“When you select the right kind of chocolate it is like giving your insides a hug. Everyone needs a chocolate hug”
Jean Kelsey
Dark Chocolate Walnut Oat Tart for times when you need a little more chocolate in your life. I know I just shared a chocolate cheesecake a few days ago, yet while doing that, I remembered this tart. How could I not have shared this too? So much chocolate, so little time!! This is a particular favourite since it has two things that I use most while baking. Yes indeed, oats and walnuts! Add to it brown sugar and ghee/clarified butter, and magic is guaranteed!It’s another simple fuss free recipe but delivers a sinful punch. I use a cookie dough for the biscuit base. Feel free to bake mini pies like those above, or cookies as below, with the dough instead if you like, maybe top them with a ganache. I really enjoyed making the Dark Chocolate Walnut Oat Tart. I love that recipes are so easily interchangeable, such fun to play around with, It’s not a lot to do actually because the biscuit base/cookie dough is a two step procedure, basically from the jar of one food processor into the bowl of the stand mixer. I use the basic recipe quite often.
It works well each time. This Mascarpone Lime Curd Walnut Oat Tart is testimony. The same cookie dough biscuit base again, topped in a spoon licking good mascarpone & lime curd topping! Hopefully I’ve got you convinced to give the Dark Chocolate Walnut Oat Tart a try. If not this one, then maybe do a variation on it!
Dark, divine, delicious is how this tart turned out to be topped with dark chocolate ganache! A healthy biscuit base makes the Dark Chocolate Walnut Oat Tart even better. You can make cookies with the same dough, as also use different fillings to top the tart.
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 20 minutesminutes
Total Time 2 hourshours30 minutesminutes
Servings 2tarts {7" each}
Ingredients
Oat Walnut Cookie Base
100goats
85gwalnuts
85gbrown sugar
1/4tspbaking soda
40gclarified butter/ghee chilled
1small egg cold
1tspvanilla extract
Dark Chocolate Filling
300g70% dark couverture chocolate
175gsingle cream
30mlfull fat milk
Instructions
Oat Walnut Cookie Base
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Place oats, walnut halves, brown sugar and baking soda in jar of chopper. Blend in short bursts until you get a uniform brown sugar like consistency, just until it feels like moist breadcrumbs.
Don't overwork the blender or the walnuts will release oil.
Transfer to bowl of stand mixer, flat mixer attachment, add the clarified butter/ghee, egg and vanilla extract and mix at speed 4 until it comes together like cookie dough.
Line the base of the tart tins with parchment paper. Divide the cookie dough between the two. Work up t the edges, and then flatten the base.
Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes, then cool completely on cookie rack.
Dark Chocolate Filling
Warm the chocolate with the cream in the microwave, agitate it with a balloon whisk, added a splash of milk, agitate it a bit more. {Agitate means to whisk briskly until smooth & glossy}
Once it chilled in the fridge for 30 minutes turned it into the baked shell, and let it set for about 2-3 hours.
Top with dark chocolate shavings and dust with cocoa before serving.
“Empty?! You took all the cookies!” “They were crying to get out of the jar. Cookies get claustrophobia too, you know!”
Charles M. Schulz
Wholegrain Oatmeal Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies. These are cookies that spell “P U R E C O M F O R T”. Cookies are often the best bites to happiness, the shortest route to instant gratification. Even better if you bake them at home. These were just that and more. Some afternoons, I want need to just steal into the kitchen and bake myself into oblivion. There are a few hits and misses on days like these.Did I tell you that summer is practically here? Yes we’re on the border where spring meets summer. That means a few days of precious mulberries, curry tree blossoms, lime tree blossoms, kumquats too. Tomatoes that will hopefully ripen to a sun kissed red, then we look at notoriously high temperatures of 45C and above.
With the summer heat increasing, and the mercury literally rising by a degree everyday, summer baking needs to be minimal, quick and very fuss free. These cookies were surprisingly all this and more. They turned out darned delicious too. Inspired and adapted from a popular cookie by Deb @ Smitten Kitchen, I made mine wholegrain.
