Moist, chocolate speckled zucchini bread - Gluten free

I love coconut flour. Wow what a revelation. It gives a certain fluffier texture to baked goods while staying light and moist. Perfect for this recipe.

I sweetened with dates, no additional sugar used. The chocolate also helps add sweetness but I believe the coconut flour also gives a little sweetness of its own.

Truly addictive, and I only say this after sharing some of the bread with friends and they praise was high enough for me to feel free to.

Coconut flour is made from coconut meat. It's gluten free and high in fiber, which we all know in turn is good for our digestion, helping move unwanted cholesterol and other bad fats out of our system which in turn protects us from clogged blood vessels and other cardiovascular diseases. Fiber has also been found to help combat colon cancer, again as the fiber helps speed up the expelling of toxic wastes from our metabolism.  

Ingredients needed for one loaf: 

100-150 grams dark chocolate, roughly chopped 

4 eggs 

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

4-5 dates (soak for at least 30min)

1 dl yoghurt (sheep, coconut or cows)

1,5 dl oat, rice or other nut milk

2 dl coconut flour

1 dl oat flour (gluten free)

1/2 medium sized zucchini, grated

choose between 1/2 grated apple or 1 mashed over ripe banana

2 tsp baking powder 

pinch of salt 

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

optional - 1 dl walnuts, pecans or pumpkin seeds (I used pumpkin)

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180C. 
2. Cook the dates in the water, to loosen them up and then puree into a sauce
3. Whisk the eggs till fluffy, add the date puree once cooled
4. Same goes for the coconut oil, heat so it melts, then add to eggs once slightly cooled
5. Now add the milk, zucchini and apple/banana
6. Add all the dry ingredients, mix. 
7. Add the chocolate, mix. 
8. If the dough is looking dry (it needs to be some what loose, sticky), add a little more milk
9. Transfer the dough to a baking tine lined with baking paper or grease the pan before hand
10. Bake for 45min-1hour. You will know its ready when you can poke a form in the middle and it comes out dry. If while baking the top of the bread starts to look a bit too dark, cover with some aluminium foil. 

Allow the bread to cool and then dig in and enjoy!!

Winter comfort - Caramel, sea salt, raw cacao, quinoa cookies

Rain, wind, storm, is the prefect backdrop to baking. We have a beautiful french bakery in Amsterdam that bakes among other things, salted chocolate cookies. Crisp, salty, chocolatey. So I tired to make something similar, without knowing their recipe. I was also lucky enough to have a pot of salted caramel in the fridge that I swiftly took advantage of having.

As per usual I had to add a bit of healthy to the mix, so I decided to use some quinoa flour. You do not have to use any, you can instead up the amount of oat or spelt flour. I just cannot seem to bake without adding or subtracting something to balance out the unhealthy. You could replace the oat with whole wheat spelt flour.

I used raw cacao as it contains lots of good for you B vitamins and minerals (bone contributing phosphorus, iron and muscle relaxing magnesium) and a packs a high dosage of antioxidants. It also is very high in caffeine. There is a big difference between cocoa and cacao, the later being unprocessed and therefore retains many of the benefits of chocolate.

Here are the ingredients:

100 grams butter at room temperature
1,5 dl palm, coconut or muscovado sugar (even unbleached white sugar will do)
2 tbsp raw cacao powder
2 tbsp caramel sauce (you could replace this with another 3/4 sugar)
1 dl quinoa flour
1 dl oat flour
1 3/4 dl unbleached spelt flour (not whole wheat).
1 tsp baking powder
3 large pinches of sea salt + another pinch for after baking
1 egg

1. Preheat your oven to 180C. 
2. Mix the butter, sugar and cacao into a paste. Add the egg, continue mixing. 
3. Add the caramel sauce. 
4. Slowly add the flour and baking flour. 
5. Now add the sea salt. 
6. Cover an oven rack with baking paper. 
7. Using two spoons, scoop up a spoonful of the dough and using the other spoon slide it off onto the oven rack. Continue till you have used up all the dough. Then using the backside of a spoon flatten each ball of dough. 
8. Place in the middle of the oven, bake for 8-10minutes. One out of the oven sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of sea salt. 

Serious chocolate chip cookies

I have posted chocolate chip cookies recipes before, and they have also been delicious but all so far have been consciously using more nutritionally rich ingredients. This version is less so. The inspiration? My local coffee spot serves the most delicious chocolate chip cookies. Nothing healthy about them and probably also nothing bio in them. But wow, they are good. So I tried to replicate them, several times actually, each time trying to let go of my wanting to make them healthier. Finally I came to this version, still not as far gone as the originals but close enough.

