healthy recipes

I like crackers, as a kid, I have countless memories of hogging on them for endless hours. They are crunchy by themselves and are great culinary vehicles for all kinds of yummy things. I rarely do buy crackers though, cookies are always the more preferred baked treats on the shelves. Crackers are something we purchased when guests were coming over during my growing up years. I also remember, how they were also a great excuse to buy various types of cheese, spreads, and dips from the hypermarkets we went so often as kids.

Now the situation is altogether very different. The lockdown has left us with fewer things in our kitchen cabinets but the good thing is that it has given us so much time to think and reflect truly. We truly know what’s brewing in the kitchen every day. While we are left with fewer ingredients to create a particular recipe, we are truly experimenting and creating new ones we never thought by incorporating all that is rightfully in front of us. My love for herbs is not a shocker, everybody knows how much I love experimenting with them and infusing my desserts and other baked recipes with their aromas and their succulent taste.

The other day I got a packet of rosemary along with a whole lot of other groceries of course. Since I did bake some cookies this quarantine, I was longing to dish out some good tarts, pies, soufflés, or perhaps some wondrous cakes drenched in the goodness of rosemary. But alas, I realized I was falling short of one or the other thing and the egg tray was lying empty, which meant I would really have to think hard of what goes in as a binding and leavening agent for all those recipes traveling in my head.

Since cookies were out of the question, enough of that I have been making, so I thought – why not crackers? That’s something that I have never made and its waiting to come across on the blog for all my readers.

Combining Raisins with Rosemary:

Now, the most common ingredients that instantly come to our mind when we are thinking of crackers are – flax seeds, sesame, sunflower seeds, etc. I wanted my rosemary crackers to be devoid of all this and binding the rosemary with a new yet unique ingredient. Since I like sweet and raisins are something I love to add to bring out that sweet flavor, I decided to make these crackers out of these two ingredients. Believe me, rosemary blends with raisins perfectly. It also helps to bring a distinct touch to the crackers, making them move away from the usual savory flavor to an eccentric and quirky sweet flavor, even though in a very minimal amount.

Replacing egg and opting for a healthier recipe

Since eggs were out of the picture and I am always experimenting to go for egg-free recipes, the easiest that comes to binding together like an egg is a butter. I also wanted to go away from white flour and decided to opt for almond flour, wheat flour, and some coarsely grounded oats. Take your time to understand that combining these flours is not easy. These are hard flours and not as swift as white flour while working around. But the end result is of course, healthy and delish crackers. I used almond flour because I wanted to add a little nuttiness to the crackers and of course, almond flour is very healthy. Wheat flour generally comprises most of the body of the crackers as it substitutes white flour in this recipe. I used oats just to add a coarse texture to the crackers and make for an interesting addition besides being high on the health parameter as well, of course.

Working with the dough:

While kneading the dough, you need to understand that you need to devote a little more time here as the dough will require effort in order to prevent it from breaking. Why breaking? Because we have not used white flour here and when we have a dough that’s made of wheat flour, almond flour, and coarse oats, its texture is going to a lot different from any conventional dough. So make sure you press it hard, rollover a number of times, dig in your knuckles and just be patient while it is coming together. You will know you have got the desired texture when you roll it out with the rolling pin. If it breaks, means you need to knead a little more. Don’t add too much water, ideally, only about 4 to 6 tbsp should do the trick, but take your call while you are on the process as every brand of flour also makes the difference here. You can also take small pieces of dough, roll each of them out and cut out the crackers and repeat the process to make it easier to work with the dough. There is no need to refrigerate the dough here.

I love my Rosemary and raisin crackers to the core when there’s Nutella on the side. I also love to have them with peanut butter. You can enjoy them with anything you wish to, like any dip you have at home. If there’s nothing, well just go a little wild, grab that honey jar and pour over a generous amount!! Got a sweet tooth like me? then I am sure you won’t regret it!!

Happy baking and munching!

RECIPE:

Crunchy, earthy, and slightly sweet from raisins, these Rosemary Crackers are great on their own or as a base for your holiday appetizers. Free from white flour and sugar, these are great buddies when you are in the mood for some healthy munching and don’t mind biting into those soft raisins often!

Ingredients:

1 cup Wheat Flour

1/2 cup Almond Flour

1/2 cup Coarse Oats

2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped (or more for a stronger flavor)

1/2 tsp Salt

3 tbsp Raisins

3-4 tbsp Butter (cold or room temperature, anything will do)

5 to 6 tbsp Warm water

Method:

• Grind 1/2 cup of almonds to make the almond flour. Grind the oats coarsely.
• Mince the rosemary and chop the raisins as well.
• In a bowl, add the wheat flour, oats, and almond flour. Add salt, butter, and chopped raisins as well.

