Healthier Two-Bite Brownies - made with zucchini & almond flour (gluten free/flourless)

We looooove these brownies in our house, and we make them on the regular. 

I wouldn't go so far as to call them "healthy" because they're still a treat... but they are definitely healthier than the store-bought versions. You could probably get away with reducing the sugar content, but I haven't tested that yet. The recipe is so good as is, I haven't been motivated to alter it 😁.

Healthier Two-Bite Brownies - makes approximately 36 brownies

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

2.5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

 1/2 cup almond flour (packed)

1/2 cup finely grated zucchini (packed)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease mini muffin tins or use muffin liners (mini donut pans or financier pans work well too). If you're not using muffin liners make sure to grease the pan well so they don't stick.

2. in a small saucepan, melt butter and chocolate

3. In a small bowl whisk together the cocoa, sugar, salt and almond flour

4. Using a spatula, combine the dry ingredients into the melted chocolate. Once incorporated, add in the zucchini and eggs. Mix until well combined.

5. Fill mini muffin trays to almost the brim (they don't rise much)

6. Bake at 375 for approx 22-25 minutes. Allow to cool completely in tins before removing brownies.

Healthy protein pancakes for Pancake Tuesday - or any other time you want to serve pancakes for dinner and still feel good about it

 

I created this recipe to help myself feel better about serving the kids pancakes for dinner on Pancake Tuesday. 

There are plenty of uber-healthy protein pancake recipes on the web, made with banana and oats and no flour. And they're great, but my two boys know better. They always accuse me of making "too healthy" pancakes and specifically request that their dad make them the "unhealthy ones".

So this recipe is a compromise... it has a small amount of real flour to keep that great texture and taste of regular pancakes, but they're still made mostly of oats and yogurt and contain a ton of protein. Which makes them perfectly suitable for supper. And I'm happy to report they got rave reviews from the boys.

Healthy Protein Pancakes

• 1 cup quick oats, coarsely blended (or oat flour)
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp hemp seeds (optional - but adds protein)
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds (also optional, but adds protein/nice texture)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• pinch of sea salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup full fat plain yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• oil/butter/or coconut oil for frying pancakes (*butter or coconut oil are truly the best tasting for pancakes in my opinion. Oh and don't be stingy on the oil either - they taste so much better that way).

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then add in the eggs, yogurt and vanilla. Mix everything together.

Heat a large griddle/frying pan over medium heat. Add oil of choice.

Spoon batter onto hot grill (making 2-3-inch wide pancakes) - cook undisturbed until you see bubbles forming on the surface, sneak a peak under a pancake and only flip when golden on the bottom. Other side will only take a minute or so. 

Serve hot!

Strawberry Chia Seed Jam

I'd seen recipes for chia seed jams before, but I had always been reluctant to try them. I guess I doubted they would taste as good as claimed, or thought that the texture might be weird and slimy. But I was so wrong. Chia seed jam is a revelation, and it's my new favourite thing. I've already made two batches this week.

Sometimes it takes a quarantine to push you try new things.

This is a great way to use up the frozen fruit you might have lying around in your freezer.
And it makes a delicious topping for all that sourdough bread everyone seems to be making during this pandemic. And given that this jam is essentially just crushed fresh fruit with a smidgeon of maple syrup and chia seeds, it is actually super healthy. So you can pile it on guiltlessly. I love to swirl it into yogurt too.

Chia Seed Jam

2 cups fresh or frozen berries
3 Tbsp pure maple syrup (more or less to taste)
2 Tbsp chia seeds

In a small sauce pan, warm the frozen fruit over medium heat until soft enough to mash. Use a potato masher or fork to squish the fruit to your desired consistency (I like mostly mashed with some small fruit clumps). Then add in the maple syrup (taste as you go, since you will need more or less depending on the types of fruit/berries you use and their natural sweetness) and chia seeds, and stir until evenly distributed.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.
The jam will thicken up as it cools (as the chia seeds to their magical thing).
Store in a jar or container in the fridge.