Vegan twix bars |Recipe

Surprisingly… it has taken me 4 years to recreate and veganize twix bars. In the past I have veganized kit-kat andsnickers bars… however they may need an updating soon just to double check the recipe and make a few changes if necessary. But I am surprised that it has taken me so long to try to make twix.One reason… I thought it would be somewhat difficult with the caramel.Two, twix wasn’t my favourite candy bar even when I ate dairy. But I have wanted to try give a homemade version a go.The thing about making homemade twix is that it can easily become… far too sweet. The sweet shortbread base, the sweet caramel and then topped with the sweet chocolate…. It can just become too much. But I found that these were ok, not too sweet…. Even if they were still very sweet.Adding a pinch of salt in the caramel and even adding some sea salt ontop of the chocolate doesn’t just make it look fancy, but is also necessary to balance out the sugar and sweetness.There are a few ways you can make twix which I have seen online.Many go down the route of making it a raw food/no sugar/margarine/flour type of snack…. And I think many presumed that I made these twix from dates, nuts and coconut oil when I shared these on my feed (click here).Unfortunately,…. Or fortunately? These are made from sugar, flour, margarine and sugar…. So if that’s not for you, well then I have linked some alternatives on how to make this down below. However, it wouldn’t give you that caramel pull which I shared on my feed and it won’t taste exactly the same. But it can still be delicious 😊 Personally, I like both alternatives…. The rawfood/only natural sugars type of remakes of candy as well as the real deal – just a veganized version. They have two different purposes and taste slightly different, and well… it’s good that options exist!So… You all came here for the recipe so that is exactly what is coming next.But first, just some notes:

You can add some peanut butter or nut butter before the caramel layer to add a little extra salty touch

*Note, the shortbread base will be slightly crumbly, but you need to press it compact and store in the fridge to fully cool before baking.

Also, make the base rather thin, not too thin that it crumbles but about 1-2 cm. Otherwise it is easy for the base to take over in the completed bar.

*How long the shortbread base needs to bake will vary depending on ovens and how big you make the bars, so I highly recommend that you check on the base and not let it overbake. It will firm up when it is cooling, so don’t bake too long, but keep an eye on it as ovens and the size of your base will affect the cooking time.

*Use whatever chocolate you like – I added some coconut oil to mine when melting to thin it out and not be too sweet. You could potentially use a darker chocolate which isn’t as sweet, or why not use maybe a dark chocolate with some flavour in it, to kick it up a notch!

How to make these bars with no sugar/margarine/white flour will be posted after the original recipe!

Recipe:

Makes 16 bars. C.a 1 hour prep/cook/chill time. Minimum 2 hours in the freezer before serving.

Ingredients:

Shortbread base:

200g margarine (take out of the fridge c.a 15 minutes before using)

100g caster sugar

c.a 260g all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1tsp vanilla powder/sugar

½ tsp baking powder

1-2tsbp cold water, if necessary.

Caramel sauce:

500ml vegan cream – either cooking cream (such as imat) or whisking cream such as (Alpro soya)

100ml syrup

3tbsp white sugar & 3 tbsp brown sugar (note, can also use just either or)

2 tbsp margarine

Pinch of salt

Topping:

c.a 100-150g chocolate of choice

Pinch of salt

Optional, 1tbsp coconut oil

How to:

Short bread base:

In a mixer, or a with an electric whisk, cream together the margarine (200g), sugar (100g) and vanilla (1tsp). Once creamed, sift in the flour (260g) and add the salt and baking powder (1/2tsp). Mix until combined and a dough starts to form. Note, you may need to add 1 tbsp of water if it is far too crumbly… but best is to add just a little water at a time so that it doesn’t get too wet. The dough should just about form into a ball/dough.

Wrap the dough in aluminium foil or cling film into a tight ball and place in the fridge for minimum 30 minutes.

In the mean time make the caramel.

