Banana Avocado Chocolate Pudding
I loved this. Creamy, not too sweet, and very arguably- healthy!
I made it mainly because we had some overripe bananas and avocados. This is really important, do not try to make it with bananas and avocados that aren’t yet fully (if not over) ripe. This is essential for both sweetness and texture.
Lastly, you have your choice of sweeteners, I give some options in the list of ingredients.
- 2 bananas
- 1 avocado, pitted and peeled
- 1/4 cup or 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (depending on how chocolately you want it.
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup, Tate & Lyle golden syrup, or a handful of dates, soaked in water for a few hours before
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- To a food processor, add banana, avocado and cocoa powder. Process until just a few chunks remain, about 1 minute. With processor running, pour maple syrup through feed tube and process until completely smooth, scraping down bowl as needed, about 1 minute. Add vanilla and cinnamon and process until combined, about 10 seconds.
- Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until completely chilled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Chewy Molasses Cookies
These were SO GOOD, try them immediately. Not too sweet, not too sharp from the ginger, just right. We did debate whether or not the sugar coating is required… and I firmly believe that it is. You need good quality molasses, that’s important.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3/4 teaspoons ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup mild-flavored (light) or robust-flavored (dark) molasses
- 1/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- Coarse sanding or raw sugar (for rolling)
- Place racks in lower and upper thirds of oven; preheat to 375°F. Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and salt in a small bowl. Whisk egg, butter, granulated sugar, molasses, and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Mix in dry ingredients just to combine.
- Place sanding sugar in a shallow bowl. Scoop out dough by the tablespoonful and roll into balls (if dough is sticky, chill 20 minutes). Roll in sugar and place on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2" apart.
- Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until cookies are puffed, cracked, and just set around edges (over-baked cookies won't be chewy), 8–10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.
- MAKE AHEAD: Cookie dough can be made and rolled into balls 2 weeks ahead. Freeze on a baking sheet; transfer to resealable plastic bags. Let sit at room temperature 30 minutes before rolling in sugar.
Healthy Coconut Almond Cookies with Cacao Nibs
I’ve been working on the process of cleaning out the cabinets, in particular all the little half bags.
I googled coconut, almond meal, and cacao nibs, and this one popped up. It’s originally from Sprouted Kitchen, but I got the Minimalist Kitchen.
They are super healthy- the only naughty bit is the brown sugar.
Don’t overbake them. When they first come out they’ll look soft, but as long as there is a touch of golden brown I promise they’ll firm right up once they cool down.
- 1 ¼ cups (137 g) almond meal
- ¼ cup (30 g) chopped dark chocolate or cacao nibs
- ½ cup (40 g) shredded unsweetened coconut
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt (Sara used sea salt)
- 1/3 cup (73 g) brown sugar (Sara used muscovado)
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) coconut oil, melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together almond meal, dark chocolate chips, coconut, baking powder, salt and sugar.
- In a separate bowl, beat egg until uniform in color and doubled in volume.
- Whisk in the coconut oil and vanilla, then add to dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or even overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 C).
- Shape dough into 1-inch balls, place on baking sheet with 1-1/2 inch space in between each. Press down slightly to flatten a bit.
- Bake until edges begin to brown, 7-10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool before serving.
Coconut Pound Cake
This recipe is absolutely perfect. Easy, delicious, good for an afternoon snack, or also for a dessert after dinner.
I can imagine it with a scoop of ice cream or sorbet, or with some raspberry coulis.
It’s moist, and light, and unbelievably easy to prepare!
- 2 eggs
- 1 ¼ cups milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- Zest of 1 lime
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened, shredded coconut
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- Pre-heat the oven to 350° F.
- In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, lime zest, and salt. Add sugar and coconut, and stir to mix. Make a well in the center, and pour in egg mixture. Gradually mix with dry ingredients until just combined. Add melted butter, and stir until smooth. Do not over-mix.
- Line an 8 1/2- by 4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Pour batter into pan, making sure it isn't filled more than 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours, but start checking after 45 minutes.
- Cool in pan 5 minutes, remove bread from pan, and finish cooling on a rack.
Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
I was inspired to make these when I recently cleaned the kitchen and discovered a great deal of coconut that was about to expire. Not wanted to throw out food and have that on my conscience for weeks, haunting me… I discovered the below.
Easy, and yummy! The batter does need to sit in the fridge before you bake, so keep that in mind (and it can even play in your favour if you want to leave it over night and have a ‘ready to bake’ cookie dough on hand for a dinner the day after.
There is even an extreme advance prep option: Roll out the balls and freeze them on a cookie sheet. Once they’re set, transfer them to a resealable freezer bag or airtight container and keep them frozen for up to 3 months. Let the dough balls sit out at room temperature for 15 minutes before baking as usual.
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 stick (1/2 cup/113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, at room temperature, plus 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, coconut, baking soda, and salt.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium-high speed fluffy and yellow.
- Add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition for 30 seconds.
- Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the flour mixture in three parts, beating for about 10 seconds after each addition. Add the chocolate chips and mix until just combined.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop out portions of dough the size of golf balls, roll them between your palms loosely, and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet (you’ll need to bake the cookies in several batches). Bake for 14 minutes, or until the cookies are set around the edges.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat to make the rest of the cookies.
Andrew’s Cognac & Almond Birthday Cake with Rasberry Coulis
This weekend we surprised my brother for his birthday in Boston! We baked this cake the day before and brought it with us.
What a treat to be all together again before the new year kicks off.
A certain someone (the cutest baby in the world Maxwell) particularly enjoyed the raspberry coulis and wound up with vampire face.
The cake really belongs with the coulis, do not attempt to make only the cake. It’s easy enough to do both, and so worth it.
It’s inspired by a recipe found on epicurious, from Claudia Roden. The link is in the recipe card so if you’d like to read the original or read the Spanish roots, please do!
Florentiner
Final chapter of the Christmas cookies series: the crowd favourite-florentiner!
Hard to describe, kind of a toffee esque cookie, half dipped in chocolate.
Also the prettiest I think.
- 50g butter
- 125 ml cream
- 100g sliced and skinned almonds
- 125g sugar
- 1 bag vanilla sugar
- 65g flour
- 2 bars of dark chocolate
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Pre-heat oven to 180c.
- Combine butter and cream in a frying pan, on low heat until it boils.
- Combine almonds, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla sugar, and flour. Once mixed, add to the butter and the cream.
- Keep the dough liquid over a hot water bath as you make the cookies.
- Using two spoons, make tiny lumps onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 20mins at 180c.
- Once golden yellow, take out of the oven, let the cookies cool fully, and prepare the chocolate bath.
- In the same water bath, melt the chocolate bars. One by one, dip the cookies in, and place them on a non-stick surface (such as parchment paper) to harden completely (1-2 hours).
Matcha Snickerdoodles
Don’t be turned off by the green- they look a little extreme but if you are a Japanese Matcha lover, you can’t miss these.
Felix hates them but my colleagues tell me they are delicious so we can only deduce that Felix is not a credible judge in this matter.
Try them!
Just keep in mind that the dough needs to sit one day in advance (or at least a few hours), but that actually makes them perfect for a dinner because you can make the dough in advance and then bake them up when you are ready to eat.
- 2 cups flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 ½ teaspoons matcha (divided)
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature)
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons honey or agave
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- zest of 1 lemon
- 3 oz white chocolate chopped
- ½ cup white sugar
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and 2 tablespoons of matcha in a bowl and set aside.
- In a different bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter, brown sugar, and honey until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
- Add the egg, egg yolk, and lemon zest, and mix until very pale, about 4 minutes.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and, with motor running, add the flour mixture; mix until no dry spots remain. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix in the white chocolate.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and chill at least 2 hours and up to 5 days.
- When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350° F,
- Whisk the 1/2 cup granulated sugar and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons matcha in a small bowl; set aside.
- Scoop the dough by the scant tablespoonful onto 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing each about 1 inch apart.
- Bake the cookies, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until bottoms and edges are barely golden and cooked (top will no longer look wet), 8 to 10 minutes.
- Immediately -- but gently -- toss cookies in the reserved matcha sugar and place on wire racks; let cool. Store cookies airtight at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Mandelsplitter (Chocolate almond drops)
German Christmas cookies part 3: These ones are super easy, and actually don’t require any cooking! They are held together by hardened chocolate, so they are also on the healthier side of Christmas cookies. No flour, no regular sugar.
In fact the only naughty thing in here is the powdered sugar, the rest is arguably healthy.
- 125g splintered almonds
- 150g powdered sugar
- 25g cocoa
- 20g coconut oil
- 2-3 tablespoons of hot water
- Mix the cocoa, powdered sugar, coconut oil, and hot water together. The consistency should not be too liquid (rather on the firm side).
- Add in the almonds, and stir to combine.
- Using two spoons, form tiny lumps, and drop them onto parchment paper.
- Allow to dry and harden for 1-2 hours.
Spitzbuben (Star cookies)
Christmas cookie series: Part II.
Spitzbuben= star cookies.
These are those little jammy sandwiches that give you a lot of flexibility. You can make any shapes you like, and use any jam you like. Although SOME people think they can only be made with apricot jam.
- 300g white flour
- 250g butter
- 125g sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 125g ground almonds
- Mix together the flour, butter, sugar, egg yolks, and almonds (do it with your hands).
- Leave the dough for 1 hour in the fridge.
- After an hour, take the dough out of the fridge, and roll it out with a rolling pin, onto a lightly floured surface.
- Cut into whatever shapes you like, stars, circles, hearts, etc. Lay onto parchment paper and bake for 10-12 minutes at 180c.
- Take out of the oven, let cool one second, spread with a tiny amount of jam, and then make tiny sandwiches.
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