Blueberry crumble bars

Feast your eyes on this!



Doesn't it look wonderful? This, my sweet friends, is what happens when it's sunny and with bikini season at the back of your mind, you start craving something sweet. This recipe, although light in calories, isn't very light on the stomach so you only need a small piece to get filled up.

I got the original recipe here, but for added healthiness, I substituted most of the sugar by honey and sweetener. I also chose to use half white flour, half buckwheat, because the good nutrition of buckwheat strengthens the body and upps your immune system. Granted, there is some butter here and if I make new versions of this recipe, I'm going to try and cut down some of the butter. But for now, just marvel at their deliciousness.

Ingredients:

100gr white sugar
2 teaspoons liquid sweetener
1 teaspoon baking powder
150gr white all-purpose flour
150gr buckwheat flour
200gr soft butter cut into small pieces
1 egg
a pinch of salt

400 to 500 gr fresh blueberries
1,5 tablespoons honey
50gr white all-purpose flour

Way to do it:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C and grease your baking pan. Use any which one you like. I used a big, round, spring form but if you wanna make bars, I would suggest a square one.
2. In a big bowl (you need the extra space for the mixing) mix 150gr white four, 150gr buckwheat flour and baking powder. Add in the egg, liquid sweetener, salt and butter. Use your hands to knead the dough into a big ball. This could take some time but it's really worth it in the end.
3. Take half of the dough and spread it out evenly into your prepared tin. Pad it down all the way to the sides.
4. In a new bowl, sprinkle blueberry's with the honey and then add the flour. Turn the blueberry's over so that the honey and flour sticks to them. Then spread them out evenly over your batter.
5. Take the remainder of the dough and cover up all the berry's. Again, take some time to cover all of them, basically sealing them in.
6. Bake for 30mins at 200 degrees C and try to show restraint once the amazing smell of the baked fruit hits your nose.
7. Take out of the oven when the top turns slightly brown and leave to cool before cutting into bars or squares, as you prefer. They keep best in the refrigerator and they are even better the next day.

You can also leave the cake/pie/bars, whatever you wanna call it, into it's original form and serve as a lovely summer alternative to fattening pies and cakes. The crust, once cooled, cuts well so you can serve a nice piece of pie and maybe even add some lime or lemon sorbet for the ultimate summer dessert!

Enjoy,
xx

A recipe to enjoy at every time of the day

Hi everyone,

I don't really know what to call this cake, I just know that it's healthy, full of great fats and delicious at any time of the day. You can eat a slice as a little extra for breakfast, you can snack on it or you can enjoy this recipe with a cup of tea in the evening for when those late-night munchies have you running to the pantry.

If you're not a big fan of the 'nutty' taste of buckwheat, don't worry. The honey, apples and raisins make for a great coverup.

Ingredients:

100 gr buckwheat flour
200 gr almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
125 yogurt (I used alpro soy natural)
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sweetener
2 tbsp vegetable oil
A handful of dried raisins
1 apple, peeled and cut into small pieces

Way to do it:

1. Add buckwheat, almond and baking powder in a bowl and mix it untill all dry ingredients are combined.
2. Add egg and yogurt. Mix again. The batter will be crumbly at this point.
3. Add the honey, sweetener and the oil. Mix again and by now, your butter will be thick and sticky.
4. Fold in the apples and raisins with a spoon. Don't mix or you'll bruise the fruit.
5. Take a round, spring-form baking-tin and grease it with oil. Let the excess oil drip out. Pour the batter into the thin and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.
6. Let cool before you take it out of the tin.
 

 

 

I hope you'll enjoy this recipe. It has more ingredients than I usually use but trust me, it's worth it.
Of course this recipe, just like my others, is very easy to make. No crazy cooking techniques, no long wait, just throw everything into a bowl and GO!

Forget bad fats and say hello to healthy fats from the vegetable oil, almond and yogurt.
Forget bad sugar and wave hi to good sugar from the raisins, honey and apples.

Enjoy
xx

Soft serve banana and peanut butter ice cream

This one is a quick and easy way to deal with overripe banana's (which I sorta always seem to have) and to fulfill your cravings of ice cream on hot summer days. With 25 degrees outside (don't laugh, for Belgium that's insane) this soft serve banana and peanut butter ice cream hits the spot on all levels.

