Chai Infused Date and Oat Bread

This moist bread will rock your world. It has chai tea, medjool dates, almond milk and oat flour, which work so well together. I had never tried tea in baking before, but now I can tell you that I’m hooked! It tastes delicious and all those spices wafting out of the oven door is killer to the senses.

I added walnuts on the top, which give it some extra crunch and taste amidst this dense bread. I’ve not been feeling very creative lately, so this recipe is actually a slight adaptation from Feasting On Fruit’s Chai Spiced Quick Bread. It’s fairly easy to make, but wait until the bread has completely cooled down before cutting it. Trust me, or you’ll end up with broken and a bit soggy slices of bread (yeah, I might’ve been a bit impatient).

The Black Cat Blue Sea Award

Happy Monday everyone! I didn’t have enough time this weekend to make anything, so I’m going to do this award that Bern Bakes nominated me for last week!

This is what the award’s all about:

“This award is for bloggers who strive to write for everybody, and no matter how many viewers they get, make an impact on a reader. This award is an expression of gratitude to the nominee. It should be awarded to anybody that you choose deserves it and it doesn’t mean that they must have hundreds of followers and likes.”

Rules:

• Anybody nominated can nominate seven other bloggers
• The nominee answers questions posted by the nominator
• The questions you ask while nominating can be any three questions
• If any of the questions asked are offensive or the nominee simple does not want to answer, the nominee does not have to answer them to get the award

So here are my answers for Bern Bakes:

1. When did you start your blog and why?

I started my blog in August, 2015 and at that time, I was reading many food blogs and I really wanted to start my own with healthier recipes because I was frustrated with all the baking recipes that looked okay, but then when I got to the ingredients list there were tons of unhealthy stuff, like 5 cups of sugar!

2. If you had to eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? (Keep in mind that this one food can be changed up and flavored differently each time you eat it)

Smoothies! There are so many combinations with fruit, vegetables, cocoa powder, and more that I would never ever grow bored of it.

3. What’s your favorite hobby?

Ooo this is a fun one. Definitely reading. I love immersing myself in a story and I absolutely enjoy it. I’m a bit crazy when it comes to books ;).

Now for my nominees:

Cookies and Chemistry (https://cookiesnchem.com/)

Princess Saffron’s Kitchen (https://saffrons-kitchen.com/)

Being Me By Sarah (https://beingmebysarah.com/)

The Kitchen Chemist (https://thekitchenchemistsite.wordpress.com/)

Nourish Nurture Live (https://nourishnurturelive.com.au/)

Vanilla Bean Online (https://stephaniemormina.com/)

Valmarielife (https://valmarielife.wordpress.com/)

And the questions:

What’s your favorite book?

If there was one type of cuisine you could eat (e.g. Italian food), what would it be?

What would be the one thing you would change in the world?

Thanks again, Bern Bakes, for nominating me!

 

Zucchini Chocolate Muffins

A friend came back from a trip in France recently and they came over to our house, bringing lots of dreamy chocolates for us to taste. They were melt-in-your-mouth type of delicious. Anyways, that day, I had made muffins using the zucchini from our garden because we always have way too much, and my friend tasted one and said it was pretty good. I was happy, but then he paid me the utmost compliment any baker can get (or at least, in my rankings of compliments). He asked for another one! And then cheerfully gobbled it up.

Whenever someone asks for a second serving, I know they truly like it and that can brighten up my day no matter what kind of day it is. Even if it’s pouring rain and I have soccer practice. Outside. And my friend didn’t even flinch when I said it had zucchini in it :). A true eater.

These moist muffins are loaded with zucchini and chocolate, and there is no oil! Also, they are sweetened with maple syrup and cane sugar, which is a healthier alternative to your regular white granulated sugar. An all around A+ in my books.

• Servings: 12
• Time: 30 mins (Prep 10 mins)
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Sneaking in that zucchini without compromising chocolate’s delicious taste. These muffins are even healthier with applesauce instead of oil or butter.

Ingredients:
1 cup white flour
1/4  cup cocoa powder
1  1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup Greek yogurt (try it homemade)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup cane sugar
1/3 cup applesauce, no sugar added
1 cup grated zucchini, lightly pressed to remove large amounts of water
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 175 °C (350 °F). Grease 12 muffin tins with butter or coconut oil.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, Greek yogurt, maple syrup, cane sugar and applesauce. Once thoroughly mixed, fold in the grated zucchini.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and lastly fold in the chocolate chips. The mixture shouldn’t be too liquid (if it is, add a 1/4 cup more flour). Divide the batter into the prepared muffin pan.
5. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until the top of the muffins have risen and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Let the muffins cool down in the muffin tins for 5 minutes before removing and placing on a metal rack. Eat warm or store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Lemon Blueberry Chia Seed Pudding

Bright flavours, bright colours, and a bright change to any breakfast, who wouldn’t want it? The blueberry and the tangy lemon taste really explodes in your mouth. So delicious. I’m not even kidding.

Although school is ending in just more than a month (which I’m very excited for!), I need to stay focused to keep my grade up and prepare for final exams. And this chia seed pudding, with lemon juice and blueberries, sure helps me wake up in the morning!

Frozen Raspberry Meringue Pie

Happy Sunday everyone! This is a creamy, sweet, and oh so refreshing dessert. Did I tell you that it is healthier than the classic lemon meringue pie? And guess what? I finally have A KITCHENAID MIXER!!!!! Woo! (What color? Well, I tell you how I accidentally ended up with the some random color.)

Sometimes I try to bake desserts without a recipe and it usually turns out very strange. You can imagine my excitement when I was eating this and realized it actually worked! This was inspired by the passion fruit meringue pie I ate in Panama. I ate it after a good meal and I was surprised that the filling wasn’t just passion fruit curd but actually some sort of frozen passion fruit mousse. So, naturally, I had to make it at home! Didn’t have passion fruit so I subbed it with raspberries, and, as you can see, it looks fantastic!

So that KitchenAid mixer I was screaming about earlier on? It’s an artisan one, in a red or turquoise random color. I’ll tell you what happened.

My First Post!

Yay! Since this is my first entry, I guess I should write about what this blog is going to be about.

Food. Simple as that. (Especially chocolate cake and other desserts!)

Okay, maybe I should explain why. I love being in the kitchen, but not just for the love of cooking and baking. What really made me interested in food was the feeling of accomplishment of finishing a dish and being able to eat my creation. Food is my passion, and sometimes I even try to make it healthier so I can indulge it without feeling too guilty.