Healthy Almond & Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

These almond and oatmeal muffins are not only delicious for breakfast! We have been eating these as a dessert! I always have oats in my pantry, it is so versatile, delicious and healthy! These muffins are dairy free and gluten free, if using certified gluten free oats.

 

Healthy Almond & Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins 

Yields: 12 mini muffins

Ingredients: 

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup creamed honey
• 1/4 cup olive oil or melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp clove
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 2 1/2 cups oats
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup flaxmeal
• 1/4 cup raisins, chocolate chips, cranberries…

– Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare 12 mini muffin cups. (I used reusable silicon cups)

– Whisk eggs with the oil and honey. Add cinnamon, clove and salt.

-Add oats, almonds, baking powder, flaxmeal and raisins, stir until well combined.

– Fill into prepared muffin cups.

– Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes.

 

I wish you all a happy weekend and stay healthy!

Ursula 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almond Coconut Fruit Tart (gluten-free)

This year we have some special celebrations in our family, we’ll be celebrating 10, 20, 40, 50, 60, 70th birthday as well as some anniversaries. First up was my husbands 50th birthday!

Because of some digestion problems he did not ask for a cake, that is why I came up with this gluten free almond fruit tart. Pretty easy to make and tastes delicious.

 

Almond Coconut Fruit Tart

Almond Crust:

• 3 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch sea salt
• 1/2 cup butter melted
• 2 eggs

-Whisk together butter and eggs, add coconut sugar, salt and cinnamon. Stir in ground almonds until well combined. This will be a sticky dough.

-Line the bottom of a 28 cm tart form with parchment paper, grease the sides. Fill in almond dough, works best using your hands, press down evenly. Bake in preheated 350F oven for 30 minutes. Let cool completely.

Coconut Custard

• 500 ml coconut milk
• 4 tbsp corn starch
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

-In a medium saucepan whisk together all ingredients, except vanilla. Let come to a boil, while whisking, then reduce heat and let cook until thickened. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and let cool a few minutes then fill in a bowl and let cool completely in the fridge.

Assembly:

-Place almond crust on a serving plate or cake stand. Fill with custard then decorate with your fruit of choice. I used about 5 kiwis, cut in slices, 1 orange and some grape halves.

-Store in refrigerator.

 

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maple Almond Muffins

Happy Sunday! I hope you are all having a great weekend!

It’s been a kind of a slow week as we were dealing with very cold and stormy weather, which lead to 3 cancelled school days and exams being pushed forward several times. It was a bit of a mess.

These Maple Almond Muffins are our delicious Sunday afternoon treat, using spelt flour and sweetened with maple syrup. It’s yummy and not too sweet.

 

Maple Almond Muffins

Ingredients:

• 175 g butter, melted
• 180 ml maple syrup
• 4 eggs, yolk and whites separated
• pinch of salt
• 125 g spelt flour
• 150 g ground almonds
• 1/4 tsp baking powder

-Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare 10 -12 muffin tins.

-Mix together the butter and maple syrup. Add the egg yolks one at the time, mixing well.

-In a separate bowl whip the egg whites, with the salt and baking powder, until stiff peaks form.

-Add the flour, almonds and egg whites, a little at the time, and carefully mix under the butter mixture. Mix until combined, do not overmix.

-Fill into prepared muffin tins and bake in preheated 375F oven for 10 minutes then set oven to 350F and finish bake another 20 minutes or until golden brown and tester inserted comes out clean.

-Let cool completely.

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

You can find me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

Streusel-Topped Strawberry Galette

Hi everyone! I hope you are having a great weekend!

It is raining like crazy today so we will spend the weekend mostly inside. It has been dry and hot and the rain is very much needed.

We’ve bought a lot of local strawberries which we mostly eat just like that but I also like to make a dessert with it. This recipe for the Streusel-Topped Strawberry Galette is adapted from Canadian Living. It turned out wonderfully and it was so delicious! I definitely will try it with other fruits as well.

 

 

Streusel-Topped Strawberry Galette

Pastry:

• 2 1/2 cup white spelt flour
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup cold butter cubed
• 3/4 cup ice water

-In a bowl, mix together flour, honey and salt. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until crumbly. Drizzle with water, mixing with a fork until dough comes together, adding more water if needed. Shape into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Almond Streusel:

• 1/2 cup white spelt flour
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup cold butter cubed
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds

-In a bowl mix together flour and honey. Using your fingers, rub in the butter until crumbly. Stir in the almonds, set aside.

Filling:

• 800 g strawberries hulled and halved
• 2/3 cup strawberry jam
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1/4 cup ground almonds
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp coarse sugar, optional

-Mix together strawberries, jam, honey and cornstarch, set aside

-On a large piece of parchment paper, roll out dough to about 43 cm circle. Transfer dough with paper to a large baking sheet. Sprinkle dough with ground almonds, leaving a 8 cm border. Scrape strawberry mixture onto almonds.

