I had overripe bananas lying around and I ended up making the best banana bread I've made so far (and I've made many!) Happy days.

BANANA BREAD (sugar-free)

230g light spelt flour
1tsp baking powder
0,25tsp baking soda
0,25tsp salt
0,25tsp cinnamon
3 very ripe bananas
100g coconut oil
80g honey
2 eggs


Mix the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mash the bananas with a work and add coconut oil, honey and eggs and mix. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and pour the batter into a bread tin greased with coconut oil or butter. Bake in 175 celsius for about 50 minutes. Let cool in the tin on wire rack for a while.

Try this toasted with almond butter on top, oh man!

There was no other way to celebrate this new home than with a lavishing brunch (inspired a little by that of Sandro's) and the house full of people I love. The menu had salads (tomato mozzarella salad, sweet potato lentil salad, feta couscous salad, crunchy egg salad and green chickpea cucumber salad), broccoli tuna red onion quiche, salmon, potato & beet wedges, dips (hummus, tzatziki, pesto and beetroot avocado dip), malt bread & no-knead bread and fruits, raw blackcurrant cake, brownies and banana bread for dessert. Happy days.

Banana coconut pancakes

This morning the sun shone in, I made banana coconut pancakes and then carried on unpacking stuff in my new home. I'm getting there! (I've made these pancakes on so many mornings lately. I've tweaked the recipe a little to have banana taste more, yum.)

BANANA COCONUT PANCAKES

(makes about 15 small pancakes)

3 (large) ripe bananas
5 organic eggs
75g shredded coconut
coconut oil for frying


Mash the bananas with a fork. Beat the eggs lightly and add them and the shredded coconut and stir until combined. Bake 3-4 pancakes (about 7cm in diameter) at a time in a pan on medium heat. Flip the pancakes very carefully; with a little more banana and a little less eggs these are very fragile but they're so worth the effort! Serve with blueberries and maple syrup.

My new home absolutely bathes in light. I'm in love. It already feels like the most special home I've had. A place of peace. A place of dreams coming true.

Yesterday I made possibly the best tasting cake I have ever made. Today I got the first flowers here. Happy days.

(The pictures lie: boy, there's still so much to unpack and organize..)

 

RAW BLACKCURRANT CAKE

200ml mulberries
200ml almond flour
good pinch of salt
1-3tbsp water, depending on how dry the mulberries are

175ml cashews, soaked overnight and rinsed
1 ripe banana
300ml blackcurrants
1-2tsp organic honey
vanilla powder
90 ml coconut oil, melted

blueberries for garnish


Grind mulberries in a food processor, add almond flour and salt and pulse a few times to mix. Add water while the food processor is running (you want a thick paste). Line the bottom of a springform tin (18-20cm) with baking paper and press the crust mixture firmly in the tin. Place the tin in the freezer to wait. Rinse food processor well. Blend cashews in the food processor until smooth and creamy. Add banana and mix. Add blackcurrants (it can be easier to add them in parts if they're frozen) and honey and vanilla and mix well. Last add melted coconut oil with the food processor running and mix until well combined and smooth. Taste and add more honey and/or vanilla if desired. Spread the topping evenly on the crust and freeze for an hour or two or until served. Remove from freezer 30 minutes prior to eating and top with blueberries.

These days are slow and calm. It's good.

CARROT DATE BREAKFAST MUFFINS

(makes 12-16 muffins)

480ml almond flour
1 heap tsp cinnamon
1tsp salt
2tsp baking powder
240ml soft dried dates, pitted
3 ripe bananas
3 organic eggs
60ml coconut oil, melted
1stp apple cider vinegar
360ml carrots, grated
150ml almonds, chopped (plus some for garnish)


Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix dates, bananas, eggs, vinegar and oil in a food processor until fully combined and smooth.
Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula. Fold in carrots and almonds. Spoon mixture into paper lined muffin tins and sprinkle chopped almonds on top. Bake in 175 celsius for 25 minutes (baking time might vary a little depending on the size of your muffins).

These muffins are perfect for breakfast or a snack as they have no sugar or white flour in them. (They're adapted a little from a paleo recipe.) They also freeze well. I've made these both with very fine almond flour and much coarser almond meal; fine flour makes the muffins quite dense whereas coarser meal makes them very moist and light. I reckon a blend of the two would be perfect! I've also sometimes replaced carrot with apple, works really well!

People who bake you banana bread in an instant when you ask if they would make life wonderful. There's so much goodness and love around. (Also people who knit you socks are quite amazing!)


"A good story simply gets better with every new chapter."

Grandma spent her life in the kitchen and now that she only has others cooking for her I love using some of her old kitchen utensils and carrying on the traditions; last weekend I made banana bread in a cake mold inherited from her with Green Kitchen Stories' recipe (the only sweeteners in this recipe are bananas and applesauce). And I discovered Rachel Khoo and her inspiring kitchen.

This weekend I started off with 13 hours of sleep and I continue slowly. I find it very intriguing to suddenly be absorbed in a new place and a new group of people. People and their stories and ways of doing things are so interesting! A new job takes so much of your energy though as everything is new. Learning it all (the routines, the new pace, the people) takes time and drains you but is also very rewarding. I came across a wonderful statement:

"Taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it's more like a cha-cha."

