Super Simple Gluten Free Chocolate Brownies

Two weeks in a row... not bad going, right? ;-)

These brownies are lovely, rich and chocolatey, and with a few cheeky ingredients swaps, not as bad for you as you might think!!

It seems to have become a recent habit of mine to find a recipe, decide to try it, and then change it around a bit in the process of making it. This particular recipe started it's life as a 37-calorie brownie recipe, which Joy posted to the Cake'n'Bake club Facebook wall. My version is about 64 calories, as I used sugar instead of sweetener, and added some chocolate chips. They went down well in my office! (Note - the calorie content will change depending on the brands you use... I make no promises!) I'd also recommend using milk chocolate chips, as I found these injected a bit of sweetness into the rich chocolate brownie which just MADE them.

Ingredients:
50g rolled oats
175g low-fat natural yogurt (I actually used a soy yogurt which worked just as well)
50ml milk
70g cocoa
30g caster sugar
1 medium egg
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
50g milk chocolate chips

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 12-15 minutes
Makes 16 brownies

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and grease and line a square brownie tin.
2. Pop your oats into a blender and whizz to a fine flour - don't worry if there are a couple of bigger bits, as long and it's mostly ground.
3. Tip all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix together to form a thick batter. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 12-15 minutes, until springy to touch.
4. Allow the brownies to cool in the pan before turning out onto a chopping board and slicing into 16 squares.
5. Enjoy with a cup of tea, completely guilt free!!

Happy Thoughts
x

Healthier Than Usual Brownies

It would be a lie to say this recipe was healthy, but with a few changes (and the help of an unexpected ingredient!) these brownies are much healthier than their traditional counterparts.

This recipe is based heavily on this recipe I found on BBC Good Food (I LOVE GOOD FOOD!), with a few extra changes to make the brownies even lighter! My dodgy old maths skills tell me that per brownie, there are approximately 104 calories and 3.5g fat - not too shabby for a chocolatey treat! I think this is my favourite of the healthier recipes I've posted this month, and even though I don't think the brownies tasted quite as good as normal full-fat full-sugar lots of chocolate brownies, they were still better than most store-bought brownies I've ever tried! I will definitely be coming back to this recipe again.

Ingredients:
50g dark chocoalte
75g dark brown sugar
3tbsp stevia
1tsp vanilla extract
40g (2tbsp) buttermilk
1 medium egg
120g extra light mayonnaise
85g plain flour
pinch of salt
40g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Makes 12 brownies

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 and line a square baking tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Melt the chocolate, either in the microwave on short bursts or in a bowl over hot water, then pop this to one side to cool slightly.
3. Stir the sugar, stevia, vanilla extract and buttermilk into the cooled chocolate until all combined. Beat the egg into the chocolate mixture, followed by the mayonnaise. The mixture should now be smooth and glossy.
4. Sift the flour, salt, cocoa powder and baking powder into the chocolate mixture and gently fold in until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes, until firm but still a little sticky on top. 
5. Allow the brownies to cool in the tin, then turn them out, cut into 12 and enjoy the relatively guilt-free chocolatey goodness!

Happy Thoughts
x

Banana Oat Muffins

This recipe is a favourite in our house, not only because it makes really delicious, moist banana muffins, but also because it's a fantastic way to use up over-ripe banana, which we always seem to have leftover at the end of the week. I'll usually make a batch of these at the weekend, then wrap them up individually in cling film once they've cooled so that I can freeze them. I have found that if I get one out in the morning and let it thaw in the cling film, it will be ready to eat with a cup of tea at lunch time!

Now, you may be thinking that these muffins don't sound particularly healthy, and you'd be right. I mean there are worse things for you, but they do contain rather a lot of fat and sugar, so why are they being posted in a month I've dedicated to healthier baking? Well, I decided to experiment with substitutes and make a reduced fat and sugar version, and a low-fat sugar-free version of this recipe, to see how they turned out. I think the original version is still the best, but the other versions are tasty too. The most interesting thing about doing this was looking at what went into the muffins and what I could use instead!

