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

Peanut Butter Banana Pie (No-Bake)

I've been craving something raw/no-bake/healthy so much recently. Sometimes I really get tired of buttery sugar-packed sweets, they definitely don't make you feel good. Okay, they do, but there's just a short moment of happiness, after which you often feel quite guilty. No no, I'm not going to become vegan or stop making fatty desserts - I love them! But! Can you believe there are just a few ingredients and none of them is bad for you? No sugar, no butter, no flour or anything like that. Just nuts and fruits. How can you not fall in love?

Peanut Butter Banana Pie (No-Bake) 

Crust: 
100g roasted peanuts, ground 
1 tbsp (7g) unsweetened cocoa powder
100g raisins
pinch salt

Filling: 
3 bananas (360g), very ripe
250g (1 cup) peanuts, roasted*
1/3 tsp salt

*Just roast peanuts in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until their sides brown a little bit.

1) Make the crust: Place all ingredients into the food processor and pulse until it comes into a ball. Using your fingers, press the mixture into a 18cm baking pan. Place into the fridge while you make the filling.

2) For the filling, grind peanuts in a food processor until they look like peanut butter (It will take a few minutes, just keep grinding and you'll see how they turn into peanut butter. Easy!). Add bananas and salt and pulse until the mixture becomes smooth. 

3) Pour the filling onto the crust and place into the freezer overnight. Remove from the freezer and let thaw for 10-15 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!!

Recipe by collecting memories

Yeast Raisin Pancakes

Puffy, soft, fluffy and sweet pancakes. Just like the ones your grandma used to make. I craved them so much that I ate all of them. Yes. I know, I ate sixteen pancakes.
And yes, there's a Christmas tree in the background of the photos. I really don't know why I am keeping it. 

Yeast Pancakes

200g flour

4g dry yeast (1/2 packet)

2 tbsp sugar (20g)

Pinch salt

100g raisins

250ml milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

Butter, for frying

Sour cream or greek yogurt, for serving (optional)

1) In a large bowl, combine together the flour, yeast, sugar and salt.

2) In a small saucepan, heat milk to lukewarm. Mix in the egg.

3) Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir just until combined. Mix in the raisins. Place in a warm place and let rise for an hour.

4) Heat some butter in a large saucepan. Drop 1-2 tablespoons of batter and fry on both sides until lightly browned. Serve with some sour cream or greek yogurt.

Serves 16 medium size pancakes.

Recipe by collecting memories

Chocolate Granola Bars (no-bake)

I used to buy granola bars. I used to be so addicted to them. But since I learned how to make them at home, I never buy them again. Okay, just sometimes.

This was the first time I made granola bars with chocolate. And THESE turned out amazing. Imagine a soft, chewy, sweet bar packed with juicy raisins, chocolate and an amazing coconut aroma. It was so hard to resist eating the whole batch at once.. But I was strong enough to save some for the next day. And it's so great to know that what you eat is actually healthy. Oh come on, stop reading and give these a try.

Chocolate Granola Bars (no-bake)
2 cups quick cooking oats
50ml unrefined coconut oil
5-6 tbsp honey
2-3 tbsp cocoa powder (use high-quality!)
20-25g dark chocolate, chopped
100g golden raisins, chopped

1) In a small saucepan, melt together coconut oil and honey. Mix in cocoa powder and stir just until there are no lumps and the mixure is smooth.  Remove from heat.

2) In a medium bowl, mix together oats, chocolate and raisins. Stir in the coconut oil/honey mixture and stir until combined. Press into 10x22cm loaf pan and place in the fridge. Refrigerate at least 3 hours and cut into squares. Store in refrigerator (if it isn't very hot you may store them at room temperature)

Recipe by collecting memories

Chewy Granola Energy Bars

Soft, chewy and healthy granola bars.

2 cups quick rolled oats
100g walnuts
4 tbsp wheat germ
2 tbsp sunflower seeds

1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 tbsp natural honey
1/2 tsp natural brown sugar
~1 cup sweetened applesauce

100g dried cranberries
100g raisins
100g chopped pitted dates
(you can use any combination... There's so much fun to experiment with it. Next time I'll try it with dried apples, apricots etc. You can also use any other nuts but I chose walnuts because they're softer. I imagine pistachios would add a nice flavour)

1)  In a saucepan, mix the first four ingredients and toast until fragrant and lightly browned.
2)  In another saucepan, combine next four ingredients and heat until everything is melted.
3)  Mix the dried fruits together.
4)  Turn off the heat and add wet ingredients into oat mixture. Add in the fruits. Mix well!
5)  Now line a baking sheet into your pan and pour the mixture onto it. Press down and let completely cool before cutting.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 175°C.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins and walnuts.

3. Scoop the cookies onto a baking tray and bake them for 10 to 12 minutes taking them out when golden at the edges.