I think I’ve found my new favourite breakfast. Baked banana and peanut butter oatmeal. Who knew oatmeal could be so versatile? I’ve been meaning to try baked oatmeal for so long now and I had no idea how delicious it would be. This oatmeal ticks all my comfort food boxes – easy to prepare, delicious warm or cold and packed full of tummy pleasing flavours!…
Matcha choc chip ice cream sandwiches
Believe it or not, I really struggle with baking cookies. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve made loads of them before, but they have always either come out too cakey, too hard or just lack that not too crunchy chewiness that I long for. …
Matcha and blackberry curd tarts
These matcha and blackberry curd tarts may just be my favourite recipe yet. Simple, sweet and light, they make the most wonderful dessert or snack. These babies are vegan, gluten and refined sugar free and very almost raw. The flavour combination is something else, I promise you will love them!…
Tropical bircher bowls
Tropical bircher bowls are just what this new month calls for. Zesty, vibrant, fragrant and fruity food is what I’m lusting for after what feels like an eternity of cold weather. The first blossoms are starting to appear on the trees, the birds are singing and I’m planting some edible flowers this weekend, which means spring is coming! I couldn’t be happier. …
Onion Bhaji with a lime and coriander dip
I’m craving comfort foods right now. Comfort food to me is usually something Indian inspired. A big hug in a bowl daal, a fluffy naan bread, a spice laden pot of potato curry or a heaping mountain of steaming hot, fragrant rice. Basically anything with spice and carbs or vegetables and I’m there. All over it. …
Lazy cookies
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you’re lazy if you make this recipe. However if you want a cookie that’s healthy, incredibly easy to whip up and won’t leave your kitchen in a mess, this is the one for you!…
Hazelnut overnight oat cups
I’m saying goodbye to January with these hazelnut overnight oat cups, layered with salted date caramel, and hazelnut butter. Life is good when this is breakfast.
It’s almost the end of the longest month in the history of time. Seriously, this month has felt like forever! A cold, hard January calls for extra yummy breakfasts. When there’s no summer berries and the cupboards are bare, it’s time to get creative with what I have left. One thing I always have a tonne of is oats. I usually have a 10kg bag in the garage. It sounds excessive and to be honest, it probably is, but when times are hard, oats can make milk, porridge, flapjacks, biscuits, flour and these cute wee breakfast pots (I also like to think that should the worst happen and world war three breaks out, I’ll have enough food to see us through until at least 2020).
Prep a batch of this the night before you want to eat it. I usually make the nut butter in the morning, when the hazelnuts have fully cooled. If you can manage your time better than me, you could definitely make the nut butter in the evening too- just be sure to let those nuts cool fully, your blender will thank you. The date caramel probably makes more than you need (although the cups pictured are super dainty), so you’ll have plenty left to spread on toast, pancakes or ice cream…mmmm.
Hazelnut overnight oats
- 3/4 cup oats
- 1.5 cups nut mylk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp hazelnut butter
- 2 tbsp chia seeds (I use Organic Burst chia)
Hazelnut butter
- 2 cups hazelnuts
- 1 tsp salt
Salted date caramel
- 1 cup dates, pitted
- 1 tsp salt (I prefer pink himalayan salt)
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- If you’re making your own hazelnut butter- preheat oven to 180•c and lay 2 cups of whole hazelnuts flat on a baking tray. Roast until golden and fragrant, about 12-15 minutes, check on them half way through to make sure they aren’t burning.
- Allow to cool fully. Pour hazelnuts into a clean tea towel, wrap the sides up and roll them around on the counter to remove the skins. Don’t worry if you can’t get them all off, but less skins make for a smoother texture. Add to blender, along with salt and start off blending slowly, after 7-8 minutes it should be getting runny. Keep going until pourable. Store in a clean jar. No need to rinse out your blender- it will help with the next step.
- To make the overnight oats – add nut mylk, chia, vanilla and hazelnut butter into your (hopefully still sticky) blender and pulse briefly to combine. Now add the mixture to your oats and stir through with a spoon. The mixture should be quite runny at this stage- add a little more mylk if you need to- the chia seeds will soak up all the liquid. Leave in a large jar overnight.
- Before you go to bed, add your dates to a small bowl and cover with water. This will help soften and plump them up for the caramel.
