Tag Archives: chocolate

Vegan Chocolate Star Cookies

Cookies, Gluten-Free, Snacks, Vegan, , , , , , , ,

These festive vegan chocolate star cookies are fun to make over the Christmas period! They are delicious and chocolatey and perfect for an afternoon treat! These vegan chocolate star cookies are 100% cruelty- and gluten free! if you are feeling creative you can also try out my vegan raisin cookies or my vegan ginger cookies.

Vegan Chocolate Star Cookies Vegan Chocolate Star Cookies Vegan Chocolate Star Cookies

Makes 12 star cookies

Ingredients

225g Gluten free oats

1tsp Baking powder

3tbsp Cacao powder

1tbsp Ground flaxseed or gram flour

150ml Almond milk

100ml Rapeseed oil

2tbsp Agave nectar

50g Raisins

Instructions

Firstly preheat the fan oven to 180C.

Secondly weigh out the oats and pour them into a blender (I used the Vitamix) with the baking powder, cacao and flaxseed. Blend until you have a fine flour.

Now pour the flour into a bowl and add the raisins. Make a well in the middle of the flour. Measure out all the liquid ingredients into a jug. Now pour some of the liquid mixture into the well. Mix together until it forms a sticky cookie dough. Add the remaining liquid mixture to mix in any flour sticking to the sides of the bowl.

Next put a piece of baking paper on a baking tray. Place an 8.5cm star-shaped cookie cutter onto the baking paper. Next scoop out the dough using a dessert spoon and drop a portion into the star-shaped cookie cutter. Press down with a teaspoon until the dough fills the star shaped evenly. Now repeat again until you have 12 star cookies!

Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

Finally remove from the cookies from the oven and leave to cool.

Enjoy your cookies! Store in an airtight container and eat within a week.

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Raw Chocolate Bar

Recipes, Snacks, Vegan, , , , , , ,

Treat yourself to a homemade, dairy free and sugar free chocolate bar for Easter! It’s very easy to make, especially if like me you always have coconut oil in your cupboard!

I’m always on the look out for sugar free chocolate. You can buy dairy free, but refined sugar free is hard to find. I don’t eat refined sugar as it makes me feel dizzy and jittery! So I decided to make my own sugar free chocolate bar! I used agave nectar to sweeten the chocolate which is low GI and doesn’t give you that unhealthy sugar rush!

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Makes 1 bar

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Freezing time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

100g               Coconut Oil or Cacao Butter

5tbsp              Cacao Powder

3tbsp              Agave Nectar

1/4tsp             Himalayan Pink Crystal Salt or Sea Salt

Method

Heat a pan of water on a low heat and place the coconut oil or cacao butter in a bowl over the pan. Slowly melt the coconut oil or cacao butter.

Now add in the cacao powder and mix well with a metal whisk until it is smooth.

Lastly add in the agave nectar and the salt and mix well.

Now take the bowl off the heat and pour the mixture into a small, rectangular plastic container in the shape of a chocolate bar.

Put in the freezer for 40 minutes.

Remove from the freezer and using a knife cut the chocolate bar into a grid to make the chocolate segments.

Now you can indulge in delicious chocolate!

Store in the fridge.

Vegan Chocolate Cake!

Cakes, Desserts, Gluten-Free, Recipes, Snacks, Vegan, , , , , , , , ,

Indulge in this delicious, guilt-free chocolate cake made without dairy, eggs or gluten. It is so simple to make and your friends and family will love it! I used the same ingredients as in my Vegan Chocolate Muffins recipe to make this chocolate cake and used my Raw Chocolate Mousse recipe to make the tasty chocolate icing! I plan to make it as a birthday cake on my birthday!

