Beautiful Bircher Muesli

I've been putting off this post waayyy too long. How long, you ask? Sorry. No can tell.

Just take it as my Christmas gift to you! It's better than that, really. It's the most gorgeous, deliciously healthy, super simple and elegant breakfast that you could ever imagine. Going back to Christmas, happy holidays to all! I hope you've been spending the festive season laughing with loved ones and indulging on yummy (and nutritious!) food. 

Back to this Bircher muesli. This post is so aptly timed, to be honest. I just returned from a week-long getaway to Switzerland, the home of Bircher muesli! This muesli is so unpretentious and unassuming that you'll wonder how something that's seemingly so mainstream can be this good. It's overnight oats dressed up. It's creamy, chewy, sweet, nutty, fruity and just oh-so-perfect! Just remember one thing: it needs to be soaked the night before you want to eat it!

My version uses freshly grated apple, chopped dates, a homemade berry sauce and a light drizzle of honey for sweetness. None of those pre-packaged fruit yogurts that are often loaded with added sugars. Don't get me wrong - they're not bad, they're just not ideal. Whenever possible, use unsweetened yogurt and sweeten it yourself however you wish just so you can control how much extra sugar is going in to what you eat. 

The berry sauce truly is optional. If you get the chance, please do make it! It does take the muesli to a whole new level and looks so pretty as well! But of you're short on time, don't have berries, didn't plan ahead or simply can't be bothered, just don't make it.

Although I've specified a "berry" sauce, any fruit compote will be wonderful - think peaches, cherries, applesauce or even simple sliced bananas! My favorite nuts to use are either pecans or almonds, but once again, whatever tickles your fancy is the way to go! Same with apple - red, green, pink lady, granny smith - all work (my favorite is granny smith because of its sweet yet tartness).

Ingredients
Serves 2
6-8 heaped tbsp whole rolled oats
1/2 cup milk
pinch of freshly grated orange zest (lemon or grapefruit will do the trick too)
2 large dates, each chopped into 10-12 bite-sized chunks
1 tbsp honey
2/3 granny smith apple, grated coarsely
2 tbsp pecans (or nuts of choice), roasted and chopped
3-4 tbsp unsweetened greek yogurt
berry sauce (optional)

Instructions
The night before, put the oats, milk, zest, dates and honey in a bowl. Stir gently and place in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, mix in the grated apple, nuts and greek yogurt. Split between two serving glasses/bowls and layer with the berry sauce. If you don't have taller serving glasses like I've shown, simply put it in in a bowl and pour over the berry sauce.

Ta-da! It's as simple as that. Enjoy!

Pear Spice Loaf with a Crunchy Oat Topping

Pears, spice and everything nice. My new winter motto? I think so!

This pear spice loaf exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds. Let me be honest: I knew when I was pouring the batter into the loaf tin itself that it was going to be good. But did I know how good? Most definitely not!

Rustic and nutty from the whole wheat flour. Winter-y and warming from the cinnamon and nutmeg. Subtle sunny undertones from the coconut oil. Gooey sweetness from ripe pear chunks. Crunchy sugary goodness from the oat topping.

I'm going to keep this post short and sweet, because you should stop staring at your screen and start baking (and subsequently eating!) this amazing, super delicious, wholesome, healthy, yummy (do you get the gist yet?) loaf cake!

Ingredients
For loaf:
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 ripe but still firm pears*, chopped into chunks (size is up to you!)
1/3 cup coconut oil, softened
2/3 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
1/3 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
*Feel free to peel the pears if you wish, but I didn't!

For the (not-so) optional crunchy oat topping:
1/3 cup whole rolled oats
3 tsp raw sugar
1 tbsp coconut oil

Instructions
Preheat oven to 175 C. Line a loaf tin with baking paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Toss in chopped pear until each pear chunks is fully coated in flour mixture. If you feel that your pear is slightly soft and might mash easily, don't mix the fruit into the flour yet.

Mix maple syrup and Greek yoghurt in a small bowl until combined.

In a separate mixing bowl, beat coconut oil and sugar. Add in the vanilla and eggs and beat until just combined. Finally, add in the milk, and once again, beat until just combined.

Using a large spoon to fold the ingredients together, add egg mixture and Greek yoghurt/maple syrup mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Don't over mix! If at this point, you haven't yet added the pear, now is the time to do so - simply stir the pear chunks into the batter.

Pour/spoon into prepared tin and gently smooth the top.

Stir together the ingredients for the oat topping and sprinkle the mixture on top of the batter.

Bake for 50 minutes or a toothpick inserted comes out clean and top is slightly crisp and a light golden brown.

