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Healthy-ish Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Brownies

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There is nothing like this. I promise. All of the good things combined and more than you have ever wanted. On the bottom we have the fudgy and chocolaty brownie (which already is so good on its own), then we have the creamy salted date caramel layer, which is just heaven and then everything is topped with a crunchy chocolate layer. If you are not hungry by now, I do not know what would make you hungry…

What’s special about this dish?

Well, a lot actually. The brownies are refined sugar and butter and made with wholewheat flour. So, they are pretty healthy actually. Then for the caramel, instead of cream, butter and sugar we are only blending dates, coconut milk and sea salt. This will become really creamy and thick and just tastes amazing!! Honestly, it was a mistake not having combined brownies and date caramel for such a long time! This combo is out of the world. Not exaggerating. So the brownie is pretty healthy, easy to make and still tastes really good!

Is this dish healthy?

Yepyep, as already mentioned, unlike regular brownies, this one is not loaded with sugar and saturated fats. It’s made out of eggs, coconut sugar (which still does contain sugar but less than white, refined sugar, plus it also comes with other nutrients), vanilla, oil (which is high in unsaturated fats), wholewheat flour (great source of fibre) and cacao powder (actually really good for you because it is super high in antioxidants)

Obviously we also have chocolate (super good for your soul 🙂 – when purchasing the chocolate, make sure to check the label to best get one that has been sweetened with any form of natural sweetener and does not contain a bunch of ingredients you don’t know and cannot pronounce). Plus, the dates, which also are really high in fibre, and dates in general are a super beneficial food for you as they are a great source of antioxidants and vitamins). So you see – all in all, pretty healthy. And especially healthy for your soul!

How to make this dish:

Easy peasy, chocolate squeezy. Or something like that. No, this is fairly easy. No eggs need to be separated, no complicated things need to be done. It essentially comes down to melting chocolate in the microwave, whipping eggs, sugar and vanilla till fluffy and then pouring in the chocolate and oil, as well as the flour-cacao powder mixture. That’s already it for the brownie, so very safe to make for everyone.

The caramel layer is not much more difficult. If you have soft dates (like medjool dates), then they blend perfectly fine. If yours are a bit harder, you can just soak them in hot water for a few hours and they will also become soft, which makes them easier to blend. So these are then just mixed with the coconut milk and the sea salt and that’s it. The chocolate layer on top is very self-explanatory, so you just need to melt the chocolate and pour it above. It’s easier if the other layers have cooled down a bit.

Meal prep friendly?

In theory yes! In real life, let’s say, I’d be surprised. Every time we make them, they’re gone within 3 days (If they even last this long). But yes, in theory they would definitely last up until a week in the fridge if covered or stored in an air tight container. If you have too many and make them on batch, you could also freeze some and slowly thaw them up before eating (so just placing them at room temperature and slowly letting them unfreeze).

In terms of how to best have these, there is no right answer. Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, dessert. Do we even need to ask when to best have brownies? Is there even a time where you cannot have brownies? I hope not. How to best have them is a different question. They are really good and rich on their own, so there is no need to add anything else, although they go great with some ice cream.

This recipe really is a must try for all chocolate lovers out there! Easy, healthyish and so worth it to make. They’ll upgrade ANY week! I hope you genuinely like them and enjoy making them!

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Healthy-ish Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Brownies

The best (and only) brownie recipe you'll ever need! This is easy, not your average brownie and so good.

Course Dessert, Snack
Prep Time 20 Minuten
Cook Time 20 Minuten
Total Time 40 Minuten
Servings 12 slices

What you will need

For the brownies:

  • 3 eggs
  • 180 g coconut sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
  • 100 g milk chocolate (preferably one that has been sweeneed with natural sweetener like coconut sugar)
  • 100 g dark chocolate (preferably one that has been sweeneed with natural sweetener like coconut sugar)
  • 120 ml oil (flavor neutral oil)
  • 120 g whole wheat flour
  • 40 g cacao powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder

For the rest:

  • 250 g dates (soft ones work best – if you do not have soft ones, you can soak them in hot water for a few hours)
  • 150 ml coconut milk
  • a pinch sea salt
  • 100 g chocolate (preferably one that has been sweeneed with natural sweetener like coconut sugar)

How to

For the brownies:

  1. Melt both chocolates in the microwave, then combine with the oil and let cool a bit. Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla for about 5 minutes until fluffy.

