Warm baked oats on an autumn morning are a real treat. We’ve added chocolate for extra indulgence and they are just lovely with baked bananas and sticky dates.
Porridge oats are a great start to the day, they are a great source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. We love to add chopped dates to add fibre and natural sweetness.
My kids just love these baked oat pot and top them with yoghurt for an extra serving of protein.
Step 1: Preheat the oven. Put 3 ceramic pots on a baking tray. Or use a lined and greased loaf tin.
Step 2: To a blender add the oats, cocoa powder, dates, 1 banana, milk, egg, baking powder. Blend until smooth.
Step 3: Add a spoon of the mix to each pot, then top with half the chopped chocolate. Spoon the rest on top and sprinkle the remaining chocolate and a slice of banana to each pot. Bake for 20 minutes.
Whats the best thing about a homemade snack? For me its knowing exactly what has been added plus adding exactly what I like! I’ve been making these little energy balls for my kids and I for almost 5 years. I keep them nut free so the kids can take them to school in their lunch boxes. I make big batches so I can freeze the extra and grab them from the freezer to have with a coffee or to take on a car trip or picnic. They are little nuggets of goodness and much better than anything you’ll pick up in the shops!
You’ll find all 5 of the ingredients you need in our online groceries.
To make the balls: Add the dates to a bowl and cover with boiling water to soften.
Meanwhile blend the oats, seeds, coconut, cocoa powder.
Drain the dates and add them to the blender. Blend until it looks like a thick paste. If it looks dry and won’t roll add a dash of boiling water and blend again.
Roll into balls – big or small- whichever you prefer. Add the extra coconut to a wide bowl. To help the coconut stick, wet your hands and roll the balls again then add to the coconut.
Store in a container in the fridge for a week or freeze them for 3 months.
These sweet treats are so easy and fun to make. A delicious chocolate layer around a sticky date (which tastes just like caramel), stuffed with nut butter – this treat is reminiscent of a snickers bar, but the quality ingredients make it so much better! You can customise them to your taste using your favourite chocolate, nut butter and decorations. I’ve gone for a white chocolate drizzle here, but crushed hazelnuts or desiccated coconut make delicious decorations. Or try some Achill Island flakey sea salt to offset the sweetness of the dates? I’d love to see your re-creations. Tag us on social media or share in the comments below.
Your choice of nut or seed butter (we stock peanut, almond, hazelnut and tahini works well here too – or you can make your own nut butter, it’s easy! Simply blend roasted nuts or seeds into butter with a pinch of salt. We sell organic nuts and seeds in compostable bags here.)
Your choice of chocolate (we stock a really good range of ethically sourced, organic chocolates here.)
Gently melt chocolate in a bowl over a simmering pot of water. Place a sheet of baking parchment on a tray or chopping board.
Open up a date and stuff it with a 1/2 tsp or so of nut butter. Close the date up again.
Dunk the stuffed date in the bowl of melted chocolate. Use two small forks to turn the date over a few times to get it completely coated in chocolate. Then remove the date with a fork and place on the baking parchment.
Repeat until you have made as many Easter dates as you like. Now, while the chocolate is still wet, you can quickly decorate the dates with some sprinkles of salt/nuts/coconut or a drizzle of white chocolate.
Allow the chocolate to completely set in a cool place. Then enjoy! Pack into little Easter baskets to share with friends or bring along to a coffee date. They should stay fresh in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 days.
Energy bites do what they say on the tin. They are jam packed full of good ingredients – oats, nuts (or seeds) and dates – which give you a boost of energy and get you through the afternoon slump, power you up that hill on your hike or keep hunger at bay in the car on your way to your staycation. This base recipe is really handy to have in your repertoire. Make it your own by using your favourite nuts or seeds, replace the dates with apricots or raisins, add cacao powder or dried spices like cinnamon or ginger for different flavours, coat them in melted chocolate or roll them in sesame seeds or desiccated coconut. It’s fun to play around with flavours here.
