Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Pancakes

I have been trying to find the perfect gluten free pancake for a long time now. I read recipes online about mixing eggs with bananas alone, which worked out pretty decently texture-wise, but I felt like it was too eggy of a flavor for me. I also tried adding a little coconut flour or almond flour to the mix but I still wasn't satisfied with the results.

Finally I decided to try something different, sweet potatoes! They added a nice sweet flavor, and the texture worked out beautifully. Is it the perfect pancake? No, probably not. However, they are the first gluten free pancake I've had that actually tasted like a pancake and I really enjoyed eating. They had a slightly spongy-like texture and the perfect balance of sweet and spice. I did use regular whole milk in the recipe, but I think coconut or almond milk would also work to moisten the batter if you are trying to go dairy free. With fall just around the corner, this is a great breakfast for the season. :)

Blueberry Banana Ice Cream Bars

Don't you just love the summer time? So many wonderful fruits available, and usually on sale! Blueberries were going for really cheap the past couple weeks at the grocery store, so I stocked up and decided what better way to use them than a cool summer treat like ice cream? With this heat, it just seemed like the perfect dessert. I decided to do something a little different than just regular ice cream, so I made a chocolate brownie crust with nuts and dates and turned them into ice cream bars!

As you can see in the photos, the ice cream is super smooth and creamy, even though its 100% dairy free. It's made with a blend of coconut milk, bananas, blueberries, and honey. So it's naturally sweet and creamy, without any heavily processed foods! It also contains no eggs, so if you're a vegan you can probably substitute the honey for maple syrup or agave nectar and I'm sure it will taste just as good.

Toasted Coconut Nut Butter Cookies

If you've read my last post, Chocolate Olive Oil Brownies with Cashew Butter-Cream Spread, you'll know I recently got a Vitamix and since then have been making fresh nut butter on a regular basis. I eat it plain a lot or with fresh fruit (especially bananas!), but I've found it is also a great ingredient to cook with. Which leads me to my latest dish, Toasted Coconut Nut Butter Cookies.

In this dish I have combined raw almonds and cashews to form a thick, creamy butter, along with some toasted coconut for a little crunch and extra flavor. The eggs alone were enough to poof up the cookies, and the nut butter helped them hold a uniform shape, so no flour was needed! They tasted kind of like chunky peanut butter cookies. I decided to drizzle a little chocolate over top too because...chocolate. I feel that chocolate makes every thing better, but if you are a big nut butter fan these cookies are good on their own as well, so feel free to leave off the chocolate sauce if you like. :)

Chocolate Olive Oil Brownies with Cashew Butter-cream Spread

 

As some of you may know, my husband got me a Vitamix for our 3 year anniversary. Isn't he the greatest?? Anywho, I have been experimenting with various nut butters since I got it, and my most recent one is cashew butter. I have had it at the store before, but I don't like that it usually has added safflower oil, salt, and whatever else they put in there. I love making my own nut butters because there is always just one ingredient....nuts! And you may be surprised, but they are super creamy just like store bought ones. Not as sweet, but you could always add a little sweetener if you like.

My husband has been asking me for brownies over the past several days, so I decided to combine my love for nut butter, cashew in particular, with his love for brownies. I must say, they turned out to be delicious! I decided to use almond flour instead of coconut flour, and olive oil instead of my usual coconut oil for the base, and it actually worked out nicely. The brownies are pretty fluffy, but they are a little dry. However, the cashew cream adds a nice moistness and compliments the brownies very well. And best of all, these brownies are gluten-free,dairy-free, and made from natural ingredients, so you don't have to feel so guilty about eating them. :)

Chocolate Cake Roll with Strawberry Cream Filling

I made myself a mixture of avocado, strawberries, and lemon juice together to go with my lunch at work yesterday. It was actually quite tasty, so I thought I would try to incorporate avocado and strawberries together into a dessert somehow. I had a couple of cans of coconut milk chilled already in the fridge, so I wanted to incorporate those into the mix as well. I decided to stick with a chocolate base, since...well...chocolate just makes everything taste better!

