Antioxidant Packed Blueberry Matcha Smoothie

This blueberry matcha smoothie is full of antioxidants and a perfect energy boost for the morning. It’s a delicious healthy vegan, dairy free and gluten free green smoothie with blueberry mash. So good!

Antioxidant Packed Blueberry Matcha Smoothie. This blueberry matcha smoothie is full of antioxidants and a perfect energy boost for the morning. It's a delicious healthy vegan, dairy free and gluten free green smoothie with blueberry mash. So good! | www.useyournoodles.eu

I’m getting so excited about spring and can’t wait for everything to go green. We’re already able to waste our time outside in nothing else but a sweater. Remember my love of balcony life. Well, here it is! I can almost smell spring 😀 Winter this year sucked, almost no snow… I mean it was cold, which is okay by me, but no snow. Come on, that’s just unfair!

Yeah, yeah, I’ll stop complaining 😉

This spring will bring a new little cuddling creature to our life, so there’s really nothing to complain about. Only one more month to go, but I’m hoping sooner 🙂 Can’t wait to meet you little baby! These past 8 months went by really fast, I got very attached to my big belly and the very intesnse baby kicks. I’m begining to think this baby will be a kickboxer or something. I remember reading about having to count kicks if the baby is not moving enough and then I think is there also something like kicking too much?! Probably not 🙂

Antioxidant Packed Blueberry Matcha Smoothie. This blueberry matcha smoothie is full of antioxidants and a perfect energy boost for the morning. It's a delicious healthy vegan, dairy free and gluten free green smoothie with blueberry mash. So good! | www.useyournoodles.eu Antioxidant Packed Blueberry Matcha Smoothie. This blueberry matcha smoothie is full of antioxidants and a perfect energy boost for the morning. It's a delicious healthy vegan, dairy free and gluten free green smoothie with blueberry mash. So good! | www.useyournoodles.euAntioxidant Packed Blueberry Matcha Smoothie. This blueberry matcha smoothie is full of antioxidants and a perfect energy boost for the morning. It's a delicious healthy vegan, dairy free and gluten free green smoothie with blueberry mash. So good! | www.useyournoodles.eu

Back to the recipe!

With the spring knocking on the door, the season of some new green leaf veggies is starting and I’m able to add them to my green smoothies. I got hold of some really nice fresh spinach last week and I couldn’t resist to make a delicious smoothie for breakfast. There are still some frozen wild blueberries in the freezer, which I love for breakfast. In the winter I heat them up and pour over the pancakes with some yogurt. Yum!

Antioxidant Packed Blueberry Matcha Smoothie. This blueberry matcha smoothie is full of antioxidants and a perfect energy boost for the morning. It's a delicious healthy vegan, dairy free and gluten free green smoothie with blueberry mash. So good! | www.useyournoodles.euAntioxidant Packed Blueberry Matcha Smoothie. This blueberry matcha smoothie is full of antioxidants and a perfect energy boost for the morning. It's a delicious healthy vegan, dairy free and gluten free green smoothie with blueberry mash. So good! | www.useyournoodles.eu

Ok, ok, back to the smoothie. So I named this drink matcha smoothie, because I added a little for some nice morning tea feeling. Mmm, cozy 🙂 I don’t know why exactly, but for me drinking matcha – in any form – is like a warm hug. Even if I drink it cold.

I couldn’t resist but adding some lime juice to this almost-spring-celebrating smoothie. Delicious! 🙂 It’s sweetened with honey, which you probably already know is my favorite sweetener 🙂

Now I’m anxiously waiting for strawberries, especially wild strawberries to make strawberry layer cakes and elderflower to make some cookies. With a little bit of luck, the baby and I will be well enough by the time those two are in season and we’ll be strolling through forests searching for these beauties 🙂

Antioxidant Packed Blueberry Matcha Smoothie. This blueberry matcha smoothie is full of antioxidants and a perfect energy boost for the morning. It's a delicious healthy vegan, dairy free and gluten free green smoothie with blueberry mash. So good! | www.useyournoodles.eu

And now here’s the recipe, finally. This matcha smoothie is packed with antioxidants and contains a bunch of cashews and an avocado so it will leave you fed for a while. Cheers!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

Antioxidant Packed Blueberry Matcha Smoothie. This blueberry matcha smoothie is full of antioxidants and a perfect energy boost for the morning. It's a delicious healthy vegan, dairy free and gluten free green smoothie with blueberry mash. So good! | www.useyournoodles.eu
5 from 1 vote
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Antioxidant Packed Blueberry Matcha Smoothie

Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 2 people

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cashews soaked overnight
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2 avocado
  • 50 g spinach (or a big handful)
  • 4 tsp matcha powder
  • juice of 1 1/2 limes
  • 2 TBSP sunflower seeds
  • 3 TBSP honey (or other sweetener for vegan version)
  • 1 cup blueberries

Instructions

  1. Mix everything except blueberries in a blender until smooth. If the smoothie is to thick add more water.

  2. Place blueberries in two glasses and mash them gently with a spoon or a mortar.

  3. Pour the green smoothie over mashed blueberries and enjoy!

Antioxidant Packed Blueberry Matcha Smoothie. This blueberry matcha smoothie is full of antioxidants and a perfect energy boost for the morning. It's a delicious healthy vegan, dairy free and gluten free green smoothie with blueberry mash. So good! | www.useyournoodles.eu

Roasted Broccoli & Cauliflower Mole Tacos

These quick and easy roasted broccoli and cauliflower mole tacos are such a nice healthy fresh lunch or dinner. With the addition of a 5-minute pickled radish and avocado yogurt sauce they make a perfect meal.

These quick and easy roasted broccoli and cauliflower mole tacos are such a nice healthy fresh lunch or dinner. With the addition of a 5-minute pickled radish and avocado yogurt sauce they make a perfect meal.

What have you been up to lately?

I’m all about mexican food these days and I’m enjoying spicy food while I still can. Apparently when you have a baby, you’re stuck with bland and boring unseasoned food for a month or so. I’m dreading that!

If there’s anything I love about cooking is that there’s always a way to make super fast lunch or dinner and still make it incredibly delicious. Most of the time I’m enjoying spending hours and hours in the kitchen. It’s my absolute favorite spot in the house. But sometimes it happens I have to whip up something in five minutes or so, but still want it to be super delicious and healthy if possible. I love how tacos make this possible every time. You can use whatever’s in your fridge and add some nice spices, some yogurt or nut sauce and you’ve got a five minute meal right there.

One of the simplest versions I make is, I just quickly sauté some red peppers, add some fresh avocado and a glug of yogurt in a tortilla and I’m good to go. Other times I have a couple more minutes to spare and I play around with food.

That’s kindda how these mole tacos with broccoli and califlower came to be. I love broccoli, it’s probably one of my favorite green veggies and I could eat it every single day. Cauliflower is great too, so I added it to make it a more fun recipe. In this recipe you can actually use either one of these or both.

These quick and easy roasted broccoli and cauliflower mole tacos are such a nice healthy fresh lunch or dinner. With the addition of a 5-minute pickled radish and avocado yogurt sauce they make a perfect meal.

Mole Tacos

Moles are actually a variety of sauces and dishes that include these sauces. We’re not making a mole sauce today, though. This recipe is an interpretation of a mole sauce, my style. Some hot chillies, cocoa powder and lots of other spices. It’s basically a rub or a spice mix for the broccoli and cauliflower that we’re gonna roast. And it’s a spice mix that you can make in advance and keep in your pantry.

These quick and easy roasted broccoli and cauliflower mole tacos are such a nice healthy fresh lunch or dinner. With the addition of a 5-minute pickled radish and avocado yogurt sauce they make a perfect meal.

Quick pickling

Loving the pickles!

They usually take time to make, but there’s a quicker cheaty way to make them. And it takes literally 5 minutes or less. The main ingredients in pickling are vinegar and salt, sometimes water. Besides the veggies of course 🙂

What we’re going to do is cut the veggies real thinnly, which will make them pickle faster. Then add some salt, which will bring out the water from the radishes. And of course add some vinegar to make it sour. And that’s it. So simple!

These quick and easy roasted broccoli and cauliflower mole tacos are such a nice healthy fresh lunch or dinner. With the addition of a 5-minute pickled radish and avocado yogurt sauce they make a perfect meal.

Making your own tortillas

You can also try making your own tortillas and find the recipe here. But double it if you’re making this whole recipe.

I’m making my own tortillas all the time and I make the dough in the morning. I divide it into balls and cover in plastic foil and leave it on the counter or in the fridge until I’m ready to make them. Sometimes I even make a big batch and keep it in the fridge for a couple of days and have a taco marathon week 🙂

A new awesome flavor combo each day. Yay! Try that, if you haven’t already 🙂

These quick and easy roasted broccoli and cauliflower mole tacos are such a nice healthy fresh lunch or dinner. With the addition of a 5-minute pickled radish and avocado yogurt sauce they make a perfect meal.

So, have a good day and hopefully get some sun!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

These quick and easy roasted broccoli and cauliflower mole tacos are such a nice healthy fresh lunch or dinner. With the addition of a 5-minute pickled radish and avocado yogurt sauce they make a perfect meal.
5 from 1 vote
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Roasted Broccoli & Cauliflower Mole Tacos

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 16 tacos

Ingredients

Mole Spice Mix:

  • 2 tsp chilli powder
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp salt

Mole Tacos:

  • 1 broccoli
  • 1 cauliflower
  • mole spice mix
  • 1/4 cup olive oil

Pickled Radishes:

  • 200 g radishes
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 TBSP vinegar

Avocado Sauce:

  • 1 avocado
  • 1/2 cup natural yogurt (180 g)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • juice of 2 limes
  • a handful cilantro
  • pinch of pepper
  • pinch of salt

Other:

  • 16 small tortillas (find recipe in my Turmeric Falafel Wrap post and make it double)
  • pickled radishes
  • avocado sauce
  • peanuts
  • cilantro
  • chopped chillies

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Mole Spice Mix:

  1. In a bowl mix all ingredients to get a uniform seasoning mix.

Mole Broccoli And Cauliflower:

  1. Chop broccoli and cauliflower into small florets and cut the harder stems into 1 cm sized chunks.

  2. Add them to a big bowl and sprinkle with mole spice mix and olive oil. Toss around to coat them evenly with seasoning.

