Chocolate Brioche Buns / Шоколадные Бриоши

Here I am today with some tasty flaky chocolate brioche buns. They go so well with a cup of hot mint tea, especially these rainy autumn days. But no matter what the weather's like, I still adore autumn, it is my favourite season, it's when I feel comfortable and cosy, I  feel constant urge to travel or at least to go out and not to be in a hurry to get back home. 

The brioche buns emphasize this feeling of cosiness for me. Hence the recipe for you :)

The recipe is taken from here. 

For the starter

1/2 cup bread flour

21g fresh yeast

1/2 cup lukewarm milk

Mix all together and cover with a plastic wrap for 30 minutes.

For the dough

the starter

5 eggs

3 cups bread flour + some for dusting

2 tb.s. sugar

1 1/4 t.s. salt

200g soft butter

Add eggs, sugar and salt to the starter, mix well, carefully begin adding flour.  After the dough is kneaded, add soft butter and mix it in with your hands or in a mixer. Until all is incorporated and homogeneous. You may need some more flour if the dough is too wet.  Form the dough into a thick rectangle and over it with plastic wrap for several hours (overnight).

Chocolate filling

2/3 cup milk

2 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

6 tb.s. flour

6 tb.s. cocoa powder

3 tb.s. butter

Heat the milk until it is boiling. In the meantime mix all other ingredients until there are no lumps. Carefully add this mixture to the milk, stirring all the way and cook until the mixture thickens. Refrigerate.

When the filling is chilled, take out the dough. Roll the dough into a rectangle that will be twice as large as the chocolate filling. Place the filling into the middle of the dough and cover the filling with two ends of rectangle, Fold the entire dough in half, so that all he seams are inside (folded). Roll the dough again into a thinner rectangle and fold it the same way for the second time (long ends fold into the middle, and fold the entire dough in half again). Roll for the third time and repeat folding. Now after you rolled the dough into a rectangle one more time, just roll it into a log. Cut it with a sharp knife into desired pieces (I got 18 muffins out of this quantity).

Butter the muffin forms and place pieces of the dough into every form (cut side up).  Cover with plastic and wait for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 175C and bake the buns for about 17 minutes. They are ready now:)

Coconut Chocolate Fudge Bars / Кокосово-Шоколадный Пляцок

The weather is getting normal finally, I already had my 30 minutes of sun bathing this spring...which should have happened a month ago at least. Of course, the higher the temperature outside, the less I want to bake.

This recipe is something from a list of interesting recipes to try out. My creativity was close to zero (guess it's the summer heat) this time. I did manage to change some things. My kids loved this cake. It's very fluffy, with juicy coconut centre, it is a very satisfying cake too.


The recipe is adapted from here.

200g butter
150g sugar
pinch of salt
150ml Greek yoghurt
3 eggs
1 egg white
3 tb.s coconut liqueur
2tb.s. coconut flakes
10g baking powder
2 cups flour (I took 1 AP and 1 cake flour)
2 tb.s. cocoa powder

In a mixer beat sugar with soft butter until fluffy. Add eggs, liqueur, yoghurt. Add flour, baking powder, coconut.

Grease 20x20cm baking form and pour one half of the dough.

Add 2 tb.s. of cocoa powder to the rest of the dough and pour it on top of the white one.

200g cottage cheese
some coconut liqueur
3tb.s. sugar
1 egg yolk
6 tb.s. coconut flakes

Mix all ingredients in blender until smooth texture. Roll 16 balls and place them in freezer for 30 minutes.

Take the balls out of the freezer and push them into the dough.

Bake at 180C for 40-45 minutes. Let the cake cool completely.

Melt 160g dark chocolate. Add 160g soft butter into the chocolate and stir. Place the mixture into the fridge until it got firmer.
Whip the ganache until slightly lighter in colour. Frost the cake. And let it cool for at least 1 hour before serving. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Healthier Carrot Oat Cupcakes / Морковные Капкейки (полезные)

Finally, April just arrived! We greet it with traditionally spring time carrot cupcakes. I made them low fat and quite healthy....apart from some sugar and some butter in frosting. You could easily substitute sugar for another sweetener though.

