Swedish plant “lussekatter” with creamy saffron date filling

- In collaboration with Electrolux -

My best recipe on a Swedish classic! I’ve always loved this not-too-sweet-saffron-infused-soft-and-raisin-packed-bun and was very thrilled to take these ones out of the oven after years of trying different recipes and methods. I also tried to use sourdough instead of yeast and it worked out perfectly, just needs a bit more (like 24 hours) time to rise. So the classic bun normally hasn’t got any filling - however I find that they get even (!) better with a creamy, sweet and saffrony filling so that’s what you find right here!

If you have time blend the saffron with 1 Tbsp maple syrup at least 1 day before for an even more intense saffron flavour!

This Christmas I’ve partnered up with Swedish brand Electrolux to share a few of my favourite holiday baked goods, but also a creamy pumpkin soup with salad topping and a frothy carrot smoothie with tahini! And to inspire you to prepp your kitchen with the must-have-appliances which will help you get even more creative in the kitchen and cook even more yummy food - easy as 1 - 2 -3 . As Electrolux since their beginning have been creating products that make home life a little bit easier and a whole lot better, aims to create a better future PLUS works a lot on sustainable eating (and to inspire people to eat more plant based) it felt like a p-e-r-f-e-c-t match to team up.

You’ll see more of Electrolux and myself together throughout 2020 and I cannot wait to share it with you. Until then - let’s bake some Lussekatter buns! And Ps. For this recipe I’ve used their Kitchen Assistant, making lussekatter have never been easier! Cannot wait to bake my first sourdough using it, but that’s another blog post. Now - LUSSEKATTER!

Swedish plant “lussekatter” with creamy saffron date filling

Makes about 14  buns

Ingredients

25 grams fresh yeast 

75 grams cold pressed neutral coconut oil, melted (or any other neutral oil)

2 1/2 dl oat mylk, or any plant mylk you like

3/4 dl coconut sugar

1/2 tsp salt

8 dl white spelt flour, about 450 grams

1/2 grams ground saffron

Saffron date filling

150 grams fresh dates, pitted

30 grams cold pressed neutral coconut oil, melted (or any other neutral oil)

1/2 grams ground saffron

1 pinch mineral salt

For brushing

Maple syrup

How to

Soak the dates in boiled hot water, set aside.

Sprinkle the yeast in your kitchen assistant baking tin. Heat oat mylk, coconut oil, saffron, sugar and salt in a pot until 37°C. Pour the saffron-infused mylk over the yeast and start your machine to dissolve.

Add half of the flour and on low speed start to knead the dough. Add more flour, and keep kneading to incorporate the flour after each addition. Add flour until the dough is little sticky when touching it, but does not completely stick to your hands.

Add a lid or a kitchen towel on top of the baking tin and set the dough aside in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, until the dough has doubled in size.

Mix together the ingredients for the filling until smooth.

Put the dough on your countertop. Fold it a few times then roll out until you get a big rectangle. Spread out the filling on the dough and fold from one side (on the length) to the other, so you get a double dough with a sticky inside. Cut about 14 “strips” on the width. Form each strip to the classic lussekatt S-shape by curling each side until you get a tight S. Put on a baking tray and cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for another 20 minutes.

Pre heat the oven to 225°C. Brush the lussekatter buns with maple syrup. Then bake them in the middle of the oven for about 8-10 minutes, until the buns are golden brown. Let cool on a cooling wrack with a towel on top.

Enjoy when freshly baked, or freeze to thaw when serving.

Plant-based by Thess Chocolate Mountain bars

During my mountain trail running adventure in the Swedish Jämtland mountains these ones were one of the few precious things I filled my tiny backpack with. Delicious and creamy bars filled with chocolate, protein and plant power to fuel you up during weekend hikes, long or short adventures, fika at home or whatever you’re up to!

As I like my bars / bliss balls to be reeeaaally creamy rather then only nutty (as it would be if using only nuts / dried fruit, something many of the bars you get from different stores are if you ask me), I like to use oats and protein powder (I use vegan unsweetened / natural pea protein to get it as clean as possible) in addition to the seeds and seed butter (which contains LOTS of protein!). Makes the most creamy chocolate protein bar ever believe me!! And also, feel free to use any nuts or seeds you want instead of the pepitas / tahini to fit your taste buds / pantry!

Let’s get baking!