  3. Move them to a lined baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes or until tender.

Pickled Radishes:

  1. Slice radishes thinly. Add them to a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Massage them vigorously for a minute or two, so they start releasing water. Leave them to rest for another minute, then pour away the excess water. Add vinegar to the radishes and set aside.

Avocado Sauce:

  1. Mix all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Add more water if necessary.

Serving;

  1. Fill the tortillas with broccoli and cauliflower, add pickled radishes, avocado sauce, peanuts, cilantro and chopped chillies.

These quick and easy roasted broccoli and cauliflower mole tacos are such a nice healthy fresh lunch or dinner. With the addition of a 5-minute pickled radish and avocado yogurt sauce they make a perfect meal.

Crunchy Mocha Frozen Yogurt with Date Caramel

This creamy mocha frozen yogurt with mocha puffs and date caramel combines a perfect cup of coffee with some cocoa and dates in a form of frozen dessert. Breakfast or dessert, it’s up to you! A little extra thing is the recipe for mocha cocoa puffs, which you can add to your morning cereal bowl.

This creamy mocha frozen yogurt with mocha puffs and date caramel combines a perfect cup of coffee with some cocoa and dates in a form of frozen dessert. Breakfast or dessert, it's up to you!

Welcome to breakfast heaven!

If you thought a cup of coffee was necessary in the morning, wait until you try this. It’s freakin’ mocha frozen yogurt with some extra mocha puffs and date caramel on top. 

It’s so decadent and indulgent, but not unhealthy, which is what I love in a good breakfast. Don’t we all?

This creamy mocha frozen yogurt with mocha puffs and date caramel combines a perfect cup of coffee with some cocoa and dates in a form of frozen dessert. Breakfast or dessert, it's up to you!

So, the whole thing started because I needed a refreshing cereal breakfast, that wasn’t the boring milk and cereals. I though icecream. That’s indulgent, but using yogurt is probably a smart decision. I thought mocha flavor would be an awesome addition to frozen yogurt, so I made these lovely coffee bean shaped mocha puffs. Yay, you can eat them with good old milk too, isn’t that a nice touch? Keep them in a dry place in your pantry and have them at hand for whenever you feel a coffee rush.

It totally became my personal morning coffee. You probably already know I don’t drink coffee and when I do it’s decaffeinated. So are these mocha puffs, but you can make them with caffeine, no problem!

I love serving the mocha frozen yogurt in these crazy cool mugs by Polonapolona. They are the cutest and they love their morning coffee served with a a bang 😀

Oh, did you notice the caramel drippings? This is the date caramel, the easiest thing to make in the entire world and so so delicious.

Like like lick-the-sides-of-the-cup awesome 😀 

And absolutely necessary on a heaped cup of this goodness.

This creamy mocha frozen yogurt with mocha puffs and date caramel combines a perfect cup of coffee with some cocoa and dates in a form of frozen dessert. Breakfast or dessert, it's up to you! A little extra thing is the recipe for mocha cocoa puffs, which you can add to your morning cereal bowl.
This creamy mocha frozen yogurt with mocha puffs and date caramel combines a perfect cup of coffee with some cocoa and dates in a form of frozen dessert. Breakfast or dessert, it's up to you! A little extra thing is the recipe for mocha cocoa puffs, which you can add to your morning cereal bowl.

So, baby update.

I’ve been doing some last shopping for the baby, which is very tiring, since I’m not much of a shopper. What I do is, write a paper with all the stores and what to buy where and then head out. I compare prices online to save time spent in the actual shop. Don’t get me wrong, I love market shopping, but fluorescent lit stores are horrible. If it’s a special foods, fabric or furniture store, then it’s fine, I get distracted. Everthying else is just a big pain in the you know what!

Okay, enough complaining. The good thing is, I think I’m actually well prepared for the arrival of the little one. Some minor thing are missing (like the crib – not minor :P), otherwise we’re good if the baby accidentally surprises us.

Okay, back to food…

This creamy mocha frozen yogurt with mocha puffs and date caramel combines a perfect cup of coffee with some cocoa and dates in a form of frozen dessert. Breakfast or dessert, it's up to you! A little extra thing is the recipe for mocha cocoa puffs, which you can add to your morning cereal bowl.
This creamy mocha frozen yogurt with mocha puffs and date caramel combines a perfect cup of coffee with some cocoa and dates in a form of frozen dessert. Breakfast or dessert, it's up to you! A little extra thing is the recipe for mocha cocoa puffs, which you can add to your morning cereal bowl.

What would I do to eat this every single day for the rest of my life. Um… I should totally do that!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

This creamy mocha frozen yogurt with mocha puffs and date caramel combines a perfect cup of coffee with some cocoa and dates in a form of frozen dessert. Breakfast or dessert, it's up to you! A little extra thing is the recipe for mocha cocoa puffs, which you can add to your morning cereal bowl.
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Crunchy Mocha Frozen Yogurt with Date Caramel

Total Time 6 hours
Servings 6 people

Ingredients

Frozen Yogurt:

  • 1 kg Greek style yogurt (about 4 cups)
  • 5 TBSP honey

Mocha Puffs:

  • 3/4 cups almond flour
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or whole grain flour)
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 4 tsp instant coffee
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 1/2 TBSP butter , melted

Date Caramel:

  • 1 cup dates , roughly chopped
  • 1 TBSP nut butter (I like almond or cashew butter)
  • 3/4 cup water
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

Mocha Puffs:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

  2. In a food processor mix all dry ingredients: almond flour, al-purpose flour, cocoa powder, instant coffee, baking soda and salt. Add honey and butter and pulse until a ball forms.

  3. Make little balls with palms of your hands using three quarters of the dough. The remaining quarter of the dough and flatten it on the baking paper to about 5mm thick. Add the balls to the baking paper and use a spoon handle to make little dents in the middle of the balls and make them look like a coffee bean. You can leave them round as well.

  4. Bake for 6-7 minutes, keeping a close eye to what’s happening in the oven. The puffs burn very easily. Take them out when they are still a little soft but firm. They will harden as they cool down.

  5. Break apart the flattened baked dough when it has cooled down. You can leave some chunks. You’ll use that to mix in the frozen yogurt.

  6. Keep the coffee shaped puffs in an airtight container.

Frozen Yogurt:

  1. Mix yogurt and honey in a blender and transfer the mixture to an airtight container. Freeze for about 3-4 hours, mixing the yogurt with a fork every 30-45 minutes.

  2. Add it back to the blender and mix well to get a smooth texture. At this point the mixture will get a bit runny again, but that is fine. At this point add the broken coffee puffs and fold in the frozen yogurt.

  3. Transfer it back to the container and freeze until you like the consistancy, probably about 2 hours.

Date Caramel:

  1. Soak dates in water for 10 minutes, then add a pinch of salt and mix them in a food processor. If you like your caramel more runny, add a little more water. 

  2. The caramel keeps in the fridge for at least 2 weeks.

Assembly:

  1. Take frozen yogurt out of the freezer when it’s the right consistency or 30 minutes before serving if it’s fully frozen. Scoop up in serving bowls and top with mocha puffs and date caramel.

This creamy mocha frozen yogurt with mocha puffs and date caramel combines a perfect cup of coffee with some cocoa and dates in a form of frozen dessert. Breakfast or dessert, it's up to you! A little extra thing is the recipe for mocha cocoa puffs, which you can add to your morning cereal bowl.
[This post was kindly supported by Polonapolona. I was provided some mugs for this post. No other compensation was received.]

This creamy mocha frozen yogurt with mocha puffs and date caramel combines a perfect cup of coffee with some cocoa and dates in a form of frozen dessert. Breakfast or dessert, it's up to you! Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!

Sparkling Pomelo Ginger Shandy (Virgin And Not So Virgin)

This sparkling pomelo ginger shandy is a nice refreshing drink with a little kick of spice, perfect for lazy sunny late winter days.

This sparkling pomelo ginger shandy is a nice refreshing drink with a little kick of spice, perfect for lazy sunny late winter days.

What do you do when you can’t have booze? Make something out of beer.

Yeah, yeah, I know many of you will say beer without alcohol is not beer at all and you might be right. Some of them taste…hmmm. How should I put it? Miserable.

But when you’re pregnant and can’t have alcohol, trust me, it’s much easier to like non-alcoholic beer. Some brands make very good ones, but I’ve also had one that tasted like a chewing gum. Uhm, not so good!

This sparkling pomelo ginger shandy is a nice refreshing drink with a little kick of spice, perfect for lazy sunny late winter days. This sparkling pomelo ginger shandy is a nice refreshing drink with a little kick of spice, perfect for lazy sunny late winter days.

Well, it was about time to make another drink recipe, since it’s been a while now. I’m all about citruses during this winter. I don’t think I’ve eaten so many oranges and mandarins at any point in my life and a big squeeze of lemon in a glass of water is a total must. I haven’t had any pomelo, so I thought I’d put it in a sparkling beer drink with some spicy ginger and have a pomelo ginger shandy.

Pomelo is such an awesome fruit, it’s sweet like a grapefruit, but doesn’ have the bitterness, which is great for a beer drink, since beer is already bitter. 

On top of all the pomelo juice, the ginger gives the drink a little heat and warms you up 🙂 That’s why I love ginger!

And pretty much everything about this drink 😀

This sparkling pomelo ginger shandy is a nice refreshing drink with a little kick of spice, perfect for lazy sunny late winter days. This sparkling pomelo ginger shandy is a nice refreshing drink with a little kick of spice, perfect for lazy sunny late winter days.

This pomelo ginger shandy is such a nice refreshing drink for the lazy days leading to spring, sitting in the sun on a balcony wrapped in a warm blanket. Listening to bird singing starting again, such a lovely time. I’m getting sentimental.