Caramel:

To make the caramel, add the cream (500ml), sugar(6tbsp), syrup (100ml) and pinch of salt to a pot. Heat on medium/high temperature and stir to avoid burning. Allow to cook – avoiding burning – for around 10-15 minutes, stirring continuously. The caramel will begin to thicken – remember that it will thicken up more when cooling down. Once the caramel has begun to thicken up, after about 10-12 minutes cooking remove from the heat and add the 2 tbsp of vegan margarine. Allow to melt, stirring if necessary. Set aside and allow to cool down.

Note, if the caramel hasn’t thickened up despite cooling down for atleast 30 minutes, just heat up once again for another few minutes, stirring when necessary, and that will help it to cook a little longer and become thicker.

Preheat the oven to 160C (or 140C with fan). Either grease your baking tray, or place parchment paper in your tray (I personally recommend using parchment paper so you can lift the bar out when done).

Once the shortbread base has chilled in the fridge for minimum 30 minutes, take out of the fridge and press into the base of your baking tray, forming the base of your bars. The dough should have firmed up and not be too crumbly so that you can press it into a base. Remember, to not make the base too thick – or too thin so that it just crumbles apart.

Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes – the time depends on the thickness of your base and what size tray you are making. Just check on the base to make sure it isn’t burning.

Once done, take out of the oven and allow to cool completely.

Chocolate topping:

In the mean time, melt your chocolate over a waterbath. (Heat water in a pot, place a bowl or plate – that can stand the high temperature – ontop of the pot. Place the chocolate in the bowl or plate and it will begin to melt from the steam. Add some coconut oil if you want to thin out the chocolate). Once the chocolate has half way melted, remove the pot from the stove and the chocolate will continue to melt just from the heat.

When the shortbread base has cooled completely and the caramel has thickened up, pour the caramel over the shortbread base and spread out to cover the whole base. Then pour the melted chocolate on top, sprinkle with a little sea salt and place in the fridge to cool and firm up.

In a few hours, take out of the freezer and chop into desired bars or squares! Eat and enjoy 😊 Keep stored in the fridge or freezer, depending on how fast you eat them.

Alternatives:

You can make the base using almond flour and dates which you combine in a food processor (make sure the dates are the fresh kind and not the dry kind).

For the caramel you can make a date based caramel, such as THIS ONE, or you can mix together almond butter, maple syurp and a pinch of vanilla and salt to make a caramel sauce. These are not exactly the same as caramel based on sugar and cream, but it still works.

And for the chocolate topping you can opt for a verk dark chocolate or using sugar free chocolate, or make your “own” chocolate from melted coconut oil, cacao powder, vanilla…. Though that definitely won’t be the same result but it can work.

If you give this recipe a go don’t forget to let me know and tell me what you think! You can tag me or message me on Instagram, itsahealthylifestyle!

Are there any other candy bars you would like me to recreate? 😊

January 14, 2020January 14, 2020

Its a healthy lifestyle

Double chocolate ganache birthday cake | Vegan

Looking for a chocolate cake recipe that isn’t based on dates, coconut and avocado? Or looking for a chocolate cake recipe that i can guarantee you won’t turn out dry?

Well then this is the cake for you.

A brownie-fudge base and a truffle/ganache filling with a tiny bit of rum for that extra kick. But that is entirely optional and would taste amazing without the liquor.

This cake was the result of mixing two good ideas into one. As it was a birthday cake for my mum i didn’t want to make a super simple chocolate cake, but neither did i want to go full on 4 layers with extra filling and toppings like i have in the past. So this cake idea seemed like a good middle ground. Not to mention, easy to throw together meaning that you really don’t need any baking or cooking skills to make this cake.

Also this cake would be a great addition to the new years eve celebrations or dinner 🙂 And a good way to impress non vegans with some amazing vegan cake!

So if you have the ingredients at home, or just want to try this cake… then give this recipe a go!

Also note, you can change the cake base to something else if you don’t want the chocolate cake as the base. Example crush some digestives, add melted margarine and press into the base of your cake form, that will give this cake a bit more crunch.

Changes:

If you want more pear taste you could try adding c.a 30ml of the pear juice from the concentrated pears into the mix. But note, don’t add too much as there is risk that the mix won’t firm up in the fridge then.

You can add frozen – or fresh – raspberries straight to the chocolate mix to add more raspberry flavour.

You can opt for lighter or darker chocolate, but then of course the sweetness will change and if you go for very dark chocolate the cake will taste more bitter. But if you go for a very sweet milk or white chocolate you may want to cut back on a little sugar in the base or skip the vanilla sugar.

Cake recipe:

Serves 12.

30 minutes prep, 30 minutes cook, 2+ hours to chill

Ingredients:

Base:

150 g margarine
100 g vegan chocolate – light or dark
180g all purpose flour
190g sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
Pinch of salt
50g cacao or around 3tbsp
150ml plantbased milk – go for soya or oat

Cake filling – ganache

100 g margarine
250 ml whisking cream, e.g oat or soya
400 g dark chocolate
1 tablespoon icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1 tablespoon light rum, can be excluded

Topping
1 can of preserved pears
1 box, 100 g, raspberry

How to:

Make the base:

Preheat the oven to 175 ° C.
Grease a cake form with some margarine – or place parchment paper around the cake form.
Melt the margarine in a saucepan and remove from the stove. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and add into the melted margarine. Let the chocolate melt, mixing when necessary.
In a baking bowl, mix flour, sugar, vanilla sugar and salt in a bowl and sift in the cocoa. Mix until the dry ingredients are fully combined with no clumps.

Pour the margarine and chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients and add the plantbased milk. Mix until it’s a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the cake form.

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 20-25 minutes. The cake will firm up when it cools down.

Allow to cool down for 20 minutes before placing in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Filling:

Begin by boiling the margarine and cream in a saucepan (the same saucepan), takes around 3-5 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the dark chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl.

When the mararine has melted and the cream is boiling, pour it over the chocolate.

Let stand for 1 minute before mixing until you get a smoothchocolate batter.

Add the icing sugar, vanilla sugar and rum into the mix.

Once the cake base has cooled properly (after being in the freezer) pour the chocolate on top of the base and place in the freezer for around 45 minutes to firm up before placing in the fridge for at least 90 minutes before serving.

*Don’t forget to set a timer so you don’t end up forgetting the cake in the freezer!*

Before serving, add some canned pears and raspberries on top!

This cake tastes almost better a day later, so you can make this cake in advance – just don’t top with the pears or raspberries until it is serving time.

I highly recommend you give this cake a go if you like chocolate.

If you do try this cake, let me know what you think down in the comments below… or let me know on my Instagram (itsahealthylifestyle)

December 29, 2019

Its a healthy lifestyle

Banana bread granola

Crispy, crunchy granola…. amazing to snack on just as it is!!

I remember when i was younger -and even now as an adult – i love eating granola right out of the package!

However storebought granola is often rather expensive – if you want the yummy kind – and it is not so economic for me to buy granola at the same pace i eat granola! So… making my own is definitely a money saver.

Of course nutritionally granola isn’t the best food to eat lots of. This granola recipe – among many others is made with margarine and syrup. That is what adds the sweetness and the crunch.

Sugar and margarine free?

I haven’t personally managed to make a tasty granola without any source of fat – whether it’s oil or margarine. Also the syrup does help with the crunch, but you can use stevia or a sugar free syrup… but i can’t guarantee the results will be the same.

Granola is one of those foods it’s easy to alot of. But just be aware of the sugar content of this granola! But nothing wrong with eating this as a sweet treat with some soya quark and berries!!

If you want another granola recipe, i have made an amazing chocolate and PB granola which you can also try!! RECIPE

How to store the granola?

In a clean, airtight jar. As the granola has banana it does have the risk of getting mushy, especially if it gets wet or is stored in an open jar.

My granola only lasted about 5-7 days, so that is the period i can guarantee it is still ok. But should store up to 10 days.