And a big plus, you don't even need fancy tools for it. Forget expensive ice cream makers, all a girl really needs is her blender.

Ingredients:

2 frozen banana's, peeled and cut into small pieces (peel them before you freeze!)
A dash of soy or regular milk to help your blender move things around
Half a tablespoon of peanut butter

Way to do it:

1. Combine all ingredients in the blender and blend to a thick, ice cream texture. If too dry, add a little more of milk. Because the banana's are so ripe, you don't need to add extra sweetener.
 

And it's just that simple. You can whip this up in under 5 minutes. This is a generous serve for one so just multiply the ingredient's if you want to let other people enjoy this delicious, low fat, summer treat.

Feel free to add extra ingredients but make sure the mixture doesn't get too liquid. Because it's a soft serve, the ice cream melts very quickly so eat right away.

Enjoy
xx

 

Healthy Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Cookies, again...I know. But these are so delicious and healthy, I need to share.

I've been wanting to make oatmeal cookies for some time now, but after browsing the internet, I just couldn't find a recipe I liked...so I set shop in the kitchen and just went for it. It's amazing these worked out so well, because I just sort of winged it. And thank god for that because this recipe is amazing.

My new favorite cookies...until the next batch of crazy improv baking comes along :D

 

 Ingredients:

70 gr soft butter
50 gr grated coconut (coconut flour, coconut flakes, it's all the same thing)
1,5 tsp baking powder
1 ripe banana
2 tbsp red fruit jam
1 tbsp liquid sweetener
2 eggs
70 gr buckwheat flour
150 gr oatmeal

Way to do it:

1. Put the soft butter in a bowl and mix in the grated coconut. Add the buckwheat flour and baking powder.
2. Add the eggs and mix well.
3. Add the ripe banana and mash it. Then add the jam and the sweetener. You could choose to add more sweetener and omit the jam or the other way around, depending on which you prefer. I prefer to keep it as natural as possible to I went with more jam.
4. Mix everything well until the batter becomes kind off fluffy and then fold in the oatmeal.
5. Divide on a tray lined with baking paper and put in a preheated oven and bake at 170degrees C for about 12 minutes.

While they are cooking, these babies will make your house smell amazing. The aroma of the baked banana is just...mmmm. You'll have husband and kids running for the kitchen.

The cookies do have some fat because of the butter, but you've gotta give a little to get a lot! And in this case, it's taste. What's a little bit of butter when you get the healthy benefits of banana, oatmeal, coconut and buckwheat all in one bite? I'm telling you, keep this recipe in your favorites bar because you'll be making them a lot.

Enjoy
xx

 

Straw- and blueberry buckwheat muffins

No muss, no fuss, just easily made stuff! I bring you a healthy muffin you can whip up in about 20 minutes...and that's counting baking time.

This will be my second recipe with buckwheat after the first one went down so great. My scones were great, and these muffins might even be better!

Browsing through the ingredients, you might notice I didn't use any...let me repeat, ANY butter. I wanted to make a muffin very low in fat so I wouldn't have to feel bad when I wanted a second one...or third...or basically finish the entire batch in 1 day. Yes...I can't control myself from time to time.

Because these babies hold no fat, they are dense and won't come out of paper muffin cups very easily. Therefor I would suggest you make these in silicone cups which you can lightly coat in vegetable oil.

Eat it with a dollop of Greek yogurt or with some agave sirup drizzles over it or just be lazy and eat it like it is, you won't be disappointed either way.

Ingredients:

200gr buckwheat flour
2 eggs
150 ml low fat plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp liquid sweetner
3 tbsp flax seeds 60 gr strawberries
60 gr blueberries

Way to do it:

1. In a bowl, mix all ingredients apart from the fruit. Mix until everything is combined. It will be a thick, glue like batter.
2. To easily remove the crown of a strawberry, use a straw, it's such a great trick. Cut up the strawberry in pieces and add, with the blueberry, to the mix. Be careful not to smash the fruit as you mix the batter. I would suggest folding them in with a spoon.
3. 
4. Divide over your cups. It's okay to fill them up. The batter doesn't rise much.
5. Bake for 15minutes in a 200degrees oven.
   
 

I love how the strawberry and blueberry make for different colors. So cute and colorful and full of flavour!

