Matcha and Coconut are two of my favorite things. It was only a matter of time before I put the two together to create a satisfying treat. These energy balls are raw vegan, and come together in a matter of minutes. Matcha ( a special form of green tea from Japan) has many health benefits and also gives you a boost thanks to the caffeine. Matcha is made from high quality tea and the leaves are ground down into a fine powder. Because whole leaves are injected, this makes Matcha a more potent source of nutrients than green tea. It is rich in antioxidants that can help prevent cancer and heart disease, and can help to regulate sugar levels in the body.
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Black Sesame & Chia Seed Granola
I grew up in New Zealand eating toasted muesli with milk for breakfast. I never liked the untoasted kind, it just didn’t taste as good to me. As far as I know, we didn’t have granola, that was more of an American thing (which I didn’t discover until adulthood). Both muesli and granola are made with nuts,…
Salted Peanut Butter Cookies
If you read my food reviews, you’ll recall a recent post about Ovenly and how sinfully delicious their baked goods are. Especially their salted peanut butter cookies! I was so taken aback with how good these cookies were, that I knew I had to find the recipe and try to recreate them myself. Well I did it! It wasn’t such a hard task, thanks to Ovenly having this recipe in their cookbook. Smitten Kitchen featured the recipe on their website, so I was only a short amount of time away from having these amazing cookies baking in my oven.
For this recipe to be successful, you need to use a processed peanut butter such as Skippy or Jif. The natural peanut butters are too runny so don’t be tempted to make these cookies more healthy. Just enjoy them for what they are: pure peanut butter heaven. To achieve the shape seen in the photos, you will need to use a cookie scoop. Freezing the dough is mandatory if you want to get the pretty striations on top of the cookies.
Valentine’s Shortbread Cookies with Guava Jam
Valentine’s Day is almost here. Whether you celebrate it or not (let’s face it, it is very commercial), it’s a great excuse to eat heart shaped treats and to spend it with a loved one, who doesn’t need to be your boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife. If you’re single, a fun get-together with the ladies in your life is probably a much better option than an awkward date. I wanted to put a spin on the usual heart shaped cookies, and instead of filling them with strawberry or raspberry jam, I went with guava. I love the flavor so much, and it pairs so well with the rich, buttery shortbread.
Maple Cinnamon Christmas Cookies
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you’re all enjoying some quality time with loved ones. For those back home in New Zealand, it’s already Christmas Day & here in New York City, it’s Christmas Eve. This year in New Zealand, my family will all be gathering at my cousin’s farm. She has two children, and I’m going to miss not seeing their faces light up when they open gifts. And of course, it goes without saying I will really miss the delicious feast, which usually involves a roast lamb with all the trimmings, and my favourite pavlova for dessert. For those not familiar with pavlova, it’s a meringue cake that has a hard shell and is soft and fluffy on the inside. It’s then topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Since it’s Summer there, strawberries are a popular topping.
Christmas Tree Brownies
This past weekend I had a Christmas party at my place and I wanted to make a dessert that was festive and easy for people to grab and eat. These adorable brownie trees are perfect for placing on a platter. The brownies are rich and fudgy, with chocolate chips and miniature marshmallows to take them to a 10 out of 10. The green swirl is created using candy melts, sprinkles are the trees decorations, and the candy cane serves as the trees trunk.
Spiked Eggnog Cake with Rum Glaze
A cake that not only has rum in it, but rum in the glaze also? Yes please! Plus eggnog? Sign me up! I’m a huge eggnog fan. Which wasn’t always the case, as you can’t buy it in New Zealand, and I never knew anyone who made their own. Now that I’m living in New York, I’ve really gotten a taste for eggnog during the holidays, and I like to have it as a treat after dinner. Or whenever I want something sweet. I was very surprised when buying the eggnog at my local supermarket, that 5 out of 6 varieties contained high-fructose corn syrup. This is a nasty replacement for sugar, but it’s cheap so that’s why companies use it. I had to pay a bit extra to get the natural eggnog that has real sugar & no artificial ingredients, but at least I feel better about drinking it. The brand I got is called Organic Valley, and I can highly recommend it as one of the best tasting eggnogs I’ve tried. Of course, one of these days I’ll have to make my own.
Southern Caramel Cake
I have been wanting to try my hand at making a caramel cake for quite some time, and after some research I decided to go with this recipe from Grandbaby Cakes. It’s an authentic, true Southern recipe and everything is done from scratch with no shortcuts, including the caramel. So you definitely don’t want to…
Walnut Crunch Cake
The other day I was looking through a recipe book I have ‘The Golden Book of Baking’ and saw this walnut crunch cake. I love the fact that it doesn’t require any decoration at all (the crumble is the topping). It’s baked in a Bundt pan and the walnut crunch takes me back to eating…
Rhubarb Galette
I had been wanting to try to make a galette for a while ever since I saw them at the farmers market, and finally bit the bullet when I went to my local fruit store and rhubarb was on sale. I adore rhubarb. Not everyone does as it’s a tart fruit but if you get…