These days are slow and easy. I love how here and now matters all the more (however ordinary it might be) when you don't know what the future holds.

I have been making granola for a long time (inspired by my friend Maija last summer) but I never used a recipe. I just mix oats, chopped almonds and cashews and then warm up some oil with organic syrup or honey and then pour that on the oats and nuts and stir until everything is well coated (and warm up some more oil and sweetener, if not). I roast the granola in 175 celsius for 10 to 15 minutes or so, turning it a few times with a spoon to roast evenly. When the granola has cooled down I throw in cacao nibs, coconut flakes and dried cranberries (this was my favorite granola for a long time). Sometimes I use olive oil, sometimes canola and sometimes coconut oil. I've found that olive oil and honey are a good pair and canola oil and syrup; with coconut oil I've used no sweetener. Lately I have experimented a little with seeds, and one of my favourite finds for granola has been dried strawberries!

Green Kitchen Stories posted this granola recipe a while ago and the banana in it sounded so enticing that I had to have a go. I've made jars and jars of this during the last two weeks (we are many here at our parents)!

BANANA GRANOLA

(from Green Kitchen Stories)

700ml oats
120ml roughly chopped almonds
120ml pumpkin seeds
0,5tsp salt

3tbsp coconut oil
3tbsp honey (or maple syrup)
2 very ripe bananas


Combine oats, almonds, seeds and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl mash the bananas with a fork until smooth and add coconut oil and honey and mix. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry with your hands. Spread the granola in an even layer on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in 200 celsius for 15 to 20 minutes, check at around 10 minutes and turn the granola over and break chunks that are too big.

The Green Kitchen Project, recipe no.1

I am so in love with my newest cookbook, The Green Kitchen. As I wrote earlier I'd like to do what Julie did to Julia Child's cookbook (in the film Julie&Julia) with it. Cook it through and document it here. If I remember right Julie cooked a recipe per day but I'm thinking more like once a week or so and I'm propably not setting a particular day in a week either, at least not yet, to keep it fun and spontaneous.

I actually already kicked off the project when I last had Helena over for breakfast with Banana & Coconut Pancakes. Oh my goodness these are good.

FLOUR-FREE BANANA & COCONUT PANCAKES

(makes about 15)

3 ripe bananas
6 eggs
50g-75g shredded coconut
(150g blueberries)
0,5tsp ground cinnamon
coconut oil for frying


Mash the bananas with a fork. Beat the eggs lightly and add them and the rest of the ingredients. (I use about 75g of shredded coconut; the blog version of this recipe calls for 100g and the book version for 50g. I like using more than 50g because then the batter is thicker and so will the pancakes be.) I have now made these both with and without blueberries in the batter and I prefer having blueberries fresh on the side. Bake 3-4 pancakes at a time in a regular pan on medium heat (these burn easily). The Green Kitchen suggests maple syrup and/or plain yoghurt for serving; I serve these with fresh berries, maple syrup and quark.

I am very excited about this project; I'm sure there are plenty of amazing recipes in the book I would never try out otherwise (because you never really cook your cookbooks through, do you). The Green Kitchen also seems to be a perfect summertime cookbook and will definitely travel up north with me for July.

The Green Kitchen Project, here we go!

(photo by Helena Mackey)

I had Helena over for breakfast and thought it was about time to make banana bread again. I appreciate and cherish time with Helena all the more now for she's moving abroad in May. She's a gem and she makes me very happy.

BANANA BREAD

100g almond flour
90g wheat flour (300ml flour altogether)
40g (230ml) shredded coconut
50g (75ml) cane sugar
a pinch of salt
1tsp baking powder
1/4tsp baking soda
1tsp cinnamon

3 ripe bananas
2 eggs
100ml oil


Combine the dry and wet ingredients separately, beat the wet mixture a little and then mix all together. Bake in a greased bread tin in 180 celsius for 50-60 minutes. Serve toasted with Philadelphia (or as it is).

The original recipe has 230g wheat flour; I've tried different combinations and I have to say this was my favorite. You can make the bread gluten free by using a combination of almond and rice flour for example but I like using some wheat flour because it helps the bread stay together better and not crumble so easily. I've also reduced sugar to a third and replaced butter with oil (which makes the bread moistier and a little lighter). The bread stays good for about 3 days.

Have a happy Tuesday!

BANANA BLUEBERRY BREAKFAST MUFFINS

(makes about 8)
(adapted from Donal Skehan)


60g light spelt flour
40g oat flour
100g rolled oats
30g muscovado sugar
0,5 tsp salt
1,5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
0,5 tsp cardamom
1 egg yolk
125ml milk
1,5 tbsp oil
1 very large or 2 small ripe bananas mashed
1 egg white
130g blueberries


Mix the dry ingredients. Add egg yolk, milk, oil and mashed banana and mix with a spatula. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold the egg white gently in to the batter and last add the frozen berries (mix quickly; the blueberries color the batter easily when they start melting). Divide the batter into 8 paper cases on a muffin tray and bake in 200c for about 20 minutes.

I keep coming back to this recipe, these are my favorite breakfast muffins!