Almond cookies with chocolate

NO ADDED FAT!

I can't write it any bigger without it being stupid but that is what makes these cookies so great. They are low in fat, yet very tasty and sturdy so you can take them along and enjoy them the entire day.

I was gonna take pictures, but then it got dark, and then  I forgot....and then I ate them all.
Woops :D

Ingredients:

For the cookies:
200 gr ground almonds (almond flour)
100 gr icing sugar
1 tsp liquid honey
4 egg whites
A pinch of salt

For the chocolate:
4 egg yolks
1 tbsp liquid sweetener
2 tbsp no-added sugar cacao powder

Way to do it:

1. We start with the cookies. Add the almond flour, honey and icing sugar in a bowl.
2. With a fork, lightly wish 2 egg whites until the liquid turns white. Add it to the almonds and stir with a wooden spoon.
3. Whisk the remaining 2 egg whites with a pinch of salt until you can turn the bowl upside down. Then add to the batter and gently fold it in.
4. Line a baking tray with baking paper and evenly place out the dough. Mine are about a full tablespoon each. Bake for 10 minutes at 180degrees C.
5. Now for the chocolate. Add all the ingredients to the 4 egg yolks and whisk. Let rest until the cookies come out.
6. When the cookies have baked for 10 minutes, take them out and add a dollop of chocolate mixture to each cookie. The chocolate will run over the cookie making it look good but not 'too perfect'. I don't do pretty pretty, I do yummy yummy!
7. Place the tray back into the oven and let bake for another 5 minutes. 
8. When they are done, let them cool before you move them to a plate or stuff them into your mouth.

Enjoy
xx

Delicious Pizza without the guilt!

One of the best things out there...is pizza. Not only is it simply delicious, it's also fun to eat and share with friends. But it's also one of the worst thing out there when you're thinking of fat and calories. So therefore, my way of making a pizza which will leave you with a great dinner and none of the guilt.

You can always buy one of those ready-made crusts, but they do tend to cost a pretty penny, so why not make your own. I promise you, it's so easy and simple. I wouldn't add it to my blog if it wasn't!

Also...no yeast! I don't get yeast, never have. It's one of those ingredients you would buy one time, use like half of it, and then after a year, you throw it out when it becomes hard as rock and you need the fridge space.

So, I present you a simple pizza crust with no fuss but packing in taste, topped with delicious ingredients, all rolling in to a great dinner to enjoy with a good movie on series marathon.

Ingredients for 1 medium pizza:

for the crust
200 gr flour
pinch of baking powder
pinch of salt
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of dried basil
90ml water
extra: 1tbsp vegetable oil

for the pizza
a half yellow bell pepper
a half red union
3 tbsp tomato sauce
2 slices of chicken
A handful of grated cheese
extra: your favorite spices. I used Cajun and simple chicken spices

Way to do it:

1. Add all dry ingredients for the crust in a bowl and mix with a spoon. Then add the water. You might not need all of it, so add as you knead and add some more of it's too dry. The dough shouldn't be too sticky but should have more of an elastic texture. Spread out on a baking tray lined with a baking sheet and flatten until you get a nice round pizza. Curl back the outsides a little to get that crunchy side crust.
2. Drip some oil on the inside of the pizza and move it around. This will prevent the base getting soggy with the tomato sauce. Such a marvelous little trick.
3. Then starts the fun part. The topping! I added half a yellow bell pepper, chopped into small cubes, half a red onion, chicken slices you would normally put on your sandwich but I cut them into little bits ass well and sprinkled them over the vegetables. Finally comes the cheese. Of course, the more cheese you add, the more high in fat it will become so cheese in moderation.
4. I also topped with some herbs so give the pizza an extra little spicy kick.
5. Bake in a preheated oven on 240degrees C for about 12 minutes. Or until the cheese is melted and the crust is crunchy.

To be honest, I'm actually kind of surprised at how good the base turned out. I was expecting a floppy crust, but it's was strong, crunchy and very yummy.

The good thing about making the crust yourself is that you can add flavor. I used garlic and basil, but you could also go with grated cheese, paprika powder, chilli or even sugar when you're going for a dessert.

Enjoy
xx 

Lemon Bars with Cream Cheese

Hi everyone.

I've been wanting to make lemon bars for so long, but I never found a recipe that ticked off all my criteria. For a recipe to be Stevie Friendly, it needs to be

- easy and no fuss
- not drenched in bad fat or loaded with sugar
- not take to long because you know I have no patience

and

- it must not make a mess of everything because I hate, hate, HATE doing dishes.

