Tag: sugar free

No-Bake Chocolate Coconut Flapjacks

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First I’d like to say thank you to my best bud Gemma at Gemma Bateman Photography for teaching me how to use my camera – how good does this pic look! She takes awesome baby photos so contact her if you need baby pics 🙂

These are so bloody yummy and decadent, and totally gluten, dairy, sugar and egg free. I love the combination of coconut and chocolate so for me these are just delish. Probably one of my nicest recipes yet.

Ingredients 

Base:
2.5 cups organic rolled oats
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 tbsp almond butter
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
2-4 heaped tbsp desiccated coconut, depending on preference

Chocolate fudge:
1/2 cup cacao powder
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 tbsp almond or cashew butter
1/2 cup coconut oil

Topping:
Handful coconut chips

Method

First make the base by melting the coconut oil in a saucepan on a low heat, then add to a blender with the rest of the ingredients except the coconut.

Once blended add to a bowl and mix in the coconut.

Spoon into a lined square silicone baking tray and smooth down with a spoon or your fingers and put in the fridge for 30 mins.

Now make the chocolate by melting all the ingredients together in a saucepan on a low heat.

Once the 30 minutes are up, pour the chocolate on top of the base layer and put in the fridge for a couple of hours, or until set.

Once set sprinkle the coconut chips on top then cut into squares and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Love & health,
Lauren

Easiest Yummiest Healthiest Brownies

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Thanks to my friend Emma at Mrs Hollingsworth’s for the inspiration for these yummy brownies. These may become a staple when needing to bake something that’s quick and easy with very few ingredients.

They’re actually great for baby led weaning as all natural ingredients and a wonderful (albeit messy!) texture that babies will love. I’d advise leaving out the walnuts if making these for babies.

They’re gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free and vegan. Oh and they’re shamazing! What’s not to love??

Ingredients

1 cup cacao powder
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup medjool dates, pitted
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax seeds soaked in 3 tbsp water and left for 10 minutes to thicken)
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup cashew or almond butter
Pinch Himalayan salt
1 tbsp water (more if needed)
1/2 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 cup walnuts

Method

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. This temperature really is key with brownies, any hotter and they won’t be gooey.

Now put all the ingredients except the walnuts into a food processor and blend until a smooth and sticky batter forms. If it’s too sticky (i.e. it forms a big ball), just add in a little more water a tablespoon at a time until you get the desired consistency. Crumble the walnuts into the bowl and stir in, then spoon the batter into a lined baking tin or mould and press down with a spoon to make sure it’s all nice and even.

Bake for 25 minutes, then leave for another half an hour to cool (as the brownies will continue to cook after they are taken out the oven).

Once cool, cut into squares and devour!

Love & health,
Lauren

Pancake Day Pancakes

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Well, if I do say so myself, Braxton is a lucky little boy – he got to eat pancakes for dinner tonight! I wanted to update my recipe and get a good picture up there in time for you all to prepare for pancake day tomorrow!

These are so easy to make and totally guilt free: gluten free, refined-sugar free, dairy free, egg free and DELICIOUS! Takes 5 minutes to wizz all the ingredients together and you can use any toppings you like from chocolate sauce to maple to lemon and sugar… give it a whirl!

Ingredients

2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 2 tbsp water)
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
1.5 ripe bananas
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 cup almond milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
Coconut oil for cooking

Method

Make the flax eggs by mixing the flax seed with water in a small bowl and leaving it to the side.

Add all the ingredients to a food processor and wizz until smooth.

Heat some coconut oil in a pan and when hot, add a small ladle full of the mixture in a pancake shape. It will only need about a minute, then flip it and do another minute, or until you think it’s cooked through.

Continue until the mixture is finished.

Top with almond butter, homemade chocolate sauce or maple syrup or coconut yogurt and blueberries like we’ve done here.

Love & health,
Lauren

Apricot & Coconut Buckwheat Granola

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apricot-coconut-buckwheat-granola

I’m obsessed with granola and have been making yummy granola with oats for years (check out the recipe here) but I’ve never made it with Buckwheat before and I’m not sure why. It’s much lower GI and more easily digestible and despite having ‘wheat’ in its name, it’s not wheat at all, it is in fact a plant! I saw buckwheat groats in Planet Organic and decided to buy them and give this a go.

This turned out really delicious and you can really add anything you like to it.

Serve with chilled almond milk and it’s just divine!

Ingredients

300g buckwheat groats
50g coconut chips or desiccated coconut
50g sunflower seeds
50g pumpkin seeds
Pinch Himalayan salt
4 tbsp coconut oil
3 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
4 tbsp maple
Good handful coconut chips or desiccated coconut
About 10 dried apricots cut into small pieces

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Melt the coconut oil in a saucepan. Put the buckwheat in a large bowl and pour over the melted coconut oil along with all the other ingredients except for the apricots and mix well.

Spread out evenly on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes then stir it well, and bake for another 10 minutes.

Take it out the oven and mix in the dried apricot slices and leave to cool before putting it in a glass jar or plastic container. It will keep for a good while!

