Chia Fresca

Hot summer days are just around the corner and I can't wait to relax at the pool. Nothing better than a cool drink in your hands, a great book, good friends and music. With a proper drink I mean water, of course. You can add a twist to your daily water intake by adding some Chia seeds. What you'll get is a natural energy drink called Chia Fresca. It is an amazing drink and so easy to do.

When drinking this in public, a lot of people will stare at your bottle suspiciously because it looks really amazing. Probably they won't ask you what it is, though. 

You need:

2 table spoons Chia seeds

1,5 litres water

Pour the water into a glass or bottle, add the Chia seeds and mix well. Let sit for 15 minutes, then mix again to break the clumps. Enjoy! 

Look at those little energy seeds!

Chia Banana Bread

Let me introduce you to my latest obsession: 

I absolutely love Chia seeds. They are so rich in fibre, protein and omega-3. You can easily add chia seeds to your diet; I sprinkle them over pancakes, blend them into my smoothie, or just enjoy them on my banana. A friend introduced me to this little superfood seeds and I can't have enough of them.

Banana bread with chia seeds is also a great way to sneak some superfood into your diet. This is such an easy recipe for banana bread, and it also contains chocolate!

Recipe adapted from here.

You need:

1/2 cup chia gel (1/2 cup water with 1 table spoon chia seeds; soaked for 30 minutes)

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 tea spoon vanilla

2 eggs

3 very ripe bananas

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup ground almonds

1 tea spoon baking soda

2 table spoons chocolate chips (or more, if you wish :)

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Put the chia gel into a small bowl and mix it up with an immersion blender. Add the sugar, eggs, vanilla and bananas. Mix until well combined. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix until just combined (with a fork or spatula). Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes.

Strawberry-Yogurt Pops

Can you believe it's May already? Summer days are just around the corner and I can't wait to wear flip-flops and sip iced coffee in the back yard. It was hot and humid the other day, and home-made strawberry pops were just the perfect treat to make. I recently bought a popsicle mold, and it was the purchase of the month. Seriously. I love frozen yogurt, but hate spending so much money on the store-bought one.

The peanut snuck her way onto the blog today as she approved the recipe. She has taste! 

I couldn't get a proper picture of her eating because she is so quick.

You need:

1 cup strawberries

1/2 cup Greek Yogurt

1 table spoon honey (optional)

Put the strawberries in a blender and mix until smooth. Add the honey and mix well. Spoon the strawberry mixture in a popsicle mold, half full. Put the yogurt on top and insert a wooden stick into each popsicle. Freeze the pops completely before serving (best overnight).

Added to this link-up party.

Vegan Banana - Date Buns

My dad is the biggest anti-vegan I've ever met. He truly believes that there is nothing better than meat for dinner and he will never ever eat any vegan dessert. Sometimes I trick him by not telling him what a certain (vegan and non-vegan) dish contains - this is the only way he even tries it. Last week however, he came to me and said he had found a great looking recipe and if I want to give it a try. Can you believe it? Of course I made a vegan dessert for him, and he loved it. He even requested another batch the following day. Win-win.

You need:

100 ml lukewarm water

150 grams whole-wheat flour

50 grams all-purpose flour

3 table spoons light muscovado sugar

pinch of salt

1 table spoon dry active yeast

3 table spoons olive oil

For the filling:

8 dates

1 banana

Put the yeast, sugar and warm water in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside, in a warm place (I love using the microwave or the oven), cover and leave it there for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together all of the other ingredients and make a hole (for the yeast) in the middle. 

Combine with the yeast and mix well, first with a wooden spoon and then knead until you get a nice, stretchy dough. Cover and let sit for one hour in a warm place.

After one hour, knead the dough one last time and roll it out, about 2 centimetres thick. Use a glass to cut out individual circles and put them on parchment paper. 

Put the dates in a small bowl and pour some hot water over them, leave them in it for five minutes, then cut them into small pieces. Cut the banana into thin pieces. 

Put two slices of banana, with a few dates on top on the buns. Cover with another circle of dough, press the edges firmly with your fingers so the two parts will not separate while baking. 

Put the buns into a preheated oven (to 50°C) and let them rise for ten minutes. After that, turn the heat up to 180°C and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden.

Let them cool down completely, then sprinkle the buns generously with powder sugar and enjoy.

Sesame Seed Buns

My best friend came to visit the other day and she always brings something delicious. This time she brought me these amazing Sesame seed buns. If you like sesame seeds and buttery pastry, you'll love these buns! I demolished a ton of these within minutes and I want to share her recipe with you.

For the dough:

700 grams flour

1 active dry yeast (7 grams)

1 table spoon sugar

200 ml lukewarm milk

100 ml sunflower oil

A dash of salt

For the filling:

250 grams butter or margarine, at room temperature

2 egg yolks + 1 for the top

Mix the butter with two egg yolks with a hand mixer.

