Baked apple oatmeal with date sugar

My first date sugar recipe!

For those of you who missed it, I had a little reflection on sweeteners and set myself a lent challenge, date sugar is probably one of the healthiest options out there and so I figured it made sense to make my own. So....lets go date crazy!

I decided to keep it pretty simple for my first attempt. A baked oatmeal recipe that I felt pretty sure would work in principle, since I’ve created so many baked oatmeal dishes before. The date sugar was sprinkled over the top to create a caramelised glaze, whilst extra dates were used throughout to provide additional sweetness. You could use other forms of granulated sugar such as coconut sugar or rapadura (sucanat) but I loved the rich caramelised flavour the dates gave plus its arguably the healthiest option.

In the same theme at the carrot cake baked oatmeal and banana bread oatmeal, I thought I’d incorporate some veggies....you can omit the courgette if you like, thought I dont think you can taste it at all? Just make sure you use a really flavoursome and tart apple so that the oatmeal is not at all bland.

Recipe: Baked apple oatmeal with date sugar 

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 apple cubed- use a tart flavoured apple such as a granny smith or a cooking apple

¼ cup courgette- grated (omit of preferred and use a larger apple)

1 tbs chia/flax seed

1 cup soy milk (or other vegan milk)

1 tsp cinnamon

½ cup oats

2 tbs chopped pecans or walnuts

1/4 cup chopped dates

2 tbs date sugar

Method

Reserve the chopped nuts and 1 tbs date sugar and mix all remaining ingredients together until well coated  and spoon into a greased oven dish approx 20x10cm. Press down and smooth the top before adding the nuts and pressing lightly into the mixture. Sprinkle with the reserved date sugar.

Bake at 180C for approx. 20 mins until the topping is golden. Serve immediately.  This also tastes good cold the next day!

 

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.

Date sugar...the only wholefood sugar

To kick off my Whole Food Lent Challenge we have my number one versatile sweetener...Dates!

I have been thinking a lot about sugar recently. Completing the Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition got me thinking about my habits and how ‘healthy’ I actually am, or maybe more importantly the ways in which I could still improve. It triggered me to think bigger and better than ever before. For the first time I actually fully appreciated what the word ‘whole foods’ actually means. I know that might sound silly, but a healthy alternative is still often not actually 'whole' and previously I hadn’t clicked onto that fact! 

For example when it comes to sweeteners,. I love agave syrup and use it a lot but there has been a lot of media attention in recent months and years disputing the health benefits of agave and so I thought it might not be a bad idea to think a little further  beyond. Sweeteners that I have been trying out much more recently are coconut sugar and also date sugar...date sugar is of particular interest to me as it is a complete whole food.

The other bonus is, you can easily make your own date sugar!  

I am planning on incorporating date sugar into many more of my recipes to come, but at the same time I will also try and offer a substitute so that those of you without will still be able to benefit from the recipes.

The ‘world’ of sweeteners can be a confusing minefield, and I do like a bit of cake and so i’m simply not prepared to give up my ‘sugar’ in modest amounts but obviously the healthier I can make sure this is the better. 

What are your favourite sweeteners and what ‘healthy’ tricks to you use to satisfy a sweet tooth?

step one- dried dates

step two- first grind

step three- re-bake and second grind

Recipe: Date sugar

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

3 cups fresh dates (I used deglet noor- so as big and sticky as medjool)

1-2 tsp starch (I used arrowroot but others will also work)

Method

Halve the dates and lay them in a single layer on a lined baking sheet.

Place in the oven on the lowest temperature (mine was approx 50C) and ‘bake’ for about 3 hours, turn the oven off and allow to cool whilst still in the oven. I left mine in their overnight. They should end up much harder and dryer.

Placed in a high powered food processor (I used a Thermomix) and blitz on high for 30 seconds. Add 1 tsp of starch and blitz for another 30 seconds.

At this stage I lots of small clumpy grains that were still a little sticky. Lay this mixture out on the baking sheet once again in an even layer and bake at a low temp for another hour until the mixture is very hard to the touch.

Once fully cool, re blend the mixture in the processor adding a touch more starch if necessary (the starch helps to prevent clumping).  You could also add other flavours such as vanilla or cinnamon here if desired.

Once the date sugar is as fine as you can get it and there is no moisture present. Pour into an airtight storage container for future use. You will find that the date sugar hardens together over time which is normal. Use a fork to loosen for use.