- In the morning, drain your dates. Save this sweet water for smoothies or oatmeal, it’s delicious. Add drained, pitted dates, salt and boiling water, a little at a time, to your blender and combine until smooth and gooey.
- Layer your jars with salted date caramel, hazelnut overnight oats and hazelnut butter. Garnish with banana coins and crushed hazelnuts.
Mini Mocha Cheesecakes
It definitely is too late to say it now but happy New Year!! I hope it’s all been positive so far! Mine has been the best yet. I can’t wait to share more creations with you in 2017. The last year has been full of change from start to end, but I am so grateful for the journey and most of all for your support. Thank you for stopping by and supporting me on Facebook, Instagram, this blog or in person by eating my food! I really do love doing this and feel incredibly blessed to be able to inspire others to try eating more plants, or begin to think about food differently. It makes me all fuzzy inside when people try my recipes or try something new because of me. I love sharing the benefits of this lifestyle with as many people as possible. I’m full of ideas for 2017, pretty excited to see where this year takes me!
Aside from hibernating with the kittens, I’ve been scurrying about the kitchen recipe testing and my latest food crush are these raw mocha cheesecakes. It has been a recipe I’ve been dreaming of for a while because I love coffee… all types, black, milky, sweet, chilled, in cake form… I’ll take it all! Mocha seems like a safe option for people who may not like coffee because I’ve added a little chocolate and who doesn’t like chocolate? Actually I do know a couple of people, but still, more for you if they don’t like it!
These are indulgent, creamy, not too sweet treats but still dairy, gluten and refined sugar free. They really don’t take much effort to make, just remember to soak your cashews before hand, no matter how hard I try, I always forget. I definitely recommend enjoying a couple of these with a cup of the black stuff for the ultimate coffee shop experience!
Hope the year continues to keep you and your loved ones safe, healthy and well fed.
Peace and coffee,
Bo x
Base
- 2 cups almonds
- 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
- 1/2 tsp pink himalayan salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2-3 tbsp maple/rice syrup or coconut nectar
Filling
- 2 cups cashews, soaked overnight and drained
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 cup maple/rice syrup or coconut nectar
- 1 tsp pink himalayan salt
- 4 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/2 cup very strong black coffee, chilled
- 2 tbsp cacao powder
Chocolate drizzle (optional)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp cacao powder
Toppings (optional)
- 1/2 cup chocolate coated coffee beans (grind 1/4 cup of beans for the mocha dust)
Line a square baking tray with greaseproof paper, leaving a little extra hanging over the sides for easy removal.Prepare your base by adding almonds, coconut, salt and cinnamon until a fine flour is formed. Add syrup a tablespoon at a time, until mixture sticks together between your fingers. Add a tablespoon of water if it’s too dry, or a little extra coconut if it’s too wet.
Press base mixture into a pan evenly. Set aside in the fridge while you make the filling.
Blend soaked cashews, coconut milk, vanilla, lemon juice, syrup and salt until very smooth and creamy, around 4-5 minutes. Pour roughly half the mix on to your base. Set aside in the freezer to set, at least 2 hours.
To the remaining filling, add coconut oil, cooled coffee and cacao. Pour over to make the third and final layer. Set for 2-3 hours in the freezer, then slowly lift out the pan and slice into little squares with a sharp knife.
To make the drizzle, add coconut oil, maple syrup and cacao to a small mixing bowl and mix with a fork until smooth. Drizzle over cheesecakes and top with coffee beans and mocha dust. Keep in the freezer for up to a month. Best eating after thawing for 10 minutes.
Cranberry and pistachio energy bars
These cranberry and pistachio energy bars have been a firm favourite in my house this month. They’re so quick to prepare and compared to traditional energy bars, which in my experience tend to be dry, flavourless and tough, these are moist, sweet and incredibly moreish. The best bit is you can easily swap the ingredients around depending on what you have in your pantry- I love flexible recipes. The perfect way to use up all of those leftover bags of dried fruits and nuts from Christmas. Pistachio and cranberry is a wonderful combination though, so I’d recommend grabbing these if you can. They freeze really well too, so I’ve been making a big batch on a Sunday to enjoy through the week.
Feel free to add in your favourite superfoods, nut butters, dried fruits, coconut shreds, whatever you fancy really, just keep the proportions of wet to dry ingredients the same and you’ll struggle to go wrong.
