PALEO MINCE PIES

Christmas.....its a great time of year in many, many ways.....except if your trying to eat Paleo. I personally have had a bit of a nutritional nightmare this month. Work parties, Christmas parties, alcohol and temptations of junk food everywhere to be seen. Its time to get back on track with a great recipe of the paleo way that fits into the seasonal spirit.

I took inspiration of this recipe from a few different locations....unsure originally if l should push the boat out and make a mincemeat stuffed dark chocolate christmas pudding. After seeing how these came out l was perfectly happy with my contribution to Christmas! 

I was pretty impressed with the look of these when they came out, l have been experimenting this week with different pastry casings for this recipe, this one was by far the best for taste and asthetics after cooking. I found this pastry recipe on the Crossfit Tameside thread, the filling kind of made itself, but inspiration taken from the steamed Christmas pudding recipe on the BBC FOOD website from a few years back with a few additions of my own for what I wanted them to deliver. (obviously without the alcohol too)

The ingredients for a dozen mince pies are as follows;

THE FILLING

3/4 cup mixed raisins and saltanas
1/2 cup of figs
1/2 cup of suet *see notes below on suet
Zest from 1 lemon
Zest from 1 orange
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon of agave nectar
1 apple
1 pear

THE PASTRY

2 cups of almond flour
2 egg whites
A sprinkle of cracked salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring

Optional - handful of flaked almonds to decorate

* Suet is a very hard animal fat, taken from around the kidneys of cattle, and usually shredded. It has a high melting point, which gives a unique lightness to pastries and sponges.

You can buy fresh suet from a butcher, but these days the suet 'knobs' are usually removed from a carcass after slaughter, so no longer arrive at the butcher attached to the kidneys, so you'll need to order ahead. It is worth it, though, not least because it will be unprocessed and traceable. (If your butcher sells organic beef, they should be able to get you organic suet, too. Your butcher may be happy to shred it for you; if not, just grate it yourself on a cheese grater. Fresh suet has a dry, almost crumbly texture and a slightly meaty smell. It contributes a distinct richness to sweet dishes, and won't make your roly poly taste of beef.

Packaged meat suet is a fairly unprocessed product. It's made by melting down fresh suet, then extruding it into pellets. Most packaged suet sold in the UK comes from Irish cattle. Given the option, get from your Butcher to ensure quality!

THE FILLING

STEP 1 - pre heat your oven to 120 degrees

STEP 2 - finely slice up your apple and pear, leaving the skin on. Once sliced place them into a large pan that we can put into the oven once all of the ingredients are mixed together.

STEP 3 - slice up your figs, grate your zest from the orange and lemon adding them to the same pan along with the cinnamon. Mix all of these dry ingredients together in the pan.

STEP 4 - add the suet and mix it through the ingredients you have in the pan already so that it is evenly distributed throughout.

STEP 5 -  Place some tin foil on top of the pan to seal it loosely before placing in the oven for around an hour. We're after the ingredients being "tacky" when they come out so they have just broken down a little. We dont want they to be totally reduced as we will be doing something similar in a later step.

STEP 6 - once your pan is in the oven, place your 2 cups of ground almonds into a mixing bowl. Create a small well in the middle then seperate and add your two egg whites to the middle of the well, also add the vanilla and the pinch of salt. Mix this thoroughly until you get a form of paste. If this appears too sloppy add a little more ground almonds until you have a more cohesive mixture. 

STEP 7 -  put down a sheet of greaseproof paper, put your pastry on top. Put a sheet of greaseproof paper on top of the pastry and start to roll it flat. You dont want this too thin as it will simply break when you try to roll it. Use your judgement, but its best to have a thickness of around 1/3 of an inch if not more.

STEP 8 - put this in the fridge to chill for around 15 mins and you will find that it becomes a little easier to shape and manage in the next stage. Take this chance to check on your filling thats in the oven, stir it all up in the pan and make sure the fruit is becoming tacky.

STAGE 9 - Get a bun tray out and melt a tablespoon of coconut oil in a cup in your microwave. Then using a brush, grease the individual bun tray spaces to ensure your not fighting with a mince pie once they are cooked.

