventional oven is a super hot broiler / griller. Place a pizza stone or flat cast iron pan on a rack just under the griller – but not so close the pizza will touch it. Preheat your oven to 500ºF (260ºC) for at least 30 – 45 minutes. 5 minutes before you’re ready to cook the pizza, turn on the broiler to high. Slide pizza onto the stone, cook for 2 – 3 minutes until bubbles and blisters start to appear. Rotate the pizza so the back is at the front, and cook a further minute or two. Transfer pizza to bottom rack to finish cooking, roughly another 3 – 4 minutes. This way, you can have one pizza starting at the top while another finishes at the bottom. If your oven doesn’t have a broiler / griller – or it’s in a different compartment, simply leave the oven at 500/260 for the whole time – you won’t have blisters but you’ll still get some damn fine pizza.

If you make this recipe I’d love to see it — remember to tag @84thand3rd in your creations on Instagram! xx ~ JJ

The post Half-Spelt Sourdough Discard Pizza Dough first appeared on 84th&3rd.

There’s something about the impending long weekend that accompanies Easter — and the inescapable invasion of hot cross buns marching like fluffy little soldiers across the shelves of every bakery and grocery store in Sydney — that makes me want to bake.

My history with hot cross buns is well documented and this year, thanks to the universe sending inspiring flavours my way, my head was full of orange & almond brioche and orange & coconut pull apart bread and that challah I made a few weeks back.

I thought about making classic heady-orange-scented buns, or orange & coconut filled buns (like these blueberry ones), or even an orange & ginger swirl hot-cross loaf. But in the end a kanelbulle-style twist won out — of course it did, because why make something simple when I can make it fancy? Ha.

I used an old fave half-wholewheat challah dough (yes yes, using challah dough for Easter buns, move along, nothing to see here), layered it with a buttery-orange-coconut filling, then sliced and twisted it into buns. Hot out of the oven they were absolute heaven, toasted the next day they still stood up and paired perfectly with a cup of tea.

This dough benefits hugely from a second rise before making it into buns. Allow for this in your timings, or make it the night before, punch down the first rise and set it in the fridge overnight. Then take it out and leave it on the bench for 30 mins or so before rolling and filling — and have hot buns ready for the morning in almost no time at all.

If you’re after another variation on the theme here’s something I prepared earlier. You can swap up the flavours/fillings/techniques with any of the doughs so find one you like the sound of and get baking!

• 2012: Sour Cherry, Orange and Earl Grey Hot Cross Buns — where the bun obsession began
• 2103: Berry Filled Hot Cross Buns – filling inside buns, genius
• 2014: Sticky Date & Chai Hot Cross Buns — still one of my fave dough recipes
• 2015: Banana Split Hot Cross Buns — and a post that still makes me laugh
• 2016: Rainbow Swirl Hot Cross Buns — apparently I had a need to one-up myself
• 2017: No-Knead Hot Cross Buns — post-shoulder surgery, no chance I could knead anything, also unintentionally vegan

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Orange & Coconut Buns

Fragrant and incredibly moreish, rich challah dough is layered with sweet coconut and orange-scented butter and twisted into gorgeous little buns.

Servings 16 buns

Ingredients

Dough

• 2 tsp dried yeast
• 1 cup water
• 3 cups white flour (360 g) + 1/4 cup extra if needed
• 2 cups wholewheat flour (290 g)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup, divided (60 ml)
• 1/4 cup olive oil (60 ml) + 1 Tbsp extra for the bowl
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp sea salt

Filling

• 75 g butter, softened (or non-dairy spread)
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1 Tbsp orange zest
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
• 1 Tbsp orange juice

