Let’s talk about dessert!
/Whether we are counting calories or looking to satisfy our sweet tooth there are many simple and healthy choices available to create wonderful desserts. In today’s world commercial sweets are loaded with refined sweeteners like corn syrup or sugar, white flour along with highly processed and hydrogenated oils. Consuming large amount of sugar and refined flour can lead to hypoglycemia and eventually diabetes. Highly processed and hydrogenated oils have been linked to heart disease. Many desserts also contain artificial sweeteners like aspartame that have been linked to cancer.
Healthy desserts contain natural sweeteners like stevia, raw honey or rapadura (dehydrated cane juice) which contains high amounts of nutrients and minerals. They are minimally sweetened and made with whole grains and organic ingredients. Not only can we make desserts that taste excellent, but that are healthy, nutritious and nourish our bodies.
Here are some examples:
- Fresh fruit compotes made from apricots, strawberries or rhubarb sweetened with a little stevia that can be added to organic yogurt or eaten with a little crème fraiche
- Strawberries dipped in dark chocolate
- Baked apples sweetened with rapadura and almonds sprinkled on top
- Chocolate brownies made with kamut or spelt flower
Awesome Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients:
3 Large eggs
2 tablespoons of ghee
2 Tablespoons of coconut oil
1/8 tsp of salt
2 tsp of vanilla
2 dashes of cayenne pepper (complements chocolate flavor)
5 tbsp. stevia blend (can be substituted with raw honey, coconut sugar or maple syrup)
¼ cup of coca powder
2 oz. of unsweetened chocolate chunks
Chopped walnuts or pecans
1 ½ cups of canned black beans, rinsed and drained
Directions:
- Mix all ingredients in the food processor until they are well blended together, except chocolate chunks and nuts.
- Stir in chocolate chunks and nuts.
- Grease an 8x8 baking pan with coconut oil and pour the batter into the pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min.
Makes 16 Brownies.