Plant-based by Thess Chocolate Mountain bars

Ingredients

14 fresh dates, pitted

1 scoop protein powder (I use vegan unsweetened / natural pea protein)

1 dl / 0.4 cups rolled oats

1 dl / 0.4 cups cacao powder

2 dl / 0.8 cups pepitas / pumpkin seeds

1/2 dl / 0.2 cups light tahini

1 good pinch flakey salt

1-2 Tbsp water if needed 

For garnish

Flakey salt

dried flowers

How to

Pre heat the oven to 175°C. Spread out the pepitas on a baking tray, toast in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until they get slightly golden and start to pop. Let cool.

Mix alla the ingredients in a food processor until super creamy! Add a bit more water to combine if necessary. Put the dough in between two baking papers, roll out to a square using a rolling pin. Garnish with salt and flowers, roll with the rolling pin again to make the salt and flowers stick. Put the whole thing in the freezer for 1 hour. Take it out and cut in to good-size bars. Wrap them up in baking paper or aluminium foil (or just a glass box if you’re not taking them with you on adventure), store them in an air tight container in the freezer. Stays well for months! However I doubt they would ever last that long…

Hope you like them!

Lentil cracker with seeds and rolled oats

A staple which can vary in so many different ways! Depending on what seeds or nuts + flour I have at home my crackers always look different. This one though, with red lentils, have become one of my absolute favourites! Why? The lentils make the crackers if possible even more crisp - try for yourself!

My favourite way to serve them is with some kind of spread - you find a few of my favourites when scrolling though my recipes here on my website!

Lentil cracker with seeds and rolled oats

2 small trays

Ingredients

1 dl / 0.8 cups red lentils, soaked over night or for at least 8 hours

1 dl / 0.8 cups pepitas or pumpkin seeds

1 dl / 0.8 cups flaxseeds

1 dl / 0.8 cups rolled oats

1 dl / 0.8 cups oat flour

1 1/2 Tbsp chia seeds

1 1/2 Tbsp psyllium husk

1/2 tsp salt

2 dl water

2 Tbsp cold pressed rapeseed oil

How to

Soak the lentils, then rinse. Mix all the dry ingredients and the lentils in a bowl. Bring the water to a boil, pour over the dry mix together with the oil. Mix until a dough.

Divide the dough in two. Roll out, until very thin, between two pieces of parchment paper. Put on two baking trays. Let sit on the kitchen counter for at least 30 minutes.

Pre heat the oven to 150°C fan / 300°F fan. Bake the two trays in the oven for 30 minuter, carefully then turn the whole cracker thing around and bake for another 10 minutes, until dry and crisp. Let cool and indulge!!

Recipe was first published in The Gothenburg-Post/Två dagar

Oat scones with tahini and mashed avocado

Photo by Agnes Maltesdotter

Scone love

Having a favourite scone recipe in the back of your head is a winner. In under half an hour you can have freshly baked bread for your weekend breakfast or brunch, something to go with your evening soup or - my fave - something to carry on your picnic in to the woods!

I find these ones to be the right combination of crumbly, sweet…and slightly addictive. They’re easy to make and I really think you should try them! I have this recipe as my base recipe and then sometimes change what flour I’m using depending on what I have at home/what flour that is available/to fit any allergies etc. I shared my Almond flour version of these scones over at my friends at Food Pharmacy - something to check out as well!

AND one last thing, these scones can also be served as a savoury dessert together with some coconut cream (or yoghurt) and a berry/fruit compote or chia berry jam! Delicious!

Oat scones with mashed avocado

6 servings

Ready in: 25 minutes

Ingredients
6 dl / 2 1/2 cups cups oat flour (or a mix of your favourite flours, I sometimes use 1/3 buckwheat flour or 1/3 almond flour)
1/2 dl / 0.2 cups rolled oats
1 Tbsp potato starch
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 Tbsp chia seeds
1/2 tsp salt
a handful dried fruits or berries, such as organic mulberries and goji berries
5 Tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil
2 dl / 0.8 cups oat mylk, or any plant based mylk of your choice

For serving

1 ripe avocado, smashed in to a chunky spread

tahini

How to

Pre heat the oven to 175 degrees.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the oil and mylk and blend in to a sticky dough. Try not to kneed it, but only blending it together, this will give you more fluffy scones!

Form scones using two spoons and put on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the scones are lightly golden around the edges.

Serve the scones straight from the oven, with some (lots of) tahini and smashed avocado. ENJOY!

Swedish Chokladbollar By Thess

To make sure we’re all in the game: “Chokladbollar” is the Swedish word for this brilliant and VERY traditional no bake little treat. Directly translated it means chocolate balls, and that it just what they are!

