Cooking with Morgan: 2 Sweet Snacks

April 11 2020 Nutrition Tips

Sweet Snack Time. 

Morgan is back with 2 great ideas for sweet snacks to keep you satisfied. Check out these great recipes and easy directions.(and no they aren’t just opening a bag of cookies).

Personally, I am more of a sweet fan than savoury so this is an easy one for me. However, there will be a savoury snack post to come but I must start here. If you are home looking for some ideas to mix your snack life up, add some variety in a healthy yet delicious way I am sure you will like one of these ideas. Let us not feel bad for food as it is fuel for our bodies and something to be shared and enjoyed. Don’t restrict yourself during a time of such restriction, allow yourself to enjoy and indulge. Listen to your body, eat when you are hungry and hydrate when you are not. Don’t complicate it! My hope for you is to recreate a snack that is guilt free and delicious.

AVOCADO PUDDING. YES.

YES. This is a sweet not savoury snack as an avocado may lead you to believe. Avocados are a beautiful fruit as depending on the ingredients you pair it with it can be sweet or savoury. The flavour it gives off as a standalone food is not overwhelming, very mild and easy to manipulate.

This recipe is so simple and jam packed with nutrients. High in protein, healthy fats and lower in carbohydrates; it tastes like an amazing dessert!

Ingredients:

  • 100g of Avocado
  • 1 tbsp. of cocoa
  • 1 tsp. of honey or maple syrup
  • 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder
  • ¼- ½ cup Unsweetened coconut milk

Directions:

  • Mash 100g of avocado with a fork.
  • Mix in ¼ cup of unsweetened coconut milk.
  • Add 1 tbsp. of cocoa.
  • Add 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder.
  • Mix all ingredients with fork.
  • If super dry, add the other ¼ cup of coconut milk (you’re looking to achieve a pudding consistency)
  • Blend with a hand blender OR in a food processor until creamy pudding consistency.
  • Carefully add more liquid if needed as you blend.
  • Refrigerate and consume next day or a couple of hours until chilled.

The macros for this recipe are: 20g of carbohydrates, 20-30g of protein and 20g of fats. If you are looking for some extra calories, you can add seeds or nuts of your choice. As you can see, I did in the picture below.

Protein Granola

Granola is such a versatile food! You can have it with so many things, make it so many ways and this is why it should be a staple in your snack cupboard. It’s not super complicated to make and so delicious. A lot of store bought brands have a bunch of sugar and other things you may not recognize. This is why making it at home is even better because you know exactly what you are putting into it. You can have this granola on its own as a little snack or it can be added to yogurt, smoothie or oatmeal bowls. You can even have it in a bowl with your favourite milk (oat, nut, dairy) as a cereal!

This recipe can be modified depending if you use chocolate or vanilla protein powder. If making a chocolate granola I recommend throwing a handful of chocolate chips in once it has cooled. If you use vanilla I recommend adding 1 tbsp. of cinnamon and maybe using cashews instead of peanuts. Otherwise all ingredients can remain the same.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of oats or buckwheat flakes
  • ½ cup of buckwheat groats
  • 1 scoop of protein powder
  • ½ cup of natural peanuts or raw nut of your choice
  • 2 tbsp. of chia seeds
  • 2 tbsp. of pumpkin seeds
  • 1 tbsp. of flax seed
  • 1 cup of dates roughly chopped
  • of coconut chips or unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 2 tbsp. melted coconut oil
  • ¼ cup of honey (add more if it still looks dry)

Directions:

  1. In a large mixing bowl add and mix all dry ingredients (everything except for the coconut oil and honey)
  2. Once well mixed add the melted coconut oil and honey.
  3. Mix thoroughly until all pieces are coated.
  4. Preheat your oven to 350°
  5. Oil your baking sheet and spread the granola on and flatten into the sheet.
  6. Bake for 25 minutes (or until golden brown).
  7. Allow to cool on baking sheet and then store in a sealed container for up to 1 week.

This recipe makes 5 servings. The macros per serving are 62g of carbohydrates, 10g of protein and 19g of fat. For the entire batch, you are looking at 310g of carbohydrates, 50g of protein and 95g of fat. The pictures below are of the chocolate granola version.