The texture of these carrot oat cupcakes is surprisingly quite light and fluffy. So, I am very pleased with the result! The frosting is also full of protein. A very child and diet friendly recipe:)

Carrot Oat Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups cooked and mashed carrots
1 cup oat flakes
1 cup ww flour
2 tb.s baking powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 tb.s canola oil
vanilla and rum essences
1 to 2 t.s. cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients. Combine with wet ingredients and make sure there are no lumps. Transfer the dough into greased cupcake forms (will make around 18-20).
Preheat oven to 175 C. Bake during 15-17 minutes. Let them cool.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

200 g low fat cottage cheese
70 g butter
1 cup vanilla powdered sugar
1 tb.s. concentrated orange juice
citrus essence

Process cottage cheese in blender until really creamy. Add butter and beat until incorporated, add powdered sugar, juice and essence. You could add colouring, if you like.

Frost already cooled cupcakes. Store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Apple Cranberry Pie / Яблочно-Клюквенный Пирог

Home made apple pie is always welcomed in our house. Though, we have one or two favourite recipes, I always find it interesting to try out something new.

This recipe is adapted from Dutch cooking magazine. It makes a large pie - soft and buttery dough with juicy and fragrant fruit and berries on top. Just make sure to press the berries into the dough deeper, so that they don't begin to burn in the oven.

250g dried cranberries
5 sour-sweet apples
2 full tb.s. candied orange/ orange preserves
1 t.s. ground ginger
1 t.s. cinnamon
0,5 t.s. dried thyme
about 150 ml orange juice

300g butter
2,5 cups flour
10g baking powder
6 eggs
1 t.s. salt
1,5 cups sugar

Preheat oven to 160C (fan).

Slice apples. Place cranberries, cinnamon and ginger into a bowl with orange juice and microwave for 2-3 minutes, until berries are soft.

In a mixer beat softened butter with sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one by one. Sift flour and baking powder and mix to combine.

Place baking paper into 23x32 baking tray. pour the batter into it. Place apple slices on top, pushing them deeper into the batter (skin side up). Distribute cranberries mixed with orange preserves over the apples, trying to push them into the batter.

Bake this pie during 1 hour. If the tops layer of berries begins to burn, cover with foil and continue baking.
Check for readiness with a skewer. Enjoy it warm or cold, with ice cream is even better!

Apple Coffee Cake / Яблочный Кекс

This is a moist, buttery, fragrant coffee/tea time cake with lots of apples. My kids love it, it's very easy to put together and it can be stored for a couple of days, it just does not get a chance to be stored!:)

I found this recipe in  Dutch cooking magazine some time ago. The only inconvenience I found is that apples tend to sink to the bottom. So next time I would roll also apple cubes in flour before putting them into the batter.

250g flour
10g baking powder
250g butter
pinch of salt
1t.s. cinnamon
200g sugar
5 eggs

2 sour-sweet apples, cut into cubes
150g raisins

Blend/mix together sugar and butter until very soft and pale. Add eggs one by one. Now put flour, cinnamon and baking powder. Mix everything well. Roll cubes of apple and raisins in flour. Add them to the batter.

Grease and sprinkle with some flour form for baking bread. Pour the batter into it and bake at 170C during 70 minutes approximately. Cover with aluminium foil if the cake browns too quickly.

Enjoy it warm or cold.

Fluffy Scones / Воздушные Сконы

I love scones, though I do not allow myself to eat them as often as I would like...probably every day it would be. Not only I like to eat them, but also to prepare them and to watch those, for whom I made them enjoy them with a cup of tea or coffee. My husband likes these especially, because they are probably the softest scones I ever made. They make me think of our trip to Ireland, where I ate real scones for the first time:)

I just wanted to share this great recipe here, because it is indeed very easy and the result is fantastic. In 30 minutes in total you will get these crunchy on top and fluffy inside scones for breakfast. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from here

350g flour plus some more
10g baking powder
1/4 t.s. salt
85g cold butter
100g sugar
150ml yoghurt
4tb.s. milk
vanilla
1 egg

Mix flour, salt, soda, sugar and add cubed butter. Mix with your hands until you get small crumbles.
Make a well in the middle. Heat yoghurt, vanilla and milk in a microwave. Pour it into the centre of the dough and knead until incorporated. You may use a bit more flour.

Shape the dough into a 4 cm disk and cut out scones with round cookie cutter or a glass. You will get 9 or 10.

Preheat oven to 200C (fan), place baking tray into the oven/. When the oven is ready, take the tray out, sprinkle with flour and place scones onto it. Brush with egg wash.

Bake during 12 minutes. Enjoy them with anything you like:) We actually prefer them with nothing:)

Dudok Apple Pie / Яблочный Пирог Дюдок

Happy third blogoversary to me!:) I made it until today with posting and baking and taking pictures of food... haha, can not believe it!:)

Those who tried Dutch Dudok apple pie know what I am talking about...it's one of the best pies out there! When I found the recipe in the web there was no question that I should try it.