Cool in tin for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Banana Maple Pecan Coconut Muffins

Soo... I guess I sort of just disappeared into the blue. No explanation. No reason. Just *poof*! In all seriousness, I just went and came back from the first term of my second year at university. I had planned to actually post another recipe (or two!) before I left, but things, as usual, got busy and it just never ended up happening. The two recipes I was going to post include a gorgeous bircher muesli and THE BEST CAKE I have ever eaten (chocolate fudge cake with espresso buttercream and rich chocolate ganache!). I hope to post these in the near future, but now it's back to the present.

This term just went by so quickly. I have no idea where or how the time flew by. I'm not complaining, though! It means I'm having a blast at university and also means I'm already back home! On another note - this year, unlike last, my accommodation is equipped with a great kitchen! Cooking meals for a single person, however, is much less exciting and much more difficult that I'd have thought. It requires thinking of recipes that can work for one, or making something in large batches that can be used for the week, to planning grocery shopping for at least a few days. I made things ranging from pastas (whole wheat!), to stir fries, to fried rice, to single-serve lasagna and even (my attempt at) daal! Cooking with friends ended up happening once or twice a week and that was simply a blast!

What I didn't unfortunately get around to much was baking. I did bake once or twice for parties and events, but never really for myself. This lack of baking meant that my baking impulses were so strong that I baked an hour after arriving home yesterday.

And that's how these banana maple pecan coconut muffins were born! I had initially thought of making something with apple in it, as we always always always have apples at home so I knew I didn't have to worry about the ingredients. But when I looked around my kitchen, I spotted three overly spotty, slightly overripe bananas. And that's when apples became bananas. But banana bread seemed too mainstream. What else could combine well with banana? And then it hit me - maple and pecan! I wanted to jazz it up even more so I added coconut as well! My sister, as you'll definitely know if you've read some of my other posts, does not appreciate nuts in her baked goods. That's why you'll see some muffins with chocolate chips in the pictures. If you fancy, you can do the same by simply replacing the chopped pecans with the same amount of dark chocolate chips. Or heck, why not just add both?!

No surprise here, but these are delicious, healthy and hearty! Infused with cinnamon and coconut, moistened with banana, coconut oil, almond flour and textured with baby oats - perfection. Grab a mug of tea, coffee or hot chocolate and one of these muffins fresh out of the oven - pure bliss.

Ingredients
Makes 9 large muffins
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup baby oats
1/4 cup raw sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt
1/2 cup whole milk
3 small ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup dessicated coconut
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)
coconut flakes, for decorating

Instructions
Preheat oven to 175 C. Line a muffin tin with 9 cupcake liners and set aside.

Mix together the dry ingredients (except coconut chips!). Mix together the wet ingredients in a separate, larger bowl.

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

Fill the cupcake liners almost to the top. Decorate with coconut chips and additional chopped pecans or chocolate chips, if desired.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Peach Pie Oat Bars

As much as I can't accept it, summer has officially ended. True - it actually ended a while ago, but here in London, the weather was (and is!) holding up so well that it may as well still be summer. Anyways, what I'm really trying to get at (other than the fact that I'm devastated that summer has left) is that with summer, summer fruits are going as well. Now, I know how obvious that sounds, but seriously. I mean, it's not like there is no stone fruit or buckets of berries in the markets. It's just that they aren't that great. And that's how these peach pie bars were born.
I was searching through our fridge and countertop for some baking inspiration and I spied a mixture of peaches and nectarines that looked slightly bruised and like they were about to start shriveling. They were no longer good enough to eat straight from the counter. I was first simply going to make a sauce/compote of the fruit, so I began by blanching the fruit so I could easily remove the skin. And then it hit me. Peach pie! But I didn't want something as cumbersome, tedious or decadent as the real deal peach pie. So peach pie turned into peach crumble which eventually turned into these juicy peach pie oat bars.

I also had some almond pulp from having made almond milk, so I threw it into the mix! The base is dense, yet light and crunchy. The filling is just ah-mazing. The true flavors of the fruit really shine in a very natural, sweet and juicy peach filling. And the oat crumble is just perfect - crispy and sweet. The crumble top/streusel is always my favorite part, but in these bars, the filling really gives the topping a run for its money! As always, this is easy to throw together, doesn't require any fancy ingredients, is simple, delicious and healthy!

Ingredients
For the crust:
1/2 cup wet almond pulp
1 cup whole rolled oats
1/2 cup flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup unrefined sugar
pinch of salt

For the filling:
4 peaches/nectarines, peeled and diced
1/4 cup unrefined sugar
dash of cinnamon
1 tsp flour

For the crumble topping:
1/2 cup whole oats
1/4 cup unrefined sugar
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

Instructions
Begin by preparing the filling. Peel and dice the peaches/nectarines (I blanched them first in order to peel them easily).

Place the the chopped fruit in a medium saucepan along with the sugar and cinnamon and bring the mixture to a boil. Let the mixture reduce slightly, then add in the flour and stir until the flour dissolves completely. Let the mixture cook for another 3-5 minutes to let it thicken. Once it reaches the desired consistency, turn off the heat and set the filling aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 175 C. Line a square or rectangular baking dish with baking paper and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, stir together all the ingredients for the crust until they just come together. If your pulp is too dry, add a bit of milk. Press the crust mixture into the prepared dish and bake for 12-15 minutes until crust begins to set and just begins to turn golden brown. Remove the crust from the oven to let cool. Keep the oven on.

