SUGARLESS BROWNIES

                                                                                                           I had a serious hankering for some homemade chocolate brownies, so to satisfy my cravings I concocted a healthier recipe by substituting most of the ingredients for healthier options. I could have gone one step further and used coconut oil instead of butter, but there's only so much coconut oil a girl can take. The ingredients may be a little on the pricier side of things, but these bad boys tasted no different from the original double-the-caloire recipe, so totally worth the money in my book!

HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE GRANOLA

Hi, my name is Ari and I'm a granola addict. There, I said it. I could eat granola for breakfast, lunch and dinner so there are more than a few different variations in my kitchen cupboard. Only problem is granola can often be extremely high in sugar, and it keeps us comin' back for more. I wanted to make a healthier version and found the perfect recipe over on Madeleine Shaw's blog, but adapted it slightly to what I had on hand (and added oats, this girl's gotta have her oats). This ticks all the boxes - satisfies those cravings for a good granola, yoghurt, fruit combo in the morning and does the job when I need my chocolate fix in the evenings too. 

Now, someone hide the granola, the cravings are back. 

INGREDIENTS

150g hazelnuts

150g walnuts

150g almonds

50g sunflower seeds

100g oats

1 banana

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp raw cocoa

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp melted coconut oil

The rind of 1 orange

METHOD

1. Preheat your oven to 180C. Pop all of the nuts and seeds into a food processor and blitz for 2-3 second bursts. Be careful, you still want them crunchy. Pour onto a lined baking tray and add the oats.

2. Put the banana, ginger, cinnamon, cocoa, coconut oil and honey into the food processor and blitz into a paste. Pour over the nuts and seeds and mix up with a spoon, or get in there with your hands and toss around.

3. Pop into the oven for about 20 minutes, or until crispy.

4. Add the orange zest once cooled. 

RHUBARB CRUMBLE

Crumble is a long standing breakfast, lunch, dinner dessert in my house. Name any fruit, chances are someone in my house has made a crumble with it. They're pretty easy to throw together but yield such a delicious result. This time round, I opted for a rhubarb crumble. Tart fruit with a sweet and crunchy topping, all brought together with a scoop of ice cream. Excuse me while I go get seconds.

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE FRUIT

600g rhubarb

60g sugar

FOR THE CRUMBLE

120g flour

60g butter, softened

25g oats

70g light brown muscovado sugar

30g flaked almonds

30g roughly chopped hazelnuts

METHOD

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180C. Roughly chop up the rhubarb into 2 inch thick pieces. Place the rhubarb and the sugar in a large, lidded pot over a low heat and stew for about ten minutes until the rhubarb chunks are soft. If you might like your rhubarb more tart, add less sugar and taste after the ten minutes. Add as much more as you like. Don't be tempted to leave the rhubarb on the heat for much longer, it will stew further in the oven.

2. Add the flour and chopped up soft butter in a large mixing bowel and rub together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the oats and sugar and mix thoroughly.

3. Add the flaked almonds and hazelnuts to the mixture. These are optional, and you can vary the amount depending on your preference. The more you add, the rougher the texture.

4. Pour the rhubarb into an oven proof dish and cover with an even layer of the crumble mixture. Sprinkle another handful of flaked almonds on top. Bake in the oven for between 25-35 minutes, until the crumble is golden brown. Don't worry if the rhubarb bubbles up the sides of the crumble, perfectly normal. 

5. Serve warm with some homemade vanilla ice cream. And then go back for seconds, obviously.

RASPBERRY & BLUEBERRY OAT CRUMPETS

For as long as I can remember, crumpets have been my deliciously indulgent go-to treat for weekend brunch. So when my Mum changed up her signature recipe to a healthier version with oats instead of white flour, I was more than delighted. I made these over the weekend, and with some blueberries and raspberries added into the mix I didn't feel half as guilty eating more than my fair share!

Raspberry & Blueberry Oat Crumpets

makes approx. 15

8 ozs oats

1 oz castor sugar

1/4 teasp salt

1/2 teasp bread soda

1 teasp cream of tartar 

1 oz butter

2 eggs

250 ml milk

raspberries

blueberries

Grind up oats in a food processor until they resemble flour. Sieve dry ingredients into a bowl and rub in the butter. Drop eggs into the centre, add a little of the milk and stir rapidly with a whisk. When half the milk is added, beat until air bubbles rise. Add the remainder of the milk.

Drop a good dessertspoonful into a hot pan,* and cook until bubbles appear on the top. Flip over and cook until golden on both sides. Serve immediately with a dollop of butter and homemade jam.

*I usually drop my blueberries, raspberries or chopped strawberries into the crumpets as soon as they're in the pan, instead of mixing it into the batter, to allow everyone to choose their own quantity of specific berries. Chopped up dark chocolate is another yummy option for a more decadent filling.