Banana Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Now, before you get too excited... Actually, no. You should be excited. These cookies are de-lish-ous! But in all seriousness, these aren't your classic Scottish shortbreads that are super light and crumbly. These are more dense, crispy yet tender, sweet cookies studded with pecans that get all toasty and fragrant as the cookies bake.

The subtle coconut-y flavor from the coconut oil and the slight banana-y infusion from the banana only serve to enhance these delicious cookies. And apart from coconut oil and banana, there are only five more ingredients! Simple as that. Seven ingredients, minimal effort, and delicious cookies. Just look at them....

It being summer right now, these are perfect as they are sturdy enough to carry to picnics in the park! There are also super easy to make, so they make the perfect gift! I can just imagine a stack of these cookies tied up in a beautiful ribbon. The gift-receiver is bound to love you, though they probably do already!

These are seriously delectable, made with the simplest of ingredients and an even simple method. Get baking!

Ingredients
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp coconut oil
1/3 cup ripe banana, mashed
2 1/2 cups plain flour
2/3 cup unrefined sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/3 cup pecans, chopped

Instructions
Cream together the oil and sugar. Add in the mashed banana and cream again.

Add vanilla and salt and blend again.

Sift in the flour and blend until combined.

Stir in the chopped pecans.

Transfer to baking paper and roll the dough into a tight log around 2-3 inches wide. Place the log in the freezer for 30 minutes to harden. At this point, preheat the oven to 175 C.

Once the dough has chilled, unroll the paper and slice the log into discs around 1 cm wide. If it's too hard to slice, leave it out for a few minutes and try again. If too soft, place back in the freezer for a bit longer.

Place on the baking sheet (close together is ok as these don't spread much - not touching though!). Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Your house will smell heavenly at this stage!

Let the cookies cool on a wire rack to crisp up slightly.

Grab a cold glass of milk, your favorite mug of tea or coffee, a couple of these cookies and enjoy!

Marble Cake Lightened Up!

I've been baking (and eating!) but not blogging. Whoops! Moving on, last weekend we had some guests coming over at "coffee time" on a Sunday to catch up with us before watching the World Cup final. We need something to serve them with the caffeine, so it meant it was time to bake... but I guess it's time to bake all day every day anyways. 

I wanted to make something that was well liked by everyone, yummy, yet elegant. Marble cake is what came to mind. Regular marble cake follows along the lines of a pound cake with part of the batter getting flavored with chocolate. Why is this different, you ask? Well it's not pound cake, per se. You won't find a pound of butter, nor a pound of sugar in this lightened-up version of marble cake! In that sense, it fit my bill perfectly. It's perfectly light to be eaten any time of day. If you're looking for a super rich, decadent marble cake, I'd have to admit that this won't satisfy your cravings. But let me assure you... this is some gooood marble cake!

It's baked up in a loaf pan, which I love because loaves are generally fuss-free, yet always presentable! This one is just that: very easy to put together, and looks wonderful too! This marble cake is moist, and the chocolate and vanilla flavors and mellow, so feel free to up the cocoa or vanilla extract if you want a more potent flavor. It's just the right sweetness, making it perfect for a snack.

The best part about marble cake (for me!) is the marbling itself. There's just something about the way the chocolate batter is swirled through the vanilla batter. And cutting a slice and seeing that beauty... it just takes my breath away. And then you eat it.

Convinced? I see marble cake being your next afternoon snack!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1/4 cup coconut oil

3/4 cup unrefined sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup plain yogurt

2 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp melted baking chocolate

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 175 C. Line a loaf pan with baking paper and set aside. 

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a separate, medium bowl, beat together the coconut oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, beating after each addition. Mix in the yogurt and vanilla extract until smooth.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet into the dry, stirring until just combined.

Separate the batter into two approximate halves, with one slightly more than the other. In the lesser one, add the cocoa powder and baking chocolate and stir gently to combine.

Pour/spoon a thin layer of the vanilla batter into the loaf pan to coat the bottom. After this, spoon the chocolate and vanilla batters in a checkerboard pattern of two layers. Once all the batter has been added, take a butter knife and very gently swirl it through the batter to create the marble effect. Be sure not to overdo the swirling, otherwise you'll be left with a light brown loaf with strands of vanilla batter rather than the gorgeous marble effect.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. At this point, the top should also be golden brown (in the vanilla areas, of course). Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool.

Slice into thick slices, gape at your creating and take a big bite.

Enjoy!

Caramelized Banana Oat Muffins

Oops. The blueberry muffins are all gone. Yes, they were that good. No, I'm not surprised. And NO, I'm not ashamed. Ok... Maybe I am. Just a little bit, though.

Moving on, no more blueberry muffins meant it was time to re-stock the house with another delicious baked good. Muffins were calling my name again, so in under an hour, a batch of freshly baked caramelized banana oat muffins were sitting on my kitchen counter.

Before you keep reading, just think about what I just said: caramelized banana in muffins. Mind-blowing, am I right? Bet you didn't think of doing that! I mean caramelized bananas in general are just pure deliciousness - on top of any breakfast-y thing mmmm. But baked into a muffin... now that's something! Ooey and gooey and all the natural sugars oozing out... If those descriptions don't do it for you, then I have no idea what will!