Our balcony life (yeah, this should totally be a title of a movie) is gone during the winter, but when the sun starts to become warmer and the days get longer, we start hanging out on the balcony again. During the spring and summer it’s where we eat, play board games, read and do pretty much everything. Like, who needs the indoors, anyway?!

So, I’m very happy with the longer not so freezing cold days 🙂

This sparkling pomelo ginger shandy is a nice refreshing drink with a little kick of spice, perfect for lazy sunny late winter days.This sparkling pomelo ginger shandy is a nice refreshing drink with a little kick of spice, perfect for lazy sunny late winter days.

And I’m happy to have this non-alcoholic drink, which can also be alcoholic, whatever you prefer. It’s a great way to pimp up your favorite beer and add some fruitiness 🙂

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

This sparkling pomelo ginger shandy is a nice refreshing drink with a little kick of spice, perfect for lazy sunny late winter days.
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Sparkling Pomelo Ginger Shandy

Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 2 people
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Simple ginger syrup

  • 4 TBSP cane sugar
  • 3 TBSP grated fresh ginger
  • 1 TBSP pomelo zest
  • 2 TBSP lemon juice

Pomelo Ginger Shandy

  • 500 ml pomelo juice (juicing described in the instructions)
  • 500 ml lager beer (alcoholic or non-alcoholic)

Instructions

Simple ginger syrup:

  1. Add all ingredients to a mortar and make a smooth paste.

Juicing pomelo:

  1. Pomelo is a big fruit and it's hard to juice it on a regular juicer. I peel the pomelo and remove the thin white skins, then blend it in a blender for a minute or two and use a nut milk bag or a tea towel to squeeze out the juice.

Pomelo ginger shandy:

  1. Mix together pomelo juice and simple ginger syrup, pour into glasses and add beer.

 This sparkling pomelo ginger shandy is a nice refreshing drink with a little kick of spice, perfect for lazy sunny late winter days.

This sparkling pomelo ginger shandy is a nice refreshing drink with a little kick of spice, perfect for lazy sunny late winter days. Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!

Dried Fig Blood Orange Tart

One of the best flavor pairings – dried figs and orange in a perfect Valentine’s day dessert – a decadent dried fig and blood orange tart. Simple chocolate tart crust is holding a dried fig jam and a zesty blood orange curd, which is decorated with tiny orange hearts. What a treat!

One of the best flavor pairings - dried figs and orange in a perfect Valentine's day dessert - a decadent dried fig and blood orange tart. Simple chocolate tart crust is holding a dried fig jam and a zesty blood orange curd, which is decorated with tiny orange hearts. What a treat!

It’s almost Valentine’s day. 

Me and my husband don’t really celebrate it, but this year we made plans to have dinner with two our friends, so we’re having a double date. They are cooking the main dish, we are making dessert. And I think this pie is perfect for the occasion. Only change I’ll have to make is the crust, because my friend is gluten free. I’ve never made a gluten free chocolate tart crust before, so any suggestions are welcome 🙂 If I manage to do a nice one, maybe I’ll even add the recipe here.

One of the best flavor pairings - dried figs and orange in a perfect Valentine's day dessert - a decadent dried fig and blood orange tart. Simple chocolate tart crust is holding a dried fig jam and a zesty blood orange curd, which is decorated with tiny orange hearts. What a treat!
One of the best flavor pairings - dried figs and orange in a perfect Valentine's day dessert - a decadent dried fig and blood orange tart. Simple chocolate tart crust is holding a dried fig jam and a zesty blood orange curd, which is decorated with tiny orange hearts. What a treat!

First of all, I’m in love with the dried fig and orange combo. Blood orange or regular orange, both is super delish! I tried it for the first time in a smoothie. I was combinig these two just because I had nothing else to put in and it sounded like a great combination. Yes, yes, you’re missing a lot if you’re never tried those two together. I mean it! Go ahead, make this blood orange tart or simply take an orange and eat it next to a fig. How is it? Are you loving me right now? 😉

One of the best flavor pairings - dried figs and orange in a perfect Valentine's day dessert - a decadent dried fig and blood orange tart. Simple chocolate tart crust is holding a dried fig jam and a zesty blood orange curd, which is decorated with tiny orange hearts. What a treat!
One of the best flavor pairings - dried figs and orange in a perfect Valentine's day dessert - a decadent dried fig and blood orange tart. Simple chocolate tart crust is holding a dried fig jam and a zesty blood orange curd, which is decorated with tiny orange hearts. What a treat!

Okay, so I was thinking about what to make for Valentine’s day. I’ve shared a brownie recipe last year, this year I wanted something more fruity. Yesterday we celebrated the death of our greatest poet, which is also the biggest cultural holiday in Slovenia. We had a big celebration in the town where he lived, just a couple of kilometres from my village. Wow, way too many people, I had to hug my belly to protect it from the accidental bumps.

This poet liked to give out dried figs to the children. One of his nicknames was also Dr. Fig, for that reason. So I used figs as an insiration and added the oranges, because AGAIN they are perfect for each other 🙂 Of course I couldn’t go without just a tinsy bit of chocolate, so I not-so-secretly added some cocoa powder to the crust.

One of the best flavor pairings - dried figs and orange in a perfect Valentine's day dessert - a decadent dried fig and blood orange tart. Simple chocolate tart crust is holding a dried fig jam and a zesty blood orange curd, which is decorated with tiny orange hearts. What a treat!
One of the best flavor pairings - dried figs and orange in a perfect Valentine's day dessert - a decadent dried fig and blood orange tart. Simple chocolate tart crust is holding a dried fig jam and a zesty blood orange curd, which is decorated with tiny orange hearts. What a treat!

I’m absolutely in love with the color of the curd. I know, you’d expect a red color, especially if you look at the red juice from the orange, but the eggs and butter make it a more pale yellow to orange color. So it might look like an orange, not blood orange tart. The oranges I got were not red all the way through, if you try with oranges that have a completely red flesh you might get a slightly different result. But the eggs and butter will still make it pale. I think it’s such a romantic color, but I’m probably under pregnancy hormones influence 😛

One of the best flavor pairings - dried figs and orange in a perfect Valentine's day dessert - a decadent dried fig and blood orange tart. Simple chocolate tart crust is holding a dried fig jam and a zesty blood orange curd, which is decorated with tiny orange hearts. What a treat!

Now let’s make a blood orange tart with dried fig jam and have the best Valentine’s day ever!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

One of the best flavor pairings - dried figs and orange in a perfect Valentine's day dessert - a decadent dried fig and blood orange tart. Simple chocolate tart crust is holding a dried fig jam and a zesty blood orange curd, which is decorated with tiny orange hearts. What a treat!
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Dried Fig & Blood Orange Tart

Makes one 22 or 25 cm (9 or 10 inch) tart.

Course Dessert
Keyword blackberry pie, blood orange tart, fig tart, puff pastry tart
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Chocolate Crust

  • 1⅓ cup all-purpose or wholegrain wheat flour (190g)
  • ½ cup icing sugar (55g)
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder (25g)
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 140 g cold butter cubed

Dried Fig Jam

  • ⅔ cup dried figs hard stem removed and quartered
  • 1 cup 100% apple juice

Blood Ornage Curd

  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • ¾ cup blood orange juice freshly squeezed
  • ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
  • zest of one big orange
  • 150 g room temperature butter cubed

Instructions

Chocolate Crust:

  1. Preheat the oven to 190°C

  2. In a food processor, mix toghether dry ingredients. Add butter and pulse about 10-15 times to get dry crumbs. Add the egg and pulse just unil the dough starts to come together, but does not form a ball. Gently form a ball with your hands, no kneading is needed. Wrap into plastic foil and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

  3. After 30 minutes roll the dough into a circle of the diameter of your tart tin + two times the height of the sides. (My tin is 25 cm + 2,5 cm height, so I rolled it out to 30 cm). For easier rolling place a slightly wet teatowel on the counter, then baking paper over it, then the dough and another piece of baking paper. This way the dough doesn't stick to the rolling pin and the teatowel prevents the baking paper to slip. If you notice the dough is starting to stick to the baking paper, flour it lightly.

  4. Transfer the crust to a buttered tart tin, cut away the excess dough. Make a few holes in the bottom with a fork, cover with tin foil and place baking weights (I use old coins) over the foil.

  5. Bake for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake for 10 more minutes.

  6. Leave to cool in the tin, before taking out or you might break the crust.

Dried Fig Jam

  1. In a small sauce pan, soak dried figgs in apple juice for 15 minutes: After that bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a food processor or a blender and mix. I prefer the jam to still have small pieces of figs, but you can mix it all the way to a smooth jam. At first, the jam will look a little too runny, but will thicken while it cools.

Blood Orange Curd

  1. Place eggs, egg yolks, orange juice, orange zest and granulated sugar in a heat proof bowl. Boil water in a sauce pan and place the bowl over it. Leave water so simmer on medium while whisking the egg mixture for 15-20 minutes or until it starts to thicken and it reaches 75°C (170°F).

  2. Remove the bowl from the sauce pan and whisk in butter, a few cubes at a time.

  3. Cover the bowl and leave to cool.

Assembly

  1. Spread fig jam over the cooled crust and pour over cooled blood orange curd.

  2. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 6 hours or better overnight.

Notes

The fig jam recipe is sightly adjusted from the Fig Butter recipe by Stephanie Cooks.

One of the best flavor pairings - dried figs and orange in a perfect Valentine's day dessert - a decadent dried fig and blood orange tart. Simple chocolate tart crust is holding a dried fig jam and a zesty blood orange curd, which is decorated with tiny orange hearts. What a treat!
One of the best flavor pairings - dried figs and orange in a perfect Valentine's day dessert - a decadent dried fig and blood orange tart. Simple chocolate tart crust is holding a dried fig jam and a zesty blood orange curd, which is decorated with tiny orange hearts. What a treat! Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!

Nutty Apple & Poppy Seed Strudel

This apple and poppy seed strudel has four delicious mouth-watering layers – poppy seed, curd, walnut, and apple layer with sultanas. In many ways, it is reminiscent of one of the best Slovenian dessert Prekmurska gibanica.

