I’ve already blogged on about the nutritional value of macadamias and lemons (especially lemon rind), so I won’t go there again. These are blondies (as opposed to brownies), and as well as macas and lemons, they are a good source of protein with their eggs and low fat ricotta. They have no butter and very little sugar (in fact, I shall be interested to see if the reviewers think they’re sweet enough).
The Muesli Bar Challenge is a weekly series of recipes for school lunch box treats that are healthy, based on in season ingredients, easy and fast to make, and rated by my school age reviewers as preferable to the overpackaged, overpriced junk food based on corn syrup and trans fats so aggressively marketed to kids. I am aiming for one for every week of the school year – this is number 20 and so far I have won all 20.
The Recipe:
Makes 8 blondies.
- Turn the oven on to medium to heat up.
- Coarsely chop 50 grams of fresh macadamia nuts and put them in the oven to roast as it warms up. You want them with just a touch of toasty brown-ness.
- Grate the rind off a lemon, then juice it. You need 3 teaspoons of zest and 100 ml of juice.
- Beat 3 eggs with 3 dessertspoons of brown sugar and 125 grams of low fat ricotta.
- Add a teaspoon of vanilla essence, a pinch of salt, and the grated rind and juice.
- Mix in 1¼ cups of wholemeal self raising flour and the toasted macadamia nuts.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan. Bake in a moderate oven for 25 minutes or so until it is firm in the centre and golden on the edges.
Oh – they look great – do you reckon you could swap goats or sheeps yogurt for the ricotta? or something else? Love teh low sugar and I bet you could swap the brown sugar for rapadura.
thanks! I drooled!
Perfect, Linda! I have a container of ricotta in the fridge leftover from some homemade pasta. This will be great to use it up. I don’t know if the blondies will get as far as their lunchboxes though… 🙂
I got my lunch box out at work and my Blonde didn’t make the office….Yummmy.
It’s now 3PM and i want another one. Why didn’t i save that last one?
I know the sweet tooths won’t like it, they can give me theirs.
Hi
I nabbed neds as he couldnt be found!
Nice taste – not too sweet and subtely tangy – loved the nuts. Couldnt taste the ricotta – wonder what would happen if you put in more. They were a little dense in consistency yet I think that is the nature of them. Great Linda. Thank you
Yum, very yum and good. I loved the honey taste – was there honey in them? Didnt get crushed in my lunchbox.
Oak
Nice. I thought it was sweet enough, definitely. Loved the nutty-ness. It was drier than others but very nice with a drink of milk or cuppa.
yummy yummy in my tummy