Serve with chilled almond milk.

Love & health,

Lauren

 

Apple & Cinnamon Granola Bars

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These are the best things for on-the-go breakfasts for those busy mornings. You can freeze them and defrost in batches as and when you need them which also helps. They are full of slow-releasing energy and great nutrients with no refined sugar, dairy, gluten, wheat or eggs so are the perfect healthy breakfast or snack for you and the kids.

Ingredients

2 tbsp chia seeds
230g oats
140g medjool dates
3 tbsp coconut oil
5 tbsp applesauce (homemade or store-bought apple puree)
4 tbsp almond butter
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of Himalayan salt

Method

Put the chia seeds in a small bowl with 8 tsp purified water, mix until incorporated and leave for about 15 minutes until it turns into a gel. (this will be an egg replacement)

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and line a 26x26cm square silicone baking tin with baking paper and grease with coconut oil.

Put the dates and coconut oil in the blender and blend until nearly smooth but there can be a few lumpy date bits.

In a bowl, mix the oats, applesauce, almond butter, cinnamon and salt then mix in the date and coconut oil mix.

Add the chia gel once it’s ready and mix well.

Spread into the prepared baking tin and press down so it’s evenly distributed and put in the oven for 20 minutes.

Leave to cool fully before removing and cutting into slices or squares.

Love & health,
Lauren

5-Ingredient Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Cups

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peanut-butter-cups

I am a peanut butter fanatic and I make no apologies for that – just can’t get enough of the stuff! So growing up, Reeses Pieces would have been my ideal choice of sugary snack but just like with my mini Bounty bites, I wanted to come up with a healthy alternative and these are so unbelievably indulgent but refined sugar free, gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, egg free and vegan.

I actually  made these about 4 years ago for the first time but it was before I had the blog so I never posted a picture and obviously haven’t thought about making them again until now – heaven knows why. But a friend of mine, fashion blogger Sarah from We Are Twinset (check them out here), mentioned them so it gave me the inspiration to make them again.

They seem like they’d be really hard and time-consuming to make but I promise they are so easy! Give them a go, the kids will love them (that’s if you leave any left over for them!)

Ingredients

Chocolate layer:
4 tbsp coconut oil
3 tbsp cacao butter
3 heaped tbsp. cacao powder
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
Pinch Himalayan salt (optional)

Peanut butter filling:
3 tbsp organic, natural peanut butter
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1-2 tbsp maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like it)

Method

Start by making sure you have room in your freezer to place a baking tray flat.

Now line a cupcake baking tray with 12 muffin cases.

Prepare your chocolate layer by melting all the ingredients together in a saucepan over a low heat. The salt is optional so if you aren’t a fan of salted sweet snacks, leave this out.

Once ready, spoon into the muffin cases, reserving half of the mixture for the top layer. Put in the freezer for 20 mins.

At this point, make the peanut butter filling by melting the coconut oil then mixing it in with the peanut butter and maple in a bowl. Mix really well.

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Take the tray out the freezer and spoon a good dollop of this mixture onto the chocolate bottom layer and put back in the freezer for half a hour.

Once set, add the remainder of the chocolate layer to the top and put back in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Once ready, you can remove the muffin cases if you want to and store them in an airtight container in the fridge (easier to eat that way) or freezer if you want them to keep for longer, you may just have to wait 10 minutes when taking them out for them to soften a little bit.

Love & health,
Lauren

Classic (But Healthy) Banana Bread

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banana-bread

Happy new year everyone! Kicking off the very cold new year with a hearty banana bread – the best comfort food for cold days. This is my classic banana bread recipe but I had loads of bananas leftover that I needed to use up so I decided to stick on in the middle (coated in chocolate of course) and see how it comes out! It was yummy 🙂

Wishing all my followers a very happy and healthy new year. Let this be the year that we respect our bodies for all that they do. We need to stop putting pressure on ourselves to look a certain way and just eat and live healthily to give our bodies the best chance. Lots of love ❤

Ingredients

3 large very ripe bananas, mashed (if they are small, use 4)
1 whole banana for the middle (optional)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 heaped tbsp. coconut oil, melted
1 tbsp flax seeds
4 tbsp filtered water
1 cup buckwheat flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Chocolate sauce to coat the banana in (optional):
2 tbsp cacao powder
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp tsp cashew butter

Method

(Quick note: if you want this to  be quick and simple, just leave out the optional chocolate-covered banana in the middle, the cake will be just as nice!)

Preheat the oven to 180° and line a loaf tin with baking paper and grease with coconut oil.

Make the chocolate sauce by melting all the sauce ingredients on a gentle heat in a saucepan. Coat the whole banana in the chocolate sauce and leave in the fridge to set.

Mix the flax seeds in a small bowl with the water and set aside so it can set. (this is a flax ‘egg’ and used instead of eggs.)

Mash the other 3 bananas in a large bowl and add the coconut oil and maple, then add the flax mix and mix well.

Now add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.