So, I simply decided to dive in, head first, and create my own lemon bars.
And I'm so happy I did.

Ingredients:

For the base:
150 gr flour
100 gr soft coconut butter (normal butter is fine too)
A pinch of salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cold water
1 tsp lemon juice

For the filling:
3 tbsp low fat cream cheese
2 eggs
2 tbsp liquid sweetener
Juice of 1 lemon
100 gr flour

Way to do it:

1. We start with the base. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and stir with a spoon to combine. Add the coconut butter and use your hands to 'melt' it into the mixture. It will become very crumbly and dry. Add the lemon juice and water and use that liquid to form a dough. Roll the dough into a ball, put it in cling foil and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
2. Now we make the filling. Add the cream cheese, eggs, liquid sweetener and lemon juice into a bowl and whisk until combined. Add the flour and make sure there are no lumps left. It will be very liquid but don't worry, that way our crust will soak it all in. Leave it into the fridge until you are ready to use it.
3. After the crust has rested for 30 minutes, take it out and line a baking tray with baking paper. Roll out the dough and bake in a pre-heated oven on 180degrees Celsius for about 10 minutes.
4. Take the baking tray out and pour the filling over the crust. Bake again for another 10 minutes.
5. Take out of the oven and let them cool before you cut them. Transfer to a plate and they are best if you keep them in the fridge.

And these people, are no fuss, no muss, deliciously low sugar Lemon Bars.

I must admit, you can't call these low in fat...compared to stuff you would buy in the store yes, but not to other stuff you can find on my website. However, I did use coconut butter and some sources say it's the 'healthiest' butter there is. But it's still butter off course, this isn't a perfect world :-(

It was my first time making these, so it's still a work in progress. Next time, I'm going to add some cacao powder to the base and I'll prob add some more lemon juice because in my opinion, they could be a little more sour.

Keep checking back for new recipes and let me know what you think.

Enjoy
xx

Soy cake with crumble base

It's been a while but I'm back with a new recipe , tried and tested (much to my own enjoyment) and ready to be baked in houses all over the country.

I present you, my low-fat, low sugar, yogurt cake with a crumble base.

Did I read low fat? 
Granted, there is butter in the base, but apart from that, the yogurt and milk add up to about 5g of fat....and that's the good kind of fat people because if you choose soy based products, you ingest the good saturated fats...the one the body just simply needs.

Did you say low sugar?
Two tablespoons of sugar go into the base. The yogurt and milk are naturally sweet and the additions of two tablespoons liquid sweetener just gives all you sweet tooths out there (I know I'm one of 'em) that extra satisfaction.

Why the crumble base?
You can use store-bought cookies and mash them up to make a crumble base. But this way is just way more fun. Get your hands dirty and start kneading that dough. Also, store-bought cookies are, apart from high in bad fat, also filled with extra additives to make them look good and hold their color. Therefore, take the extra ten minutes and just make it yourself and that way, you know exactly what went into them.

Ingredients:

For the crumble:
100 gr soft butter, cut into cubes
150 gr white flour
2 tbsp sugar
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 tbsp cold water

For the filling:
250 gr plain soy yogurt (I used my all-time favorite Alpro Soy)
100 ml Light Vanilla Soy drink
2 tbsp liquid sweetener
2 eggs
100 gr buckwheat flour

Way to do it:

1. Sift the white flour in a bowl and add sugar, cinnamon and the salt and give it a little mix until they are combined. Add the sugar and use your hands to knead the dough. It needs to form a nice consistent ball. Not too sticky but definitely not too crumbly. Add a tbsp of water if you feel like the dough needs it to stick together.
2. Fold the ball of dough into a tinfoil and let it rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
3. To make the filling, add all it's ingredients in a bowl (use the one from the dough, nobody likes doing dishes right?) and mix until air bubbles start showing. Place in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.
4. Take a round baking tray and gently oil it. Line the tray with your dough. Pour in the mixture and place into a preheated oven at 200 degrees C for about 20 minutes.
 

Take the cake out of the oven if the outsides are set but the middle is still a little bit wobbly. Let it cool completely (COMPLETELY Stevie, have some patience) before you take it out of the tin.  

You can choose how you wish to decorate the cake. I saved some pieces of the dough and rolled them into long strips to make the circle design. It's your cake and your creation, so do whatever you like. You could even write out a person's name if you are making this cake as a birthday gift.

I enjoyed mine with a cup of coffee in my new favorite mug :)

Enjoy
xx

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