This apple and poppy seed strudel has four delicious mouth watering layers - poppy seed, curd, walnut and apple layer with sultanas. In many ways it is reminiscent of one of the best Slovenian dessert Prekmurska gibanica.

Hi, guys!

It’s about time to make another kindda Slovenian recipe – another dessert inspired by our traditional Prekmurska gibanica. Remember the Spring Strawberry Layer Cake in a Glass, that is a very light and healthy version of the original recipe. Well, this time it’s also a little lighter, but just a little bit.

This apple and poppy seed strudel has four delicious mouth watering layers - poppy seed, curd, walnut and apple layer with sultanas. In many ways it is reminiscent of one of the best Slovenian dessert Prekmurska gibanica.

The original Prekmurska gibanica is very heavy on the fat, not that this apple and poppy seed strudel recipe is not, but much much less 😀

Okay, I’m making it sound like a dissaster of a dessert. It’s actually not and it really is one of my favorite Slovenian desserts. With four different delicious layers you can’t go wrong, right?

I left the layers as are, but added honey in two of them (the poppy seed and the walnut layer), because you know I’m addicted to honey 😉 My breakfast today… honey on bread and butter. You see! ADDICTED!

I hope you don’t get scared by the four layers, because these fillings are literally the easiest you-can’t-do-it-wrong fillings. And if you don’t like an ingredient, change it. For example, you could use different fruit, or change walnuts for some other nuts. So many choices.

This apple and poppy seed strudel has four delicious mouth watering layers - poppy seed, curd, walnut and apple layer with sultanas. In many ways it is reminiscent of one of the best Slovenian dessert Prekmurska gibanica.

This was actually one of those recipes, that I didn’t even plan to make. I was left with some phyllo dough that was about to go bad and was firstly thinking of making a simple, but yet delicious, apple strudel. But since that’s probably the most common type of strudel I make, I thought, I should do it differently this time and see if I can make a layered strudel like Prekmurska gibanica.

Guess what, yes! And it’s pretty freakin’ delish. At first I added too much poppy seeds and not enough apples, which made it a little dry, so I changed the recipe. Now it’s moist and sooo yummy.

This apple and poppy seed strudel has four delicious mouth watering layers - poppy seed, curd, walnut and apple layer with sultanas. In many ways it is reminiscent of one of the best Slovenian dessert Prekmurska gibanica.
This apple and poppy seed strudel has four delicious mouth watering layers - poppy seed, curd, walnut and apple layer with sultanas. In many ways it is reminiscent of one of the best Slovenian dessert Prekmurska gibanica.

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

This apple and poppy seed strudel has four delicious mouth watering layers - poppy seed, curd, walnut and apple layer with sultanas. In many ways it is reminiscent of one of the best Slovenian dessert Prekmurska gibanica.
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Nutty Apple & Poppy Seed Strudel

Course Dessert
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

POPPY SEED LAYER

  • 100 g ground poppy seeds
  • 100 ml boiling milk
  • 1 TBSP honey

CURD LAYER

  • 300 g curd
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 TBSP icing sugar
  • zest of 1 lemon

WALNUT LAYER

  • 200 g ground wallnuts
  • 150 ml boiling milk
  • 2 TBSP honey

APPLE LAYER

  • 6 medium-size apples around 1kg, peeled and coarsely grated
  • 2 tsp cinammon
  • 120 g sultanas
  • warm water

STRUDEL

  • 500 g phyllo pastry 10 sheets of 35 x 45 cm
  • 150 g butter melted
  • Icing sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

Poppy seed layer

  1. Pour boiling milk over ground poppy seeds and mix well with a spoon. Once the mixture has cooled a little, add honey and mix again.

Curd layer

  1. Split the eggs into egg whites and yolks. Mix curd, icing sugar, lemon zest and yolks with a spoon. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and fold it gently into the curd mixture.

Walnut layer

  1. Pour boiling milk over ground walnuts and mix well with a spoon. Once the mixture has cooled a little, add honey and mix again. If there's excess liquid on bottom, drain the mixture through a fine sieve.

Apple layer

  1. Put sultanas in a bowl and cover the with warm water. Leave them to soak for 15-20 minutes, then drain. Mix together grated apples, cinammon and sultanas.

Assembly and baking: Preheat the oven to 200°C.

  1. Coat a big baking tray with melted butter. The trey should be big enough to hold five 35cm long rolls.
  2. Spread a generous amount of butter over one sheet of phyllo pastry with a brush, cover it with another sheet and spread butter over this one too.
  3. Visually divide the sheet into 5 parts (lenghtwise). Spread poppy seed mixture over the first, curd layer over the second, walnut layer over the third and apples over the fourth. The first will be a little thinner, the fourth a little thicker and the fifth will be empty. Start rolling from the poppy seed layer. Roll as wide or narrow as your baking tray allows. You are going to have 5 of these rolls.
  4. Place the rolls into baking tray and cover the tops with some more butter.
  5. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the crust looks golden.
  6. When you take it out the crust might look soggy, but it will get crisp once it cools.
  7. Sprinkle with some icing sugar before serving.


This apple and poppy seed strudel has four delicious mouth watering layers - poppy seed, curd, walnut and apple layer with sultanas. In many ways it is reminiscent of one of the best Slovenian dessert Prekmurska gibanica.

This apple and poppy seed strudel has four delicious mouth watering layers - poppy seed, curd, walnut and apple layer with sultanas. In many ways it is reminiscent of one of the best Slovenian dessert Prekmurska gibanica.

Black Sesame Covered Chewy Turmeric Bagels

The softest low-fat black sesame covered chewy turmeric bagels that are ridiculously tasty and a great basis for a breakfast sandwich.

The softest low-fat black sesame covered chewy turmeric bagels that are ridiculously tasty and a great basis for a breakfast sandwich.

Hey, guys!

Guess what, it’s the first time we’re making bread together. A shocker!! Ok, we’ve made some flatbread, but not bread like this.

Bread making is definitely one of my biggest cooking/baking passion. Digging in the dough and getting your hands all sticky and messy is the best part of making bread at home. And if you think it’s hard, it’s actually not. Sometimes it requires a little time, but it’s mostly just waiting and admiring your beautiful work. How’s that for a change of perspective.

If you’re kneading the dough by hand it’s also a great exercise. Win-win 😀

The softest low-fat black sesame covered chewy turmeric bagels that are ridiculously tasty and a great basis for a breakfast sandwich.

I’ve just recently discovered the art of cooking the bread before it goes to the oven and that’s so lame, right? How could I be ignorant for so long! Cooking the dough before putting it in the oven makes for a nicely browned crust and a chewy middle. Like all bread, I like bagels best when they’re hot. I was always told that eating warm bread would hurt my stomach, but I’ve been doing that for all my life and my stomach is just fine. For now 😀 What can I do, it simply tastes better and its so soft. Who’s with me?

The softest low-fat black sesame covered chewy turmeric bagels that are ridiculously tasty and a great basis for a breakfast sandwich.
The softest low-fat black sesame covered chewy turmeric bagels that are ridiculously tasty and a great basis for a breakfast sandwich.

The awesomest chewy turmeric bagels

Okay, enough of my babbling…

We’re making bagels today. Not the typical New York style bagels, but similar – chewy turmeric bagels with some amazing black sesame seeds on top. I’ve added a bunch of turmeric in the dough, which gives it such a beautiful vivid golden color and a nice aroma along with a hint of bitterness. And the black sesame is just awesome. It has a stronger taste than the lightly colored sesame and it contains a whole bunch of necessary minerals.

I was eager to try it for a while, but it’s not that easy get in Slovenia. And if you do get it it’s very expensive. Finnaly I got my hand on a big bag of it and tried it in this recipe. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Besides the obvious, that they look great, they are now even tastier and healthier 🙂

One thing that makes bagels different from normal bread is that we’re using less yeast, which gives it some extra flavor and dense texure inside. We don’t want the bagels to be bready, but rather chewy and moist. Cooking them in water infused with baking soda will make the crust seal and prevent it from rising more in the oven, which will also help create the dense middle and will give the crust a nice darker color. Actually in this case, because we’ve added turmeric to the dough it will become sort of orange or red in some places, so don’t get scared, nothing’s wrong 😛 It’s just more fun!

I like to serve bagels with cream cheese or some creamy beet dip with smoked salmon and some leafy greens like spinach or arugula.

The softest low-fat black sesame covered chewy turmeric bagels that are ridiculously tasty and a great basis for a breakfast sandwich.

Yum, yum…let’s go bake!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

The softest low-fat black sesame covered chewy turmeric bagels that are ridiculously tasty and a great basis for a breakfast sandwich.
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BLACK SESAME COVERED CHEWY TURMERIC BAGELS

Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Side Dish
Keyword bagels, bread
Total Time 4 hours
Servings 14 bagels

Ingredients

CHEWY TURMERIC BAGELS

  • 6 cups all-purpose flour (900g)
  • 1 TBSP active dry yeast
  • 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
  • 1 TBSP turmeric
  • 1 TBSP salt

COOKING

  • 1/2 TBSP baking soda per 2 litres of water

TOPPINGS

  • black sesame seeds
  • cornmeal Optional. I like to use it, because it prevents the dough to stick on the paper and it gives the bagel a nice crunch

Instructions

  1. In a bowl of your stand mixer combine 3 cups of flour, all the water and yeast using a whisk. Cover with a cloth and let rise for 30 minutes.
  2. After 30 minutes you will see bubbles on the surface of the dough mixture. Add the remaining flour, turmeric and salt and using a kneading attachment start kneading the dough. Knead for about 10 minutes, then cover the dough with plastic foil and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour and 30 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
  3. Punch the dough and give it a couple of kneads. Divide the dough into 90-110 g chunks. Flatten each piece with hands fold in the sides and roll so you get a cylinder (like a spring roll). Using the palms of your hands roll out the cylinder to about 20 cm long, then overlap one end over the other, pinch hard and use your palm to roll these two ends together.
  4. Let rise covered with a cloth for an hour.
  5. Bring water with baking soda to a boil in a wide skillet. Let it gently simmer while you cook the bagels 60-90 seconds each side. Drain and dip one side of the bagel while still a little wet in black sesame seeds and the other in cornmeal.