Did you know, many of our grocery products like oats, nuts and dates are packed plastic free? We are always working on adding more plastic free products to the list too so keep checking back. Please share your favourite energy ball combinations with us on our facebook community group.
Liz x
Organic dates, nuts and oats from our shop, all in compostable packaging.
Ingredients (makes 20)
1 &1/2 mugs of porridge oats
1 mug of nuts (or seeds, or a mix)
1/2 mug of pitted dates
a pinch of salt
a drizzle of maple syrup or honey
optional extra ingredients to taste (like melted chocolate, desiccated coconut, sesame seeds, cacao powder, cinnamon, ginger…)
Method
Measure the oats, nuts, dates and salt into a food processor with the ’S’ blade attachment. (If you are making this in a blender, then divide it into smaller batches).
Pulse the ingredients together, stopping frequently to stir and scrape down the sides. You are aiming for an even, sticky, crumbly mixture.
Scrape the mixture into a large bowl. This is where you can stir in some extra flavours or textures if you like. Some cinnamon or ginger? Make it chocolate flavoured by adding some cacao powder?
Now test the stickiness of the mixture by picking up a small handful and squeezing. If it sticks together easily you don’t need the syrup – this depends on the freshness and variety of the dates. Otherwise add a small drizzle of maple syrup and stir. Test again and add more syrup until you get the right consistency.
Then squeeze and roll the mixture into little balls. If they are sticky enough you can roll them in seeds or desiccated coconut for extra flavour and fun.
Another fun option is to dunk them in melted chocolate and sit them on a tray in the fridge to set. While the chocolate is wet, you can sprinkle the bites with seeds or some flakey sea salt or anything you like to make them even more special.
Otherwise they are fabulous naked, just the way they are!
Pack in an airtight container in the fridge and eat them within the week.
Green smoothies are not a punishment! Mine is sweet, creamy and deliciously refreshing! Give it a try, it’s full of goodness!
🌱SPINACH is high in iron, calcium and vitamins C and K.
💪TAHINI is a great source of healthy fats, protein, B vitamins and vitamin E.
🍌BANANAS are an excellent source of potassium, B6 and energy-giving carbohydrates. They’re also a brilliant prebiotic with a high fibre content.
🌴DATES are a natural sweetener, high in fibre, antioxidants and minerals.
🌾OAT MILK is environmentally friendly, high in fibre and deliciously creamy.
Add the certified organic ingredients to your next order here. We deliver to every address in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Liz x
Ingredients
spinach or kale – rinsed, one large handful per person
banana – half of one per person (chopped and frozen for an extra creamy texture)
dates – pitted, 1 or 2 per person for added sweetness
tahini – 1 heaped tsp per person
oat milk (or any milk you like) – 1/2 a glass per person
optional ice – especially good if your banana is not frozen
watch the easy method here or read on below
Method
Add all the ingredients to a strong blender and blend until smooth.
Pour into glasses and drink immediately.
TOP TIPS: *If you don’t have frozen banana, add a couple of ice cubes per person to the blender too for a chilled smoothie. *If your blender is not very strong, soak the dates before blending to help them break down faster.
This gorgeous raw cake is rich and fudgy and packed full of great ingredients. My simple, wholesome recipe uses just nuts, dates, coffee and a little coconut oil and maple syrup. You need quite a lot of nuts so I recommend buying them in our compostable bulk bags. Have a look at the organic bulk range here.
You need a food processor or blender to make this recipe and a deep baking dish. I use a 19 x 24cm dish but any medium baking dish will do. Let’s get started! Liz x
Ingredients (makes 16 or more slices)
1 mug walnuts (plus extra for decorating)
2 mugs pitted dates (chopped into smaller pieces with scissors)
4 mugs almonds
2 mugs cashews
1 mug espresso strength coffee
2/3 mug maple syrup
1/2 mug melted coconut oil
1 tbsp cacao powder for dusting
1 pinch salt
Watch the method. The cookbook can be added to your Green Earth Organics order here.
