Little cooks

Children will love these recipes to the moon (and stars) and back!

Give these chai crescent cookies a chocolate flavour by replacing 2 tablespoons of flour with 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder.

Moroccan almond and chai crescent Eid cookies

Place the hummus in a resealable container and store in the fridge to enjoy for up to 1 week.

Prep time: 25 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Makes: 30 cookies

For the chai spice

2 tsp ground cardamom

2 tsp ground allspice

2 tsp ground nutmeg

4 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Cinnamon

2 tsp ground cloves

6 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Ginger

For the crescent cookies

150g almond flour

150g SpinneysFOOD All-Purpose Flour

2½ tsp chai spice

70g SpinneysFOOD Super Fine Icing Sugar

100g SpinneysFOOD Extra Fine Caster Sugar

150g SpinneysFOOD Salted Butter, cold

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla essence

To serve ½ tsp chai spice

25g SpinneysFOOD Super Fine Icing Sugar

1 Preheat the oven 160°C, gas mark 3. Line two baking trays with parchment paper. 2 Combine the chai spice ingredients. 3 In a medium bowl, sieve the almond flour, all-purpose flour, chai spice, icing sugar and caster sugar together. Cube the chilled butter. Add the cubed butter to the flour and rub in using your fingertips to make fine breadcrumbs. Add in the egg yolks and vanilla extract. Form a dough using a k-beater or your hands. 4 Place on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Divide into 4 equal sizes and wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 15 minutes. 5 Roll one portion of the dough into a 2cm-thick log and divide the log into 2cm-long pieces. Using your hands, roll each piece to approx. 5cm long then curve slightly to make a crescent shape. Transfer to the baking trays. 6 Bake for approx. 20 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely. 7 Combine the chai spice and icing sugar. Roll the cooled biscuits in the mixture and store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Serves: 2-4

For the carrot hummus

250g carrots

1 garlic clove

90ml SpinneysFOOD Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Cumin

1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Crystal Sea Salt

¼ tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Black Pepper

½ lemon

1 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Bottled Drinking Water

90g SpinneysFOOD Organic Chickpeas

For the Hawaij spice

2 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Cumin Seeds

2 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Whole Black Peppercorns

1 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Turmeric

½ tbsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Coriander

4 SpinneysFOOD Cardamom Pods

2 cloves

To serve

2 pita breads

2 SpinneysFOOD Organic Cucumbers

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6.

2 Halve the carrots and place in a roasting dish along with the garlic clove. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with cumin, ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper. Place in the oven to roast for approx. 30 minutes or until golden and tender. Set aside to cool slightly. 3 Cut the pita bread into stars and place on a lined baking tray in the oven until golden, approx. 5-10 minutes. 4 Juice the lemon. 5 In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini, the remaining olive oil, lemon juice, water and ½ teaspoon of salt. 6 Place the cooled carrots in a blender along with the chickpeas. While the blender is running, slowly pour in the tahini mixture and blend until the hummus is smooth. Adjust seasoning, if necessary. 7 To make the Hawaij spice, heat a small frying pan over a low heat. Combine all the spices in the pan and toast for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Grind the toasted spices in a spice mill or using a mortar and pestle. Save in an airtight container for up to a month. 8 Slice the cucumbers and cut it into moons and half moons. 9 Place the carrot hummus in a serving bowl and top with extra olive oil and hawaij spice. 10 Serve with the cucumbers moons and pita stars.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

For the cinnamon sesame granola

250g rolled oats

2 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Cinnamon

½ tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Sea Salt

50g coconut oil

70g SpinneysFOOD Organic Natural Honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Almond Nut Butter

2 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Unrefined Raw Sugar

1 tbsp SpinneysFOOD White Sesame Seeds

For the galaxy smoothie

3 frozen bananas

150g SpinneysFOOD Blueberries

500ml SpinneysFOOD Full Fat Milk

2 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Almond Nut Butter or Peanut Butter

3 scoops vanilla protein

1 tsp blue food colouring

¼ tsp black food colouring

To serve

1 tsp sprinkles

50g frozen blueberries

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. 2 In a large bowl, combine the oats, cinnamon and salt. 3 In a separate bowl, combine the coconut oil and honey and place in the microwave for 2 minutes to melt. 4 Pour the coconut oil mixture over the dry ingredients along with the vanilla extract and stir to combine. 5 Spread the mixture on the baking tray. Bake for 20-30 minutes, tossing the granola halfway. Remove from the oven and cool completely. 6 Place all the smoothie ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth. 7 Remove ¼ of the smoothie mixture and tint with the blue food colouring. Tint another ¼ black. Keep ½ of the mixture plain. 8 Divide the mixtures between four bowls and swirl using a skewer or a spoon. Top with the sprinkles and blueberries and serve with the granola.

Advieh is an aromatic Persian spice blend that can be used in either sweet or savoury dishes.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

For the advieh spice

1 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Cumin

½ tsp ground cloves

1 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Cinnamon

2 tsp dried rose petals

1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Black Pepper, freshly ground

2 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Turmeric

2 tsp ground cardamom

For the French toast

250ml SpinneysFOOD Full Fat Milk

3 large SpinneysFOOD Organic Free-Range Eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp advieh spice

¼ tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Sea Salt

1 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Salted Butter

8 thick slices bread, preferably brioche

To serve

100ml date syrup

100g strawberries

1 Layer all the spices in a jar with a tight lid. Shake well and make sure the spices are fully

Make your smoothie extra flavourful by adding a teaspoon of chai spice before blending.

Advieh-spice

French toast stars with date syrup

Roasted tomato and lentil soup with baharat spiced puff pastry stars mixed. 2 In a shallow bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, vanilla extract, advieh spice and salt together in a shallow bowl. 3 Lightly butter a large frying pan and place over medium-high heat. Soak both sides of the bread in the egg mixture and place in the hot pan. Fy for 3-5 minutes on either side until golden. Repeat this process with the remaining bread. 4 Using a star cutter, cut the toast into stars. 5 Serve with extra advieh, date syrup and strawberries.

Baharat means spices in Arabic. This spice mix is most commonly found in Middle Eastern, Turkish and Greek cuisines and can vary slightly from region to region.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Serves: 4

For the roasted tomatoes

1kg Roma tomatoes

VEGGIE

200g SpinneysFOOD Cherry Tomatoes

6 garlic cloves

3 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Cumin

½ tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Sea Salt

¼ tsp SpinneysFOOD Black Pepper, freshly ground

For the soup

1L vegetable stock

200g SpinneysFOOD Masoor Dal

For the baharat puff pastry stars

½ sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 tbsp SpinneysFOOD All-Purpose Flour, for dusting

½ tbsp baharat spice

To serve

125ml yoghurt

½ tsp SpinneysFOOD Black Pepper, freshly ground

½ tsp baharat spice

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6.

2 Quarter the Roma tomatoes and keep the cherry tomatoes whole. Place the tomatoes in a