  6. Place on a tray lined with baking paper and bake for 20-25 minutes at 220°C until you get a nice golden and red color.

Notes

NOTES
Don’t overcrowd the bagels in water, because they will rise a bit and they may change the shape if they touch other bagels.

The softest low-fat black sesame covered chewy turmeric bagels that are ridiculously tasty and a great basis for a breakfast sandwich.
The softest low-fat black sesame covered chewy turmeric bagels that are ridiculously tasty and a great basis for a breakfast sandwich. Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!

Popped Beans and Steamed Broccoli Salad

Whoever says comfort food can’t be healthy, has obviously never tried popped beans and steamed broccoli salad with toasted spicy nuts and lemony mustard dressing. Hungry anyone?

Whoever says comfort food can't be healthy, had obviously never tried popped beans and steamed broccoli salad with toasted spicy nuts and lemony mustard dressing. Hungry anyone?

Hey, hey! We’re having broccoli today. 

Hmmm, the rhyme was unitntentional, I guess I’m feeling poetic 😛

I have a habit of steaming broccoli instead of roasting them. I dunno, I think it’s because of the vivid green color it keeps. Plus, it’s quicker 🙂 I was thinking what would go well in a steamed broccoli salad and then I remembered a Jamie Oliver show from a while ago. Can’t even remember the recipe, but I know he roasted the beans on a pan until they started popping. I tried those before and they were great. So, it sounded like an awesome idea to add them to the broccoli. Turnes out it was the right decision and with some added chopped parsey, pomegranate seeds and spicy nuts this makes a perfect winter salad.

The best thing about this salad is, it can be both a warm or a cold salad. For a warm salad, you dress it while everything is hot, for a cold salad, you rinse the broccoli with cold water after steaming and then decide if you want the beans and nuts to be warm or not. It’s up to you!

Whoever says comfort food can't be healthy, had obviously never tried popped beans and steamed broccoli salad with toasted spicy nuts and lemony mustard dressing. Hungry anyone?
Whoever says comfort food can't be healthy, had obviously never tried popped beans and steamed broccoli salad with toasted spicy nuts and lemony mustard dressing. Hungry anyone?
Whoever says comfort food can't be healthy, had obviously never tried popped beans and steamed broccoli salad with toasted spicy nuts and lemony mustard dressing. Hungry anyone?

I’m seriously obsessed with mustard dressing. Although I’m normally not a fan of mustard as a condiment, it’s so amazing if you use it as seasoning.

This dressing is probably the one I use most on daily basis, because it’s super simple and mustard gives it an extra depth and richness. It works really well with bitter winter salads like radicchio.

Whoever says comfort food can't be healthy, had obviously never tried popped beans and steamed broccoli salad with toasted spicy nuts and lemony mustard dressing. Hungry anyone?

So, some updates on what’s been going on in my life lately. We’re starting to prep more seriously for the baby. Yep, barely starting. I mean we have bought some things, made some and we’re getting lots of second hand stuff from friends, but we still have sooo many chores until I can really say, now we’re ready. We still have 10 weeks, but you never now, when the baby might surprise us. Oh, I have to tell you about the cutest little pants I’ve sewn. They are the cutest, but I’m affraid the fabric is not strechy enough and they’ll probably be to small to fit even a newborn. Luckily, I’m stacked with fabric and I’m making new ones 🙂

Ok, enough baby talk!

Besides all the baby preparations, we’re also starting to prep for the new dance show that we moved from Spring to Autumn, because of… well, baby. Yesterday, I started making my part of the coreography. You can imagine a big belly and a fast dance + some floorwork. It was fun, but also very chalenging!

Whoever says comfort food can't be healthy, had obviously never tried popped beans and steamed broccoli salad with toasted spicy nuts and lemony mustard dressing. Hungry anyone?
Whoever says comfort food can't be healthy, had obviously never tried popped beans and steamed broccoli salad with toasted spicy nuts and lemony mustard dressing. Hungry anyone?

Great, your all updated now, so let’s start cookin’!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

Whoever says comfort food can't be healthy, has obviously never tried popped beans and steamed broccoli salad with toasted spicy nuts and lemony mustard dressing. Hungry anyone?
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POPPED BEANS AND STEAMED BROCCOLI SALAD

Course Salad
Keyword bean salad, broccoli salad, healthy, quick
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 4
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

STEAMED BROCCOLI SALAD

  • 1 big broccoli
  • 1 cup cooked red beans if you’re using canned, rinse well before cooking
  • 3 TBSP mixed seeds sunflower seeds, sesame, black sesame…
  • 1 tsp crushed chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp ground garlic
  • 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
  • a bunch of parsley chopped

LEMONY MUSTARD DRESSING

  • 5 TBSP olive oil
  • 3 TBSP lemon juice
  • 1 TBSP mustard
  • pinch of salt
  • pinch of pepper

Instructions

Steamed Broccoli Salad

  1. Cut the florets away from stems and cut them into bite size chunks. Cut the thinner stems into 1 cm chunks. Peel the thick main stem and cut it into 1 cm cubes.

  2. Boil a little water (about a finger’s width) in a steaming pan and add the steming basket. Place the stem parts of broccoli into the steaming basket and the florets on top. If there are any leaves from broccoli place them right at the top. Cover with a lid, reduce heat to low and cook for about 5 minutes or until you can easily pierce the broccoli with a fork, but it’s still vibrant green. Be careful, because broccoli can go from vibrant to brownish color quickly.
  3. If you prefer your broccoli to be cold, rinse immediately under cold water to stop it from further cooking. If you’re serving it warm, just remove from steamer and let it drain.
  4. In a bowl mix together garlic and chilly flakes.
  5. Heat a big skillet over medium-high heat and add beand and half of the garlic and chlli mixture. Cook them for about 4-5 minutes, tossing every now and then. Once you see most of the beans open, add the nuts and toss every now and then for a minute. Remove from heat and add the remaining garlic and chilli mixture.

Lemony Mustard Dressing

  1. Beat all ingredients together with a fork.

Steamed Broccoli Salad

  1. In a salad bowl, mix together broccoli, parsley, 2/3 of beans and seed mixture, 2/3 of pomegranate seeds and dressing. Top wih the remaining 1/3 of beeans and seeds and the rest of pomegranate seeds.

Whoever says comfort food can't be healthy, had obviously never tried popped beans and steamed broccoli salad with toasted spicy nuts and lemony mustard dressing. Hungry anyone?
Whoever says comfort food can't be healthy, has obviously never tried popped beans and steamed broccoli salad with toasted spicy nuts and lemony mustard dressing. Such a perfect winter salad. Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!

Kiwi Yogurt with Mini Simit Grissini

This honey sweetened kiwi yogurt served with homemade mini simit grissini is probably the most delicious breakfast of this winter and it is inspired by some of the most popular foods in Turkey and some homegrown seasonal fruit!

This honey sweetened kiwi yogurt served with homemade mini simit grissini is probably the most delicious breakfast of this winter and it is inspired by some of the most popular foods in Turkey and some homegrown seasonal fruit!

It’s official, you guys!

My favorite flavor combo of this winter is kiwi, yoghurt and honey. As simple as that.

Seems like these three foods have been on my breakfast menu almost every day for weeks now. We’ve still got some lovely homegrown kiwi, because they keep so well during winter and they get better with time, sweeter and richer in flavor. I don’t wanna loose words on yogurt and honey, ‘cuz we all know they’re awesome!

This honey sweetened kiwi yogurt served with homemade mini simit grissini is probably the most delicious breakfast of this winter and it is inspired by some of the most popular foods in Turkey and some homegrown seasonal fruit!

I like my breakfasts simple and fresh. Okay, I don’t always make the effort to prepare a super healthy breakfast, but I try 🙂 This recipe for sweet kiwi yogurt is definitely one of them.

What makes it so great are the little cute simit grissini that I’m serving with the sweet kiwi yogurt. They were inspired by my all time favorite Turkish street food – the simit bagels. You can get them on literally every corner of Turkey. I ate tons of them during my stay in Turkey and I never got bored of them. 

They look very similar to bagels, but are prepared like regular bread, with lots of sesame on top. And who doesn’t like sesame?!

So why not make a tiny version of them that can keep for weeks, so we can have it on hand whenever we feel like a snack 😀

This honey sweetened kiwi yogurt served with homemade mini simit grissini is probably the most delicious breakfast of this winter and it is inspired by some of the most popular foods in Turkey and some homegrown seasonal fruit!

Turkish people just like me are crazy about yogurt. The style of yogurt they eat is very similar to Greek style yogurt with a nice crust on top. Yep, that’s how I’d describe it. It sort of looks like mold, but it’s actually the most delicious part of yogurt. I had four other girls living in the appartment, so we had to carefully divide the crust in five. That’s how important it was to get the crust.

Oh yeah, you’re probably wondering why five girls shared one yogurt. It’s because they are so crazy about it, that the normal packaging is way bigger than I’ve ever seen in any other place 🙂 Like, waaaay bigger!

The recipe calls for Greek style yogurt, but if you can get hold of turkish style yogurt, even better! I can’t get it in Slovenia, therefore I’m using Greek style, which is also delicious 🙂

This honey sweetened kiwi yogurt served with homemade mini simit grissini is probably the most delicious breakfast of this winter and it is inspired by some of the most popular foods in Turkey and some homegrown seasonal fruit!
This honey sweetened kiwi yogurt served with homemade mini simit grissini is probably the most delicious breakfast of this winter and it is inspired by some of the most popular foods in Turkey and some homegrown seasonal fruit!
This honey sweetened kiwi yogurt served with homemade mini simit grissini is probably the most delicious breakfast of this winter and it is inspired by some of the most popular foods in Turkey and some homegrown seasonal fruit!

