Diary Free Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

Recently I've gone on a dairy and soy elimination diet - never did I realise it would be so hard!!  Diary and soy are in practically everything, even bread!!  I've been on the hunt for some diary and soy free recipes to satisfy my chocolate cravings - these Hazelnut Chocolate Biscotti sure are a winner!!  

They're the perfect treat to have with a morning coffee and were fairly easy to make too.  I think these will become part of my regular baking rotation!!  

 Because these babies are double baked, they can be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks, and make a great gift.  They'll also be great to have on hand for when friends pop by for coffee!!


I modified the recipe based on this one, from taste.com.  Based on the original recipe, I also added in some coffee (because everything is better with coffee!) and doubled the original amount of cocoa to make them extra chocolatey!!

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw hazelnuts
• 1 and 2/3 cup plain flower
• 4 tablespoons dutch cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• Finely grated rind of 1 orange
• 1 tablespoon espresso coffee disolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water

Method 

Preheat oven to 200C. Roast nuts on an oven tray for 10 minutes or until golden and skins are flaking. Rub well in a clean tea towel to remove skins. Chop coarsely.

Sift flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl. Combine eggs, orange rind, coffee and nuts in a separate bowl. Gradually add egg mixture to dry ingredients, stirring to form a dough. Turn out on to a lightly floured surface. Knead briefly then halve. Shape into two 25cm-long logs. Place logs on a baking paper-lined oven tray. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Stand for 5 minutes.

Slice logs diagonally into 5mm-thick slices. Place slices on oven trays and return to oven for 10 minutes or until dry. Cool on a wire rack.

Lemon Bars

Keeping with my lemon themed baking (see my lemon yoghurt cake here!!), I decided to give these delicious lemon bars a go!!  They're based on the recipe from the Tartine Cookbook, but I saw the recipe on the Late Afternoon Blog and they looked so good I had to give them a go!!

Sometimes I have those days where I get it all wrong!!  I attempted these two nights ago after just getting my little baby to sleep.  After making a beautiful base and having the filling ready to go, I some how managed to burn the hell out of the base, set off the smoke alarm and wake my poor bubba!!   I didn't have enough butter left to try and re-bake the base so had to throw away my filling after hand squeezing so many lemons!! :( Baking fail!! 

My oven seems to be set to overdrive so today I tried again but made a few temperature tweaks.

It was worth the second try!!  They look impressive, but were actually quite easy to make.  They're very sweet, so I'll be having mine with coffee!!  They also keep in the fridge for 4 days.

Ingredients:

Crust 

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cups unsalted butter at room temp

Filling

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 1/4 cups caster sugar

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (approx 5 large lemons)

6 large whole eggs

1 large egg yolk

Directions :

Pre-heat the oven to 175 Degrees Celsius and butter 9 by 13 inch pan.

To make the crust, sift the sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the flour and butter. Beat on low speed until you get a nice soft dough. Evenly spread the dough on the bottom of your buttered pan (I just patted it down with my fingers). 

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Make sure the crust is cooked evenly.

While the crust bakes, prepare the filling. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and mix together. Add the lemon juice and a little bit of lemon zest. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Next add all of the eggs and whisk well. 

When the crust is ready, pull out the oven rack keeping the pan on the rack and pour the filing directly into the hot pan. Drop the temp down to 150 Degrees Celcius  and bake for 25 minutes or until the filling is no longer wobbly. 

Let cool almost all the way through. Cut into rectangles, top with powdered sugar and serve. 

Weekly Roundup

Blog posts have been far and few over the past months!!  My apologies for my absence....this year so far I have managed to:

1)  Start a masters degree

2)  Sell an apartment

3)  Buy a townhouse

4)  Move house

5)  Have a baby

Not a bad effort if you don't mind me saying so!!  I promise now that I'm off work and adjusting to life with a newborn baby that the blog posts will resume, with more posts on psychology, life, recipes, fashion, design, music and all things wonderful - I may even throw in a few about motherhood and adjusting to life as a parent.  In the meantime, the festive season is fast approaching and I'll have some silly season posts coming soon.  

Here are some of my favourite links of the week - Happy Friday!!

12 weekend habits of highly successful people

How to get ready for a party in five minutes

A clever tiny space

A great idea for Christmas gift wrapping

Did anyone else love Penny Lane's outfits in Almost Famous??

10 tips for working from home

A cute pastel dress for summer

Four types of sleep schedules we all fit in to - which one are you!?

Baking Therapy - Lemon Yoghurt Cake

So at 39.5 weeks pregnant, what better way to pass the time than to bake a delicious lemon yoghurt cake!!

This is a super easy cake to make and tastes delicious.  I've tried a few different recipes, and this one is the best!

While I seem to be getting rounder by the day, keeping busy has been a good distraction from the aches, pains and tiredness of the downward slope of the last trimester.

....and the plus side of being pregnant, is that I can sample the goods guilt free!!

Dress - Metalicus

Lipstick - NARS Dragon Girl 

Makeup makes women appear more competent!

Slept in and thinking of skipping your morning makeup routine?

Think again!!  

A study by Etcoff et all (2011), participants were asked to rate female faces with and without makeup.  The makeup was varied in application from "minimal", "moderate" and "dramatic." 

Participants were required to rate the female faces in terms of attractiveness, trustworthiness, likeability and competence.  

Participants rated the "made up" female faces as more competent than bare faces as well as more attractive.  Ectoff (2011) discuses the implications of the study - “For the first time, we have found that applying makeup has an effect beyond increasing attractiveness—it impacts first impressions and overall judgments of perceived likeability, trustworthiness and competence.”

