Snack attack

I went to pick up my eldest from pre-school last week and was shown the perfect example of the effect low blood sugar.

He’d had a brilliant day, so I was told, joined in all the activities, helped tidy, sang songs and ran in the garden. He’d eaten “very well”: toast for breakfast, pasta and a flapjack for lunch, pitta and fruit for tea… As soon as I walked out my angelic child turned into some sort of wild beast that barely responded to human communication. Cunning as I am, I knew this would happen so I had brought him a snack. A really cool one as well (forgive the pun), I had brought him a homemade ice lolly since the weather was so scorching. That kept him occupied for a whole 5 min and then disaster struck: he was hungry and he wanted food NOW! I started by gently explaining to him that I didn’t have any but that I had prepared him green pasta (spinach, basil and feta sauce – it’s bright green and looks like ET made it, hence the appeal) and that he could have it as soon as we’d be back. He looked at me dismayed and began to stomp his feet and demanded food NOW, which made his little brother chuckle with gusto, which didn’t help. He was now enraged by my appalling mummy skills and by his brother “making fun of him”. He was refusing to walk, so I pointed out to him that he had just gobbled an ice lolly so the world wasn’t that bad after all and that the quicker we’d get home, the quicker he’d eat. I guess I should have known that getting into an argument with a hungry 4 year old is pointless but the mum in me was getting slightly poodled off. There I was in Exeter, so close and yet so far from home, walking away from my little demon who was shrieking at the top of his voice. After ignoring him long enough, he yelled, tears streaming down his little face, that he didn’t know how to stop crying… He just needed a cuddle I said and we finally got back to feed the ravenous beast. He polished his pasta, then looted the garden of all the strawberries and finally was back to his normal self.

This was pretty bad but not unseen when he comes back from pre-school because he’s been on a sugar roller coaster all day and when I pick him up at 5.30pm he’s crashing. Of course, he’s also tired from having had such a busy day but I’m convinced that he wouldn’t have been half as bad had he eaten properly. That day, apart from a bit of tomato sauce on his pasta, all he’d eaten really was wheat and sugar, barely no protein or vegetables so it’s no surprise really. I’m not having a go at his nursery because they’re pretty much all the same and at least there they don’t eat those turkey twizzler thingies. I guess it doesn’t matter so much in pre-school but it does at school – how can kids concentrate after having pasta and garlic bread followed by sponge and custard? Despite Jamie Oliver’s best efforts, I think the menus of most schools in the UK are still poor and are not conducive to focused learning. I’d love to see more protein and more vegetables on the menu as well as fewer puddings, which are fine now and again but not every day.

So today when I pick him up I’ve decided to come armed with something that will satisfy the appetite and taste buds of my ravenous beast but also something that is fairly nutritious… so I give you my chocolate cookies.

I made some the other day and they were a success, although I might tweak them next time. The chopped nuts kind of get lost in the sea of nut flour so I think I might swap them for dried cranberries next time, if I can find some that aren’t covered in sugar. I think it would add an interesting chew to the texture as well as some more sweetness, which would go well with the dark chocolate.

Ingredients:

180g ground almonds

40g coconut flour - I use Tiana because it’s easily found

120ml coconut oil - I use Nutiva as I found it the best value for money

40g coconut nectar

2 eggs

1tsp bicarb

½ tsp salt

1tsp vanilla extract

100g dark chocolate chopped - I used a 72% one from Sainsbury’s nothing fancy.

100g toasted hazelnuts, chopped. Do try cranberries or other dried chewy fruit instead. 

Method:

Add all the dry ingredients in a bowl, apart from the chopped nuts (or berries) and chocolate and mix well. Mix the eggs and oil together and gradually add to the dry mixture. Then add the chocolate and nuts/berries. 

Roll the mixture into small balls, flatten with a fork and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 15min.

As you can see, I was lazy and used my Kitchen Aid instead of doing things by hand. This is why I didn't mix the eggs and oil first but do it if you're doing things by hands or you may end up with clumps.

Ta da!

Be more organised than me and buy some baking parchment, it makes your life easier.

I made two batches, so 24 cookies all in all but I think I'll make them  a bit smaller next time.

Voila!

Update: I did try with cranberries (couldn't find unsweetened ones) and raisins and it was better, slightly tangy and chewy. I'm not a fan of sweetened cranberries so next time I'll try dried apricots, I reckon that'll work really well against the dark chocolate. I also entertained the idea of using less chocolate but then ended up adding the lot in - can there really be too much chocolate??