You know what, the best part of this breakfast/dessert is licking the decorated rim of the glass. I decorated it with honey and sesame, but then realised that it’s such a nice finish to lick that at the end. Not when you’re in company, obviously 😀

Finally, if you wanna check another recipe inspired by my stay in Turkey, check the Turkish Chicken Feast.

This honey sweetened kiwi yogurt served with homemade mini simit grissini is probably the most delicious breakfast of this winter and it is inspired by some of the most popular foods in Turkey and some homegrown seasonal fruit!
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KIWI YOGURT WITH MINI SIMIT GRISSINI

Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Snack
Keyword grissini, kiwi, simit, yogurt cake
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Resting time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 42 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

MINI SIMIT GRISSINI

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (130 g)
  • 1 tsp dry active yeast
  • 1/3 cup warm water
  • 2 TBSP olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
  • 1/2 tsp ground carraway seeds
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 egg + 1 TBSP water for eggwash
  • sesame for sprinkling

KIWI YOGURT

  • 8 small or 6 big kiwis
  • 3 cups Greek style yogurt
  • 4 TBSP honey

Instructions

Mini Simit Grissini:

  1. Sift flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add warm water and yeast to the well and mix together with a spoon along with a small amount of flour taken from the sides. Leave to rest for a couple of minutes, then add olive oil, ground coriander seeds, ground carraway seeds and salt.

  2. Using a spoon start mixing everthing together from the center, adding flour little by little. Once it gets hard to use a spoon, start incorporating the rest of the flour with your hands, then knead for a few more minutes to get a smooth, soft, but non-sticky dough.
  3. Lightly oil an airtight container (or a regular bowl, that you are going to cover with plastic foil), place the dough in and make sure all the sides of the dough are lightly oiled as well. Cover and leave in a warm place to rest for an hour.
  4. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
  5. After the dough has rested, gently knead it a couple of times, then roll it out to about 7mm thick. Cut 7mm wide and 8 cm long strips then fold the ends together to form a ring, pinching hard so it doesn’t open while baking.
  6. In a small cup whisk together an egg and 1 TBSP of water and use the mixture to lightly cover the tops of the rings.
  7. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for about 12 minutes or until they get golden at the top and the crust is hard.
  8. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Kiwi Yogurt

  1. Purée the kiwis in a blender. In another bowl whisk together Greek style yogurt and honey for a minute, until the honey is evenly spread and the mixture is light and fluffy.

  2. For decorating the rim of the glass you are going to need a little extra honey and some sesame seeds. First dip the rim into honey then into sesame so it sticks to honey.
  3. Place kiwi purée on bottom of the serving glasses, add the yogurt mixture on top and serve with cooled mini simit grissini.
  4. For decorating the rim of the glass you are going to need a little extra honey and some sesame seeds. First dip the rim into honey then into sesame.

[yumprint-recipe id=’57’]

This honey sweetened kiwi yogurt served with homemade mini simit grissini is probably the most delicious breakfast of this winter and it is inspired by some of the most popular foods in Turkey and some homegrown seasonal fruit!
This honey sweetened kiwi yogurt served with homemade mini simit grissini is probably the most delicious breakfast of this winter and it is inspired by some of the most popular foods in Turkey and some homegrown seasonal fruit! Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!
This honey sweetened kiwi yogurt served with homemade mini simit grissini is probably the most delicious breakfast of this winter and it is inspired by some of the most popular foods in Turkey and some homegrown seasonal fruit! Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!

Orange & Pecorino Ravioli with Rosemary Brown Butter

These humble but exciting pecorino ravioli with orange zest and brown butter flavored with rosemary will bring any dinner to a new level!

These humble but exciting pecorino ravioli with orange zest and brown butter flavored with rosemary will bring any dinner to a new level!

It’s so exciting making your own pasta. And it’s not even that difficult. Actually I’d say it’s one of the easiest doughs for a beginner. Some may not agree, but I’ve tried many different types of dough and pasta is the only one that was successful every time. Even if it wasn’t perfect, it was managable. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a whole science behind a perfect pasta dough, which I should probably cover in another post, but if you follow some basic rules, there shouldn’t be many problems.

These humble but exciting pecorino ravioli with orange zest and brown butter flavored with rosemary will bring any dinner to a new level!

Basic rules:

  • 1 egg per 100 g flour. Works every time.
  • The dough should rest at least 30 minutes. This makes the gluten form and the dough becomes elastic and easier to handle. You will notice a huuuge difference in dough before and after resting just by touch.
  • Lightly flour the dough before rolling it out, especially if you are using a pasta machine, otherwise it will start sticking and tearing when you get to a thinner setting.

Oh, and one more thing! When you start bringing the dough together it might look a little dry but after a couple of kneads it will hold together much nicely and after 10 minutes of kneading it will start forming tiny bubbles under the surface, which means it’s done. Wrap it up and wait. You’ve got the best pasta dough in th world ready and waiting!

These humble but exciting pecorino ravioli with orange zest and brown butter flavored with rosemary will bring any dinner to a new level!

So, we’re making ravioli. It’s a type of filled pasta that comes in many shapes and sizes. The filling can be whatever you like it to be. But since it’s almost New Year’s Eve I’m all about fancy shmancy 😀 So I used pecorino as the main focus of the dish, mixing it with some fresh ricotta cheese and freshly grated orange zest. The zest will give it a kind of richness and freshness. And to make it even more psh we’re adding brown butter with rosemary on top.

These humble but exciting pecorino ravioli with orange zest and brown butter flavored with rosemary will bring any dinner to a new level!

The pecorino ravioli are perfectly savory and flavorful on their own, so they shouldn’t be drowned in a strong flavored sauce. Brown butter is just delicate enugh to enhance the flavores but not overpower them.

I’ve never made brown butter before, but once I tried it on these pecorino ravioli, I’m sure it’ll become a regular at our house. The nutty taste of the brown butter is so delicious and very different from plain old melted butter. Plus, you can make it in advance and keep it in the fridge for when the opportunity comes.

These humble but exciting pecorino ravioli with orange zest and brown butter flavored with rosemary will bring any dinner to a new level!
These humble but exciting pecorino ravioli with orange zest and brown butter flavored with rosemary will bring any dinner to a new level!

Great, so we’ve got everything covered. Let’s get preparing for the New Year’s Eve party and making some delicious orange pecorino ravioli. Have a great party, folks!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

These humble but exciting pecorino ravioli with orange zest and brown butter flavored with rosemary will bring any dinner to a new level!
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ORANGE & PECORINO RAVIOLI WITH ROSEMARY BROWN BUTTER

Course Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword brown butter
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 2 minutes
Resting time 30 minutes
Total Time 37 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

PASTA DOUGH

  • 4 eggs
  • 400 g all-purpose flour

FILLING

  • 250 g pecorino grated
  • 250 g ricotta
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • zest of 1 orange

BROWN BUTTER SAUCE

  • 120 g butter cubed
  • 3 stems of rosemary

GARNISH

  • grated pecorino
  • orange zest
  • rosemary

Instructions

Pasta

  1. Sift flour into a bowl or onto the countertop, make a well in the middle and add in the eggs. start mixing the eggs adding in flour little by little, until the dough comes together. For this first step you can alternatively use a food processor. Knead the dough by hands for about 10 minutes, until you see tiny bubbles form under the surface. Wrap the dough in plastic foil and let it rest for at least half an hour. The dough will become much softer and strechier with resting, so don’t skip it!

Filling

  1. Mix pecorino, ricotta, nutmeg, black pepper and orange zest in a bowl.

Brown butter sauce

  1. Heat a sauce pan over medium heat and add butter and rosemary. As the butter melts it will start bubbling and changing color from light yellow to golden and lastly brown. The mik solids will start to separate from the fat and will form a dark brown sediment. When this happens and the butter is brown with a nutty smell, pour the butter to a cold bowl. If you prefer to remove the sediment pour the butter in the bowl slowly, leaving the sediment in the sauce pan. Remove the rosemary.

  2. You can prepare the brown butter sauce while waiting for pasta dough to rest and reheat it over low to medium heat before serving.

Rolling pasta

  1. Cut pasta into 8 pieces and roll each one out as thinly as possible using a little flour to prevent sticking. You can use a rollin pin (the more labor intense method) or use a pasta machine (the easier method) and roll the dough starting at the thickest setting, continuing to the thinnest setting that the dough can still handle. If it starts tearing you should stop one setting thicker. I suggest running a test with a tiny portion of the dough before going full scale.

  2. When the dough is rolled out spread it over a flat lightly flouered surface and cover with a tea towel.

Filling pasta

  1. There are many shapes of raviol. The easiest is a simple square or rectangle. Spread a heap teaspoon of filling 4 cm apprart over the lenght of a rolled out pasta. Using a brush or a finger lightly wet one long edge of the dough and the part between the filling. Fold over one half of the dough lenghtwise and press around the filling to get all the air out. Using a pasta cutter or a sharp knife cut rigth in the middle between the filled parts and use a fork to press around each ravioli, so the dough really sticks together and doesn't open during cooking.

Cooking pasta

  1. Boil water and add salt like for any other pasta, then add the ravioli and cook for about two minutes.

  2. Meanwhile heat up the butter.
  3. Drain and serve onto plates adding brown butter on top and garnishing with some more pecorino, orange zest and rosemary.
  4. Serve immediately.

These humble but exciting pecorino ravioli with orange zest and brown butter flavored with rosemary will bring any dinner to a new level!

These humble but exciting pecorino ravioli with orange zest and brown butter flavored with rosemary will bring any dinner to a new level! Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!

Beet Chocolate Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

Even if you hate beets you’re gonna love these soft beet chocolate cupcakes with some honey cream cheese frosting on top!

Even if you hate beets you're gonna love these soft beet chocolate cupcakes with some honey cream cheese frosting on top!

Ah, yes. The beet chocolate cupcakes… I love using fruit and veggies for a the liquid substite in muffins and cupcakes. Remember the Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting? I used pumpkin there, but here I’m using beets 😀

Fruit and veggie purées make cupcakes so soft and moist and in my experience they last longer before going dry. So perfect for baking them in advance 🙂

I know they don’t look very Christmasy, but hey… chocolate… who doesn’t love anything with chocolate on Christmas 🙂 or at any other time for that matter 😛

Even if you hate beets you're gonna love these soft beet chocolate cupcakes with some honey cream cheese frosting on top!