STEP 10 - Once your pastry has had time to rest, remove it from the fridge and cut it into circles with a cutter....or if your common like me use the mouth of a glass or cup. Cut out as many as you can with the pastry that you have, you want to have two circles for each pie. Once youve exhausted how many pastry circles you can cut out, roll the excess up and flatten it again. Youll find you will get a few more circles by doing this. DONT MOVE THESE FROM WHERE YOU HAVE CUT THEM, THE MORE THEY ARE MOVED, THE WORSE THEY WILL LOOK. BE PATIENT AND KEEP THEM THERE FOR A FEW MINUTES

STEP  11 - one at a time, lift up your circles from where they have been cut with a sharp wide flat knife blade below them. Place one circle in each of your bun spaces on the greased tray. Once you have 12 lined up leave everything where it is until your hour for the filling cooking is up. If this is a while away, put the pastry circles in the fridge to prevent them breaking down and being unworkable when you need them to be.

STEP 12 - once your filling has had the hour to cook, remove it from the oven and place it into a food processor. It should be looking something like this, just starting to break down and sticky.

Obviously make sure that it has a moment to cool and is not placed into a sealed food processor. Blend the mixture until it looks something like this. When it gets to this stage, add the agave nectar and a tablespoon of water to the mixture before blending together a little more. Your ideally after something that looks like this

STEP 13 - spoon your filling into the 12 pastry bases generously. Your able to heap this in as the lids that you add will bend over the mixture for you to seal at the edges nicely. 

STEP 14 - once all of the cases have been filled, apply the 12 pastry lids. Lightly dab the sides where the bottom base and lid join to seal up the pie and allow the insides to stew during cooking. 

STEP 15 - score the pastry or decorate as you see fit at this point. I did a little knife work on the top and sprinkled some flaked almonds.

STEP 16 - Cook at 175 degrees for 15/20 mins until pastry is golden. This cooking time all depends on the thickness of the pastry you have used. Keep an eye on them, checking every 5 mins for the first 10 mins, then every few minutes as cooking gets later.

STEP 17-  ...tuck in and have a taste

As you can see mine came out pretty well...

I was really chuffed with how these came out. The almond pastry is something that l will use again for other recipes, making tarts with some fruit filling for example. The slight crumble of the sweet pastry is great, but even better when you get to that warmed fruit filling. Add to that the differing textures of the fruit and the little fig seeds that you find and its pretty damn good food!

If you need something to accompany this, you could always freeze some coconut milk with some vanilla pods in to make a little make shift ice cream.

Heres wishing you a Merry Christmas from Primal Provenance, the blog is now 2 months in and gathering viewing pace by each day. I just want to take this opportunity to thank you for viewing the blog, l hope that it has bought you as much pleasure cooking the recipes as it has for me creating them. 

PALEO FIG WHEELS

The wheel, something that the cavemen were renound for coming up with....and given how good this recipe tastes, it deserves to share the title! 

I always try to experiment with quite differing paleo treats, that offer a new and different taste experience....this one doesnt disappoint! Ive never even tried figs before this recipe, but loved the stickiness of them once they were cooked and the texture with the little seeds that you discover in each bite. 

The almond dough offers a soft, crumbling, sweet taste to the recipe when baked. When this is mixed with the sweet taste of the figs its an absolute winner.

The ingredients for around 15-18 paleo fig wheels are as follows;

SWEET ALMOND DOUGH
3 cups of ground almonds
2 eggs
1/2 cup of pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
1/2 cup of coconut oil

FIG FILLING
1 cup of figs
1/2 cup of cranberry juice
1 teaspoon of agave nectar

BE AWARE THAT SOAKING THE FIGS IN STEP ONE REQUIRES AT LEAST AN HOUR, THIS CAN HOWEVER BE LEFT FOR LONGER...

FIG FILLING

STEP 1 - slice up your cup of figs and add them to a bowl with the cranberry juice. Place in the fridge and leave for an hour.

STEP 2 - Once the hour has passed, heat up a saucepan and cook your figs/juice combo at a temperature that allows it to gently bubble. You are looking for the figs breaking down a little and becoming softer. I did this on a moderate heat for around 10 mins, checking constantly.

STEP 3 - allow a little time for your figs and juice to cool before putting it into a food processor. This is where we blend the mixture to make our smooth filling. Pulse until you cannot see any parts of fig and it is more of a paste. Whilst this is taking place add a teaspoon of agave nectar to the bowl and allow it to mix in thoroughly. You want it to look something like this...

STEP 4 - Now into a fresh bowl,  add your eggs, maple syrup, vanilla and almond extract. Mix this well with a hand whisk. Add you ground almonds to this and again mix until it becomes one.