To brush

• 2 Tbsp orange or lemon marmalade, warmed, optional

Instructions

• Combine yeast, water and 1 tsp of the maple syrup in a large bowl. Whisk and leave to proof until foamy. Add 1 cup of the white flour and 1 cup of the wholewheat flour and beat 20 strokes (I do this with my dough scraper).
• Add the oil, eggs, salt and remaining syrup and stir to combine. Add remaining wholewheat flour and another 1 cup of the white flour and stir until no flour remains. Start to add remaining 1 cup of white flour a bit at a time until you can no longer stir the dough - you'll probably use about half of it here, then turn out onto a floured bench, cover with upturned bowl and walk away for 2 minutes (this is important!).
• Start to knead the dough - press it away from you with the heel of one hand, then pull or scrape it back to fold in half, rotate a quarter turn and repeat. If the dough is reeeeaaaally wet add more from that last cup of flour. Knead for 2 minutes, cover with the bowl and rest another 2 mins (just as important as the first rest, really).
• Knead the dough for a final 5 minutes, it should be smooth and tacky but not so sticky it makes a total mess of your hands. You can always use more from the final 1 cup, or even a bit of the extra 1/4 cup flour if you must, but the tackier the dough the softer the buns.
• Drizzle the bowl with the extra olive oil, add the dough and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel and leave to rise for 1 hour. Punch down dough, turn it over, re-cover and leave to rise for a further 1 hour. (Alternatively you can pop the bowl in the fridge once you flip the dough and leave it refrigerated overnight for the second rise. Simply set it on the bench for a half hour in the morning before continuing the recipe.)
• To make the filling, combine softened butter and coconut sugar and beat (with a wooden spoon or a hand blender) until creamy. Add orange juice, zest, ginger, salt and desiccated coconut and stir vigorously to combine.
• Turn double-proofed dough out into a lightly floured bench and use a rolling pin to roll out into a large rectangle, approximately 30 x 60 cm (12 x 24 inches). Spread with filling, going all the way to the edges - an off-set knife is really handy here, but a rubber spatula/scraper will be fine too.
• From a short edge, fold a third of the dough over to partially enclose the filling. Fold the other third of the filling-smeared dough over like an envelope. Then with a folded edge facing you, use the rolling pin to roll again and make the rectangle into square.
• Line two large cookie sheets with baking paper. Use a knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 16 strips - going from one folded end of the rectangle to the other. Gently stretch a strip of dough to lengthen it a bit, and holding one end between your thumb and first two fingers, wrap the strip around the same fingers two times, hold it out with your thumb to loop it across and over, and tuck in the end. Check out a demo here, or just wrap it however you like, really!
• Place knotted bun on prepared tray and repeat with the rest of the strips. Cover buns lightly with oiled cling wrap and set aside to rise for 30 mins, then turn on oven and pre-heat to 180°C (350°F) while the buns finish rising (a further 15 mins or so). 
• Bake 15 - 17 minutes (swap and turn trays half way through) until golden on top. Move to a rack and brush with marmalade if using. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Notes

• I never bother with anything other than cold tap water for yeast - but if you're worried about it blooming, simply sit the main bowl into another bowl of hot water. It will warm the bowl and water just enough, without killing the yeast or having to work out the right temp to begin with. You can also do this in a jug placed in a small bowl of hot water.
• 1 packet of yeast is 2 1/4 tsp. You can either remove 1/4 tsp from a packet or just use the whole thing (I won't tell if you don't).
• Flour, oh flour. So, all flours act differently, and how much you need or not often depends on the temperature and humidity in your kitchen that day as much as anything else. I use a stoneground wholewheat flour and find I tend to need more white flour to absorb the water, but it all depends. Be careful with the final third cup of flour and give it some time as you knead. The dough will completely change during proofing anyway, so if it starts sticky it probably won't end up like that in the end.
• You can brush the buns with an extra beaten egg before baking for a glossy golden finish (like you get on challah). I haven't added this step and finish them with sticky marmalade instead, but if you want to go the extra step you're welcome to!

If you make these buns I’d love to see them — remember to tag @84thand3rd in your creations on Instagram or Facebook! xx ~ JJ

The post Orange & Coconut Buns first appeared on 84th&3rd.

I recently shared the above cheese platter image over on Instagram, and had so many people contact me looking for tips on how to create an entertaining platter on their own that I simply had to share the love here too.

With a few simple tips and tricks anyone can put together a bountiful grazing platter in no time at all, really! Jump ahead to watch a video of this one coming together, or read-on for my top five tips for creating a perfect entertaining platter — cheese or otherwise.

1. Use an appropriately sized platter or board.

A canvas that’s slightly smaller than what you think you need will often work better, as it will appear more full and luscious.

Even one cheese, two kinds of crackers, a dip and some fruit can look generous if assembled on a dinner plate, but an over-sized board will make it appear lacking.

2. Start with the large items, then fill in the spaces.

Most everyone has heard of the “Jar of Life” challenge where a jar appears full when filled with golf balls, but as the story continues you see there is still room for pebbles, then sand, then liquid. The same concept works for an entertaining platter.

Place your hero items — cheeses, bunches of fruit, and any bowls — around the plate first. Then start to fill in the spaces with medium items — crackers, dried fruit, charcuterie — nestling them next to the larger ingredients to create a sense of balance and abundance. Finally follow with smaller bits and pieces like nuts, herbs, berries, small vegetables and even chocolate to cover any gaps and create layers of colour and texture.

Whether you’re working with cheese, fruit, veggies, or even dessert bites, follow the large-to-small trick and watch it all come together.

3. Little dishes are your friend.

Dips, small round things (I’m looking at you olives), items in sauce or oil, all have their place on an entertaining platter — but unless you’re going for a really rustic look you’ll want to corral them into small containers.