For years I’ve been making several types of raw food bliss balls (no grains, only nuts/seeds etc), then I remembered that I’ve eaten the most delicious chokladbollar every other day when growing up. Chokladbollar might be the one thing ALL Swedish kids learn to bake as soon as they kan stand on a stool (so they reach the countertop).

Anyway, I went back to the roots, made a batch of classic ones - but with a #plantbasedbythess twist. And to be honest they are great. No fuss.

Swedish Chokladbollar

By Thess

Ingredients

Makes about 20-24 balls

🌿3 dl / 1.2 US cups rolled oats

🌿12 fresh dates, pitted

🌿1/2 dl light tahini or almond butter

🌿1 dl / 0.4 US cups raw cacao powder

🌿1 Tbsp brewed coffee

🌿1/2 tsp ground cinnamon or vanilla powder, optional

🌿A good pinch of flakey salt

🌿Shredded coconut for rolling 

How to

Mix all of the ingredients until smooth (you want it to be sticky but rollable) in a food processor. Add a bit water or oat mylk (any plant mylk really) if it feels too dry, or a bit more rolled oats if it feels to wet.

Form in to balls. As big or small as you want. Basic knowledge - if you make smaller ones you can eat many and you get more (!) coconut coating.

Put shredded coconut in a bowl, add a few balls at a time and give the bowl a good shake so the balls get all covered. OR even smarter - use a bowl with a lid, then you can give it a proper shake!!

Let the chokladbollar sit in the fridge for about an hour before eating. Best when chilled! Eat within a couple of weeks (you will never be able to keep them for that long. Trust me on that one!).

Good to know!

The chokladbollar can be stored in the freezer if you want to keep them for longer, or make in advance in you have a fika coming up.

Apple cake bliss balls with cacao nibs

Delicious small bites of - my take on - a soft and sweet Swedish apple cake! Inspired by my dear friends at Food Pharmacy I made these ones the other day when I wanted something sweet for fika (Swedish word for a time of day when you sit down/chill out/have a snack + cup of tea or coffee or some other drink maybe). And I am very happy with the result - natural sweet, nutty and nutritious ingredients flavoured with two of my favourite spices; cinnamon and cardamom cannot go wrong. So it wasn't much of a gamble to be honest.

Unlike most bliss balls these ones are soft - and almost kind of chewy. As the cashews are soaked before mixing the bliss ball batter, they are easier to digest (+ nutrients even more accessible)+ adds an extra creaminess to the balls. Now let's bake!

Apple cake bliss balls with cacao nibs

Makes about 20 bliss balls

Ingredients

2 dl cashew nuts, soaked for 1-2 hours in 5 dl water I 1 tsp unfiltered apple cider vinegar

2 dl steel cut oats

1 red apple, roughly grated

6 fresh dates, pitted

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamom

2 tbsp cacao nibs (optional)

grated coconut for rolling

How to 

Drain and rinse the cashews. Mix with the rest of the ingredients, except for the cacao nibs, until a soft and smooth batter. Add the cacao nibs and pulse a few times. Form in to 20 balls, and roll in grated coconut.

Store in the fridge or freezer. 

Cinnamon fried winter apples with nutty crumble

A sweet finish to your dinner. Sweet and juicy winter apples from the garden under a crumble made of fresh dates, almond flour and oats flavoured with vanilla powder and cardamom. Serve with a plant based yoghurt and some fresh lemon balm! 

This is a recipe my me for Swedish food magazine "Mitt kök" (My Kitchen) from last year. Foto by Fanny Hansson. 

Cinnamon fried winter apples with nutty crumble

6 portions

Ingredients

700 g winter apples

1 tsp cinnamon 

1 pinch himalayan salt

2 tbsp cold pressed coconut oil

Crumble

3 dl rolled oats

1 dl almond flour

1/2 dl almonds

1/2 tsk cardamom 

1/2 tsk pure vanilla powder

10 fresh dates, pitted

1/2 cold pressed coconut oil

For serving

2 dl plant based yoghurt, unsweetened 

fresh lemon balm or fresh mint 

How to

Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. 

Core and cut the apples in smaller pieces. Fry in coconut oil, cinnamon and salt on medium heat until soft, sweet and fragrant.  

Pitt the dates. Mix all the ingredients for the crumble until crumbly in a food processor. Add the whole almonds in the end to get bigger nutty bites. 

