Recipes

Apricot and Pistachio Biscotti...

I got the recipe from my fave healthyfood magazine/website. You can find the link to the recipe here but i will share it on this page also. It's such a good little treat to have with your afternoon cuppa or after dinner. Much better than a cookie!

It takes a wee while to make as you have to double bake it, but get yourself a nice magazine to read or do some house work in the meantime :)

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar (I only put on about 3/4 cup and this was fine)
• 1 dessertspoon vanilla essence
• 3 1/2 cups plain flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup (70g pack) pistachios
• 1 cup coarsely chopped dried apricots

Method:

 Firstly, preheat oven to 180°. Then beat eggs and sugar together until they are pale and frothy.

Stir in the remaining ingredients, kneed dough lightly and shape into two flat logs:

Bake for 25 minutes then remove and allow to cool. If they crack along the top this is totally normal. Using a serrated knife, cut into 5mm pieces and place the pieces on a cooling rack on top of the baking tray to bake again. Bake for 15 minutes or until a light golden colour:

Store in an airtight container and make sure you invite some friends over to share it over a cuppa. I sent some to work with my husband to share with his work mates but turns out it was so good he ate it all himself... I'll take that as a compliment :)

It's got to be said - I am a bake-aholic!! I love to bake and I love to eat! Therefore I need to find recipes that are good to eat, not ones that will make my butt pop out of my jeans... Eek!

So...
Here is a muffin recipe that I made recently. I got it from my favourite website here and this is my second time making the muffins in a week, we love them sooo much (plus my brother came to stay and liked them too)! They are a good healthy snack, I like to have one before a workout to keep me going.

I think they are better than having a muesli bar and they will fill you a bit more too. They have around 140 calories per muffin, however, so don't go crazy on them.

First of all you want to make sure you have all of the ingredients:

1 1/4 cups self-raising flour

1 1/2 cups unprocessed bran
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar (I only use about 1/3 or 1/4)
1 cup blueberries, frozen or fresh
2 small bananas, mashed
3/4 cup trim milk
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
2 tablespoons margarine, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method:

First you need to mix all the dry ingredients (apart from baking soda) together in a bowl and then add the mashed banana and blueberries like so:

Then mix all the remaining ingredients together in a bowl (on the left of this photo): 

Then mix it all together and share mixture evenly amongst 12 standard muffin tin - I always line with cupcake cases as I hate cleaning muffin trays! Or you could make about 30 mini muffins with the same recipe.
 

Bake at 190°C for about 18-20 mins or until they spring back when touched. And Viola, there you have it - Yummy, healthy blueberry bran muffins. They are also just as tasty from frozen if you wanted to make a big batch. Enjoy!

What's your favourite healthy treat recipe?

Broccoli Soup