Remember, there’s nothing wrong with setting a few dishes to the side of the platter once it’s in place on the table. It creates more visual interest and make it possible to expand the offering without using a board the size of a coffee table.

However, make sure to keep any dishes that are not on the main board nestled in close to the edge so they appear to be part of the presentation. And if it’s at all possible, use proper dishes instead of the plastic containers the food lives in at the store — it makes a world of difference.

4. Texture and colour make good things better

Platter hero ingredients tend to be rather monochromatic — generally white(ish) cheese and crackers, red or orange fruits, brown and tan cakes — adding variety through texture and colour creates interest and draws the eye around the board.

Using a cheese platter as an example, start with a long triangle of the hard crumbly variety, a wide triangle of pungent blue, a soft washed-rind round or a log of smooth goat cheese. Then look for crackers that can keep up — water crackers with flecks of pepper, flat lavosh leaves broken into jagged shards, grissini breadsticks, disks of french baguette, hearty nut and seed crisps.

But the accompaniments are what really take your presentation to the next level. Dips of all sorts, pickles, olives, antipasto veggies, charcuterie, fresh fruits and bite-sized vegetables in every colour of the rainbow, nuts and seeds and bits of chocolate just for the fun of it. You don’t need all those things on a single platter, but pick a few and really make them shine.

5. Mix and match flavours to seal the deal

Combining opposite (or complementary as the case may be) flavours is a great way to build a standout platter. Sweet and savoury, creamy and spicy, mild and strong. Create a good balance of flavours to keep your guests coming back for another taste, time and again.

Watch it all come together

This platter was styled specifically for photography, so adding character was an important step. If styling for a party you may not want to cut cheese or tear bread before your guests arrive — however no one ever wants to be the first person to pick up a knife, so starting with a platter that appears approachable instead of perfect may avoid the inevitable who-goes-first dance!

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What's on the platter

Show-stopping grazing platters are suited to any occasion, and can be assembled with any combination of ingredients for any occasion.

Create a fruit platter instead of a fruit salad, go heavy on the cheese and crackers, hero charcuterie with pickles and spreads, or even cut cakes and slices into bite-size pieces for a decadent dessert solution. 

The following list is what you'll find on the platter photos seen here.

Ingredients

Cheeses:

• sharp and crumbly Parmigiano Reggiano with a crunchy salty bits in each bite
• smooth and slightly pungent Stilton blue
• mild and impossibly creamy washed rind Brie

Crackers:

• wafer-thin black pepper water crackers
• individual lavosh bites
• grissini breadsticks

Sweet:

• fresh lychees
• dried apricots
• bunches of muscat grapes

Savoury:

• Sicilian green olives
• artichoke hearts in oil
• pancetta

Bits & pieces:

• pistachios - both in and out of the shell
• fresh rosemary

If you try the tips for a platter let me know in the comments below or over on Instagram or Facebook – I’d love to see how you go!

———

This platter was photographed as part of a campaign for Australian Lychees, this post however is all me – I couldn’t let a behind the scenes video this good go to waste! 

The post 5 Tips for Creating the Ultimate Entertaining Platter first appeared on 84th&3rd.

Things have been a little crazy around here lately. Well not HERE specifically, here it’s been crickets, but real life has been a touch nuts.

If you’re following along at home over on Instagram or Facebook you would have seen that we’re moving currently, but that’s the pointy end of 6-months since we moved out of our old apartment in the end of May, stuffed everything into storage, and fled the country (haha).

When our two month overseas trip ended we got an Airbnb for a month in Sydney, then house-sat (and more importantly cat-sat) for friends for another two and a half months. And all that was well and good, but just as we were meant to sign a lease on a new apartment — the morning we should have been moving in because for some reason they couldn’t get us the paperwork the entire week before, and three days before our friends who’s apartment we were in got back — things started to unravel.

Due to a collection of ineptitudes (is that a thing? it is now) by some useless Sydney realestate property managers we bailed at the very last possible moment. We rang our mover — who was already on the way across the bridge to our storage unit — and postponed. Then we set about cancelling all the things that had been set up, and started looking for another apartment. I melted into a puddle.

The good news is that we found a new place pretty quickly, and it was better than the other, but it still meant another two weeks in another Airbnb, and I found it nearly impossible to re-mould myself from that puddle into anything productive.

Not that what was happening was the end of the world, far from it, but it was more that I was so ready to stop living out of a suitcase, and the end-point had been set for so long, that the extra delay was a bit more than I could take. I never thought I’d long for the stability of going into an office every day — and that feeling probably won’t come over me again for a while — but working from home when home is not defined, or at least purposefully fluid, is not fun or productive. Or particularly sane.