-Fold over pastry edge. Sprinkle streusel over strawberries.

-Mix egg yolk with 2 tsp of water, brush over pastry. Sprinkle with coarse suger if desired. Bake in 375F/190C preheated oven 50 to 60 minutes, or until golden brown.

Tip: Feel free to use all-purpose flour and sugar, using the same amount.

Beautiful Peonies blooming in our garden!

 

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

Follow me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raspberry Oat Crumble Bars

A happy new month to everyone! I love May as it usually means warmer temperatures and everything is starting to grow and bloom. The grass is finally looking green and my Daffodils are blooming.

These raspberry oat crumble bars are a great snack to bring to school!

Made with whole wheat flour, coconut sugar, oats and almonds.

 

Raspberry Oat Crumble Bars

• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oats
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
• 1 cup raw almonds, finely chopped
• 300 g raspberry jam

– Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350F/180C (convection setting).

-In a large bowl, mix together the butter and coconut sugar. Add all other ingredients except the raspberry jam, and stir until well combined.

-Save 3/4 cup and set aside. Fill remaining mix into prepared baking dish, press down evenly.

-Spread raspberry jam evenly over crust, sprinkle top with remaining crumble.

-Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

-Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

 

This recipe is adapted from Healthy Hands Cooking Blog, “Raspberry Cookie Bars”.

 

Enjoy!

Ursula

You can find me on Instagram:littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linzertorte

If you’ve been following me for a while you might remember my Linzertorte aux amandes . While this is such a delightful cake you just have to try a traditional Linzertorte. A nut-crust filled with red currant or raspberry jam. It gets its name from the Austrian city of Linz and is believed to be the oldest cake in the world, with recipes dating back to 1653.

While traditionally it is covered with a lattice top, I decorated it Valentines Day style!

A few days ago I was HAPPILY surprised to see that I got a small feature in the Canadian Living magazine!! I couldn’t believe it, I am so happy. I only have a small blog and Instagram, I am not a professional baker and do not make professional pictures, but I’m having fun and it makes me happy when I get so many lovely comments and likes! Last fall I’ve made their Caramel Apple Sticky Buns and tagged them on Instagram. Well now they are actually showing my picture in the current issue, they are so awesome!

 

 

These are little tarts I’ve made last year. Picture is before baking. The dough is lighter in color because I used blanched almonds.

The recipe is slightly adapted from Betty Bossi’s: Kuchen Cakes and Torten

 

Linzertorte

Ingredients:

• 150 g butter, soft
• 100 g coconut sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp cloves, ground
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 150 g ground hazelnuts, or almonds unblanched
• 150 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 200 g red currant or raspberry jam

-Stir together the butter, sugar and salt, add the egg and the spices. Mix in the hazelnuts or almonds and flour until well combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

-Grease a 22 cm Springform or pie/tart form (with removable bottom would be great but not necessary). Roll out 1/3 of the dough directly on the base of the Springform. Take another 1/3 and form the sides. Fill with the jam. Decorate with remaining dough; lattice, hearts…

-Brush with an egg-white. ( I did not do that)

-Bake in preheated 350F/180C oven for about 40 minutes. You might have to cover it with aluminum foil to prevent from getting to dark. Let cool completely.

-You can decorate it with sliced almonds and icing sugar if desired.

-The original recipe calls for 150 g sugar.

 

Enjoy!

Happy Weekend!

Ursula

 

You can find me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almond Cake

It’s been a bit of a crazy week, so glad it’s the weekend! High School mid-term exams are done, my kids had their last test on Wednesday and were able to enjoy two extra days off. My daughter and I also started looking for prom dresses. Can’t believe she will be done with High School this summer.

February greeted us with winter weather…the return of cold temperatures and snow.

 

I’ve made this yummy Almond Cake a few days ago. Adapted from a Betty Bossi Almond Cake recipe. I sweetened it with coconut sugar and used Spelt flour. I am really happy with the outcome, it was so delicious and gone in a short time;)

 

Almond Cake

Ingredients:

• 175 g butter, soft
• 200 g coconut sugar
• 8 egg whites
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 120 g spelt flour
• 175 g ground almonds

-Prepare a 24 cm Springform. Cover the base with parchment paper, grease and flour the sides.

-Preheat oven to 180C/375F.

-In a mixing bowl whisk together the butter and sugar. In a separate bowl whisk egg whites, salt and baking powder until stiff peaks form.

-Add the egg whites, flour and almonds, a little at the time, to the butter mixture and gently fold under until all ingredients are combined.