Tips:

Make sure you let the granola crisp up in the oven. It will still be drying and crisping up after it has baked.

Don’t over crowd the baking pan. It is better to use two baking pans and spread the granola out, so that it all bakes evenly.

If you have some ripe bananas, give this recipe a go 🙂

Recipe:

Prep: 10 minutes, cook time: 35 minutes, cooling time: 2-3 hours

250g oats

100ml syrup

200ml melted vegan margarine

2 bananas, mashed

2tbsp peanut butter *can be omitted

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cardamom

Pinch of salt

2 tbsp chia seeds

Options: banana chips, coconut shreds, pumpkin seeds

How to:

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Begin by adding the dry ingredients in a bowl – oats, seasoning, chia seeds and also if you want some walnuts, coconut pieces or other extras.

Melt the margarine in a pot, add the syrup once melted.

Mash the bananas and add to the margarine mix along with the peanut butter. Mix until combined.

Pour the liquid over the oats and mix so that all the oats are covered.

Pour the granola onto 1-2 baking oans with parchment paper, spread the granola out. However it is ok to leave some clusters, as that is what makes the granola crunchy!

Bake in the oven for around 35-40 minutes. Check on the granola after 20 minutes and stir the granola a little so it bakes evenly.

After c.a 35 minutes, turn the oven off and you can let the granola sit in the oven for 30-60 minutes to cool (leave the oven open a little) before placing in the open to cool for another 2-3 hours. Or you can take the granola out and allow to FULLY cool for 2-3 hours before placing in airtight jars.

As you can see, it is rather easy to make your own granola. You just have to be patient and also try not to eat all the granola at once!!!

If you do try this recipe, let me know what you think 🙂

Don’t forget to follow me on instagram: itsahealthylifestyle where i share more vegan meals and recipes!

October 26, 2019October 26, 2019

Its a healthy lifestyle

Stuffed and baked apples with oat crumble | Vegan

When I was filming a “ my followers deicde what I eat in a day” video for one of my snacks I had the options, fruit salad or stuffed apples. And well, I was very happy that you all voted for stuffed apples because it was something I had never tried before but wanted to.

I realised i never posted this post/recipe, but thought better late than never!

As usual I just sort of threw together something and hoped for the best. I did a little research to see what ingredients were needed and roughly how it was made, however I had an idea of how I would make mine.

Typically the crumble requires flour along with oats. But as I didn’t have any flour at home I made the crumble just using oats, margarine, sugar and cinnamon.

This recipe is fairly simple… however scooping out the insides of the apple does take some time and you do need to be careful to not cut yourself. So if I am honest, It is simpler to just chop up an apple and fry in some margarine, cinnamon and stevia and top with some crumble. Or to just chop the apple, coat in a little melted vegan margerine, cinnamon and stevia and add to a baking dish or small portion size dishes and then coat with the crumble. That feels like a safer and more time consuming dish and recipe.

However, eating the whole baked apple does save dishes… sort of, hahah.

The best is to use a large apple type, sort as pink lady. Not to mention it won’t be as bitter as when you use a green apple, but those were the largest apple kind I could find.

Tips: My recommendation is to have some form of melon scooper, or other utensil which can help you scoop out the fillling of the apple.

Also note: If you do have brown sugar at home, i would recommend you use it instead of white sugar or stevia as it will give more of a caramell taste which works better with apples. When using white sugar or stevia with apples, which are already sweet, it can easily taste “too sweet”.

Recipe:

3-4 apples

1-2tsp cinnamon

1-2tsp stevia/sweetener

Crumble:
60g oats

2-3tbsp sugar/sweetener

1tsp cinnamon

1/2tsp salt

50-80g vegan margarine, at rooms temperature. Start off with 50g and add more as necessary.

Handful of chopped walnuts

Vegan vanilla custard

How to:

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees celsius

Begin by cutting the apples in half, then try to scoop out as much of the “inside” as possible. Place those in a bowl and place the scooped out apple halves in a baking tray.