STEP 5 -  melt your coconut oil and add this to your mixed almond dough, again mix it all together until its one. 

STEP 6 - The dough will seem a little too loose at this point, dont worry its meant to be like that. If its not looking right at all it may be that youve got too much liquid in there, from larger eggs for example. Its not a problem, just add a little more ground almond to the mix to thicken it up. Bear in mind for this recipe to work you need to roll this dough up like a swiss roll.

STEP 7 - put down a sheet of greaseproof paper, put your dough on top. Put a sheet of greaseproof paper on top of the dough and start to roll it flat between the two. You dont want this too thin as it will simply break when you try to roll it. Use your judgement, but its best to have a thickness of around 1/3 of an inch. 

STEP 8 - Once this has been rolled out flat, leave it between the sheets and put it into the freezer for 30 mins to an hour to bind together. This may seem like a pain, but believe me its easier than trying to roll dough thats not set and is going everywhere.

STAGE 9 - after the time in the freezer remove the top sheet of greaseproof paper from your dough. Turn it over onto a breadboard/silicone sheet then peel off the other sheet of the greaseproof paper. 

STEP 10 - Go back to your fig mixture and spoon it all over your almond dough in a generous layer. Make sure your not TOO generous as you wont be able to roll it up properly.

STEP  11 - GENTLY roll your dough with fig filling up on itself like a swiss roll. It should look something like this...

STEP 12 - Turn on your oven to 190degrees at this point, get out a further sheet of greaseproof paper and a baking tray. 

IRONICALLY....STEP.....13 - now....with a sharp knife....slice your long roll into individual 1 inch or more thick wheels. I can safely say that after all of the effort l had gone to with this it was like l was slicing on the Masterchef Final !!! What l would say is that this mix makes alot of wheels, so dont worry if your first few come out a little squashed. The trick is to use a sharp knife and to use long strokes to cut. If you saw at it, you will end up with something that resembles a Figgy Frankenstein which doesnt have the appeal of the finished article that l got (after practice). Hopefully they look like this....

STEP 14 - Once sliced, space out evenly onto your taking tray thats lined with the greaseproof paper. Put into the oven thats pre heated and allow to cook for around 10-15 mins or until golden brown. They cook so quickly that l (sadly) sat and watched them through the oven door to make sure that they didnt burn. The cooking time depends on the thickness of the wheels that you have cut, if your more comfortable take the temp down to 150 and allow it to cook for longer. Just be aware that this MAY effect the end visual result with the risen edges of the cooken dough and the figgy troughs (yum, yum) 

STEP 15 - tuck in and have a taste

This recipe requires a little prep, with soaking the figs and allowing the dough to bind together in the freezer but the results are well worth it. You can obviously change the fruit filing to something like apples or strawberries to mix the taste up, but l have to admit im now a fan of the fig!

Yet again another little recipe that can go into your paleo lunchbox for those busy people commited to the paleo journey. A fantastic find in the awesome book MAKE IT PALEO by BILL STALEY and HAYLEY MASON (with a few little changes.)

BANOFFALEO TARTS

Banoffee....its my nemesis. I love it and hate it in the same breath....Achilles had his heel, Superman his Kryptonite.....this is mine! I cant get enough of Banoffee pie when l have a cheat day and when im on a stint and see one....it ruins me everytime. I love it when you can take a recipe like that and adapt it to Paleo. Obviously bear in mind however, that this is a treat and is for moderation!

I thought that tarts rather than a slab of it in a cake tin were a good way of portion controlling. Ideal to prevent that "one more piece" scenario that l KNOW we have all been in at some point. This recipe is inspired by photos that l recently came across on Caveman Cuisines Facebook page...take a look at this when you get the chance, there are some great recipes!

Here it goes, the ingredients for 8 BANOFFALEO tarts are as follows;

THE BASE
1/2 cup pecans
1/3 cup walnuts
1/3 cup ground almonds
2 tablespoons of agave nectar
1 tablespoon coconut oil

THE FILLING
2 bananas

THE CARAMEL
2 tablespoons of agave nectar
1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring 
1.5 tablespoons of ground almonds

THE BASE

STEP 1 - Place your measured out pecans and walnuts into a blender and pulse until they are roughly cut. You do not want the pieces to be too small as you want the base to bind together quite solidly. For a guide at getting this right see the picture just below.

STEP 2 - heat up a pan then add the coconut oil and allow it to melt into a liquid. Once this has happened add the 2 tablespoons of agave nectar.

STEP 3 - Once the mixture in the pan is lightly covered in the liquid, then add the ground almonds and mix it all together whilst continuing to simmer over a lower heat. This should begin to clump togther, there will be a noticable change in how sturdy the mix is. Once this is mixed in empty the contents into a glass bowl.

THE FILLING

STEP 4 - get a frying pan, add a little coconut oil and heat whilst cutting up your 2 bananas for your filling. You want to heat the pan to gradually get to a temperature where you get a little "sizzle" as you place the banana pieces in. 

STEP 5 - Whilst the banana pieces are lightly frying in the coconut oil, go back to your previous mixture that is in the glass bowl. Using a silicone bun tin divide your nut base mixture out so that you have around a cm in the bottom of each bun section. You want the base to be thick as this is what is going to hold everything together. Once this is done place the bun tray into the freezer to allow the base to set.

STEP 6 - continue to cook your banana pieces until they appear mushy, literally just holding themselves together.

STEP 7 - by the time that your banana has cooked to the point of being the desired consistency, your base would have set in the freezer. Remove the base and place your nice sloppy banana pieces into the moulds on top of the set bases generously. When you do this put 2/3 pieces of the cooked banana to the side in a dish and we will come back to them shortly.

STEP 8 - place your bases with the banana's in into the fridge.

THE CARAMEL

(This stage was an utter experiment....the caramel is usually made using butter, even in the paleo world, but l wanted to try and avoid it.)

STAGE 9 - into a frying pan, add the 2 tablespoons of agave nectar and the teaspoon of vanilla. Heat this over a gentle flame for a few minutes until it begins to lightly froth or bubble. When this starts to take place chuck in your pieces of banana that you put to the side in the dish and add your 1.5 tablespoons of ground almonds. Get a fork, then whilst mixing in the ground almonds mush the banana down into the mixture, do this until it is literally non existent in the pan and has total blended in with the other ingredients. I left this over the heat, continually mixing with my fork until it became almost foamy and was very light. When it gets to this stage take it off the heat.

STEP 10 - remove your moulds from the fridge and LOVINGLY add around a teaspoon of the caramel to each of the moulds coating the banana. This is an extremely satisfying stage of the recipe....it...looks...awesome! Once you are happy that you have coated the pieces, place it all into the fridge and leave it for over an hour so that it can set properly. You will know if you have not left this for long enough as the caramel will still be runny, you want it so that its thick so that when you go to pop out each of the tarts they come out intact. Get this right and the caramel that you have made should be the same texture as tarmac in the summer heat!

STEP 11 ... tuck in and have a taste!

As you can see mine came out pretty well, decorated with a light sprinkle of grated dark chocolate!

There isnt really any prep time for this recipe, but it does take a few steps, pans and dishes to produce. I would say that this took me about 20-25 mins to create in total from start to finish.

If your a fan of sweet things and follow the Paleo way, this is a MUST recipe for you to try. It combines to make a real sweet dish that satisfied me on many, many levels. I hope you enjoy this....l know that l certainly did.

SALLYS MEATY BUNS!

This weeks recipe was first offered up by Sally Hatfield (pictured below) Of Crossfit Plymouth. Sally is one of the followers of "Crossfit Plymouth Paleo Exchange" which our members use in order to keep each others inspired with great paleo recipes. This was originally a meatloaf that l have messed around with and added to in order to come up with this version!

The ingredients stated l find normally produce a medium sized loaf tin and around 12 meaty buns to keep me going! The buns are cracking little additions to a soup or as a side to a nice salad. They are ideal for people on the go as they dont break up like the slices of meatloaf do in transit.

There isnt a video for this weeks recipe folks...its that easy to make!

If you dont want 12 little buns, l have also made 4 larger ones instead in the past. Your then into the sort of size where you could use them to fill with salad for a cracking meat/salad roll on the go.....or as l did in the summer take them to a BBQ with you so your not "the wierd friend not eating bread" and use them as hardcore baps.