Method
Line a baking dish with baking parchment leaving a little overhang to make it easier to extract the cake once it is set.
Like many of my recipes, I use mug measurements for this. Just a regular, smallish coffee/tea mug, not a massive one. It doesn’t really matter what size you use though as it’s all about the ratios here. Just use the same mug for all the measurements and it’ll be fine.
Start by soaking the two mugs of cashews in water. This will make them softer and easier to blend into a smooth cream for the topping later. Then get on with making the base.
Measure the walnuts, dates and almonds into a food processor with a pinch of salt. Pulse them together into a crumbly, sticky mixture. If you only have a small food processor or a blender you may find it easier to measure the walnuts, dates and almonds into a large bowl, mix it up and then pulse the ingredients in smaller batches.
Once you have a nice sticky, crumbly mixture, pour in about 2/3 of a mug of espresso strength coffee and give the mixture a stir. Then pack it into your lined baking dish, spreading it firmly and evenly into a neat layer.
Then make the creamy topping. Drain the cashews and pop them in the blender with 1/3 mug of espresso strength coffee, 1/2 mug of melted coconut oil (you could sub this with melted cacao butter or a flavourless coconut oil if you don’t like coconut) and 2/3 mug maple syrup (or maple syrup to taste). Blend the mixture until perfectly smooth and creamy.
Pour the coffee cream over the base and level it out with a spatular. Then pop the dish in the fridge to set overnight, or in the freezer for an hour or two to set faster.
Once it’s set, pull the cake out onto a chopping board and dust it with cocoa/cacao powder. Slice it into bars or squares – it’s quite a rich cake so smaller slices are better. Decorate each slice with walnut halves or pieces and enjoy!
Store the cake in the fridge (like cheesecakes, it can get a little melty at room temperature) and enjoy within a week. Or store it in the freezer for much longer and take pieces out to defrost as and when you need them.
Granola recipe illustration from my book, available to add to your fruit, veg and groceries order here.
Shop bought granola is delicious, but usually quite expensive and stored in a plastic wrapper. So if you are wanting to save money and avoid plastic packaging, making your own is the solution. Often shop bought granola is surprisingly high in sugar too! My recipe is sweetened with just date syrup (or if I can’t find date syrup I just blend dates and water into a smooth sauce and use that – in fact it’s better this way as you keep all the good fibre of the dates in the granola too). We sell oats, nuts, seeds and dried fruit in plastic free or compostable packaging and this recipe blows any shop bought one I’ve tried out of the water. Store it in an airtight container like a large glass jar and it should stay fresh and crunchy for at least 1 month…that’s if you don’t eat it all up before then! Liz x
100g small seeds(linseeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds…)
330g date syrup (or 200g chopped dates soaked with 130g water then blend into a smooth sauce)
250ml olive oil (or any good quality oil you prefer)
300g chopped dried fruit (apricots, raisins, figs, mulberries…)
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 150C and prepare a couple of large baking dishes or the bottom of your grill tray. Line them with re-usable or compostable baking parchment.
In a large bowl, measure out your oats, spices, salt, nuts and seeds. Do not add the dried fruit yet! Give the dry mixture a good stir to evenly disperse the spices and salt before adding the oil and date syrup.
Add the oil and date syrup/sauce and stir well to coat all the dry ingredients.
Spread the granola out onto your lined trays into a thin 1-2cm layer.
Bake the granola in the oven. Take it out every 10-15 minutes and stir to ensure the granola gets evenly baked.
Once it’s nice and crunchy and tastes perfectly toasted, remove the granola from the oven and stir through all the dried fruit.
Allow the granola to completely cool down in the trays before storing it in an airtight container.
Enjoy with your favourite milk or yoghurt or sprinkle it on top of ice cream or smoothie bowls, or just eat it dry as a snack!
