Healthy Snack Recipes

Energy balls

Energy balls

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Energy balls

We’re seeing these little balls of energy everywhere, they are great to have before exercise, or when you feel as if you are flagging, as the simple sugars in the fruits will give you instant energy, and the nuts, nut butters or oats will give you a slow release of energy. We’ve made three flavours but you can create your own using the same idea. Chill until needed. They will keep for 5 days.
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Total Time 15 mins
Servings 12 of each
Calories 86 kcal

Ingredients
  

PEANUT BUTTER AND DATE BITES

  • 5 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
  • 6 tbsp porridge oats
  • 2 tbsp dates finely chopped
  • 1 tsp chia seeds

COCONUT AND APRICOT BITES

  • 1 1/2 tbsp coconut butter
  • 3 tbsp apricots finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp desiccated coconut plus more for rolling
  • 3 tbsp porridge oats

PISTACHIO AND GOJI BERRY BITES

  • 3 tbsp pistachio kernels chopped
  • 3 tbsp goji berries roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 3 tbsp milled flaxseed

Instructions
 

  • Put all the ingredients for whichever bite you are making in a small blender and pulse until well combined. Take out tsps of the mix, and roll into balls. Dust in desiccated coconut (if using), or sesame seeds if you like, before chilling.

Slow-roasted tomato and harissa tartine

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Slow-roasted tomato and harissa tartine

Something magical happens inside the oven with this recipe – the tomato flavour intensifies ten-fold to the point where it’s almost jam-like
Print Recipe
Total Time 55 mins
Servings 4
Calories 281 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 6 large & ripe plum tomatoes halved
  • 1 clove garlic crushed
  • 2-3 sprigs thyme leaves picked, plus extra to serve
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 ball burrata
  • 4 thin slices sourdough toasted
  • 2 tbsp rose harissa or regular harissa

Instructions
 

  • Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3 and line a baking tray with baking paper.
  • Put the tomato halves in a bowl with the garlic, thyme and olive oil, then season – toss to make sure the tomatoes are well coated. Scatter over the lined tray, cut-side up, and roast in the oven for 45 minutes-1 hour.
  • To serve, spread the burrata on the toast, then spoon on some of the harissa. Top with the roasted tomatoes, then sprinkle over a little more thyme to serve.

Slow cooker instructions

  • Put the tomato halves in your slow cooker, along with the garlic, thyme and olive oil, then season. Toss to make sure they are well coated, then make sure they’re all cut-side up. Put on the lid and cook on the high setting for 2 hours. Then follow step 3 as above.

Sweetcorn pancakes with avocado salad

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Sweetcorn pancakes with avocado salad

This dish is simple to prepare and makes perfect finger food for a light starter or low fat dinner. Sweetcorn pancakes are topped with a salad of avocado, cherry tomatoes
Print Recipe
Total Time 30 mins
Servings 4
Calories 279 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 100 g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 150 ml milk
  • 340 g tin sweetcorn (1 large tin, drained)
  • 4 spring onions chopped (use the green bits as well)
  • 1 avocado chopped (use the green bits as well)
  • 150 g cherry tomatoes halved
  • 1/4 cucumber cut into small chunks
  • 2 tsp sunflower oil to fry

Instructions
 

  • Whisk together the flour, baking powder, egg and milk and season well. Stir in the sweetcorn and half the spring onion. Mix the rest of the spring onions with the avocado, tomatoes and cucumber.
    Heat a non-stick pan with 2 tsp oil and cook spoonfuls of the batter until golden. Turn over and cook the other side.
    Put 3-4 pancakes on a plate and serve the avocado salad on top.

White chocolate, tahini and pretzel cookies

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White chocolate, tahini and pretzel cookies

Tahini gives a lovely sweet and salty kick to these crisp, grown-up cookies, while pretzels add extra crunch
Print Recipe
Total Time 50 mins
Calories 217 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 225 g unsalted butter
  • 50 g tahini
  • 225 g good-quality white chocolate
  • 300 g plain flour
  • 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds plus a few seeds to decorate
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 2 pinches ground cinnamon
  • 220 g soft light brown sugar
  • 100 g golden caster sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 85 g pretzels roughly broken into shards

Instructions
 

  • Melt the butter and tahini in a pan over a low heat, stirring until melted. Cool for 5 minutes. Keep 25g of the white chocolate for finishing off the cookies, then chop the rest into small chunks.
  • Mix together the flour, sesame seeds, bicarb and cinnamon with 1 tsp of salt.
  • Put the sugars in a big mixing bowl, pour in the melted butter and beat together with an electric whisk to combine. Add in the eggs and vanilla, and continue to whisk until the mixture pales and starts to thicken. Tip in the dry ingredients and mix in with a wooden spoon until just incorporated, then scatter over 3/4 of both the white chocolate chunks and pretzels, and briefly mix in. Cover the dough and chill for 30-45 minutes until firm enough to spoon with an ice-cream scoop.
  • Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5 and line 2-3 baking sheets with baking paper (see cook’s notes). Use a small-medium ice cream scoop or a tablespooon to spoon out cookie dough balls and space about 10cm apart on the baking sheets. Scatter over the remaining chocolate chunks and pretzels and gently push in, then sprinkle over a few pinches more of the sesame seeds.
  • Bake for 9-10 minutes or until the edges are brown but the centres soft still. Finely grate the reserved 25g white chocolate over the cookies as they come out of the oven. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
  • NOTE: For cookies that are even in size, shape and texture it’s best to bake one tray at a time on the middle shelf –stacking trays means the cookies at the top and bottom of the oven may be overdone and underdone.

