ANZAC Day Baking 2.0

The past two weeks were a holiday marathon. First there were the Easter holidays and then last Friday was ANZAC Day, which is one the most significant holidays in Australia (I've written about it before, so I won't get into the whys and wherefores here).

In the weird existence our little family has set up, we actually don't particularly look forward to holidays, as least in terms of the "Yay! We have time off work!" way. P-i-C works from home and mostly with overseas clients, so it's no days off for him, and my work is only 14 months old, so doesn't have a concept of "time off." For us, holidays are more of a disruption in the flow. The classes I attend with Hushpuppy are cancelled, our park is full of bigger kids on bikes and scooters who I fear will mow down my wobbly little one, and the beaches and zoo are bonkers.

Still, on the actual holidays, I get this nagging feeling that I should be doing something, and that something usually involves baking something festive. I actually noticed that last year's ANZAC Day post was also titled "ANZAC Day Baking," hence the "2.0" this time.

This year's baking began on theme with a batch of Anzac biscuits. Last year, I was dairy free, so tested out a suitable enough "healthier" version. This year ... bring on the butter! I used this recipe for "chewy Anzac biscuits," and ding, ding ding! We have a winner, ladies and gentlemen.

So good.

I was on a baking roll, so I kept my apron on and dug out a newish favorite recipe, carrot cookies from One Handed Cooks. Now, I am strongly of the opinion that I have no need for "baby food" or "toddler food," that food is food is food, so I'm not normally on the lookout for "family food" blogs; however, One Handed Cooks is just so lovely, has a perfect name, and happens to be run by some fellow North Shore mums. And, when it comes to cookies, I can always use a super healthy recipe that I don't mind giving to Hushpuppy for a snack. It just so happens that Partner-in-Crime loves this recipe, as well. He hands down preferred these cookies to my Anzac biscuits, which is not for nothing. I always make a double batch and freeze most of them so that I can grab two or three for on-the-go snacks.

These are the ingredients. Note: no sugar, no dairy, and no eggs. Hushpuppy hates apricots - one of the few foods she refuses to eat - so, I substituted cranberries, which she loves. Oh, and I used all of my dessicated coconut in the Anzac biscuits, so had to use shredded coconut, which didn't seem to make any difference. 

Woolies brand much?

No raw eggs in the batter means that Hushpuppy could lick the spoon...

I didn't count, but I think that the double batch netted me somewhere in the neighborhood of 40+ cookies, so we'll have plenty to snack on for awhile. 

I'm not going to lie,  the cookies are good, but this picture could have turned out better...

And, since I already had the oven cranked and it was raining and cold outside, I figured we'd go full on bake-fest and whip up a loaf of bread. 

I've talked to a few people recently who have been surprised that I make our bread. I'm not exactly the Pioneer Woman, so it's no wonder that it seems an odd thing to do, but I've fallen into it through having a kiddo with dairy and soy intolerance. Turns out that most bread you buy in the grocery store contains soy flour, which is no-go for Hushpuppy. So, I make our bread because I'm in control of the ingredients. Bread baking is actually not hard at all. The toughest part is setting aside a couple of hours where I can come and go from the project. Kneading bread is actually sort of therapeutic, and who doesn't love a loaf of fresh bread warm and yeasty from the oven?

Lately, I've been using a white bread recipe that comes in the recipe book for the Bellini thermal cooker (aka Fake Thermomix, aka the Spaceship). It makes the mixing up the ingredients and first kneading nice and easy, though to be honest, it's not especially hard without it. Before the Spaceship, I used this recipe, which is a nice one because it makes a double recipe, so you can freeze the second loaf.

Side note ... I actually had plans to whip up some vegetable fritters (another awesome freeze and take along toddler/anyone lunch) in the Spaceship after the bread, but what you're looking at above is the last thing I made before the little lever that allows the blades to snap into place broke, rendering the Spaceship unusable. Now, this is a massive bummer, made even more massive considering that I have already had the nice folks at Target replace the Spaceship once since getting it for Christmas. I guess what I'm saying is ... maybe take that $300 you were going to spend on a Bellini to Vegas and see if you can turn it into $2000 so that you can buy an actual Thermomix that isn't going to break on you every 2-1/2 months. That's all I'm saying. 

Back to the topic at hand - BREAD!  I was so excited to make us sandwiches for lunch (not vegetable fritters, clearly) that I forgot to snap a picture before cutting into it. But, the inside is the best part, anyway. 

So, maybe not a proper Aussie parade and Two-up ANZAC Day, but my kitchen was warm and homey while it rained outside. These days, that's my kind of holiday.