Gluten Free Chocolate Brownies

Posted on July 17, 2018 by teesnutrition

These brownies are definitely a favourite with my friends and family!! Also a bonus that my sister can enjoy them as well 🙂 Not one of my most nutritious recipes but I’m all about balance and these brownies are so delicious, perfect with a cuppa tea!

Ingredients (makes roughly 15)

375g butter

300g milk/dark cooking chocolate

120g cocoa powder

100g gluten free self raising flour (I use doves)

500g caster sugar

6 eggs

Method

Preheat your oven to 180°C and get your baking tin ready, I used a 30cm x 20cm tin and lined it with baking parchment.
In a heatproof bowl over some simmering water or in the microwave, melt the butter and chocolate and mix until smooth.
In a separate bowl, sift the cocoa powder and flour. Add the sugar and mix together.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs.
Add the melted butter/chocolate mix and the eggs to the flour mix. Mix altogether until you have a smooth, silky consistency.
Pour the mix into your baking tray and place in the oven. Check after 30 minutes, at this point the brownies are starting to brown well on top but still have a wobbly centre. Put back in for another 15 – 30 minutes (a total of approx 45 – 60 minutes bake time).
You want the brownies to be slightly gooey and moist in the middle so if you skewer them, it’s not going to come out clean. As long as there is a slight spring on the outside once you take them out of the oven, this will be fine.
Allow to cool on a tray and cut into delicious brownie squares 😀

Enjoy,

Tee. X

Donal Skehan’s Raspberry Almond Muffins & Red Velvet Beetroot Chocolate Muffins

Posted on February 8, 2016 by teesnutrition

Made both these recipes at the weekend for a fundraiser coffee morning. The original recipes are both from Donal Skehan’s cookbook ‘Fresh’ but I changed them around a bit using a few different ingredients 🙂

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Raspberry and Almond Muffins

Ingredients

150g coconut oil, melted

125g coconut sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

150g buckwheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

50g ground almonds

100ml almond milk

250g raspberries

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
Beat the coconut oil and sugar together in a large bowl until combined. Add the eggs and continue whisking again until well combined. Stir through the vanilla extract.
Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and then fold through. Fold in the ground almonds and almond milk. Finally, gently fold in the raspberries until evenly dispersed.
Divide the mixture between the muffin cases, filling each one about two-thirds full. Bake for 20 minutes-25 minutes, or until golden brown and a thin metal skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Leave to cool slightly on a wire rack.

Red Velvet Beetroot Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients

100g dark chocolate, melted

200g cooked beetroot

110g coconut sugar

110g coconut oil, melted

2 large eggs

175g buckwheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

50ml almond milk

(For the chocolate frosting, if you want to be very good you can leave this out 😛 )

100g butter, room temperature

100g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp boiling water

50g cacao powder

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
Purée the cooked beetroot until smooth using a hand-held stick blender and then add in the melted chocolate.
Beat the coconut oil and sugar together in a bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer. Whisk in the eggs until well combined. Mix in the flour, baking powder and milk and finally fold in the chocolate and beetroot mixture.
Divide the muffin mixture between the paper cases, filling each about two-thirds full, and bake for 20-25 minutes until a thin metal skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool.
For the frosting; beat all the ingredients together until you have a thick paste. Once the muffins have cooled, spread the frosting on top of the muffins using a small palette knife.

Enjoy 🙂

Tee.X

Raw Chocolate & Caramel Squares

Posted on January 6, 2016 by teesnutrition

I have the biggest sweet tooth and chocolate is definitely one of my weaknesses! So as you can imagine Christmas was a bit indulgent with all the sweets and chocolates around!

Even though I’m so sad Christmas is all over with now, I love the feeling of getting back into my normal eating routine which is filled with lots of nutritious foods! My sweet tooth is never going to go away though so I always try to make sure I have some healthy treat lying around so that I don’t go for the bad stuff!

I love these raw chocolate and caramel squares because they are the perfect treat after all the Christmassy indulgences and are guilt free too! Definitely worth a try and they’re so easy to make too – no cooking required 🙂

Ingredients

First Layer:

20 medjool dates, pitted

5 tbsp coconut flour

1/4 cup water (more if needed)

Second Layer:

20 medjool dates, pitted and soaked

1 tbsp cacao butter, melted

Third Layer:

100g dark chocolate, melted (the darker the better)

Method

Start with the first layer. Blend dates in a food processor until you have a big and sticky ball. Break the ball up slightly before adding in the coconut flour and mix again until you have a powder consistency. Add water gradually until it starts to look like a crumble. Remove and place in a square glass container (mine was 20cm x 15cm). Spread with the back of a spoon until you have a nice flat layer. Freeze.
Next is the second layer. Using the same food processor (no need to clean it out), blend the soaked dates and melted cacao butter. Slowly add in the water used to soak the dates until you have a smooth and creamy consistency, be careful when adding the water, you don’t want it to be too liquid, should be thick and creamy. Spread over the first layer and freeze again while you prepare your melted chocolate.
Once your chocolate is melted, spread over the caramel layer and freeze again for 5 minutes until the chocolate has hardened.
Top with some of the leftover first layer if you have some. Slice into squares…

…and enjoy 🙂

Yummy! 😀

Tee.X

Donal Skehan’s Strawberry & Chocolate Overnight Oats

Posted on November 18, 2015 by teesnutrition

Finally got a hold of Donal Skehan’s new cookbook ‘Fresh’ and I love it! I would highly recommend picking up a copy for yourself because there are so many nutritious recipes in there and pretty straight forward to make as well!