Enjoy
xx

My version of a classical French Yogurt cake

Hello everyone, summer has arrived...oh yes it has! Pretty soon I'll be using this season's best fruit to make light and healthy desserts, but first a twist on the classical French Yogurt cake.

What's the twist you ask? Well, alcohol and soy yogurt. I like yogurt...but there's something about the plain yogurt Alpro soya makes that's just amazing. It has a gentle taste, very few fat and low sugar so all in all, it's pretty great. Healthy and tasty, that's what we're going for here.

Just like all my other recipes, this is so easy, a child could do it. The cake itself might look boring and simple, but trust me, this lovely thing will delight both your and your family's taste buds.

As I'm typing this, I'm starting to smell the batter turning into something amazing in the oven...so let's get on with the recipe.

 

Ingredients:

2 portions of 125ml plain yogurt (I used alpro soya)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp Amaretto
2 cups op 125ml almond flour
liquid sweetner

About 10 crushed cookies (I used speculoos)

Way to do it:

1. Preheat the oven to 180degrees C and line the bottom of a round, spring-form cake tin with bakingpaper. Grease the sides with vegetable oil.
2. In a bowl mix yogurt with eggs, vanilla essence, amaretto and the sweetner. The sweetner is, as always, to your liking. I used about 2 tablespoons. Bear in mind that the ameretto is pretty sweet too so you might eveb omit the sweetner if you prefer.
3. Use your 125ml cups to measure the almond flour. Top both of them off with flour and add to the mix.
4. Mix till everything is well combined and allow yourself a little taste. Taste good doesn't it. Would it be wrong to just eat this as a sauce....
5. Enough daydreaming. Pour the batter into the baking tin and lightly sprinkle your crushed cookies over the top.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool for about 5 minutes before you take it out the tin. The cookies will have been baked into the top, making for a lovely, crunchy, topping.

This doesn't make a very big cake, so feel free to double the portions to make a bigger cake.

For extra yumminess, you could slice the cake in two and add a thin layer of strawberry jelly. However, I don't really feel like it needs it. This cake a light, slightly boozy version of a classic French yogurt cake. And remember, no added sugar, no butter but bursting with flavor!


Enjoy
xx

Chocolate cake with avocado and banana

May I just say...wow! If I was a religious girl, I would thank the lord. Instead, I'm going to thank nature for blessing us with the combination of chocolate and avocado.

We have to get serious...you can't make a decent cake without butter. It just wouldn't taste right. So if ever we want to indulge, we'll have to settle for a little bit of fat. NOW, that's so not true anymore! Substituting butter with avocado is genious, delicious and healthy. Avocado is fat, yes, but good fat!

If you are looking for a chocolate cake that won't make you feel like a cheater, then look no more. Yummy, rich, healthy and a definite hit with the entire family...my chocolate cake with avocado and banana.

And oh, did I mention this cake is so easy to make?

 

Ingredients:

 

2 ripe avocados
2 ripe bananas
3 eggs
3 tbsp liquid sweetener
100 gr almond flour
100 gr dark cacao powder
100 gr of assortment of nuts (I used almonds, peanuts and cashew)

Way to do it:

1. Cut the avocado's in two and spoon out the flesh. Add with the mashed bananas in a bowl and stir.
2. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth.
3. Add the remaining ingredients (liquid sweetener, almond flour and cacao) and whisk again.
4. Finally gently fold in the nuts.
5. Transfer to a baking tin lined with baking paper and bake for 35mins in a preheated oven at 180degrees C.
 

Let the cake cool before you take it out of the baking tin. You don't need to top the cake with any icing, it's packed full of flavor and it's very moist. However, adding some maple syrup or honey can never go wrong.

A good movie, a cup of great coffee in my new favorite mug (I got it at a second hand store and I'm just so in love with it.) and some home baked deliciousness. Yes...my life is pretty perfect.

Some of you may have already noticed, I'm a baker who loves simple and easy recipes. I don't like to huff and puff in my kitchen and I definitely don't like doing the dishes. So, you can expect many more recipes like this chocolate cake with avocado and banana, easy, yummy and healthy.

If you want to make a cake lower in carb, leave out the bananas and add a little more almond flour. I promise you, it'll taste great. Now if only I would stop myself from taking another piece....

Enjoy and till next time,
xx