Here we go, serious chocolate chip cookie ingredients list - makes a batch of approximately 20 cookies: 

4 dl unbleached white spelt flour 

250 grams good quality chocolate

1 tsp salt (don't skip on this as it plays an essential role)

1 dl rosted pecan or walnuts 

100 grams butter (or coconut oil) - softened

1 tsp baking powder

1. Pre heat your oven to 180C. 
2. Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. The add the softened butter, mix. 
3. Now add the chocolate. 
4. Scoop out cookie portions and place on a baking tray.
5. Bake for approx. 8-13min. Keep an eye on them while in the oven as you want them coming out pale, almost under baked. That allows the soft consistency that adds so much to the experience of these delicious little bundles of serious chocolatey-ness. 

Gluten Free Salty Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Most of the time I have very specific cravings. Same goes for creating these cookies, I wanted chocolate and nut and saltiness in a cookie form. And viola, that's what I created. These can easily be made completely gluten free (although the cookies become more crumbly as mine were) or you can replace the quinoa and oat flour with spelt or regular unbleached wheat flour. I didn't have baking powered in-house so I made do without however I do believe a small pinch of baking powered would be helpful to add a little fluff.

Ingredients to make approx 20 cookies: 

2 dl hazelnut flour/ground hazelnut

1/2 dl palm or coconut sugar

1/2 dl brown cane sugar

1,5 tsp salt (I used himalayan salt as I do with everything as it's much healthier)

2 dl oat flour

1 egg

1 dl rice or quinoa flour (or spelt/wheat which takes away the gluten free aspect) 

1/2 dl coconut oil

40 grams butter

300 grams good quality chocolate

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients then add the softened butter and coconut oil and mix. 
3. Add the egg once the ingredients have combined mix into the dough. 
4. Finally add the chopped up chocolate and mix. 
5. Spoon out a regular spoon of the dough and place on baking paper on an oven tray. Make sure there is space between the each cookie so they can spread out as they bake. 
6. Bake in the middle of the oven between 9-12min.

Enjoy these with a cup of hot tea coffee or if your in a real chocolate mood a cup of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. I hope you like these as much as I did. 

Buckwheat, oat, hempseed - chocolate chip cookies

When you are feeling a little blue or you simply just want some crispy and chewy cookies these are the ones to make.

As always it's a recipe I made up along the way and luckily it turned out in my favor. The nice thing is you can exchange the tahini for peanut butter, the chocolate for cacao nibs, the hemp seeds for walnuts or hazelnuts. Really its what your in the mood for on that particular day you decide to bake these. Also you can feel good about the fact that your using oats and buckwheat flour as they have higher nutritional value as regular plain wheat flour.

Ingredients list - 8-10 cookies

1,5 dl oats
1,5 dl buckwheat flour
1 tbsp tahini
1/2 dl hemp seeds or finely chopped hazel or walnuts
60 grams dark chocolate or purely cacao nibs
1 dl palm sugar or agave or unbleached cane sugar*
1 dl coconut oil
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg

* I prefer to use palm sugar for it's nutritional value and because it had a lovely caramel-ish flavor and smell.

1. Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees C. 
2. In a mixing bowl add the egg and sugar and coconut oil till your left with a smooth paste. 
3. Mix all the dry ingredients minus the nuts and chocolate, and to the paste. 
4. Add the tahini and the nuts. 
5. Chop the chocolate into the size you prefer - I like both small and large chunks so I chop it roughly. 
6. Add the chocolate. 
7. Place some baking paper on a oven tray and then using 2 spoons scoop out the cookie down and place on the baking tray. Make sure you leave space between each scoop as they will melt own into puddles. 
8. Bake in in the middle of the oven for about 10-13min. 

Chocolate hazelnut cake

This cake has become a bit of an obsession. Not only because it contains chocolate but because I have been working in hight & consistency for a long time. I am now finally happy having finally found the right amounts and measurements.


Here are those measurements:

4 eggs
200 grams 70% chocolate
150 grams butter*
400 grams of hazelnut flour (blend preferably roasted & shelled hazelnuts in a blender. blend till you end up with a flour)
pinch of salt
2-3 tbsp sugar**
optional - 1 dl walnuts

*You could replace this with coconut oil - but then use between 80-100 grams. I have not tried it myself but it's worththe try if you dont want to use butter. Although I cannot promise the same final result as with butter.