While the crust is cooling, prepare the topping by stirring together the ingredients for the topping. Feel free to add some chopped nuts.

Now, you're ready to assemble! Spoon the peach filling on the crust, spreading it around so it covers the entire surface of the crust. Sprinkle the oat topping evenly over the filling.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Cool completely, cut into squares and serve! These are delicious warm, at room temperature and cold from the fridge. Enjoy!

Banana Chocolate Nutella Surprise Muffins

Banana baked goods never fail to satisfy. They never fail to impress. They just never fail. I'm being completely serious here.


I really don't know what it is. I mean, bananas wouldn't even be on the list of my top ten favorite fruits. Before all you banana advocates out there try to defend your beloved fruit, I'd like to stop you. Yes, I know bananas make oatmeal creamy, they add sweetness to everything, they pack a great punch of energy, they can be turned into "ice cream", essentially they can do a lot. And I love them for that. But just bananas, eh, they're not really my thing.

So why are all banana baked goods so amazing? Who knows... What matters is that they are. Especially when combined with chocolate. You saw that coming, didn't you?

Long story short. These banana chocolate chip nutella surprise muffins are just wow.  Delicious, moist banana batter embedded with dark chocolate chips and filled with a "surprise" nutella center. Are you drooling yet?

A lot of the moisture and sweetness in these muffins comes from banana itself, so if you scan the recipe, you'll see that there's not much add fat or overdose of sugar. Which also means you can eat these for breakfast! And the days breakfast includes chocolate are definitely the best days! Super easy and super delicious, these muffins are definitely worth a try!

Ingredients
Makes 7 large muffins
3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup baby oats
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup unrefined sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 egg
3 tbsp yogurt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
2 tbsp nutella or other chocolate spread, melted

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 175 C. Line a muffin pan with muffin liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, oats, baking and salt.

In a separate medium bowl, beat together egg and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in mashed bananas, honey, vanilla, coconut oil and yogurt and beat again.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in. Mix until just combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into 7 muffin cups until each is 2/3 full. Dollop a small blob of nutella (so many technical terms here!) on each muffin and top with remaining batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out with no crumbs or batter (it won't be clean per se, as the nutella and chocolate chips will be gooey). The tops of the muffins should be golden brown.

Cool in the muffin tray for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool further.

These taste so amazing all warm and gooey right after they are baked, but equally good re-heated slightly the next day.

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Coconut Bread

I asked a simple question. I got stuck in a sticky situation. Is it just me, or does this happen often to everybody?
I was in such a baking mood (let's be honest - when am I not?) and so I went around asking the fam what I should bake next. My sister, as always, said it should be something with chocolate chips. My dad wanted something not too sweet and definitely not too chocolatey. I think my mom was preoccupied because she didn't really say much... Anyways, as you can see, this posed a problem. My dad and sister wanted two quite opposite things.

Somehow, I figured out the perfect compromise - this dark chocolate coconut bread. It's not too sweet, not too chocolatey, yet has chocolate, is light, healthy and outright delish!

This has a double (or even triple!) dose of coconut from the coconut oil, dessicated coconut, and coconut milk, if you choose to use it. I didn't as I didn't have any lying around at home, and let me assure you, it wasn't lacking any coconut flavor. That said, more wouldn't hurt! I chopped the dark chocolate into shreds (you don't want them too small otherwise they'll just get lost in the mixture) and added just enough to get the chocolateyness in every bite, but not so much that the chocolate flavor was too prominent or overpowering.

So easy to throw together and packed with lots of yummy flavor, this bread is the perfect snack, breakfast or light dessert.

Ingredients
3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
dash of cinnamon
3/4 cup unrefined sugar
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp whole milk or coconut milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup yogurt
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate, tossed in 1/2 tbsp flour
1/2 cup dessicated coconut

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

In a large bowl, beat the sugar and coconut oil until fully mixed. Add in the eggs and beat again. Pour in the milk and vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until just combined. Gently mix in the yogurt. Finally, fold in the dessicated coconut and chopped chocolate.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Slice and serve! Enjoy!

Gorgeous Maple Walnut Scones

You know the feeling when you've just baked something and the aroma itself tells you that it's going to taste great? That was definitely the case with these scones. As soon as I pulled them out of the oven, oh my, was I greeted with the most warming, sweet and enticing aroma ever. It began as a homely and maple-y whiff and then came the fragrance of the beautifully toasted walnuts. That slight bitterness to cut through all the sweetness.