I've provided the approximate calories, fat and saturated fat content of each recipe below, so I'd also like to include a disclaimer. I am not a nutritional expert in any way, shape or form. I'm just a girl who likes cake. I worked out the calorie, fat and sat fat content of each recipe using a pen, paper and calculator and the information found on the food packets. This information could vary dependent on the brands you use, on the size of your muffin pan, and on how much you trust my math skills. Values are given as a guidance only!!

Ingredients

For the original (and tastiest) variety     Reduced Fat and Sugar                 Low-Fat and Sugar-Free  

125g margarine                                           50g margarine                                  3 large over-ripe bananas  

2 large over-ripe bananas                            2 large over-ripe bananas                 125g applesauce

50g caster sugar                                          75g applesauce                                75g honey

50g soft brown sugar                                   50g soft brown sugar                       2 medium eggs

1tbsp runny honey                                       50g honey                                       100g self raising flour

2 medium eggs                                            2 medium eggs                                 100g porridge oats

100g self raising flour                                  50g self raising flour

100g porridge oats                                     150g porridge oats

Calories = 284                                           Calories = 227                                  Calories = 189
Fat = 13.25g                                              Fat = 7.14g                                       Fat = 2.35g
Sat Fat = 3.35g                                          Sat Fat = 1.76g                                 Sat Fat = 0.56g

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 15 – 20 minutes

Makes 8 muffins

1. If using, melt the margarine in the microwave and place to one side to cool.
2. Preheat the over to gas mark 6, and line a muffin tray with cases.
3. Break the bananas onto chunks, then mash them with a fork. Try to mash them up as much as you can to make sure there are no big lumps – the runnier the better!
4. Add the sugars (if using) and all of the wet ingredients to the banana. Beat together with the fork until all of the ingredients have combined.
5. Add the flour and the oats to the mixture, and stir with the fork until just combined.
6. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases, filling each one around ¾ full, then bake for 15-20 minutes until dark golden brown all over. Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Happy Thoughts

x

Almond Biscotti

You know, an Italian colleague of mine told me an interesting thing about biscotti - when she first moved to England from Italy, she went into a coffee shop, and surprised to see it sold there, asked a member of staff why they sold it. "It goes with cappuccino," she was told. It turns out that in Italy, biscotti is actually served with wine!

I first made some white chocolate and cranberry biscotti to go into my Christmas hampers back in December (I'll post that recipe soon - they were yum!), but I realised it would be a perfect recipe to re-visit in my "healthier baking" month, due to the low-fat content. This time I've switched out the chocolate and cranberries for healthy almonds! I worked out an extremely rough estimate of the fat and calorie content per piece, based on 16 pieces: 103.5 calories and 3.6g of fat - not too shabby for a snack of this tastiness! Please don't take this as a given though, I'm not a nutritionist, dietitian or mathematician for that matter, plus all of your pieces will be slightly different sizes and so the figures above will vary, I've just provided them here as a guideline.

Ingredients:
200g plain flour
30g ground almonds
1tsp baking powder
50g whole almonds
75g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
2 medium eggs

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 50-55 minutes
Makes 16 pieces of biscotti

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
2. Put all of your dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix together. Create a well in the centre of the dry mix. Add the vanilla extract and the eggs to the well you created then start to beat with a fork, working in the dry mixture a little at a time until a rough dough forms.
3. Knead the dough lightly by hand until it becomes smooth, then break in into two pieces. Shape both pieces of dough into a sausage shape, then place them on the prepared baking tray. Make sure to leave plenty of space in between them as they will grow!
4. Pop the biscotti dough into the oven for 20-25 minutes until it firm to touch and just starting to turn golden brown. Remove the biscotti from the oven and allow to cool on the side for 5-10 minutes, until cool enough to handle. Leave the oven on at gas mark 4.
5. Once the biscotti is cool enough to handle, slice into it diagonally with a serrated knife, to create pieces a little over 1cm thick. Put those pieces back onto the baking tray and bake for a further 25-30 minutes, until crispy and golden brown all over.
6. Allow the biscotti to cool on a wire rack before tucking in!

Happy Thoughts
x