I love making this bread. It’s easy, yummy and healthy – these are the reasons why this recipe has long been in the list of my favorite recipes. Also, the recipe is very versatile – you can use any combination of your favorite dried fruits, berries, nuts and seeds.

Recently, I tried making a slight variation of this recipe: when the bread was almost ready, I took it out, cooled a little bit, cut into thin slices, and put them in the oven for a little bit more time. The result was awesome – delicious and crunchy biscotti! Well, this is how I decided to call them, feel free to invent your own name ☺ You won’t see these biscotti on the photos below – last time I made them, they were gone in minutes, and I didn’t have a chance to take the photo, alas!

As for the health benefits, there is no added sugar in this bread, and the natural sweetness comes from dried fruits and berries. Also, each slice of bread contains only 130 cal and 12% RDV of fiber.

Ingredients:
Eggs – 2
Whole wheat flour – ½ cup
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Dried apricots – ½ cup*
Prunes – ¼ cup*
Dried dates – ¼ cup*
Dried cranberries – ¼ cup*
Walnuts, halves, pieces or chips – ¼ cup*

* You can use any combination of your favorite dried fruits and nuts, 1 ½ cup in total.

1. Preheat oven to 380 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a small 6×4 -inch cakepan with wax paper; lightly grease and flour wax paper. Set aside.
2. Whisk eggs, add whole wheat and baking powder.
3. Add the fruit and nut mixture, combine everything well.
4. Pour the dough into the cakepan. Press down very firmly with your hands to make sure that there are no gaps left.
5. Bake about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
Serve and enjoy!

6. (optional) You can also make yummy biscotti out of your bread. After step 5, take the bread out of the oven and let it cool a little bit. Reduce the oven temperature to 300ºF (150C). Cut the bread into thin biscotti slices. Stand upright on the baking sheet and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Let cool completely before serving. The recipe yields 10-12 biscotti.

Basic information:
▪ Prep time: 5 min
▪ Total time: 45 min (or 1 hr 10 min for biscotti)
▪ Serves: 8
▪ WW (Weight Watchers PointPlus) points = 3

What fruits, nuts and berries are you going to use for this bread?

Chocolate-dipped apricots & walnuts are delicious and elegant candies, which are surprisingly easy to make. All you need are three ingredients and a little bit of patience (for stuffing apricots with walnut halves) – but as a reward you will get amazingly delicious and very healthy dessert that looks festive enough to be served for special occasions!

Also, these candies are so good for your health! One serving (3 candies) contains vitamin A (30% RDV), fiber (15% RDV) and only 143 calories. The only problem is that you absolutely can’t stop – they are really yummy! I made them twice already, and they were gone in a few hours ☺ But if you are not like us and can control yourself, then you can store these candies in a cool place for a few days (or weeks?).

Ingredients:
Dry apricots – 12 pieces
Walnut halves – 12
Chocolate, sugar free – 1 bar (3.5 oz / 100 g) *

* After making candies, you’ll have about half of chocolate left, but I prefer to melt more of it for easier dipping.

1. Prepare a baking sheet or any other board with a flat surface by lining it with parchment paper (or aluminum foil).
2. Stuff apricots with walnut halves. A small note – if your apricots are too stiff you can soften them by soaking in water for a few hours ahead of time. Then dry them and stuff with walnuts. One more hint – feel free to replace walnut halves with chopped walnuts, it will make it easier to stuff apricots of any size.
3. Melt the chocolate in a small bowl. Dip each stuffed apricot in the chocolate, swirling it for even coverage. Place candies on the baking sheet / board and chill in a fridge for approximately 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy ☺

Bon appétit!

Basic information:
▪ Prep time: 10 min
▪ Total time: 20 min
▪ Serves: 4
▪ WW (Weight Watchers PointPlus) points = 4

What are your favorite candies? Do you like the idea of healthy substitutes for your favorite desserts?