The good news is we’re in the new place — well sort of, we’re still staying at a friend’s for a few days while we get this new one sorted out (and wait for the shower drain to be unblocked wtf). The light in my studio room is lovely, as is the outlook from our balcony.

The meh news is there are boxes from one end of the apartment to the other (and I’m typing a post instead of unpacking), the new/old table needs to be retrieved from the mother-in-law’s garage and refinished, the new/old chairs need to be re-covered, and the new/actually new lounge doesn’t arrive until early December.

The bad news is the Friendsgiving I wanted to do this year doesn’t look like it’s going to happen, but more importantly, I haven’t made much less eaten a single piece of pie — pumpkin or otherwise.

This toast is not pie — although with a sweet dukkah and coconut yoghurt instead of goat cheese it would nearly hit the spot — it is however a perfect use for extra roasted pumpkin, sweet potato or carrots. It’s a creative way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers, because there are always leftovers, but in the absence of Thanksgiving or leftovers I usually make double pumpkin for dinner on purpose, simply to have some in the fridge for pumpkin tahini toast the next day.

Regardless of what level of stability of meltdown you’re at currently, if you’re in America-land I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving. With any hope I’ll manage to bake a pie before the weekend is out.

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Pumpkin Tahini Toast

While this pumpkin tahini toast is the perfect solution for leftover roast pumpkin (or sweet potato or even carrots) I've been known to make a batch of roast pumpkin specifically to have it on hand for this very combination!

Servings 1 - multiply as desired

Ingredients

• thick-sliced sourdough or bread of choice
• roast pumpkin, skin removed (approx 1/2 cup flesh)
• crumbled goat cheese
• tahini
• dukkah
• olive oil

Instructions

• Toast bread and smear with a bit of olive oil. Roughly mash pumpkin and spread over toast. 
• Drizzle with tahini, top with goat cheese (or chopped cashews and a pinch of salt for a vegan version), sprinkle liberally with dukkah and/or any other seasoning you fancy. Serve.

Notes

• Roast sweet potato, carrot or really any other mash-able vegetable would substitute perfectly for the pumpkin.
• Don't like or have tahini? Use another nut or seed butter instead.
• Dukkah is a seed, nut and spice blend, you can also use zatar or simply sprinkle with your favourite spices to change up the flavours.
• For a sweet option use a sweet dukkah and swap the goat cheese for coconut yoghurt. 

DIETARY CONCERNS

• NATURALLY: vegetarian // soy free // sugar free // nut free
• OPTION FOR: gluten free with gf bread // dairy free & vegan with cashews, vegan cheese or coconut yoghurt

The post Pumpkin Tahini Toast first appeared on 84th&3rd.

Sometimes I have all the words, other times I sit here without a single thing to say. I should probably claim it’s simply because these seriously amazing dairy free and gluten free chocolate chip cookies render me speechless — haha — however they tend to inspire exclamations of joy rather than bouts of silence.

I’ve had these cookies on rotation for months — including making them en-masse for 30+ family members at our cousin-fest reunion back in July, and having even those relatives who roll their eyes at dietary restrictions ask for more and make me promise to send the recipe through.

I’ve made them tiny and medium sized and large. Scooped them just after mixing, and refrigerated the batter first (better to scoop right away). Used more sugar (ok but too sweet for me), and less oil (ok but not moist enough).

Tested chips and chopped chocolate (chunks over chips every day). Sent the recipe to my sister-in-law who made them successfully, multiple times, with two little helpers under the age of 6 and a 1 year old in the background. And finally tried out a perfect alternative to almond flour to make them nut free.

These cookies are soft (because that’s how I like them) but if you store them in the fridge they firm up nicely and get almost fudge-y inside — either way they pair beautifully with a cup of tea or coffee. They would work very well with a glass of milk or sandwiched with ice cream too, but who’s counting.

In any case, they’re good, you should make them. And it seems, per usual, that I’ve found something to say — gluten free chocolate chip cookies will do that to me.

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Dairy Free & Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies -- all the texture and flavour of the classic without any gluten or dairy. The only problem? You won't be able to stop at just one!

Servings 20 cookies (when made with a 1 Tbsp measure)

Calories 119kcal

Ingredients

• ½ cup coconut oil, melted (110 ml)
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar (45g) or rapadura
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
• scant ½ tsp flakey sea salt
• 1 cup chickpea (besan) flour (130 g)
• ½ cup almond meal (50g) OR brown rice flour (55g)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ cup dark chocolate chips OR chopped 70% chocolate (80g)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two oven trays with baking/parchment paper.
• Tip melted coconut oil, sugar, egg, vanilla and salt into a large bowl and stir well with a metal spoon until it looks like thick goo.
• Add flour, almond meal, baking powder and chocolate to the bowl and mix well. Scoop dough onto lined trays with a 1 Tbsp measure to make 20 smaller cookies, or divide dough into 12 to make larger ones.
• Bake 6 - 7 minutes until just golden on the edges. Cool on tray for 3 minutes (minimum) to let them firm up a bit before moving into a rack to cool completely. Store in a container in the fridge, try to not eat them all in one go.