Divide the apples in 6 small cake tins (or in one big cake tin). sprinkle over the crumble. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the crumble is golden and crisp. 

Let cool for a couple of minutes. Serve with lemon balm. 

Tips and tricks! Make ahead. Fry the apples, mix the crumble and put everything together. Then just bake the tartlets before serving! 

Almond and apricot bliss balls with wintery spices

Sweet, tangy and chunky at the same time. This is my favourite seasonal bliss balls which I make with toasted almonds, dried organic apricots and all my favourite wintery spices. Make a big batch and store in the freezer - ready to be taken out and served whenever during the upcoming season! 

I make my own "wintery spices blend" that I use both for bliss balls like these but also in hot and cold porridge and hot drinks throughout the season. Try making your own (or use my "recipe" below), using your favourite spices, or by blends like "ginger bread spices" found in the grocery store. 

Almond and apricot bliss balls with wintery spices

Makes about 14 bliss balls

Ingredients

2 dl almonds (preferably toasted for extra flavour) 

1 dl oats (use gluten free if gluten intolerant)

1 dl shredded coconut

12 dried organic apricots

2 tbsp cold pressed coconut oil

2 tbsp freshly pressed orange juice (optional) 

1-2 tbsp almond milk or water (optional)

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cardamon

1 pinch ground cloves

1 pinch sea salt 

How to

Pulse almonds, oats, shredded coconut and spices until coarsely chopped * in a food processor. Add the apricots and mix until crumbly, then add the coconut oil and orange juice and mix just until the mixture sticks together. You might have to add a bit of almond milk or water (especially if not using orange juice. This usually depends on how big/soft the apricot are)  to get it to stick together. You want to mixture to be slightly sticky. 

Form mixture in to balls and roll in shredded coconut. Place in the fridge and served slightly chilled - thats how I like them best! 

* I like having quite big bites of almonds in my bliss balls! You could also mix until a flour like mixture before adding your wet ingredients, this will give your bliss balls another consistency. 

Buckwheat chocolate bliss balls with blueberry and coconut

I really love almonds, nuts and seeds. As a snack, on top of a salad, on my morning porridge, mixed to a nut butter and in raw desserts. Nuts contain LOTS of greats nutrition, and they also contain a lot of fat. Good fat, but still, even good things can be to much. Therefore I like to sometimes use toasted buckwheat whenever I make raw desserts or bliss balls for afternoon snack. Buckwheat groats contains lots of great nutrition, but less fat then nuts and seeds. And also - the toasted buckwheat gives a delicious crunchy texture, and it's gluten free. 

So, I came up with a simple recipe for a perfect and delicious little ball with buckwheat instead of the commonly used nuts or seeds. This buckwheat bliss ball is the perfect “fika” but also a great afternoon snack. I made them the other day, during one of the retreats here in France this summer - and everybody loved them. The chocolate together with the blueberry is a really tasty combination. And the tiny bit of sea salt that I always add makes all the difference. 

A few things to have in mind is: add more cacao for an even more chocolaty flavor, add more blueberry power for even more of a berry taste, and more dates for a sweeter touch. Mix it until you make it - so to speak! 

Enough writing. So, here is the recipe for these little ones, hope you like them! 

Buckwheat chocolate bliss balls with blueberry

Makes about 20 bliss balls

Ingredients

2 1/2 dl dried whole buckwheat groats (buy toasted ones if you find in your store, then you kan skip the first instruction below on how to toast them yourself)

3/4 dl cacao 

2 tbsp blueberry powder 

A pinch of flakey salt 

10 fresh dates, pitted 

2 tbsp cold pressed coconut oil 

1-2 tbsp water

Shredded coconut for rolling

How to

Put the buckwheat in a fine mesh strainer. Bring some water to a boil and then pour over the buckwheat. Rinse with cold water and let drain for a few minutes. Toast in a dry pan, on medium heat, until golden and crisp. Let cool. 

Mix buckwheat, cacao and blueberry power until some of the buckwheat has been crushed. I like my bliss balls to have quite a few whole buckwheat groats left as I like the crunchy consistency, but you can also mix until a flour like consistency. Add dates, coconut oil and water, mix until a dough. You might want to add a bit more water to get the dough to stick together. 

Form the dough in to about 20 balls, roll in shredded coconut. Put on a plate and let chill in the fridge for at least 30 minites before serving. Allowing time in the fridge (or freezer if you cannot wait to dig in!) will make them even more firm and - if you ask me - even tastier!