Recipe: Carrot Cake Cookies

Apart from bananas, another thing that I nearly always have in the fridge are carrots. I like carrot cake but I wanted cookies so I thought why not make carrot cake cookies! 

These cookies are so soft and cake-like, and the addition of the spices make them extra moreish. They are also loaded with heaps of grated carrots which is a rich source of beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is a vitamin A precursor which means it gets turned into vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A is needed to maintain the health of your eyes, skin, and immunity. 

A 19-30 year old male is recommended to have 900 µg/day and females 700 µg/day of vitamin A. One carrot provides roughly that amount, so have a carrot a day and you'll be A-okay. 

  

If I were to make these cookies again I would add some chopped walnuts to it to increase the protein content and I think it would add a really nice nutty flavour to the cookies and not to mention the nutrients in those brain shaped nuts either! (But I'll save that for anuther time)

Carrot Cake Cookies (20 cookies)

Ingredients 

• 2 cups rolled oats 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda 
• 2 tsp cinnamon 
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground ginger 
• 1/8 tsp salt 
• 1 banana
• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 tsp vanila extract 
• 1/3 cup honey 
• 2 carrots, grated  

Method

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper. 

In a food processor, process 1 cup of oats into oat flour and 1 cup of oats into smaller pieces of oats (similar to instant oat size). 

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. 

Puree the banana in the food processor and combine with the dry ingredients along with the other wet ingredients. MIx until combined. 

Spoon onto the cookie mixture onto the line baking tray and flatten slightly. 

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the centre is a little under. Take out of the oven and leave the cookies on the tray for 15 minutes. The remaining heat from the baking tray will allow the cookies to cook through. 

Recipe: Raspberry Cashew Oat Brownies

It’s rainy and drizzly today, totally not what an Australian Summer’s day should be. Since the weather is so terrible I thought I might whip up a batch of brownies to cheer the mood up.

These brownies are so moist, delicious and easy to make. You know what’s even better? They’re oil and refined sugar free! Pretty neat huh? And if you know me, you may have guessed what flour I used. Yep, oat flour. I suppose that makes them broawnies/oatnies/broatnies? Yeah... maybe I'll just call them oat brownies. 

I made raspberry cashew oat brownies today but you can add other berries, nuts, dried fruit or chocolate to your liking. What I love about the raspberries is it adds a tartness that cuts through the sweetness of the maple syrup and richness of the cocoa powder. The cashews also add a textural element to these brownies. They taste so amazing you should definitely try them out.

I’m a fan of frozen berries. They are more economical than fresh berries and can be kept for a lot longer. In terms of nutritional value, it’s practically the same if not higher for some nutrients. Raspberries are an excellent source of vitamin C, manganese and fibre. Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is needed for the body to make collagen. Apart from keeping your skin looking youthful, collagen also helps to maintain healthy bones, teeth, blood vessels, cartilage, ligaments and tendons. A 19-30 year old adult is recommended to have 45 mg of vitamin C a day and one cup of frozen raspberries has about 37 mg. Vitamin C is heat sensitive so its levels will decrease by 30-40% after baking.

Raspberry Cashew Oat Brownies

• 1 ¼ cup rolled oats
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 3 medium bananas
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup frozen raspberries
• 2/3 cup cashews

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a 20 x 20 cm cake tin with baking paper.

Blend the oats in a food processor until it becomes a fine flour. Combine the oat flour with the cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.

Blend the bananas, maple syrup and vanilla extract in the food processor until the bananas are puréed. Add the wet ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix until well combined.

Blitz the cashews in the food processor so it is roughly chopped. Fold the raspberries and cashews into the brownie mixture then pour into the prepared cake tin.

Bake for 15 min or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin before cutting.