TWININGS - Guilt Free Banana, Date and 'Fudge Melts Green Tea' Flapjacks

Who doesn’t love a delicious batch of flapjacks? With this recipe, there is no compromise, as it happens to be dairy, gluten and sugar free! I have teamed up with Twinings this month and will be doing some healthy tea recipes for their blog. The recipes can be found here: http://www.twinings.co.uk/blog.

The Fudge Melts Green Tea helps bring out the gooey, sweet flavours of the dates and lessons the amount of vegetable oil used, making this a super healthy recipe for all to enjoy.

Ingredients (makes 12 square pieces)

- 180g gluten-free oats

- 175g chopped dates *these don’t have to be fancy Medjool dates!*

- 2 very ripe bananas

- 1 Twinings ‘Fudge Melts Green Tea’ Bag

- 60ml vegetable oil

- 1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Start by turning your oven to 175°c. It should be nice and hot by the time you put the flapjack batch in.

2. Boil the kettle and get a mug ready to brew your tea bag. While the kettle is boiling, start mashing the bananas in a large bowl, until they are runny and completely mashed. *It is important to use over-ripe bananas so that they mash easily and give moisture to the mixture.*

3. Once the kettle is boiled, fill your cup of tea like normal and leave the bag to brew for a few minutes. Take in all those beautiful smells of fudge and green tea!

4. Add the vegetable oil to the bowl with the mashed bananas, and then spoon in 6 tbsp of infused tea (60g if using weighing scales).

5. Next stir in the oats, vanilla essence, and chopped dates. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes so that the oats absorb the oil and tea.

6. Place the flapjack mix into a suitable greased baking dish (a square or rectangular baking tin or glass dish should suffice) and flatten it down with a fork.

7. Cook the flapjacks for 30 minutes, until nice and golden. Remove them from the oven and leave them to rest for 10 minutes before tucking in.

Easter Energy Balls

Happy Easter everyone! This is a few days late but we've had a busy weekend. I wanted to make a healthy alternative to Easter eggs as I knew we would be eating far too much chocolate over the Easter break. I had previously been put off by energy ball recipes that add honey, or a similar substitute. Knowing that dried fruit contains lots of natural sugar and goodness, I decided that no extra sweetener should be added, and winged my ingredients. Great as a snack or energy boost, it's amazing what you can make from very little.

Ingredients (makes 30 balls)

1st batch -

- 50g almonds

- 70g dates

- 80g prunes

2nd batch - 

- 100g prunes
- 70g figs
- 30g flaxseed (check out my flaxseed post to make your own)
- 10g chocolate (optional)

- desiccated coconut to coat

1. For the first batch, start by whizzing up the almonds in a food processor until they resemble large breadcrumbs. Then add the prunes and dates. Blitz the mix for a minute or so and then shape it into small balls.

2. For the second batch, place all the ingredients in the food processor and mix until smooth and combined. Using your hands, roll the mixture into small balls.

3. Finally, place a tbsp of desiccated coconut onto a plate and coat some of the balls in it by rolling them on the plate.  

Now to decorate...

It's all about the French Dressing - Mushroom, Date and Roasted Seed Salad - Mackerel, Apricot and Walnut Salad

This is the easiest dressing and it never fails in taste. It also keeps well in the fridge for a long time.

Ingredients for the dressing

- 1 tbsp good quality Dijon mustard

- 3/4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

- good quality olive oil

1. Start by mixing the mustard and the balsamic vinegar in a jam jar or suitable container with a fork. 

2. Add the olive oil very slowly while constantly beating with the fork. Continue this until the dressing is runny enough to pour. It's as easy as that!

Simply add some chopped mushrooms and dates to your salad and top with a handful of roasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Finish off with the french dressing for a quick and easy lunch.

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Try this dressing on some mixed lettuce leaves with olives, dried apricots, walnuts and tinned mackerel. Extremely healthy, delicious, and packed with omega 3.
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