LO-CAL BROWNIES

Cooked brownie 'slab' cooling in the garden

I saw a recipe on Facebook for 37 calorie brownies. Sceptical? So was I. I have adapted the recipe (I don’t have Stevia, a sugar substitute, which is what the original called for) so I used brown sugar. I managed to get apple sauce in Tesco. Also I left the American measurements - having messed with them before with poor results, I thought I'd better not meddle.

Anyway, my brownies work out at 120 calories per brownie, and only have 2g of fat – not exactly 37 kcals but still not bad! And they are moist and tasty!

INGREDIENTS

half cup porridge oats

1 medium free range egg

3/4 cup no-fat Greek yogurt

1/4 cup low fat milk

1/2 cup Bournville cocoa powder

1/2 cup light brown sugar (or a sugar substitute)

1/3 cup apple sauce

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 200ºC/400ºF
• Grease a square 8” x 8” pan
• Combine all the ingredients in a food mixer (I used a hand blender) for one minute
• Bake for 22 minutes or so
• Cool in the pan
• Cut into 9 squares

GREAT IRISH BAKE FOR TEMPLE STREET - LO CAL BANANA BREAD

 It's Temple Street Bake time again!

Low calorie banana bread

I'm a sucker for banana bread. I'd love a soda bread type one (I think I will have to invent it) but, in the absence of that, I made a low calorie one today based on this recipe. How she got 24 pieces out of this is beyond me - maybe her guests were mice. My loaf yields about 10 slices.

Apple sauce is not a staple here in Ireland, so I made my own (ahem!) out of a peeled, finely diced apple. I cooked it on a medium heat with a little water until softened and then blended it, which didn't make it very sauce-like. But, in it went anyway.

This makes a moist, very sweet, low-sized loaf so the slices are more like bars. 106 kcals per bar. Yum!

Ingredients

2 mashed bananas

1 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce/or one apple made into poor applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 dash salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 large egg

2 tablespoons nonfat milk (I used soya milk)

3/4 cup spelt flour

Method

• Preheat oven to 180°/350°F and lightly grease a 2lb loaf tin
• Place all ingredients but flour & baking powder in a large bowl and mix
• Sieve in flour and baking powder to wet ingredients
• Pour into loaf tin
• Cook for about 35 minutes - or until golden brown.
• Allow to cool before slicing

GALWAY FOOD FESTIVAL 2015

We went into the city for the annual food festival today. It's a beautiful Easter Saturday here in Galway: dry, almost warm and almost sunny :) The festival continues all weekend and is well worth a visit. Great food, gorgeous atmosphere around Wood Quay and the Claddagh, especially.

We stopped at the Skeff for cakes on the way to the festival - Mr V and I shared a salted caramel brownie.
Juno opted for milk and a giant cookie

Juno Bunny

Giant bunny outside Yes Flowers

Every house in Galway probably has a piece of Judy Greene's lovely pottery

Skeff cakes at the marquees at the Spanish Arch

America Village Apothecary syrups - so pretty

Róisín Fahy of Beechlawn Organic Farm, Ballinasloe

More Skeff goodies

Bowl A Granola

Man of Aran fudge

Creme egg bun anyone?

Easter buns by Goodness Cakes

Man of Aran mint choc fudge

Pad Tofu for lunch in Lime Restaurant in the Claddagh. Yum.