Running behind you with breakfast while you’re rushing out the door, having your dinner ready for you after a long day, doing your laundry, worrying about you till your home, safe and tucked in, being your friend, confidante and sous chef (clean-up-after-your-mess chef) - mothers are incredible aren’t they?
With Mother’s Day just around the corner we thought it only right to provide you with a number of delicious beauty-boosting recipes that are guaranteed to have her reaching for seconds all while delivering a healthy dose of phytonutrients and antioxidants to make her skin glow! Spoiling mum has never been so deliciously easy!
Chocolate black bean brownies
With chocolate being long established as the epitome of spoiling yourself and your loved ones, we had to make sure it made our list of Mother’s Day treats! Cacao (the unrefined, richer version of the cocoa we all know) is actually one of the richest sources of free radical fighting flavonoid antioxidants such as catechin.
Add to that the anthocyanin content of black beans and you’ve essentially got yourself an anti-aging, deliciously decadent treat that your mum and her skin will love (who knew it was possible?). And don’t be afraid to let mum start her mornings with these brownies - the caffeine content in the cacao can help replace her coffee without surrendering her morning pick me up! If this doesn’t make you her favourite, I don’t know what else will!
1/2 cup of coconut sugar (you can use normal cane sugar if you wish)
1/3 cup instant cook oats (or get a 1/3 cup of rolled oats and blend)
2 tbsp of maple syrup
10 medjool dates (pitted)
3 tbsp of melted coconut oil
2 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tbsp of baking powder (make sure it’s the powder and not soda!)
2 tbsp of cacao powder (5g)
Pinch of sea salt
At least 1/2 cup of chocolate chips/cacao nibs (feel free to add more) (cacao nibs have a stronger taste while chocolate chips are sweeter – choose what suits mum best)
Optional extras
Chocolate sauce
Grated walnuts
More chocolate chips/cacao nibs (because why not?)
Method:
Preheat oven to 180°C
In a food processor, mix the contents of both bowls and blend until smooth
If the batter appears too thick and solid, add one or two tablespoons of water and blend again (blend until the consistency is slightly moveable when tilted but not runny)
Then add in the chocolate chips/cacao nibs and pulse a couple of times
Grease a baking tray and pour the mixture in, levelling it off with the back of a spoon or a spatula
Add more chocolate chips to the top and put it into the oven for about 15-20 minutes – until the top is dry and begins to crust
Remove and wait at least 20 minutes for it to cool before removing from the tray
Cut into squares and decorate with nuts, more chips or/and chocolate sauce and serve
Mini Raspberry Bites
If you’re veteran of the Raw Beauty Lab family, you’re no stranger to our love for raspberries! This humble garden fruit is an anti-aging godsend, full of multiple powerful antioxidants including ellagic acid, quercetin and our collagen building hero – vitamin c! All of this is sandwiched between 2 rich layers of cacao (the health benefits of which you’re familiar with) and further garnished with selenium-rich coconut, an important antioxidant that helps protect your cells.
If you’ve tried to bake a cake and it comes out looking a collapsed, dense mess, you’re not alone. Thankfully, this fail-safe, no bake recipe requires the most minimal of culinary skills and best of all, you can prepare it the night before so you can spend Mother’s Day with mum!
Ingredients
The base
1 cup of pitted medjool dates
1 1/2 cups of ground almonds (or roast whole almonds and pulse in a food processor until coarse)
2 tablespoons of cacao powder
1 tbsp almond butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
Collagen-boosting raspberry filling
3 cups of fresh/frozen raspberries
2 cups of shredded desiccated coconut
1 tbsp of coconut sugar
1 tbsp almond butter
1/3 cup of maple syrup
4 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup of solid creamed coconut
1 tablespoon Raw Beauty Lab Vegan Collagen or Beetroot powder
Anti-ageing Chocolate topping
1/2 cup of solid creamed coconut
5 tbsp coconut oil
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup raw cacao powder
1 tbsp almond butter
Method
Soak dates in boiling water for about 20 minutes till soft and then drain
Add almonds, dates and almond butter cacao powder and vanilla extract to a food processor and blend until it’s a sticky mixture
Grease a baking tray/tin and place the mixture into the tin, flattening it with the back of a spoon or a spatula and place it in the fridge
Cook the raspberries in a pan with a splash of water until it has a jammy consistency
Move the raspberry ‘jam’ into a bowl and the rest of the ingredients for the filling to the bowl and mix until it is smooth and combined
Remove the tray with the base from the fridge and add on the raspberry filling mixture over the base layer, pressing it down with a large flat surface (e.g. the back of a tray or small saucepan) and return it to the fridge
Add the almond butter, cacao, coconut oil and creamed coconut to a blender and mix until smooth
Pour the melted chocolate topping over the raspberry filling layer and spread evenly across the top
Add some crumbled walnuts or desiccated coconut over the top and return to the fridge to set for at least 2 hours
Remove, slice them up and enjoy!
*tip: to make sure the top chocolate layer doesn’t crack, use a heated very sharp knife to cut through the slice!
Vegan Lime Cheesecake
Switching gears from chocolate, we have a tangier option for those in the mood to treat their mummies with something a little fresher and equally nutritious. The crust itself is worthy of the skin healing title, filled with oats (rich in avenanthramide antioxidants), omega-3 rich flaxseeds and vitamin e rich pecans! If that wasn’t enough, the cheesecake filling is full of lime juice, cashews, and orange zest that are filled with vitamin C, carotenoids and vitamin E (respectfully).
This cheesecake will tantalise your tastebuds and help feed your skin a bunch of nourishing nutrients to bring out a goddess-like glow – a fitting treat for mothers!
Ingredients
For the base
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup of pecans
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
4 pitted medjool dates
A pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp coconut oil
For the filling
1 cup raw almonds
¾ cup of coconut milk
1/3 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp melted coconut oil
2 tbsp lime zest
2 tbsp orange juice
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method
To make the base
Add the oats, pecans and flax seeds to a food processor and pulse until the pecans are shredded
Then add the dates and the coconut oil and blend until everything has become a mixture together
Grease a baking tin/tray and add the mixture to the tray and flatten with the back of a spoon or a spatula
Place the tray into the fridge for at least 20 minutes for the base to set
To make the filling
Soak the almonds overnight in water and then drain (if you’re short on time then boil the almonds on a stove for 20 minutes)
Add the almonds, lime juice, coconut oil, orange juice and maple syrup to a food processor and blend. Keep adding small amounts of coconut milk to help the mixture bind (you may not need all the milk – so add until the mixture is thick and smooth).
Keep blending and pushing the mixture down the sides of the blender with a spatula until the mixture is completely smooth
Add the filling mixture to the base in the baking tin and refrigerate for about 1-2 hrs until they are firm.
Remove about an hour before serving and garnish with the lime zest
That’s all we have for you today! Feel free to show us your renditions of these beauty boosting Mother’s Day recipes and share which one was your mum’s favourite with us on our socials @rawbeautylab!
As for the occasion, we hope you have a great Mother’s Day and we hope these treats helped make your mama’s day a little more special. Check out our other collagen boosting recipes on our website – we’re sure you’ll love them too!