If the scooped out apple pieces are too big for your liking, you can chop them into smaller pieces!

In the bowl with the scooped out apple pieces, pour over a little cinnamon and stevia. Mix until all the apple pieces are coated in cinnamon and stevia. Then place those apple pieces back into the apple halves. Add some chopped walnuts on top.

Begin making the oat crumble. In a bowl add the oats, stevia, cinnamon, salt and vegan margarine (preferably at rooms temperature so it is a little soft). With your hands, mix and “Press” to form into crumbles.

The mix should not be too dry but not too “buttery” either. So start off with half of the margarine and add more as necessary. Once you have formed the mix into crumbles, place ontop of the apple halves.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the apples are soft and the crumble has turned golden/brown.

Best eaten warm, preferably with some vanilla ice cream or custard.

July 4, 2019

Its a healthy lifestyle2 Comments

Triple layer vegan cookie brownies! [i.e slutty brownies]

When it comes to baking i can never seem to just keep it simple… or well i have a few times in the past. I have just kept myself to a simple carrot cake or just chocolate mudcake.

But typically… i go all out in one way or another when baking. Either by baking two or three cakes instead of one or by making a super tall cake with 3 layers…. or in some cases like this time, baking a 3 layered cookie/brownie.

*This post contains affiliate links to Amazon.uk – meaning that if you purchase something from Amazon i get a small percentage at no extra cost for you. You can see some of the items i use, HERE*

I mean why make just cookies or just brownies when you can combine them?

A warm cookie dough base, a layer of oreos followed by a gooey and perfect brownie on top…. what better than that?

Of course, this is definitely a dessert that needs to be eaten in small doses… just so that you don’t get overwhelmed by the sugar, haha. Also a dessert made for sharing with plenty of friends at example a party!

If you have the ingredients at home, want to surprise friends with an amazing vegan dessert or just crave something super sweet and delicious… then MAKE THIS!

Of course as this has 3 layers… there is risk that one part undercooks or one part cooks too fast. So you want to cook it slow and on lower heat so that no layers cooks too fast or slow comapred to the other 🙂

Make these, eat and enjoy!

Ingredients:

Cookie dough base:

5,5dl (330g) flour

1/2tsp salt

1tsp baking soda

230g vegan margarine

1,7dl (150g) sugar

1tbsp light molasses

2tsp vanilla sugar/powder

c.a 150g chocolate chips

1 package oreos

Chocolate brownie layer:

2,25dl (130g) flour

2,8dl (250g) sugar

5 tbsp cacao powder

1/2 tsp salt

1,5 tbsp oil

8 tbsp melted margarine

170ml water

1tsp vanilla sugar

How to:

Heat the oven to 175degrees celsius. Grease a baking pan with vegan margarine – or place some parchment paper. You can find baking trays HERE

Start by making the cookie base.

1) In a bowl add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix and set aside.

2) In another bowl add the margarine (at rooms temperature) and sugar and whisk until light and fluffy.

3)Add the molasses and vanilla sugar and mix.

4) Add the flour mixture to the margarine mixture and combine – don’t over mix!

5) Then lastly add the chocolate chips

6) Add the cookie dough to the baking pan and spread out evenly.

7) Then add a layer of oreos on top.

Start making the brownie layer:

8) Combine the dry ingredients: Flour, sugar, cacao powder and salt. Whisk together (can sift together ingredients to make sure there are no clumps!)

9) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients: Oil, melted margarine, water and some vanilla powder. Mix together until smooth.

10) Pour the brownie layer ontop of the cookie dough and oreos. Spread evenly.

11) Bake in the oven for around 30-35 minutes. Check after 30 minutes to see if it is cooked all the way through. You can do this by using a potato sticker or a knife and poking all the way through – in the middle – and if it comes out almost dry then it is cooked all the way through. HOWEVER, note that the brownie layer shouldn’t be completely dry as then it will be far too dry when done, so let it be a little wet.

12) Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving!

May 3, 2019May 3, 2019

Its a healthy lifestyle1 Comment