A little green treat

I need afternoon snacks, and sweet ones are always preferable. This little green treat is an adjusted version of The Green Kitchen Stories magic mousse. The variation came about as I didn't have raw cacao powder and because I was craving something green. It's just about the simplest and quickest treat to make and it will fulfil that creamy, sweet, craving you might have late afternoon. 

Here is what you need, serves one: 

1 ripe banana

1/2 ripe avocado

1/2 tbsp raw cacao nibs

pinch of himalayan sea salt

1 tbsp nut butter of your taste* ( I used a mixed version containing, almond, cashew and hazelnut)

1 tsp - spirulina/ chlorella or other green super food powder

* keep in mind that the nut butter will influence the texture and taste. Tahini is always a winner in my opinion but it will turn this treat towards a more savoury flavour.

Place all the ingredients in a blender, mix, taste adding more nut butter or cacao to taste.

Now sit back and enjoy the healthy treat you made!

Sprouted buckwheat, banana & cocao nib granola

My sister has sent me granola from Australia twice and both times when the granola nears the end I am depressed. The Australians call the activated buckwheat granola Buckini's. I like the sound of that. 

So I tried to make something similar. Not close to as good as the Aussie version but close enough. 

Buckwheat is gluten free, in fact it's a fruit not a grain. The health benefit of anything sprouted is what you awaken the otherwise dormant nutrients locked in the sprouted ingredient. So basically you're boosting the nutrient content. While making it much easier for your system to digest. 

If you don't have the patience to sprout the buckwheat (trust me it's super simple), you could use just dried regular buckwheat. Just not sure if it will turn out really hard. 

I recently found out about the super food lucuma. It's a natural sweetener, low GI,  that is often used in Central America. The added benefit is that it contains good levels of the cancer fighting B vitamin Beta-carotene, iron, zinc as well as calcium and protein. It's the first time I use it and for me, it was a mild enough sweetness with no strange long lingering after taste. 

I bet adding some hazelnuts to the mix would also bring about another level of yummy. 

Ingredients: 

4 dl sprouted buckwheat*

2 tsp ground cardamon or cinnamon 

1,5  banana - over ripe, mashed

1,5 tbsp coconut oil, melted

pinch of salt 

1,5 dl pumpkin or sunflower seeds, or half of each  

1,5 dl walnuts or pecans 

2 tbsp lucuma - optional

1,5 dl shaved coconut

1 dl chia seeds or flax

1 dl mulberries

2/3 dl cacao nibs

optional - 2 tbsp maple syrup (if you like your granola sweet)
yocuma

1. Pre-heat your oven to 150C. 
2. In a bowl add the sprouted buckwheat, mashed banana, coconut oil, salt, cardamon or cinnamon and mix (and maple syrup of you want extra sweetness). You want to mix it thoroughly. 
3. Add the nuts and seeds and the flaked coconut. 
4. Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper. 
5. Spread the mix out so that you allow for as much browning of each ingredient as possible. 
6. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30-40min. Each 10min you want to give it all a stir, so that you get everything roasted and toasted without burning. 
7. Allow to cool completely before transferring to a container, then add the chia/flax, mulberries, cacao nibs and mix or shake around to spread those last yummies evenly through the granola. 

This granola will keep out of the fridge for about 1 week. So eat up!! I can highly recommend eating it with coconut or sheep yoghurt and some fresh fruit of the season. 

* Sprouting buckwheat is real simple. Add the dried buckwheat to a bowl and cover with water for 8 hours (over night), place a plate over the bowl so its not air tight but covered. Rinse thoroughly and then return the semi wet buckwheats to the same bowl. Again cover with a plate. Leave for another day.

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.