• Combine everything together. You should be able to grab the flour in your fist. At this stage, add water slowly and keep kneading till you achieve the desired consistency.
• Dust your work surface with a little flour. Divide the dough into small balls and roll them out with the help of a rolling pin.
• Cut the crackers with a sharp knife or a pizza cutter. Preheat the oven at 180 C for 10 minutes and bake the crackers for about 15 minutes until they are golden brown.

• Cool completely and store in an airtight container on the counter for up to a week. Great with blue cheese, Nutella and walnuts!

Everyone knows how much of a chocolate fanatic I am and you will always find every damn kind of cocoa based ingredient in my kitchen whether its Morde chocolates, cocoa powder, raw cacao or our Indian sugar fee brands.

The other day I was just in the mood to make something which is actually very minimalistic and which I can probably just load up on without thinking twice about the sugar content or the weight I may gain. In addition what mattered most was the time consumed. I was busy in the research of a project with a food brand and just wanted to savour something decadent without spending hours in the kitchen.

Within a few  minutes of a short stroll in my kitchen, I found Sesame in plenty. Sesame is a little hard to experiment what with the bitter taste it carries. You need to be extra careful when using sesame as one of the binding agent and as a primary ingredient as well. Also remember to use roasted sesame here to give that extra kick in the flavor. Remember these are actually those very wholesome cookies which will help you to stay on track with your health goals, so even if you are a fitness fanatic, you just have to dig into that jar and relish these cookies without a worry even in the dead of night.

Packed with feel-good ingredients and delicious flavors, these flourless cookies are dessert goodness. The best thing is these are vegan, plant based, oil free, sugar free, gluten free,  and contain no highly processed ingredients.

You will be shocked that these are actually made with 4 ingredients only. All you need is cocoa powder, dates, desiccated coconut and sesame seeds. Of course, you cannot substitute dates here with any other natural sweetening agent because it helps in binding the cookies together as well. Also, as for the use of dark cocoa powder, the stronger it is, the more of the chocolate flavor you will have. But you need to buckle yourself up here – You have two bitter agents here in this recipe – cocoa and sesame. So both have to be handled carefully and excess of any of them will only result in a complete disaster.

Simply loosen yourself up, grab that cup of coffee and enjoy these cookies as you head out to work or need to freshen yourself up after a hard day of work. These minimalistic cookies will become your go to snack at any given point in time…Devour and indulge, I would say!

RECIPE:

Easy, healthy, and quick to make, these cookies will help to give you that sweet kick despite not having to worry on the loaded calories. The next time you have guests coming over and you want to feed them your unique cookies, you know what to do, right?

Ingredients:

1 cup sesame seeds

¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes

12 Medjool dates, pitted * (If using any other dates which are small in size, just increase the quantity to 16 dates)

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3 to 4 Tablespoons warm water

Optional Toppings:

Drizzle or dip half with melted chocolate chips

Sprinkle coconut flakes or sesame seeds over the melted chocolate

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place oven rack in the center position.
• Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
• Place the Medjool dates in a food processor and process to break them up, about one minute. Then add all the other ingredients (except the warm water) and process for approx. 1 minute or until everything is well combined. Then add 3 Tablespoons of hot water (not boiling, just tap hot) and process for 20 seconds. Pinch the cookie dough, if it doesn’t hold together, then add the final Tablespoon of hot water.

• Next take about a golf ball size of dough (2 small cookie scoops) and roll it in your hands to form a ball, then place the ball onto the parchment paper/silicone baking mat lined cookie sheet. Try to keep the cookie size uniform.  Continue until you have rolled all the dough into balls, and placed the dough balls on the baking sheet. See notes about cookie dough tips.

• After the 2nd round of cookie ball rolling, flatten each ball to form a thick disk about ½ inch thick. Firm up the edges to keep a cohesive well-formed disk. The cookies will not spread while baking.
• Bake for 16 minutes.
• After 16 minutes, take the cookies out, allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet undisturbed for 5 minutes to firm up, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Enjoy!

NOTES

*Medjool dates: If using Medjool dates vs another dried date, there is no need to soak the dates as Medjool dates are typically very soft. However, if you are using a different date, test the date by pinching it. If the date is very soft, gooey, and pliable, then you can just add them to the food processor to break them up.  If the dates are drier and stiff, then you will need to cover them with boiling water for about 20 minutes to soften them up before adding the dates to the food processor.