Notes: you may find that if you are able to ensure the dates are rock hard from the first bake the resulting sugar will be fine enough from the first blend without the need for re-baking. You can also use a dehydrator to achieve the same affect. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

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.

'Whole foods’ Lent Challenge

Join in with the challenge and follow me on Facebook or Twitter 

...let's get the party starting and the motivation flowing!

Shrove Tuesday is followed by Ash Wednesday...the time of year in the Christian calendar (and the general media) where traditionally people 'give something up for lent’. I must admit I don’t often partake in the challenge, in part due to my inner rebellion against society’s obligations . But you know what, this year I had a think, I wondered whether I might put myself out there for the challenge and maybe bring a few others on board in the process....

...Still listening? Ok, here’s the plan. This year the period of lent from today until March 28^th will become the 'WHOLE FOOD LENT CHALLENGE'. It’s not so much about what you don’t eat i.e. give up, but more a focus on what you do eat. I think this puts a more positive spin on things since giving up implies restriction and for me the plant based way of life is about choice not limits.

The challenge itself is pretty simple and the rules can be tailored to suit.... for example a focus on eating  whole grain bread instead of white refined read, or a challenge to use all whole food forms of sweetener instead of regular refined sugar, or a challenge to focus on whole natural foods whether they be plant or animal (I appreciate not everyone follows a plant based diet!) instead of processed meats and snacks substitutions... simply embrace the whole foods nature gave us and be inspired!

This line of thinking had come about in large part by T. Colin Campbell’s findings in The China Study and also my own development in undertaking the Plant Based Nutrition Course.

I been putting the word out and have already enlisted friends and colleagues, and I’d love it if you would join in too. It doesn’t need to be extreme or incur a huge change to routine, a little offering is all and your focus and mindset will reap the benefits.

I have chosen to focus on natural sweeteners for my challenge, so the forthcoming posts will be even more of a challenge to create indulgence using natural whole food sweeteners- banana, dates, raisins, fruit purees. I will allow stevia simply because it is used in such small amount within my recipes, I will try to use natural green stevia in some recipes where possible. The main things I want to find ways to work around if possible is agave nectar, brown rice syrup and maple syrup as I feel have become too reliant on the ‘healthy syrups’.

A few 'unrefined' goodies to get you going....I will be adding to this list over the next 6 weeks!

cocoa-nana custard, pear and gingerbread sauce,  chia jam over pancakes, banoffee shake, berry buckwheat breakfast

Anyway, that’s enough from me today. I hope you decide to join me in challenging yourself in some way. Let me know in the comments below and follow me on Facebook or Twitter ...let's get the party starting and the motivation flowing!

Your first (very simple) recipe will be coming your way on Saturday and will be the perfect start to natural sweeteners...here is a little sneak preview. Do you know what it is?

P.S  As a little side note I will also be challenging myself on a further level by undertaking a ‘Six-Weeks To Six-Pack: The Plant Based Way’ Challenge. I’m passionate about fitness and it’s contribution to a healthy lifestyle, yet that isn’t generally the focus of my blog, hence I’m keeping this challenge a little separate to my regular posts. You can find out more about my challenge and follow my progress here on the dedicated page tab.

Spiced apple pancakes with date and walnut

Sometimes (usually at weekends) I wake up in pancake mode!

Today was one of those days.

My typical weekday breakfast oats consist of a grated apple mixed into milky oats with raisins, cinnamon and seeds or nuts sprinkled over a dollop of soy yoghurt on the top.

Well, this is simply my breakfast in pancake form with dates instead of raisins and walnuts as the perfect compliment. On their own I am not a huge walnut fan…but teamed with dates or maple syrup then I’m sold. You could use either date syrup or maple syrup in this recipe, I used maple syrup and then added the chopped dates to the batter.

These are thick moist pancakes and make for a pretty filing brunch. Believe me you really won’t need to be snacking again before lunch…particularly if like me these form part of a lazy morning, with brunch (as opposed to breakfast) being the keyword!

Saturday tends to be my chill-out catch up day, anything goes and I have no particular timetable or commitments. However, that said I do like to have felt that I ‘fitted a lot in’ to my day. I’ve said before that I’m not really very good at lazy days however hard I try! But the concept of lazy day pancakes sets me in the weekend mood, they take the healthy vibe and tweak it into a little indulgence. Perfect!

If you are a fan of pancake brunch (or indeed pancake dessert!) have a peek at my blueberry banana or my winter cranberry chestnut combos.

