Fruity Chia lollies

Do you remember this chia pudding?

Do you remember I was curious as to whether it could be turned into chia fruit lollies... Well I just couldn't resist giving it a go, so here we are! They are pretty good!

The recipe is pretty much identical to the pudding but to add a slight twist and colour pop I added some crushed raspberries to the mix to give a pretty colour contrast  :-)  I always use frozen fruits for things like this purely on a practical level as there is so much less colour bleed and crushing the raspberries is so easy when solid, however I do appreciate that frozen fruit has less chance of being seasonal and organic- unless of course you buy fresh and freeze them yourself- that would be best!

I doubled up the original recipe to make approx. 6 lollies. I tried to find some silicone lolly moulds but to no avail so my mould consisted of a hard plastic shell that needs running under hot water to loosen the lolly to eat. Not the easiest way to go about things and the tops did begin to go a little melty in places for the photoshoot...but no major drama!

I served up my lollies with some of my watermelon cooler....no way I was going to be dehydrating anytime soon ;-)

Recipe:  Fruity Chia lollies

Makes 6 lollies


Ingredients:


3 tbs white chia seeds (dark will work fine too but won’t look so pretty!)
2 bananas- mashed well
1 tbs maca powder (optional)
1 cup fresh pineapple
1/2 cup broken rasberry pieces- frozen works best
1/2 cup coconut water (or substitute regular filtered water)


Method:


Blend all ingredients together until smooth, stirring through the raspberry pieces last.

Spoon the mixture into lolly moulds and freeze.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Raspberry almond cocoa cookie

So many recipes I want to share!

I have an amazing ‘realistic’ burger recipe I tried out last weekend that I am dying to share but before all that we’re still in ‘birthday land’ so first I must share with you my breakfast cookie that was my morning birthday treat.

I love the breakfast cookie! So quick and simple, so filling and also good for you too…obviously if you don’t go overboard with chocolate and other sweeteners but then it wouldn’t really be a breakfast cookie would it!

This little cookie was a little more indulgent than my previous blueberry cookie as I used cacao in the batter and a tiny grating of chocolate over the top.  But I think you’ll agree it’s still pretty virtuous and makes a change from my bowl of oats.

You’ll also see a little green smoothie sneaking in the background. I’m still on my ‘30 day green smoothie challenge’ and its going well so far… I will wait until the end of the challenge in a week or so to round up my thoughts, findings and various recipes.

Well, I think that cookie pretty much speaks for itself… I have nothing left to add! So I’m going to leave it there and be off for my birthday celebrations with my family, a trip down to Reading to visit my sister who is at uni there. The weather is looking good today so hopefully we’ll take a nice walk along the river after lunch…tapas! Tapas is one of my favourites, I love lots of mini portions to dip into and try and there’s always something for everyone. I also get plenty of choice which is great as in most restaurants there is a limited number of dishes I can order from the menu.

I’m hungry already!

Recipe: raspberry almond cocoa cookie

Makes one fat cookie

Ingredients

¼ cup oats

2 tbs buckwheat flour (other flours  would probably be fine too)

1 tbs cacoa powder

¼ tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground flax/chia

Ground cinnamon and vanilla or almond extract to taste (approx. ½ tsp each)

1 tbs agave syrup

2-3 tbs soy yoghurt (or regular yoghurt for non-vegan)

Handful of frozen raspberries

Sprinkling of flaked almonds

A little grated dark chocolate-optional

Method

Mix and mash all ingredients (other than almonds and raspberries) together well to form a thick mixture, add the raspberries last and mix through so they are still chunky. Bring the mixture together as a ball and roughly flatten the ball with your palm and place on a small microwaveable plate. Sprinkle the flaked almonds over the top and lightly press them in.

Cook on full powder in the microwave for 1 minute (you may need an extra 20 seconds depending on your microwave power). Press with your finger and if it springs back and there are no visibly sticky bits and the berries are fully cooked you’re done.

Grate a little dark chocolate over the top if desired before serving.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.