Macaroon Slice...

I'm pretty much unable to resist a challenge, so when a friend asked me to 'health-ify' these Macaroon Slices, I set to work straight away! I'm firmly of the opinion that there are very few commercially produced treats that can't be made healthier at home... Feel free to make some suggestions and I'll get to work! 

This recipe requires a little patience since it is made up of 3 layers.... they're all really simple though so you can't go wrong! 

For the base:

• 120g ground almonds
• 50g dessicated coconut
• 1 tbsp Irish honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg yolk
• 50g butter, melted

Preheat oven to 160d (fan). Line an 8" square baking tin with greaseproof paper. 

Add all the ingredients together and mix well until you have a firm dough. 

Press the dough into base of lined tin. 

Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. 

For the raspberry jam filling:

• 150g frozen raspberries
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Add the raspberries and lemon juice to a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and allow to simmer over a low heat for approx 5 minutes to allow the jam to thicken. 

Spread an even layer of jam over the cooled base.

For the macaroon topping:

• 3 eggs
• 4 tbsp Irish honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 150g dessicated coconut
• 100g butter, melted

Whisk the eggs & honey together until pale and trebled in volume. 

Fold in the butter, coconut & cinnamon. Stir until just combined. 

Spread over the jam filling. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes until firm and golden. 

Set aside to cool before cutting into squares. 

Brookies!!

Thanks to Aimee for the name! Part cookie, and part brownie these grain & refined sugar free Brookies are the ultimate in healthy greed!!

The base is a delicious chewy chocolate chip cookie, and the topping a rich fudgy brownie... You can't decide if you want a cookie or a brownie? Thank GLBTK for these awesome Brookies!

The best part? They're made using recipes I've already shared! With a little imagination you can adapt all my recipes to change flavours and keep things varied... or you can wait for me to do it for you!

To make the Brookies:

So for the cookie base, I used this Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe... they're pretty awesome when made as cookies too!

Start by preheating the oven to 160d (fan). Line 7" square tin with baking parchment.

Make the cookie dough as per the recipe (I used Cacao Nibs).

Set aside to chill while you prepare the brownie batter. I just used the brownie part of this recipe (ie. without the cheesecake topping).

To assemble:

Press the chilled cookie dough into an even layer in the base of the prepared tin.

Top with the brownie batter and spread evenly.

Bake for 15-20 minutes (this really depends on your oven). You'll know the Brookies are baked when they are firm with a slight wobble in the centre. They will continue to cook a little from the heat of the tin once removed. Don't leave them as underbaked as you would with brownies or the gooey chocolate will seep into the biscuit base making it soft.

Set aside to cool before cutting into bitesize squares.

These are about as indulgent as it gets! Serious awesomeness right here!