Once in a while I love a great sweet treat, especially on cold winter days.
Brownies are my all-time favourite indulgence. Try today’s recipe for zucchini brownies: the addition of the vegetables makes me fee less guilty when I have two or three portions like I always tend to do.
The baked, stuffed apples are filled with lots of goodness. They are really decadent and fill the house with amazing aromas.
The apple roses are my kids’ favourite.
Enjoy trying these out for your own family and friends!
Zucchini BrowniesMakes: 12 mini brownies
Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
½ cup wholewheat flour
¼ cup cocoa powder, sifted
1 tsp bicarb
¼ tsp salt
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg½ cup apple sauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp coffee, cooled
1 cup grated zucchini½ cup chopped walnuts½ cup dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Method
Pre-heat oven to 180°C and line a 20 x 20cm cake tin.
In a bowl mix flour, cocoa, bicarb and salt.
In a separate bowl whisk sugar, egg, apple sauce, vanilla extract and coffee until sugar is dissolved.
Fold in dry ingredients a little at a time until well incorporated. Then fold in zucchini, walnuts and chocolate.
Pour batter into baking pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. I prefer to bake these for 20 minutes on 180°C, then turn off the oven and leave them inside for the remaining 10 minutes. Then they are moist but still have a little runny chocolate in the middle. If you prefer them a bit more solid, bake for the full 30 minutes. Do not overbake. Allow to cool before cutting into squares or circles using a round cookie cutter.
Notes: I love this recipe because it can be quite versatile with regard to the ingredients you can add. You can replace the apple sauce with beetroot puree. Make sure you par-cook the beetroot before pureeing and drizzle with a little honey (I use smaller baby beets as they tend to be naturally sweet and so you don’t need to add any honey to them). You can also use blanched and then pureed spinach in place of the zucchini. I wouldn’t advise adding chopped spinach as this tends to become dry and a bit chewy. Instead of shop apple sauce you can make your own by pureeing cooked apples. And if you don’t have wholewheat flour you can use normal flour for this recipe. I simply prefer this option because it is less refined than normal flour and gives the brownies a bit more bulk.
Stuffed Baked ApplesServes: 8
Time: 1hr 30 min
Ingredients
1 cup apple juice
¾ cup honey
¾ cup pitted dates, chopped
¼ cup sultanas, soaked in 2 tablespoons of water
2 Tbsp pecans, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon orange zest
½ cup orange juice
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
8 medium red apples, cored
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Heat apple juice and honey in a pan until syrupy. Meanwhile, combine dates, sultanas, pecans and zests in a bowl. In another bowl, combine orange juice, lemon juice, cinnamon and ginger.Slice apples in even slices crossways. Dip each slice into the orange juice mix, stack each slice on top of the next and repeat with each apple. Carefully spoon stuffing into the centre and drizzle with syrup and remaining orange juice mix.Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, basting occasionally until tender. Remove from oven, drizzle with a bit of honey and serve with vanilla ice cream.
Mini Apple RosesServes 8-10
Time: 45 min
Ingredients
1 packet ready rolled sweet short crust pastry, thawed
10 red apples, thinly sliced
½ cup sugar
4 Tbsp lemon juice
4 Tbsp corn starch
¼ cup apricot jam
Method
Pre-heat oven to 200°C. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Steam apples for 4 to 8 minutes (they need to be soft and pliable but not mushy). Combine sugar, 3 Tbsp lemon juice and cornstarch together and toss in the apples.
Roll pastry onto a floured surface and using an 8cm cookie cutter cut into circles and place in muffin pan. hollows Arrange apples inside the pastry cases to form a rose shape (start from outside and work your way in, making sure apples overlap).
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until crust is browned and apples are cooked. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack before removing from tin. While apples are cooking heat apricot jam and remaining tablespoon of lemon juice. Brush apples with mixture.Tips: Making the roses is a bit time consuming but the presentation looks fantastic and is worth the effort.Cornstarch helps make the apples sturdy so they don’t collapse when baking.