This recipe is part of the #thehomeseries with my dear Prachi, founder of @craftwellness.in Healthy, refined flour and sugar free, summer special! Prachi is a wonderful nutritionist and has been helpful in Nature Therapy’s journey with inputs to our Journal. Today I invited her over to shoot an episode for #thehomeseries to make a healthy snack bar, with our favourite mango summer fruit! This crumble bar is reminiscent to one I used to gorge on in my college days with an apple stuffing. This mango filling feels more attune with Indian summers, hints of cardamom and tropical coconut it perfect for a hot summer afternoon with a glass of iced tea. And if you’re a bit sneaky, go ahead and add that scoop of vanilla ice cream!

This eggless cake is perfect for children due to the whole wheat flour, brown sugar and honey, and of course, nutritious carrots! I use whole cashews, and toast them for 5-6 minutes, then grind them down to a fine powder – this adds a whole new dimension of the flavour. You can serve this with a drizzle of bourbon sauce for the adults, some whipped cream or cream cheese frosting, but just a sprinkle of powdered icing sugar works the best!

Very few can say no to a cinnamon roll, and if you can bake them from scratch in a few simple steps, why not? This recipe is a house favourite, with my brother and father hovering by the oven impatiently each time I make them, wiping the tin clean within in moments and then asking when I am making these again.This recipe is very easy, like most of my other recipes, but the first batch of mixing the dough is a bit tough to do by hand – but fret not, just soldier through this step like a brave woman! You may feel doubtful when you see the dough is very wet and sticky, and hard to knead, but I assure you, by the next morning, you will have a lovely malleable dough to roll out!I do not add a cream cheese frosting, but instead a glaze just for the sake of it – with a cup a coffee the bun is perfect on it’s own!Happy breakfasting! The Recipe Serves Serves: 8 | Prep Time: 12 hours | Cook Time: 20 mins Ingredients 1 ½ cups flour ¼ tsp baking soda ¼ tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt 1 cup warm milk 2 tsp instant dry yeast ¼ cup castor sugar ¼ cup melted butter Filling: 1/3 cup melted butter 1/3 cup brown sugar 2 tbsp ground cinnamon Glaze: ¾ cup icing sugar 3-4 tbsp milk Instructions Bloom the yeast in warm milk and sugar. Set aside for 5-10 minutes until bubbly In the meantime, whisk together all the dry ingredients Add the milk mixture and melted butter and stir to combine with a fork Transfer the dough onto a floured surface area and knead for about 10 minutes Place into a new bowl and cover and let rise overnight in a dry warm place (or at least 4 hours) The next day prepare the filling by stirring all the ingredients together Then punch the dough down to remove the air and knead again for a few minutes Then roll out on a flour platform in a large square Spread the filling evenly across Gently, but firmly, roll from one end to the other, fastening at the bottom With a sharp knife, slice into desired thickness (recommend about 1.5 inches) and place in a greased tin Cover the tin and let rise for another 45-60 minutes Bake in a preheated oven of 180C for 20 minutes Note: to reheat the buns, place in the oven at 180C for 7-9 minutes

An utter delight to make, this easy-peasy lemon and coconut cake is delicious with each crumb, and a healthy-ish frosting of Greek yoghurt and honey makes this indulgence as guilt free as possible. Everything gets stirred into one single bowl, basic measuring and skill set required and you’ve got yourself a lovely afternoon tea cake, or even sneaky sweet morning surprise. To make this vegan, one could substitute Greek yoghurt with Coconut dairy free yoghurt – but I have yet to try that. The Recipe Serves Ingredients 1 1/3 cup flour 1 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt ½ tsp baking soda ½ cup vegetable oil 1/3 cup cold water 2 tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp lemon zest 90g Greek yoghurt or coconut yoghurt ¾ cup castor sugar ¾ cup desiccated coconut Frosting: 30-40 g Greek yoghurt or coconut yoghurt 1 tbsp honey desiccated coconut Instructions Prepare a 9-inch cake tin by greasing and flouring In a big mixing bowl, whisk together the oil and cold water until frothy and turned white in colour Then add the yoghurt, sugar and lemon juice and whisk Then add the coconut and remaining dry ingredients and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until combined Pour into tin, tap against the surface to remove any air bubbles Bake in preheated oven of 180C for 25 minutes Allow to cool completely before removing from cake tin Spread yoghurt on top of the cake, followed by drizzles of the honey and sprinkle desiccated coconut on top