My obsession with the #makehalfyourgrainswhole often works well. With cookies, it’s a near 100% pass rate. I’ve really never understood why brownies or cookies should use refined flour since they taste really great with wholegrain. I recently made wholewheat shortbread too, a recipe I still have to share. That was another winner.These are as simple as can be. Stir a dry mix, whip the wet mix, stir gently to mix the two and you’ve got great tasting cookie dough. If the eggs are pasteurised, you could eat the dough by itself!! It tastes that good! I know because I had a little helper who was stealing away bits of dough!
So here we go. Get the stand mixer going, and in 2 minutes you have cookie dough. I love the big handy bowl of the KitchenAid. Best design ever. If cookies are comfort food, the KitchenAid is equally comforting, magical too!
Wholegrain Oatmeal Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Wholegrain Oatmeal Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies that come together in a matter of minutes, fuss free and absolutely delicious. That they are 100% wholegrain makes them a winner. Swap the chocolate chips for raisins, maybe add some walnuts, or make them coffee chocolate chip cookies. Either way, these will disappear before you know it! This is pure comfort food.
Course Snack
Cuisine American
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 15 minutesminutes
Total Time 25 minutesminutes
Servings 20cookies
Ingredients
Dry Mix
75gwholewheat flour {aata}
120goats
3/4tspbaking soda
1/4tspsalt
75gdark chooclate chips
Wet Mix
100gunsalted butter, room temperature
115gbrown sugar
1egg
15gyogurt
1/2tspvanilla extract
3/4tspcinnamon powder
Instructions
Place all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir to mix.
Place all the wet mix ingredients in bowl of KitchenAid Stand Mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, and process for 2 minutes on speed 3.
Add the dry mix and stir with paddle attachment on slowest speed for 30 seconds.
Let the mixture stand/rest while you preheat the oven to 180C {15-20 minutes}
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
Place scoops of cookie dough on the parchment, 2 inches apart,12 on each sheet. Flatten gently with the tines of a fork. {Sprinkle over a few more chocolate chips if you are feeling particularly indulgent}
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are done, light golden brown, and the centre is still a little soft. {Bake further 5 minutes if you like crisp cookies}.
Remove tray from oven, allow to stand for 5 minutes, then cool the cookies completely on the rack.
Chocolate buckwheat groats biscotti … a nice way to feed the blog in the new year, a tad late perhaps. Life has been a bit of a whiz, things that happen often least expected, yet as they say, life goes on. Every time I thought I’d post on the blog, something new happened. Then I suddenly discovered a shop in the neighbourhood selling locally sourced buckwheat groats. Pretty mundane and boring for most of the world, yet almost a mini celebration for me.Buckwheat groats are gluten free seeds from a plant related to rhubarb. The outer husk is pulled away and the grain-like fruit is harvested and eaten. Buckwheat is very nutritious, making it popular in many nations across the globe. Buckwheat provides complete protein, including all the essential amino acids. These soft white seeds have a mild flavor, but when toasted or roasted, they have a delightfully intense flavor. Groats can be steam-cooked like rice for salads and side dishes or ground in your own mill into fresh flour. The robust flavor of this quick-cooking gluten free grain is perfect for salads, soups and cereal. Use buckwheat groats in any recipe that calls for whole grains.
Food connects are strange! These heart shaped seeds had me mesmerized. I still remember my fascination with this pseudo cereal when our Ukrainian friend fed them to our 6 month old daughter every morning in Moscow way back in 1996. She always talked about how good they were as cereal, how they had been brought up on them etc. I’d heard a load about them, read a bit about them, often wondered if I should order them online, yet laziness got the better of me. Then the day I saw them on the shelf, they were mine in a heartbeat. I was so excited, so raced home to first get a close look at them babies!Rather lost at sea with my new ingredient, it was back to the google gods for help. I soaked some overnight and thought I’d do a salad with them. Left them to drain the next morning, and was making a batch of biscotti, and then thought why not? Why ever not can I steal some groats into my biscotti, and that’s just how this Chocolate buckwheat groats biscotti came to be. The biscotti turned out to be quite good if I may say so myself. Attracted a lot of interest from a very curious dog too!