Notes

• Yes, the egg needs to be room temperature so it doesn't cause the coconut oil to harden on contact. For simplicity I place the egg, still in its shell, in a glass of very warm water for 5 mins before cracking it into the bowl. You can probably replace the egg with a chia egg or commercial egg replacer however I haven't tested it yet.
• I've used US measuring cups, hence the lower mls/weights. This will work for AU or British cups too, just make sure to measure all ingredients with the same set so you don't end up with too much oil.
• For a sweeter cookie increase sugar up to ½ cup.
• If the batter seems a bit oily before you bake it don't worry, the cookies will be fine. Coconut oil should be fine to replace with another oil such as olive or macadamia however I haven't tested it yet. 
• No, I do not have any suggestions for replacing the chickpea flour with another flour, it acts very differently in regards to absorption than most GF flours. You can try a general GF blend at a 1:1 replacement however you may be better off with another recipe.
• I do prefer using almond meal over brown rice flour however both work well. Buckwheat or millet flour in place of the almond should be fine as too.

DIETARY CONCERNS

• NATURALLY: gluten free // dairy free // soy free // refined sugar free
• OPTION FOR: nut free

The post Seriously Amazing Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies (they’re Dairy Free too) first appeared on 84th&3rd.

At this moment in Australia there is a plebiscite (a postal survey to gather opinions) asking Australians if same-sex marriage should be legalised. It is, at its best, ridiculous.

Politicians shirking responsibility of actually having to make a decision on a highly contentious, emotionally charged topic that is in reality a matter of equal rights law, not personal opinion, is not only insidious but truly irresponsible.

For starters the postal vote is optional (in a country where voting is mandatory), doing little more than gauging public feedback on a proposed law change that’s being approached from every angle but rights, and bringing an immense amount of bigotry and hate to the surface. On top of that, the plebiscite is costing tax payers $122 million and — in a ridiculous twist — a Yes vote will send the bill to the floor for the vote that should have just happened in the first place, but a No vote will result in no action for a bill, in effect not giving politicians a chance to actually vote at all and making the opinion poll ‘No’ binding.

What’s worse is that until 2004 same-sex marriage was not actually spelled out as illegal. It was then that an obviously bigoted Prime Minister had a clause added to the marriage act stating that marriage was only for a union of a man and a woman. Yes, 2004.

Now there are plenty of campaigns running to get No voters to vote Yes but I am of the quite sad belief that if someone wants to vote No to giving people who may not be exactly like them the same legal protections in present day society, those people are intolerant racists and nothing will change their mind (nor mine about them). It’s akin to trying to convince a Trump supporter that the big orange man is a raving lunatic — you may as well just bang your head against a wall for all the progress you’ll make.

However there are a whole lot of people out there who either don’t know which way to vote, couldn’t care less, or aren’t really sure why it all matters. Voting Yes to equal legal rights always matters.

But why? Quite simply, because it’s the right thing to do. Because same-sex couples deserve to have their relationship rights protected, to make medical decisions for their partner if, heaven forbid, something happens. To not have to jump through extra, unnecessary, hoops for asset division and custody and recognition.

This is about marriage equality, about giving rights to others, not taking anything away from those who can already get married.

Being hetro doesn’t give you the power to claim marriage only for yourself. There is not a limit to the number of people who can get married in a year, you won’t miss out just because the institution is expanded. Marriage is a constantly changing institution that has been defined and redefined over the years. It is not the sole property of the church — otherwise we wouldn’t be discussing legal laws now would we.

As a matter of fact, according to the ABS – over 70% of marriages in Australia are already performed by celebrants in non-religious civil ceremonies, meaning way more Australians get married outside of the church than in it these days anyway.

It’s already legal to sponsor your same-sex partner for residency, legal to adopt children with them, legal to be recognised in a census as a couple, and illegal to refuse services as a business to someone based on their sexual orientation. It’s utterly ridiculous that applying for a marriage certificate is still not allowed.

And no, these facts do not mean that the LGBTQI should just be happy with the rights they do have and give up on marriage in Australia. Seperate but equal is NOT equal.

