This week I’m so happy to introduce you all to Vicky from The Flourishing Pantry, who is sharing a yummy gluten free recipe from her own blog.

Vicky is the first guest blogger to feature on Oat So Delicious and hopefully they’ll be many more to come. She is going to tell you all about her healthy eating journey and share her delicious cookie recipe. There are quite a few questions to get through so let’s get started!

Hi Vicky! Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background.

My name is Vicky and I’m the writer and recipe creator behind healthy eating blog The Flourishing Pantry. I’m from the UK but I moved to Ireland in May 2017. I’ve spent 10 years working in the music industry, setting up concerts and tours worldwide for orchestras. But after moving to Ireland and starting my blog in 2016 I’ve quit my full-time job and am starting to run events, write and do recipe development full-time with a new-found passion for health and wellness.

Vicky picking up her award for the Best Free From & Illness Recovery blog 2017. Photo by Anna Rachel Photography

Why did you first start blogging?

I suffer with IBS and after years of symptoms and very little support from the NHS GP I started to take things into my own hands. I did a food intolerance blood test at home and it told me I had a yeast intolerance. That opened a can of worms and I got sucked into things like anti-candida and yeast free diets.

I started the blog to record my recipes and learnings. It’s become a really honest account of my discoveries – where I’ve got it right and where I’ve got it wrong. I’m not an expert, I’m just a normal girl trying to work out what’s healthy to eat and might help me tackle my IBS and that’s what I wanted to share with the world.

What’s your favourite breakfast – sweet or savoury? 

Savoury every single time. Avocado and poached egg on toast is a classic go-to that I’ll have at least once a week usually, and I’ve even started to dabble in savoury porridge which is totally amazing. My latest version was a Miso Oats recipe – it’s delicious!

Vicky’s Miso and Wakeme Oats

Savoury porridge sounds amazing! How did you first get into healthy eating/living?

I started focusing on healthy living through my blogging and trying to find out as much as possible as I could to tackle my IBS symptoms.

The more I spent time reading and researching about nutrition and diet the more I’ve realised what we eat is just a small part of what affects our health. Healthy living isn’t just diet and gut health but it’s also about mental wellbeing, physical strength and ability. Having a positive attitude towards long term lifestyle changes, not short term diet and fitness fixes is the message I’ve taken with me from fellow bloggers and experts in health and nutrition. It’s now something that I’ve built into my daily life and I’ve really seen the benefits.

Oat So Delicious is a completely gluten free/Coeliac friendly blog – do you follow a strict gluten free diet?

No, not any more. My readers will know that my healthy eating journey has not been a completely straight line and I’ve changed my opinion on what the best diet is for me over time.

When I started the blog I was doing what I thought was a ‘yeast free’ diet. Sucked in by the first few things I read on Google I started taking on-board messages about candida and the ‘anti-candida’ diet. I cut out a huge amount from my diet, including gluten, believing it was ‘feeding candida in my gut.’

However, the more I read and learned the more I realised there is little to no scientific evidence for the candida-overgrowth theory. I wrote a blog post and abandoned the diet in March last year. Whilst it meant I felt a bit lost with what to eat (strict black and white lists are reassuring in many ways!), it’s meant I now have a much healthier relationship with food. Nothing is ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

On gluten specifically, I don’t eat a lot and tend to cook with non-gluten contain ingredients by choice. But that’s because I feel better for it and don’t like the bloating that sometimes comes with it. But I’m not coeliac and my body can cope with the odd gluten containing product. I did a whole series of blog posts with my friend Lea from Can Eat Attitude who is a coeliac where we discuss my complicated relationship with gluten!

What is your favourite recipe from Oat So Delicious? 

I just loved your Mince Pie Porridge when I saw in on Instagram! Such a brilliant idea. I must also try your creamy banana and maca buckwheat porridge because maca is one of my all-time favourite ingredients. I just love how it adds a caramel-type flavour to sweets.

Thanks Vicky – my Mince Pie Porridge was a staple in December! What is your favourite recipe from your own blog?

An oldie but a goodie is the cacao almond mylk which I still make regularly. It’s super simple, I always have the ingredients in the cupboard and it’s a perfect start to the day.

Thanks Vicky, it’s great to hear more about your blogging and food journey. Now it’s time to share the recipe for your yummy Matcha Oreo Cookies…

INGREDIENTS

Cookies
1 1/2 cups GF oat flour (oats ground into a powder in a food processor or Nutribullet)
1/2 cup cacao powder
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup milk of choice

Matcha Filling
1 cup cashews*
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup milk of choice
2 tsp matcha powder

RECIPE

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Mix the flour, cacao, maple syrup, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add the coconut oil and milk and mix to combine.
3. Eventually you’ll be able to get your hands in and work the mixture together into a dough ball.
4. Transfer the dough onto a well floured surface (you can actually also use a bit of melted coconut oil if you want to avoid flour). Roll out the dough until a 1/4-inch-thick and use a round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. The cookies don’t rise at all so think about how you want the final product to look and don’t make them too thin!
5. Arrange the cut cookies on a lined baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. They don’t spread so you can put them close together. Leave to cool completely while you prepare the filling.
6. Blend all the filling ingredients in a blender until smooth.
7. Spread a thin layer of the filling onto one of the cookies and top with another.
8. Enjoy! You can store in an air-tight container for up 4 days.

Don’t forget to follow Vicky on Instagram @theflourishingpantry and tag us both if you make these yummy cookies! If you’d like to read my answers that Vicky shared on her blog then follow the link for my guest post on The Flourishing Pantry.

Sophie x