*Cookie Dough Tips for Success:  The cookie dough is semi-sticky, but it should form a ball easily.  Tip: The more round and smooth you make the cookie ball, the better cookie texture results.  What we have found works well and creates a great cookie is the following:  We create all the cookie balls. Then we wash our hands again and pick up each cookie ball and roll it again in our hands to create a very smooth round ball.  The 2ndround of rolling is not required, but it does make a really nice cookie shape.  Then flatten each ball to form a thick disk about ½ inch in height. These cookies do not expand in the oven.

*Storage:  Refrigerate and use within 5 days.  Freezes well.

I really wonder if there exists a world without Coffee and Hazelnut. The woman that I am, I did have varied combinations of these two everyday! Hazelnuts are simply the most consistently rewarding nuts. Lay your hands on them during autumn and you’ll experience them when they are youthfully mild and juicy. As hazelnuts dry out or are dried for storage, their persona emerges, one that can make other nuts seem dull.

Bake them gently, and that haunting taste deepens and becomes utterly seductive. Without hazelnuts, French praline is just a pile of caramel. Take hazelnuts down the savory route, and they give you world-class dips…..Ah well, in this slush, the hazelnut butter helps to add the much needed mild nuttiness!

As for the Bananas – they are mushy and everyone’s forever love. This is one fruit we all love to eat, any time of the day. Here banana goes extremely well with the coffee and becomes the base item of this crush.

The white chocolate combines well with all the ingredients. You don’t have to worry about getting the white chocolate syrup from the market. Simply take some cream, heat it and add the white chocolate to it. Mix well and whoa, it’s ready to be added to the crush! The same goes for hazelnut butter here, no fancy market-bought item. Simply grind the hazelnuts till it becomes a smooth silky paste (for about two minutes).

I like this crush strong. For me, it’s no honey in the recipe, really! I just add the honey as a topping when its finally in the glass and enjoy it. You can do without honey as well if you don’t prefer the other way. The little sweetness comes from the bananas and the white chocolate that has been added.

It’s kind of a healthier option when you are in the mood to indulge for something really cooling. It works way better to give you that extra kick than your favorite cold coffee crush or the frappuccino! If the icy thing doesn’t excite you, simply enjoy it as a super cold blend by adding less ice and more milk…I tell you, this works almost like a shot of tequila on a bad summer day!

Easy, weasy, smooth and silky….this crush will simply have you crushing all over it!

RECIPE:

Wonderfully creamy banana crush that is infused with coffee, hazelnut, and white chocolate. An indulgent drink for coffee lovers that is way healthier than your all-time favorite branded coffee! It is refined sugar-free, and SO delicious.

Ingredients:

3tsp Nescafe

50 ml milk

1-1/2 tbsp Hazelnut butter

2 tbsp White chocolate syrup

1 Full banana + small slices for garnishing

3 tbsp + 1 tsp Honey

2 digestive biscuits crushed

10-15 Ice Cubes

Method:

• Put all the ingredients except the honey, extra banana slices and crumbled cookie in a blender

• Blend all the ingredients together for a minute or two, until the mixture is thick and smooth
• Carefully pour the mix into a serving glass
• Garnish with the honey, crumbled biscuits, banana slices and enjoy!

Like summers and ice creams go together, I and chocolate go hand in hand. We are practically inseparable. Yeah, rather than a prince charming, chocolates make me go weak in the knees, they literally make me blush and transport me to a way better world…I almost lose touch of reality whenever there’s that brown piece of heaven in my mouth.

As much as I love everything that’s sugary, dessert and just outstanding in taste, I also love to try out and explore healthier versions of the same. Being one of the most common flavors you must have enjoyed, you must have enjoyed chocolate ice cream a lot of times from gelato to full-fat ones from different brands but I bet never ever this one!

In three words- it’s decadent, dreamy and death like!

It’s also instant, doesn’t melt like normal ice cream (be assured, I have made in super humid Mumbai temperature), creamy, super chocolaty and of course healthier than you can imagine! Perfect to be made and had every single day of your life without worrying much about calories! Ask me how, well its made from our favorite bananas and that’s the base of the ice cream.

I used, cocoa powder, Hide & Seek biscuits, a few bits of chocolate along with the bananas to give the chocolate flavor. But what added the exotic touch to it is the addition of some special ingredients which made it all the more unique and added the special touch! I made a coarse mixture of some peanuts, fennel seeds and chili flakes and added to the ice cream mix. The result is, of course, palatable and luscious ice cream with the freshness of the fennel, spiciness of the chili flakes and the nuttiness of the peanuts! I bet you wouldn’t be able to control your taste buds after this deadly combination!

It is this wonderful spice blend which makes the ice cream different and wonderful creation in itself!