**I use palm sugar because it contains more nutrients than regular cane. 

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 
2. Melt the sugar & chocolate over a bain-marie (place a metal bowl over a pan filled with water. The water should not touch the bowl, you dont need a lot of water)
3. Whisk the eggs and sugar till fluffy
4. Add the somewhat cooled off butter & chocolate
5. Add the hazelnut flour, mix. 
6. Finally add the walnuts
7. Grease a cake form and then pour the cake mix into it
8. Place in the middle of the oven for 35-40 min. The cake should be solid around the edges and still soft in the middle. 
9. Allow the cake to cool and sit for at least 1 hour. If it's cold outside then put it out. Preferably you have the patience, once it's cooled enough to place it in the fridge then let it sit over night. That will only improve it's taste. I myself never have that patience. Luckily it's a bit cake and it's very rich so you will have plenty over to both place in the fridge & have a slice out of the over. 

Sticky, crispy chocolate chip cookies

Soft and gooey on the inside, slightly crunch on the outside, need I say more?

Let's just say I finally made the type of cookies I have dreamed of making, they hit the spot when you have a chocolate chip cookie craving.

Midnight milkshake (using raw foods)

The perfect midnight indulgence, sweet, creamy, smooth, chocolate flavored. And the best part is that its Healthy!

This is a top notch example of adapting the old fashioned recipes to a healthier version and while preserving its original yummieness. Here is my version of Sarah Britton's of mynewroots.blogspot.com Raw chocolate milkshake miracle, find here recipe here:
http://mynewroots.blogspot.nl/2010/06/raw-chocolate-milkshake-miracle.html

You can also read all about the health benefits of cacao (not cocoa!) on the same page. One day I hope to be as knowledgeable as Mrs. Britton.

Here is my adaption, serves 1:

1/2 banana (added value if it's frozen)

1 tbsp raw cacao nibs

1 dl soy milk 

20 grams high quality dark chocolate

1 tbsp maple or agave syrup, honey might also work 

1/4 avocado 

1 tsp mixed raw nuts (I used cashews, almond and brazil nut)

1 tsp roasted hazelnuts (adds a certain nutella flavor)
1 tsp hemp seeds 

1-2 ice cubes 

Place all in a blender and blend till smooth. You should end up with a thick chocolatey milkshake. 

Mix it up, You could add or replace the following:

Blueberries

Raspberries

Strawberries 

Mint

Nuts could be replaced by pastes, just make sure your using unsweetened versions, so that your not back tracking on the health 

aspect of this milkshake. 

Almond flour brownies (gluten free!)

This is angel food. Soul healing. with the added benefit of being gluten free, so in my mind healthier than white flour. As we all know my experiments with whole wheat, less sugar and butter, brownie attempts have been fruitless in achieving that scrumptious, finger licking, sticky, fudgey, chocolaty goodess that white flour, massive butter and sugar result in.

I have tried this almond flour brownie a few times and now I am finally content with the end result. The health benefit of chocolate/cacao not to be confused with cocoa can be read here. The higher cacao percentage in your chocolate the better for you.

Oat chocolate chip peanut butter cookies

Nothing more to say but peanut butter & chocolate are a pair made in food heaven. They are meant to be. So these cookies are heavenly. Soft, chewy, salty, sweet. When the rain pours outside on a summers day these will bring some sun shine to you. The best part is they only take 15 minutes to bake and about 15 to make so all in all you only need 30 minutes and your in heaven. To be honest the dough is also really yummy.

These are not part of my "healthy, less sugar and butter' sweet recipes, for these I don't cut corners. Although I do use spelt flour and brown sugar, as that seems to make me think it's slightly better for me.  At the end of the day sometimes we just need a little indulgence, life's too short to live without some goodness in my opinion.

Chocolate, coconut, banana, pecan

This is the perfect indulgence for a chocolate lover such as myself. Its soft, gooey, chocolaty, & nutty with a hint of banana. The coconut adds a bit of juice & crispiness.

Sea salt, Olive Oil Chocolate Mousse

This is simply divine. Some foods are just like pure heaven when you eat them, this is one of them. Inspired by a similar dessert in one of my favorite restaurants in Barcelona (Tapac24).

Summer dessert

Strawberries in the summer, it doesn't get better or any more predictable as a summer dessert.
This dessert is just mouth watering, it combines summer sun ripe strawberries and vanilla whipped cream, a wining combo in themselves, and then we add chocolate and meringue.

Chewy choco hazelnut cookie

Here is another less than heathy sweet recipe. I have tried and tested many "healthy" version of this cookie many times but for once I wanted my Hubby to actually like and want more of a real cookie. So this is my version of a real chocolate chip cookie:

To make 1 batch of cookies (amount of cookies depends on how big you make them):

125 gram chocolate (fair trade of course)
1 dl roasted hazelnuts (bio - of course)
75 gram room temp butter (i.e., soft)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla sugar
0,5 tsp baking powder
2 dl sugar (unbleached)
1 egg
2 dl oat flour
2 dl four (I used 1 dl whole wheat + 1 dl spelt)

Tip: add a pinch of cinnamon, it won't disappoint as it will hight-en the chocolate taste without taking over.