And that's exactly what they do in the taste of the scones as well. They're that extra crunch embedded in a beautiful maple crumbliness. These scones are so delicious, so tender and so crumbly, all without the addition of too much butter or sugar. Scones in general are also so great because they're so portable, create minimal mess and require no refrigeration or heating up.

These scones are perfect as they are and best served on the day they're made. They don't last more than a few days because they start losing they're crumbliness and flavor. They're made with lots of wholesome and natural ingredients and bound to make your home smell wonderful. I can't think of a reason not to make them, other than the fact that they'll be gone before you know it!

The final step of sprinkling them with granulated sugar just before baking takes them from baked good to an elegant treat you can serve at any gathering or tea party. Be sure to use good maple syrup for the true maple flavor, not that sweet, artificial "syrup" that's often served with waffles.

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup baby oats
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
4 tbsp cold butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions
Preheat oven to 200 C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the flours, oats, baking powder and salt. Add the small chunks of cold butter (crucial that it's cold!) and mix again until the mixture has pea-sized crumbs. You could do this by beating on the lowest speed, with your hands, or even a fork. It's essential that you have some sizable chunks of butter still left, otherwise your scones will be heavy and dense, not rich and crumbly like you want them. Stir in the chopped walnuts.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla and maple syrup.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix. Add the buttermilk in, tablespoon by tablespoon just until the dough just about holds together. Don't add more than necessary even if you haven't added the whole 1/2 cup amount. Conversely, add slightly more if you need.  But please please please don't overmix!

Use your hands to form the dough into a ball, then gently press down to create a circle of half inch thickness. Cut the round into 8 to 10 triangles (like a pizza), but don't fully separate the pieces. This keeps them from drying out completely!

Sprinkle the granulated sugar on top and bake for 20 minutes until tops are golden and crunchy.

Cool completely and serve. Enjoy!

A Lighter and Brighter Lemon Loaf

This summer has been a miracle. I'm not exaggerating or trying to make some weird joke. I mean it. You probably still have no idea what I'm talking about. Weather! Yup, all that fuss about weather. But it's not just any weather I'm talking about: it's London weather. The kind of weather people generally complain about being cold, grey and lifeless. And it is that (a lot of the time), but not right now! Since the end of April, until now, the skies have been a gorgeous blue and filled with lots of sunshine almost eighty percent of the time. That's something! Today (almost mid-September), I was out and about in a tank top and jean shorts. For the majority of the planet, that's totally normal in September. But not here in the UK. Last summer, by this time, I was already wearing a light fleece during the day time...
Now, although this may be a sign of (terrible) global warming, it makes me happy! I'm definitely a sun kind of girl! Which is why lemon-y treats and I get along! This lemon loaf is citrus-y, zingy, bright, tart, sweet and bursting with freshness and flavor! The loaf itself is light and lemon-y, but the glaze is what completes it. Unlike most of my recipes in which the glaze is pretty much optional, it's really not in this case. You'll need that little bit of sweetness and extra lemon flavor!


Because this loaf is made with buttermilk and coconut oil, it's perfectly moist, yet not heavy at all. It's not too sugary, but sweet enough to curb those sugar cravings. Best of all, it's definitely mood-lifting for the simple reason that it's lemon (and yummy!).

Ingredients
For the loaf:
1 3/4 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 egg
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest
3/4 cup sugar

For the glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

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

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

In a separate medium bowl, beat together coconut oil, egg, and sugar. Add in lemon zest, lemon juice and buttermilk and beat lightly again.

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

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the glaze, combined powdered sugar and lemon juice until a glaze forms of desired consistency. Drizzle on top of completely cooled loaf. Make sure the loaf is cool, otherwise the glaze will be directly absorbed and won't set nicely on top.

Cut into slices and serve.

Enjoy the brightness and sunshine! 

Double Chocolate Almond Cookies

Chocolate is my best friend. No - second best. Ok, maybe not. I may be chocolate obsessed, but I haven't lost my mind... yet.

It seemed about time I bake some double chocolate cookies. Not only are there chocolate chips, but there's cocoa in the batter! These cookies are crisp on the outside and light and cake-y on the inside. Because there's not too much butter/oil, these aren't dense and fudgy cookies. What they are is delicious! Apart from the chocolate chips, these cookies are studded with chopped almonds, adding nuttiness and crunch. Pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts or even macadamia nuts would be delicious!

The #1 fan of these cookies was my darling sister, who is just as, if not more, obsessed with chocolate as I am (if that's even possible)! They satisfy every chocolate craving because they most definitely pack a chocolate-y punch, which is always a good thing! Am I right or am I right?

To bring out the almond flavor more, you could definitely use almond milk in place of the milk called in this recipe. Whether it's a chocolate fix you need, a sweet treat to perk up your afternoon, or a cookie calling, these are the cookies to make! Serve a big platter of these with a tall glass of milk, and trust me, all your worries will be long gone!
Ingredients
Makes 12 large cookies
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup unrefined sugar
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp milk of choice
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170 C and line a baking sheet with baking paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa.