A few days earlier, in the first week of January, I was contacted by the the local TEDx team here inviting me to host a TED talk. Did catch me by surprise, and it took me a bit to figure out if I was good enough for TED. Well eventually after much nervous mulling over I said yes and got together a small talk. For the uninitiated, the TEDx Program is designed to help communities, organizations and individuals to spark conversation and connection through local TED-like experiences. TEDx was created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading.”
My talk was in a light vein touching upon my graduation from refined foods to whole foods, briefly touching upon my journey from college to food blogging, recipe development and food styling. The mainstay of the conversation was of course to rethink what’s on our plate, and try and look beyond foods with no nutrition and empty calories. Not the words of a food researcher or historian, just ideas from someone who enjoys getting good healthy fresh food on the table.
The audience was great, so enthusiastic and appreciative, that I think most of the nervousness melted away! I think they did hear me out to the very end, as my last slide mentioned this biscotti, and that I was carrying some in my bag just in case someone wanted a nibble. Sure enough, once I left the auditorium, there was a line of kids from the audience outside. One sweet lad hesitatingly asked, “Ma’am, you said you had biscotti in your bag. Do you?”
The rest, as they say, was history! The same evening I received a mail from a smart bespectacled young lady from the audience, praising the biscotti, discussing recipes, and asking for advise! My closing line at the talk was meant to be “If you can inspire even one, you have left a mark in this world.”. I think I missed the line out there as the talk was extempore, but here it is anyway! I guess I left a mark!
Recipe: Chocolate buckwheat groats biscotti
Summary: Crisp, chocolaty, satisfying and wholegrain, this Chocolate buckwheat groats biscotti is healthy delicious. Keep it on hand for a quick nibble! Makes approximately 30 cookies.
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 1 hour plus resting time Ingredients:
150g wholewheat flour
50g oats
60g buckwheat groats, soaked overnight, drained
75g dark chocolate, melted
50g unsalted butter, room temperature
75g brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
15g yogurt
50g butterscotch chips or chocolate chips
15g brown sugar for topping
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly grease a heavy duty cookie sheet, or line with parchment.
Stir together the wholewheat flour, oats and groats in a bowl. Reserve.
Place the melted chocolate, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla extract, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk until mixed. Add the dry mix and mix on low speed until it all comes together. Add the yogurt if required. {The biscotti dough is meant to be quite firm}
Stir in the butterscotch/chocolate chips, or walnuts if you like.
Bring the dough together with your hands, divide into 2 and shape into logs.
Transfer to prepared tray, spritz gently with water, and sprinkle over with brown sugar.
Bake for about 20 minutes until the logs are firm to touch.
Take out from oven, and reduce the temperature to 160C.
Slice the logs thinly, about 1/2″ slices, and lay flat on the cookie tray.
Return to the oven and bake for another 25-30 minutes until firm. {return to the oven if they feel a little soft. Biscotti should be firm and dry}
Cool completely on cookie rack, then store in an airtight box.
“I figure it’s a European thing to eat cheese and crackers before a meal – that’s my afternoon snack, or I do it before dinner.”
Andrew Luck
Oats Nut Crispbread … some pleasures in life are simple. These are one of those. Nibble, nibble, nibble. This crispbread is just the right thing for healthy snacking. Also just right for the cheeseboard, with dips, fruit, crumbled over salad, layered into a savoury parfait … or then, the dough baked into bite sized canapes.
Need I say more? It’s a recipe I developed for the Saffola Fit Foodie website, and it’s one I now make often. It’s amazing how versatile oats as an ingredients can be, and also how much you can push your boundaries if you think out of the box. This recipe is just a small beginning to get you going, to encourage you perhaps to get off the refined way of life. It’s not that I don’t used all purpose flour at all, but I’m happy to say it might be a mere 5% of my baking that sees it. The odd birthday cake, some in a pizza base, maybe in bread dough paired with wholewheat, yet it’s an achievement.