While you’re here, this decision of Yes or No, this vote, this bill, has nothing to do with the following:

• It compromises my religion / freedom of religion / religious rights. This is a legal equal rights situation, it has nothing to do with religion. Besides, churches have always been able to decline to marry people who don’t align to their specific demands (sorry, beliefs…), nothing about this law changes that. Churches can still turn people away for all sorts of reasons and less than a quarter of people in Australia are getting married in religious ceremonies anyway. Regardless of how this vote goes churches still won’t have to pay taxes either, but that’s another story for another day. Also, there are plenty of parishes out there supporting the Yes vote because acceptance and love is part of being a good community citizen.
• But the bible says… You can’t cherry pick this one thing from a story written thousands of years ago, then re-written by royalty for political reasons. If you’re wearing mixed materials, eating pretty much anything in modern day society, or ever spoke ill about your parents you’re breaking all sorts of rules. Get off the pulpit, you don’t have a leg to stand on, this is not a vote not about religion and this is not a vote about whether same-sex relationships are legal — they are, it’s already the law — this is about the right to obtain a legal piece of paper for that legal relationship.
• This is a threat to my own sexual orientation. Allowing someone else to get married to a person who is the same sex as them doesn’t mean YOU have to marry someone who is the same sex as you. The same way that the marriage act currently allows Australians to marry their uncle/aunt, cousin, or even niece/nephew (Part III, section 23B (2) if you’re so inclined), provided that the person in question is of legal age (18) and of the opposite sex. Wait, we’re voting on legalising same-sex marriage instead of making ‘keeping it in the family’ illegal? Whatever.
• But the children! Children need a mother and a father and marriage is about bringing children into the world. Blah blah blah. Don’t.even.get.me.started. Under this logic infertile couples or those who choose not to have children shouldn’t be able to marry, couples with children shouldn’t be able to get divorced. This is a personal belief, not a legal argument, ever. Children need loving parents (or even parent), full stop.
• Society will go down hill if we let this happen. Oh like it has in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK, the USA, and Uruguay where same-sex marriage is already legal? Society is going downhill because of hate, not love. Back in your box.
• They already have legal rights to have a relationship and have kids and not be discriminated against, do they really need this too? Really, are you serious? STFU.

In any case, the postal votes are hitting mailboxes now. If you haven’t voted yet, can’t be bothered because it doesn’t impact you directly, or don’t understand why it’s important, I can only hope that you’ll tick the YES box. If you still insist on voting no take a long hard look at why and keep telling yourself you’re not bigoted and racist — it won’t be true but it may make you sleep better at night.

Australia, will get there. Let’s not just hope it’s sooner than later, let’s take action to make it happen.

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How to make a Rainbow Buddha Bowl

Instructions

• Invite a bunch of friends around for lunch.
• Arrange a variety of colourful foods in bowls.
• Celebrate diversity.

Want more? Here’s what Forbes has to say about it all (because America-land has to be glad they’re not the idiots for a hot minute). A few very well spelled out arguments to some of the most inane arguments against it. And finally this, just because.

Oh, and a bit of housekeeping, because trolls… My house, my rules: Nasty comments will be removed, abusive comments will be removed and the IP address will be saved for escalation if necessary. Have a lovely rainbow day.

The post Voting YES for equality first appeared on 84th&3rd.

You know that girl who makes a green smoothie when she gets home from yoga? I’m totally that girl.

(Or I was, back when I wrote this post nearly a year agao, before the shoulder reconstruction, when I was still going to yoga. Upside is that I can nearly raise my arm over my head at this point in time so a return to yoga is looking more promising every day. Also, it’s a good thing I looked at my draft posts or this may have been lost forever in the black hole of unpublished content, ahem. Ok, back to our regularly scheduled, aka previously written, programming…)

I figure that if I can get a big fat dose of vegetables and nutrients in one go I may as well, and besides, I really do like green smoothies.

This version was inspired by a pineapple that was sitting in our kitchen, and something I’d read that day about the bromelain in pineapple assisting in the breakdown and absorption of protein into your muscles.

Since I’d just gotten home from yoga (yep, got that in again) and had a rogue jar of pea protein floating around in the cabinet, a post-workout pineapple & lime smoothie was a logical conclusion.

Also, it tastes fun and tropical and has at least two serves of veggies — and if all else fails, it’s a great smoothie to drink in your activewear. Everybody (and every body, haha) wins.

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Post-Workout Pineapple & Lime Smoothie

Fun and tropical, this smoothie is packed with protein absorption-boosting bromelain and a couple serves of green veggies. It's a win-win.

