Saludable

This recipe is another one of those healthy ones, since it skips refined sugars, refined flours and fats. The result is a fairly decent and tasty treat but, although it's fluffy, the texture is a little "chewy" for my taste and a bit moist, as tends to happen with recipes that include other vegetables (zucchini, carrot, etc.). All in all, for me this is a treat that works well for eating with less guilt and in a healthier way, but they're not the muffins I'd make for a special occasion or when I really want to treat myself or someone else.

Ingredients

• 150 g (1.5 cups) ground oats
• 250 g (1 cup) pumpkin purée
• 150 g (2/3 cup) plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 6 dates (pre-soaked)
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 100 g (3.5 oz) 70% dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces

Method

1. Peel and chop the pumpkin into chunks and boil until soft. Drain and mash with a fork to make a purée.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F).
3. Blitz the soaked dates in a food processor to make a paste. Add the pumpkin purée and blend again until you get a smooth mixture.
4. In a bowl, combine the wet ingredients (eggs, honey, milk and the pumpkin-date purée).
5. Separately, mix the dry ingredients (oats, salt, baking powder) and add them to the wet mixture.
6. Mix well and fold in the chocolate pieces.
7. Divide between muffin liners and bake for 25 minutes.

PiC Tips

• You can sprinkle some oat flakes or extra chocolate on top before baking.
• If you use silicone or metal molds, don't forget to grease them first. With paper liners they stick a bit (so they won't be the prettiest muffins you'll ever make).
• The best dates for sweetening are Medjool dates, which are meatier, but if you don't have any you can use regular ones.

A healthy loaf cake with a moist texture and a strong peanut butter flavor. Definitely not for everyone, but I'm crazy about it. These flavors are addictive for me and I can't really hold back. The good news is that the ingredients are healthy and, even though we can't really call it diet food — especially because of the peanut butter — we know it's a pretty moderate treat.

I got the recipe from @petit_fit's Instagram profile, but I tweaked it a little. Here's my version. Hope you like it.

Ingredients

• 3 ripe bananas
• 50 g (1.75 oz) honey
• 40 g (1.4 oz) extra virgin olive oil
• 50 ml (3.5 tbsp) milk
• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons peanut butter
• 175 g (6 oz / about 1.75 cups) ground oats or oat flour
• 50 g (1.75 oz) pure unsweetened cocoa powder
• 5 g (1 tsp) baking powder (Royal-type)
• A pinch of salt
• A couple of squares of dark chocolate and some oat flakes (for topping)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F).
2. Mash the bananas in a bowl with a fork and add the wet ingredients (honey, milk, oil and the lightly beaten egg).
3. Stir until everything comes together.
4. Add the dry ingredients (oats, cocoa, salt and baking powder) and mix well.
5. Grab a loaf pan (plumcake-style) and grease it with a bit of oil.
6. Pour half of the batter into the pan and drop two tablespoons of peanut butter on top. Then, using a knife, swirl the peanut butter into the batter to get a kind of marbled effect.
7. Add the other half of the reserved batter and another two tablespoons of peanut butter. Repeat the marbling process.
8. Finally, chop the chocolate into chunks and scatter them on top along with a few oat flakes.
9. Bake for about 45-50 minutes and it's ready to enjoy (technically you should wait for it to cool… I never can).

PiC Tips

• Try to use peanut butter that's 100% peanuts, with no added sugar, salt or weird stuff, because it doesn't need any of that. It's pretty easy to find this kind these days at Mercadona, Ahorramás or sports/nutrition supplement shops.
• Same goes for the cocoa. It's really easy to find pure 100% cocoa (I usually use Mercadona's store brand). Don't be fooled by advertising for "intense" cocoas because they tend to contain added sugars, sweeteners or even some kind of flour as a thickener.
• If you don't have oat flour but do have oat flakes, you can blitz them in a food processor or Thermomix. You can choose how fine you want them. In my case, I used roughly ground oats.
• As always, you can swap the honey for another sweetener of your choice, or for dates that have been soaked and blended into a paste. Also keep in mind that the riper the bananas, the more sweetness they'll add.