Mix together the yeast, sugar and warm milk and let sit for a few minutes, or until it starts to bubble. Then, mix together the flour, oil, salt and the prepared yeast. Use your hands to knead a soft, light dough.  

Form the dough into two buns, put in a bowl, cover with a tea towel and let rise for one hour (make sure you put the dough in a warm place, like a turned off oven or microwave). After the dough has doubled in size, roll each bun out into a square and smear with the filling. 

Roll the dough from the narrower end up, like making a jelly roll. Make sure you roll it tight, enclosing the filling. Once rolled, cut the roll into small triangles. Spread the egg yolk over the top and sprinkle with sesame seeds. 

Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden.

Added to this and this link-up party.

The Oh She Glows Coobook Review + Chilled Chocolate Espresso Torte

Angela Liddon started her Oh She Glows Blog in 2008, where she shared her love of vegan food with her readers. Five years later she finally released her cookbook.

The book is divided into 10 recipe chapters: Breakfast, Smoothies, Juices and Tea, Appetizers, Salads, Soup, Entrees, Sides, Power Snacks, Desserts, and Homemade Staples. 

Accompanying the delicious recipes are the most amazing pictures of food I have ever seen. It makes you fall in love with food, again. 

Before you flick to the recipes, Angela explains the importance of some vegan foods, like Nuts, Soy Products, Herbs etc. I like that because you can learn more about the importance of certain food. 

I am not vegan, but I like to mix things up and there is nothing wrong with eating healthy food.

It can be purchased on Amazon, The Book Depository or iBooks.

I decided to try the Chilled Chocolate Espresso Torte because I loved the description of it. I have to admit though, I was sceptical when I saw that the filling is made out of cashews (?!) and cocoa. Ok, cocoa I love, but cashews in a dessert? Let me tell you, the smell of this filling is so amazing, I can't even describe. I have never baked something so amazingly smelling. I could live off this pie forever. 

You need:

For the toasted hazelnut crust:

¾ cup hazelnuts

¼ cup coconut oil

3 table spoons maple syrup

¼ tea spoon fine-grain sea salt

½ cup gluten-free oat flour

1 cup gluten-free rolled oats

For the chocolate filling:

1 ½ cups cashews, soaked

2/3 cup agave nectar

½ cup coconut oil

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup dark chocolate chips, melted

2 tea spoons vanilla extract

½ tea spoon fine-grain sea salt

½ tea spoon espresso powder (optional)

Make the crust, first. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 23 cm pie dish with coconut oil.

In a food processor, process the hazelnuts into a fine crumb with the texture of sand. Add the coconut oil, maple, sugar, salt, espresso powder, and oat flour and process again until the dough comes together. Finally, add the rolled oats and pulse until they are chopped, but still have some texture to them. The dough should stick together slightly, if not, add some more maple syrup.

Use your fingers and crumble the dough over the pie dish evenly. Starting from the middle, press the dough firmly into the dish, moving outward and upward along the side of the dish. Bake the crust fro 10 to 13 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 15 minutes.

Make the filling. Drain and rinse the cashews. In a blender, combine the cashews, agave, oil, cocoa powder, melted chocolate, vanilla, salt and espresso powder. Blend on high, until the filling is smooth. Pour over the prepared crust, smoothing out the top evenly. Garnish with chocolate shavings, coconut, or as I did – with hazelnuts.

Place the pie in the freezer (uncovered) for a couple of hours, then cover the dish with foil and freeze overnight. Remove the pie from the freezer and let sit for ten minutes before serving.

Reprinted by arrangement with AVERY, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © GLO BAKERY CORPORATION, 2014.

Recipe added to this link up party.

Chocolate Almond Cookies

Whenever I go grocery shopping I always buy things I don't actually need. My heart skips a beat when I see that familiar red "sale" sign. Almonds were on sale the other day and I couldn't resist buying a bag. Come on, I wanted to resist the urge of baking because I simply don't have time these days (writing an MA Thesis, blogging and a job keeps me occupied), but when I saw Lorraine's recipe for Chocolate Almond Cookies I knew the almonds were a good purchase.

Recipe adapted from Lorraine Pascale's A Lighter Way to Bake (My review)

You need:

50g butter

50g light brown sugar (I am in love with Muscovado)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

100g whole-wheat flour

50g ground almonds

50g cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Flaked almonds for the topping

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray. Set aside. 

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix well.

Gradually add the flour, almond, cocoa, baking powder and soda. Mix well, then use your hands to form a sticky dough. 

Roll out small balls of dough, set on tray, and flatten each ball with your palm. Put a few flaked almonds on top.

Bake for ten minutes. Once baked, let cool on a wire rack.

Linked to this link-up party.