While this dessert doesn't really feature the avocado as much as I originally planned, you can still taste a slight hint of it within the cake. The main features are chocolate, strawberries, and creamy coconut flavors. I will warn you though, it's not as sweet as it looks. I did not use any baking soda or baking powder either, so it's not very fluffy. But overall, it still tasted pretty good. Not the best cake in the world, but certainly not the worst. Plus it's gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, contains no leavening agents, and is made with real wholesome ingredients! Now I don't have to feel so guilty when I have a slice. :)

Chocolate Covered Caramel Banana Pops

I tried baby bananas for the first time a couple weeks back. If you've never had them, I encourage you to give them a try! They are kind of similar to bananas, but compare closer to a fully ripened plantain. They have a very nice sweetness to them, more so than a banana, and are less mushy as well. That's why they are the perfect candidate for these chocolate covered caramel banana pops!

I decided that it has been far too long since I've had a chocolate covered banana pop, and I thought what better way to make them then by adding caramel? When I was a kid my mom used to make chocolate covered frozen bananas occasionally, and they were always so delicious. Sometimes she would roll them in nuts or sprinkles before the chocolate hardened, and they were so good. I didn't do that for this recipe, but of course you are more than welcome to do so yourself.

I made half of these with baby bananas and half with regular banana halves. The baby bananas worked out much better since they were firmer and held their shape on the sticks better. The regular bananas kept trying to slide off. Both were tasty, but I preferred the baby bananas personally.

Banana Mocha Ice Cream Cake

This is actually my second attempt at this cake. The first attempt didn't go so well. The cake itself worked out just fine, and I'm sure it was delicious. However, I was unable to actually try the cake in it's entirety. After I finished decorating it, I had placed it back in the freezer to harden back up. That's when I heard a loud clunk. I opened the freezer to see all my hard work pouring down the side of the door... I guess that's what I get for trying to perform a balancing act with my latest dessert project. I saved about half of the cake, which was pretty much ruined at that point. I scooped it into a container and ended up eating it as ice cream instead.

In any case, I learned my lesson and bounced back this week with a perfected recipe and better pictures, oh, and a cleaned out freezer too. ;) I must say I am actually kind of glad about what happened. This cake turned out much better in the end!

I know there are a lot of components to this cake which makes it seem a little complicated, but it's actually pretty easy. If you want to make it a little simpler you can omit the cashew cream and coffee sauce, but I think it really adds to the flavor of the cake. I admit it's a little time consuming, but trust me, it is totally worth it!

The ice cream portion of the cake tastes like a creamy chocolate banana soft-serve ice cream with a hint of coffee. The coffee cream and sauce really help bring out the mocha flavors the most though. The crust is a little salty, which I think adds a nice balance to the sweet richness of the cake and cream. If you are watching your sodium, you may want to omit the salt from the crust, or lighten it to 1/8 of a teaspoon. I think everything goes together perfectly as-is though. :)

Chocolate Swirled Banana Bread

Okay, so my husband has been asking me for weeks to make him some banana bread, but we've been eating so many bananas lately that they never got ripe enough to work with! I just noticed yesterday that there were 3 overly ripe bananas that needed to be used, so I figured banana bread would be the perfect way to do it!

I tried to switch it up by adding two different flavors swirled together; one chocolate and the other cinnamon. I didn't exactly get the swirled effect I was hoping for, but you can sort of tell there are two different flavors in there...anyway it still tastes good, and that's what matters anyway! It is also quite fluffy for a coconut flour loaf. It is a little dry, but I found it went very well with some fresh banana slices and a glass of milk!

The version I made is mix-in free, but I think it would be lovely with some walnuts or raisins mixed in. I'd also like to note that I prefer a slightly bitter taste to my chocolate, so if you have a sweet tooth you may want to add in some extra honey. Adjust the recipe to fit your personal preference, there's no rules in the kitchen. :)

Chocolate Pomegranate Cake with Coconut Caramel Icing

So when browsing the grocery store a couple days ago I saw that pomegranates were on sale. Believe it or not, I had never actually had a pomegranate before now. I've had the juice before, so I had a pretty good idea of what they tasted like. But WOW! I never would have guessed the seeds would be so juicy and delicious. They just release a wonderful burst of flavor in your mouth when you bite down on one. Oh yes, and they are definitely a wonderful compliment to caramel and chocolate (but then again what doesn't compliment chocolate??)

Since this was my first pomegranate experience, I actually had no idea how to prepare one! So, after doing some research online, I found several people suggesting the best way to prepare them is by scooping out the seeds under water. How cool is that? I read several pages talking about how the seeds badly stain clothes and counter tops, so I am glad I researched it before diving right in!!

You'll see in the recipe below I also used some of the water from soaking the pomegranate seeds in my cake and icing. It didn't make a whole lot of difference flavor wise, so feel free to use regular water if you prepare your pomegranates using a different method, or if you buy pomegranate seeds alone.

And for those of you who may be wondering, this cake is actually not as dense as most coconut flour cakes. It is lighter than a pound cake, but heavier than an angel food cake. Its a very nice weight and tastes decadent and moist.

 I really had a lot of fun with this recipe! As you may be able to tell from all of the pictures in this post...I just couldn't help myself. Pomegranate seeds are just so lovely, almost like tiny rubies! They are so fun to decorate with, and definitely fun to eat. :)

Caramel Pear Chocolates

Believe it or not, this recipe was actually a mistake. I tell you, if all my mistakes were this wonderful I wouldn't have any problems at all!

I was actually making the chocolate sauce for something else and ended up only using about half of it (don't worry, I already halved the original recipe for this post). I figured I should try to come up with an idea to use the rest, because I know much better than to waste chocolate. I didn't want to put it in the fridge for later because I knew it would solidify and be difficult to work with. Then I thought, why not make mini chocolates with it and THEN let it harden!

So, I opened the fridge and cabinets to try and figure out what I could use. I saw there was half of a pear in the fridge from earlier that day and immediately knew that is what I wanted to use. But was pear chocolate going to be enough? I'm sure it would be perfectly tasty, but I wanted something more.

Then I saw the dates, and I knew a caramel topping was the way to go! And believe me, it did not disappoint. The pears added a nice juiciness to the chocolate and the caramel made me feel like I was eating a decadent dessert. Definitely a perfect match. :)

Pistachio Coated Mini Chocolates

This idea came to me when I was trying to think of a healthier alternative to M&Ms. All the recipes for home-made M&Ms I could find included corn syrup, food colorings, or other unhealthy/non-food items. There isn't really a point in making them at home if they are just as bad for you!

I never did come up with any ideas that would work well to make home-made M&Ms...I'm still trying to figure that one out if anybody has any ideas!

In the mean time, these are actually pretty awesome themselves. The pistachios add a slightly crunchy, colorful coating to the chocolates. While they don't taste like M&Ms, they do have a great nutty, salty, chocolatey taste of their own...which is totally okay with me!

Oh, and did I mention they are gluten and dairy-free? :)

Raw Coconut Tangerine Pie with Zesty Apple Spread

 

Okay, so I have been reading about all the raw food cakes and pies out there lately and decided I wanted to give it a try myself. They always look so beautiful! Not to mention all the healthy fats and vitamins they contain.

This is my first attempt at a raw food pie, and I'm not going to lie, it could have been better. It was much sweeter than I had thought it was gonna be. In fact, I was surprised at how rich it tasted since it is composed mostly of fruit.

It wasn't bad tasting, but the texture was kind of mushy. I highly recommend adding some sliced apples or pears to the top, since it helps mellow out all the richness and adds a little crunch.

Overall, I'd say this is a decent starter pie for someone trying to attempt a raw dessert. I do want to try to make it again, but next time I think I will add an extra cup of cashews and possibly omit the banana. It was plenty sweet, and the banana just turned it more brown than what I would have liked.

Anyway, if you decide to give it a try, let me know if you make any changes and how yours turns out!

Tangerine Coconut Cream Chocolates

  
You know what makes a perfect match? Chocolate and oranges. Well, that is what I was craving when I came up with these chocolates...But I didn't have any oranges. I did, however, have tangerines, which turned out to be just as awesome!

You know what made it even better? COCONUT! You may not know this, but I am a huge fan of coconut. And chocolate....probably more so of chocolate. Ahem...in any case, adding tangerines to the mix just turned it into totally awesome.

I wanted to try and replicate an orange cream filled chocolate with this recipe, only using more natural ingredients, like coconut, dates, and raw honey. I try to stay away from things like high-fructose corn syrup and food colorings, which are found in most commercial chocolates.

The result? A success! I achieved a creamy, but slightly chunky coconut texture for the filling. Not quite what I intended, but I actually preferred them over the smoother orange chocolates I was originally trying to replicate!

Dairy-Free Apple Cinnamon Ice Cream

This is a super easy recipe for dairy-free ice cream! And it can also be vegan if  you replace the honey with another sweetener, such as pure maple syrup or agave nectar. I have never actually tried agave before, but I'm sure maple syrup would be delicious!