Creative Nature Brownie Mix Review
It put a smile on my face the day a bag of Creative Nature Brownie mix arrived through the post.
I’m not one to say no to free food, especially if it’s chocolate cake.
I actually really enjoy baking and am happy to bake from scratch.
You can check out some of my creations by clicking here.
But there are times that shortcuts are needed and so I saved the pack I was sent for one such occasion.
It was the week before Father’s Day (always a Sunday) but I was going to be away from very early morning to late night on the Saturday before.
We always celebrate days like this at my Mum’s house, and I always bring cake.
But this week I knew I had a lot of work to do and Saturday wasn’t an option either, so I decided to use the mix to make round cakes rather than a tray of brownies and then freeze it so I had it ready for Father’s Day without stressing.
I almost forgot – I did a BodyBack workout that morning and needed some post workout carbs in my breakfast so added some of the brownie mix to a mug cake.
Indulgent yes, necessary yes.
The Healthy Bit
As a Nutritionist and IBS sufferer amongst other things I prefer we eat gluten free where possible. No one in my house has Coeliac Disease (as far as I’m aware) but I personally don’t’ feel amazing if I eat too much gluten and there’s increasing evidence against excessive (if any) consumption.
I can’t claim I would feed my kids these brownies for breakfast – they still contain unrefined cane sugar, but the use of organic cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and chia seeds, as well as the aforementioned gluten free rice flour, means they’re a lot better than most cakes and especially most boxed cake mixes.
I have a free healthy baking cheat sheet that helps you recreate your own favourite baked treats using nutritious ingredients, you can grab it here!
The Cooking Bit
It couldn’t be easier really – softened butter and eggs and vanilla is all that’s needed.
As much as I enjoy cooking if there’s a possible shortcut I’ll take it, so I skipped the vanilla and realised I only had 3 eggs left (4 are recommended) but they were pretty big and I like extra fudgy brownies anyway.
Oh and I was a bit lapse on ‘softening’ the butter in the microwave, but hey, it still turned out fine.
I also used two 8 inch round tins and just greased them with butter, which I find works most times in lieu of baking paper so long as you grease really well.
Just mix, pour, bake. I set the timer for 15 minutes to check on them just in case, but left them for 20 as hubby distracted me with a conversation about restaurant salt, which he deemed important.
Conclusion
I’ve tried baking mixes before but aren’t keen on them because they’re both full of junk and taste like it too – if course the kids don’t care about either but as a health conscious Mum I do, and I would rather they had homemade bakes every time.
In fact there isn’t anything in the Creative Nature ranges you wouldn’t use yourself, they’ve just done some of the weighing and mixing for you to save time.
And time is definitely something us Mums are pretty short on!
Oh I almost forgot – I think these are possibly some of the yummiest brownies I’ve tasted!
Oh and the two bars I was also sent didn’t last long either. I can’t decide which I preferred, chocolate or peanut. Maybe next time I’ll sandwich the two together and shove them both in my mouth at once 🙂
You can buy Creative Nature Home Bakes as well as their other products at http://www.creativenaturesuperfoods.co.uk/