Warning! Highly addictive substance! My mums famous marsbar crispie cakes!

Kate Moss once famously said that "Nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels."

Well Kate obviously hasn't tried these! They are seriously dangerous!

Now usually I'm all for trying to give recipes a healthy twist, replace a bit of the fat or refined sugar or simply add some extra fibre or protein but with these bad boys, there is no redemption.

My mum used to make these foolproof treats for birthday parties and special occasions when we were kids. I have no idea where she got the original recipe from but i know she didn't make it up so I can't claim the credit for it even on her behalf. I have actually pimped the recipe a little from the way mum used to make it by adding a layer of chocolate topping making it even richer and naughtier. The opposite of what i usually do but what the hell!

I have made these for lots of my friends for birthdays, parties or just if they need a little cheering up and they always go down a storm. They are so easy to make as well and I have been requested by Anna Dunstan and Claire Williams to share this recipe so even though its absolutely not in any way healthy so not really in keeping with this blog, here it is. I reckon it tastes so good that its pure happiness in every piece so thats bound to be good for you anyway. Enjoy ladies!

Ingredients:

4 mars bars
4oz salted butter
400g rice crispies
100g milk chocolate

Directions:

Grease and line a 20cm square dish or cake tin with baking paper.
Chop each of the mars bars into 5 or 6 pieces and dice the butter nto smal chunks. Melt the butter and marsbars together in a pan mixing until smooth and combined.

Measure rice crispies into a large mixing bowl and pour over the mars bar mixture. Combine everything s that the rice crispies are evenly coated and press into the lined tray.

Melt the chocolate over a bowl of boiled water and then spread evenly over the crispie cake.

Leave in the fridge to set for at least an hour then take ut of the fridge for 20 minutes before cutting into squares. Best to store at room temp or in the friedge but take out and leave to warm up a little before eating.

I have yet to find anyone who doesn't love these little bites of naughtiness!

Just dont even think about the calories in this one!

Andy's favorite Banana & date loaf with cinnamon crumble topping

OK I think I've got a bit of an obsession with overripe bananas at the moment.


My boyfriend thinks I'm very picky because I refuse to eat a banana when it goes slightly brown and spotty. Truth be told I like them still slightly green best. Wierd I know but dont hold it against me... the over ripe bananas in our house cerainly don't go to waste. I actually love the sweetness of overripe bananas when cooked. They go in cakes, cookies, smoothies, ice creams (cant wait to try that out when I get an ice cream maker- but may have to hope for one for Christmas if I've been good!) and of course my weekend breakfast of choice, porridge.


I recently made a batch of these banana, peanut butter, chocolate chip cookies. They were delicious and as usual me and my partner-in-baked-goods-crime, Andy ate far too many of them.


Then a couple of weeks ago I had a few such overripe specimens knocking around at the end of the week so used them to make a simple banana cake recipe I found at allrecipes. click here to try it. It was excellent and as usual when I bake cake, it didnt last very long. Like the cookies though it wasn't particularly healthy and was full of refined sugar and empty calories, so I started thinking about how I could give this recipe a healthy makeover by substituting some of the ingredients but hopefully none of the flavour.

I think I have achieved this. My boyfriend is my official banana cake tester and has now tried about 5 different variations of the cake and loves it! After several (all pretty nice i have to say) attempts I think I have come up with the best of both worlds. A delicious luxuriously moist and sweet cake that is healthy too! I have substituted the sugar for dates so that it is all natural sugar and none refined (apart from 1 teaspoon in the crumble topping but this is optional and the cake is still really good without it!).  I have also subbed some of the flour for wholemeal self raising flour. This combined with the dates adds tones of fiber making it full of slow release energy. At first I used all wholewheat flour but the cake turned out slightly too dense so to lighten it up again I added in some plain self-raising flour.

I toyed with the idea of using oil or peanut butter for fat instead of the butter but in the end I opted against it. I want this to taste like a deliciously more-ish teatime treat not a 'healthy snack'. Instead of substituting i have scaled back on the butter slightly and added more milk. This way it keeps its luxurious buttery taste and its still a bit lighter.

Unfortunaely the first time I made it I attempted to take it out of the tin too soon, nearly dropped it, and as I saved it ended up punching the cake in the middle so it was pretty squished but still tasted good. Even though we still ate it (of course!!!) I do recommend not punching your cake when it comes out of the oven!

Here goes...

Ingredients:

For the cake:

200g chopped dates
100g whole wheat self raising flour
100g plain self raising flour
100g butter
80mls milk
1tspn baking powder
1 tspn vanilla extract
pinch salt
2 large very ripe bananas
1 egg

For the crumble topping:

1 tablespoon wholewheat flour
pinch salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
generous pinch of cinnamon
1 tspn butter

Directions:

Grease and line a standard loaf tin and preheat the oven to 160 degrees C.