As far as the rest of the ingredients go, you can add just about add anything to give the chocolate flavor – cocoa powder, Oreos, any other chocolate biscuits, chocolate syrup, chocolate chips, etc.

What’s also nice about this ice cream is that it can be had instantly or you can also freeze it as long as you want. It has a texture of gelato. When you freeze it, it will become a little firmer but still have a gelato-like texture……super creamy, I tell you!

Why you need this Chocolate Banana Ice Cream:

• It tastes EXACTLY like soft serve chocolate ice cream.
• It’s every bit as refreshing as your favorite ice cream recipe only made with healthy ingredients.
• This is the best recipe ever for tricking your kids, spouse, friends, or yourself into eating healthy food.

Tips:

• Try the ice cream when is done. If it’s too bitter, add some natural sweetener or more Hide & Seek biscuits and blend again. If you like bitter chocolate ice cream, add more cacao.
• I used cocoa powder, but sweetened chocolate powder and carob powder are okay.
• If you use very ripe bananas the ice cream will be sweeter. It’s best to use ripe ones.

Well, why waste more time…go ahead guys and let me know how do you like it? Happy weekending!

RECIPE:

Sinfully rich, indulgently dark, and secretly healthy chocolate ice cream! No cream, no added sugar, no guilt! My favorite way to eat it is as soft serve right out of the blender but you can also freeze so it’s firm enough to scoop into ice cream cones.

INGREDIENTS:

4 bananas chopped and frozen

2 tablespoon cocoa powder

7-8 Hide and seek biscuits

2 tbsp chocolate chunks (chocolate broken into small pieces). You can also add melted chocolate

1-1/2 tbsp mixture of fennel seeds, peanuts and chili flakes (roughly grind all these together to make a coarse powder)

METHOD:

• Peel the bananas and cut them into small pieces.
• Freeze them for 12 hours or more.
• Put the frozen bananas into a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth. Scrape down the sides as necessary.

• When the mixture is smooth, add the cocoa powder, Hide & Seek biscuits, chocolate chunks, spice mixture and blend until incorporated.

• For a soft ice cream, serve immediately.
• For a firm chocolate banana ice cream, transfer it back to the freezer for at least an hour. Enjoy!

Mangoes……yeah I like everything about them, the way they look, the rolly polly shape, the bright yellow-orange color, the shiny skin inside as a sharp knife pierces into them to take out the perfect long piece and of course, the sweet and evergreen taste of them. The best mangoes are the reason behind me gaining weight in the summers!

So, the other day, I was super bored. I had just watched a horror movie and a long idle day lay ahead of me. I was super lazy to go to the kitchen as well, and the ever craving me wanted to have a quick, nice, tasty dessert and well, have some mangoes too.

Within seconds I found my way to the kitchen, clueless about what I could find to fill my gut. My eyes met the long and fresh piece of ginger that mom had kept for making her evening tea. Yes, now I knew what had to be done and I had max 30 minutes to satisfy my cravings and fill my tummy with something sweet and of course, very yummy too!

Ginger and mangoes go really well, The natural spiciness of the ginger gels very well with the sweetness of mangoes. Upon poking more into all the containers in the several shelves, I found the ginger cookies that Mom often gets from the local store. Those digestive ginger biscuits are a favorite at home. Opening the fridge door at this moment was just an excuse, of course, I knew curd was plenty in the fridge. But, I realized, I needed hung curd, just a little. Well, this is where my patience comes in and I knew I will have to wait a few more hours to get the perfect hung curd, whip it up to combine with the mangoes and then create a little piece of heaven that I can enjoy after a simple dinner meal and perhaps watching my favorite movie over the weekend. For now, 4-5 hours looked better than 30 minutes.

Let me tell you, it only takes 30 minutes for you to make delicious mango ginger cups, provided you have hung curd ready. It’s also a healthier piece of dessert and so distinct in taste. But, you need to keep one important thing in mind – this needs to be frozen and not meant to be kept in the fridge after making it. If you freeze for about two hours and then have it, you will enjoy it to the optimum as the consistency will be perfect. You can also keep it overnight but remember to keep at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes before having it.

If you don’t freeze these mango ginger cups, the curd will tend to go sour and you will only have a spoiled dessert in your hand. So, never ever refrigerate them. The sweet cream over the top added at the last helps to give mild sweetness to the dessert as the mango mixture has no sugar added to it. I have used icing sugar coz it helps to retain the texture of the cream. If you add normal sugar, the cream will tend to become too liquid in texture. You can also skip the cream part and add stevia or a little brown sugar to the mango mixture to keep it all the way healthier or totally just skip any kind of sweetener. Up to you!