In a separate bowl, beat sugars and coconut oil. Then add vanilla and milk and beat again until smooth.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients to the dry. Stir together until just combined. The dough should be thick. These are cookies you're making!

Fold in the chocolate chips and chopped almonds.

Spoon the batter onto the cookie sheet in 12 rounds, or as many cookies as you want the batter to make. Leave some gap in between the cookies as they spread slightly as they bake.

Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes until outside is slightly crispy to the touch. Don't over bake otherwise the cookies will be too dry on the inside.

Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool further.

In the meantime, grab one, break it in half, watch the strings of chocolate split, don't burn your tongue, and most of all, enjoy!

Soft Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Squares (Using Leftover Almond Pulp!)

Phew. Now, that was a mouthful, wasn't it? But a yummy one for sure! How can one go wrong with the classic peanut butter/banana/chocolate combination. It's a winner!

This is another one of my recipes using almond pulp leftover from this almond milk, and it is my favorite and definitely the most successful recipe to date! The struggle with using almond milk pulp is that it's moist, meaning any recipe has to be adjusted to account for the extra moisture being added in (I do realize how obvious this sounds!). I generally estimate half the amount of almond pulp I'm using to replace the flour and the other half to replace some sort of liquid. I tend to look for recipes that call for milk as it's the easiest wet ingredient to replace with the wet almond pulp.

The almond pulp has so much nutrition from all the bits of almond and specks of date, so please don't ever consider throwing it out! Other success I've had includes mixing it into pancake batter. Trust me, I don't know how and why, but it works so well!

Anyways, these soft PB-banana-choc squares have a certain fudginess to them that makes them oh-so-delicious. None of the three main flavor ingredients steal the spotlight, and the resulting combination is perfectly balances. These bars are perfectly sweet, taste good warm or cold straight out of the fridge, can be eaten anytime of day and are just yummy! To top it all off, they're made with a wide range of healthy ingredients and have minimal sugar and added fat (ie. oil/butter).

Ingredients
1/3 cup unrefined sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup almond pulp
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions
Preheat oven to 170 C. Line a square baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.

Beat the sugar and peanut butter together until light and fluffy. Add in the mashed banana and vanilla and beat again. Stir in the almond pulp.

In another bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, plain flour, oats, salt and baking soda.

Add the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture and mix to combine. The mixture will be stiff and clumpy at this point, so don't worry, because you're doing it right!

Slowly add in the milk in parts until a dough forms. If your dough seems to be getting quite thin, don't add all the milk called for in the recipe.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cut into squares and serve! Or just cut out a chunk, grab a glass of cold milk and savor the good life.

Enjoy!

Raspberry Coconut Almond Muffins

My family and muffins get along pretty well, I must admit. They're substantial enough to serve as breakfast, yet small enough to pass off as an evening snack. They're portable and adorable. They're individually baked, so portion control is not something to worry about. They're essentially perfect. But homemade, wholesome, healthier, made-with-natural-ingredients muffins are what I'm talking about. Not those butter-laden, sugary, heavy muffins you'd buy at Starbucks.

These delicious muffins get their moistness from the almond flour, eggs, a mere two tablespoons of coconut oil, greek yogurt and honey. Such wonderful ingredients! The coconut adds a lovely tropical flavor and aroma as well as some great texture!

They're very similar to these blueberry muffins. They get a soft creamy texture from the almond flour based batter, a burst of tartness from the raspberries, crunch from the sprinkled almonds and coconut and great undertones from the dessicated coconut in the batter. In short: they're great!

They're simple to throw together and will more than satisfy any sugar cravings!

Ingredients
Makes 6-7 hearty-sized muffins
1 cup almond flour
3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 tbsp non-fat greek yogurt
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
4-5 tbsp dessicated coconut
1/2 cup washed, dried and chopped raspberries tossed in 1 tbsp flour
sliced almonds, for sprinkling
shreds of coconut, for sprinkling

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170 C. Line a muffin tray with 6-7 muffin liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients (almond flour to salt).

In a separate medium bowl, beat the eggs until light and fluffy, then add in the coconut oil, greek yogurt, honey and vanilla and mix again.

Add the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined.

Mix in the dessicated coconut, making sure not to overmix. Gently fold in the chopped raspberries.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tray and top each muffin with a few sliced almonds and a light sprinkling of coconut.  Bake the muffins for 17-20 minutes until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool in the tray for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Twisting It Up with Carrot Banana Bread

Banana bread is good. It's real good. It's comfort food at it's finest. It's the kinda thing that makes your house smell all homely and wonderful when it's baking. Think about that warm cinnamon and banana aroma just spreading throughout your home...Mmmm.

