Plant based recipes made with love
This post is sponsored by WelleCo, all opinions are my own.
Brownies are one of those desserts that never get old, right? I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a brownie I didn’t enjoy. They’re usually very rich and sugary and for that reason I usually bake them every once in a while, for special occasions. Not so with this raw brownie! Gluten, refined sugar and dairy free and nutritious enough to have any time. No baking involved, just a blender, small pan and about 10 minutes to prepare! …
One of my favourite things to do is make a healthier version of a classic sweet. Especially if I can make one that’s good enough to have post workout. Cake is for anytime, not just for dessert, right? These chocolate cheesecakes may look just like their sugar laden counterparts, but they’re protein packed, refined sugar, dairy and gluten free and full of wholesome ingredients!…
Friends, I got a special recipe to share with you this week – marbled chocolate banana bread. This one is from my battered old cookbook and has been a staple recipe for over ten years now. It’s a keeper. You’re only an hour away from this delicious bread. …
I promised to publish this recipe a couple of weeks ago and it’s finally here! Rich, indulgent, no bake brownie that’s refined sugar free, gluten free and vegan of course.
If you’ve never tried raw brownies before, bookmark this recipe now! I promise you’ll love them – any dessert that’s loaded with chocolate and doesn’t require baking is always a winner for me.
I’m a huge brownie lover but I’m always on the hunt for a healthy version. This one is made with cacao rather than cocao, which is unrefined and therefore more nutritionally dense. I’ve also added chia seeds and maca powder to the brownie base, for an extra helping of protein, b vitamins and omegas. The base is fudgey but with enough bite to hold together and the chocolate ganache is smooth, creamy and sweet, so rich and delicious that just a little slice will suffice.
Feel free to play around with the recipe, you could try different nuts or seeds, personally I love using hazelnuts because they taste so magical with chocolate. I’ve made the base with almonds and walnuts and both came out delicious. I’ve had fun testing out these brownies, they never seem to last very long which is a good sign!
Many thanks to two of my faves, Minimalist Baker and The Bojon Gourmet who have both inspired me with their incredible raw brownie recipes to try out whilst creating these! This recipe is heavily adapted from their recipes so I must say thank you!
I’m thrilled to be featured in the first edition of In The Moment magazine, out in the UK this month! Lots of my recipes are in there, along with an in depth interview with me about how I got into veganism, blogging and cooking. For more information check out their website here (these brownies are featured there too).
If you do try these out, please let me know – I’d love to hear what you think of them! You can also subscribe to my mailing list (just look on the right of this page) and you’ll get my recipes emailed directly to you before anybody else.
Sending you copious amounts of chocolate ganache,
Bo
xoxoxo
It’s getting so cold here lately. It takes a lot to tempt me out of the house if I’m honest! It’s not all bad though, I love nothing more than drinking endless cups of tea whilst rustling up new recipes in the kitchen when the nights get longer. A whole host of new seasonal ingredients and comforting winter recipes are tempting me every day, I’m bubbling over with ideas!
There’s a few basic recipes that I always fall back on whatever the weather and these balls are one of them. The beauty of a bliss ball is that it requires hardly any cooking, minimal ingredients and it is almost impossible to get them wrong. The results are instant too, no need to wait for them to cook! My kind of recipe. I tend to become a bit of a snack monster when I’m cold, so a bliss ball can be just the thing to stop me reaching for something carby and sugary before dinner.
As well as being incredibly tasty and addictive, these babies are packed with goodness, oats, almonds, seeds, chia, dates and spices.
These are so easy to make, I’d love to know what you think if you try them!
Toppings –
Chia seeds, cacao powder, sesame seeds
1. Add all dry ingredients to your food processor and pulse briefly to combine.
2. Add in dates, vanilla, coconut oil and maple syrup and pulse until a dough is formed. Add more flour if it’s too wet, or a little water if it’s too dry.
3. Roll in chia seeds, cacao and sesame seeds and store in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
Do you like cake? Do you like chocolate and peanut butter? Yes? Well you’re in the right place, my friend. This chocolate peanut butter marble cake has been sent to satisfy your cake cravings. This was actually a treat for my boyfriend, who has been rambling on about a special cake for the past few weeks. He kept saying he doesn’t want anything fancy, just a ‘marble cake’. I dread to think what I’m going to have to make when he tells me his idea of ‘fancy’!