Recipe: Spiced apple pancakes with date and walnut

Ingedients

½ cup mix of wholemeal and white spelt flour

4 tbs rolled oats

1 grated apple

3 finely chopped dates (optional or you can add more if omitting the maple syrup)

1 tsp cinnamon

¾ tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 tbs maple syrup or 2 tbs date syrup) (omit if want a more savoury pancake)

1/3-1/2 cup soy milk (or nay milk alternative)

1 tbs melted coconut butter/oil (or omit for fat free)

Topping- soy yoghurt, a sprinkling of chopped walnuts and a drizzle of maple or date syrup.

Makes approx. 6 medium thick pancakes. (serves two for brunch or desert)

Method

Mix coconut butter/oil, syrup of choice and soy milk in a bowl and heat in microwave to melt the butter into the mixture. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add the wet and mix. Add chopped apple/dates last and lightly mix through. Spoon dollops on a lightly oiled hot frying pan and fry till golden for a minute or so each side. Serve with soy yoghurt and walnuts as desired.

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.

Date syrup

This is just a little quickie recipe…if you can even call it a recipe! My toffee granola bars posted last week and also my sticky toffee pudding called for using date syrup, and since it is so easy to make your own I thought I’d share a post dedicated to it.

Dates also have many nutritional benefits, particularly when compared with many other sweeteners and are also very popular with raw foodists. Without going into great detail here; dates are a rich source of dietary fibre, iron and a number of minerals, and are also very rich in antioxidant flavonoids offering protection to the cells in the body.

I use a lot of dates, particular in their raw form in my smoosh bar varieties, so I have bought a large box in bulk  making for an economical syrup. I use organic halawi dates, but either halawi or medjoul dates (which are larger and slightly more juicy) should work fine. Medjoul may even be preferable but since I haven’t tried using these dates I cannot confirm this.

You can either make a date paste or a syrup simply depending on how much water you add. Paste like syrups work better at binding things together whereas a looser syrup works best to spoon over or mix through- i.e spooning over the sticky toffee pudding…Mmmmm!

Since dates naturally have a caramelly, toffee like flavour they make the perfect sweetener for a toffee or caramel flavoured dessert, this can be enhanced with other sweeteners such as brown rice syrup when a very sweet caramelly flavour is required in a desert, but on their own they provide a lovely subtle sweetness. I also add a touch of vanilla extract to the syrup to subtly enhance the flavour, but other flavours or spices could be used too.

The date syrup pictured used 1 cup of water.

Recipe: date paste/syrup

Ingredients 

1 heaped cup of dates (I used 1 heaped cup to compensate for the fact the dates were whole and not packed in- so you want to visually aim for a fairly packed cup)

½ cup hot water- for a thick paste

1 cup hot water- for a thick syrup ( used this for my granola bars)

1.5 cups hot water- for a smoother easily spoon-able syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract- optional

Method

Place the dates in a small/medium bowl. Pour the required amount of boiling water over the dates and leave to soften for approx. 30 minutes. Once softened pour the contents of the bowl, along with a little vanilla extract, in to a blender (I used my thermomix) and blend until smooth.

Pour the syrup into a jar and store in the fridge if not using straight away.  This keeps for at least two weeks in sealed container.

Note: the more water used the more 'dilute' the dates become and therefore less sweet the syrup. If you are afer a sweet syrup you may like to add a little stevia or brown rice syrup also.

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.

Toffee granola bars

For me, the best granola bars are lovely and dense with a great chunky texture to really get your teeth into…also I love a granola bar to be slightly moist and cakey rather than hard and crisp like a biscuit. Most of the granola bars sold in stores seem to be of the ‘hard’ variety.

A lightly sweetened, moreishly moist, healthy, fill-you-up cakey bar to grab on the run…yeah I think that pretty much sums it all up!

I have saved a number of different ‘granola bar’ style recipes from various sources across the net and I’ll be sure to try them out (with various tweaks and modifications) over the coming days and weeks.  However, the recipe for today comes from an original experiment I did a few months back when I wanted to make my own date syrup to act as alternative sweetener. The bar is based on this recipe by Oh She Glows, I loved it’s description indicating a healthy yet more cakey style bar. True to form I had to go changing things round a bit and so this is my take on the concept.

This is the second time I’ve made these bars, pretty much sticking to the same ingredients each time. The bars are fairly soft inside and slightly crumbly to bite into, but I really like them that way- a great contrast to the firm exterior. Wrap them up in foil or clingfilm to hold them together and they are good to go to the office or to be popped in a handbag! These store well in an airtight container for around 1 week.

