There’s something about Christmas time that makes me feel like baking. I love to sit and chat with the people I love – a cappuccino in hand and a small morsel of home-baked yumminess. Good times.

In saying that, these kinds of food aren’t known for promoting good health so I definitely don’t eat this kind of food everyday. I am a nutritionist after all and I’m keen to keep my body in good shape for as long as possible. I also know, however, that good food is one of life’s many pleasures and striking a balance between looking after your body and enjoying the foods you love is very important aspect of living a healthy lifestyle.

With that being said I’d like to share with you one of my new favourite ‘treat’ recipes. I’d like to tell you that it’s bursting with nutritional value, but it’s really not. To be honest, it’s full of sugar and butter. However, it tastes incredible and as part of a balanced diet I’m very happy to enjoy one small piece with a cup of coffee every now and then.

I’ve decided that baking when it’s just you around is not such a great idea as you may be tempted to eat more than your fair share. This kind of food is always best shared amongst as many bottoms as possible! Enjoy!

what you need

1 1/4 cups icing sugar

3/4 cup plain flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 cup almond meal

150g butter, melted

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 punnet fresh blueberries or one cup frozen

what to do

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and lightly grease a slice tin.

Sift the icing sugar, flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowel. Stir through the almond meal.

Add the melted butter and stir until the flour mixture is completely wet. Add the milk, egg and vanilla essence and stir until well combined.

Mix through the blueberries and pour into the prepared slice tin. Bake for about 18-22 minutes or until just golden on top.

Allow the slice to cool before lightly dusting with icing sugar.