Move just under half the batter into the loaf tin then put the chocolate-covered banana on top. Now add the rest of the mix on top of the banana.

Put it in the oven for around 25–30 minutes, or until a fork comes out clean. My oven tends to cook things much quicker than most so it’s been a bit of a learning curve, your oven may need more time.

Leave on a wire rack to cool then turn out of the loaf tin onto a plate.

Delicious served with peanut or almond butter!

Enjoy!

Love and health,
Lauren

Vegan Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

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Crunchy, yet slightly gooey peanut butter cookies. What could be better?

Braxton has decided he’s on hunger strike at the moment so I’m trying to find just anything that he’ll eat and I made these in the hope that he’d like them and he did, he was very happy. Now just to get him to eat broccoli…

We are also going away soon and I wanted to test out new things that I can take as snacks on the plane. Muffins always go down well but I thought that some harder cookies would also make a nice (and less messy) snack. Trying to figure out 24 hours worth of food and snacks for a 14 month old is no easy feat!

Anyway I kind of just threw the ingredients for these together but they turned out so delicious, I’m really happy with them.

Of course, as usual, gluten free, grain free, dairy free, refined-sugar free and vegan.

Ingredients

125g buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch Himalayan salt
45g coconut palm sugar
60ml maple syrup
5 tbsp almond milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
4 tbsp coconut oil and extra for greasing
5 tbsp peanut butter

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line 2 baking trays with baking paper and grease with coconut oil.

In a bowl, mix together the buckwheat flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt.

In a saucepan over a gentle heat, add the rest of the ingredients except the peanut butter, and heat gently until melted.

Once melted, add the peanut butter and stir until it’s softer.

Once that mixture is smooth, add it to the dry mixture. You might have to get in there with your hands as it could get a little crumbly. If it is too crumbly and won’t stick, add more coconut oil, maple and almond milk, but not too much.

Take a small amount in your hand and roll into a ball shape, then flatten it on the prepared baking tray. Repeat until you finish the mixture.

Bake for 7 minutes. They should look golden around the edge but still white-ish in the middle as they will continue to harden when they come out the oven.

Leave to cool before removing from the trays and keep in an airtight container in a cool place.

Love & health,
Lauren

Beetroot Mash

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beetroot-mash

How gorgeous and bright does this look for a dull winter’s day? I just love the colours of nature and colours are a great way to entice children to eat vegetables. Beetroots are full of nutrients and are such an important vegetable.

Beetroots are an excellent source of folte so a great food to eat when pregnant or trying to conceive. They are also high in iron, potassium and fibre and are great for the heart. Generally an all-round wonderful vegetable.

I had a bunch of fresh beets in the fridge and juiced a few but wanted something warm so I decided to make this beetroot mash. It’s more like a beetroot puree really as I blended it. So creamy and soft and moreish.

I made something very similar a while back and added horseradish, so if you like a kick to your mash, try that one out!

Ingredients

2 beetroot
5 white potatoes
Quarter cup almond milk
Quarter cup vegetable stock
Himalayan salt & black pepper to taste

Method

Peel and chop the beetroots and potatoes.

Put the potatoes in a saucepan with boiling water and boil. If you have a steamer saucepan, put this over the top of the potatoes and put the lid on so they can steam and boil together. If you don’t, boil or steam the beets separately.

When they are both soft, mash the potatoes with a masher.

Add the beets to the blender and blend until smooth, then add the potatoes, stock, almond milk, salt and pepper and blend until puree-like.

Add more stock or almond milk if you need.

Love & health,
Lauren

Cacao & Cashew Oaty Bites

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cashew-cacao-oaty-bites

I may even go as far as to say that these are the tastiest things I’ve ever made…

I have to be honest, I wasn’t sure if it would even work but oh dear lord they do! So simple; literally took 5 minutes, 1 spoon, 1 saucepan and a cup, and to make it even more exciting, there is no refined sugar, dairy or gluten and totally vegan. It makes giving sweet treats to kids easier. Braxton is 13 months and has never had refined sugar and I want to keep it like that. If he always has treats that taste this good, hopefully he’ll never feel the need to binge on the rubbish stuff 🙂

Cacao is also a great plant-based protein which is essential for babies, as well as the essential fatty acids in the coconut oil.

Basically, MAKE THESE!

I used Biona coconut oil, coconut palm sugar and cashew butter as I prefer their ingredients so use them wherever I can ❤

Ingredients

3 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp coconut palm sugar
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp almond milk
1.5 tbsp cacao powder
4 tbsp cashew butter
1 cup organic rolled oats

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Method

Heat all the ingredients except the cashew butter and oats in a pan, on a low heat, very gently until combined.

Once melted, turn off the heat and stir in the cashew butter and keep stirring until fully incorporated.

Now add the oats and stir until totally mixed into the mixture.

Wait until it’s cooler, then spoon a tbsp. full onto a plate that has baking paper on and press into cookie shapes.

Leave to cool then once cool put in the fridge for an hour until set.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Love and health,
Lauren