-Fill into prepared Springform pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until tester inserted comes out clean.

Tip: You could use hazelnuts instead of the almonds.

-As always feel free to use regular sugar and white flour. The coconut sugar gave it a light caramel flavor.

 

Wishing everyone a wonderful Weekend!

Happy February!

Ursula

 

 

You can find me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

Sweet Almond Buns

Hi there, happy Wednesday!

I was planning on making my Almond Croissants, using up some almonds I have left from Christmas baking, and I like to try out some new recipes or just play with ingredients a little. For this recipe I used only white Spelt flour and used coconut oil instead of butter. The yeast dough turned out pretty nice, maybe a little to soft to work with. After rolling it out and spreading with the nut filling, it was a little tricky to roll it up and did not stay nicely in shape, thaaats when I had to improvise a little and just turned them into little knots/buns, lol:)

Anyways…they are delicious. The dairy-free yeast dough is really nice and soft.

 

Sweet Almond Buns

Sweet yeast dough and almond filling:

Please refer to the following link for recipe and instructions.

Almond Croissants

• Using: 300 g white Spelt flour, instead of all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted, instead of butter

(I should mention again that I write down milk in my recipes but I usually use cashew, almond or coconut milk.)

-Once you rolled them into croissants, form them into little knots/buns.

These are dairy-free and refined sugar-free.

 

 

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

You can find me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linzertorte aux amandes

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone had a great start into the new year! It is still freezing cold here and snowing almost everyday. Staying warm and cozy inside with a warm cuppa and a slice of something freshly baked like this almond Linzertorte. I call this the sweet delicate cousin of the original Linzertorte;) Made out of mostly: almonds! The original Linzertorte has a jam filling. If you like almonds, you will love this one!!

It is a very soft almond dough, which makes it a little tricky to roll out or form any decorations, you’ll definitely need some patience, but otherwise it’s a simple recipe.

 

 

Linzertorte aux amandes

Ingredients:

• 150 g butter, soft
• 150 g sugar, or honey
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• pinch of cloves
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 150 g blanched ground almonds
• 150 g unbleached all-purpose flour

-In a medium bowl mix together butter, sugar and salt. Mix in the egg. Add the cloves, cinnamon, almonds and flour. Mix until a soft dough forms. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Filling:

• 75 g butter, soft
• 75 g sugar or honey
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 150 g blanched ground almonds
• 1 egg white

-In a small bowl mix together the butter and sugar. Add the lemon zest and juice. Mix in the almonds and egg white.

 

-Preheat oven to 350 F/180C. Grease a 22 cm Springform or pie dish.

-Take 1/3 of the dough and roll it directly on your Springform bottom, or use your hands to fit into the pie form. Taking some more dough for the sides if needed. Spoon your filling evenly into the form. With the rest of the dough you can roll it out on a floured baking sheet and then refrigerate to make it more workable. Cut out some shapes or shape it by hand.

-Bake for about 40 minutes. Cover with aluminium foil if it gets to dark. Let cool completely.

-Dust with some icing sugar if desired.

-Recipe is adapted from my 1982 Betty Bossi book, Kuchen, Cakes & Torten

Enjoy!

Have a lovely weekend!

Ursula 

 

 

Follow me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

Almond Chocolate Cookies

Happy 1st Advent! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. My kids had an extra day off from school on Friday, giving us some more time to decorate the house and just relax a little. The Christmas tree is up and we only have a few more wooden decorations we need to set up and find the perfect place to display.  We also started to do some baking and I’m excited to share the recipe for these yummy chocolate cookies. I’ve been making these for many years, this year I slightly changed the recipe, using melted chocolate and sweetened only with coconut sugar. The outside needs to be slightly crisp with a chewy soft center, and they are gluten free. These cookies need to dry/rest overnight and bake only for a few minutes. Forming the balls is pretty messy, just to warn you;) but you will not regret it!

 

 

Almond Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 250 g coconut sugar
• 200 g semisweet chocolate chips
• 300 g ground almonds
• 2-3 tbsp corn starch

-Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

-In a medium bowl whisk together eggs and coconut sugar.

-Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler. Add to the egg mixture. Mix in almonds and corn starch until well combined.

-Cover and let cool in refrigerator at least 1/2 hour. Dough has to be more formable.

-Using a tablespoon or teaspoon, scoop out portions then roll into balls. Place onto baking sheets. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest/dry over night.

-Preheat oven to 380F (convection setting). Bake for 3-5 minutes. Cookies should only have some little cracks, and lightly browned at the bottom. Do not overbake they will still harden a little while cooling down.

 

Hope you give it a try! Let me know if you do:)

Enjoy!

 

You can find me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian