Almond Butter Cookies [flourless, sugarless deliciousness]

If you’ve been searching for a cookie recipe that doesn’t come laden with guilt-inducing ingredients like butter, refined sugar, white flour, eggs, etc., then look no further – I think I stumbled onto something amazing. I’ve been on the hunt for a magical cookie that tastes delicious, while at the same time will not fill me with a bunch of unnecessary processed crap. A few weeks ago I finally hit the jackpot when I discovered THIS recipe on Tessa the Domestic Diva. As Tessa states, these are not technically sugar-free, but they are refined sugar-free. They mostly derive their sweetness from honey, dates and dark chocolate chips. They also call for ingredients like quinoa flakes, ground flax seeds and the main ingredient, almond butter. All healthy choices. The best part is, none of this healthy stuff takes away from the flavour. They taste delicious and are pretty filling. Try them out!

Here is a write-up on the benefits of almond butter vs. peanut butter I found HERE:

“Almond butter has a bit more fat than peanut butter, but those include more monounsaturated fats and about half the amount of saturated fats. Almond butter also has more fiber, and fewer carbohydrates so it has about the same number of calories as peanut butter.

Almond butter has more minerals than peanut butter, with the exception of selenium, and peanut butter contains more B vitamins. Both almond butter and peanut butter contain phytosterols, which are the plant version of animal cholesterol; however, unlike dietary cholesterol, phytosterols may help to reduce elevated cholesterol levels in humans.”

 

Rhubarb Pie

Rhubarb Pie

Another dessert post today…Mmm.

I was grocery shopping yesterday when the rhubarb in the produce section caught my attention.  I was struck with rhubarb pie cravings and decided it can’t be all that tricky to make.  I assumed two bunches would be sufficient (it was exact, phew). And lucky for me I found a ridiculously easy recipe at my fav recipe website: allrecipes.com. You can find the link here.  I used Tenderflake’s pre-made pie shells as I didn’t have time to make the crust from scratch. This recipe is as basic as it gets: chop rhubarb, mix sugar and flour, fill pie shell, top with other shell, bake.

I was happy with the way the pie turned out. Next time around I think I’ll do half rhubarb/half strawberries and reduce the sugar as necessary. Also – I need some more pie baking practice, this one turned out a little sloppy looking. Although, it does give it more of an authentic “homemade” look.

Pre-made pie crust: makes life so much easier

Fresh rhubarb rinsed and ready for chopping

Ingredients: Tenderflake pie shells, flour, sugar, chopped rhubarb. Easy peasy!

Coat the bottom with flour/sugar mixture

The recipe says to fill shell with rhubarb and then top with remaining sugar and flour, but I thought it was best to mix the rhubarb and sugar/flour and then fill the shell

Top with butter, spaced randomly

Place on the top shell and make slits so filling doesn't explode

Bake at 450 F for 15 minutes at bottom of oven and then move to middle rack for 40-45 minutes at 350 F

The edge was browning quickly so I covered with foil (just the edges)

Out of the oven

Ready to serve

 

Chocolate Honey Cheesecake

This cheesecake is easy to make AND tastes light, a welcome change from most heavy cheesecakes. I was pretty much sold on this recipe once I read that the main ingredient was TOBLERONE…like, are you kidding me!? Too good! Even better: the recipe does not call for any sugar so it doesn’t taste too sweet. If you want to give this one a try, I’ve included a photo of the recipe at the bottom of this post.

Melting toblerone

Pouring chocolate into egg/ricotta mixture

Crushed vanilla wafer crust

After 30 minutes of baking

After 30 mins. of baking top with granola and bake for 15 mins. more (we ended up baking for 25 mins. more because cheesecake was too jiggly)

Voila! Finished product. Just remember to refrigerate once it has cooled down. Actually - the cake tastes best if refrigerated overnight

Heavenly Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

I don’t like to essentially copy another blogger’s posts, but this recipe was way too good to pass up.  It’s from the blog, Joy the Baker. You must check out her blog for fabulous and mouth watering ideas.

Ok so onto the good stuff: Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread.  To sum up this dessert, it’s a variation on cinnamon buns.  I know you might be surprised that I’m featuring this type of dessert seeing as I stress the health benefits of the recipes I blog.  I tend to always lean towards “healthy” meal options, even when making dessert.  But, every once and a while I crave some teeth-rotting, belly fattening, ooey-gooey goodness.  This recipe nails all of the above. You will have to prevent yourself from finishing the whole thing straight out of the oven. Make sure there are other people with you to help you eat it, or else I’m afraid you are risking gaining some weight here.

I followed Joy the Baker’s recipe step-by-step. I’ve never made bread before and I did not have any problems.  I should note that instead of whole milk I used 1% milk and next time I will use less sugar – you will notice it calls for A LOT and I’m sure it will taste equally as yummy with 1/4 cup less.

I’ve posted some of the photos from my process, but if you want to make this yourself I highly recommend going on over to Joy the Baker and following her excellent post.

Making the dough 

You'll require some patience with rolling out the dough. It does take some time (and muscle) to get it 20 in x 12 in

Evenly distribute butter

Spreading on the sugar mixture

Woah, that looks like a lot of sugar!

Cutting dough into strips using a pizza cutter

Cut again and stack

Pile of excess sugar that shook off while putting the stacks in the loaf pan

Ready in the pan, just has to rise for another hour or so and then time to bake!

Fresh out of the oven. After cooling for a bit, I anxiously put the bread on the closest plate I could find. I was desperate to give it a taste!

I was very pleased with the results, ooey gooey perfection!

Stuffed Apple Dessert

Here is another dessert I’ve been making lately when craving something sweet for after dinner. It’s really easy and we usually have all the ingredients on hand. This recipe calls for peaches, but since I just discovered it within the last few months I have been substituting apples. I’ll definitely be using peaches once they’re in season.

Nutritious Info: 161 Calories; 5g Fat; 2g Saturated Fat; 31g Carbohydrates; 3g Protein; 8mg Cholesterol; 4mg Sodium

Blanching apples (until soft):

After coring and slicing the apples in half I lay them on a muffin pan to simplify baking

These turned out good, but we used Red Delicious apples since that’s what I had on hand. McIntosh and Royal Gala turn out better though.