For the super lazy people who love mangoes, this recipe is like a mango blessing! Try it up this summer and don’t forget to ping me…Enjoy!! 🙂

RECIPE:

These sweet dessert cups are the perfect summertime treat. A whipped frozen blend of mangoes and curd sits atop a base of crushed ginger cookies. It’s heaven in a glass!

Ingredients:

1 mango, seeded, peeled and cut up

250 gms curd for hung curd

2-3 tbsp normal curd

½ teaspoon ground ginger

6-7 ginger cookies (crushed) (you can take any brand)

1 packet Amul cream (double cream)

3-4 tbsp icing sugar

½ of a medium mango, cut into thin bite-size slivers.

Method:

• Whip up the hung curd with the help of a beater for about 3-4 minutes till its smooth and creamy.

• In a food processor or blender, combine cut-up mango, curd and ground ginger. Cover and process or blend until very smooth. Now add this mixture to the smoothened-out hung curd and mix well. Divide crushed ginger cookies evenly among regular shot glasses. Carefully spoon in mango mixture.

• Add the icing sugar to the cream and mix well. Keep it in the fridge.
• Freeze about 2 hours or just until firm. (Or freeze overnight. For longer storage, place glasses in an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 weeks.) Before serving, let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes (or 30 minutes if frozen overnight or longer).

• To serve, spoon the cream topping on top of the mango mixture in glasses. Top with mango slivers or even chopped mangoes (as you desire).

Paan has a symbolic value in ceremonies in India. It is also offered to guests as a sign of hospitality after a heavy meal. Various spices like clove, cardamom, fennel seeds, when wrapped in a betel leaf to make paan, make an excellent mouth-fresher. Today, we will be using the readily available paan syrup to make this decadent ice cream. Of course, you can make it with fresh ingredients also but since I already had this syrup at home and the summers were driving me crazy, I thought why not put the paan syrup to some good use with good looking ice cream?

You will also like one more factor here – the fact that there is no additional sugar, no eggs, no heavy cream,  and the taste, well – something you will remember a lifetime! I have made use of coconut milk here, that too, the regular one which you get in the Indian markets (something which is devoid of a large amount of fat). The flavor of the coconut combines so beautifully with the flavor of the paan – like the north and the south of India, either of which, if taken out would leave the county incomplete.

I have again used custard powder here as I didn’t have corn flour at home. Use either of them, won’t really make a difference, corn flour though would prevent the color of the ice cream from turning a little yellowish which happens with custard powder. And of course, since its vanilla custard powder, there is a slight taste of vanilla also added to this ice cream which doesn’t happen with the addition of corn flour.

Feel free to garnish it as you like –  you can use tutti frutti, dried rose petals, sugar-coated fennel seeds, gulkand, rose syrup, chocolate chips, etc.

I always say this- any kind of homemade ice cream(especially that which is dairy free) should not be frozen for more than 12 hours. It’s the ideal best to freeze it for 12 hours, after that the ice cream tends to form ice crystals and becomes too hard to come along in the form of full lovely scoops. This is the trick to enjoy a homemade ice cream which looks and tastes just like a market bought ice-cream. Longer hours in the freezer will tend to spoil all your effort.

Also, make sure you keep your mixing bowl and beater in the freezer for at least a few hours (minimum 3-4 hours) before you start making the ice cream.

Ah well, how could I leave before telling you about some facts about ice creams, most probably you don’t know of them? So yeah, enjoy!

History of ice creams had probably begun around 500 BC in the Achaemenid Empire (Persia) with ice combined with flavors to produce summertime treats. In 400 BC, the Persians invented a special chilled food, made of rose water and vermicelli, which was served to royalty during summers. The ice was mixed with saffron, fruits, and various other flavors.

Kulfi is a popular frozen dairy dessert from the Indian subcontinent and is often described as “traditional Indian ice cream”. It originated in the sixteenth century in the Mughal Empire.

The most popular flavor of ice creams in North America(based on customer surveys) is vanilla and chocolate.

There is an Ice Cream Fruit in Hawaii. That’s right. There’s a Hawaiian fruit that tastes exactly like vanilla ice cream. It’s called the inga feuillei, but locals call it the ice cream bean.

It grows on perennial trees in hot climates, and it is enjoyed in many different ways by locals.

RECIPE:

This pan ice cream is eggless and no whipping cream or milk powder has been sued used here as well. It’s really healthy and super easy to make. It makes for the most refreshing summer treat helping you melt away all your worries within minutes.