And one of the easiest ways to make the wholegrain transition is via crackers. They are easy, versatile, can be rolled into submission, heartlessly broken into shards or daintily cut into perfect shapes. They are also an absolute treat to eat. Grab some really nice cheese, a chilled glass of wine if you like, fresh fruit and dry, salad leaves, micro-greens, cold cuts, some good company {else a good book} … settle yourself in a heap and get nibbling!
For me these are good any time of the day, any day of the year. Of course I love putting them together more in winter when beet greens and rocket are flourishing. Yet summer is here, a dab of feta, some caramelised onions & garlic jam, balsamic mushrooms, olives, sun dried tomatoes …. you get the drift? Now all you need to do is to make these! You knead to roll!!
Recipe: Oats Nut Crispbread
Summary: Delicious, light, addictive, versatile and simple to make, this Oats Nut Crispbread is very addictive and makes quite the perfect snack for a hungry nibble. If you are adventurous enough, you can even bake the dough into bite sized shells for canapes!
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 1 hour Ingredients:
160 gm whole wheat flour
115g oats {1 cup}
40g walnuts, roughly chopped
20g white sesame seeds
20g black sesame seeds
1½ tsp salt
1½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp /30 ml extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup / 175 ml water {approx}
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Place the flour, oats, salt, garlic powder, baking powder and walnuts in bowl of food processor, and pulse for a few seconds to chop walnuts. Add seeds and oil. Pulse briefly to mix.
Turn into a large bowl, add 1/2 a cup of water and knead into a smooth firm dough, adding more water as required.
Knead for 2-3 minutes, and allow to rest, covered, on the counter for 15 minutes.
Roll out on a lightly floured counter, and cut into desired shapes with a fluted pastry cutter, a pizza cutter or a knife
Place on prepared baking sheets and bake for 15-18 minutes until lightly coloured and golden brown on the edges.
Cool on racks. Store in an airtight container in a cool place.
Serve with dips, on a cheese board etc.
“What keeps me motivated is not the food itself but all the bonds and memories the food represents” M Chiarello
Wholegrain Olive Oil Crackers & 3 Dips…. for times like these when the game is up. Nothing unites the world better than sport and food. I think the two were meant to go hand in hand. Think world cup cricket, soccer, or then super bowl, and the first thing that comes to mind if food! OK, after the game of course! With the ICC Cricket World Cup warming up nicely, it’s imperative to keep the food going!
Yesterday spent 20 minutes rolling out crackers … thin, crisp, delicious Wholegrain Olive Oil Crackers. Paired them off with 3 quick dips. Dips are an out and out game favourite, and I have gone with simple ones! A Roasted Bell Pepper, Garlic & Walnut Dip {earthy, smoky, finger licking good}, a Classic Garlicky Cream Dip {tangy, creamy, GARLICKY ... an all time favourite} and a seasonal Rocket & Cashew Dip {where sharp peppery leaves meet the sweetness of cashew nuts}.
Dips are really really versatile to throw together. Make them using what you have on hand. Herbs, seasonal produce, cold pressed oils, garlic, garlic greens, onion scapes, legumes, citrus fruit, nuts, cheese, spices. Get creative and follow your taste buds. You will be surprised at how much you can create with so little! To thin them down you can add coconut milk, citrus juice, single cream, sour cream, buttermilk etc.
Once ready, which is a matter of minutes usually, you can dip into them of course, or add them to your cheese platter. There’s so much more you can do. Slather sandwiches with them, toss them through a pasta, top grilled chicken or fish with dip. If you are more adventurous, them use them in a bread like the French Fougasse. I love that you can tweak the flavours as you like, and also that dips embrace local and seasonal produce whole heartedly!