Love,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

Maple Cinnamon Baked Pumpkin with Super Crispy Walnut Cranberry Granola

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Have you ever had sweet pumpkin? If not, I am very sorry to tell you that you have been missing out. I myself have been missing out for a very long time but really, it is so absolutely delicious. And so easy to make. Definitely not your average dessert!

What is special about this dish?

Sweet Pumpkin. This already is very special. Instead of putting it into soup, pasta, curry, whatever, we are preparing it in a non-savoury way. It is roasted with cinnamon, maple and spices and served with an incredibly delicious, homemade granola.

The granola is the next special part. It is not the kind you need to roast in the oven for ages but the one you throw into a pan, and it is done in like 10 minutes. Pretty good right? A sweet version of pumpkin definitely is worth a try!

Is this dish healthy?

Yesso. Pumpkin is pretty healthy. Super high in vitamins and also in fibre. If you want to read more about why it is such a great vegetable, you can read about it in my November Top 5 blog post! Having a vegetable in your dessert ist pretty amazing because it makes you have a delicious meal but still getting your vitamins in.

The rest is also pretty healthy. Sure, there is sugar in this recipe, but no refined sugar. And the granola is also pretty good. The walnuts add a healthy amount of unsaturated fats, especially omega-3 fats, and nutrients. The oats are high in fibre and carbs too and are pretty healthy! So all in all, definitely healthy!

How to make this dish:

This is fairly simple, as almost all of my recipes. First, you need to brush the pumpkin with the oil-spice mixture. Now it needs to be baked in the oven. This does take a while but in the meantime you can prepare the granola. For this just heat up some oil and honey or other liquid sweetener in a pan and add the crushed walnuts as well as the oats, spices and cinnamon. Let everything crisp up and then let cool a bit. Once the pumpkin is done, serve it with some (plant based) yoghurt or ice cream and the granola.

When and how to best have it:

You can literally have this as breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert. You have your veggies and carbs, so I think it is suitable for every meal of the day. I love to have it as a dessert or even as a breakfast! As already mentioned above, it is best served with yoghurt or ice cream and granola!

Substitutes:

Butternut squash – any other pumpkin, sweet potato
Walnuts – pecans, almonds, hazelnuts
Oats – leave them out
Maple syrup – honey, agave
Cranberries – raisins

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Maple Cinnamon Baked Pumpkin with Super Crispy Walnut Cranberry Granola

A sweet version of the fall classic. Soft, sweet and warm, served with a delicious, crispy granola. Next level pumpkin.

Course Dessert, Snack
Prep Time 20 Minuten
Cook Time 1 Stunde
Total Time 1 Stunde 5 Minuten
Servings 6 desserts
Calories 223 kcal

What you will need

For the Pumpkin:

  • 3 tbsp oil
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup
  • 3 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • a pinch salt
  • 1 butternut squash (about 900g)

For the granola:

  • 60 g rolled oats
  • 30 g walnuts
  • 30 g cranberries

To serve:

  • yoghurt, ice cream,..
  • some maple syrup
  • extra cinnamon

How to

  1. Start by slicing the pumpkin into about 3cm thick slices. Remove the seeds from the slices that contain some. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lay the pumpkin on a baking tray with parchment paper. Combine the oil, maple and spices and brush both sides of the slices with it (there will be some oil mixture left). Bake for 45 minutes. Turn the heat up to 200°C an bake for another 5 minutes.

  2. In the meantime add the oats and walnuts to a non-stick pan and toast on high heat for about 3 minutes, stirring continuously. Once golden brown, add the remaining oil-maple mixture that's left after brushing the pumpkin. Turn heat down and stir it it. Add the chopped up cranberries and also stir in. Take off the heat and let cool a bit.

  3. When the pumpkin is done, serve with some (plant based) yoghurt, granola, extra maple and cinnamon. Enjoy!

The only healthy Plum Compote Recipe you’ll ever need

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Plum compote = Zwetschkenröster

Plum Compote – an austrian staple

If you are not from Austria and have never heard of plum compote or Zwetschkenröster I can understand that you may be confused about this. Zwetschkenröster is a compote made out of plums, which mostly is eaten with Curd Cheese Dumplings (Topfenknödel) or Kaiserschmarren. It is sweet and still have fruit chunks in it so it is not the same as jam.