Dudok is a cafe brasserie chain in Holland. When we lived in Rotterdam it was one of the places we visited quite often. The atmosphere is very relaxed there and those pies are delicious! And we love apple pies:)
Thin and a bit crunchy crust and a lot of sweet and juicy apple filling!

So, here is a recipe.

Dough

300g flour
250g butter
0,5 t.s. salt
150g sugar

Mix everything together...you might need a bit extra flour. Chill in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.

Apple filling

1.5 kg apples (sour-sweet type)
app. 150 ml apple butter (just steamed and blended apples)
large tb.s. cinnamon powder
good handful of raisins
some sugar to taste

Cut apples into chunks and place them together with sugar and cinnamon into a small pan with a little bit of water. Cook during 10 minutes approximately, until tender.
Let them cool a bit.
Take the dough out of the fridge. Grease 24cm springform and press the dough into it, creating high walls.
Transfer the apples with apple butter and raisins onto the dough.

Crumble dough

90g flour
40g butter
10g vanilla sugar
40g brown sugar

Mix all ingredients together. Crumble the dough onto the top of the pie.
P.S/ I used double amount of this dough.

Bake for 50 minutes at 190C. Serve chilled (better to place into the fridge for a couple of hours).

Lemon Poppyseed Cheesecake {light} / Лимонно-Маковый Чизкейк (облегченный)

I haven't baked for a while, which is uncommon for me these past years. Maybe because of the heat, maybe some travel stress, or first attempts in home schooling my oldest girl...or everything together. But I am glad I found time to make this wonderful treat.

This cheesecake is absolutely divine, light, sweet with tangy notes of lemon. It is very much to my liking. Even my chocolate obsessed kids gave it their approval:)

I used labne (5% fat) and Greek yoghurt (3% fat) for the cheesecake part, which made this cake lighter. For the base I used basic sponge recipe (halved the recipe). Tender and smooth lemony curd made this dessert just perfect.

Sponge recipe (adapted from here)

2 eggs

120g sugar

120g flour

3g baking powder

120g soft butter

Grease 24cm spring form with butter. In a bowl beat eggs and sugar, add flour, baking powder, butter. Do not overbeat.

Pour the batter into prepared springform and bake at 170C for about 20 minutes. Let it cool a little.

Lemon Poppyseed Cheesecake (inspired by this here)

600g labne (or strained and slightly salted yoghurt)

250-300ml Greek yoghurt

6 eggs

200g sugar

vanilla to taste

rind of 1 lemon

2 tb.s. lemon juice

3tb.s. flour

150g poppy seeds

380g condensed milk

Very easy. Basically beat labne and yoghurt well, add sugar and eggs one by one, add lemon rind, juice, condensed milk and some flour. Now add poppy seeds and mix everything well.

Pour prepared mixture onto baked sponge. The mixture will get until the rim of the spring form. Carefully place the form into preheated to 160C oven and bake for 60 minutes. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. Cool completely.

Lemon curd

juice and rind of 2-3 lemons

3 eggs

100g sugar

100g butter

Melt butter and sugar in a pan until dissolved. Take it away from fire and add eggs one at a time, whisking the mixture. return to fire and whisk all the time. Pour lemon juice with zest into buttery mixture. Heat and whisk until the curd thickens. Set aside and strain. Place curd into the fridge until needed.

Serve chilled cheesecake with lemon curd on top. Mmmm

Chicken, Grapes and Blue Cheese Salad / Салат с Курицей, Виноградом и Голубым Сыром

This is just a well known great combination of tasted and textures. Sweet fruit and sharp cheese dressing, juicy pieces of chicken meat, crunchy walnuts. I love these fruity salads so much! Hope I've inspired you to make it. Give yourself a treat!:)

200g roasted chicken meat, sliced
1 medium red apple
2 handfuls red grapes, cut in half
handful toasted walnuts
rucola (enough for 3-4 people)
some parsley leaves

2 egg yolks*
1 large garlic clove
about 100ml olive oil
about 80g blue cheese
1-2 t.s. lemon juice

Place rucola leaves into a salad bowl. Add chopped grapes, sliced apple and toasted walnuts.

Beat egg yolks, adding gradually olive oil into the mixture. Add lemon juice and crushed garlic. In the end add blue cheese and continue beating.

Divide mixed salad between dishes, place sliced chicken on top of every dish and sprinkle with blue cheese dressing.

