No-Bake, Flourless Brownies

And I'm back with another healthy recipe! Who likes chocolate? ME!!! Sometimes I really crave it but have no chocolate on hand ... So I just make things like no-bake, flourless brownies! ^_^

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Pitted dates, Walnuts, Cocoa powder, Coconut oil, Vanilla, Salt, Water

Some parts are lighter brown because the oil separated in the topping. It didn't hinder the taste though!

No-Bake, Flourless Brownies

Brownie

2 1/2 c. loosely packed pitted dates

1 1/2 c. walnuts

6 T. cocoa powder

1 1/2 t. vanilla

2 t. water

1/4 t. and a pinch salt

Topping

1/4 c. cocoa powder

1/4 c. organic coconut palm sugar

1 T. honey

2 T. coconut oil (flavorless)

1/2 t. vanilla

Instructions

Blend ingredients for brownie in food processor until smooth. (Don't add any extra water even if it seems dry.)

Press into an 8-inch pan, lightly greased.

Heat the topping ingredients in pot until sugar is mostly dissolved. (Unless you use [1/4 cup] maple syrup instead of sugar&honey, then you don't need to heat it. Just mix it in a bowl). Spread evenly over brownie.

Refrigerate for about 2 hours. Enjoy!

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I found this recipe on Pinterest, and it brought me to a blog called Chocolate Covered Katie. She calls the recipe The Ultimate Unbaked Brownies.

I made a few tweaks to the recipe, and they are absolutely DELICIOUS!!! Yummy, dark-chocolate tasting brownies. I'm in love ... <3 My mom too, I think! *grins*

Let me know what you think if you give them a try! ^_^

Easy Banana Pancakes

     So I am finally getting around to my health/recipes posts again!! :D

     This one is for banana pancakes, which I think I've mentioned on here before. I just love them, and they are so easy to make!! No flour. No sugar. No dairy.

     My sister made them last, and took some pictures . . .

 ~ Banana, eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla ~

 ~ Feel free to add other things, like oatmeal and walnuts ~

 ~ If you don't have a blender, you can just mash the bananas by hand, and then mix everything else in ~

     Easy Banana Pancakes

1 banana

3 eggs

2 t. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

     Mix together and make your pancakes! Top with peanut butter or almond butter.

     And there you have it. I love making these on mornings where it seems there's nothing else to eat and whatnot. And it's a pretty flexible recipe. I've done 2 bananas to 1 egg. 1 banana to 2 eggs. 1 banana to 3 eggs. Whatever you have! :) And then, like I mentioned above, you can add other things. My mom likes to add oatmeal and walnuts. Either way, they're delicious!! :D

Blueberry Pecan Crisp

     I haven’t been following my sugar-free diet strictly… *sheepish face*. The other week I had a strawberries and crème shake from Starbucks, and over the last few days I ate two or three no-bake cookies. Yeah, those have lots of sugar. However, still, I’ve hardly been eating sugar. And it’s been a few months now! :-)

     Here’s another luscious sugar-free recipe I found. Blueberry Pecan Crisp. It has spelt flour in it, so it doesn’t qualify as gluten-free. But its wheat-free!

 Ingredient list: blueberries, rolled oats, pecans, spelt flour, coconut flakes, coconut oil, stevia, cinnamon, salt

Pour blueberries in 8x8 dish

Add topping

Ingredient list for topping: cream cheese, coconut milk, vanilla, stevia 

Yes, mine turned out a bit clumpy. But it tastes delicious anyway! Kind of a yogurt-y touch. :-)

 

Blueberry Pecan Crisp

 

(serves approximately 8)

  Ingredients (for the crisp):

 

1 cup rolled oats

 

1 cup pecan halves

 

½ cup spelt flour

 

½ cup unsweetened flaked coconut

 

¼ teaspoon salt

 

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

 

½ teaspoon and a smidgen more 100% pure, powdered stevia (or 1/3 cup raw honey)

¼ cup + 2 tablespoons coconut oil

 

4 cups blueberries

  Instructions:

 

Chop pecans. Mix together oats, pecans, flour, coconut flakes, salt, cinnamon, and stevia in a bowl. Add in the coconut oil and combine thoroughly.

 

Put blueberries in a greased 8x8 pan. Pour the oat mixture on top. Bake for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
 

 

  Ingredients (for the topping):

 

8 oz. cream cheese

½ cup coconut milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Sprinkle or two of stevia

 

  Instructions:

 

Blend ingredients together. This will make enough for two crisps.

 

 

     I love this tasty dessert! It's just scrumptious... you wouldn't even know it didn't have sugar! :-) So yummy, you have to try it, :-D

 

     The original recipe was found on Pinch of Yum blog.

Chocolate Oatmeal Dish

     Another recipe, :) A chocolate oatmeal sort of dish, though someone told me it tasted rather like chocolate cake! Perfect! :D :) I think it's a scrumptious snack, either way.

     Ingredient List: oatmeal, oatmeal flour, cocoa powder, coconut milk, honey, coconut oil, vanilla, baking powder, salt, dark chocolate

     Use any flour you wish, but I just ground some oatmeal into flour, because I didn't have any other gluten-free flours handy at the moment.

      Really yummy. I would eat oatmeal any day if I could fix it like this every time! *grins* (I'm not a fan of oatmeal otherwise!)

