Pink Lady Apples are one of my favourite pieces of fruit – I eat them EVERY DAY. So when they got in touch to ask if I wanted to do a post with them then it was a no brainer! There are tonnes of delicious recipes you can make with apples – one of my absolute favourites being apple crumble. But I wanted to use them for something a bit different than dessert. I decided to make some healthy treats to eat after training or pick at during the day. So I decided to make apple and cinnamon protein bars and apple crisps. Both using Pink Lady Apples of course!
Apple, Cinnamon & Coconut Protein Bars
These are adapted from a recipe I found online by Amy’s Healthy Baking, a US based food blogger. I changed up some of the ingredients but took the basic structure from her, so thank you Amy.
When I’m training, I like to grab a protein based snack when I finish. I’d read in Women’s Health that the optimum post-workout snack has both carbs and protein so protein bars seem like the most obvious thing to eat to me. But finding one without nuts in (Andrew is allergic) and without dairy in (I am intolerant) is pretty tricky! So why not make my own?
I got my ingredients from a mixture of Tesco and Holland and Barrett (who always have good deals on and are a great place to pick up unusual ingredients!).
Ingredients
- 1 small apple (I used Pink Lady Apples of course!)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 60g soy protein
- 28g coconut flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 63g apple sauce
- 195ml coconut milk
- 3/4 tsp vanilla stevia
Method
Dice the apple into small chunks – imagine that they’re like the chocolate chips in the mixture. So you don’t want them to be too big or so small that they just disintegrate. Heat a teaspoon of coconut oil into a non-stick pan and sprinkle over 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon. Cook over a medium heat until the apple is browned, the skin is soft and the juice is cooked off.
In a bowl, mix together the protein powder, coconut flour and salt. Give it a good stir. Tip – be careful when you’re measuring out the coconut flour, it’s very drying so don’t go overboard or there’ll be no moisture left in your bars!
Add in the apple sauce, coconut milk and stevia, combining it together into one big paste. Stir in the apple chunks and mix well.
Line a tray or shallow dish with greaseproof paper and spread the mixture out, pressing it down into a hard block. Smooth out the top.
Refrigerate for at least 3 hours then cut into slices and eat. Simple as that!
I’m not going to lie, these aren’t the prettiest things I’ve ever seen in my life BUT looks aren’t everything! They taste sweet and are stacked full of protein, with a yummy hit of apple running through. They’re the perfect bite sized treat to grab from the fridge after a sweaty session at the gym.
Apple Crisps
Apple crisps are probably even easier to make than the protein bars! In fact they are so straight forward, I’m not even going to bother listing out ingredients and method.
Slice two apples into thin slices. Sprinkle over some cinnamon if you want to. Lay out on a baking tray and pop into a preheated oven (140°C / 120°C fan) for 40 minutes. Take out and leave to cool until crispy.
What are your favourite apple recipes? Will you be trying either of my recipes?
♥ JH
Such great ideas! 🙂 these both look tasty! xo
What a great recipe! I love pink lady apples too. These sound delicious!
JennyLovesBeauty♥
Oh both of these look lovely – I’ve never made my own crisps before but you make it look easy. We have all the equipment – just need to do it!