Chocolate & hazelnut spread

Look away now if you don’t like sugar on the breakfast table! Even the most puritan of us might just allow a little chocolate first thing in the morning at Easter though and if so, read on…

This is an easy recipe for homemade Nutella, which is lovely on toast, pancakes or just spooned straight out of the jar! Unlike the commercial variety, you can choose the texture that you prefer, if you want crunch just don’t blitz the nuts for as long, or set a handful aside and bash in a bag with a rolling pin to add later. Once it’s set in the fridge, keep it in the cupboard, so it spreads easily and enjoy a thick layer on toast.

Ingredients

Makes 1 large jar

• 300g blanched hazelnuts

• 200g milk chocolate (I used 36%), broken into small pieces

• 1 ½ tsp vanilla essence

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc.

• Put the hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast for 6-7 minutes.

• Once the nuts have cooled, tip them into a high powered food processor and blitz for about 5 minutes. Scrape the sides down and blitz again for about 3-5 minutes until you have a smooth paste.

• Put the chocolate into a glass bowl and melt gently in the microwave, checking and stirring often. Mine took about 1 ½ - 2 minutes on 600w.

• Pour the melted chocolate into the nuts along with the vanilla essence and blitz until you have a really smooth paste. This will take about another 8-10 minutes. The mixture will be quite runny and warm at this point, so pour it into a jar and place in the fridge for about 1½ hours to set.

Pecan & almond muesli

I always find that museli off the shelf has either too much of one ingredient or not enough of another, so I like to make my own. It’s so easy and way cheaper than buying shop bought; the only effort you have to make is toasting a tray of nuts and seeds then you’re done. This batch will last me absolutely ages for a fraction of the price.

Ingredients

Makes approx 1kg

• 500g oats

• 70g desiccated coconut

• 150g raisins, or any dried fruit you prefer - need to add 120g

• 70g pumpkin seeds, toasted

• 70g sunflower seeds, toasted

• 100g pecans (almonds, hazelnuts or cashews if you prefer), toasted

• 100g flaked almonds, toasted

• 50g flax seeds

• 150g buckwheat flakes, optional

• 50g quinoa flakes, optional

Method

• Preheat the oven to 160ºc.

• Tip the nuts and seeds on to a large tray, spread them out and them place in the oven for about 7 minutes. Keep checking every 2-3 minutes if you put them back in as they can turn very quickly. Put a timer on! My trick is not to put the timer on, get distracted and burn 5 quids worth of nuts!

• Leave the nuts and seeds to cool before adding to a large bowl or tub with the rest of the ingredients.

• Serve with fruit compote, nut butter and slices of banana. It also works well to mix with coconut or Greek yoghurt instead of milk.

Tip

• I added the buckwheat and quinoa flakes to vary the texture a bit, but if you don’t have them it’s not a major problem. The muesli will still be great with just oats.

• But if you want some variation, other alternatives for the base are: wheat, barley or spelt flakes, bran or jumbo oats

Vegan hazelnut brownies

Ingredients

Makes one 23 x 23 cm tray

• 1 medium sized sweet potato, 230g roasted - weigh out once cooked

• 350g medjool dates

• 4 tbsp almond butter

• 2 tbsp coconut oil

• 7 tbsp maple syrup or honey

• 9 tbsp raw cacao powder

• 100g hazelnuts, toasted and bashed roughly with the end of a rolling pin

• 100g dark chocolate

  Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc and line a cm tin with parchment.

• Put the sweet potato on a tray and roast for approx 30-40 minutes until soft and squishy right through.

• Next put about 1/4 of the dates, coconut oil, maple syrup and almond butter in a food processor and start to blitz, after 30 seconds add the rest of the dates one at a time. Doing this slowly means your processor won’t get clogged up.

• Then add the sweet potato, blend again until really smooth and spoon in the cacao continuing to blitz.

• Once the mixture is smooth, stir in the hazelnuts and scrape into the baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes on the middle shelf.

• Once cooled, melt the dark chocolate in the microwave - I do 1 min on 600W and repeat 2-3 times, stirring in between. Then pour over the brownie base and set in the fridge for 20-30 min.

Tip

• I like to keep these in the fridge so they stay firm

This is my new favourite healthy treat - I’m currently working my way through the entire tray! But, unlike ‘normal’ brownies, they keep really well in the fridge, so I don’t have to eat them all in 2 days. I reckon they’ll last about 2 weeks as they stay just as squishy as when they were first baked.

The other great thing about these brownies is that they’re full of nutrients, they’re not ‘empty’ calories. I’ve used almonds, dates, sweet potato, raw cacao and hazelnuts - so they’re packed with protein and fibre. You could literally eat one pre or post workout to give yourself an energy boost. Personally I like one with a cuppa in the afternoon and then another cheeky slice after dinner!