About a month ago we celebrated Maslenitsa – it’s a Russian version of Shrovetide, which we usually celebrate for the whole week and everyone makes different kinds of pancakes. Another name for this holiday is a Pancake Week. So, I was expecting my friend, who is not only a vegan, but she also avoids sugar, flour, and fatty foods. And this picky girl ordered me pancakes!

While making my cat’s favorite dinner, oatmeal with flaxseed (yes, my cat has really strange taste),  I had an eureka moment – how about making pancakes with the same ingredients? No sooner said than done! For more sweetness I added a banana – and voila! My girlfriend got these perfect pancakes – without any sugar, flour, eggs, and with lots of fiber. She was happy, and later I also made these pancakes a few times, now for my hubby and myself. They are so yummy! My hubby usually eats them with maple syrup or jam, and I love them without anything – in my opinion, the are sweet enough as is.

Try these pancakes and you will love them! It takes just a few minutes to make them, so you can have them for breakfast!

Ingredients:
Banana, medium – 1
Flaxseed meal – 1 tbsp
Oat flour – ½ cup*
Water – 2 tbsp
Olive oil – 1 tsp

* I usually grind rolled oats (1/2 cup) finely into flour

1. Blend all the ingredients, except for oil, in a food processor until thoroughly combined.
2. Heat lightly oiled frying pan over a moderate heat. Spoon pancake mixture into 4-5 rounds and fry on a medium heat for approx. 2 minutes each side until cooked through and golden.
3. Serve immediately with your favorite toppings (or without them!).

Bon appétit!

Basic information:
▪ Prep time: 3 min
▪ Total time: 10 min
▪ Serves: 1
▪ WW (Weight Watchers PointPlus) points = 8

What are your favorite pancakes? Do you like them with or without toppings?

Today I would like to share with you a recipe from a wonderful cookbook, called “The MediterrAsian Way: A Cookbook and Guide to Health, Weight Loss, and Longevity”. I am constantly experimenting with new recipes from different world cuisines, and I found this book a real treasure! I tried all kinds of recipes from this book, besides desserts, and they all turned out amazingly delicious!

Since my site is about desserts, today I chose one of my favorite desserts from this book. This is not a cake or cookies, but this fruit couscous with honey-cinnamon yogurt dressing can easily beat traditional desserts at deliciousness and healthiness!

The fruit couscous can be consumed either as a dessert or as a regular breakfast. Although it’s relatively low in calories (162 calories per serving), this dessert will keep you satisfied for a long time, due to the slow carbohydrates and lots of fiber (24% RDV). Dessert is also rich in magnesium and vitamin C (93% RDV!). Finally, it’s very low in fat and sodium. Try this couscous dessert, and you will fall in love with it!

Ingredients:
Orange – 1
Water – ¼ cup
Couscous – ½ cup *
Strawberries, sliced – 1 cup**
Mango, sliced – 1 cup**
Plain yogurt, fat-free – ½ cup
Honey – 2 tbsp ***
Cinnamon – ½ tsp

* I used bulgur, ½ cup
** Any other sweet berries and fruits, such as grapes, sliced peaches, raspberries and blackberries also go perfectly with this dessert.
*** I used agave nectar, 2tbsp. You can also replace it with your favorite sugar / sweetener.

1. Peel the orange and blend it in a food processor / blender.
2. Combine orange, water and couscous in a saucepan, bring to boil. Turn off the heat, cover the saucepan with a tight lid to trap the steam.
3. After 5-7 min, fluff up the couscous with a fork, then stir in the strawberries and mango. Cover and cool in the fridge.
4. While the fruit couscous is cooling, mix together the yogurt, honey, and cinnamon in a bowl. Serve the fruit couscous with the honey-cinnamon yogurt drizzled on top and a dusting of more cinnamon, if you like.

Bon appétit!

Basic information:
▪ Prep time: 15 min
▪ Total time: 15 min + 15min> for chilling
▪ Serves: 6
▪ WW (Weight Watchers PointPlus) points = 4

What is your favorite cuisine?