The ingredients for a decent amount of this that will keep you going for quite some time are as follows;

2 cups of ground almonds
400g minced turkey breast
Just under 1/2 tin of coconut milk
1 heaped tablespoon of garlic
1 heaped tablespoon of chilli
2 carrots grated
1 parsnip grated
1 egg
1/2 cup of diced mushrooms
1/2 a red pepper
1/2 a diced onion
A handful of spinach
8-10 pieces of sun dried tomato
Italian seasoning
Salt/pepper for seasoning
2 slices of smoked bacon
1/4 cup of mixed seeds

STEP 1 - add a tablespoon of coconut oil to a large saucepan, get the pan to a decent heat then add the chilli, garlic, onion, carrot and parsnip. Leave this in the pan and sautee evenly, turning as often as you can to prevent any burning.

STEP 2 - Whilst STEP 1 is taking place, dice your mushrooms, bacon, sun dried tomato, pepper and spinach. THESE ARE NOT GOING TO BE COOKED, TO BE ADDED RAW
 
STEP 3 - in a large mixing bowl combine your ground almonds with your coconut milk. Your aiming for a thickened mixture.

STEP 4 - once your ingredients from STEP 1 have been completed, allow them to cool for a few minutes. The reason for this is only that you will be combining your ingredients with your hands very shortly.

STEP 5 - add all of your ingredients from STEP 1 and your diced items from STEP 2 to your mix made in STEP 3. Then add your minced turkey. Season with salt, pepper and your italian seasoning and add your egg to bind everything together. Mix it lightly by hand, l have tried making this in a mixer before, it makes it very dense and a bit of a mission to eat!

STEP 6 - get your loaf tin and your bun trays and line them with a little melted coconut oil. Brushing this into the moulds is the best method. Divide the mixture out into your loaf tin and then into bun trays as you require. Top the rested mixture with the mixed seeds for a nice crunchy topping.

STEP 7 - place into the oven at 160 degrees centigrade for around 45 - 55 minutes. The rolls obviously take a shorter time to cook, but this is very dependant on the size that you go for. You ideally want to be in a position to check this every 5/10 mins as there is a very close line between cooked and burnt! check with a knife, if the knife comes out of the centre of the loaf clean, you know that it is cooked through. Any sloppy ingredients on the knife indicate that it needs longer.

STEP 8 - Once your satisfied that it is cooked l recommend leaving the loaf to rest for a little while before cutting it. There is nothing wrong with removing it from the tin at this point though. Ideally leave it to cool down completely at room temperature before placing into the fridge. I have made the mistake of cutting this straight away before, it just crumbles and doesnt hold together...Give it a little time, its worth the wait. The beauty of the meaty rolls is that they dont need that time. They are easier to eat and dont break up.

STEP 9 - tuck in and enjoy!

As you can see my batch came out pretty well!

This recipe fits in really well with a busy person who is trying to fit paleo in. It requires little preparation and lasts you for days. If your looking to start out on paleo, its also one l would recommend that you do to make those first few days meals a bit easier for you.

PALEO CHICKEN, BACON AND VEGETABLE SOUP

This is a right winter warmer for you guys! Made this recipe up about a month ago now and have done a further 3 batches since, l simply cant get enough of it!!!

Its a really versatile dish that l have had for breakfast/dinner/tea and as a snack in a smaller portion. This is the kind of recipe that makes paleo food EASY whilst being nutritious and ticking all of the boxes.

For those that need it or would like a simple video walk through of the recipe you can find it by clicking here

The ingredients for a decent amount of paleo soup that will keep you going for quite some time are as follows;

1/2 litre of chicken stock
6 parsnips - STEAMED/BOILED until soft prior to using in this soup
4 carrots - STEAMED/BOILED until soft prior to using in this soup
1 onion
1 large floret of broccoli - STEAMED/BOILED prior to using in this soup
2 pieces of smoked bacon, diced
1 heaped teaspoon of garlic
1 heaped teaspoon of chilli
A handful of cooked chicken, again diced
Italian mixed herbs
Sea salt
Pepper

OPTIONAL - Mushrooms, roughly diced peppers, sun dried tomatoes, spinach 
(put them into a bowl, 3/4 fill and this will then make up your "chunky texture" elements of the soup)

This recipe has an element that you need to prepare in advance prior to STAGE 1, this being the chicken stock. 

* Coincide this with a paleo meal using a whole chicken and strip the carcuss of the meat. 
* Once this has been done put the left over carcuss and any skin into a large pan. 
* Add boiling water to the pan until it just covers the height of the bones. 
* Leave this to boil, once it has, simmer on a lower heat for 2/3 hours until you are left with a cloudy liquid. 
* Pass the liquid through a seive leaving you with a liquid which is your stock for your soup!