And then there's carrot cake. It's a classic. Moist, rich cake topped with indulgent cream cheese frosting. The kind of thing you wish you could convince yourself is healthy because it has carrots, but you know it wouldn't be right. Because healthy would mean you could eat it for breakfast, and let me assure you, carrot cake is not something you should be eating for breakfast often!

Sorry to spoil the fun. I'm all for the "cake for breakfast" deal, but the traditional carrot cake just doesn't cut it. Anyways, I'm sidetracking. Close your eyes. Now just imagine for a moment if you could combine banana bread with carrot cake. Wouldn't that be amazing? Now imagine if you could eat that creation for breakfast. Wouldn't that be even better? Now open your eyes. You're looking at the carrot banana bread combination that tastes like those two classic combined and that's (genuinely!) healthy enough for breakfast!

One bite and you'll be sold. It tastes indulgent enough to satisfy any sugar cravings, light enough not to make you feel guilty, and yummy enough that you seriously won't believe it's "healthified".

If you want to give this cake a slightly more dessert-y feel, a low fat cream cheese frosting and some chopped nuts would do just the trick. I, however, omitted the frosting and went for a drizzle of glaze instead. It adds that punch of extra sweetness, ups the cake's presentation, yet doesn't add too much to the cake itself.

I added chopped raisins to the batter, but dried pineapple, chopped nuts or even shredded coconut would work as well. Not adding anything is a great option too!

Also, be sure to grate your carrot in the largest holes because that way, you'll be able to see all those nice shreds of carrot when you slice into the loaf. Else, finely grated carrot would just be meshed into the batter such that it may lend a slightly orange tinge to the loaf but you won't necessarily be able to see it. One more thing to note: I didn't completely mush my bananas. I mashed them but left a few small chunks. When baked, the chunks become gooey and soft and are just so delicious to bite into! If you haven't already noticed, I'm a big fan of texture!


Ingredients
For the cake:
3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup baby oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup unrefined sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup milk
1 cup grated carrots
1/4 cup chopped raisins or other add-ins (I used black raisins because I didn't have any golden on hand, but both work just as well)

For the glaze:
(sorry, I didn't measure quantities!)
powdered sugar
milk

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

In a large bowl, sift together flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add in the oats and stir to combine.

In a separate medium bowl, beat the egg and whisk in the mashed banana, sugar and vanilla until well mixed and creamy. Mix in coconut oil and milk. Then fold in the grated carrots.

Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined. You don't want to overmix otherwise you'll have a tough and gummy cake... and no one wants that! Gently fold in the chopped raisins.

Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean (a few crumbs clinging on are ok!).

Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, mix together powdered sugar and milk until it forms a glaze consistency. Apologies for the lack of explanation here! Drizzle the glaze on top of the completely cooled loaf.

Cut into slices and serve. Enjoy!

PB&J Crumble Bars: A Classic Reinvented!

Ask me five years ago and peanut butter and jelly (I call this jam, but for now let's just go with PB&J) sounded to me like the oddest combination ever. Yes, lots of my friends carried PB&Js to school or raved about the classic childhood sandwich, but I just couldn't get myself to fathom the concept.

Then, one day, I took a leap of faith. Crunchy peanut butter layered with raspberry jam and sandwiched between two slices of whole grain bread. It. Was. Bliss. Things haven't changed since then. I love any good PB&J (this means good peanut butter, delicious jam, and good bread), but my favorite would have to be crunchy peanut butter and raspberry jam. Sure, creamy peanut butter and blueberry, strawberry, grape etc. jams work, but crunchy and raspberry comes out on top.

Ok, I sidetracked a bit, and now it's time to get back to these bars. They're exactly like your favorite lunchbox sandwich, but revamped. It'd be safe to call these breakfast, a snack or even a healthy(ish) dessert!

They have a wonderful crumbly peanut butter oat base, topped with a thin layer of blueberry jam and some fresh blueberries (this combo gets all gooey and delicious when it's baked!) and topped with a sprinkling of more of that peanut butter crumble. You may be wondering why I went with blueberry and not raspberry given my flavor preference, and it's because the texture and way blueberries react to being baked work much better than raspberries. And although I hate to cheat on my beloved raspberry jam and peanut butter combo, this is just as delicious! You could, however, easily switch it up with any other fruit flavors ranging from strawberry, to raspberry, to grape to apricot. Keep in mind that I can't vouch for how well the fresh fruits of those varieties will work given the different moisture contents. 

Ingredients
For the base and crumble top:
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/3 cup unrefined sugar
4 tbsp coconut oil
1/3 cup peanut butter, melted

For the filling:
1/3 cup fruit spread
1/4 cup fresh blueberries
2 tbsp peanut butter, melted

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 170 C. Line a square baking pan with baking paper and set aside.

Combine oats, flour, sugar, oil and peanut butter for the base/crumble in a bowl until large chunks form. Press 2/3 of the crumble mixture into the pan and place in the oven for 10 minutes. Set the other 1/3 aside for the topping. 