If someone asks me about my favorite dessert, I will reply without a second thought – it’s tiramisu! I am a huge fan and ready to enjoy this cake for the breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There is one problem though – tiramisu is not a very healthy dessert. Well, besides having a divine taste, there is nothing good in tiramisu, alas! Out of curiosity, I googled the nutrition of the regular tiramisu cake, and the results showed me some scary facts – a single piece of this dessert can easily replace a full meal.

But don’t worry, fans of tiramisu! There is a solution – and its name is ricotta! In my light version of the dessert, ricotta perfectly replaces the egg yolks, mascarpone and cream all together. You can see the result on the photos: it’s a delicious dessert, tastes similar to a regular tiramisu – and at the same time my ricotta version is much healthier! Check out the nutrition values of a regular tiramisu and my light ricotta dessert at the end of the post and do the math

Ingredients:
Ladyfingers, packaged – 12 cookies
Ricotta cheese, fat free – 1 cup
Black coffee, cooled – ¼ cup + 1 tsp (for ricotta mixture)
Cream cheese, fat free – 3 tbsp*
Truvia baking blend – 2 tbsp **
Cocoa powder (for dusting) – 1 tbsp

* I used fat-free cream cheese for more resemblance with the texture of a regular tiramisu. You can omit cream cheese completely or replace it with 3 tbsp of ricotta.
** Not a fan of stevia? Replace it with 4 tbsp of your favorite sugar.

1. Combine ricotta cheese, cream cheese, coffee (1 tsp) and truvia blend in a food processor until thoroughly combined and very smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Pour remaining coffee in a small shallow dish. Dip each ladyfinger into coffee just for a few seconds (don’t soak them for too long otherwise your ladyfingers will fall apart). Lay the soaked ladyfingers tightly in a small baking pan (I used 6 x 4 inch pan. If you want to make a larger tiramisu dessert, just double all the ingredients and use a 9x 13 inch pan).
3. Spread evenly the half of the ricotta mixture over the layer of ladyfingers. Place the second layer of ladyfingers and the remaining ricotta mixture.
4. Cool in a fridge for a few hours (I do overnight). When serving, dust with the cocoa powder.

Bon appétit!

Basic information:
▪ Prep time: 5 min
▪ Total time: 5 min + >2 hours for chilling
▪ Serves: 6
▪ WW (Weight Watchers PointPlus) points = 3

Light Tiramisu dessert made with ricotta:

Regular Tiramisu dessert:

And what is your favorite dessert?

Today I would like to share with you the recipe for dessert, very popular in Europe – kissel. This dessert is made with any sour fruits and berries and a starch. The recipe is very versatile: add less starch and you will get a fruit soup, or add more starch and enjoy a fruit pudding. I prefer the second option The kissel dessert is usually served on its own, or with sour cream or yogurt, or with ice cream. Also, some prefer pouring it on pancakes. This is one of the favorite desserts from my childhood, but only recently I started making this kissel pudding by myself. The recipe is very easy, you need just a few simple ingredients and 5 minutes to make it. I highly recommend you to try this recipe, you won’t be disappointed!

About kissel’s nutritional value. This is a low-calorie dessert (only 68 calories per one serving), it’s naturally fat free, and it’s loaded with vitamin C and manganese, thanks to strawberries and blueberries. Dessert can be stored in a fridge for up to one week, but we usually consume the whole batch in one-two days

Ingredients:
Strawberries, diced – 2 cups*
Blueberries – 1 cup*
Water – 3 cup + 1 cup cold water
Potato Starch – 4 tbsp**
Sugar – 3 tsp
Truvia baking blend – 2 tsp***

* Use any sour fruits and berries, 3 cups in total. You can use frozen berries as well.
** I tried using corn starch first but my kissel came out whitish, which didn’t look appealing to me.
*** Not a fan of stevia? Replace it with 2 tbsp of your favorite sugar.