STEP 1 - Figure out which chunky ingredients you would like and put them in a bowl.

STEP 2 - Using a half teaspoon of coconut oil in a hot pan, begin to cook the diced onion with the garlic and chilli, pour in your bowl of mixed chunky ingredients and cook with the bacon.

STEP 3 - Get your steamed/boiled parsnips, carrots and broccoli ready to add to the food processor to make up the main body of the soup...with this keep a few pieces of each back and place into a cup so that it is around half full. We will add this to the soup when mixing it all together with the other texture ingredients to add a nice, different vegetable dimension to it.

STEP 4 - start to add your steamed vegetable to your food processor, you may find that you cant fit all of this in at once. Blend the vegetables down until they are like a thick paste. When the level of mixture in the processor lowers, add more vegetables that you have steamed to it and blend until it is all in and of the same consistency.

STEP 5 - as you continue to blend the vegetables down in the food processor, begin to pour in your COLD chicken stock that you have already prepared and allowed to cool. Add 1/4 of your chicken stock to begin with and again blend.

STEP 6 - keep adding your chicken stock until you get the desired consistency....l did all of it and was still left a nice thick soup! If you find that you have vegetables on the top that are not mixing with the rest of the mixture, press them down into the mixture with a fork and pulse again. Add salt, pepper and mixed herbs to taste.

STEP 7 - pour your current mix from the food processor into a large mixing bowl and add the cooked ingredients from your pan. Mix all of this together with a wooden spoon, adding any leftover stock as you go. Dont forget to put in your diced vegetable from the cup that you have put to the side as mentioned in STEP 3 too, along with your diced chicken pieces.

STEP 8....Heat, then tuck in and have a taste!

Prep time is around 15 mins when it comes to making the soup. With this bear in mind that the chicken stock takes 2/3 hours and if you choose to steam your vegetables this takes about 45 mins too.

There is only one thing better than chicken, bacon and vegetable soup.....and thats chicken, bacon and vegetable soup with "Sallys Meaty Buns" ....they will be coming to you next week along with their Meatloaf big brother!

PRIMAL PEPPERMINT BARS

This recipe was a new one for me...and l was very pleasantly surprised by the flavour that it delivered. For me, l always try to have paleo based treats that come close to "normal" treats that l miss. This is now amoung them, adapted from Kristin Jekieleks recipe at FAST PALEO.

Ill be honest, l love after eight mints. When Christmas comes each year you can easily sign me up for a few boxes of them and ill happliy tuck in, they are one of the things that l miss through paleo...this peppermint recipe has now solved that issue for me.

For this recipe you can form the "patties" however you want, l found the suggested Jaffa cake size patty a bit big, so l have made mine into bars. Snack size, just enough and a good sweet fix!

For those of that need it or would like a simple walk through of the recipe you can find it by clicking HERE or by visiting the VIDEO BAR on the right of this page. Please note that this recipe is split into 2 videos, one for the interior peppermint preparation, another for the chocolate coating.

The ingredients for these, that made me 9 bars are as follows;

1/2 cup of coconut oil
1/2 cup of coconut butter
1/4 cup of Agave nectar
1 teaspoon of peppermint oil
100g bar of 85% dark chocolate

STEP 1 - measure out your coconut oil and coconut butter. Put them together, into a cup and into the microwave for around a minute and a half.

STEP 2 - during STEP 1, measure out your Agave Nectar and peppermint oil and combine in a glass bowl....add a few extra drops of peppermint oil for a little extra minty kick if required.

STEP 3 - once you are happy that the coconut butter/oil is broken down and in a liquid state pour it into the bowl containing the other ingredients and mix in with a whisk until the mix thickens.

STEP 4 - pour your mix into moulds/onto a flat tray depending on what form you would like the peppermint to take. I would suggest trying the recipe with a silicone ice cube/bar tray as the next stage may get a little tricky if you have a tray full of thin flat mix. You could also put some into a bun tray to take shape if that helps.

STEP 5 - place into the freezer for 60-90 mins until the mixture has hardened.

Prep time is around 10 mins up to this point. When you remove the bars from the freezer to check they have set, If the mixture breaks off into bits or crumbles you know it hasnt been given long enough. If thats the case pop it back in the freezer for a while. If your in no rush, overnight, or in the morning to complete the 2nd stage of the recipe may be a good idea.