I have used homemade date syrup as the main source of sweetness and as the main sticky ingredient binding everything together. Dates naturally have a caramelly, toffee like flavour so made the perfect complement for creating a natural toffee-like granola bar.

Recipe: toffee granola bars

Ingredients 

1 ½ cups oats

¼ cup buckwheat flour (or other similar textured flours could be used)

2 tbs ground flax

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup coarsely chopped nuts- I used cashews and hazlenuts

½ cup date syrup (homemade see note) or brown rice syrup- or a bit of each

2 tbs coconut butter

¼ tsp stevia

¼ cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup  cacoa nibs or dark chocolate chunks

Makes one 8” pan. Approx. 12 bars

Method

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl (excluding cacoa/choc chunks). Add the wet ingredients (date syrup, coconut butter, peanut butter, vanilla) to a small microwaveable bowl and microwave on medium power for approx. 2 minutes until the coconut butter has melted. (alternatively melt in a saucepan over the hob). Spoon wet mixture over the dry and mix well- use your hands as the mixture is very stiff! Add cacoa nibs/chocolate chuncks last making sure mixture is cool  so chocolate doesn’t melt (if using).  Line an 8” pan with baking parchment and spoon the mixture in pressing it down as level as possible with  the back of a spoon. Bake at 180C for 25-30 minutes until the surface is beginning to go golden. Allow to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack for approx. 30 minutes before attempting to slice with a very sharp knife, as otherwise the edges have a greater

tendency to crumble.

Note: To make date syrup, soften dates with an equal amount of boiling water. let stand for 30 minutes or so until soft and then blitz in a blender/food procesor until smooth. you can also add a little vanilla extract if desired.

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.

A note on Stevia

I use pure Stevia in its powdered form in many of my recipes as it allows me to reduce the ‘sugar’ content whilst retaining the sweetness. You can find more info on Stevia here. In principle, my research leads me to the conclusion that Stevia is as safe as any other sweetener on the market today whilst also offering the benefits of being calorie free and having no effect on blood sugar. Obviously I have not reviewed its credentials in any depth here, but my point is simply that I am totally comfortable in using this product within my recipes.

Many of you will already be familiar with this sweetener as it is common place in the US and other areas of the world, however here in the UK (and much of Europe) the commercial use of Stevia is awaiting formal approval by the European Union (due by the end of 2011). SEE UPDATE BELOW. Stevia is not currently available in high street shops so make take a little more effort to track down. For those who would like to have a go at using Stevia themselves or alternatively would prefer not to use Stevia at all, I have provided a little more general guidance below, however I would encourage you to experiment a little to find what works for you.

Stevia in its pure form needs to be handled carefully as it is so sweet a few grains of powder go a long way!  Pure Stevia is available in a number of forms i.e powder and liquid but it is also available in a bulked out ‘granular’ form as a more direct and easy to manage sugar substitute which is the type most likely to be available in UK shops in the near future. As a general rule when I am creating my own healthy version of a more standard recipe I do the following:  if a recipe calls for 1 cup/225g  of standard granulated sugar I tend to use 1/3 to ½ cup or 70g-100g agave syrup and 1/3 tsp stevia powder. (1tsp stevia equates to roughly 1 cup sugar). I don’t like to overdo the sweetness in my recipes so aim to tone it down a tad and, where fruit is involved, let the sweetness of the other ingredients come out to play.  

The reason I combine agave syrup and Stevia is because Stevia on its own can have an odd (slightly bitter) aftertaste in baked goods, I guess this is simply because it is so concentrated and is more unfamiliar to our taste buds.  By adding agave syrup (as opposed to a granulated sugar), the other liquids in the mixture will need to be reduced slightly to offset this. Similarly if you would prefer to omit stevia altogether, by all means you can double the amount of agave but you will need to add a little more of the dry ingredient or reduce further the wet ingredients (whichever would seem most appropriate) to compensate. Again, a little experimentation in the key here. Let me know how you get on!

UPDATE NOVEMBER 2011: The EU regulation allowing the use of extracts of stevia rebaudiana has finally been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The announcement was made on the 14th November.

Please note that my recipes use stevia in its Pure form in combination with other sweeteners and not the 'baking' form (as available in regular supermarkets) which has added bulking agents. I have not tested these products and so cannot offer advice as to how successful their substitution would be.