Apple and Raspberry Bread

I don't always feel like rambling. Sometimes I just want to share a recipe... this is one of those times.
I'm not sure where the original recipe came from, but this is just a yummy, moist and relatively healthy recipe that I really enjoy and so do my lads. 
In fact, I'm eating a piece right now smothered with butter (optional but everything is better with butter) with a cup of tea. Bliss.

Apple and Raspberry Bread

Ingredients
2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2-3 red apples, grated
1 cup raspberries (I used frozen)
A few walnuts, for sprinkling on top

Method
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a loaf tin.
Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl and add sugar, whisking together to loosen any sugar lumps. 
In a jug, whisk eggs, oil and vanilla until combined. Add to dry ingredients with grated apple and mix until combined - it is quite a dry, thick mixture but just make sure it's well combined.
Gently fold in raspberries. 
Spoon into loaf tin and push walnuts into the top. Bake for 1 hour or so and allow to cool before attempting to slice. 
Serve with butter if you're awesome like me. 

Gingernutty goodness

So it seems everyone has one of those whizz-bang Thermomixes these days! After visiting a good friend of mine recently and seeing her Thermomix in action, I can see why they are so popular - I would be lying if I said I wasn't impressed. Having said that, I still don't actually want one for myself. I can see that they are fantastic if you don't already have a cupboard full of appliances and I would feel like I was cheating on my beloved Kitchenaid mixer if I strayed...

Anyway, my friend shared some amazing recipes with me and this is one of them. She described these biscuits as "old school-style gingernuts that our mums used to make". Couldn't agree more LD. 

My only dilemma was that I had to convert the recipe from Thermomix (15 seconds on speed 6 and all that jazz) to conventional and didn't have all the ingredients on hand...so it is somewhat different from the original, but still delicious! 

Even the lads enjoyed them, which actually surprised me given they are quite a spicy biscuit. Oh well, just another thing I have to share... but they are a nice, firm biscuit which means less crumbs! A big win for the Everyday Baker floors.

Gingernut Biscuits 

Ingredients 

150g butter
90g brown sugar
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg
2-3 teaspoons of ground nutmeg (I wasn't very accurate when measuring, so let's say 'to taste' just to be sure!)
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 teaspoons ground ginger
zest of one lemon
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon bicarb
350g plain flour (I used wholemeal)

Method
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line two trays with baking paper.
Cream butter and sugar together in a mixer until light and creamy, before adding maple syrup and egg. Mix until well combined.
Add flour and spices, zest, bicarb, salt and vanilla and mix until it comes together as a dough.
Roll tablespoons of dough onto tray and squish slightly, placing about 5cm apart.
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden and slightly cracked on top.
Allow to cool before chowing down.