Recently, Clipper announced some very exciting news which I wrote about over here. For now though, I’d like to share a recipe I created using my favourite Clipper green tea flavour – Pear & Honey. Although I was keen to create a ‘tea loaf’ recipe, I’m not the biggest fan of dried fruit so the thought of the traditional recipe put me off. However, I was determined to make my own, healthy version based on this flavoursome tea, removing the dried fruit but maintaining the taste.
The result? A delicious, moist loaf made from pears simmered in this naturally sweet and flavoursome green tea, with added bursts of cinnamon and vanilla for a comforting, gluten-free and innocent treat to enjoy with a cuppa – or any time of day!
Ingredients:
- 4 pears
- 2 bags of Clipper Pear & Honey Green Tea
- 1 cup buckwheat flour
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I used PhD Nutrition)
- 25g ground almonds
- ¼ cup natural sweetener (stevia or xylitol)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp Sweet Freedom or runny honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Get baking!
- Peel and chop two of the pears and place in a small pan. Brew the Clipper tea bags in 100ml water for a few minutes, then add to the pan to cover the pears (yes, including the tea bags!). Simmer for 10 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated and the pears are soft. Set aside to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C and grease and line a loaf tin, silicone if possible. Thinly slice the other two pears (skin on) and arrange at the bottom on the tin so the base is covered.
- Mix together the flours, protein powder, baking powder, cinnamon, sweetener and almonds in a large bowl.
- Remove the tea bags from the pears and discard. Place in a blender along with the yogurt, eggs, honey and vanilla extract and whizz up until smooth.
- Pour this into the dry ingredients and gently mix until you have a smooth, thick batter. Spoon this over the pear slices and smooth evenly on top. Bake for about 45 minutes (covering with tin foil halfway through to avoid burning!) until golden, risen and a skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the tin for about 30 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.
- When ready to serve, drizzle over a little more honey and sprinkle over some flaked almonds for the finishing touch!
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