Today is Anzac Day. And without going into all the historical intricacies, for the purposes of this blog, this means Anzac biscuits! Traditional Anzac biscuits, albeit tasty, are far from healthy as they contain butter (or far worse – margarine), refined sugar and white flour. Healthy Anzac biscuits? It seems like an impossible quest, but you can totally do this. Enter my healthy Anzac biscuits!
Healthy Anzac Biscuits
Healthy Anzac biscuits that are gluten free, vegan, refined sugar free and much lower in fat than standard Anzac biscuits. The best bit is that taste-wise, they are so close to the “original” that nobody will believe they are healthy! And as I can attest, they are husband and toddler approved too! I am not a biscuit person myself, but I can hardly stay away from them! With only a handful of standard pantry ingredients and very little prep time, there is no reason to enjoy a healthy Anzac biscuit – not only on Anzac day!
Consisting of oats, desiccated coconut, coconut oil and maple syrup, they are a guilt-free treat with benefits. Oats are one of the most nutritious foods on the planet, a great source of fiber, and have been shown to lower bad cholesterol. Coconut provides an array of essential nutrients, with manganese, copper and selenium only to mention a few. Coconut oil is a medium chain fatty acid, which is not readily stored as fat, but converted to energy and moreover has antifungal and antimicrobial properties. Maple syrup boasts calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc as well as vitamins such as thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and B6. Now that’s what I call healthy Anzac biscuits!
2 cups rolled oats 1/4 cup desiccated coconut 2 tbsp organic maple syrup 4 tsp melted coconut oil 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 tbsp water
Preheat your oven to 160 °C and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Give all ingredients in that order into a high-powered blender and blitz for 20 to 30 seconds, scraping down the sides as necessary, until the dough is combined and comes together. Form into 16 rather flat cookies and arrange evenly on your lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden, let cool completely and store in an airtight container.
The yummyness, the fluffyness, the beauty – chocolate mousse can actually be good for you!
Marveling at the Wonders of Instant, Healthy, Low-carb, Vegan, Paleo Chocolate Mousse or I Want it All,Act I, Scene I
Test Eater: Wow, this looks great! You must have spent ages making this! Chef: Not even a minute, dear. Test Eater: Um. So it’s bought stuff, ay? I thought you make things from scratch! Chef: All from scratch, darling. (Well, I didn’t harvest the coconut or the cocoa.) Test Eater (tries some): This is heaven! Honestly, this is one of the best chocolate mousses I have tried, and I am picky you know…actually, I shouldn’t really have a treat like that… (becomes serious) It must be loaded with sugar and carbs! Chef: Not a trace. This is virtually carb-free. Test Eater: Yeah right. So it’s filled with bucket loads of artificial sweeteners and other poisonous stuff! Chef: Just the sweetness of nature, honey. (Well, it doesn’t actually contain honey because it’s carb-free.) Test Eater: Wow. So I can have as much as I want – but you can’t, since you can’t have dairy! And we can’t offer it to XXX – she’s a vegan! Chef: In this dessert, there is not a cow in sight – nor any other animal. Test Eater: OK, I give up. What IS this stuff, and how did you make it? Chef: Scroll down to the recipe!
Common dilemmas and how to solve them. A practical guide. Problem 1: You need your chocolate fix and you are extremely impatient and/or short of time.
Solution 1: Make this chocolate mousse.
Problem 2: You have an insatiable sweet tooth, but you are trying to eat more healthily.
Solution 2: Make this chocolate mousse.
Problem 3: You are on a low-carb and/or paleo diet, but you miss chocolate mousse.
Solution 3: Make this chocolate mousse.
Problem 4: You love chocolate, but you are worried about all the unhealthy ingredients in it.
Solution 4: Make this chocolate mousse.
Problem 5: You need/want to cut out dairy, but you need/want chocolate mousse.
Solution 5: Make this chocolate mousse.
Problem 6: You are a vegan, but you suddenly have an odd craving for chocolate mousse.
Solution 6: Make this chocolate mousse.
Problem 7: You need your chocolate fix, and you need it now.
Solution 7: MAKE. THIS. CHOCOLATE. MOUSSE. NOW.
It takes one minute to make. One minute! Doesn’t matter whether you are suffering from a very sudden, very intense chocolate craving that does NOT allow postponement or whether you need a goodie for a surprise guest or whether you just can’t be bothered spending hours making a great dessert – this is it. Got the in-laws over for Christmas? Why spend hours making dessert when you need/want the time for your beauty routine/yoga lesson/wrapping presents/unwrapping presents? You can make this in one minute. Or less. One minute, that’s 60 seconds. That’s how long it takes – maximum. And that’s a promise. (OK, your coconut milk must be refrigerated, but you should have a couple of tins in your fridge anyway – at least when you are trying my recipes ;-))
I know not everyone cares whether desserts are healthy, but this one is. Spot on. There is no more than three ingredients (four if you count the water): Coconut meal, coconut milk, raw cocoa. That’s it. No sugar, no grains, no dairy, no processed crap, no GMO, no thickener, MSG, emulsifier, colourant or flavouring. Just. Pure. Goodness. Straight from mother nature. It is real, it is paleo, it is nutritious.
It is low-carb, if not no-carb, it is absolutely sugar free, but without nasty sugar replacements that can spike your blood sugar. This is as low GI as it gets. And it is very filling!
It is absolutely dairy free, and it goes without saying that it is also gluten and soy free. It is vegan. It is a very allergy-friendly dessert as even many nut sufferers can have coconut.
Oh, and for those who are interested – it is also veeeeeery delicious. Not to mention divine.
Dear vegans, low-carbers and paleoists, here comes the one-minute-guide how to have your mousse and eat it, too. Thanks for reading, my friend, and if you can spare one more minute of your precious time, you better make this. NOW.
Note: This has quite a strong flavour. If you like your stuff very sweet, you should probably add some stevia or erythritol. Use honey to make it paleo. I don’t sweeten it, as I don’t like my things overly sweet, but then – I’m special. 😉
Serves 1 very hungry chocoholic or 2 normal people 😉
4 tbsp coconut flour 4 tbsp solidified coconut milk (should have been stored in the fridge overnight) 4 tbsp cocoa powder 4 tbsp filtered water
The coconut milk should look like this:
solid coconut milk
Mix all ingredients bar the water in a small bowl, then slowly add the water while stirring until smooth.
Nat's Ladle 