No-bake vegan flapjacks

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No-bake vegan flapjacks

These dairy-free breakfast bars use dates and nut butter to hold together. Experiment with different seeds and nuts in your next batch of flapjacks, and use agave for a vegan version.
Print Recipe
Calories 145 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 160 g soft dates chopped
  • 60 g smooth peanut or almond butter
  • 40 g agave syrup (use honey for a non-vegan version)
  • 4 tbsp sunflower seeds
  • 4 tbsp chia seeds
  • 100 g porridge oats
  • 50 g roasted peanuts or almonds roughly chopped

Instructions
 

  • Blitz the dates in a food processor until finely chopped and they’ve come together into a ball/paste. Add 1 tbsp boiling water if they aren’t sticking. Heat the nut butter and honey very gently in a pan until it becomes a smooth, pourable mix.
  • Stir all the remaining ingredients and the dates in a large bowl, then pour over the nut butter and honey mix. Mix really well (kneading with your hands to break up the dates) until everything is evenly distributed.
  • Line a 20cm square tin or container with baking parchment, and tip the mix in. Press the mixture into the sides and pack down with the back of a spoon. Cover and chill for 20 minutes, before cutting into bars. Keep the bars in the fridge or in an airtight container for 3 days, or freeze and thaw overnight at room temperature if you want to keep them longer.

Notes

Adapted from olivemagazine.com

Goat’s cheese and red onion tarts

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Impress your guests by bringing out this delicious veggie tart made from scratch. Creamy goats cheese and sweet red onion is baked on top of shortcrust pastry with thyme and balsamic vinegar. A little effort but worth

Goat’s cheese and red onion tarts

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Ingredients
  

  • Ingredients
  • shortcrust pastry 500g block
  • red onions 2 very large
  • olive oil
  • balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp
  • thyme leaves chopped to make ½ tbsp
  • goat’s cheese 6 slices from a small log or
  • English goat’s cheese with a bloomy rind 3 halved

Instructions
 

  • Method
  • STEP 1
  • Heat the oven to 200c/fan 180c/gas 6. Line 6 tart tins (about 10cm across) with pastry and prick the bases.
  • Line with parchment and baking beans and bake for 10 minutes or until the pastry starts to brown, lift out the parchment and bake for another 5 minutes or until the pastry is crisp, dried and cooked.
  • STEP 2
  • Meanwhile, slice the red onion thickly (you need 6 fat slices). Heat a little oil in a large frying pan (you may need to use 2 pans, or do it in 2 batches) and carefully fry the slices, without breaking them, on each side until they start to soften, about 15 minutes in total.
  • Add the balsamic and thyme and bubble together.
  • STEP 3
  • Lift a slice of onion into each tart and put a slice of goat’s cheese on top, against one side of the pastry so it is off centre.
  • STEP 4
  • Bake until the goat’s cheese begins to bubble and brown a little. Drizzle with a little olive oil before serving.

Notes

Adapted from olivemagazine.com

Posh hummus

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This poshed-up hummus with tomatoes and spring onion tastes so much better than shop-bought. Eat as a dip or in falafel wraps – it will be your new favourite.

Posh hummus

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Ingredients
  

  • Ingredients
  • chickpeas 400g tin rinsed and drained
  • olive oil
  • lemon 1 juiced
  • pitta bread to serve
  • tomatoes 2 chopped
  • paprika to sprinkle
  • spring onions 2 finely chopped

Instructions
 

  • Method
  • STEP 1
  • Whizz the chickpeas to a dryish paste in a food processor. Add olive oil and lemon juice to taste and a little water if necessary, keep whizzing. Stir in the spring onions and tomatoes and season well. Dust with paprika and serve with pitta bread.

Notes

Adapted from olivemagazine.com

Sweetcorn pancakes with avocado salad

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This dish is simple to prepare and makes perfect finger food for a light starter or low fat dinner. Sweetcorn pancakes are topped with a salad of avocado, cherry tomatoes

Sweetcorn pancakes with avocado salad

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • Ingredients
  • plain flour 100g
  • baking powder 1 tsp
  • egg 1 beaten
  • milk 150ml
  • sweetcorn 1 large tin about 340g, drained
  • spring onions 4 chopped (use the green bits as well)
  • avocado 1 cut into small chunks
  • cherry tomatoes 150g halved
  • cucumber ¼ cut into small chunks
  • sunflower oil

Instructions
 

  • Method
  • STEP 1
  • Whisk together the flour, baking powder, egg and milk and season well. Stir in the sweetcorn and half the spring onion. Mix the rest of the spring onions with the avocado, tomatoes and cucumber.
  • Heat a non-stick pan with 2 tsp oil and cook spoonfuls of the batter until golden. Turn over and cook the other side.
  • Put 3-4 pancakes on a plate and serve the avocado salad on top.

Notes

Adapted from olivemagazine.com

Avocado and Tuna

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Avocado-and-Tuna
Nice Light Snack.

Avocado and Tuna

Jill Knight
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 2 avocados
  • 1 can albacore tuna packed in water drained and rinsed
  • Lemon juice
  • ½ cup cooked quinoa or ½ cup sweet potato/yam

Instructions
 

  • Cut open and pit avocados.
  • Spoon a heap of tuna into avocado crater.
  • Drizzle with lemon juice.
  • Serve. Pair with cooked quinoa or sweet potato/yam.