Healthy Pumpkin Honey Greek Yogurt Pie

Healthy Pumpkin Honey Greek Yogurt Pie

Crust:
135g / 1 1/2 cup oats, ground into flour
20g / 2 tbsp ground flax
2/3 tsp cinnamon
20g / 1 tbsp honey
15g / 1 tbsp unrefined coconut oil
2 tbsp / 30ml cold water

Filling:
1kg raw pumpkin (you will get 500g after you cook and puree it*)
285g / 1 cup Greek yogurt
pinch of salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
170g / 1/2 cup honey, melted
1 tbsp / 12g spelt flour

*To make the pumpkin puree, bring a large pot filled with water to boil. Cut the raw pumpkin into chunks (about 5cm/2inch) and cook in water until soft. Let cool. Transfer to a clean kitchen towel. Wrap the pumpkin up into the towel, twist up the ends and squeeze the water out until you have half of the weight you had in the beginning.

1) Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F and line the bottom of a 21 cm / 8 inch springform pan with parchment paper.

2) To make the crust, Mix together ground oats, flax, cinnamon and honey in a medium bowl. Add coconut oil and mix, using your fingers, until the mixture looks crumbly. Add water and mix until it forms a ball. If the dough looks too crumbly and doesn't hold, add more water. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan and place in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

3) To make the filling, mix together all the ingredients until very well combined. Pour onto the crust and bake for about 30 minutes or the pie is set and the center looks firm.

4) Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Transfer to the fridge and let sit overnight (if you have patience). It's much better cold! Serve plain or drizzle some honey/agave/maple syrup or anything you like.

Recipe by collecting memories

Cranberry Walnut Grain Medley

Cranberry Walnut Grain Medley

1 T oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cl garlic, minced
100g / 3.5 oz dried cranberries
100g / 3.5 oz pearl barley
100g / 3.5 oz brown rice
60g / 2 oz walnuts, chopped
a pinch of pepper
a pinch of mustard powder
a pinch of thyme
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1) Cook rice and pearl barley separately and let cool.

2) In a small saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened and golden brown. Let cool.

3) In a large bowl, combine together onion/garlic mixture, dried cranberries, barley, rice and walnuts. Season with salt, pepper, mustard, thyme and cinnamon. Mix everything until combined.

Makes 2-4 servings.

Recipe by collecting memories

Carrot Cake Oatmeal

Carrot Cake Oatmeal

1 cup liquid (preferably 1/2 cup water + 1/2 cup milk)
60g old-fashioned oats
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1/2 carrot, grated
A handful of raisins
Honey or agave nectar, to serve

1) In a medium pot, bring liquid to boil. Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low. 

2) Add oats, flax seeds, cinnamon, brown sugar, and carrot. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Add raisins and cook for another 2 minutes. Drizzle with honey or agave nectar and serve immediately.

Recipe by collecting memories

Mud Pie Coffee Cake

Mud Pie Coffee Cake

225g / 1 cup butter, room temperature
200g / 1 cup white sugar 
200g / 1 cup soft light brown sugar
250g / 2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
230g / 1 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract


1) Preheat oven to 180C / 350F. Prepare a 20 x 20 cm / 8 x 8 inch silicone baking dish or generously butter a metal baking dish.

2) In a large bowl with a mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

3) In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add this to the butter/sugar mixture and beat until combined. Set aside 1 cup of this mixture for the topping.

4) In a separate bowl, lightly beat together sour cream and eggs. Add to the sugar/butter mixture and stir to combine.

5) Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with the 1 cup of crumb topping mixture, slightly pressing it down.

6) Bake 50-60 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting.

Recipe adapted from here.

Browned Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I have been planning my Christmas baking these days and there's a long long cookie list. These cookies weren't included in that list, but I've been craving oatmeal cookies so much recently that I couldn't resist mixing up a batch of these. They came out large, sweet, thick and slightly chewy in the middle. And if you like oatmeal cookies, you will definitely love these. 

Iced Oatmeal Cookies

113g (1/2 cup) butter

110g (1/2 cup) white sugar

50g (1/4 cup) light brown sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

90g (1 cup) quick-cooking oats, ground

125g (1 cup) flour

Icing:

40g icing sugar

1 tbsp boiling water

1) First, make the browned butter: in a saucepan, melt the butter, stirring frequently. Once it melts, stop stirring and let it brown over medium-low heat. When you start smelling a nutty aroma and it looks lightly browned (you can test the color with a tablespoon). remove from heat. Be careful not to burn it. Don't wait until it gets dark brown. The whole browning process takes just a few minutes.

2) Add both sugars to the butter and stir to combine. Let it cool a few minutes and beat in the egg. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix just until combined. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

3) Preheat oven to 180C (350F) Remove the cookie dough from the fridge and form into balls. Place them on a baking tray lined with a parchment paper (leave some space among the cookies).

4) Bake for 12 minutes. If you want a slightly chewy center, check them after 10-11 minutes and remove from the oven while still a little bit underbaked in the center. If you like them crunchier, bake for 14-15 minutes. Cool completely before icing.

5) To make the icing, mix together icing sugar and boiling water.

Makes 14 large cookies

Recipe by collecting memories

Apple Crisp Pie

I think I've never told you before how much I like warm desserts served with ice cream. And if it has a crunchy topping, a fruity filling and if it is an apple pie, it's a perfection. This one's packed with juicy apples, cinnamon and tastes very similar to an apple crisp. If you like apple crisp - you're going to like this pie too. Just don't forget to drizzle the topping with some maple syrup, agave syrup or caramel sauce. I used agave syrup but, I must confess, I prefer caramel sauce. Guilty!

Apple Crisp Pie

Crust:
1 1/4 cup (155g) flour
1 tbsp (15g) sugar
1/2 stick (56g) butter, cold
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp ice water

Topping:
3/4 cup (95g) flour
1/4 cup (50g) sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 stick (56g) butter, cold

Filling:
625g apples
2 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest

Maple syrup, Agave syrup, caramel sauce, to serve
Vanilla ice cream, to serve

1) To make the crust, combine together flour, sugar and salt. Cut in the cold butter and mix with your fingertips until crumbs form. Add ice water (add 2 at first, you might not need the third one) and knead just until the dough forms into a ball. Roll out the dough into a circle and press into the bottom of a 18cm greased baking dish. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling and the crumb topping.

2) To make the crumb topping, combine together all the ingredients and mix using your fingertips until crumbly. Place in a refrigerator.

3) To make the filling, peel and cut the apples into thin slices. Add into a large bowl and squeeze in the lemon juice. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix to coat the apples.

4) Add the apples into the pie shell. Press down a little bit. Top with the crumbs.

5) Bake in a 200C (400F) preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180C (350F) and continue baking for another 20 minutes.

6) Serve warm with some vanilla ice cream and maple syrup, agave syrup or caramel sauce. I used agave but caramel sauce sounds even better, doesn't it?

Recipe by collecting memories

Chewy Pumpkin Bars

Before the fall ends, I wanted to share another pumpkin recipe with you. Chewy pumpkin bars! First I wanted to call them "pumpkin blondies", but blondies are more cakey and these bars had more fudgy texture. 
I was actually quite surprised with the results. They came out even more delicious than I expected. Brown butter, honey and cinnamon made it a perfect dessert for fall. If you think you've tried everthing with pumpkin, think again because you definitely have to try these!

Chewy Pumpkin Bars 

56g (1/2 stick) brown butter

100g )1/2 cup) sugar

60g honey

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp salt

1/4tsp cinnamon

1 cup (220g) pumpkin puree

125g (1 cup) flour

1) In a small saucepan, add butter and cook until light brown. Do not stir. Watch it carefully so you don't brown it too much. Add sugar, honey and stir to combine. 

2) Once cooled a little, add in the egg. Add vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon.

3) Transfer to a large bowl. Mix in the pumpkin puree and finally mix in the flour.

4) Bake in a 180C (350F) preheated oven for 25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Recipe by collecting memories