This Christmas I’m off cooking duty. We’re invited to my mum and dad’s on Christmas Eve and to my husband’s relatives on Christmas Day. Although I obviously love cooking it feels nice not having to prepare tons of food. We’ll only be making the traditional nut roll, everything else is done already. And then I can rest and enjoy the holidays! 

I’ve been feeling very well these last couple of months, but pregnancy does a take some toll on my energy. Working hard these days before Christmas I think me and the little one deserve a little time off 😀 Thank god for mums!

Even if you hate beets you're gonna love these soft beet chocolate cupcakes with some honey cream cheese frosting on top!
Even if you hate beets you're gonna love these soft beet chocolate cupcakes with some honey cream cheese frosting on top!

Okay, back to the cupcakes!

You can actually make any other frosting if you prefer something else, but I’m a big fan of cream cheese frosting and honey. So I joined those two and I love how great the this sweet and sour frosting pairs with the earthy chocolaty taste of the beet chocolate cupcakes.

Yup, good life!

Even if you hate beets you're gonna love these soft beet chocolate cupcakes with some honey cream cheese frosting on top!

Let’s do some baking!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

Even if you hate beets you're gonna love these soft beet chocolate cupcakes with some honey cream cheese frosting on top!
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BEET CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH HONEY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Course Dessert
Keyword chocolate cake, frosting cupcakes, muffins
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 20 cupcakes

Ingredients

BEET CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 TBSP cocoa powder
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 TBSP sunflower oil
  • 2 cups beetroot purée
  • 2 TBSP lemon juice

HONEY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

  • 200 g cream cheese room temperature
  • 150 g soft butter
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 5 TBSP icing sugar
  • 3 TBSP honey

Instructions

Beet Chocolate Cupcakes

  1. Preheat the oven to 170 °C.
  2. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, vanilla and cocoa powder.

  3. In the bowl of the electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, blend toogether the eggyolks, brown sugar and sunflower oil on a medium speed until well combined.

  4. Add beetroot purée and lemon juice and blend again.

  5. Keep your mixer on medium speed and slowly add the flour mixture to the yolk mixture.

  6. In a separate bowl (using a clean whisk attachment or a handmixer) whip eggwhites and a pinch of salt until stiff.

  7. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the eggwhites into the batter until well combined.

  8. Divide the batter among 20 paper lined muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full.

  9. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 – 25 minutes, until the toothpick comes out clean.

  10. Cool in the baking pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

  1. To make the frosting, take crwam cheese, soft butter and vanilla and beat until the mixuture becomes fluffy and has a much lighter color.

  2. Gradually add icing sugar and honey and mix until well combined.

  3. If the frosting looks too runny, rerigirate it until it has the right consistency.

Assembly

  1. When the cupcakes have cooled completely, spread the frosting over them and sift over some cocoa powder.

Notes

To make homemade beetroot purée you can either purée cooked or roasted beetroot. For roasting, I’m wrapping the whole beetroot in foil and remove the skin afterward.

Even if you hate beets you're gonna love these soft beet chocolate cupcakes with some honey cream cheese frosting on top!
Even if you hate beets you're gonna love these soft beet chocolate cupcakes with some honey cream cheese frosting on top! Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!

Mulled Wine Christmas Cheeseburger

All the amazing tastes of Christmas in one mulled wine Christmas cheeseburger. Who says Christmas should be celebrated with a roast?

All the amazing tastes of Christmas in one mulled wine Christmas cheeseburger. Who says Christmas should be celebrated with a roast?

Mulled wine in a burger… Say what?

Yes, well, if I can’t drink I’m at least eating mulled wine, although it sounds weird 🙂 But seriously, this is the most Christmas flavored burger I’ve ever had. And I can’t tell how beautifully the house smells after simmering the mulled wine for half an hour. It’s like a potpourri, but you can eat it afterwards 🙂

All the amazing tastes of Christmas in one mulled wine Christmas cheeseburger. Who says Christmas should be celebrated with a roast?

I’m all about Christmas this year, which you’ve probably guessed from my previous recipes. I’m like seriously anxiously waiting for the C day. Not sure why, it’s probably the hormones 😛 Anyway, tree is decorated and more cookies will be baked. All I needed is an awesome savory dish that would match the season. First think that came to my mind was mulled wine. I wasn’t sure if I could acually make it into a thick sauce, so I tried. And it was crazy good. It’s like a mulled wine jam.

Which gives me an idea. I should try it with peanut butter. Yeah, I’m gonna try that, you should, too 😀 And tell me if you love it!

All the amazing tastes of Christmas in one mulled wine Christmas cheeseburger. Who says Christmas should be celebrated with a roast?

So, let’s get into details. By now you know mulled wine sauce is the most important ingredient of this Christmas cheeseburger. But it wouldn’t be a cheeseburger without some cheese!! 

I’m using matured cheddar to contrast the sweet sauce. It has just the right saltiness and spiciness to go perfectly with mulled wine. Plus, who doesn’t love cheddar. When I was cutting the slices, I ate one and left one for the burger… my husband is probably wondering, where all the cheddar went 🙂

And of course, we shouldn’t forget the ORANGE. This cheeseburger is simply not so awesome without it, so don’t leave it out. Seriously! Besides the amazing Christmasy flavor it also gives some freshness and juice. Yum!

All the amazing tastes of Christmas in one mulled wine Christmas cheeseburger. Who says Christmas should be celebrated with a roast?

Ok, final thing, then I’m leaving you all alone with the recipe. Which is very simple, I might add.

The buns! For the first time in my life I made pretzel buns. Crazy! I make my own bread all the time, but never really went for pretzels. I found a very easy recipe for pretzel buns by Eat in my kitchen and I love it. Really simple and incredibly tender, so if you feel confident enough to make your own buns, I strongly recommend you to try them.

All the amazing tastes of Christmas in one mulled wine Christmas cheeseburger. Who says Christmas should be celebrated with a roast?
All the amazing tastes of Christmas in one mulled wine Christmas cheeseburger. Who says Christmas should be celebrated with a roast?

I know your dying to try the Christmas burgers with mulled wine sauce, so go for it!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

All the amazing tastes of Christmas in one mulled wine Christmas cheeseburger. Who says Christmas should be celebrated with a roast?
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MULLED WINE CHRISTMAS CHEESEBURGER

Course Main Course
Keyword beef burger, festive burger
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

MULLED WINE SAUCE

  • 1 1/2 cup dry or semidry red wine
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup dried sultanas
  • 1 TBSP honey
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 9 cloves
  • 1/2 medium-hot chilli deseeded
  • orange zest of one orange

CHRISTMAS CHEESEBURGER

  • 500 g minced beef
  • 4 pretzel or burger buns
  • 1 big orange sliced to 5mm slices, peel removed
  • 120 g matured cheddar thinly sliced
  • big bunch of arugula
  • salt
  • pepper

Instructions

Mulled Wine Sauce

  1. Put all ingredients for mulled wine sauce in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

  2. Use an immerse blender or a regular blender to thicken the sauce. You don't need to make it completely smooth.

Christmas Cheeseburger

  1. Divide minced beef into 4 and make patties that are slightly larger than the bun.

  2. Heat a pan and add a tablespoon of oil. Fry the patties for about 4 minutes on one side. Turn around, season with salt and pepper and cover with slices of cheddar. Cook for another 4 minutes for a medium burger or for 5-6 minutes for a well done. Cover with lid if the cheese needs some help with melting.

Assembly

  1. Cut the buns in half, spread the mulled wine sauce on the bottom part, add the burger patty, top with arugula and slices of oranges. Cover the burgers and enjoy!

Use Yor Noodles - Mulled Wine Christmas Cheeseburger
All the amazing tastes of Christmas in one mulled wine Christmas cheeseburger. Who says Christmas should be celebrated with a roast? Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!

Decorated Honey Gingerbread Cookies

What would Christmas be without some decorated honey gingerbread cookies shaped like Christmas trees? These are super easy and can be done in a food processor.

What would Christmas be without some decorated honey gingerbread cookies shaped like Christmas trees? These are super easy and can be done in a food processor.

Hey, hey, we’re baking again!

The way we like it, is to include our family. I can’t wait for my little one to come out and grow enough to help me with Christmas baking. I remember baking with my mum when I was little (actually we still bake together sometimes). We’d turn on the radio, sing and make some delicious cookies. I was probably slowing the whole process and annoy my mum with that. She’s a cook and is used to do everything very quickly, but she let me work at my own pace and we had a blast together. 

I mostly use my husband to help me with Christmas baking these days. Aren’t I lucky to have found a man who likes to cook and bake with me?! Oh yes!

What would Christmas be without some decorated honey gingerbread cookies shaped like Christmas trees? These are super easy and can be done in a food processor.

Anyway these year we’re trying new recipes and probaby some old ones that we’ve done a thousand times. One of the new ones are these lovely honey gingerbread cookies decorated with homemade royal icing. I’m not supposed to have raw royal icing, since I’m pregnant, but apparently the eggs were good and survived. We alwalys buy eggs at the same farm and store them in the fridge, so we’re reducing the risk of anything bad happening.

What would Christmas be without some decorated honey gingerbread cookies shaped like Christmas trees? These are super easy and can be done in a food processor.

Okay, so I said it’s the first time I’ve made honey gingerbread cookies. Yup, I know, stupid!

Honey gingerbread cookies are actually quite traditional in Slovenia, but they are made a bit differently. They are called ‘medenjaki’, which means honey cookies in Slovene. They are spiced with similar spices, but are usually thicker and softer with a lemon and sugar glaze. I love those, they are amazing, but I’m kind of more into hard crunchy cookies right now.

I wanted to keep the honey theme though, so there’s honey in and I replaced white sugar with unrefined cane sugar, which is my absoulte favourite sweetener right after honey.

