Healthy Courgette, Banana, and Coconut Oat Loaf

I'm on a bit of a health kick at the moment, I've taken up swimming and I've been going 4 times a week and honestly at first I thought I would have to be dragged out the pool after about 2 lengths but I quite surprised myself and now after 4 weeks I'm on 64 lengths (1 mile)...with that and eating healthy even though I don't eat rubbish anyway, I thought it was about time to develop some sweet healthy recipes. I must say I'm always disappointed at results that come up when you search for healthy recipes as some of the ingredients are good foods, ie fruit or veg but then add in the large amount of sugar and it can't really be constituted as healthy, so I was on a mission! I had seen a recipe a while ago that sounded great so off to my kitchen I went to develop my own version and it was a huge success, tasty, healthy and without the guilt...no sugar! Hard to believe I know but honestly these mini loafs (or loaf) really do taste fantastic and you would never know that you didn't have the sugar piled into them! These are perfect for kids as well as loads of good foods packed into them and as long as you get gluten free oats, they are perfect for gluten free diet as well as there is no flour :)) 

Healthy Courgette, Banana and Coconut Oat Loaf

1/2 cup ground almonds

1/2 cup oats (not instant)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 tbsp honey

1 banana mashed (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup courgette grated

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1/3-1/2 cup pistachio nuts (crushed)

Pre heat the oven to 180/170c fan

Add the ground almonds, oats, baking soda and cinnamon to a bowl and mix

In a jug add the eggs, vanilla extract, oil and honey and whisk until incorporated

Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and then add the mashed banana, the grated courgette, desiccated coconut and pistachios and mix well.

Pour into either a lightly oiled loaf tin or lightly oiled mini loaf tins (I used 4 mini ones)

Pop into the pre heated oven and bake for around 15-18 minutes, until golden in colour and a skewer comes out clean

Sweet Orange Couscous with Cranberries and Pistachios

Following on from middle eastern inspired food, I fancied trying something a little different with an ingredient that is very reminiscent of Moroccan food...couscous! It's a staple food with tagine a etc but when my son asked for a pudding I decided to make it sweet, with the addition of some brown sugar and/or honey and some nuts and dried fruit, it was a huge hit especially served with a little vanilla ice cream :))

Sweet orange couscous with cranberries and pistachios

125g couscous

200ml boiling water 

2 tbsp soft brown sugar (you can use honey in place of all the sugar or half)

1/4 tsp cinnamon 

Zest of one large orange

Handful of cranberries

Handful of pistachio nuts

Put the couscous into a bowl with the orange zest

In a jug pour in the boiling water and add the sugar (honey) and mix well. You can of course add the orange juice if you wanted to have a strong orange flavour)

Pour this onto the couscous and cover with cling film and leave to rest for around 5 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed and the couscous is light and fluffy.

Fluff the couscous with a fork and add the cranberries and pistachios and serve with a good dollop of ice cream :)

Quick and easy :)

Please feel free to add spices such as cardamom or more cinnamon or even some ginger :)

Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookies...perfect treat

Happy Mother's Day to all the mummy's out there :). If your household is anything like mine and you want a sweet treat, you have to make it yourself... so here's an adaptation of my chocolate chip cookie recipe, but this time with some divine caramel filling.....absolutely mouthwatering :)

Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookies

Chocolate chip recipe
Soft Caramel (either homemade or you can buy a jar from most supermarkets...dulce de leche is good)

Make up the dough for the chocolate chip cookies and spoon a small amount onto a baking tray and flatten slightly. Get a teaspoon and spoon a small amount of the caramel into the centre of the cookie dough and then spoon some more of the chocolate chip dough on top and mould round the caramel centre.

Bake in a pre heated oven (180/170) for around 12 minutes depending on size
Leave to cool and enjoy :))

A sweet valentine swirl

As its almost valentines day, I must of course add a little something sweet :) my son had his friends coming over for a play date and tea so we decided to make some mini valentine cookies for them and of course they needed to be fun and different so we went for some sweet valentine swirls pops....must say they were a huge hit :) Very simple to make but so effective!
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons brandy, or milk (I prefer milk, surprisingly enough)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions
Mix together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; mix until light and fluffy. With mixer running, add egg, brandy or milk, and vanilla; mix until well combined. With the mixer on low, slowly add reserved flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
Here is where we shake it up to make our swirl cookies.
Transfer half of dough to a work surface. in a bowl add 1/8 teaspoon of food coloring. Mix until just evenly distributed, try not to overmix.
Place your white dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll into a rectangle as best you can. Repeat with the colored dough. Place on a baking sheet and put it in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
Remove the dough from the fridge and peel the paper off of one side of the colored dough. Lightly flour your work surface and flip the dough over onto it, then peel off the paper from the other side.
Lightly brush the top of the colored dough with water.
Peel the paper off of one side of your white dough. Place it dough side down on top of the colored dough, trying to align the two rectangles of dough as well as possible. Then peel the paper from the other side.
Use a sharp knife to trim the edges of your rectangle so they are straight and even. Save the scraps and use to make other cookies such as marbled cookie shapes (rolling two colours together and cutting them out)
Start to gently roll the dough and Continue until it is all rolled up.
You might see some gaps if you look at the side of the dough. You don’t want those so gently roll the dough with two hands until the gaps disappear.
In a pan, empty your sprinkles or whatever cookie decoration you like. We used hundred and thousands.
Brush the dough with water, then gently roll in the toppings, pushing the toppings gently into the dough so they stick.
Wrap with cling film and Place in the fridge for one hour to firm up.
Preheat oven to 180/170 fan/350 degrees. Remove dough from the fridge and trim the ends of the dough flat.
Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats. Evenly slice the roll to about 1/4″ thickness.
Place on the baking tray, at this point you can insert some lollipop sticks to create lollipop cookies and Bake until lightly golden, about ten minutes; do not allow to brown.
Enjoy :)))