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Mix together the fruit spread and fresh blueberries. 

Once the 10 minutes is up, pull the base out of the oven. Spread the blueberry filling over the base evenly. Drizzle/swirl the peanut butter over the blueberry filling. Crumble remaining oat mixture over the PB&J filling, pressing down lightly.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on top. The inside filling will be oozing and bubbling! Cool completely before cutting into squares. I stored these in the fridge due to the moist filling, but if you think the environment is cool and dry enough, there's no need to refrigerate! As a matter of taste, I preferred them chilled and my parents liked them slightly warmed up, so it's really up to you. 

Cut into small squares if you want these to last long, but big ones if you really want to enjoy them! Perfect with a glass of cold milk.

Enjoy!

One-Bowl Wholesome Carrot Apple Muffins

Carrots, apples, bananas. Then add other heart-healthy ingredients to bind them all together. Sound like the perfect breakfast muffin? It is! These one-bowl (yup!) wholesome carrot apple muffins are the epitome of delicious and healthy combined.

Perfect for an on-the-go breakfast or quick mid-day snack, these muffins pack a hearty punch! Not only does the sweetness come from natural and yummy ingredients, but all the fresh fruit replaces most of the added fat in this recipe, making sure to keep these muffins moist. The natural fruit flavors shine through just beautifully!

I made these muffins with just chopped almonds sprinkled on top for extra crunch and nutrition, but walnuts or any other nut, to be honest, would work just as well. I can't stand walnuts in my brownies, but love them in other banana-y/carrot-y baked goods. Unfortunately, my sister is allergic to walnuts so I always stay away from them. Raisins would also be a delicious, burst-of-sweetness addition to these great muffins.

My dad is a major fan of carrot baked goods, and this one was no exception. He doesn't have a crazy sweet tooth like us three girls, so if I get his approval on a recipe, I know it's just sweet enough. And why would you want more? You don't need to be eating a heavy, rich muffin for breakfast or anytime in the day. And that's why these do just the trick!

All they require is one bowl and some simple ingredients. What's holding you back?

Ingredients
Makes 8 large muffins
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 large banana, mashed
2 tbsp agave nectar
1 sweet apple, finely grated
1/4 cup unrefined sugar
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup finely grated carrot
1/2 cup baby oats
1/2 cup almond flour
1 cup plain flour
chopped walnuts (optional)
chopped almonds (optional)
raisins (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 175 C. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg, coconut oil, mashed banana and agave together. Add sugar, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, grated apple and whisk again to combine. Add milk and stir. Add grated carrot and stir again. 

Sift in flour, add in oats and almond flour and mix well until just combined. At this point, add in optional chopped nuts or raisins, if using, and mix.

Divide the batter among the muffin tins, filling them all the way to the top. Top each muffin with a sprinkling of chopped nuts.

Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, until top is slightly darker than golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out essentially clean. 

Remove from the oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool further. 

Enjoy!

Date and Almond Thumbprint Cookies

Almond flour is magic. I promise you. It makes everything better. It adds a subtle sweetness, nuttiness, creaminess, moistness and most importantly, deliciousness to every recipe. And it does just that and more in these cookies!
I started off just wanting to make regular thumbprint cookies, which are generally filled with jam and sometimes topped with a simple icing. However, I wasn't really feeling the jam vibe. It then occurred to me - dates were the solution! All I had to do was make a simple date paste and fill the thumbprints with it. I'm so glad I went with it!

By all means, feel free to use your favorite jam or even some really good applesauce or lemon curd. But for me, the dates won. I may be (very!) biased when I say that the dates work perfectly with the textures and flavors in these cookies, because my family and I are all date-crazy. We've been eating them for as long as I can remember, and if anything, we love them more and more every day. 
Thanks to the almond flour, these cookies require barely any oil and thanks to the sweet, gooey date filling, they need minimal added sweetness. These cookies are slightly crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, gooey in the center and crunchy on top. What more do you want? To top it off, when these are baking (and when they're just sitting in your cookie jar/box), they give off the most amazing aroma from the almond extract.

The ingredient list is so simple, and the instructions are just as easy. That said, one thing is even simpler: eating a freshly baked cookie! Or two...or three. They're bite-sized perfection, and their small size means you can eat two or three of these without feeling guilty. Not that these are guilt-inducing cookies anyways. I mean, just take a look at the ingredient list!

Ingredients
Makes 20 small cookies

For the cookie base:

1 1/2 cup almond flour

2 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup plain flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

For the filling and topping:

6 dates (feel free to substitute with 1/3 cup of your favorite jam)

1 tbsp thinly sliced almonds
granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions
Soak the dates in hot water and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the almond flour and coconut oil together. Add the maple syrup, beaten egg and almond extract and mix again.

In a medium bowl, stir together the remaining dry ingredients - cinnamon, flour, baking soda, and salt.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet almond mixture and mix until just combined. Chill the dough in the fridge for 30-40 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the date filling and preheat the oven to 175 C.