This baby is so easy to prepare but looks like it takes a lot of skill to bake (perfect for wowing that special someone). You can make it in a loaf tin, or two sandwich tins for a traditional cake. I bet it would be lush with a peanut butter cream in the middle. It’s made with spelt and plain flour, but feel free to sub with all spelt if you prefer, or a gluten free plain flour. I used ‘aquafaba’ for this cake too, which is basically the liquid from a tin of chickpeas or white beans. Sounds gross, but works amazingly well as an egg substitute and I promise it doesn’t leave any chickpea flavour at all.
Do you have a favourite cake? Please let me know if so in the comments below as I really enjoy veganising cakes. This cold weather has got me craving baking time too, so I’m on the lookout for new baking adventures!
Chocolate peanut butter marble cake
Dry
Wet
Oh hello there! I can’t believe it’s October already! Time is really flying this year and last month was the most hectic month yet. I now have two new kittens (Harry and Sushi) in my life and they are just about the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Have you ever tried to be in a bad mood with two tiny balls of fluff laying in your arms kissing each other? Well I have and it’s impossible. They definitely keep me on my toes. All I need to do now is train Sushi to stop climbing me like a tree when I’m about to feed her and we’ll be in crazy cat lady heaven. Life admin has taken over this month and I’ve been a bit behind with posts and photography but I’m ready to go again now, so expect some weekly updates for the rest of the year. I have a whole backlog of recipes I need to publish!
I am a true coconut lover, I think I have five jars of coconut oil at the moment, shredded coconut, coconut chips, coconut butter and coconut sugar. I also have coconut scented toiletries too, it never ends! It seemed only natural that I should indulge my coconut fantasies in the form of waffles. They didn’t disappoint. These coconut waffles are light and crispy and the raw chocolate sauce turns these beauties into something pretty special. You can keep the waffle batter for up to four days in the fridge, so this is a great recipe to make in advance for a lazy weekend. I added spirulina to the chocolate sauce, just to sneak some of my fave superfoods in. The recipe makes a lot of sauce, so you can make some raw chocolate with the rest (just pour it into a tray and set in the freezer), or just continue making waffles and chocolate sauce the whole week, which sounds like a great idea to me.
Coconut waffles
Raw chocolate sauce
This month has been full of change. In a really good way. So far I’ve been to a festival in a forest, spent five days in London with my best friend and made some really interesting new connections. It’s only the 19th already! I feel like I’ve learnt to embrace this rollercoaster of a year and welcome whatever else is coming my way with open arms. I definitely don’t feel like I’m the same person I was at the start of the year. It’s weird how sometimes a few months can make you feel like you’ve grown so much. I am truly grateful for the lessons this year has taught me. Without all of them, I wouldn’t be in this place right now. It’s a good feeling knowing it was all for a reason. I have so many plans for the next few months too, so it looks like the end of the year will continue to be eventful!
Anyway, back to breakfast cakes…. these little buckwheat babies are so simple to make and although they look like sweet little tarts, they are loaded with goodness. These raw, gluten free shells are free from nuts and sugar, and a couple in the morning will keep you going until lunch. Buckwheat is a super nutritious whole grain, great at fighting off those mid morning hunger pangs. Cacao is a natural anti depressant and improves your mood.. sounds like perfect Monday morning fuel to me! Load them up with yoghurt and your fave fruits, or make the shells in advance and decorate before serving. I guess these would make great party snacks too. I’m tempted to make them even smaller, into little canapés… I love tiny things! Unless we’re talking jars of peanut butter, then the bigger the better…
Cacao buckwheat breakfast tarts
For the tart shells (makes about 8 small tarts)
For the filling
These marbled muffins are sweet, moist and very delicious. Vegan (as always), refined sugar free and easily made gluten free if you sub the spelt flour for buckwheat or gluten free oat flour.
I included organic cacao powder and maca powder for an extra boost. Raw cacao is made by cold pressing unroasted cocoa beans. This process means the living enzymes in the cocoa are maintained but it removes the fat (cacao butter). Cocoa powder is made when raw is roasted at high temperatures. This changes the structure of the cocoa bean, reducing the enzyme content and lowering the overall nutritional value. Basically cacao means you can get the most health benefits from chocolate, which has to be a good thing! Maca is a great energiser, mood enhancer and balances hormones. It also has a gentle caramel flavour that really works in these muffins. I love the stuff!
I’d love to hear what you think if you try this recipe, it’s a firm favourite here!
Recipe – Makes 12 muffins