Ingredients

• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup fresh pineapple
• ¼ cup coconut water or regular water
• juice from 1 lime
• ½ avocado
• 1 thin skinned (Lebanese) cucumber
• 1 handful baby spinach
• 1 Tbsp pea protein powder, optional

Instructions

• Add banana, pineapple, coconut water, lime juice and protein powder (if using) into a jug and blend until smooth. Spoon about half the mixture into a glass.
• Add avocado and cucumber to the jug and blend again until smooth, spoon half into the glass again. Add spinach leaves, blend a final time, and tip remaining smoothie into glass. Leave as is or poke a chopstick down the side of the glass to create icicles of colour.
• Ooooooorrrrr just dump it all in a blender, then in a glass or a bowl, and call it a pineapple green smoothie day!

Notes

• If you prefer you can add a handful of cashews instead of the protein powder or leave it out altogether. You can also use vanilla pea protein but I go for the plain to avoid added chemicals and sugar substitutes.

vegan // vegetarian // gluten-free // dairy-free // refined sugar-free

If you try the recipe leave a comment below — and don’t forget to tag @84thand3rd #84thand3rd on Instagram and Facebook if you share a photo. xx ~ JJ

The post Post-Workout Pineapple & Lime Smoothie first appeared on 84th&3rd.

One of the things I found during my cupboard and fridge clean out was three open bags of hazelnuts. Really? Really. Not-tella Chocolate Hazelnut Granola was the obvious answer.

Of course if you find yourself in a similar position and are not under the moving-house-need-to-use-all-the-things pump there’s always a range of chocolate hazelnut spreads and truffles to fit whatever craving you may have, but for now, granola.

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Not-tella Chocolate Hazelnut Granola

The final recipe in my Cleaning Out the Cupboard Granola 101 series takes the much loved chocolate and hazelnut combination and turns it into a crisp moreish granola. Feel free to use more or less hazelnuts (so long as you have a total of 4 cups of dry stuff) to suit your taste, it's your granola after all.

Servings 4 cups

Ingredients

• 3 cups dry stuff (rolled grains, puffs, shreds, chopped nuts, seeds, kernels, etc)
• 1 cup hazelnuts
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup cacao powder
• generous 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F), line two rimmed oven trays with baking paper. Mix all dry stuff and hazelnuts in a large bowl.
• In a jug combine oil, syrup, salt, cacao powder and vanilla. Whisk with a fork until smooth. Pour wet mixture over dry and stir well until everything is coated. Tip onto the prepared trays and spread evenly.
• Bake 10 mins, stir gently to move edges into centre and centre out to edges. Bake a further 15 - 20 mins or so, turning trays and stirring every 5 minutes, until golden... 

  - Just kidding, it's impossible to tell when chocolate granola is golden, don't let anyone tell you differently, I usually spoon a small amount into a dish that's been in the freezer to cool it quickly, if it is crisp when cool it's done. 
• Remove from oven, press granola down with a spatula to compress into clusters and allow to cool completely on trays. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

• I've increase the oil in this version of granola from 1/4 to 1/3 cup to account for the cacao powder. The amount of oil and syrup you need to achieve a certain texture will depend in part on what's in your 'dry stuff' mixture. Nuts and seeds don't really absorb any liquid so they will require less wet mixture for a loose granola or will simply form better clusters with more. Rolled grains (oats, quinoa, rye etc) and puffs, as well as things like buckwheat and shredded coconut do absorb liquid so you may need a bit more than the advised measurement of syrup and oil if you're after sticky crunchy clusters that are heavy on oats and puffs without many seeds and nuts.
• Olive oil adds a lovely spicy and herbal note to the granola. Maple syrup stands up to the cacao and adds a hint of caramel, however rice syrup or would be fine as well. Feel free to use whichever oils and syrups you prefer.  
  vegetarian // vegan // gluten-free // dairy-free // soy-free
   

The post Chocolate Hazelnut Granola first appeared on 84th&3rd.

Here’s the thing about matcha, for as pop-culture as it is at this moment in time it’s been around for thousands of years — and cares non if you love it or hate it.

It’s amusing you know, how when things become popular people love to loudly proclaim how much they dislike that said thing. There are people who love lemon or chocolate or coffee or caramel and those who don’t, yet most people don’t feel the need to stand on a soapbox and declare how much they despise one flavour more than another. Matcha however has landed firmly in the spotlight and therefore has drawn plenty of ire to match its praise.

I, quite obviously as I’m cooking with it, I’m in the love-matcha camp. I’ve been drinking it for years, baking with it since before it was appearing in all the western-world things, and firmly believe anything made with matcha should actually taste (not just look) like the uniquely flavoured powdered tea.

As you’re here on this recipe I’m assuming you’re in the love camp too — if not there’s plenty of other granola around here to keep you busy.

Of course you could always replace the matcha in this recipe with another powder, but why would you be reading about matcha granola if you didn’t like matcha? On the other hand I had someone ask the other day if a recipe containing coconut cream tasted like coconut, so you never can tell (can you see my eye roll from here?) — ha!