Why so many nibbles of late you might wonder? Well these are game days. Cricket, cricket and more cricket. From games you expect nothing and get the word, and from games you expect the world and hit rock bottom, the sports world is a funny place to be in. The cricket world cup down under has begun,and how! Talk sports and there is another huge thing in common …FOOD!
And that’s where we DIP! These are simple ones to rustle up. You could even do a make ahead simple hummus that I just shared with oat & cheese crackers. On the side, you could go the healthy crudite way or whole grain crackers maybe. Else grab the bag of chips, nachos, pita chips…whatever. Dig right in. Every major gaming event, be it the super bowl, soccer or the cricket world cup, churns up an appetite for food, yummy, good, delicious food.
These dips will hit the ball out of the park … like South Africa did today! If you are deft in the kitchen, and love getting quick stuff together, then here are a few other options. The India Pakistan thriller saw us polishing off rustic Savoury Whole Wheat Hungarian Kalács. Do a quick version with cooked chicken tossed in the rocket cashew pesto dip and cheese! Or skip the chicken and go vegetarian. Next was the India South Africa match.
That saw a rerun of Oat & Wheat Cheese Crackers with a quick Hummus! Delicious times indeed! If you aren’t the cooking types, but certainly the eating types, then your best option would be a quick call toFood Panda to order your favourite food. It’s an online food-ordering service that makes it easy for customers to find their favorite food conveniently from home, work or on the road and get it delivered. It is now active in 30 cities in India and has over 4000+ restaurants available and the delivery of your food is free.
Summary: Wholegrain Olive Oil Crackers & 3 Dips. Crisp, light addictive crackers. Top them with spices or enjoy them as is. Crackers don’t get simpler than these! Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 10 minutes Ingredients:
200g wholewheat flour
100g oats
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
40ml extra virgin olive oil
150ml water {approximately}
Olive oil for brushing over
Zaatar and Sumac for sprinkling {optional}
Method:
Place first five ingredients in bowl of food processor and blend to mix. Gradually add water to make a firm, pliable dough. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
On a lightly dusted surface, take a quarter of the dough and roll it out as thinly as you can to a rectangular shape to fit the tray. Transfer dough to the parchment paper, brush with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle over with Zaatar if desired.
Take a pastry / pizza cutter and cut into desired shapes.
Bake for about 15-18 minutes until light golden brown. Keep an eye on them towards the end as they can over brown pretty quick.
Cool completely on racks. Store in an airtight container. Serve with dips.
Recipe: Roasted Bell Pepper, Garlic & Walnut
Summary: Earthy, smoky, finger licking good
Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 10 minutes Ingredients:
2 red bell peppers
1 whole head of garlic
50g walnuts
30ml extra virgin olive oil
Handful fresh oregano
1/2 tsp sea salt
Method:
Place the bell peppers and garlic and roast in an oven at 180C for 30 minutes, until the bell peppers are charred. I roasted them in my AirFryer. Place in a covered bowl and allow to cool. Peel and deseed the bell peppers, squeeze the garlic out.
Place walnuts in food processor with all the remaining ingredients. Pulse to desired consistency. Stand for 20 minutes for flavours to mature. {Can be made ahead. Store in refrigerator for 2-3 days}
Recipe: Classic Garlicky Cream Dip
Summary: Creamy, garlicky and tangy, this is an all time favourite!
Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 10 minutes Ingredients:
Place yogurt in a large bowl and whisk well until smooth and lump free. Whisk in the remaining ingredients. Taste and check seasoning. Add more lime or salt if required.
{Can be made ahead. Store in refrigerator for 2-3 days}
Recipe: Rocket & Cashew Dip
Summary: A dip where peppery rocket meets sweet cashew nuts. Thin this one down with cream cheese or single cream if you like. You can also add some parmesan.
Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 10 minutes Ingredients:
100g cashew nuts
50g rocket leaves
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
Dash of lime juice
Method:
Place cashew nuts and rocket leaves in bowl of processor and pulse until everything is chopped quite fine. Make sure not to process it to a paste. We want to feel the texture of the nuts.
Slowly drizzle in olive oil and blend. Season with salt and add a dash of lime juice.