Anyway was feeling like trying out something different for breakfast this morning so I went with one of Donal’s recipes for overnight oats 🙂

I just made a couple of changes to his recipe but nothing major 🙂

NB. If you are planning on making this recipe, remember you must prepare the oats the night before!

Ingredients

25g porridge oats

1 tbsp chia seeds

150ml almond milk

1 tbsp honey/agave syrup/maple syrup

1 tsp cacao powder

3 strawberries, cut in half

2-3 tbsp natural yoghurt

1 tbsp raw cacao nibs

1 tbsp desiccated coconut

Method

Combine the oats, chia seeds and almond milk in a jar with a tight-fitting lid (or what I did was use a glass and cover tightly with 2 layers of cling film) and place in the fridge overnight.
Mix together the honey and cacao powder and set aside.
(Optional) Warm the soaked oats mixture in a microwave or pan.
Top with the yoghurt, strawberries, chocolate sauce, cacao nibs and desiccated coconut.

So yummy!!

Enjoy 🙂

Tee. X

Flourless Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Posted on November 14, 2014 by teesnutrition

I found this recipe on instagram during the week and was so excited to make them! However, one of the main ingredients in the original recipe was black beans which I failed to come across in Tesco yesterday so I compromised and bought a can of red kidney beans instead (my friend thought I was crazy!).

Today, just before going ahead with making these brownies, I stared at the can of red kidney beans because I wasn’t sure if I should chance it or not seeing as the recipe had black beans so I put the can back in the cupboard. A few minutes later I came back and decided to give it a go because how bad could they turn out right?

This recipe was very easy to make, literally threw everything in the food processor, not giving the measurements much attention as I was so afraid of how they would turn out. Once all the ingredients were processed, things started to look good.. Into the oven and about 20 minutes later I decided to take them out. After letting the brownies cool for a while, I cut them up into squares and had my first taste…

And GUESS WHAT?! They tasted GREAT! Extremely moist and melt-in-the-mouth delicious! I even tricked my sister into trying one (my toughest critic) and without telling her that there was red kidney beans in the recipe, she tried one and after a while I asked her what she thought and she was convinced they were just like normal brownies… *victory dance* 🙂

These brownies are really so healthy. They are a great source of plant protein, fibre, iron, potassium, magnesium, folate and antioxidants! They’re a great recipe for anyone that is gluten-free, dairy-free or vegan as the oats and chocolate can be adjusted to your needs.

I’m so excited about this recipe and so excited for you all to try it so here it is:

Ingredients

1 15-oz can (Net weight 400g/Drained weight 240g) of black beans/ red-kidney beans (drained and rinsed very well)
3 tbsp cocoa powder/herbalife chocolate formula 1
1/2 cup oats
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup agave syrup/honey/maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
200g of chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.

2. Combine all the ingredients except for the chocolate chips in a food processor, and blend until completely smooth, so blend really well.

3. Stir in 3/4 of the chocolate chips, then pour into a greased 8×8 pan (I used grease proof paper for lining the pan).

4. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips on top.

5. Cook the brownies in the oven for 20-25 minutes but keep an eye on them because temperatures of ovens differ.

6. Then let cool for at least 10 minutes before trying to cut them into squares.

7. Makes between 9-12 brownies.

These brownies were perfect warm after coming out of the oven so if you want them later on, heating them up slightly will probably enhance their taste.

Would make a great dessert warm served with some chocolate and toasted almond nobó ice-cream (Going to try this later!)

Also if anyone tries this recipe with the black beans before I do, I would love to know how they turn out 🙂

Enjoy 🙂

Tee x

Chocolate Hazelnut & Almond Cookies

Posted on October 18, 2014 by teesnutrition

Ingredients

1 cup (150g) whole raw hazelnuts
1/3 cup (50g) whole raw almonds
1/4 cup (25g) ground almonds
1/4 cup cocoa powder (25g)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 tbsp maple syrup/honey
dark chocolate, melted (optional)
desiccated coconut (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 190°C.
Grind the hazelnuts and almonds in a food processor until they are coarse and release just a little bit of oil. Be careful not to process for too long or you’ll have hazelnut butter!
Add the ground almonds, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Pulse a few times until well combined. It should be like a fine flour. Transfer this mixture to a large bowl.
Add the melted coconut oil, vanilla and syrup to the bowl and stir the mixture.
Form the dough into balls (about golf sized balls) and flatten somewhat. They don’t expand much.
Bake for approximately 12 minutes.
When cool, top with melted dark chocolate and dessicated coconut if preferred.

Enjoy,

Tee x