Healthy make-over for brownies

So many times I’ve heard that a good brownie can make anyone happy. Not sure about that but, certainly, twisting a traditional brownie recipe to make it healthier makes me delirious!

Two days ago I found a brownie recipe that got 100% positive feedback and gave it a healthy make-over without compromising its naughty and heavenly taste. I didn’t use cooking chocolate as it is traditionally suggested, thus cutting back on fat and sugar contents. Instead I used organic cocoa powder with a bit of butter and little milk. In addition to that I used only half of the recommended amount of sugar and a third less of butter. So my brownies are lower in fat and sugar and wheat-free. But they are still, oooh, so sinfully yummy!

Chocolate brownies

250 g dark cocoa powder (at least 72%)
125 g butter, melted
½ cup low fat milk
150 g light brown sugar
3 medium eggs, beaten
150 g pecans, walnuts & almonds, chopped into chunks
1 tsp vanilla extract
125 g spelt flour


Preheat oven: 180°C, fan 160°C, 350°F, Gas 4
Line a 11" x 7" tin with baking paper.

Heat the milk in a microwave, pour it into a large mixing bowl and start adding the cocoa powder, mixing it into thoroughly to avoid any lumps. Stir in the melted butter and then the sugar and mix well.

Add the eggs to the mixture, about 1 egg at a time and mix well between adding each egg. The mixture will start to feel a bit elastic, but keep beating until all the eggs are fully incorporated.

Add the nuts and vanilla extract and mix well together.

Stir in the spelt flour and make sure that all the ingredients are well combined. Taste a tiny bit of the mix to see if it is sweet enough for you. If not, add a little (!) more. Pour into the prepared tin.

Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. To check whether the brownies are cooked insert a toothpick into the centre of the brownies, the toothpick needs to come out slightly sticky. It's better the brownies to slightly undercook than overcook.

Remove the brownies from the oven and allow them to cool while still in the tin. Remove from the tin and place on a cooling rack, cut into squares and allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

These tasty brownies will keep in an airtight container for about a week. You can also freeze them.

Warm welcome for ugly fruit and veg

Let’s thank the EU for making our grocery shopping cheaper! Starting from last week misshapen fruit and vegetables can be bought in supermarkets and retailers say that they could be 40% cheaper than the standard produce.

For more than twenty years, the European Union standards has ensured that only the best looking (not always best tasting, though!) produce gets to the supermarket shelves. Garlic was not allowed to be sold with a bulb missing, cauliflower's diameter had to be over 11cm, and a string of onions had to have at least 16 bulbs.
The lifted ban will also mean less food waste and happier farmers, who will sell more products.

The classification system will still apply to 75 percent of the produce, such as apples, citrus fruit, kiwi fruit, lettuces, peaches and nectarines, pears, strawberries, sweet peppers, table grapes and tomatoes. These can be sold as irregular, but must be labelled “cooking”.

Fruit and vegetables that can now be sold as irregular are: apricots, artichokes, asparagus, aubergines, avocados, beans, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflowers, cherries, courgettes, cucumbers, mushrooms, garlic, hazelnuts, cabbage, leeks, melon, onions, peas, plums, celery, spinach, walnuts, watermelons, and chicory.