Orange Chocolate Pancakes...

It's been a while since we've had some GLBTK pancakes! Pancakes are awesome... if you're smart about it, you can make incredible pancakes using only ingredients which support your goals. You know what that means? You can have dessert for breakfast AND it can be healthy! I really wish I knew this years ago...

Chocolate & orange is one of my favourite flavour combinations, so it took a whole lot of restraint to wait and take photos!

For the pancakes: 

• 3 eggs 
• 1 tbsp ground almonds
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp coconut milk 
• 1 tsp Irish honey
• 1 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Whisk all the ingredients together until well combined and frothy. 

Pour batter into a hot pan with a little melted coconut oil to prevent sticking. 

The pancakes are ready to flip when tiny air bubbles appear on the surface. 

Serve pancakes warm with Greek yoghurt and orange chocolate sauce. 

For the orange chocolate sauce:

• juice of 1/2 a large orange 
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp Irish honey
• 1 tbsp Greek yoghurt

Bring the orange juice, cocoa, coconut oil & honey to a gentle boil and allow to simmer over a low heat for 2 minutes whilst stirring constantly. 

Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. (Reserve 1 tbsp of sauce at this point to drizzle over the top of pancakes if desired)

Mix in Greek yoghurt to remaining sauce stirring until just combined. Pour over the warm pancakes. 

To serve:

Top the pancakes with Greek yoghurt, followed by the orange chocolate sauce. Drizzle the reserved chocolate sauce over the top. 

Serve immediately.

Orange Chocolate Mousse..

I've never really understood why we eat Christmas pudding (the heaviest dessert in the world) after what is generally the biggest dinner of the year... Wouldn't it be nice to actually feel good after your Christmas dinner this year with the added bonus of knowing that your dessert hasn't set your progress back?

Instead of feeling like a Christmas pudding this year, why not try something different? Here's a great recipe for Orange Chocolate Mousse which just happens to be dairy & refined sugar free AND it tastes just like a Terry's chocolate orange bar :)

• 1 can full fat coconut milk (refrigerated overnight to help it solidify & separate from the water) 
• 2 tsp Keen almond butter*
• 1 tsp coconut oil (melted)
• zest of 1 large orange
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 egg whites
• 1 tbsp raw organic honey

Start by scooping out all the solidified coconut milk from the top of the can (you don't need the water, but it would be great added to a smoothie)

Add the almond butter, melted coconut oil, orange zest & cocoa powder to the coconut milk. Whisk all the ingredients together until they start to thicken (an electric whisk will be better for this but you can use a hand whisk if you're patient!) 

In a separate heatproof bowl set over simmering water, whisk the egg whites & honey together until you have stiff & glossy opaque peaks. You need to whisk this mixture constantly or you'll end up with scrambled eggs! 

Remove from the heat. 

Begin adding the egg whites to the coconut milk mixture, 1/3 at time. Adding the egg whites slowly makes it easier to incorporate fully & prevents over mixing which will leave you with a heavy mousse. 

Once you have full mixed in the egg whites, you can spoon into serving dishes. Garnish with flaked almonds. 

You can serve this straight away, or allow it to chill overnight. 

*I always use Keen almond butter because it's nice to support Irish businesses, I'm too lazy to make my own & a lot of the other popular brands have salt or palm oil added... I've no problem with the salt, but it doesn't usually work in sweet recipes..