* If children are going to eat it, I would not add egg yolks. The dressing will be just as delicious without them.

Enjoy!

Watermelon Strawberry Coconut Slush / Арбузно-Клубничный Лед

This fruit ice is a very handy finding for our hot summers!
We love being in Istanbul, enjoying every day here. Especially summer period...I wish it was summer all the time:) Thick curtains or window blinds on windows is a must here, it's not like it used to be in our Dutch apartment ..we had..nothing on our windows and so we enjoyed every ray of sunshine whenever the sun visited us:) But no, the weather in the Netherlands is not that bad actually. It just changes quickly.

Summers in Istanbul (really warm and pleasant weather lasts from mid April and lasts until...almost begining of December, but summer is baking) can be really hot, but luckily quite dry. And sometimes the only thing you can eat is a piece of fruit. You are actually mostly thirsty than hungry. So this kind of *food* is indeed a finding! Plus - watermelons are so cheap!:) I eat it at breakfast or throughout the day any time. It's delicious and filling and beautiful!:) So yeah...if you feel like losing some weight...come and stay with us for the summer!:)

Makes about 6 servings.

1 cup strawberries (or almost two handfuls)
2,5-3 cups cubed watermelon
2 medium sized bananas
100ml coconut milk

Place watermelon cubes and chopped banana into an airtight container and freeze (overnight).
When ready to make this ice:  take frozen fruit from the freezer. Transfer into a blender and whiz until smooth. Add fresh strawberries and whiz again. Now pour coconut milk and mix until incorporated.
Serve immediately and enjoy!

* It delicious as soft serve, but also can be frozen entirely and eaten at sorbet, if you like

Skinny Strawberry Ricotta Clafoutis/ Диетический Клафути с Рикоттой

This is my piece of dessert:) Of course, it's not really original, but still a very tasty strawberry pudding...full of protein and low on fat and carbs. Since I'm trying to avoid fast carbs and also I am on very low grain % diet for several weeks already, this dessert is right for me:)

The texture here is slightly different than original creamy version, but the whole result was surprisingly good .. It's light, juicy, fruity and pudding like smooth. Summer is near:) Knowing that this dessert is kind of healthier makes it extra good for me:) Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

400g strawberries
2-3tb.s. liquer/cognac...
250ml milk
vanilla
pinch salt
3 eggs
sugar substitute in powder (to taste)
250g ricotta
70g buckwheat flour


Oven 175C. Mix berries with alcohol.
Heat milk with vanilla.
Beat eggs with sugar sub and salt, add milk, carefully add ricotta and flour. Using hand blender smooth the batter out. Pour this batter into lightly greased tart form  (around 25cm) and scatter berries with their liquid over the top. Bake clafoutis during 35 min. Eat warm or cold.

White Chocolate Muesli Bars/ Батончики Мюсли с Белым Шоколадом

It's almost a shame to call it a proper recipe, but this stuff could be really useful sometimes!

When there are not enough ingredients to bake something for the kids I would just use this method. Takes 15 minutes to make and only 2 ingredients. Well, I know, it's not super healthy, but kind of acceptable for growing kids.

This quantity makes 8 bars, which in principle could be cut into halves as well.

You'll need muesli (any kind, obviously) and chocolate. Approximately 50/50, little bit less chocolate.

For 8 bars I take 250g muesli and 200g white chocolate. Microwave the chocolate until melted and mix in muesli. Cover 20x20cm dish with baking paper (overhanging) and transfer the mixture onto the paper and cover with it. Then press with your hands. Freeze during 10 minutes. Cut with a large knife into bars and store in the fridge.

For this recipe I used muesli with dried banana, raisins, dried apples, corn flakes and of course oats.

Roasted Plums Salad+ / Салат с Печеными Сливами+

Today I am sharing two recipes actually. It was our brunch:) The recipes are so simple yet so very tasty and healthy that I am just putting them both in one post today.
Healthy food is tasty and so pretty, actually. Well, I agree, a healthy cake...I am not sure how it would look though...

So, our breakfast took 25 minutes to prepare, approximately. It was actually one ingredient two ways. Roasted plums. In a refreshing fragrant salad with cheese and crunchy toasted almonds and in a healthy creamy chocolate yoghurt dessert/dip.

For two people you'd need:

Healthy Chocolate Yoghurt:

6tb.s. drained Greek yoghurt
2tb.s. cocoa powder
powdered sugar or substitute to taste

Mix well drained Greek yoghurt with sugar powder or substitute and cocoa powder.