I’ve worked all through the Christmas period and now I’m off for three whole days and I can’t wait to cook and shoot again, I really miss it if I can’t take pictures every day. I’m going to be rustling up some turmeric lemonade today, after spotting this beautiful recipe on my friend Janine’s blog. Take a peek here to check it out, the photography is stunning and her blog is a joy to visit. If you’d like to follow her on Instagram, you can find her at @nutsandblueberries.
Hope you’re staying warm, my sweet peas! Wishing you a very happy New Year, roll on 2017!!!
Cranberry and pistachio energy bars
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds
- 1/ 4 cup chia seeds
- 1 cup pitted dates
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup shelled and roughly chopped pistachios
- 1/4 tsp pink himalayan salt
- Preheat oven to 190•c. Pour oats, almonds, walnuts and seeds onto a baking tray and spread out evenly. Toast in the oven for 10 minutes, until slightly golden.
- Add dates and 1/2 cup of hot water to a food processor and blitz until a date caramel has formed. Add date mixture and toasted oat mix into a large bowl.
- In a small pan, gently melt maple syrup, coconut oil and almond butter. Once combined, add to the large mixing bowl with the date caramel and oats. Stir well until everything is coated. Now mix through the cranberries, pistachios and salt, leaving a few pistachios and cranberries for the top.
- Line a small square baking tin (mine was 8×8 inches) with parchment paper- leave a little hanging over the sides so it’s easy to remove later. Flatten the mixture down with your hands or the back of a spoon. Now add your remaining pistachios and cranberries to the top.
- Set in the freezer for 30 minutes, or an hour in the fridge. Cut into 12 bars and store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
Clementine sesame raw cookies
Hey babes! I’m sorry for being away a lot lately, life has been pretty hectic this month and the days are so short my time for photography is very limited (I should probably get an artificial light but I’m too stubborn). I’m back with this wonderfully easy raw cookie recipe though- full of festive ingredients to get you in the Christmas spirit. There’s something about cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger that makes my heart happy, they smell truly magical together.
Sweet, citrusy, delicately spiced and full of vitamins, they’ll help to keep you snacking healthy this Christmas. They’re vegan, refined sugar free and no bake- meaning less washing up and minimal prep time (less than 10 minutes). They’d be a great cookie to make with little ones too.
I can’t believe this year is almost over. What a year it has been. I could never have predicted just quite how unpredictable it could be. It’s been a rollercoaster in every way possible but thankfully I’m ending it on a huge high and I’m so grateful to the universe for everything it has thrown my way.
I’ve learnt that sometimes bad things need to happen so you can see things as they really are. And it’s far better to have your eyes wide open than be blinded to the truth, however painful it may be. I’m ending the year on a massive high with somebody I truly love and everything feels like it is going to plan for the first time in my life!
Fortunately my new man has taken to this whole vegan malarky like a fish to water, so I have an excuse to make loads of food again. The whole raw cookie thing was completely unchartered territory for him, so I knew I had to create something extra sweet and delicious to make a good first impression (the green smoothies are still too ‘funky’ for him at the mo hehe). These babies hit the spot for sure, although he didn’t get to enjoy that many as I wolfed them down in less than two days. I’d love to know if you try these, either leave a comment below or please take a pic and tag me on Instagram – @bos.kitchen, it would make my day!
Stay warm and nourished, sending you a big hug and an even bigger bag of cookies.
xx
Clementine sesame raw cookies (makes about 16 small cookies, or 12 big ones)
- 1 cup oats
- 1 cup cashews
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds
- 1/4 tsp himalayan pink salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 cup agave/maple syrup
- 1/4 cup melted cacao butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 clementine, juice and rind
- 1/4 cup dairy free choc chips
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries/sour cherries other dried fruit
- Add oats, cashews, walnuts and 1/4 cup of the sesame seeds to a food processor and grind to a flour.
- Add salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg to the blender and pulse briefly to combine.
- Tip dry ingredients into a bowl and stir through the clementine juice, agave syrup, melted cacao butter and vanilla until the dough comes together. It should be very moist and smell awesome (feel free to taste test at this point)!
- Now stir through the choc chips, 1/4 cup sesame seeds and cranberries. Shape into little balls and flatten into a cookie shape. Sprinkle with extra sesame seeds and clementine rind. Eat right away, or pop them in the fridge to firm up. Keep in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container.