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Matcha Granola

The second recipe in my Cleaning Out the Cupboard Granola 101 series, a granola to hit that slightly bitter matcha fix sweet spot. If you don't like matcha that's ok, just replace it with another superfood powder of your choosing or pick from any of the other granola recipes floating around here, it's your granola after all.

Servings 4 cups

Ingredients

• 4 cups dry stuff (rolled grains, puffs, shreds, chopped nuts, seeds, kernels, etc)
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup rice syrup
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 - 2 Tbsp matcha powder

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F), line two rimmed oven trays with baking paper. Mix all dry stuff in a large bowl.
• In a jug combine oil, syrup, salt and matcha powder. Whisk with a fork until smooth. Pour wet mixture over dry and stir well until everything is coated. Tip onto the prepared trays and spread evenly.
• Bake 10 mins, stir gently to move edges into centre and centre out to edges. Bake a further 15 - 20 mins or so, turning trays and stirring every 5 minutes, until evenly golden. Remove from oven, press granola down with a spatula to compress into clusters and allow to cool completely on trays. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

• The amount of oil and syrup you need to achieve a certain texture will depend in part on what's in your 'dry stuff' mixture. Nuts and seeds don't really absorb any liquid so they will require less wet mixture for a loose granola or will simply form better clusters with more. Rolled grains (oats, quinoa, rye etc) and puffs, as well as things like buckwheat and shredded coconut do absorb liquid so you may need a bit more than the advised 1/4 cup each of syrup and oil if you're after sticky crunchy clusters that are heavy on oats and puffs without many seeds and nuts. 
• The granola in the photo was made with 1 Tbsp matcha powder, next time I'll increase it to 1 1/2 or 2 Tbsp to intensify the flavour, but it's up to you and your tastebuds on how much you use.
• Coconut oil and rice syrup were chosen as coconut is a great pairing with matcha, and rice syrup's mild and not too sweet flavour wouldn't compete with the matcha. Feel free to use any other oils and syrups you prefer.  
  vegetarian // vegan // gluten-free // dairy-free // soy-free
   

The post Matcha Granola first appeared on 84th&3rd.

Hot Buttered Rum as granola, now there’s a twist on a classic! Sweetly spiced and a little bit decadent, redolent of the warm winter beverage it’s named after, this recipe actually doesn’t contain any butter (what?!) but instead uses nutritional yeast for a umami buttery flavour.

I have a lot of photos for this one yet not many words (can’t talk, eating granola). Recipe is below as always.

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Buttered Rum Granola

First up in my Cleaning Out the Cupboard Granola 101 series, a sweetly spiced granola redolent of the warm winter beverage it's named after. Now yes, yes, I've made buttered rum granola with no butter (horrors) however the nutritional yeast provides a buttery flavour without dairy - if you want to replace part of the oil with butter go for your life, it's your granola after all.

Servings 4 cups

Ingredients

• 4 cups dry stuff (rolled grains, puffs, shreds, chopped nuts, seeds, kernels, etc)
• 1/4 cup macadamia oil
• 1/4 cup honey or rice/maple syrup
• scant 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp rum (or 2 tsp rum essence or vanilla extract)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F), line two rimmed oven trays with baking paper. Mix all dry stuff in a large bowl.
• In a jug combine oil, syrup, salt, nutritional yeast, all of the spices and rum. Whisk with a fork until smooth. Pour wet mixture over dry and stir well until everything is coated. Tip onto the prepared trays and spread evenly.
• Bake 10 mins, stir gently to move edges into centre and centre out to edges. Bake a further 15 - 20 mins or so, turning trays and stirring every 5 minutes, until evenly golden. Remove from oven, press granola down with a spatula to compress into clusters and allow to cool completely on trays. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

• The amount of oil and syrup you need to achieve a certain texture will depend in part on what's in your 'dry stuff' mixture. Nuts and seeds don't really absorb any liquid so they will require less wet mixture for a loose granola or will simply form better clusters with more. Rolled grains (oats, quinoa, rye etc) and puffs, as well as things like buckwheat and shredded coconut do absorb liquid so you may need a bit more than the advised 1/4 cup each of syrup and oil if you're after sticky crunchy clusters that are heavy on oats and puffs without many seeds and nuts.
• Macadamia oil was used as it's what I had on hand, but also since it adds an additional buttery note. Honey adds a warm flavour to the granola and plays well with the spices, however rice syrup or maple syrup would be fine as well. Feel free to use whichever oils and syrups you prefer.

 

vegetarian // vegan (with syrups) // gluten-free // dairy-free // soy-free

 

The post Buttered Rum Granola first appeared on 84th&3rd.