All-butter shortbread is a health food!

[FreedomFromFoundation]

Because of all the media hoo-ha about ultraprocessed food (which does seem to make some sense), I've been looking out for things without loads of ingredients, without oils like rapeseed/palm oil and without anything I don't recognise as a "real food".

Obviously it's best to not have loads of biscuits at all, but I do like to have some around, and don't have much time to bake.

Delighted to find out that all-butter shortbread and cornflakes are minimally processed and don't have much shite in them. Much better than jaffa cakes and Special K, etc.

Anyone else have surprising "discoveries" to share in this quest?

Thank you ladygardener - it says it serves 12….. 😆

But also carcinogenic. I would avoid.

'Jane's Patisserie' triple chocolate brownies are your friend!

Own brand tortilla chips instead of Doritos as well. I can just about get teen dds to try these and home made dip/guac so I take that as a massive win. Plus massively cheaper.

@Whyishewearingasombero thank you those look delicious 😋
This crappy weather has me hankering for comfort food with a capital C !

That's good news, I made cheese scones this morning and am doing afternoon tea in a couple of weeks and will be having fruit scones for that.

Healthy brownies right here - sweet potato (mashed), cocoa, peanut butter (Pip & Nut), honey. If you are feeling fancy, throw in some nuts of your choice (walnuts or pecans work very well) and raisins (non-coated in sunflower oil, Sun-Maid brand).

Not Cake! Just had a big slice of cheesy soda bread made with Greek yogurt. Real butter on a slice and I am in heaven now. So easy and quick to make.

1.5 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon Bread soda (bicarb)
1/2 teaspoon sugar (brings out the flavour of the cheese)
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
Grated cheese.

I gave up UPF recently, except when we are on the move. I make a cake every week for DH - like mixed fruit tea bread (no butter). I have shortbread myself, after I found its just the basic ingredients as pp said. I need to eat before I get out of bed!

Wow.

I was not expecting so many amazing ideas and recipes on this thread.

I'm no baker, but soda bread, brownies and home made shortcake here I come! Maybe even I can do this...

Stop posting it’s troll

What?!

Does anyone have a gluten free shortbread recipe? I have GF flour but haven't baked with it yet.

This needs to be on a poster!

One thing I struggle to find is non-UPF vegan cakes. And recipes which replace butter (which I love - but I have a vegan family member in my house) with vegan "spread" are of course no good, because the "spread" is full of all kinds of grimness ...

I make shortbread with butter, sugar and 50:50 regular and corn flour (which is I think gluten free). I’m not sure 100% corn flour would work, but maybe you can use something else in a 50:50 ratio (oat, almond, buckwheat etc)?

The sweet potato brownies I posted can be vegan if you replace the honey with something else (though Maple syrup is also UPF).

Amazing - great idea - thank you!

@7Worfs do you have a version of the recipe with specific quantities, or do you just mix those things till they taste right?!

One good thing about proper butter shortbread is that I can’t eat too much of it. I could eat an entire pack of Oreo’s and not even particularly enjoy them. With Walker’s shortbread, the first piece is delicious, the second a bit less and more than that and I feel full/nauseous.

With other biscuits, this doesn’t happen and I get cravings to have more. Must be all the additives in UPF.

Which particular grimness do you mean?
Nothing replaces butter for shortbread flavour but the 'Pure' range of vegan spreads don't seem very grim to me.

@Downdownunder what are microwave strawberry please

@FreedomFromFoundation do you mean shop bought vegan cakes? You would have to go high end, fresh cakes I imagine but if you want recipes for non upf vegan cakes then check Google for vegan olive oil cake recipes.

🤣

Maple syrup - the real stuff, not the imitation maple flavoured syrup - isn't UPF. It's boiled and filtered, that's all.

Apologies, I'm not familiar with the original stuff, only seen it in shops and never tried it.

@FreedomFromFoundation for the brownies I modified this recipe - https://mattsfitchef.com/4-ingredient-sweet-potato-brownies/

So this is exactly what I put together -

220gr mashed sweet potato
80gr peanut butter
50gr honey
30gr cocoa powder
eyeball some walnuts or pecans, crush them a bit and throw them in; also raisins

the brownies are then eaten very quickly, so I'll be doubling everything next time