1. Combine berries, sugar and water (3 cups), bring to boil in a large saucepan.
2. Dissolve potato starch in 1 cup of cold water. Make sure there are no lumps left.
3. Pour the starch mixture into the fruit soup, stirring constantly. Bring back to the boil and remove IMMEDIATELY from the heat.
4. Pour kissel into individual bowls and chill in the fridge for a few hours, until it thickens completely. I usually leave it overnight.
Serve as is or with whipped cream, yogurt, or ice-cream.

Bon appétit!

Basic information:
▪ Prep time: 5 min
▪ Total time: 5 min + >3 hours for chilling
▪ Serves: 6
▪ WW (Weight Watchers PointPlus) points = 2

Have you heard about kissel before?
What fruits and berries would you like to use for your kissel?

Yay, it’s time for muffins! Today’s muffin recipe is special as these muffins contain the alliance of oatmeal, flaxseed, and bran as healthy substitutes for the flour. The diced fresh mango adds a great flavor and texture to these muffins, while cinnamon and nutmeg bring in an amazing aroma! After tasting one muffin, my hubby could not stop and ate 4-5-6 more, explaining that my desserts were always low-calorie and healthy, therefore these mango muffins also would be only beneficial for his health. Well, I like this approach ☺

A bit more about health benefits. These mango bran flaxseed oatmeal muffins are full of vitamin C (11% of daily value in one muffin) and iron (14% DV). All in all, these muffins are very moist, light (only 92 cal per each) and flavorful!

Ingredients:
Mango – 1
Coconut oil, melted – 2 tbsp
Egg – 1
Milk, 1% – 2/3 cup*
Truvia baking blend – 4 tsp **
Brown sugar – 4 tsp
Oat flour – 1 cup***
Bran, oat – 3 tbsp
Flaxseed meal – 1 tbsp
Cinnamon, ground – 1 tsp
Nutmeg, ground – ½ tsp
Baking powder – 1 tsp

* You can replace it with a milk of your choice
** Not a fan of stevia? Replace it with 3 tbsp of your favorite sugar.
*** I usually grind rolled oats finely into flour

1. Preheat the oven to 380 F (190 C).
2. Combine first six ingredients in a food processor; mix well.
3. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Add wet ingredients to the bowl with dry ingredients and stir gently to combine. Do not over mix the batter or the muffins will be tough.
4. Spoon muffin mixture into paper-lined muffin cups (or greased muffin pan). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown.
Remove from the pan, cool and enjoy.

Bon appétit!

Adapted from this recipe.

Basic information:
▪ Prep time: 5 min
▪ Total time: 30 min
▪ Serves: 10
▪ WW (Weight Watchers PointPlus) points = 3

Do you prefer to replace the wheat flour with other ingredients? What do you usually replace it with?

Have you ever had cravings for a delicious (and healthy) dessert, but had no desire to bustle about for hours in the kitchen, baking it? It happens to me all the time☺ My solution is this wonderful mousse made from ricotta cheese and yogurt. The ricotta mousse is made in no time, it doesn’t need to be chilled, it’s ready to eat instantly, it is delicious – and this dessert is made only for you! You can double (or better triple) the ingredients and make several servings at a time as the mousse can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple days.

By tradition, here are some nutrition facts – a single serving contains 23% of recommended daily value of calcium, 20% DV of protein, 15% DV of fiber. Sounds delicious and healthy! This ricotta mousse can be used as a nice alternative to your regular breakfast, and also lunch and dinner Jokes aside, this ricotta mousse will keep you satisfied for hours, with only 184 calories per serving consumed.

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients:
Ricotta cheese, fat free – ¼ cup
Plain yogurt, fat free – 2 tbsp
Peanut butter – 1 tbsp*
Agave nectar – 1 tbsp
Cereal – 2 tbsp
(optional) Cereal – 1 tsp for serving**

* I used Better’n peanut butter which contains twice less calories than a regular one
** Use your favorite cereal – mine is Kashi GoLean.

1. In a food processor, pulse all the ingredients until completely smooth. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl.
2. Serve as is, or sprinkle 1 tbsp of crushed cereal over the mousse.

Your perfect mousse is ready! Enjoy ☺

Basic information:
▪ Prep time: 2 min
▪ Total time: 2 min
▪ Serves: 1
▪ WW (Weight Watchers PointPlus) points = 4

How often do you make single-serve desserts?

I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it!

Seriously, this chocolate pudding is perfect! In just three minutes you get this chocolate dainty that is melting in your mouth. And the best part is that the whole dessert is just for you! Why share this deliciousness with someone if you can eat it all by yourself? This is awesome, right?

Ever since I discovered this recipe, I have made this pudding so many times, both for myself and for my husband, who absolutely loved this dessert – and my hubby is really picky, believe me.

On a healthy side everything is great – one serving of this pudding contains 12g of protein, tons of calcium (40% daily value) and fiber (14% DV). Plus, this instant chocolate pudding is high in magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and riboflavin – all these in only 177 calories per serving!

It is truly a perfect dessert.

Ingredients:
Corn starch – 1 tbsp
Dry Milk, nonfat – 3 tbsp
Brown Sugar – 1 tsp
Truvia baking blend – 1 tsp*
Milk, nonfat – 1 cup
Cocoa powder – 2 tbsp

* If you don’t like the taste of stevia, replace this blend with 1 tbsp of your favorite sugar.

1. Mix all dry ingredients. Heat the milk in the microwave for 1 minute. Mix milk and dry mixture well, to avoid lumps.
2. Put the mixture  in the microwave on max for 2 – 3 minutes. Stir well every 20-30 seconds. The mixture will start thicken after the first minute.
3. Cool the pudding for a couple minutes. It will become thicker.
Serve and enjoy!

Adapted from this recipe (in Russian).

Basic information:
▪ Prep time: 5 min
▪ Total time: 5 min
▪ Serves: 1
▪ WW (Weight Watchers PointPlus) points = 5

How often do you make single-serve desserts?

When I am in the mood for a chocolate dessert, I often choose this delicious treat. I call these yummy guys Raw Brownies, but this dessert can also be named  “raw chocolate cakes”, or “raw chocolate energy bars”, or “raw fudge” – whichever name you like more ☺ Just don’t forget to use the keywords  - “chocolate” and “raw” ☺

I promise, you will feel really good champing these chocolate AND healthy treats made with your favorite cereal, nuts and dates. And frosting, hmm… Absolutely delicious!

Ingredients:
Bottom layer:
Dates – 1 ¼ cup (approx. 20 dates)
Almonds, whole – ¼ cup
Cereal – ½ cup *
Cocoa powder – 2 tbsp

Top layer:
Peanut butter – 3 tbsp **
Coconut oil – 3 tbsp
Cocoa powder – 3 tbsp
Bananas – 2 medium
Stevia – 2tsp ***
Vanilla extract – 1 tsp

* Use your favorite cereal – I go with Kashi GoLean.
** I used reduced fat peanut butter
*** You can replace stevia with 2 tbsp sugar. I like using Truvia baking blend because of it’s mild taste comparing to regular stevia

1. Mix together all the ingredients for the top layer in a food processor until well blended. Spread the mixture in the baking pan (I used 6X4 inch one) covered with the plastic wrap. Press down very firmly with your hands to make sure that your bottom layer is not crumbly.
2. Now mix together top ingredients in a food processor until well blended. Spread the top layer over the bottom one, cover with more plastic wrap and place in a fridge for at least half an hour.
3. Cut into 8 squares and serve.
Optional: decorate the “brownies” with crumbled chocolate, cocoa powder, or coconut flakes. I used crumbled cereal left after preparing the ricotta soufflé.

Adapted from the FitSugar.

Basic information:
▪ Prep time: 10 min
▪ Total time: 10 min + 60 min for chilling
▪ Serves: 8
▪ WW (Weight Watchers PointPlus) points = 6

Do you like raw desserts? Which is your favorite one?