Traditional plum compote & how it is made

There is more than just the country it comes from, that connects me to plum compote. I have always had a passion for cooking from an early age on, and apparently a very big one for plum compote. A few years ago my parents showed me pictures of me, when I was a little kid, 2 years old or so, sitting on the counter in the kitchen and making curd cheese dumplings and plum roaster with my uncle. So yes, this is a very traditional recipe.

In Austria you can find it in pretty much any house hold, which makes sense when you realise how easy it is to make. And how delicious it is to enjoy. Making this actually is pretty simple. It really just is cooking plums with sugar, lemon juice, spices and some cornstarch until the skin separates slightly from the fruit. Then you let it cool down and fill it into jars. That is it.

What it special about this dish?

The only really special thing here is that it is healthy. Regular plum compote comes with loaded sugar, which obviously is not healthy so we are making a healthier version of it. Besides this, not too much is fancy here because we want to keep it quite traditional.

How to make it healthy

The main ingredient, the plums, stays the same of course. But instead of regular, white, refined sugar, we are using a mixture between coconut sugar and dates. Both of these have a great sweetness but are packed with less actual sugar and come with fibre, which makes the sugar be digested better.

How to best have it:

As I already mentioned, you can have this really well with desserts such as Kaiserschmarren (which is like a destroyed dutch baby) or with dumplings. I also love to have it on top of yoghurt with some granola or with some ice cream. I am sure this would also work really well on top of a creamy porridge. It is a great addition to pretty much anything sweet!

I hope that you will enjoy this recipe and that you will also have memories that are as great as mine!

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Healthy Plum Compote

A healthy version of the austrian classic. Perfectly sweet and juicy plums cookeed into a long lasting and super delicious compote!

Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine austrian
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 1 Stunde 15 Minuten
Total Time 1 Stunde 25 Minuten
Servings 2 jars à 3 servings
Calories 133 kcal

What you will need

  • 1 kg plums
  • 50 g dates
  • 50 g coconut sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • a sprinkle of sea salt
  • 1/2 lemon
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • 50 ml water

How to

  1. Cut all of the plums in half and remove the pit. Slice the dates very finely or cut them into amll pieces. Add them to a pot along with the coconut sugar, water, lemon juice, salt, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for about an hour at medium heat.

  2. After an hour you will see that the skins of the plums started to seperate from the fruit and are rolling in a littlw bit. Now combine the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water in a seperate bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour it in and stir through the compote very well so everything is combined.

  3. Take off the heat and let cool. Then fill into jars and stor ein the fridge! Enjoy!

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

Ultimate healthy and creamy raspberry overnight oats from dahoam

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Summer is a tough time for all porridge lovers. As good as porridge is, who wants to have a steaming hot bowl of oat in the morning when you already start to sweat when you just take a look outside. That’s why we need a cold alternative. Cold oats? Yes, that’s a thing. Overnight Oats. And no, they are not boring or taste like a babyfood.

What are overnight Oats?

As the name already suggests, overnight oats is a form of oatmeal that is prepared overnight. Well not exactly. Usually they are prepared the evening before by mixing together oats and milk and then they chill in the fridge for a few hours, mostly overnight. This way the oats can really absorb and soak up the milk to get soft for the next morning

What is special about this dish?

Well, first, and most important, this breakfast, snack, dessert, whenever you want to enjoy it, is SO EASY to be made from LOCAL ingredients only. Why? Especially here in Austria we have a lot of farmers for local dairy products (but you can find this in most countries). Also, in pretty much any supermarket or bulk store you can find rolled oats that are grown in Austria, because we have an ideal climate here. And lastly, at the moment it is the season of berries, which means nothing is easier than finding berries from Austria right now.

Why is it better to buy local?

There is no single answer to this but I divided it into 4 main reasons:

  1. You support your local economy. Especially during or after a crisis like the one we are going through right now it is important to really support the country you live in. The farmers who produce Austrian products have also been hit by the crisis and as a nation it is important to help together. With supporting the economy you also save and maybe create new jobs, which is very important at the moment, since a lot have gone to loss.
  2. It’s environmental impact: when you buy locally, the goods do not have to be transported for a long time by ships, planes, cars or trains. Especially in a country like Austria, transport way are not very distant and this way we save a lot of CO2 and therefore have a positive impact on the environment.
  3. To be independent: This may sound weird at first but the importance is shown in crisis like the one at the moment. of course raspberries from countries like Spain or Portugal may be cheaper. But when we all keep buying those because they are cheaper, the amount of Austrian raspberries planted will be reduced. And then, when facing a crisis as the current, where delivery and the entire transport system suddenly stops or is interrupted we will not have enough berries to satisfy our needs. So when we consume the products we produce in the country we live in, we, as a nation, are more independent.
  4. Quality: when you buy local products (at least in Austria), you can expect the quality of the product to be at a high standard and you know this. When buying from other countries, where you may not not the quality standards, you may be disappointed and the product may contain some unnatural additives.

