Healthier homemade afternoon tea bakes

With everyone being in lock down atm, most of us are missing our meet ups with friends or family and having a catch-up over a cup of tea and sweet treat. As some people are making their own baked goods and then having a virtual tea party over Zoom and are also looking for healthier snacks while they work from home I decided to put together this mix of healthier tea party & snack options

Why not up your snack game to make it a bit healthier using nourishing ingredients and expand your recipe repertoire.

  1. Healthier, wholemeal scones, these are two of my own recipes which have gone down a storm with my family
    blueberry lemonHealthier homemade afternoon tea bakes Desserts Lunch snack
    Orange, dark choc & strawberryHealthier homemade afternoon tea bakes Desserts Lunch snack
  2.  Peanut butter hummus (for people with more of a savoury palate) from @eatnourishlove
    This would also be a great dip for apple slicesHealthier homemade afternoon tea bakes Desserts Lunch snack
  3. Spiced fruit & nut biscotti-normally i make these around Christmas time but they’re great all year round and you can adapt the fruit and flavour to suit your tastesHealthier homemade afternoon tea bakes Desserts Lunch snack
  4. Sneaky veg blog has some great veg/fruit based bakes, these fruit based, refined sugar free flapjacks are an easy afternoon treat to whip upHealthier homemade afternoon tea bakes Desserts Lunch snack
  5. Another great option which is also vegan from sneaky veg blog are these blueberry banana muffins
    I’d recommend using half wholemeal flour as suggested in the recipe in order to get more fibre in there!Healthier homemade afternoon tea bakes Desserts Lunch snack
  6. Power hungry Camilla’s almond sponge cake which uses ground almonds and starch to make it means it’s flourless but also gluten free and would go so well with some fresh Summer strawberries and a dusting of baobab powder if you have it
    Healthier homemade afternoon tea bakes Desserts Lunch snack
  7. I love these easy wholefoods oat based cookies from Amy’s healthy baking, you could also sub half the raisins for dark choc chips and I would recommend if you have it that you could sub some flour for flavoured pea protein to balance out the macros a little more and then reduce the maple slightly.Healthier homemade afternoon tea bakes Desserts Lunch snack

Red velvet plant based cupcakes

Healthy, fibre filled red velvet cupcakes that are also plant based and can be easily made gluten and sugar free too!
These little beauties are so easy to make and I’m sure will be greatly appreciated by anyone in your life for Valentine’s day (or any day) who likes to eat healthy or who has intolerances and would like to have a homemade treat.

Red velvet plant based cupcakes Desserts snack vegan

Bun benefits
Beetroot has many benefits including containing antioxidants and compounds that are heart healthy, combine this with antioxidant & magnesium rich cacao powder plus the fibre from the wholemeal flour and you’ve got yourself some healthy homemade treats. You can also take these up a level health wise by making them sugar free too meaning no blood sugar spikes and more tooth friendly.

Red velvet plant based cupcakes Desserts snack vegan

Super healthy red velvet cupcakes

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Healthy spiced pumpkin blondies

Halloween has rolled around again for another year but that doesn’t need to mean unhealthy sugar highs or falling off the healthy eating wagon.
I’ve got you sorted if you still want a treat that provides nourishment and uses up that pumpkin flesh which is just too delicious and nutritious to waste, so put it to good use.

Healthy spiced pumpkin blondies Desserts snack vegan

This recipe not only uses pumpkin but another veg in there too!
It’s easy to make, uses simple ingredients and is great for making kids eat secret veg. It’s also vegan friendly and can be gluten free if using certified GF oats.

Healthy spiced pumpkin blondies Desserts snack vegan

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Secret veg sweet potato snickerdoodle slices

These secretly healthy slices are mostly made out of veg, including white beans and sweet potato and you can make these sugar free, not to mention the addition of some cinnamon and dark chocolate adds antioxidants that are a bonus on top of the fibre loaded veg!
Plus these are grain, soy, wheat, dairy & gluten free and don’t require any flour either.

Secret veg sweet potato snickerdoodle slices Desserts Grainfree snack vegan

Sneaky veg
This is a great one for sneaking veg and more nutritional goodness into fussy eaters, they’ll never know there’s beans in there and seeing the dark chocolate will make them think it’s a proper dessert!
I love sweet cinnamon flavours but feel free to adapt this one to your tastes such as if you like a ginger and dark choc combo then you can add ginger spice instead.

Secret veg sweet potato snickerdoodle slices Desserts Grainfree snack vegan

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Keto chocolate orange brownies

I’m not on a keto diet but I like to create recipes here for everyone and I’m aware there are some people who can’t have sugar and therefore need to adapt their way of eating, but that doesn’t have to mean you miss out on treats, just like with my low carb blueberry donuts

Sugar free baking?
I wanted to create a brownie recipe that was sugar free (and more tooth friendly), in order to do this I’ve used granular *Natvia which is a combination of natural non GMO erythritol & plant based stevia (I know the names sound scary but don’t let this throw you). These are some of the very few sweeteners that I use due to many others either not being well digested or having negative effects. If you don’t require a sugar free recipe you could also use coconut sugar.
*You can buy this granular mix online or in large Tesco stores.

Keto chocolate orange brownies Desserts Grainfree snack

Keto chocolate orange brownies Desserts Grainfree snack

Secret veg
As with nearly all my recipes I also like to sneak in some veg/fruit to make it more nutritious, plus I just love it when you’re having a “treat” and don’t even notice that it contains some sneaky veg/fruit. I’ve used avocado in this recipe which is a great source of healthy fats including potassium which people on the keto diet can be missing sometimes and can lead to the “keto flu” symptoms so this is quite beneficial and keeps the recipe really fudgey and moist.
Tip: Use a ripe avocado, it must be ripe or else it won’t blend well and you’ll get large chunks in the end product.

I normally prefer my brownies fresh from the oven and warm, however with this one, because it’s flourless, it’s nicer when it’s firmer once it’s cooled down fully, so I actually prefer eating them the next day. Whichever floats your boat is fine though.

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Carrot cake protein donuts

No added sugar High protein Healthy fats & spices High fibre Who doesn’t want some healthy, spiced, carrot cake pronuts (protein donuts)? I even have these for breakfast! You can easily get pea protein in the shops/online the same goes for the donut moulds, I got mine on Amazon for just a couple of pounds so don’t be put off by this. If you want to make good use of the donut mould then try my other donut recipe for blueberry lemon donuts Carrot cake protein donuts Breakfast Desserts snack vegan
Secrets to staying on track
I love taking traditional recipes and making them healthy through using nourishing, wholefoods, meaning they’re crap free but still tasty, plus, I’m like a child who gets excited about dipping them in frosting, it makes me feel like I’m getting something fun. Cooking recipes like this is one of my secrets to keeping me on track, which can be difficult for anyone with dietary restrictions. If I just eat the same stuff on repeat I’d feel like I was missing out and never getting the fun stuff that other people could indulge in like being able to buy baked goods from the shops etc so I cook food like this so that I can enjoy them too, all guilt free and without inducing stomach churning symptoms. (more…)