{Can be made ahead. Store in refrigerator for 2-3 days}
“Comfort food….food that reassures. Is different things to different people.”
David Tanis
Oat & Wheat Cheese Crackers, and a quick Hummus…for one of those days when you are tired, feeling under the weather and craving comforting food. For days like this only quick, simple and flavourful seriously works. For days like these, a food processor is your best friend. Nothing to beat a workhorse that does everything, takes the work out of the cooking or baking, pampers you unknowingly, and delivers like nothing else!
I had a bunch of chickpeas left over as I boiled extra the other day while stirring up a quick chickpea curry. I always boil extra chickpeas as having some on hand offers plenty of quick rustle up food ideas. Salads for one. I made this layered savoury chickpea parfait often. Doubles up as a healthy, filling and quite delicious tiffin too!
But I was in a mood for crackers. Just one of those strange days where I craved baking something savoury, and had an idea in my head. Working as a fit foodie makes me constantly strive for fun wholegrain alternatives to things. They got to be yum too. I used butter in these crackers, but I think you could easily use olive oil. I might throw in some ground nut meal too the next time to substitute some of the flour. Just a thought…and more ideas to work on!The hummus happened as I was inspired by a quick hummus recipe that popped into my inbox not so long ago. I recall it having sesame paste as optional and it stayed in my head. There is nothing much to a hummus or chickpea dip. Just throw a bunch of ingredients into the faithful food processor, give them a whir. Balance flavours as you so desire.
More garlic if you are like us, more lime juice too. Plenty of extra virgin olive oil, maybe fresh herbs. Skip the smoked paprika if you don’t have some on hand, degi mirch {kashmiri mirch} or red chili flakes. I have to say though that smoked paprika adds some fine earthy, moorish flavours to the dip…
There are other dips you could try. A Quark, Garlic and Chives Dip, Baba Ghanoush or Muhamarra would be wonderful here too. Else if nothing else, some nice cheese, fruit and wine will complete your cheese board.
[print_this]Recipe: Oat & Wheat Cheese Crackers
Summary: Whole grain healthy crackers, bursting with flavours. Crisp, healthy and delicious, they’re a great cheese board option.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
1/2 cup oats
150g wholewheat flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
30g unsalted butter, chilled, cubed
30g cheddar, grated
15g finely chopped garlic greens {about 1/4 cup}
1tsp red chili flakes
1/8 to 1/4 cup cultured buttermilk
Wholewheat flour for dusting
Method:
Preheat the oven to 150C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment, or lightly grease them.
Place the oats, wholewheat flour, salt and baking soda in bowl of food processor and mix on low for 30 seconds.
Add remaining ingredients except buttermilk and pulse to mix until you get a breadcrumb like mix.
With the processor running on low speed, gradually add the buttermilk 1 tbsp at a time until the dough seems to come together. You will need about a 1/4 cup maybe less.
Turn dough in a bowl and knead together very briefly till it comes together, 20-30 seconds. Divide into 2, then roll out and cut as desired.
Bake for about 30 minutes in a low oven until light golden brown and crisp.
Cool completely and check if crisp. If not leave in a low oven or another 10-15 minutes.
Cool and store in an airtight box.
Recipe: Chickpea Hummus
Summary: A simple chickpea dip, Hummus is ideal to serve with crackers. Hummus is great as a sandwich filling too.
Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 10 minutes Ingredients:
30g white sesame seeds , toasted
200g {1cup} chickpeas, boiled
4-5 cloves garlic
4-5 stalks chives, chopped
30ml extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1tsp roasted ground cumin
Water as required {2-3tbsp}
Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle over, paprika and chives for garnish
Method:
Place the sesame seeds in bowl of food processor and grind.
Add remaining ingredients except water and process until ground into a smooth paste. Gradually add a little water at a time, and continue to process until you get desired consistency
Taste and adjust salt, lime juice etc.
Transfer to a bowl, drizzle over with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle over smoked paprika and chopped chives.