2 cans coconut milk

3-4 tbsp vanilla custard powder

Paan syrup – according to taste

Method:

• Chill 2 cans of coconut milk in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.
• Open the 2 cans of chilled coconut milk. The cream should have risen to the top. Carefully scoop the cream into a mixing bowl. (Reserve the coconut water that has separated from the cream to use in a smoothie). Even if the cream hasn’t separated, there’s no need to panic. Just use the entire coconut milk from the can.

• Now take about 3/4th of the mixture and add custard powder to it and mix well. Add the rest of the mixture to a pan and heat it on medium heat. When it just comes to the first boil, add the custard mix and stir it well. Keep stirring it continuously or else it will form lumps. When you see the first boil here, take the pan off the heat.
• Let it cool down a bit and add the paan syrup  and mix well.

• Transfer to a lidded container and cover with a foil before you place the lid on the top. Now use another foil to cover the entire container as well (this helps to minimize formation of ice crystals). Freeze for 4 hours first. Then churn the ice cream well in a blender or mixer. It tends to become a little thick after this process. Then cover the ice cream container in the same way and freeze for 10-12 hours. As this ice cream does freeze harder just give it a few minutes at room temperature to make it easier to scoop.

Summer is synonymous with mangoes – at least in India it is – and this mango cake is a perfect way to use up all those delicious fresh mangoes you may have at home right now.

I wasn’t sure what to name this recipe – Is it a snack? Is it a cake? Is it both? I’m here to tell ya it’s all of the above.

It’s definitely cake-y in texture, sweet in taste, and beautifully decorated with a yummy mango frosting layered on top – which makes this a perfect dessert recipe for any celebration.

But it’s also a really healthy treat – sweetened with dates, gluten-free (if using certified GF oats), and refined oil free – which means you can enjoy this cake as a snack on any given day, no celebration required.

So what are we working with here:

Mangoes. We need mangoes for this cake to happen, or else it’s just an oat flour cake. I used fresh mangoes because in the summer we have an abundance of them. I haven’t tried the recipe with frozen mangoes yet but if it’s all you’ve got, I’d let them thaw out first. Usually, 2 medium sized mangoes will be enough for this cake.

Rolled Oats. I process my oats in my food processor and make my own ‘oat flour’ that way. but if you’ve got store-bought oat flour it will work just the same.

Medjool Dates. Any dates work really, but Medjool dates tend to be sweeter and softer which work great in blended recipes like this one. If your dates are a bit on the tougher side, soak them in water for about 30 minutes beforehand. This dessert is entirely sweetened with dates – and that’s amazing because I like giving agave a break every now and then.

Apple Cider Vinegar. What? Vinegar in a dessert?! Well, I did say it was a healthy one, and plus, apple cider vinegar gives such a nice contrast to the sweetness of this cake. Make sure not to skip out on it because although very subtle, it does affect the taste.

Cardamom Powder. It’s subtle but enjoyable flavor adds all the zing to this cake. Cardamom pairs so nicely with mangoes that I had to include it in this cake. Plus, it helps make this cake taste more like cake in my opinion. You can totally leave it out of course, and you’ll still have a delicious mango cake in your hands but I encourage you to give it a try with the cardamom.

Cream: The cream tends to give more texture to this recipe. It helps to lift the flavor when added to the mango mixture and just helps add more taste and a little richness to the recipe.

Oat Milk. This mango cardamom cake is tasty as is, but add to that 1/2 cup of oat milk sprinkled on top, then let it sit for a few hours to allow that milk to seep into its cake-y layer… and now you’ve got something that you’ll be raving about friends. Of course, this extra step is totally optional as well, but without that extra oat milk on top, the cake will be less moist.

RECIPE:

A vegan mango cardamom snack cake that is full of natural sweetness. It could be a cake, it could be snack, or it could be both! Oil free and Sweetened with dates.

Ingredients:

Dry:

1.5 cups of oats processed into flour (or if using store bought oat flour – 140gms)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

1/8 tsp salt

Wet:

2 fresh mangoes or 340 gms of flesh (set 1/4 cup, around 100gms, aside for the frosting)

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

5 medjool dates, pitted

For Mango Frosting:

1/4 cup of fresh mangoes

3 medjool dates

3-4 tbsp whipping cream or double cream (I used Amul cream which was thick when refrigerated for quite some time)

Oat Milk Layer On Top:

1/2 cup of oat milk (this part is optional but it adds a bit more sweetness and moisture to the cake and I really encourage you not to skip this part). The recipe of ” Homemade Oat Milk” has been given below this recipe*.

mulberries

coconut shreds

cacao nibs

coconut butter drizzle

Pumpkin seeds

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Add oat flour, baking soda, cardamom powder, and salt to a bowl and gently combine. Set aside.
• Add mango flesh (remember to set aside 1/4 cup for the frosting which we will be using later on), apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, and dates to a food processor and combine. Add this wet mixture to the dry bowl and mix with a spoon until evenly combined.