These sky-high muffins have a wonderful variety of textures from the oats in the batter, soft caramelized banana, and crunchy oat topping! They're everything you love about banana bread, but in muffin form, and taken to the next level because of the caramelized bananas.

The flavor of the cinnamon and nutmeg is very slight in these muffins, so if you're a big fan of strong spice flavors, go heavy on them. Another great addition would be chopped nuts (walnuts sound best to me), but I tend to avoid nuts because my sister has a few allergies and even the ones she's not allergic to, she's not a big fan of large chunks of nuts in baked goods. There's also minimal added sweetness in these muffins, because the bananas are more than sweet enough (make sure you use sweet, ripe bananas!).

Like many of my recipes, these are a perfect teatime snack, healthy post lunch dessert, or quick grab and go breakfast.


Ingredients
Makes 8 large muffins
For the muffins:
3 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced into large coins
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup baby oats
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 eggs
4 tbsp honey
1/4 cup greek yogurt
2 tbsp whole milk
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the oat topping:
1/3 cup baby oats
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tbsp honey

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200 C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and place the banana coins on the sheet. Bake for 5-10 minutes, flipping once in between and removing when the bananas have darkened slightly and are soft and mushy, but not falling apart. Transfer them to a bowl let them sit for 5 minutes. If the bananas release any juice, drain this. Then mash the bananas. I enjoy biting into chunks of soft banana, so I just mash the bananas until they have broken apart, not into the consistency of applesauce, but feel free to do what fits your bill!

Line a muffin tin with muffin liners and set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 180 C.

Sift together the dry ingredients for the muffins and add in the oats, mixing to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, honey, greek yogurt, milk, coconut oil and vanilla extract until smooth.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet to the dry. Stir gently and mix until just combined. Please please please don't overmix as this will result in the muffins have a gummy and tough consistency. The batter may seem slightly dry at this point. But fear not! Finally fold in the mashed bananas, once again, until just combined.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin and place in the oven to bake (for 25-30 mins total).

Meanwhile, mix together the ingredients for the oat topping. Once the muffins have been baking for 12 minutes, pull them out and sprinkle each muffin top with some of the oat topping (do this quickly to avoid the muffins from falling). Place back in the oven for another 13-15 minutes or until tops are slightly crispy and golden brown and a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean.

Remove from the oven, cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

Better-than-Bakery Blueberry Muffins (with a streusel topping)!

Yesterday, we got back from our trip to Mumbai, and headed straight to our favorite cafe for breakfast (after freshening up!). Years ago, we would've been the type of family that didn't step out all day because we need to "rest", "unpack", and "get settled" again. While I don't necessarily think that such an attitude is wrong, I'm much happier with our newfound spontaneity. I had a delicious maple pecan scone and iced chocolate - I'm drooling just thinking about that heavenly combination again! But I'm not worried... Knowing us, we'll be back next weekend!

Post breakfast, post unpacking (this does unfortunately have to be done) and post taking care of little things here in there, it was baking time! That is how these beautiful bakery-style blueberry muffins were born.

They are better-than-bakery blueberry muffins in all ways possible:
1) They're topped with a streusel topping, and let's be honest, streusel equals yummier.
2) They're made with healthy, wholesome ingredients and minimal fat and refined sugar.
3) Because they're filled with goodness, they make you feel satisfied and don't send your blood sugar up to the sky, then suddenly make you crash from the sugar.
4) They taste absolutely amazing and have a gorgeous texture due to the almond flour.
5) They hint of subtle aromas from the almond extract and coconut oil really shine through and add another aspect of richness and depth of flavor.

When they came out of the oven, they were wonderfully risen... They were so well risen that I was afraid as soon as I pulled them out, they muffin tops would fall. But I was pleasantly surprised, as you can see from the pictures!

Fresh blueberries are everywhere as it's still summertime (yay!), so whip up a batch of these delicious blueberry muffins for your next picnic, family brunch, a quick breakfast, a perfect teatime snack, or simply because. Blueberry muffins don't need a reason to be made. And if you still need to justify to yourself why you're making them, it's because I'm telling you to!

Ingredients
Makes 7 hearty muffins
For the muffins:
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup fresh blueberries

For the streusel topping:
2-3 tbsp unrefined sugar
2 tbsp almond flour
2 tbsp baby oats
1 tbsp coconut oil

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 175 C and line a muffin tray with muffin liners.
Mix together the dry ingredients for the muffins.
In a smaller, separate bowl, whisk the eggs first, then add in the rest of the wet ingredients (except blueberries) and whisk again.
Pour the wet into the dry and mix until just combined.
Gently toss the blueberries in a sprinkling of flour (this is to keep them from sinking in the muffin batter). Fold the blueberries into the muffin batter.

Place a small drop of coconut oil into each muffin liner and coat it evenly. You don't need more than a small drop, so even if you aren't able to spread it over the entire muffin liner, don't add more!
Spoon the batter into the muffin liners and place in the oven to bake (total of 25-30 minutes but read on!).

Don't leave yet! It's time to make the streusel topping. Mix together the ingredients for the streusel topping. Once the muffins have been baking for 15 minutes, pull them out of the oven and sprinkle the streusel mixture (work fast so the muffins don't fall flat!) on the muffin tops. Place the muffins back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes until the tops are a golden brown, streusel is crunchy and a toothpick inserted in the muffins comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy the glorious deliciousness!