STEP 6 - remove your set peppermint bars from the freezer, pop out of the moulds with some care and place onto a silicone sheet or some greaseproof paper. If you have any trouble getting the formed peppermint out of the moulds, just get a knife with a warmed blade and cut around the edges and they should drop out.

They should look something like these bad boys

Now comes the messy part...For those of that need it or would like a simple walk through of this stage of the recipe you can find it by clicking HERE or by visiting the VIDEO BAR on the right of this page.

STEP 7 - have a few inches of boiling water in a saucepan, place a glass boil that just fits into the top of the saucepan on top. The idea of this is that there is a cavity between the boiling water and the glass bowl so that we are using steam to melt your chocolate. Now break your bar of chocolate into small pieces and place it into the glass bowl.

STEP 8 - stir/move your chocolate around in the bowl and you should see that it is beginning to melt. Whilst avoiding the temptation of dipping your face into the bowl take a pastry brush and brush the exterior of your peppermint bars with the melted dark chocolate. I found it best to get a base layer of chocolate on first, then dab the top of the bars so that some chocolate runs down the side coating further.....l was dribbling Iike Homer Simpson on that part!

STEP 9 - when you have happily coated the peppermint bar. If you like you can either apply a little choc to the bottom by picking it up with a cocktail stick or you can freeze what you have and add the bottom chocolate once that has set.

STEP 10 - put the bars back in the freezer/fridge for 10-15 mins until the chocolate has settled and formed a nice coating.

STEP 11 ... Tuck in and have a taste!

As you can see my batch came out pretty well...

Found this a great little recipe. The peppermint gives you a cracking treat rather than something that is made from all nuts or fruit. It brings something a bit different to the table. I ended up cutting my bars into slices, putting them into a freezer bag and have some through the day like a pick n mix treat. 

SAMPLE BAGS AVAILABLE FOR THIS RECIPE!

ALMOND BUTTER SLABS!

Welcome to my 1st blog recipe for PRIMAL PROVENANCE...

To start things off with a "big bang" l've gone for a recipe thats similar to one that is very close to my heart...Almond butter slabs! This recipe is a must for any paleo fan who likes nuts and has a sweet tooth like me.

For those that need it or would like a simple video walk through of the recipe you can find it by clicking here

The ingredients for a decent amount of almond butter slabs/bites/bars that will keep you going for quite some time are as follows;

1/2 cup of almond butter
1/2 cup of almond flour (ground almonds will suffice)
1/2 cup of coconut oil
2 cups of mixed nuts of your choice
1/2 cup of dessicated coconut
1/4 cup agave nectar (in any supermarket or health food supplier, a few £)
2 tsps of natural vanilla flavoring (check contents to make sure it is what is says!)
1 cup of unsweetened mixed dried fruit, l've gone for dates, apricots, pears & prunes
OPTIONAL - any toppings you would like to add, dark choc etc

STEP 1 - measure out the mixed nuts, coconut and dried fruit with the almond flour/ground almonds. Add all of these to your food processor and blend until they leave a coarse dry mixture.

STEP 2 - measure out the almond butter and the coconut oil, place into a container and microwave for 40 - 60 seconds until the coconut oil has melted and the consistency of the almond butter is more liquid like.

STEP 3 - measure out your Agave nectar and vanilla, pour these into your container with the melted coconut oil/almond butter in and mix together until they blend into one.

STEP 4 - add the mixture from STEP 3 to the dry mixture from STEP 1. Mix both of these together by hand with a wooden spoon or a spatula.

STEP 5 - once mixed place into your tin, if you have one use one with a removable bottom to help get the solid finished product out after it has set in the fridge.

STEP 6 - place the finished mixture into the fridge for 60-90 mins

STEP 7 ... Tuck in and have a taste!

Prep time is around 15 mins, the mixture takes around 60-90 minutes to set to a reasonably firm block in the fridge. The tester is when you cut it, the knife should cut through easily and leave a clean edge. If the mixture breaks off into bits or crumbles you know it hasnt been given long enough to set.

As you can see my batch came out pretty well...

Once you have it set, you can either have it in larger pieces, fingers, small cubes....whatever fits with you.

I went true to the recipe myself and stuck with slabs!

These make a cracking paleo treat. The only thing wrong with this recipe...is that you find yourself popping back to the fridge for more!