• Spread the batter onto a square or a rectangular baking dish lined with parchment paper and bake for 50 minutes at 180 degrees C.
• Make the mango frosting: Add 1/4 cup of mangoes and dates to a food processor and process until smooth. Now add the cream and mix well with the help of a spoon. If you are using whipping cream, make sure you form soft peaks of it with a beater before mixing.
• Once cake has baked – Using a toothpick poke a few holes on the top of the cake (to allow the milk to seep through) and add the 1/2 cup of oat milk making sure to cover the entire square cake. Add the mango frosting on top. You can dig in as is for a yummy moist and warm cake, or you can let it set overnight in the fridge. The cake will be more firm on the 2nd day.

• Cut the cake into squares. Sprinkle some pumpkin seeds and serve. 🙂

Being a diehard chocolate fanatic, I can almost live on chocolate all my life. Whether, its dark, milk, white, flavored, just about anything – they happen to awaken all my senses and help me transport to a world full of fairy tales. So, you will always find lots of Morde chocolates on my kitchen shelf, I love to create exotic recipes out of them and they just happen to be the best in terms of quality and are easily available.

One day while cleaning up my kitchen, I realized that I had too much of white chocolate and cranberries that I hadn’t used for long. It might have been about a year since I hadn’t used the white chocolate. In order to check the quality, I instantly chopped it into a few pieces and went ahead to melt it. Alas – it was meant to happen. The white chocolate didn’t melt like it should, it happened to take a form of condensed milk (it softened and took the form of dough like structure in some time and refused to become liquid).

Since this wasn’t a bright picture, it struck me, I could indeed make a brighter recipe out of this and the outcome can be just perfect! With the right consistency to bind, this can just help me make the best truffles ever…I searched and gathered everything in my kitchen that could be used for the recipe and I got – sesame seeds, cranberries, shredded coconut, oats, and peanuts. Peanuts and chocolate marry each other perfectly (who doesn’t love snickers), coconut helps in binding, so does sesame and also give a beautiful flavor to the truffles…Cranberries help to reduce the sweetness and oats just help to give a nice form to the truffles…Try these over when you realize your white chocolate has lost its original quality without being used for long………………….you will be glad you didn’t use it when you have the splendid truffles in your hand!

RECIPE

Smooth and delectable, the combination of sharp cranberries, creamy white chocolate and crunchy oats make these a wonderful taste sensation as well as a perfect Christmas gift or after dinner treat.

Ingredients:

250 gms White Chocolate

1/3 cup Cranberries

1/2 cup Shredded coconut

1/3  cup Sesame seeds

3 to 4 tbsp Oats

1/3 cup Peanuts

Method:

• Melt the white chocolate and cool it down. Chop the cranberries and grind the peanuts till they are coarsely grounded (not a fine powder). Roast the sesame seeds and the oats.
• In a bowl, mix together the white chocolate, cranberries, shredded coconut, sesame seeds and peanuts. Now start making small balls out of the mixture using your two palms. Everything has to bind well together. You can increase or decrease the shredded coconut, sesame seeds and cranberries according to your taste and the desired consistency.

• Now roll the balls in with the roasted oats. The white chocolate and cranberry truffles are ready to be savoured all day long!

This bread is like a gesture of kindness and calm on a gloomy day…the fact that it’s a healthy bake makes it such a charm in the kitchen!

Well to start with, I had like loads and loads of cranberries in my freezer and the other plastic containers. Something had to be done about them, the weekend was around the corner and I just thought to myself – let’s make it a cranberry weekend!

Bread is such a delight – just have it as it is or spread your favorite butter, or any other spread – it just tends to give you better days. I had bananas in my fruits basket and I thought why not a combination of cranberries and bananas? Ahhh…I saw chia seeds too that I hadn’t consumed since long…Sometimes all the things that have been lying in your kitchen for a long time tend to give you the best recipe and this was one of them.

Cranberries actually belong to the genes of blueberries. They are said to help with bladder infections, but this doesn’t seem to be scientifically proven. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t healthy, because cranberries contain about 13 g of vitamin C per 100 g, a lot of vitamin A and antioxidants. The cranberry is a good natural source of potassium, sodium, and magnesium, with copper and manganese added. You can use fresh cranberries or dried cranberries here- anything you would want to!

In fact, everything that goes here – be it bananas or chia seeds, add their own good value and flavor to this bread.

