Cheese & bacon pops

PREPARATION TIME 10 minutes (plus chilling) COOKING TIME 5 minutes MAKES 8

120g cream cheese, softened

60g grated cheddar or crumbled goat’s cheese

4 tablespoons chopped herbs (thyme or basil are great) sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 rashers bacon

3-4 tablespoons crushed pecans or almonds

1 Combine the cheeses, half the herbs, salt and pepper in a bowl.

2 Divide into eight bite-sized pieces, roll into balls and insert a bamboo skewer or thin lolly stick into each ball. Refrigerate overnight or freeze for 20 minutes.

3 Meanwhile, cook the bacon until crispy. Allow to cool then dice finely or crumble up and mix with the crushed nuts and the remaining herbs. Roll the balls in the bacon and nut mixture and serve.

✔ GLUTEN FREE

✔ MINIMAL FRUCTOSE ➤

PREPARATION TIME 10 minutes COOKING TIME 20 minutes

MAKES 12

180g buckwheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla powder

½ teaspoon sea salt

125g unsalted butter, softened

125ml rice malt syrup

1 Preheat the oven to 160C (gas 3). Line two baking trays with baking paper. 2 Combine the flour, baking powder, vanilla powder and salt in a large bowl. 3 In a separate bowl, beat the butter and rice malt syrup with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the egg and beat until combined. 4 Add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients and combine with a wooden spoon. Fold through the chocolate (and stevia if using). 5 Roll tablespoons of the mixture into

1 egg 100g

dark chocolate (85 per cent), coarsely chopped (you can add a pinch of stevia to counteract the dark chocolate for younger kids) or good-quality

dark chocolate chips

balls and place 4cm apart on the lined trays. Press down slightly. 6 Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden. These cookies are delicious and almost cake-like in texture. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy the cookies warm out of the oven, or cold if you prefer. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

✔ GLUTEN FREE ✔ FREEZE FOR LATER ✔ LUNCHBOX FRIENDLY