1. heat your oven to 175 C
2. chop the chocolate & nuts
3. mix the sugar & egg and vanilla sugar till white & fluffy
4. mix the rest of the dry ingredients and add the the egg mix
4. add the butter, chocolate and nuts. Mix.

Sadly I left my cookies in the oven too long, but if you keep an eye on them (8-12 min in the oven) they should come out crispy on the outside and soft & chewy in the middle.

You could always add peanut butter instead of the hazelnuts, or peacans, walnuts. You could use dark, light or white chocolate or just replace chocolate & nuts with dried coconut.

My own nut chocolate

I crave chocolate a lot, and when I crave chocolate I can and will walk miles to find the right kind, the dark, nut filled kind. I bought some dark orange flavored chocolate the other day and wished it had nuts in it too, so since I had nuts at home I gave making my own nut chocolate a try. The result was yummy! I like that my chocolate had a mix of whole nuts and seeds, giving it lots of crunch. 

To make your own nut chocolate you need: 

• 125 gram chocolate (I used 70% dark but I do think you could go as low as 45% but not less as I think it might not get completly solid)
• Nuts - pecan, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, macadamia, brazil, (roasted hazelnuts is highly recommended)
• Seeds - sesame, sun flower, pumpkin
• Paper cup cake forms - optional, you can also allow it to spread out on a sheet of baking paper, giving it more of a real "flat" chocolate bar look & feel. 

Tip* you can also add partially crumbled digestive biscuits, dried fruit (fig, apricots, mango, banana, prune etc), raisins, a pinch of dried chili flakes, pepper, salt or cinnamon, lemon or orange zest. The list can go on and on but I think you catch my drift. you can add anything that you want and crave in your chocolate. 

1. Take a small sauce pan and fill it 1/3 with water. 
2. Find a bowl that can fit over the pan. 
3. Break up the chocolate into the bowl and turn on the heat, low. The chocolate will slowly begin to melt as the water in the pan under the bowl begins to boil and heat the bowl. Stir and turn off the heat once half the chocolate has melted. The rest of the chocolate will melt with the residue heat.
4. Add the nuts, seeds (dried fruit, spices etc) and stir. 

      5. Using oven gloves/mitts take the bowl from off the top of the pan (it will be hot so watch out)

      6. Now you can either fill 3-4 paper cup cake forms (use 2-3 forms per serving, otherwise the form     

         will not hold and the contents will spill out. The second option is to spread out the chocolate nut         

         mix onto a sheet of baking paper. 

7. Now you must have restraint and allow the mix to get solid which takes about 2-4 hours, you     

           could also allow yourself some of the still melted nut chocolate so that you can calm your craving           

           while the rest gets solid.

My kind of midday snack - Nut, coco, oat cookies

I look at a lot of food blogs, lots that use all sorts of inspiring healthy ingredients. Lots of these blogs use almond butter (like peanut butter but made of almonds) in their cookies and cakes. I had a oat cookie craving, as sugarless and healthy as possible. Lucky for me, I had both peanut butter and almond butter at home!

As per usual with baking I made my recipe up along the way....as I have said this isn't very clever as every so often the results are not what I had in mind. However, this made up batch of cookies "hit the spot" for what I was craving. To me this is the perfect midday snack that has a slight sweetness to it.

here are the ingredients, makes about 10 small cookies:

1 dl whole oats
1 dl broken/split oats (rolled?)
1 dl spelt/dinkel flour
pinch of salt
approx 1dl boiling water
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp almond butter
1 dl dried flaked coconut
1 tsp honey
5 dates
40 gram butter / possibly substitutable with 0,5 dl oil or coconut butter (?)
20 gram dark chocolate or more - depending on how chocolate filled you want them!

1. Begin by putting all the dry ingredients into a bowl.
2. Put on your oven and set it to 180 degrees
2. De-pit the dates and chop them up finely and add them to the dry ingredients.
3. Add the almond and peanut butter, coconut+ salt, mix this with the back of a fork, almost mashing it up.
4. Add 1/4th of the boiled water, mash the ingredients together again. Then add a little more water, this is  to help soften the oats, the moisture helps them cook through without having to add more butter or oil. Keep adding till the mixture looks as in the picture below.

5. Finally add the chopped up chocolate.

6. Place the dough in small balls onto baking paper on your baking tray.
 these will take approx 12-17min in the oven, depending on how cooked/crisp or pale you want them.

I would love to know if you like them or tried adding other ingredients that I could try out.