Crunchy Granola Bars (without Honey/Sugar)

To make Healthy,Crunchy Granola bars without refined sugar,honey and peanut butter was in my wishlist for a long time.Most of the Granola bars recipe contains honey.Honey in its raw form has many benefits.According to Ayurveda,Honey becomes toxic when heated.I have used Jaggery to make these bars.The bars turned out flavorful and tasty.Lets see the recipe.

Ingredients:

Oats(Quick cooking)	1 cup
Wheat flour	½ cup
Jaggery(see Note below)	½ cup
Butter melted	3 tablespoon
Coconut oil	1 tblsp
Baking soda	1/4 tsp
Salt	a pinch
Vanilla essence	½ tsp
Nuts and seeds (see notes below)	1/2 cup

Method:

• Preheat oven to 170 ºC.
• Take a mixing bowl and add oats,wheat flour,salt and mix well.Add the chopped nuts and seeds .
• Take a saucepan,add the chopped jaggery and little water(I have used 2 tablespoons water.Don't use more water) just to dissolve the jaggery.Heat on a low flame till it dissolves completely and filter it to remove any impurities.
• Heat a saucepan,add the butter,coconut oil,strained jaggery liquid and heat on a low flame till it simmers.Once it comes to a boil  ,switch of the flame and add the vanilla essence and baking soda. The mixture will foam up once baking soda is added. 
• Add this mixture to the oats and mix well till entire dry ingredients is coated well with the mixture.Mix well using the hands.
• Take a baking pan and line with parchment paper.Add the granola mixture and press well using any flat base. This is important to ensure that the granola bars dont crumble after baking.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 170º C for 20 to 25 mins till the bars turn golden brown on top.
• Keep an eye after 20 mins to avoid burning as each oven may vary.
• Once done take the pan out and after 5 minutes,cut into bars of desired size. Once fully cooled,it would be difficult to cut into bars and it is important to cut while its still warm.

Note:

• I have used chopped almonds,sates,pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.You can add or omit nuts as per your choice.
• I have used the regular jaggery and not powdered one.
• If you don't wish to add coconut oil,you can add butter for that quantity.

Eggless Black Forest Cake

Eggless Chocolate cake layered with whipped cream and Homemade cherry compote.I have adapted the chocolate cake recipe from here.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

All Purpose flour	¾ cup
Fine granulated sugar	½ cup
Baking soda	½ tsp
Salt	a pinch
Cocoa powder(Natural unsweetened)	2 table spoon
Milk	½ cup
Oil(I used sunflower oil)	¼ cup
White vinegar	1 tsp
Vanilla essence	1 tsp

For the Frosting:

Dairy whipping cream	400 ml
Icing sugar	4 tablespoon
Vanilla essence	1 tsp
Cherry compote or chopped cherries *
Chocolate curls ,cherries for garnishing

Method:

•  Preheat oven to 170 ºC.
• Sift the flour,baking soda,salt and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl.
• Add the fine granulated sugar to it and mix with a whisk.If the sugar granules are big you can pulse once in a mixie.No need to make to a fine powder.
• Take room temperature milk in another bowl and add the vinegar.set aside for 5 minutes. Add the oil,vanilla essence to it and mix well.
• Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a whisk till the sugar is dissolved and there are no lumps.Don't overmix.If you find the batter is thick add few tablespoons of water. I added 2 tablespoons of water to get the desired consistency.
• Pour the batter to a greased and floured cake pan( I have used a 6 inch pan and lined with parchment paper) .Bake in preheated oven for around 25 to 30 mins till a toothpick inserted in the center comes clean. keep checking after 22 mins as each oven behaves differently.
• Once done take the pan out .After 5  to 10 minutes carefully turn it over a cooling rack and let it cool completely.

Assembling the cake:

* Homemade cherry compote:

  Wash and  Pit the cherries(around 200 gms) .Take the cherries in a saucepan.Add 4 tablespoons sugar(adjust according to the sweetness of cherry used).Add 1/2 tsp lemon juice and let it simmer till the cherries release the juices and becomes thick to coat a spoon. Mash it well.You can use a hand blender to blend it if you want. Let it cool before using for the cake.

Make a simple sugar syrup by taking 1/2 cup water and 2 tablespoon sugar Heat it till sugar is dissolved completely and cool completely before use.

Whip the dairy cream to soft peaks,add the icing sugar and vanilla and whip to stiff peaks.

• Slice the cake horizontally to two layers. I made two batches(two cakes) and got 4 layers.
• Place a layer of cake and sprinkle little sugar syrup.Let the syrup absorb.
• Take some whipping cream in a piping bag fitted with a big nozzle and pipe a ring around the cake.Spread some cherry compote and add  some whipping cream. Repeat for the other layers.
• Crumb coat the cake and refrigerate for some time and finish with the whipped cream.
• Garnish with chocolate curls.Pipe some borders and arrange the cherries on top.
• Refrigerate for 2 hrs before cutting the cake so that the layers set well.

Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes - Eggless

These Soft Strawberry cupcakes are made using fresh strawberries and paired with yummy Strawberry buttercream.No artificial Strawberry flavor or color is used here. 

Ingredients:

For the Strawberry Cupcakes:

All purpose flour	¾ cup
Corn flour	½ tblsp
Baking powder	¾ tsp
Baking soda	¼  tsp
Salt	a pinch
Fine granulated sugar(Increase the sugar quantity if you want to make the cupcakes without frosting)	1/3 cup
Butter	¼ cup( 50 gms)
Thick curd	2 tblsp
Milk( see note below)	1/3 cup
Vanilla essence	1 tsp
Strawberry Puree(see note below)	3 to 4 tblsp

For the Strawberry Buttercream:

Butter	¼ cup
Icing sugar	1 cup
Milk	1 tsp
Vanilla essence	½ tsp
Strawberry Puree	2 to 3 tblsp

Method:

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• For the Strawberry Puree,Take around 4 to 5 big strawberries in a small mixer jar and blend well so that no big chunks are present.Small chunks are fine.The puree should be thick and not watery.Keep aside.   
• Preheat oven to 180 º C.Sift the Flour,Corn flour,Baking powder,Baking soda,salt twice.
• Melt the butter.Take the melted butter and sugar in a bowl and mix well with a whisk.Add the curd,vanilla essence and mix well till sugar is dissolved well.Now add the milk and mix.
• Add the sifted dry ingredients to this butter-sugar-milk mixture and mix well till there is no lumps.Don't over mix and mixing with a whisk is enough.
• Add the required strawberry puree to the batter and fold using a spatula.
• Spoon the batter evenly to a cupcake tray fitted with liners till 3/4 th full. Bake at 180 ºc  for around 18 to 20 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine took exactly 20 mins to bake.
• Allow to cool in the tray for 5 mins.Take out the cupcakes from the tray and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Strawberry Buttercream:

• Take the butter (softened to room temperature) in a bowl and beat using an electric beater for about 5 to 7 mins till the butter becomes pale and fluffy.This step is very important.
• Now slowly add the sifted icing sugar little by little and beat till all the sugar is mixed well.
• Add the milk and beat for a minute.Now add the strawberry puree little by little till you get the desired colour,flavour and consistency.Add more icing sugar if the frosting is thin.
• Frost the cupcake as desired. 

Note:

• The cupcakes are not overly sweet.So increase the sugar quantity especially when making the cupcakes without buttercream frosting.
• All the ingredients like curd,milk etc must be at room temperature for getting good soft cupcakes.
• If after adding the strawberry puree in the cake batter the batter is very thick add little milk to get desired consistency as shown in the image above.
• The above quantity yields 6 cupcakes.

       

Whole Wheat Strawberry Cake - Eggless

Eggless Strawberry Cake made using Whole Wheat Flour topped with strawberries and a nutty Streusel topping. 

Ingredients:

For the cake:

Whole Wheat Flour	1 cup
Baking Powder	1 tsp
Baking Soda	¼  tsp
Sugar	1/3 cup
Butter	3 tblsp
Thick curd	4 tblsp
Milk	½ cup
Vanilla essence	1 tsp
Strawberry halved	8

For the Streusel topping:

Wheat flour	2 tblsp
Butter	1 tblsp
Sugar	2 tblsp
Almonds sliced	¼ cup

Method:

• Preheat oven to 170 ° C.
• For the topping take the butter and flour and mix using finger tips till you get a crumbly mixture.Add the sugar and sliced almonds and mix well. 
• Sift the flour,baking powder and baking soda twice.
• Take the room temperature soft  butter in a bowl and add sugar. Beat with a hand whisk or electric beater till light and creamy. Add curd and mix with a whisk.Finally add vanilla essence and milk.
• Now add the sifted flour and mix till the flour is mixed well with the wet ingrediends and there are no lumps.
• Transfer the batter to a prepared cake pan(I have used 7 inch pan here). Tap the pan on the counter once and level it. Arrange the halved strawberries on the top. Now spread the prepared streusel toppping evenly over the strawberries covering the entire cake.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 170 °  for 30 to 35 mins or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Allow the cake to cool in the pan completely and then take it out.

Note:

• The cake is mildly sweet.Increase sugar if you want a very sweet cake.
• I have used fine granulated sugar in this recipe.
• All ingredients like butter,curd and milk are to be at room temperature .