Removed the dates from the soaking water and place in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the dates are very soft and mushy, use a fork to mash them. Turn the heat down to low and cook for another 2-3 minutes until dried slightly. Turn off the heat and set aside.

Line a cooking baking sheet with baking paper.

Once the dough has chilled, remove from the fridge. Roll the dough into small balls. Flatten slightly and place on the baking sheet.

With your thumb (I used my knuckle!) make a small "thumbprint" (indentation) in the center of each cookie. Fill each cookie with a small amount of the date mixture. Finally, top each cookie with a sprinkling of sliced almonds and granulated sugar.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until edges are slightly crisp and golden brown but center is still soft. Cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Taste test a couple to make sure they're delish!

Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Zucchini Loaf

If you read my last post, then you'd have known this was coming. And it's coming with force! This is double-the-trouble, double-chocolate and double-the-yumminess. Not only is the batter chocolate-y, but its loaded with chocolate chips, taking this to the next level.


Baking this wonderful loaf satisfied several purposes: 1) my desire to bake, 2) my chocolate cravings and 3) our quest to use up all my summer zucchini.


The base batter is very similar to that of my zucchini coconut loaf, but with an extra egg added in and the cocoa powder to make it chocolate-y, of course. It satiates all chocolate cravings, is perfectly sweet, yet healthy enough for breakfast. Before I continue, just look at those chocolate chips! Mmm... I bet you're drooling already. 
Unlike in the last recipe, I peeled the zucchini for this one, as I wasn't sure I wanted to see the stark green shreds when eating a slice of chocolate bread. On retrospect, I may not have minded it as it adds an extra element of flair to a standard chocolate loaf, which this is not! I leave this decision up to you!

I just had one more dilemma. Every time I pulled this loaf out of the fridge, I cut a slice, and then stopped. I simply couldn't decide whether I liked this warmed up slightly, so the cake became soft and chocolate chips all gooey or whether I liked it cold and almost fudgy. Such a hard decision!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2/3 cup unrefined sugar
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup non-fat greek yogurt
1 1/2 cup peeled and grated zucchini, with liquid squeezed out
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170 C. Line a loaf baking pan with baking paper and set aside.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Mix to combine.

In a separate medium-sized mixing bowl, beat sugar and oil together. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and yogurt. Mix in the zucchini with a large spoon.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a large spoon or spatula, until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean (disregarding the chocolate chips as they are bound to be melty!).

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into (thick!) slices and enjoy!

Delicious Zucchini Coconut Loaf Cake

Last weekend we headed to a pick-your-own farm and went strawberry picking! Or at least that's what we thought we were going to do. We bought £25 worth of strawberries, which lasted us exactly a week. They were absolutely fresh, juicy, sweet and scrumptious. But that's not all. We also ended up picking up raspberries, blackberries, green beans, zucchinis and spinach.

We (read: my mom!) went a little bit crazy and were too enthused by all the fresh produce that we picked up ten zucchinis, only to come home and realize that we already had three wonderful, organic zucchinis lying in the fridge. So yes, that means a total of thirteen zucchinis. You'll be glad to know to know that as I'm writing this post a week later, we are down to six zucchinis. We've made zucchini fritters; pasta with spinach, ricotta, pesto and zucchini ribbons; this outstanding zucchini coconut bread and a double chocolate zucchini loaf (recipe coming next!).

If you haven't ever seen baked goods with zucchini, I have a couple of things to tell you: 1) it does not feel like you're eating a vegetable (green too!) yet gives you all the nutrition, 2) don't be scared - it works just like carrot, 3) it is delicious and adds moistness, reducing the amount of butter or oil required in a recipe!
This zucchini bread, with the bite of the oats, crunch and flavor of the coconut, and perfect caramel sweetness from the little bit of brown sugar - it's to die for! I loved this for breakfast paired with some fruit and my homemade almond milk!
It is the perfect way to use up all the summer zucchini, but also so amazing that it's worth buying some zucchini for it! It's easy to throw together and even easier to eat!

I absolutely love seeing the specks of green spread throughout the loaf, but if you'd rather not see that green, feel free to peel the zucchini. Trust me though, the green looks gorgeous - just look at it!

Ingredients
3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup baby oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt
1/2 cup unrefined sugar
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup nonfat greek yogurt, at room temperature
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini, with liquid squeezed out
3/4 cup desiccated coconut
coconut flakes, for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 170 C. Line a loaf pan with baking paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In a separate medium bowl, beat the egg, sugar and coconut oil together. Add in the yogurt and vanilla extract and beat again. Mix in the shredded zucchini.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined. Finally, stir in the shredded coconut.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If using the coconut flakes, pull the bread out of the oven at 30 minutes and sprinkle on top, working quickly. Place back in the oven for the additional 20-30 minutes.

Let the bread cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Enjoy!