Add the butter and 150g of the dates to a small pan and melt together. Once butter is melted simmer mixture on a very low heat for about 5 minutes while you measure the other ingredients then set aside to cool slightly.
In a separate bowl, mix together the 2 flours, salt, baking powder and the rest of the chopped dates.
Blend the bananas, milk and egg and vanilla extract.The easiest way to do it is with an electric hand blender. Add this mixture to the cooled dates and butter and mix well.
Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix quickly. Don't over mix it or you will end up with a tough chewy cake.
Pour into the lined tin and bake for a total of 50 minutes.
While the cake is starting to bake make the crumble topping by rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients. Add the crumble to the cake after 30 mins and then continue to bake for a further 20.

Ok so this cake isn't particularly low in calories but lets be honest, cakes that are low in cals usually taste like they are! Has anyone really had a decent sized slice of cake under 150 cals that actually tasted delicious?? If so I want to hear about it but I'm pretty skeptical. Cake is meant to be nice its not meant to be low in calories. However if like me you want to make room in a balanced diet for nice things like cake then wouldn't you rather feel like it was doing you some good as well as being yummy? Surely thats a double whammy! I'm not saying I don't enjoy sugary cakes and biscuits sometimes this cake is perfect as it really doesn't compromise on flavor and isn't full of empty calories.

|Absolute perfection with a cup of tea! xx

Healthy home made 'breakfast friendly' hobnob style biscuits

I'm a firm believer that breakfast is really important. I rarely miss it but usually have something at my desk when I get to work because if I eat before leaving the house I find I'm hungry again by about 10am. This means that for my breakfasts in the week I need to have something quick and convenient as there is no toaster or cooking equipment at work. With that in mind my choices are limited. I sometimes have cereal like fruit & fiber or Dorset cereals but as I've mentioned before I'm not great at portion control. I reckon lots of people are the same because the 30-40g recommended serving of cereals is actually not that much. Before you know it you could be doubling the amount of calories it states for 1 serving on the box and not even realize it.

Ready made so called 'breakfast' products like cereal bars, muffins or breakfast biscuits are actually really high in sugar. Now I do think a bit of sugar is OK in the morning especially if you have worked out but these processed snacks always leave me with a sickly sweet taste in the mouth and set me up with sugar cravings for the rest of the day. I must confess I do actually really enjoy a few biscuits with my coffee for breakfast and I have been known to eat 4 or 5 hobnobs to set me up for the day. Hobnobs are actually made with wholewheat flour and oats so have a decent amount of fiber and at 72 cals each, 5 biscuits actually makes for a decent sized breakfast BUT they are made with a high percentage of corn syrup which gives them that super sweet golden syrup flavor and immediately makes you crave more.

I decided to try and make my own version of this crunchy oaty biscuit that would be much less sweet and therefore suitable for the first meal of the day. For sweetness I used honey which is a natural source of sugar so much better for us that sickly uber-refined corn syrup and also gives them a really nice delicate flavor. They are packed full of fiber so they should keep me full for at least a good chunk of the morning and the fat I used is olive oil which is low in saturates. In short they are about as breakfast friendly as any biscuit is likely to get although there is no protein so I would recommend adding another element alongside the biscuits for a really balanced breakfast. Perhaps a yogurt, some cottage cheese or peanut butter.

They are also a great afternoon/ pre-gym snack with dark chocolate on top. If you use good quality dark chocolate and spread it sparingly it only alters the nutrition content slightly.

Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

180g wholewheat pastry flour
60g oats
60g olive oil
60g honey
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt.
Optional: 60g dark chocolate

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C and line a flat baking tray with baking paper.

Mix flour, oats, salt and baking powder in one bowl and in another whisk the oil, honey and vanilla extract together with a fork until combined. Pour the oil mixture into the dry ingredients and mix into a dough with hands. Carefully make small balls about the size of a 2p coin and place onto the baking sheet. One by one flatten the balls on the sheet into flat, round biscuit shapes about 2-3mm thick. The biscuits will hold the same shape once cooked so get them exactly how you want them now. Bake in batches of 12 for about 7-8 minutes until just starting to brown at the edges.

Once cool you can add the chocolate topping if you want by melting the chocolate over a bowl of hot water and then spreading a thin layer on each biscuit and setting in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Nutritionally the plain biscuits have 63 calories compared with 72 for a bought hobnob and tonnes less sugar and additives.

The chocolate variety have 70 calories compared with 95 for a dark chocolate Mcvities hobnob. (Calories calculated at spark people.)

I'm not saying they taste exactly the same. They are much less sweet so don't expect an exact replica but I think they are much nicer and a really convenient brekkie delicious with coffee.  Not to mention the satisfaction of actually making something yourself!

Enjoy! xx