 

Chocolate Oatmeal

 

 

Ingredients

 

• 1/3 cup rolled oats 
• 2 T. oatmeal flour
• 1 T. cocoa powder
• 1/4 t. baking powder
• Sprinkle of salt
• 1/3 cup coconut milk
• 1 T. honey
• 1/2 t. vanilla
• 1 t. coconut oil, melted
• 1-2 T. dark chocolate, chopped

Directions

 

Mix first five ingredients together. Add the rest, leaving out only the chocolate chunks, to be stirred in last. Pour into a greased, oven-safe bowl of some type, and bake for 12-17 minutes at 325 degrees.

 

 

     Once again, a savory snack. Yay for chocolate! I seem to crave it all the time, so these recipes help a lot! :) :)

 

     Oh, the original recipe is found on Running with Spoons, a neat blog that I've found multiple, delicious-looking recipes from. I can't wait to try them all out!

 

     Happy baking, all! :)



Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

     As I mentioned in the previous post, A Dash of Randomness, I will be getting more healthy recipes up on my blog!
     So here I am with another summary and recipe from my healthy baking adventures, :)
     This one is a bit unusual (well... of course), but once you take the first bite, it quickly grows on you. It did with me anyway... I hope to make them again! A sweet, tasty, flourless cookie; and it even has chocolate in it! :D

     The whole of our ingredient list consists of: oatmeal, bananas, coconut milk, applesauce, dark chocolate, vanilla, and cinnamon.

     (It'd probably be best to use bananas a little riper than the ones shown! :p)

     If you want a less oatmeal-y texture, I might suggest trying quick oats.

     Instead of chocolate chips, I used dark chocolate bars (85% cocoa), and just broke it into small chunks.

     You can bake them directly like this, or you can use a spoon to press them down a bit, since they don't flatten on their own. Either way, they taste the same! (I tried both ways, haha, *smiles*)

     So give these cookies a try! A delicious, healthy snack for when you're craving a bite of something sweet. I love them.





 

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 3 ripe bananas (mashed)
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• 2 cups oats
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup 85% dark chocolate (chopped)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions

Mix ingredients together until well blended. Spoon onto greased cookie sheet, and press down (they don’t flatten on their own). Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15-20 minutes.

     So there you have it. Fabulous sugar-free cookies. Again, a warning. If you consume sugar regularly, these aren't going to taste very sweet to you. But they're plenty sweet for those like me, who haven't had sugar in awhile. I would recommend you stop making you usual chocolate chip cookies (which you know aren't good for you), and let your taste buds grow to love these instead! ;D :)

     I found the original recipe written in on a random (unhealthy) cookie pin on pinterest. Not sure what was going on there. But anyway, the original recipe went as follows:

" Healthy cookies - 3 mashed bananas (ripe), 1/3 cup apple sauce, 2 cups oats, 1/4 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup dark chocolate, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp cinnamon. preheat oven to 350 degrees. bake for 15-20 minutes. NO SUGAR! "

     Thank you for your time and interest, :) To our health! :) :)

Garbanzo Bean Fudge??

     Yeah, um... give this one a chance, ;)

     *Ahem* I've been wheat-free for about two years or so now; and I also have a host of other things I should be staying away from. My mom's newest idea is to go on a sugar-free diet.

     And I'm like... "What about chocolate?? And all these delicious dessert recipes I found on Pinterest that I want to try out??"

     Yes, I like sugar as much as the next person. But lately, I've been really interested in health foods. I mean, I'd way rather skip the donuts, cake, and Butterfingers than enjoy them for a moment, and then have a stomach ache from their wheat content. And I would just as soon not drink soda and chew gum if it's going to help my teeth stay decay-free. And have you ever read about how much sugar causes problems in your body?? I'm realizing more and more how important keeping our bodies healthy is. We need to take care of our temples!! -Feel good, and stay strong and fit to serve God and our fellow people!

      Going on, I decided to try out some fun (crazy), sugar-free recipes. I'm craving chocolate. I'm craving sweet.

     So I made Garbanzo Bean Fudge.

     Yep. That's right. Fudge made out of beans.

 

The original recipe didn't call for cocoa and honey, but I added some anyway. (They actually called for chocolate chips, so I figured it was a fair trade, *smiles*)

 

 

Chocolate Freezer Fudge

 

Ingredients

 

• 1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas) *drained and rinsed*
•  
• 1/2 cup smooth almond butter (or any other nut/seed butter)
•  
• 1/2 cup milk
•  
• 8-10 pitted soft dates
•  
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
•  
• 1/4 cup honey
•  
• 1 tsp vanilla
•  
• Sprinkle or two of sea salt

Instructions

 

Mix all ingredients together in a food processor, until well blended and smooth. 

 

Spoon batter into muffin tins and let sit in freezer for about four hours.

 

*Yields about 12 fudge pieces (of the size below)*

 

 

 

     Yes, I was a little wary, but they actually turned out to be quite good! Of course, if you're used to eating sugary things, these aren't going to taste very sweet. But overall I find them to be a yummy snack. So healthy, good protein, and it satisfies my sweets craving.

 

     Just make sure you use smooth nut/seed butter. My almond butter wasn't smooth, so my batch turned out a little grainy. But still good. Kind of has an almond butter/dark chocolate-y taste. Not a hint of garbanzo beans... :P :)

 

     Yay to yummy, (weird), and healthy foods! :)

 

     I feel like I can survive just fine sugar-free now.

 

     How about you all? Anyone gluten-free or needing to change to a sugar-free lifestyle?