These are as healthy as a muffin can get in my opinion, without compromising on the tastes! This has whole-wheat flour with a bit of all purpose, flax eggs, honey, apples, lots of seeds and dried cranberries and speckled with cinnamon – the perfect morning bran muffin. Easily made in matter of minutes if you can assemble quickly, and I find 20-25 minutes is just enough baking time.I also make this in cake tins because it’s so much faster, and slice it up and serve as toast at times. Slather on some butter and honey and ooh la la! The Recipe Serves 12 muffins or 1 x 9 inch cake tin Ingredients 1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour ½ cup all-purpose flour ¾ cup brown sugar 2 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 3 flax-eggs ½ cup vegetable oil 2/3 cup apple puree or grated apple (2.5 whole apples approx.) 3 tbsp honey 2 tsp vanilla extract 4 tbsp chia seeds 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds 3 tbsp finely chopped cranberries Instructions Grease the muffin tin pans or cake tin with oil Preheat the oven to 180C Whisk the dry ingredients and set aside Whisk the wet ingredients together and pour into the dry ingredient bowl and stir with a spatula – do not overmix Then fold in the seeds and cranberries Pour into muffin liners Bake at 180C for 30 to 40 mins

This is a beautiful, warming loaf cake that tingles the heart, comforts the soul and nourishes the senses. Fresh pears are folded into this butter + yoghurt thick batter, speckled with freshly grounded green cardamom and the result is a lovely tea cake that reminds you a bit of a traditional mithai, but has the crumb of a cake! Deliciously easy to make, an eggless batter means you can serve it up without fear to all generations and most dietary restricted peeps, and for me – it means, I don’t have too much running around to do at the last minute for eggs! I top the cake with a crunchy layer of almond flakes – this is a personal love affair, you can opt out or in with another type of nuts or topping! Just remember, as there are pears – I recommend eat up within a day and half! The Recipe Serves Ingredients 1 ¼ cups flour 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 1 tsp cardamom powder 1 ½ pears, peeled, sliced and chopped into approx. 1-2 cm slim pieces ¼ cup brown sugar 1/3 cup castor sugar ½ cup butter, softened 1 tsp vanilla extract ½ cup yoghurt ¼ cup milk sliced almonds for garnish castor sugar for dusting icing sugar for dusting Instructions Preheat oven to 200C Grease and flour a 9-inch loaf tin Whisk the dry ingredients and set aside Cream the butter and sugars until light and airy Then add the vanilla extract yoghurt and milk and whisk for another few minutes Then fold in the dry ingredients to just combine – the batter would be thick, and that is okay Gently fold in the pears Gently transfer the batter into the cake tin, smoothing the top to make even Tap the tin a few times on the surface to remove any air bubbles Sprinkle sliced almonds on top and a few pinches of castor sugar Turn down the oven temperature to 180C and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is browned and the skewer comes out clean Allow to cool on a rack before turning out Optional: drizzle some honey on top or dust icing sugar

I read somewhere that it seems like corona virus was sponsored by the banana bread! And thanks to the overripe bananas in the kitchen, I’ve joined the bandwagon. But I must admit I was very much overjoyed to see them – you see, I was aiming to use this lockdown period to conduct trials for a whole book of recipes for a client and with the situation and scarcity and difficulty of ingredients I had to chuck the idea. But this… this banana bread found it’s way in quarantine! I’ve made this completely vegan and nut-free, and for you ease, everything is in cup measurements. This fits a nice 9” loaf tin, or you can bake in a square shallow tin and make them into squares. It requires no dusting of sugar on top or extra frosting in my opinion, but I leave you to decide. If I had to choose, I’d pick a browned butter and cinnamon frost from my Chai Latte Cake – the medley of spices would only enhance the flavour of the banana bread. For breakfast, you can grill slices of the bread on high heat on a non-stick pan (no oil), and serve like toast, with a smatter of butter or jam. The cake stays well for up to 36 hours in an airtight container outside – although it lasting even that long would be a mystery!   The RecipeServes Serves: 9” loaf (12 slices) | Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 45 mins Ingredients 2 cups flour 2 cups ripe bananas, mashed ½ cup castor sugar 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 2/3 cup vegetable oil 2 tsp vanilla essence or 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 tsp cinnamon powder 2 tsp orange zest (optional) 1 cup chopped nuts (optional) Instructions Prepare 9” loaf tin with oil and flour Heat oven to 180C Whisk flour, baking powder ,baking soda, salt, cinnamon and set aside In large mixing bowl, whisk banana, sugar, oil, vanilla, orange zest until well combined and fluffy batter Fold in the dry ingredients with wooden spoon – do not overmix Pour into the loaf tin Bake for 35 minutes at 180C Then another 10 minutes at 200C – loosely cover with foil if top is too browned Allow to cool completely before slicing Slices – 12 equal portions