Walnut Coffee Loaf

Hello lovelies,

I am so happy to finally bring to you the first recipe of 2019! And with that, I introduce the humble, delicious, tasty, moist, sweet, coffee-y walnut loaf. It is my new latest love. I created it this morning and I can just tell it’s going to be a staple for me this year. Not only is it oil-free and gluten-free but it can be made refined-sugar free AND the base of the recipe is made with OATS so basically you can have Walnut Coffee cake for breakfast – I mean does it get any better!?

It’s been a really lovely start to the New Year. With my newfound health & vitality, I am finding I am bouncing around with energy & enthusiasm again. I feel I have a new lease on life, which is just incredible. Because when I compare that to last year and all of the immense struggles with imbalances I was experience all I have to say is: wow. I am thoroughly stoked I made it through. Last years’ experiences really made me realize how precious health really is. When all of my energy, vibrancy and zest for life was drained out of me from my hectic stomach issues I honestly felt very hopeless. But since working so intimately and in-depth with the issues at hand: working with them from a physical, emotional, mental, psychological, energetic & deeply spiritual level I feel I really learnt the roots of the issue (which therefore released the issue) and learnt radical lessons within those months. I am yet to write a full post on this – sharing my experiences and in this post I will go into depth into the causes, outcomes and finally touch on all the things I did to help heal myself.

Without waffling on for too much longer, I just want to let you know that from now on I will be keeping the recipe posts and the lifestyle/wellbeing posts slightly more separate. Recipe posts will be simple, short, concise(er) and more to-the-point and the posts regarding self-care, lifestyle, wellbeing, balance etc. will largely be located in the “Wellbeing” category. However, this will change when I start to weave some information on the energy of food with certain recipes to do a more immersive learning/experiential take on food and its’ effects on our energy and mental bodies (as well as our physical bodies!).

For now, I hope you find as much joy and delight in this recipe as I did/do! It’s a great on-the-go breakfast food to take with you for those busy days OR for dessert/afternoon tea. It pairs perfectly with a nice creamy cup of coffee and a slathering of almond butter for some added decadence!

Ingredients:

·       1.5 cups of Jungle Oats

·       ¼ cup of gluten-free cake mix

·       ½ cup of organic raw cane sugar

·       1/3 cup of soy milk

·       ½ cup of homemade apple sauce

·       1/3 cup of walnuts, roughly chopped

·       3 tablespoons of instant coffee

·       ¾ teaspoon of Himalayan salt

·       ½ tablespoon of baking powder

·       1/3 teaspoon of baking soda

·       ½ tablespoon of ground cinnamon

·       1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Method:

1.     Preheat your oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

2.     In a small bowl place the soy milk with the vinegar and let it sit for a few minutes

3.     Place the oats, sugar, instant coffee, cinnamon, salt, gluten free oats, baking powder and baking soda into the Nutri-bullet and blend on high until all is well broken down into a flour like texture. Transfer to a bowl.

4.     Now mix in the soy milk mixture as well as the apple sauce and mix until combined.

5.     Line a medium sized baking dish with parchment paper and pour the mixture into the baking dish. Top with chopped walnuts and then bake for 40 minutes or until a knife in the center comes out relatively clear. The baking time will vary according to your individual oven as well as the size of your baking dish: my baking dish/loaf pan was relatively small. So just keep your eye on it to ensure it doesn’t burn or overcook!

AND VOILA! It is really that easy to make delicious, plant based sweet treats without breaking the bank or your health. I hope you enjoy every mouthful J

 SIDE NOTE: for the applesauce, you can use store bought applesauce but it is also the easiest thing in the world to make so I made my own in five minutes: simply peel and chop three apples, bring them to the boil in water until tender & then blend with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice! VOILA!

Yours in Love and Health

Maria