Healthy Chocolate Pancakes?!

Hello again! So I know its been a while buuuut guess what.. school is finished! I am done! Ahhh thank goodness guys, I just don't know if I could have done another year of school! In the spirit of school finishing and the end of what has been a year of emotional eating, I thought I best go on a bit of a health kick because summer is coming and I cannot hid behind jeans and jumpers anymore! So I have pulled out the fitbit and went on a bit of a adventure in the book section at David Jones and found some recipe books that could give me inspiration and I stumbled across this one called The Good Life by Sally  Obermeder and Maha Koraiem 

These pancakes are so delicious guys!! Honestly, I was a little skeptical about them to be honest but I feel ashamed because they taste like nutella in the form of a pancake and who wouldn't want that!!  Best part is they are only 110 calories per pancake!! 

Ingredients

3 eggs 

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa or cacao powder (I used cacao powder and it was really yummy and less calories!) 

Stevia (this is listed as optional so I didnt use it, they were rich enough already!)

1 banana (very ripe)

1 tablespoon melted coconut oil 

2 teaspoons butter (for frying- I only used 1)

40 grams frozen raspberries (toppings)

2 tablespoon shredded coconut (toppings)

Method

Add cocoa powder (or cacao) and stevia (if using) to the eggs and whisk to combine.

In a blender, put the banana and the egg mixture and process to combine.

Add coconut oil and process again to combine.

Transfer from the blender to a bowl.

Heat a lightly greased frying pan over low heat.

Put approx 3 tablespoons of the batter into the pan, cooking for a few minutes or until bubbles begin to form on the top.

Check the pancake is golden underneath before flipping it over and cooking for a further couple of minutes.

Repeat with remaining batter.

Top with raspberries and shredded coconut! 

The great thing about this recipe book is that it gives you options for Fast recipes, Lean and 'Fab' (some more indulgent options). It also gives you the calorie count for every recipe which I found particularly helpful.  

Enjoy!! 

Love from C x

Cinnamon & Sultana Loaf

Back again, today I decided to make this Cinnamon and Sultana loaf from The Hummingbird Bakery Recipe Book called Cake Days

This loaf is super yummy and not tooooo sweet! Also there are sultanas in it so therefore I am totally being healthy! ;) 

Serves 8-10 

Ingredients you will need

190 grams unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

190g plain flour, plus extra for dusting 

190g caster sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

25ml soured cream

1 tsp vanilla essence, 1 used a half teaspoon of vanilla bean paste because it enhances the flavours of the cake overall

1 tbsp ground cinnamon, I only used a half tbsp because I didn't want it too overpowering

70g raisins, I used around 80g

Cinnamon sugar for dusting, I used icing sugar because I didn't have any in my cupboard

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celcius, then grease the loaf tin with butter and dust with flour 

(My loaf tin was quite big, it was about 25x10cm, I recommend using a smaller tin so the loaf is not really short, maybe a 8.5x17.5

2. Using a hand held electric whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

(I would say you have to mix the butter and sugar for at least 5 minutes for it to be mixed properly)

3. Break the eggs in one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure all the ingredients are fully mixed in

4. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, then add to the egg, butter and sugar mixture in two turns mixing on a low speed so that the flour doesn't fly everywhere! Finally. mix in the sour cream and vanilla essence/paste

5. Spoon 200g of the batter into a small bowl and stir in the cinnamon. Stir the raisins into the remaining batter, then pour the raisin batter into the tin. Spoon the cinnamon batter on top and swirl the two together for a marbled effect. 

(My cake didn't turn out to be marbled but rather two layers, make sure that you use a fork and slowly mix the cake batters to create that marble effect that I didn't achieve!)

 6. Bake the loaf in the oven for 50-60 minutes or until the sponge feels firm on top and when you insert a skewer it comes out clean. 

(My oven is quite hot so I only needed to bake my loaf for about 45 minutes)

Allow the loaf to cool a little before turning it out of the tin on to a wire rack to cool completely before you serve!

Tip: This loaf would taste really nice served warm with a dollop of cream!

So there we go! A delicious, somewhat healthy (not really) cinnamon & sultana loaf! Hope you enjoy 

Love C xxxx