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Cake Ingredients

150g              Quinoa

150g              Brown Rice

1tbsp             Coconut Oil

3tbsp             Ground Flaxseed

5tbsp             Cacao Powder

6tbsp             Agave Nectar

1tsp               Apple Cider Vinegar

3tsp               Baking Soda

1/4tsp            Pink crystal salt

500ml            Almond Milk

Chocolate Icing Ingredients

1                     Ripe Avocado

4tbsp              Cacao powder

2tbps              Agave nectar

300ml             Almond milk

1/4tsp             Pink crystal salt

Topping

100g               Raspberries

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Grease a cake tray with the coconut oil.

Add the quinoa and brown rice into a Vitamix blender and blend on full power for 30 seconds to make the flour. Now add in all the other ingredients. Blend for 30 seconds until well mixed.

Next pour the mixture into the cake tray.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes.

When the cake is cooked, leave it to cool for 5 minutes and then carefully remove it from the tray and place on a rack to cool.

Now make the icing. Add the icing ingredients into the blender and blend for 30 seconds on full power until well combined.

Spoon out the icing on top of the cake and spread evenly with the back of a spoon. Place the raspberries around the edge of the cake.

Store in the fridge and eat within 4 days.

Valentine’s Day Treats

Articles, Desserts, Gluten-Free, Recipes, Vegan, , , , , , , ,

Happy Valentine’s Day! <3 <3

This is a special day to spend with your loved one appreciating what you have together. Or if you are single you can treat yourself to show yourself how much you love and appreciate yourself!

Why not indulge in my delicious Chocolate Snowballs this Valentine’s Day! Or share a bowl of my dreamy Cashew & Banana Ice Cream!

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Chocolate Smoothie for Vitamin B2 Deficiency

Articles, Health, Nutrition, , , , , , , , , , ,

This delicious chocolate smoothie is rich in vitamin B2 (riboflavin) which is used to treat angular cheilitis and seborrheic dermatitis! I developed this smoothie after discovering that I had angular cheilitis which is dry, cracked, crusting skin on the corner of the mouth.

Vitamin B2 deficiency is a major cause of angular cheilitis along with deficiency of vitamin B3, B5, B6, B12 and stress. I also have seborrheic dermatitis on my cheeks and nose which is why I knew it must be vitamin B2 deficiency, as the symptoms of seborrheic dermatitis and angular cheilitis are strong indicators of B2 deficiency.

So I looked in my my nutrition textbook for food sources of vitamin B2. According to Liska et al. (2004) the richest sources of vitamin B2 are animal products such as organ meats, fish and eggs. As I am vegan I looked down the list and saw that almonds are a rich source, as well as mushrooms. These are foods that I am not eating much of. I needed a way to get these foods into my everyday diet and had the idea to create a smoothie!

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Food Amount Vitamin B2 (mg)
Almonds 50g 0.46
Kale 100g 0.26
Cashews 50g 0.125
Sunflower seeds 50g 0.115
Prunes 50g 0.11
1.07

The UK reference nutrient intake (RNI) for women between the age of 15-50 years is 1.1mg. So I worked out how much of each ingredient I would need to get near to my RNI.

I am going to drink this smoothie everyday for a month and see if my angular cheilitis and seborrheic dermatits disappear! If there is no improvement it is either because it is caused by something else such as stress, or I am not absorbing nutrients well and need to work on my digestion!

I had some cacao powder to hand so added some into the smoothie mix to give a delicious, chocolatey flavour!

Chocolate Smoothie

Makes 1 litre

Ingredients

50g Almonds

100g Kale

50g Cashew nuts

50g Sunflower seeds

50g Prunes

3tbsp Cacao powder

200ml Almond milk

500ml Filtered water

Method

If you have time, soak the almonds and sunflower seeds in filtered water overnight. The next morning drain and leave to dry.

Add all the ingredients in the blender. Blend well for 1 minute.

Pour into a glass and enjoy your smoothie!

Store in the fridge. Avoid exposure to sunlight which destroys riboflavin.

References
Liska, D., Quinn, S., Lukaczer, D. et al. (2004). Clinical Nutrition A Functional Approach. 2nd edn. Washington: The Institute for Functional Medicine. p111

Vegan Chocolate Muffins

Cakes, Gluten-Free, Recipes, Snacks, Vegan, , , , , , , ,

Treat yourself to these delicious yet healthy gluten-free, vegan chocolate muffins! They are perfect to have as an afternoon snack and will satisfy your sweet tooth! The quinoa and brown rice make them high in vegan protein!

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Makes 12

90g                 Quinoa

90g                 Brown Rice

1tbsp              Coconut Oil

2tbsp              Ground Flaxseed

3tbsp              Cacao Powder

4tbsp              Agave Nectar

1tsp                Apple Cider Vinegar

2tsp                Baking Soda

1/4tsp             Pink crystal salt

300ml              Almond Milk

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Grease each section of a muffin tray with coconut oil.

Add all the ingredients into a Vitamix blender. Blend for 30 seconds until well mixed.

Next spoon the mixture into the 12 sections of the muffin tray. Fill up each section to about ¾ full.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes.

When they are cooked, leave them to cool for 5 minutes and then carefully remove each muffin and place on a rack to cool.

Store in a cool, dry place and eat within 5 days.

 

My Vegan Chocolate Muffins recipe is featured in the ChefChili app!

ChefChili

Chocolate Snowballs

Gluten-Free, Recipes, Snacks, Vegan, , , , , , , , , , ,

Indulge in these delicious chocolate snowballs, the perfect afternoon treat.

Chocolate Snowballs

Makes 10

Ingredients

100g                           Walnuts

100g                           Dates

1                                   Ripe Banana

1tbsp                          Agave Nectar

5tbsp                          Cacao

¼ tsp                          Pink Crystal Salt

50g                              Desiccated Coconut

Method

Soak the walnuts overnight and soak the dates for 15 minutes.

Add the walnuts to the blender and grind until small and crumbly. Cut the banana into small pieces and add to the blender, along with the dates, cacao, agave and salt. Blend to a thick and smooth chocolate paste.

Put the desiccated coconut in a small bowl.

Roll up the chocolate mix into medium sized balls in your hands. Roll around in the desiccated coconut until completely covered. Add to a container. Repeat the process.

Store in a container in the fridge. Eat within a week.

Raw Chocolate Mousse

Desserts, Gluten-Free, Recipes, Vegan, , , , , , , , , ,

Delicious, smooth and chocolatey mousse that is quick to make!

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Serves 4

Ingredients

1                      Ripe Avocado

4tbsp              Cacao powder

2tbps              Agave nectar

300ml             Almond milk

1/4tsp             Pink crystal salt

Instructions

Put all the ingredients in the blender. Blend for 30 seconds on full power until well combined.

Pour into 4 dessert bowls. Refrigerate for 1 hour then serve.

Raw Chocolate Brownies

Gluten-Free, Recipes, Snacks, Vegan, , , , , ,

This is my favourite chocolate brownie recipe and it is so quick to make. I make it regularly and take these tasty raw chocolate brownies out with me to have as a snack. It is high in magnesium with the cacao powder, which helps the muscles to relax so can ease cramps. And the walnuts are high in Omega-3-fatty acids, which are good for the skin.

Raw Chocolate Brownies

Makes 10

Ingredients

115g               Walnuts

150g               Dates

4tbsp              Desiccated coconut

4tbsp              Cacao powder

2tbsp              Agave Nectar

1/4tsp             Himalayan pink crystal salt

Method

Firstly soak the walnuts overnight in filtered water.

Put the walnuts in the food process and blend for 30 seconds.

Add the remaining ingredients and blend for another 30 seconds until the mixture starts to stick together in a lump.

Scoop the mixture out into a brownie dish and press down with a spoon until the mixture is evenly spread out.

Put in the fridge for an hour.

When chilled, slice into square pieces and wrap each piece in cling film for a portable snack!