Healthy Cookie-dough Lemon Bars

Have you tried lemon desserts yet? If not, start with this healthy lemon bars recipe. It's light, tangy, non-sickeningly sweet like most lemon desserts and is such a guiltless pleasure. I know chocolate is the main go-to dessert for everyone, but it sometimes calls for non-chocolate ones. As I'm not really a cream-dessert kinda gal, I'm more inclined to fruity treats. They are generally a bit lighter than normal desserts, taking most of their sweetness and flavor from all-natural fruits. I've made a Weight Watchers lemon bars recipe before,which I didn't really like, so I decided to pursue my own.
Here is my humble attempt at healthy lemon bars, with a fiber-full crust and a rich lemony topping.
Note: I didn't sprinkle my lemon cubes in the below picture with sugar/coconut. The white surface is just the light froth from beating the lemon.

Ingredients:

Crust:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup bran
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar


Lemon Topping:

4 eggs
4 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. sugar substitute (I use Z Sweet)1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon lemon zest, grated

Powdered sugar for topping, or shredded coconut (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.
2. Prepare a small baking dish with cooking spray, or 2 overlapping parchment papers for easy removal from the dish.
3. Mix dry ingredients of the crust together. 
4. In a separate bowl, whisk sugar, egg and oil until well combined. 
5. Add dry mix to wet mix and mix until everything is incorporated in the dough.
6. Press the dough into baking dish and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
7. While crust is baking, prepare lemon topping. Beat eggs in a medium bowl. Add sugar, honey, lemon juice, cornstarch, baking powder and lemon zest and stir until well mixed. 
8. Pour egg mixture over baked crust. Return pan to oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes (do not overbake)
9. Cut into cubes while still warm. Sprinkle powdered sugar/ shredded coconut when cooled. Yields 24 cubes.
10. Serve in room temperature or cold.

Whole-wheat Cocoa, Bran and Flax Seed Cookies

If you're anything like me and you love your chocolate and chocolaty stuff but on an eat-clean mission for weightloss, fitness or health reasons, then you have definitely been going crazy trying to find good recipes or, even harder, products that fill the above criteria. Well, I hear you, guys, and I'm there. So I've been working on a recipe that would look, taste and be good enough, and I finally reached it. This one is high in fiber, so it's very good for your bowls too. (And here I am talking and worrying about others' bowl movements, again! I have a toddler, so this is always on my mind)
I used bran and flax seeds, but you can also use oatmeal instead of flax. You can also spice it up with semi-sweet chocolate chips or nuts/raisins for an added oomf. I chose to do the basic recipe here, but any further tweaking is up to your preferences.

You'll need:

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tbs bran
1 tbs any kind of white flour
1/4 cup raw cocoa powder
1 tbs flax seeds
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup brown/Stevia sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract ( or 1 sachet) 1/4 cup canola/vegetable oil

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 180º c. (350º f.) 2. Combine flours, baking powder, bran, baking soda and cocoa powder in a bowl.
3. In a seperate bowl, whisk sugar, egg, vanilla and oil till well-combined.
4. Gradually add dry mixture to wet mixture and whisk it (either by hand or food processor) until everything is well incorporated in the dough. Add flax seeds last.
5. Line a baking sheet/tray with parchment paper (or spray with cooking spray/lightly brush with oil) and divide dough into spoonfuls onto it. Yields about 24 small cookies.
6. Cook in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Leave to cool completely before serving.

Skinny Chicken Shawerma Wraps

Most people love shawerma for its tasty convenience, but it's usually super greasy and heavy, with fat almost dripping off. Yuck!
Here's my healthy version of a family favorite.

You need:
• 4 Boneless, skinless, chicken breast fillets
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 2 bell peppers, chopped
• 1 small onion, roughly-chopped
• 1 spring onion, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• 1/4 cup LF buttermilk

• 1/2 tsp coconut/olive oil

• 1 and 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
• 1/4 tsp each of ground pepper, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, all-spice, sumac and shawerma seasoning.

P.S. I found the latter in the spice section of a local department store(Fathalla), but you can try any local spice shop/section. If unavailable, replace with 1/4 tsp each of turmeric, ground cumin & cayenne pepper.

Steps:

1. Slice chicken into thin strips, then cut the strips into small bits.

2. Brush a non-stick skillet with olive/coconut oil, then heat it over medium heat.

3. When oil is hot enough, put the chicken bits in, along with pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, cardamom, ginger and cinnamon.

4. Stir "fry" the chicken until cooked through, about 10 minutes.

5. Add onions, stir until translucent. Add carrots and spring onion. Cook vegetables till softened.
6. Add the rest of seasoning/spices; salt, all-spice, sumac and shawerma seasoning/ spice blend, and mix well.
7. Pour the buttermilk in, cover  and leave to simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes. 
8. Serve hot in wholegrain flat bread (Brown Lebanese bread), with tahini/yogurt sauce and your desired salad. I served mine with beetroot tahini sauce and carrot-cucumber salad.