No-Bake Brownies and Healthy Mini-Cakes

I promised to begin posting some of our favorite healthy desserts, so today I have two for you. Both recipes fit the bill for when you need something sweet, but don't want to sabotage your healthy eating lifestyle.

 

The Brownies are of the gooey sort; if you like yours more like cake, this may not be the recipe for you. (You could always add 1/4 cup of almond flour to the recipe and see if that makes it more cake-like, but I haven't tried it so I don't know if it will.) 

 

One of my daughters is a true chocaholic and these brownies pass her taste test AND satisfy her chocolate cravings, yet they're free of refined sugar and white flour--I call that a winning recipe. :)

Raw (No-Bake) Brownies & Frosting

1 cup walnuts

1 cup dates, softened

1/4 cup cacao powder, preferably raw

1/4 tsp vanilla 

 

Place walnuts, dates, cacao and vanilla in a food processor and process until a ball of dough forms. (Process well--until smooth)

Place brownie batter into an 8 x 8 in. baking dish and press down to form a consistent thickness.

Frosting  

1/4 cup raw cacao powder

1/4 cup coconut oil, (liquid)

 

Mix cacao and coconut oil by hand or in blender until emulsified. Frost brownie. Freeze for 10 minutes and then cut into squares and enjoy! 

The following recipe would work as a donut if you have the pan for it. If not, just make muffins as we do.  The glaze topping is optional, but it adds a wonderful touch. You won't believe how sweet it tastes--with no sugar!

Paleo Mini-Cakes (Muffins)

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

3 eggs

2 Tablespoons honey

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 

Mix all together. Bake in muffin cups @ 350 F. for 10-15 minutes, or until brown. Add glaze topping. (optional)

 

Glaze Topping

1 banana

2 Tablespoons milk

 

Microwave 30 seconds and then mash up banana and milk. Add another dash of milk, if necessary, to bring to glaze consistency. Use a knife or pastry brush to glaze muffin tops. 

 

You could also sprinkle cinnamon or chopped nuts, (or even chocolate mini-chips) over the tops of muffins after glazing, if desired.  My favorite is finely chopped nuts.   

In a hurry? 

If you absolutely must have something sweet but don't have time to make something, my go-to solution is organic dark chocolate. Trader Joe's has some good selections. A small piece of chocolate, which I sometimes slather peanut-butter over, is a craving-quencher that is very low on sugar but high in antioxidants.  You may be surprised to find that one or two bitefuls is really enough to give you that feeling of having indulged in something decadent, but without the guilt. Try it!

Giveaway Still Going On

Don't forget that the giveaway of Inspiring Women of the Faith is still going on. Leave a comment to be entered. Each comment counts as one entry.

 

Productive Days & Recipe

What do you consider a productive day?

Getting errands done?
Grocery shopping?
Cleaning a few rooms?

For me, productive days fall into categories (and probably for you, too), such as, Homeschooling,
Writing, Editing, Shopping, or Baking or Cooking, to name a few.  Today I had a productive Kitchen day. (Don't you just love a productive kitchen day?)

For me, it looked like this: I got the kids started on their respective homeschooling lessons, made fermented oatmeal, started a batch of yogurt, picked up our week's supply of raw milk and cage-free eggs from a local farm, AND I started a fermented granola recipe (which takes 24 hours to ferment so you can't finish it all at once) and made my first-ever loaf of Paleo bread. (I'm really proud of that bread! It's sitting on my counter cooling right now and smells great.)

Here. I took a picture for the curious. :)  It didn't rise as high as the picture on the recipe looked. I used a different bread pan, which I suppose could account for that.

 It came out more as a quick bread style loaf, rather than sandwich style, so I'll keep trying new recipes until I get one that works for sandwiches. BUT I just tasted a slice and it's really good! (recipe below)

I also finished up my May recipes for the month, and have almost finished the accompanying shopping lists. When I get a month's worth of recipes in place, that means I have a plan and I don't have to worry about last-minute "what's for dinner" panic moments.  I also feel that I've accomplished something worthwhile.

My youngest is done with school for the day and my high schooler is almost there, so I'm just about ready to take an iced drink outside to the deck to enjoy this beautiful spring sunshine before starting dinner.

How about you? Did you get any good gardening done today? Or baking? Writing?
Tell me what makes you feel like you've accomplished something worthwhile by leaving a comment and you'll be entered into the current drawing for ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSE MURDERS, book on the right.
("More Tea, Vicar?" is unfortunately no longer available--I'm substituting it with another English and/or Jane Austen themed CD. Details to follow. Sorry for the change!) But the book and a similar CD will be awarded to one commenter by the 15th of the month.) So leave your comment today!  

:     And here's the Paleo Bread recipe I followed, originally from Elana's Pantry. (Click the link and you'll see her bread looks much more like a sandwich bread than mine. I'll have to look into getting that "Magic Line Loaf Pan," that she used.) Anyway, the bread has no flour, no sugar (a small amount of honey) and practically no carbs at all. I wouldn't go crazy eating half a loaf, however, since it does have a lot of nutrient-dense nut flours and healthy fats. Enjoy!

Paleo Bread

1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour (available on Amazon.com)

2 Tablespoons coconut flour

1/2 cup golden flaxseed meal

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

5 eggs

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 Tablespoon honey

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1. Place almond flour, coconut  flour, flax, salt and baking soda in a food processor. (I just whisked my ingredients. This could be another reason my bread turned out differently. When I saw that it only called for "pulsing," I figured I could get the same results without the processor. Apparently, I was wrong!)

2. Pulse ingredients together.

3. Pulse in eggs, oil, honey and vinegar

4. Pour batter into a greased 7.5" x 3.5 " Magic Line Loaf Pan

5. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.

6. Cool and serve. 

Happy Baking! And don't forget to leave a comment to enter the drawing. When you comment on more than one post, you get more than one entry. (One entry per comment)

Thank you and Good luck!