What would Christmas be without some decorated honey gingerbread cookies shaped like Christmas trees? These are super easy and can be done in a food processor.

Why I love this recipe? Because it’s so easy and can be done in a food processor and if you’re not a fan of royal icing you can just skip it. They are totally delicious without is too. You can put some food coloring in and let the kids make their own colorful cookies, or make the most delicious vanilla sauce form my Hot Baked Apples with Vanilla Sauce recipe and dip them in. So many possibilities 🙂 

What would Christmas be without some decorated honey gingerbread cookies shaped like Christmas trees? These are super easy and can be done in a food processor.

Let’s get bakin’.

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

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DECORATED HONEY GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Course Dessert
Keyword christmas baking, Christmas cookies, gingerbread cookies
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Total Time 3 hours
Servings 60 cookies

Ingredients

HONEY GINGERBREAD COOKIES

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup unrefined cane sugar
  • 1/3 cup + 2 TBSP honey
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 120 g melted butter
  • 1 TBSP ground ginger
  • 1 TBSP cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • big pinch of black pepper

ROYAL ICING

  • 1 fresh egg white
  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

Honey Gingerbread Cookies

  1. Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix well with a spoon. Use your hands to knead at the end. Alternatively, you can use a food processor to make the dough come together. In that case, kneading won’t be necessary.
  2. Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
  4. Leave the dough at room temperature for 10 minutes before making cookies.
  5. On a lightly floured surface roll the dough to about 3-4mm thick and cut out the cookies.
  6. Move them to a lined baking tray and bake for about 8 minutes (for smaller cookies. Mine were about 7,5 cm long). Adjust the time for bigger cookies.
  7. Move them to a wire rack to cool.
  8. Royal Icing: Beat egg white with a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry. Add icing sugar one tablespoon at a time and beat until it forms stiff peaks and you can’t feel sugar grains when rubbing it between your fingers.
  9. It can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Decorating

  1. When the cookies have cooled down completely put royal icing into a piping bag with a thin tip or a very small hole and decorate the way you like it. It might take a little to get the grip of it, if you've never done that, but you can do it!

  2. Leave the icing to dry completely.

Notes

Try to use eggs that are fresh and kept in the refrigerator to minimize the risk of bacterial infection.
Keep in mind that royal icing contains uncooked eggs, so be careful not to serve them to pregnant ladies, babies, small children, or other high-risk people.

What would Christmas be without some decorated honey gingerbread cookies shaped like Christmas trees? These are super easy and can be done in a food processor.
What would Christmas be without some decorated honey gingerbread cookies shaped like Christmas trees? These are super easy and can be done in a food processor. Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!

Creamy Beet Dip with Herbed Buckwheat Flatbread

Unsurprisingly, the hero of this luscious creamy beet dip is beetroot, but there’s a little something else in that makes it even sweeter and tastier. And above all a very simple buckwheat fladbread with herbs.

Unsurprisingly, the hero of this luscious creamy beet dip is beetroot, but there's a little something else in that makes it even sweeter and tastier. And above all a very simple buckwheat fladbread with herbs.

Happy 1st December 😀

You guys, I made the best beet dip in the world! A bold statement, I know…

It’s a dip we’ve been making for a while now. The idea was actually my husband’s. He ate a beet and corn spread in a sandwich once, so we thought to make our own version. Yes, there’s corn 🙂 and honey. Ok, you’re thinking it’s sweet, but no… It’s spicy, savory and of course sweet as well.

Unsurprisingly, the hero of this luscious creamy beet dip is beetroot, but there's a little something else in that makes it even sweeter and tastier. And above all a very simple buckwheat fladbread with herbs.

I’m like obsessed with beetroot lately. How can I not be, because I have like tons of it. My grandpa grows it every year, but can’t really eat all of it, so we get the rest.

Not complaining!

I’ve been using it in soooo many ways, some recipes are about to come. Can’t wait to share them with you 🙂

Unsurprisingly, the hero of this luscious creamy beet dip is beetroot, but there's a little something else in that makes it even sweeter and tastier. And above all a very simple buckwheat fladbread with herbs.

We all know it’s nice to have something awesome to dip into a creamy dip like this, so I made some herbed flatbreads, but since I LOVE buckwheat, I made them with buckwheat flour mixed with all-purpose flour.

It’s actually an awesome recipe for summer too, when there are many many fresh herbs in the garden. Now, we only have rosemary, oregano and thyme, but basil would also be nice. You can pick whatever you like or have at hand. I love recipes like these!

Unsurprisingly, the hero of this luscious creamy beet dip is beetroot, but there's a little something else in that makes it even sweeter and tastier. And above all a very simple buckwheat fladbread with herbs.

Let’s just dip into it!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

Unsurprisingly, the hero of this luscious creamy beet dip is beetroot, but there's a little something else in that makes it even sweeter and tastier. And above all a very simple buckwheat fladbread with herbs.
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CREAMY BEET DIP WITH HERBED BUCKWHEAT FLATBREAD

Course Appetizer, Breakfast
Keyword dip, flatbread, yeasted bread
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 3

Ingredients

CREAMY BEET DIP

  • 150 g cooked beets cut into chunks
  • 115 g cooked corn or tinned corn
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp honey
  • black pepper
  • cayenne pepper
  • salt

HERBED BUCKWHEAT FLATBREAD

  • 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
  • 1 cup natural yoghurt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 cup chopped herbes rosemary, oregano, thyme, basil or any other
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • pinch of pepper

Instructions

Creamy Beet Dip

  1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and mix untill smooth. Add more seasoning if necessary.

Herbed Buckwheat Flatbread

  1. Mix all ingredients by hand or in a food processor until it comes together. The dough should be soft, but not sticky. Add more flour if necessary.

  2. Divide the dough into 6 balls and roll them out to about 2-3 mm thick.

  3. Heat a grill pan until it is very hot. No need for oiling it. Grill each rolled fladbread for about 1-2 minute on each side. You should see g bubbles form. If one big bubble over the entire flatbread forms, press it down to release air.

  4. Serve hot or cold.

Unsurprisingly, the hero of this luscious creamy beet dip is beetroot, but there's a little something else in that makes it even sweeter and tastier. And above all a very simple buckwheat fladbread with herbs.

Sober Festive Sangria

I love non-alcoholic festive sangria, especially when it tastes like winter with all its beautiful mixed fruits and Christmas spices. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do and you can prepare it ahead of time.

I love a non-alcoholic festive sangria, especially when it tastes like winter with all its beautiful mixed fruits and christmas spices. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do and you can prepare it ahead of time.

Anyone up for a festive drink?

I know, I know, it’s not Christmas yet, but we’re slowly getting in the mood. I’m already making plans for Christmas baking and seeing some lovely Christmas market. Oh, I love those! I’m not a fan of crowded places, but Christmas markets are an exception. They don’t really make sense if you’re there all alone. The great thing about them is the smell. The smell of spices and sugar accompanied by Christmas lights and friends. 

I love a non-alcoholic festive sangria, especially when it tastes like winter with all its beautiful mixed fruits and christmas spices. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do and you can prepare it ahead of time.

I don’t know if you guys remember, but I’ve been angry about Christmas stuff being in the stores and on the streets way too early in one of the last years post. I’m over it this year… can’t really wait for December to come with all its perks. 

So super excited about the almost festive time I made this very simple festive sangria with pear juice. If you prefer apple juice, that’s fine, use it. Or make it half-half. It’s not really a stick-to-it-100% type of recipe, you can totally make it your own. I’m using pear juice because I love it and I don’t drink it that often. It’s kindda hard to get in the stores, so juicing fresh pears is often the only way to go. I cheated this time 😉

Alcohol lovers, there’s none in the recipe, but if you’re up for a boozy version, you can try adding wine or some fruit liqueur.

I love a non-alcoholic festive sangria, especially when it tastes like winter with all its beautiful mixed fruits and christmas spices. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do and you can prepare it ahead of time.

Now, obviously there are winter spices in here! OBVIOUSLY. You can’t go without 🙂

I added some cinnamon sticks, star anises and cloves for that Christmasy feel and some ginger and peppercorns for a nice spicy kick. I just realised there probably aren’t many thing I don’t put peppercorn in, some baked goods and some cocktails, otherwise it’s there. All the time. It’s getting worse with the pregnancy, I simply can’t eat anything witout it. And apparently, I can’t drink it either. Remember the Mulled Mandarin Juice. You can find those there, too 🙂

You might think I’m crazy, but they actually make a big difference, so please please don’t leave them out. Or at least don’t tell me 😛

I love a non-alcoholic festive sangria, especially when it tastes like winter with all its beautiful mixed fruits and christmas spices. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do and you can prepare it ahead of time.
I love a non-alcoholic festive sangria, especially when it tastes like winter with all its beautiful mixed fruits and christmas spices. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do and you can prepare it ahead of time.

The fun thing about this recipe is, you make it a day ahead and when you’re ready to party, take it out of the fridge, add some sparkling water and you’re on 😀

I love simple and quick recipes!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

I love non-alcoholic festive sangria, especially when it tastes like winter with all its beautiful mixed fruits and christmas spices. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do and you can prepare it ahead of time.
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SOBER FESTIVE SANGRIA

Course Cocktail
Keyword cocktail, mocktail
Prep Time 15 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 3 cups pear juice
  • 2 cups sparkling water
  • 2 pears
  • 2 apples
  • 2 oranges
  • 1 pomegranate
  • 3 cinnamon sticks
  • 3 star anises
  • 6 slices of ginger
  • 1 tsp peppercorns
  • 5 cloves

Instructions

  1. Slice pears, apples, and oranges into 3mm slices or chunks as big as you like.
  2. Remove seeds from the pomegranate.
  3. Place all fruit, cinnamon sticks, star anises, ginger, peppercorns, and cloves in a big bowl or a jar and pour over pear juice.
  4. Keep in the fridge for at least 5 hours or overnight.
  5. Before serving to add cold sparkling water.

I love a non-alcoholic festive sangria, especially when it tastes like winter with all its beautiful mixed fruits and christmas spices. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do and you can prepare it ahead of time.