Roasted Plums Salad with Cheese:

9 small plums, halved, stone removed
1-2 tb.s. runny (flower) honey
1tb.s. rose vinegar or balsamic
2tb.s. olive oil
bunch of fresh ruccola
handful of almonds
app.50g sheep cheese
black pepper, salt

Place fresh ruccola on each plate. Toast raw almonds on dry frying pan. Preheat oven to 200C. Place plum halves into a small baking dish, drizzle with honey and roast for about 15 minutes, turning half way.
Place several roasted plums on top of your salad. Add small pieces of sheep cheese. Sprinkle with toasted almonds.Drizzle with rose vinegar, olive oil and honey. Season with pepper.
Add some plums to the chocolate yoghurt and drizzle with honey if you wish. Take your time to enjoy your breakfast!:)

Pizza Pancakes / Пицца Блины

Savoury pancake for breakfast...or with soup at lunch! Use your regular pancake recipe and just add some new ingredients to it to have something new. Kids friendly!

I used here pancake recipe that I usually make, but it's not very essential. Even pancake mix from the box will do. Mix it as usually you would do, adding tomato paste and Italian herbs. Some more salt and just a touch of sugar into the batter. When flipping a pancake onto the other side quickly add vegetables and cheese and bake until ready.

500ml milk (or 50/50 with water)
2 eggs
salt to taste
pinch of sugar
1tb.s. tomato paste
1t.s. dried oregano
0,5 t.s. red pepper powder
pinch of garlic powder
1 cup AP flour
some olive oil
1 tomato
1 bell pepper or charlestone pepper (which I love)
scallion chopped
shredded cheddar cheese/cheep cheese/or mozzarella

Mix milk, tomato paste and eggs together and add herbs. Carefully mix flour into the batter, make sure there are no lumps.
Heat pancake pan and pour some olive oil onto it. Bake pancakes as usual, just after flipping it place vegetables and sprinkle with desired cheese over them. Bake until done, 1 more minute, probably. Enjoy your new version of pancakes:)
Idea taken from Dutch cooking magazine

Baked Apple "Cupcakes" / "Капкейки" с Печеными Яблокaми

This could be a breakfast or a snack...or even a dessert? I love it any time of the day. It's healthy, it's quite filling, high fiber, high protein and they taste good! It's a crossing between apple pie, cheese cake and oatmeal cookie! Very tender and luscious filling on a cookie crust.

For the Oatmeal Crust:

2 cups rolled oats
pinch of salt
100ml yoghurt
2-3tb.s. ricotta or cottage cheese
10g baking powder
sugar substitute or sugar to taste
vanilla essence

For the Filling:

5 granny smith apples, inner part taken out
200g ricotta or cottage cheese
about 2 tb.s. yoghurt
sugar sub to taste
vanilla
1tb.s. lemon rind
1tb.s. flour or starch
some hazelnuts for topping

First remove apple core and some flesh around it. We need only a sort of a thick bracelet made of apple.
In blender mix all ingredients for the oat crust. Divide into 5 parts.

Preheat oven to 180C.

Mix all ingredients for the filling. Create a disc out of oatmeal dough, take an apple and place it on that disc, than with your wet hands create a basket with that oatmeal dough disc around apple.
Fill each apple with ricotta filling. Garnish with some hazelnuts, if desired. Place apples into a baking dish and bake around 25-30 minutes. This time should be enough for the crust to be baked and apples to be soft.

Let them cool a bit and serve warm or cold.

15 Favourite Light and Healthy Desserts / 15 Любимых Легких и Полезных Десертов

I will not hide the fact that I like desserts. But my ideal desserts are those after eating which I can stay energized, happy and I won't have that awful feeling of guilt. I love my healthy life style!

My granddad taught me since I was a child that sport is something you can't live without and I remember myself running in the park and doing exercises at home being still a schoolgirl. Sometimes I got frustrated looking at my friends who never exercised or were on any diet plan -  they seemed so "free" to me...that I decided to stop with all my "health" routine...which gave me 10kg+ and years...I guess around 4 years of attempts to get rid of new burden.

Since that time I keep to my good old *secret* of eating healthy and working out. Health is one of the biggest treasures in life and how stupid is it to just let it go and "feel free from obligations".....

OK, so here are my favourite 15 desserts or snacks to satisfy sweet tooth attacks and still keep me on health plan, But remember...and myself too...that moderation is another GREAT tip!:)



Я не стану скрывать, что люблю десерты, но мой идеальный десерт - десерт, после которого я остаюсь бодрой, веселой и обязательно без этого ужасного чувства вины. Я люблю свой здоровый образ жизни! 

