Her vision is to identify healthy food choices for her clients and be the ultimate wingman on their journey.

The recipes Penni creates are just wonderful and I’m so pleased to be able to share with you this glorious cake full of goodness which she created.

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Gluten free Chocolate, Apple and Chia Cake

Number of Serves: 20
Serve Weight: 77g

Ingredients

4 medium apples
1 cup of brown rice flour
3 tb of chia seeds
½ cup of cacao powder
2 tsp of baking powder
¼ cup of almond meal
4 eggs
175g of honey
½ cup of coconut oil
Vanilla pod scraped or essence

Icing

100g of Dates
1 tb of Cacao Powder

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 deg
Grease and line a 20×20 cm cake pan
Grate the apples into a mixing bowl
Add the dry ingredients, mixing through
Crack eggs into another bowl and add the honey, vanilla and oil, mixing together
Pour the egg mix into the flour mix and stir well to combine
Pour into the prepared cake pan and let the mixture stand for ten minutes before placing into the oven
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or till a skewer comes out clean
To prepare the icing, simmer dates in 100ml of water till soft, approx 10-15 minutes
Add more water if becoming dry
Cool briefly, then blend till smooth
Add the cocoa powder and mix through, again adding water if too thick
Ice the cooled cake

Tip: The ‘icing’ makes for a delish dip with fresh strawberries or with whole walnut sandwiches, especially if some orange zest is added

‘Penni operates A Method of Cookery, a nutrition and wellness consultancy with a vision of providing healthy food choices for the rising dietary concerns people face today. As a qualified chef she applies cookery theory to sound nutrition principals and develops recipes and menu plans for long term sustainable change. To support the daunting journey of dietary change, Penni also offers nutrition & wellness coaching. She is a mum to three small children (5,3 & 20mth) and fully understands the ‘what’s for dinner?’ dilemma, weight management concerns and all the guff that come with grown up life. This recipe was developed for the many clients facing gluten exclusion and to prove to her sceptical husband, that gluten free can be delicious’

Check out Penni’s website here and Facebook page here

For the gluten intolerant who don’t take kindly to the oats and flour in the crumble, fear not, because I have a recipe for apple crumble that will knock your socks off. If your anything like the piranhas around my house (who aren’t gluten intolerant, but who can recognise a good crumble from a thousand yards away), you’ll also be sorry you didn’t make more!

The ingredients are also carefully selected to avoid the usual processed foods, ensuring that your crumble is not only delicious, but healthy.

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

APPLE CRUMBLE

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

6 large green apples
200gms melted butter (organic or grass-fed preferable)
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
2 tsp cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Peel, core and thinly slice your apples and cook on a gently heat in a little water until just soft

Place apples in oven proof dish.

While apples are steaming, melt butter in a saucepan and stir in coconut sugar and followed by the coconut, brown rice flour and cinnamon.

I suggest you add your flour in slowly until the mixture starts to stick together in small clumps.

Ditsribute the crumble over your apples with a spoon and you can use your fingers to spread it out if needed.

Bake in the oven for 20 – 25 mins or until golden brown.

Serve with pure cream or yoghurt. My kids like it plain.

Variations

My kids like their crumble basic but tasty. But if it was up to me I would add some berries and lemon zest to the apples & add some crunch in the form of walnuts or almonds to the topping.

The reason I like to make a large batch is because ‘batch cooking’ is something I find extremely useful in creating time for me. Having a ready-made after school snack or dessert makes life a lot easier. And being able to add it to the kids’ lunch boxes makes it even more convenient still!

Have a flavourful day!

Bren x