Where I get my local products from:

The main ingredient, so the Oats I buy at a bulk store. The one I go to is called Lieber Ohne and it only has organic and unpackaged food, mostly from the region but you can see from any product where it comes from.

The Dairy products I get at Joseph Brot. They are an organic bakery and always have dairy products from Austrian farmers in reusable jars and bottles. A great way to buy local and without producing waste.

The berries I get at a local market. I know where they come from and I can choose the ones I want myself!

The same goes for the honey and nuts. I either get both at Lieber Ohne or I get them at a farmers market!

How to make really good overnight oats:

As I said, overnight oats usually are prepared by solely combining oats with milk. Since this tastes a little boring as you can imagine we are taking a regular version and making it fancier, while still keeping it simple. By adding fruits we add an extra kick and we also use some more ingredients to make it extra creamy and delicious!

This already starts with the oats. Maybe you already know, maybe you do not – there are different kinds of oats. Larger (whole) ones and finer ones. While large ones work great for things like granola, finer ones are best for porridge and overnight oats. This may sound a little stupid because they are the same product in the end of the day but this really makes a difference! Finer ones just absorb the liquid better and therefore make it creamier.

Also, when wanting really creamy overnight oats it is best to add some yoghurt. In here I like to use greek yoghurt because it also is very easy to get in reusable glass jars but any other yoghurt or plant based yoghurt works just fine. Again, this makes it super creamy.

Another two ingredients which I would always recommend to be adding in are chia seeds and a little syrup. The chia seeds will swell up and make everything stick together better. The syrup adds a little sweetness (even if it just is a tiny drizzle) and make it 10 times better!

My last tip on making overnight oats is to add some fruit when making them. You for sure can just add some fruit on top the next day but adding them the night before helps the oats to soak up some of their sweetness, taste and juices, so it’ll infuse the entire dish.

More oat inspiration…

If you do like oats, just as I do you can check out a few other recipes of mine, which you are going to like for sure, like the Mango Overnight Oats, Oatmeal with Caramelized Bananas, Bircher Muesli with Honey Poached Apple, Healthy Peach and Cherry Crumble, Mango Coconut Granola or my Apple and Cranberry Granola !

How to make this dish low waste

Making delicious dishes while not producing much waste is actually pretty easy. If you wanna learn how, then you can read this at my Andalusian Gazpacho Post, My Easy No-Waste ice Cream Sandwiches or my No-waste French Toast with Basil Apricots blog post!

So just to summarise:

  • buy your oats at a bulk store! You can go there with your own jars or Tupperware and buy lots and lots of grains without packaging! A very sustainable way.
  • Get your dairy products at your local bakery. Most times bakeries have a small section with dairy products, which most of the time are packaged in reusable jars or bottles
  • Go to a local market. Getting fresh fruit there often is better than at the supermarket. Primarily, you know where it comes from easily and it most of the times is not packaged in plastic. I am aware that you will not find berries without packaging but mostly they at least come in paper or cartoon.

To sum up

I hope that this little guide and explanation really helps you to understand why it is important to buy locally and also include more local products easily into your daily life. Plus, you have really incredibly delicious breakfast recipe for these late summer days!

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The Ultimate Healthy and Creamy Raspberry Overnight Oats

A delicious, creamy and refreshing summer breakfast for those hot summer days with regional ingredients

Course Breakfast, brunch, Snack
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Total Time 10 Minuten
Servings 2 servings
Calories 414 kcal

What you will need

  • 100 g rolled oats the finer the better
  • 100 g greek yoghurt
  • 200 ml milk (you can also use plant based milk)
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds
  • 200 g raspberries
  • a few walnuts and raspberries for garnish

How to

  1. In a large bowl mash the raspberries until mushy. Add the rolled oats, yoghurt, chia seeds, honey and milk and stir until everything is combined well.

  2. Keep in the fridge for at least 4 hours to overnight.

  3. Take out the next morning and top with extra greek yoghurt, raspberries and nuts. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy,
Happy cooking,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière