Chickpea Blondies

Chickpea Blondies 

210g* cooked chickpeas, drained
85g (1/3 cup) homemade peanut butter
1/2 tsp salt
100g (1/2 cup) unrefined light brown sugar
30g (2 tbsp) applesauce
28g (1/4 cup) ground flaxseed
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate chips

*I cooked 100 grams of dried chickpeas and got 210 grams cooked. 100g dried should equal 240g cooked, but, well, hm, not for me, I guess. It's not that bad if you add 30 grams more or less though. If you are lazy, feel free to use 1 can of chickpeas.

1) Preheat oven to 180C / 350F. Lightly grease a loaf pan or use a silicone loaf pan (which I prefer).

2) In your food processor, add chickpeas and pulse until smooth. Add peanut butter, salt, brown sugar, applesauce, ground flaxseed and pulse again until well combined. Scrape down the sides. Add baking powder and baking soda and pulse again until combined.

3) Spread into the baking pan and sprinkle a handful of chocolate chips on top, slightly pressing them down. (You can mix in more chocolate chips if desired. I only sprinkled the top to make these healthier). 

4) Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before cutting into squares.

Recipe by collecting memories

Banana Carrot Bars (Oil, Butter & Sugar Free)

Here's another easy recipe for healthyish snack bars. As these contain bananas, carrots and applesauce there's no need to add sugars. It's sweet enough with only 4 tablespoons of honey and, moreover, honey gives moistness which keeps for many days. It's a perfect snack for school or tea-time!

Banana Carrot Bars (Oil, Butter & Sugar Free)
50g oat flour

100g all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch salt

1 tbsp wheat bran (optional)

½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

4tbsp (~50ml) honey

70ml buttermilk (or milk)

1 large egg, beaten

4 tbsp applesauce

1 large overripe banana, mashed

1 large carrot, shredded 

1) Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Prepare a 20x20cm silicone baking dish.

2) In a small bowl, combine together all-purpose flour, oat flour, baking powder, salt, wheat bran and pumpkin pie spice. 

3) In another bowl, combine together buttermilk, honey and egg.

4) In a large mixing bowl, mix together applesauce, banana and carrot.

5) Add buttermilk mixture to the banana mixture, stir to combine. Add the flour mixture and stir well. Pour the mixture to the baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely and cut into squares.

Recipe by collecting memories

Sticky Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

Bananas. Peanut butter. Honey. Oats. Applesauce. 

I can't describe how much I love each of these ingredients. And when they come together I am the happiest person on the earth. 

These sticky bars are kind of easy to make. As they're no-bake you can probably throw everything in a bowl and have them ready in 5 minutes. Okay, you actually have to wait several hours until they firm up and that's a hard thing to do. So I highly recommend making them in the evening and refrigerating overnight. So you won't be tempted everytime you pass the fridge.

One important note about these yummy bars is that they're quite sticky. I considered trying to bake these and expect that the heat would dry them out a little and make less sticky but in fact I'm not going to do this. They're simply too good as they are. Believe me, the taste is so good that nothing else matters.

Sticky Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

1 medium overripe banana, mashed
4 tbsp honey
50g salted peanut butter
1 tbsp applesauce
1 1/2 cup quick oats
1 cup old-fashioned oats

1) In a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, combine banana, honey, peanut butter and applesauce. Stir until melted.

2) Add oats and mix to combine. Press into 10x20cm baking dish and refrigerate several hours until firm. Keep refrigerated.

Recipe by collecting memories

Pumpkin Pie Bread (Low-Fat)

Recently I've been trying to incorporate pumpkin in every kind of dessert. I already made a pumpkin pie, a pumpkin bread, pumpkin cupcakes and there are still too many things to make with it. Pumpkin Bread has been in my plans for a long time. However, I didn't want it to be just an ordinary pumpkin bread. I guess many of you have already baked one and it would be boring to see another bread recipe.

How about a bread with a dense, moist pumpkin center and a golden chewy crust? The texture is somewhere between a chewy blondie and a fudge. Amazing! Want to hear another great thing? It's almost fat-free. Yes, you know how much I love turning my baked goods healthier. It only contains two egg yolks and is oil and butter free. Three amazing ingredients - applesauce, pumkin and honey keep this bread amazingly moist. One important thing: I used a homemade pumpkin puree which was made out of a boiled pumpkin. Homemade pumpkin puree has more moisture and I believe that it works better in this recipe.

Finally, there's one more thing which I loved about this bread. Ground oats. Oats and pumpkin is such a great combination!

Pumpkin Pie Bread (Low-Fat)

2 cups homemade pumpkin puree (you can probably use canned)
2 tbsp applesauce
2 tbsp honey
160g white sugar
2 eggs
125 all purpose flour
125g ground oats
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1) Prepare a 22x10cm silicone baking pan (if using metal, line with parchment paper or lightly grease). Preheat oven to 180C.

2) In a small bowl, combine together all-purpose flour, oat flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.

3) In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add white sugar, honey and beat to combine. Add pumpkin puree and applesauce and beat well.

4) Fold the flour mixture into pumpkin puree mixture and mix just until incorporated. Place the mixture into baking pan.

5) Bake for 1 hour. The cake will look underbaked but this is how it has to look like. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Let sit at room temperature or in the fridge several hours to set and then slice. Enjoy with a cup of tea.

Recipe by collecting memories

Best Summer Recipes 2013

The summer has ended and I picked out the best recipes I've published these past three months. I thought it would be great to have seasonal favourites in one place so wait for another post like this one at the end of fall. I hope you will enjoy the collection and now let's light the candles, wrap ourselves in a chunky blanket, go to a store and buy a large, heavy orange pumpkin.

For the recipes, click on the titles.

BANANA BREAD

 

 

STRAWBERRY BANANA SPONGE CAKE

CINNAMON COFFEE CAKE MUFFINS

SPINACH & RICOTTA LASAGNA

MUSHROOM PATTIES IN PITTA

LEMON CUPCAKES

VEGETARIAN EMPANADAS

SUGAR PRETZELS

BAKED CABBAGE

Banana Bread

The most wonderful banana bread. Why it is wonderful? Well firstly because despite having only 25grams of butter it's still amazingly moist. And the moisture keeps for many days. Secondly, it has a strong banana flavour with the perfect amount of sugar. To me, this is the best not-too sweet snack whenever I want something delicious and healthy.

Banana Bread
250g flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 large eggs
3 medium bananas, very ripe (about 1 1/2 cups mashed)
150g sugar
25g butter, softened
1/2 cup sweetened applesauce*

*If using unsweetened, increase the amount of sugar up to 200 grams. But I don't recommend adding too much. The sweetness of your bread also depends on how ripe your bananas are. 

1) Preheat the oven to 180C. Prepare a silicone loaf pan (if using a metal pan, lightly grease it.)

 2) In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

3) In another bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar and beat until combined. Stir in the eggs, applesauce and bananas.

4) Stir the dry ingredients into the banana mixture. Don't overmix. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and smooth the top.

4) Bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted to the center comes out clean. Let cool completely and slice. (I suggest baking it in the evening and leaving overnight because it's much more delicious after it stands a bit.)

Recipe by collecting memories