chocolate

No-bake nut, cherry and white chocolate cookie dough balls

Zanne Healthy snacks, Thermomix , , 0 Comment

I’ve been blissing out on healthy / raw / vegan alternative sweet treats for the last few months and these are my absolute favourites. They taste just like cookie dough, but with all the naughty bits removed.

After experimenting with nuts and dates for low-guilt, high-energy treats to have as snacks before my workouts, I tried something new with these, adding rolled oats for a more dough-y texture and dried cherries because, well, mmmmh cherries! And if you don’t roll them in white choc drops they’re probably healthier, but cherry and white chocolate is too good a combination and should not be sacrificed for the sake of calorie counting.

So, get ready for blissballs!

almond-white-chocolate-cherry-cookie-dough-balls

INGREDIENTS

Makes about 20 bite-sized balls

90g rolled oats
100g almonds
50g cashews
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
75g dried cherries
40g maple syrup
20g agave nectar (or skip the agave and use 80g maple syrup altogether)
50g white chocolate drops (optional…but oh so good)

TO MAKE THE BALLS

  1. Blitz the oats, almonds and cashews in a food processor until they are a fine, floury consistency.
  2. Add the cherries, salt, vanilla and sweeteners and blitz again until the mixture starts to form a dough.
  3. Form into bite-sized balls and roll in the chocolate drops. Or, for the perfectionists, if you stick the choc drops in with the point side and keep rolling gently until they’re fully submerged you get the polka dot effect.

Keep in the fridge (if you manage to not eat the whole batch at once.)

Quick, skinny raspberry and white chocolate muffins

Zanne Cake , , 0 Comment


Making the most of the season’s berries while summer lasts!

The summer bake-a-thon continues! With English produce finally arriving in the supermarket, I’m in a rush to make as much of the berry season as I possibly can. This week’s quick and easy summer muffins are super light and juicy, stuffed full of whole raspberries and melt-in-your-mouth white chocolate chunks. And with low-fat yogurt replacing most of the butter in the recipe, they’re practically skinny! =)

INGREDIENTS
Makes 14 cupcakes

80g unsalted butter, softened
100g light brown soft sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g natural low-fat yogurt
300g self-raising flour
220g raspberries
120g white chocolate, chopped
7 extra raspberries

TO DECORATE
50-80g white chocolate

TO MAKE THE CUPCAKES

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line two muffin tins with 14 paper cases.
  2. Cream the butter, adding the sugar until it becomes fluffy. Gradually mix in the eggs and beat well. Beat in the yogurt and vanilla extract.
  3. Sift the flour over the mixture and stir in until just combined. Finally, fold in the whole raspberries and the chocolate chunks.
  4. Spoon the mixture into the cases, filling them no more than two thirds. Cut the remaining raspberries in half and put one half on top of each cupcake with the sliced side facing down. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

TO DECORATE

  1. Once the muffins are cooled completely, melt the chocolate (for example by blitzing it in a cup in the microwave for 2 x 20 seconds). Fill the melted into a small freezer bag, snip one corner and use this ingenious device to drizzle the muffins evenly with as much chocolate as your heart desires. (They might not be so skinny after all.)


If you leave some chunks of white chocolate sticking out at the top, your muffins will get a delicious, almost caramelised crust.