Мой дедушка учил меня с детства, что спорт это то, без чего невозможно жить. Я помню себя еще школьницей бегая в парке по утрам и занимаясь дома упражнениями. Иногда меня расстраивало, что мои друзья, которые не знали слова диета или спорт, чувствовали себя такими *свободными*...что я решила к ним присоединиться и оставила всю свою "программу здоровье". Что "наградило" меня 10кг+ и годами (по-моему ок.4 лет) попыток их сбросить. 

С тех пор я придерживаюсь своего *секретного* правила - ешь полезную еду и занимайся спортом. Здоровье одно из самых больших сокровищ, дарованых нам и как глупо его растрачивать, чтобы почувствовать себя "свободными от правил".

Ладно, вот мои 15 полюбившихся рецептов десертов, которые удовлетворяют мои сладкие атаки и не сбивают с верного пути к здоровой жизни. Но помните...и я в том числе...что умеренность, это еще один ЗАМЕЧАТЕЛЬНЫЙ совет!:)

Carrot Poppy Seed Cake

Морковный торт с маком

Strawberry Ice Pops

Клубничное мороженое в стаканчике

Light Lemon Coconut Bars

Легкие лимонно-кокосовые пирожные

Fat/Sugar Free Cookie Dough Truffles

Трюфели без масла/сахара

Cottage Cheese Scones

Творожные сконы

Chocolate Muffin Rolls with Strawberry Glaze

Шоколадные кексы с клубничной глазурью

Baked Pumpkin Pudding Bars

Тыквенная полезная запеканка

Basil and Lemon Yoghurt Ice Pop

Йогуртовое мороженое с базиликом и лимоном

Carrot Cheesecake in a Glass

Морковный чизкейк в стакане

Baked Orange Yoghurt with Pistachio Candy Floss

Запеченый Апельсиновый Йогурт

Cinnamon-Apple Healthy Rolls

Яблочно-коричные полезные булочки

Rhubarb Jelly Vanilla Custard Trifle

Трайфл из ревеня, клубники и кремa

Cottage Cheese "Truffles"

"Трюфель" из творога

Berry and Chocolate Yoghurt Bars

Йогуртовое пирожное с ягодами и шоколадом

Boozy Strawberry Grapefruit Ice Cream

Пьяное мороженое с клубникой и грейпфрутом

Baked Pumpkin Pudding Bars{healthy} / Полезная Тыквенная Запеканка

Silky, moist, light and fragrant pudding bars...without any eggs or butter...no fat at all! And also gluten free. My new love this season:)

800ml grated raw pumpkin

200ml buckwheat flour

10g baking powder

pinch of salt

10g vanilla

2tb.s. corn starch

about 100g vanilla powdered sugar..or more to taste

200ml Greek yoghurt

100ml mango juice

coconut flakes on top

Blend all ingredients together. Start with pumpkin cubes, then add the rest. 

Preheat oven to 180C. Line 20x20cm baking dish with baking paper. Transfer the mixture onto baking dish. level and sprinkle with coconut. Bake for 45 minutes.

Enjoy hot or cold and as much as you like:)

Skinny Oatmeal Bars/ Диетичная Овсяная Запеканка

I came up with another oatmeal recipe!:) Well, I do love grains and fruit...I'm lucky it's not chocolate...cause I'm still struggling with portion control!:)
These bars are a great snack/breakfast/dessert when watching your weight and taking care of your health in general. There is no sugar, no flour, no eggs. All very natural and really tasty!
They have pleasant rum and vanilla aroma and addition of honey and raisins is enough to make them sweet without sugar. If you like really sweet stuff, you can always add some stevia or other sweetener, but for me and kids they are perfect as they are.

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup oatmeal (blended oats)
1/2 t.s. salt
10g baking powder
app.220ml milk
4tb.s. runny honey
100g ricotta or curd cheese
app.2 drops rum essence
vanilla
2 tb.s. tahini paste (or nut butter, or vegetable oil)
1 tb.s. flax egg
good handful of raisins/cranberries

Mix all wet ingredients, add raisins and the rest of dry components.
Preheat oven to 175C. Layer square 20x20cm baking form with baking paper and transfer the dough into it, pressing it gently to the bottom. Make several small holes here and there with a fork.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Let it cool and then cut into portions. Enjoy and don't think too much about calories:)