Browsing Tag

coconut oil

Friday Fare

Dark Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

May 2, 2014

As you may (or may not know, it’s cool if you don’t lol) I have been working on a yummy dark chocolate chip coconut cookies recipe for this week’s Friday Fare! The inspiration for this recipe honestly came about because I had all the ingredients in my cupboard and I reeeeally was craving cookies .. I love cookies, hehe. These cookies are kind of like a beginner’s guide to taking the healthy step forward – a few people have commented on how even though the recipe’s look great, there are several hard to get or expensive ingredients in them. And I totally understand, not everyone can live near a Whole Food’s with a bulk bin section!! So these cookies have ingredients that should be easy enough for you to get at your local supermarket 🙂

Dark Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

Dark Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

Don’t they look awesome?

I used a combination of oat flour (which you can make your own by just putting some rolled oats in a food processor and whizzing it about for a few seconds) and whole wheat flour, coconut oil and dark chocolate to make a healthier chocolate chip cookie. I really like oat flour because it has quite a lot of fiber and protein in it, and I used whole wheat flour because a) it is super easy to find in supermarkets and b) as opposed to white wheat flour which usually is stripped of all its nutritional goodness, whole wheat flour contains all of the fiber and vitamins that are supposed to be there. Coconut oil makes everything taste better (in my opinion) and contains a lot of healthy fats, and the dark chocolate is there to balance out the sweetness that comes with the brown sugar. Although brown sugar really is not that much healthier than white sugar, it gives a richer flavor and more moistness to the cookie. Like I said, this is a beginner’s guide to healthier cookies!

They are also dairy free as I used Almond Breeze’s almond and coconut milk.

Dark Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

Alice Williams
Melt in your mouth dark chocolate chip cookies with coconut.
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Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup oat flour
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk I used Almond Breeze's almond and coconut milk blend mmm
  • 1/2 cup or 4 squares of 70% dark chocolate pieces I buy the Lindt kind and break it up into small chunks, you can use a knife to chop them too
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp high quality salt

Instructions
 

  • 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit
  • 2. First, mix all of your dry ingredients (MINUS the dark chocolate) and then mix all of your wet ingredients. Now you can fold in the dark chocolate chunks.
  • 3. Roll the batter into small balls (should make 12) and then use a spoon to flatten them out on your baking pan.
  • 4. Bake the cookies in the oven for 8 minutes and then take out.
  • 5. Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes and then enjoy!

Notes

The cookies are meant to be a bit more cake-like in taste 🙂
Dark Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

Dark Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

I hope you all enjoyed this edition of Friday Fare. I had a lot of fun making these (and eating way too many in the process) and I hope you have just as much fun as I did. Next week I am thinking of featuring a sweet oatmeal dish but made using an interesting and different process from just boiling the oats or letting them soak overnight … 🙂 Either that or some sort of Thai curry.

Dark Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

If there is ever anything you would like me to make (a breakfast, dessert, salad or etc) then please let me know. I say this every week but I truly love hearing from you and appreciate your input and suggestions.
Have a great weekend everyone!!

Honestly yours,
Alice

Friday Fare

Raw ice cream cake

April 6, 2014

Firstly, apologies for being terrible with posts the past few weeks .. I may not be as regular as I was until this semester is over because the work is just piling up. Plus I had my friend over from England so I have wanted to spend as much time with her as I can before I leave! I hope my raw ice cream cake recipe makes up for my disappearance.

Raw ice cream cake

I have been wanting to share with recipe with all of you for a while now. The inspiration came from my desire to make a raw cake (although my version has peanut butter which is not 100% raw since it is heated, but it is considered raw when not heated) and my love for my healthified ice-cream recipe. Although this is not exactly a ‘guilt-free’ dessert it is much healthier and miles more nutritious than any store bought ice-cream cake. My ice-cream cake is packed full of healthy fats, and some protein and carbohydrates. It is also refined sugar free and vegan friendly 🙂 It can also be made gluten-free by subbing rolled oats with gluten free rolled oats.