The sun shined bright as I whisked all the ingredients together to bake this gorgeous bread…it was as if God was giving me a sign that the result is going to be worth the effort…and well, it was. After a few minutes, I had a moist, mildly sweet bread with a crunchy top, and the cranberries sleeping in it like still waters in the mountains ….!

The melted white chocolate and a few sliced fresh cranberries over the loaf gave me the perfect weekend shot!

RECIPE

This moist loaf is packed with the zesty taste of cranberries and the addictiveness of bananas. Try serving the slices toasted with butter or cream cheese or just plain…this awesome bake is going to occupy a permanent place on your dining table!

Ingredients:

2tbsp chia seeds + 5tbsp water

2 ripe bananas

1/2 cup sparkling water

1/2 cup plant based milk

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup oil

2-1/b cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup cranberries

10 gms vegan white chocolate

1 pinch of salt

Method:

• Mix chia seeds and water and let soak for 5-10 minutes. Squash the bananas with a fork or blend with a mixer.

• Mix water, milk, and bananas. Add the soaked chia seeds.
• Melt the coconut oil in case it’s solid and add it to the mixture. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla and salt and mix well. Stir in the apple cider vinegar.
• Roughly chop cranberries and chocolate and fold them in with a spoon.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F).
• Grease and flour a loaf pan, put the dough inside and coat it with some chopped cranberries and possibly a halved banana.

• Bake for 60-70 minutes – check with a stick to make sure the dough is definitely well done.

Birthdays are always an exciting affair. There’s something that you makes you feel special the moment the clock strikes 12:00 am in the midnight…Every hour seems like a golden hour the following day…Suddenly your life is filled by bountiful of good wishes- the feelings of being precious, loved and cared for are hard to ignore…….you fail to bring your feet down on the ground.

I have always loved celebrating my birthday with great zeal but what I absolutely love to do is making other peoples birthdays the grandest with whatever small gestures I can….and taking care of each and every detail is something which comes naturally to me…..So, of course, my own sister’s birthday had to be made significant and I was too overwhelmed with every little stuff that had to be gathered. ……………The most important aspect was the cake and this time I really wanted to go the healthy way! As usual, something different was the topmost criteria.

For a foodie like me, cakes are almost an extension of your personality. …a world of fantasy, of magic and little adventures that roll up to make a helluva dough and a dish that’s like a cast of a spell!

So this time healthy meant something without any kind of sweetener, addition of banana (my sisters favorite),  made without any white flour and with very little butter or oil or completely devoid of it. I went along gladly with the experiment and the result was more than expected.

Everything used here provides such nutrition – bananas for potassium and fiber, carrots for vitamin K, fiber and antioxidants, walnuts for omega 3 fatty acids and numerous other benefits, raisins for digestion and iron, apple cider vinegar for fighting diabetes and harmful bacteria, chia seeds for omega 3 fatty acids, fiber, iron and calcium etc.

When it came to the icing for this cake, instead of opting for a healthier version I wanted something to perfectly complement the taste of this utterly real cake. And there couldn’t be anything better than our good old recipe of butter and icing sugar. Everything was right there in my kitchen- Amul butter (believe me it works as good as unsalted butter), vanilla essence, lemon, and icing sugar…A powerful blend of these gave the cake the finished detour it needed, decorating this cake was almost like petting a furry baby with all the love……well, the taste………..the bestest ever (no exaggerations)!!

RECIPE

What’s better than the healthiest cake on a birthday which it as delicious, right? This cake is without sugar, no white four, made with nuts, fruits and veggies and is a proud addition to any bake on any given day…Go for it!

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1-2 bananas

10-15 fresh dates (without seeds)

6 tbsp sunflower oil

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

3 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp cardamom

3-4 carrots (medium size, grated)

½ cup walnuts (roughly chopped)

1/2 cup raisins

Icing:

200 gms Amul butter

3 to 4 tbsp icing sugar (keep it according to taste)

Few lemon drops

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

For decoration:

Colorful sprinklers or any other item of your choice

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180 degree C). Whisk the eggs in a medium sized bowl. Use a hand blender or a blender to mix bananas, dates and oil into a thick cream in another bowl. Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom and stir it together with the eggs and the banana-cream. Add grated carrots, walnuts and raisins and stir it until it all comes together.
• Pour it into a cake pan and bake for about 40 minutes. Try to stick a toothpick in the center of the cake, when nothing sticks on it the cake is ready. Let it cool. Then cut it into half.
• Whip together the butter and icing sugar. With the help of a brush, apply some water to the topmost part of both the layers of the cake.  Add the icing when the cake is completely cooled off. Cover both the layers of the cake generously and the sides as well and place them on top of each other. Serve with the colorful sprinklers or any other item, of your choice.