Makeup that provided contrast to the skin, in the lips and eyes, created a perception of increased competence.

An interesting finding was that whilst the "dramatic" makeup group were rated as competent and attractive, they were rated as less trustworthy.  With this in mind, moderate, professional makeup in the workplace, creating contrast between your skin and lips/eyes is likely to be best.

Here are some of my favourite pics for a low key and polished glow!!

From left to right:
Benefit Posie Tint
Benefit Instant Brow Pencil
Clinique Fresh Bloom Allover Colour
Clinique Even Better Foundation
Clinique High Impact Curling Mascara

Happy Friday!!

Happy Friday!!  Who else is extremely glad it's the weekend!?  

Be compassionate, you'll be happier and healthier!!

Being compassionate is beneficial to others, but did you know the act of compassion also benefits your psychological and physical health?

Fredrikson et al (2008) conducted a study where participants were randomly assigned to practise loving kindness meditations - firstly directed towards themselves, then directed towards a loved one.  The results of the experiment showed that participants who participated in compassionate meditation showed increased levels of daily happiness when compared to a control group.  

The researchers state "these shifts in positive emotions took time to appear and were not large in magnitude, but over the course of 9 weeks, they were linked to increases in a variety of personal resources, including mindful attention, self-acceptance, positive relations with others, and good physical health. Moreover, these gains in personal resources were consequential: They enabled people to become more satisfied with their lives and to experience fewer symptoms of depression. 
  
In addition to this, the group who participated in compassionate meditation experienced less depression, were in better physical shape, and had a better satisfaction with life than the control group.  

The researchers state that "positive emotions produce success and health as much as they reflect these good outcomes."

Want to be happier and healthier?  Find more ways to increase your positive emotions!!
Would you like to learn more about loving kindness meditation?  Click here!

Sleep better

Having trouble sleeping?  It could be time to redecorate your bedroom.  Soft textiles, low lighting and minimal, clutter free furnishings can help in increasing your quality zzz time.  

Here are a few of my favourite inspirations....

Taken from A Cup of Jo - Bedroom makeover

Taken from apartment therapy - Alison Hotchkiss Sanfrancisco apartment

taken from Elle Decor

Taken from Apartment Therapy - Lauren and Kevin's Chicago Apartment

Make sure you consider the following factors:

• Temperature - could you be too hot at night time - this may prevent you from falling asleep.  Is there adequate airflow coming in?  
• Light - do you have thick curtains or blinds that can block out light from other houses/apartments/street lights
• Colour - choose a peaceful, sleep inducing colour scheme - try neutral walls, or even dark moody wall paint for something different

Valentines Day Blues?

Some of us despise valentines day, some of us love it... whether you're sitting at home watching Bridget Jones and eating a whole tub of Ben and Jerry's or you're out on a romantic date, why not change your perspective this valentines day and pay it forward with a gift to a friend or family member.  

If you happened to read my post on learning to spend more wisely, you'll recall that spending money on others can increase your satisfaction, more so than purchasing items for yourself!!

Why not make someone else's day on Valentines Day?  

This valentines day, we had a "secret valentine" at work - we drew names from a hat to exchange gifts amongst staff members (much like secret santa or Kris Kringle).  

I decided to make these Donna Hay Vanilla Snap Cookies, with a love theme!!!  These cookies taste fantastic and are really easy to make!  They're perfect for cutting into all sorts of fun shapes.

 I packed them up into a cute jar with some ribbon to turn them into a cost effective gift, made with love!

I hope my secret valentine enjoys their surprise!

Gifts don't have to be expensive to make someone's day....as a bonus, there's leftover cookies at home too!! 

Weekly Roundup

Another week done and dusted!!  Here are some of my favourite links from around the web this week.

The health hazards of sitting and how to reverse them

Add some extra style to your business cards

The psychological benefits of a later school start time on adolescents 

So many vitamins, so little time!!  A vitamin and supplement cheat sheet

This glazed chocolate tart looks delicious, another excuse to bake!

A great gift idea for your host the next time you attend a dinner party

For the love of money 

Resisting the urge to buy another pair of ankle boots, in black!!

How happy are you?  Try the Authentic Happiness Questionnaire!!

Pop Therapy - January Recap!!

Thanks for tuning in for the first two months of Pop Therapy!!  I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog so far!!  Stay tuned for another massive month in February.

Just to recap...here are a few of my fav posts from January.

1.  Baking Therapy
2.  The Psychological Benefits of Playing Music
3.  Living in Green Spaces Improves Mental Health
4.  Baking Therapy Part 2 - Impromptu Tea Party

Baking Therapy!

Do you have a "flow" activity, that helps you to disconnect from the drudgery of everyday life and get caught up doing something fun?

Today my flow activity was....
Baking!!

I decided to make Tollhouse cookies!!  It was my first attempt, but they turned out pretty darn good!!

I followed this recipe, but added chopped and whole hazelnuts and crushed walnuts.  

Here are the results!!

Yellow tapas bowl from Country Road Home

Yellow picnic tin from Country Road Home

and here's how I enjoyed the splendour of my work... 

Cake Stand by Donna Hay
Flippy Skirt by Country Road
Lipstick - Impassioned, by Mac

Thanks to Lachy Doley for the wonderful photos!!

Pop Therapy

Welcome to Pop Therapy!  A Psychology and Lifestyle blog keeping you up to date with the latest psychobabble and all things pop culture!