Raw Ice Cream Cake

Alice Williams
This raw ice-cream cake is packed full of nutrients and none of the guilt!
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Ingredients
  

  • For the crust
  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup softened dates
  • 1/2 cups raw cashews
  • 1 cup coconut oil
  • 4 tbsp honey
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp cinammon
  • 2-4 tbsp peanut butter the peanut butter taste is quite strong so adjust it to your liking
  • For the cake
  • 5-10 sliced and FROZEN bananas 10 bananas if you want to make an enormous cake
  • Optional
  • 2-5 tbsp natural creamy peanut butter makes the consistency smoother
  • 3-6 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder again, adjust it to your liking

Instructions
 

  • 1. Alright, so first we want to prepare the crust. Put the oats, dates and cashews into the blender first and blend until you get a sand-like consistency.
  • 2. Then put in the rest of the crust ingredients and blend until you get a dough like texture. Shape the dough into your cake pan, or another circular object and let it sit in the fridge for 2 hours.
  • 3. After you have completed the crust, you can now make the ice-cream to put onto it! Blend your bananas with the cocoa powder and then scoop out on top of the crust. This stage takes quite a while because most blenders and food processors do not have room for this many bananas lol.

Notes

Does not freeze well and is best when served immediately after being made.
Raw ice cream cake

Raw ice cream cake

And there you have it!! A much healthier and nutritious way to make an easy no bake cake crust and healthy ice-cream 🙂 Unfortunately this lovely dessert does not freeze well, as the ice-cream gets a little icy 🙁 I will be experimenting with a way to make a more freezeable healthy ice-cream to try and combat this.

Raw ice cream cake

 

Raw ice cream cake

Hope you enjoyed this (late) edition of Friday Fare. Are you going to try this recipe out? Let me know in the comments box below!

Honestly yours,
Alice

Health

10 ‘Bad’ to Healthy Food Substitutions

March 11, 2014

top 10 2

Okay first off, when I say bad I do NOT want to demonize anything. All things in moderation are fine and dandy, so by ‘bad’ I mean foods that have a lot of calories, fat, or are just pretty nasty and chemical laden in general.

I realize that a lot of you are not all health gurus and thought it would be helpful to do a list of some easy ways to swap out ‘bad’ foods for healthier and more nourishing foods to jump start your journey to a healthier and fitter life 🙂

1. Instead of white bread (read lack of nutritional value and simple carbohydrates) for whole grain bread, or breads with low sugar content! My favorite breads are sourdough and Ezekiel brand ‘Sprouted 100% Whole Grain.’

2.No more soda!! Even diet soda please .. and I know it is hard, because even I get these completely random and absurd cravings for diet coke (damn you, Aspartame …). But please try and stick to water and teas (no not Starbuck’s chai tea latte’s, an actual tea bag placed into hot water).Be creative! Slice lemon and strawberries into your water, and buy flavored herbal tea’s 🙂

3. Instead of white rice (refer back to #1), substitute this for brown rice, wholegrain rice, or my favorite, quinoa! Quinoa is actually a seed but is classified as a whole grain.

4. Instead of white or milk chocolate (packed, packed, packed full of sugar) substitute it with dark chocolate (70% cocoa or higher) or carob. If the taste is too bitter, you can always melt the chocolate and add a few drops of stevia to it to sweeten it up 🙂

5. Instead of french fries made from potatoes, use sweet potatoes to make them .. and bake them, don’t deep fry! If you would like a recipe, please let me know and I will do a feature on an upcoming Friday Fare 🙂

6. Instead of butter (on your toast, in your baking and/or cooking) use coconut oil! Another substitute would be olive oil, or avocado (for putting on toast).

7. Instead of a sugary candy bar, substitute it with berries and other fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, and apples!

8. Instead of fast-food pizza, make your own pizza at home with whole wheat flour!

9. Instead of ice-cream, which tends to have a lotttt of sugar in it, substitute it for my healthified ice cream 🙂

10. Finally, substitute your negative attitude into a positive one! I know this obviously is not a food substitute but it is important nevertheless. A healthy and positive mindset on life will do so much more than any food substitutions will, and give you the motivation to strive for a healthier lifestyle.

Hope this helps you find a way to have a healthier version of what you love eating. What is your biggest ‘bad’ vice? Let me know in the comments below 🙂

Honestly yours,
Alice