Bartlett Pear Cast-Iron Skillet Cake

Vegan . Plant-Based . Processed Sugar Free

Serves 6-8

It's all about Bartlett Pears right now! Nothing says authentic fall better than a recipe with lots of pears in it! This recipe turned out perfeclty delicious and moist! There's a whole pear blended right into this cake and you can't even notice it's missing eggs or dairy! And it's free of refined sugar and low in oil without any compromise on flavor. The hints of almond extract and lemon zest do wonders! So with a "dessert" this low in calories and high in nutrients you can truly say "Let them eat cake!"

Ingredients 

Dry 

1 C all-purpose flour  

½ C almond flour 

½ C coconut sugar 

1 tsp baking soda 

1 tsp baking powder 

¼ tsp cinnamon 

¼ tsp salt 

Wet

1 C almond milk 

2 Bartlett pears (preferably ripe, 1 for inside the cake, 1 to top the cake)

¼ C canola oil 

1 ½ Tbsp maple syrup 

1 tsp Champaign vinegar 

1 tsp lemon zest 

½ tsp vanilla extract 

¼ tsp almond extract 

Top with 

Coconut whip cream or non-dairy ice cream (optional)

Candied pecans 


Directions 

1.    Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. For the pear, cut out the seed section of your pear and place in the food processor until small pieces form. Scrape out and mix with wet ingredients. 

2.    Incorporate wet with dry ingredients. Do not overmix the batter, just mix until well incorporated. 

3.    Slice your second pear into thin slices, set aside. 

4.    Lightly oil your skillet or pan, pour in the batter, top with slices of pear in desired pattern, sprinkle a little granulated sugar and cinnamon, bake in the oven for about 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees. Check cake by placing a knife in the center, if it comes out clean, it’s ready, if not give it another 5-10 minutes. 

5.    Once ready, set aside to cool. Sprinkle powdered sugar and top with coconut cream or your favorite non-dairy ice-cream. Enjoy! 

Apricot Crumb Bars

Makes about 14-16 2 x 3-inch bars

Use 9 x 12 inch-banking pan

Yummy creations...

This is such a fun and sweet treat that's so easy to make! This recipe has 50% less of the fat and sugar that most crumb bars would have, but doesn't compromise on tastiness!  Apricot preserve/jam is packed full of flavor and has just the perfect amount of tartness to balance out all its sweetness. These apricot crumb bars also hold very well in the fridge. If you're looking for a lower calorie pastry that would go beautifully with a cup of herbal tea, then this is your dessert! You can also replace the apricot preserves with any of your favorites like strawberry, blueberry or blackberry. You can also take this a step further and bake it with fresh fruit for a lighter and healthier version. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did! 

Ingredients

Base

Dry

2 C flour

½ C shredded coconut

½ C powdered sugar

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

Wet

1 Can coconut milk, solid part

4 Tbsp vegetable shortening

2 Tbsp lemon zest

1 C apricot jam

Crumbs

1/3rd C of the base dough

¼ C flour 

Directions

1.    Mix wet and dry ingredients separately. Add wetingredients to dry and mix well. Once incorporated remove about 1/3rdC of the dough and set aside.

2.    Lightly spray oil your baking pan, press in the basedough, then scoop on the apricot jam and spread evenly on the surface of thedough.

3.    For the crumbs, work the flour into the doughyou set aside. Use your hands to break apart and crumble your dough. You canalso use a knife to run through your crumbs in a chopping manner to makesmaller crumbs. Take the crumbs and sprinkle on to the jam layer until evenlydistributed.

4.    Set your oven at 350 degrees and bake for 30-35minutes. Crumbs will begin to lightly brown when ready. Set aside to coolbefore cutting. Cut out desired sized bars. Store in your fridge. Enjoy! 

Chocolate-Mocha Avocado Pudding

Vegan . GF 

Serves 4-6

I know I’ve said it beforeabout other dessert recipes, but this is by far the most decadent andtantalizing star of them all! I literally couldn’t stop smiling when I scoopedup a cool, rich spoon full of this remarkable pudding into my mouth. 

Avocados…such a gift from heaven! So rich and so easily manipulated to blend perfectlywith either savory or sweet flavors. Something new I’d like to share aboutavocados is their ability to decrease inflammatory markers. Let’s say you’reeating a less healthy meal like a hamburger that is high in saturated fats,having half an avocado on top of it can actually decrease your body’sinflammatory response much more than if you had it without avocado. 

Though Idon’t drink coffee I love the smell and flavors of mocha, Clarks carries afabulous blend of mocha coffee that is decaffeinated and made from organicherbs under the brand name Teeccino. I loved it! And it took the richness to awhole other level! Another star of this dish had to be the cacao butter. It wasmy first time using it and I am hooked. Clarks carries a wonderful organiccacao butter by Sunfood – Super Foods. This added to the chocolatey flavors andrichness I was looking for. Even though Cacao Butter is a saturated fat it isabsolutely packed with phenolic phytochemicals and flavonoids which protectagainst oxidative damage. It can also help to boost mood and cognitiveperformance. In addition, it can lower blood pressure and can regulate insulin. 

Ingredients 

  • 2 ripe avocados
  • 2 cans coconut milk (cream part only, discardwater)
  • ½ C organic maple syrup
  • 2 ½ Tbsp organic cocoa powder
  • 2 Tbsp Cacao Butter – Sunfood (melted)
  • 1 Tbsp mocha powder (if grainy, grind first,recommend Teeccino)
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • a few dashes of sea salt
  • a dash of cayenne pepper

Garnish

  • fresh berries
  • crushed roasted almonds

Directions

Place contents in a food processor starting with avocados and cream of coconut milk (discard water portion), pulse well, then add cocoa powder and organic maple syrup, pulse, then add mocha powder, then add remaining ingredients (microwave Cacao Butter for 1 minute to melt). Pulse until silky smooth, chill for 1-2 hours. Garnish with fresh berries and almonds, serve, enjoy! 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bonbons

Vegan

Yields 30-35 pieces

Sweet! In more ways than one ;)  - Nutrition Bits

I’ll never know how these experimental bonbons ended uptasting exactly (actually, better, lol) than Reese’s Pieces, but I’m gratefulthey did! Picture this, you’re biting into a layer of cool chocolate and met bya dense layer of deliciously nutty and delightfully grainy peanut butter thatslowly begins to melt as you roll it around in your mouth, surprised with a pleasantburst of sea salt here and there balancing beautifully with the sweetness of thechocolate. No overpowering flavors, just a harmonious dance of what is now acreamy mixture of highly satisfying flavors. But wait, there’s more! It’s goodfor you *angels singing*. Since most of this bonbon are variations of peanutswith a very thin layer of dark chocolate, we’ll focus on that. Peanuts areactually not a nut. They are a legume, or type of bean. They contain goodamounts of monounsaturated fats which help to lower LDL “bad cholesterol” andhigher HDL, “good cholesterol”. They are loaded with protein and contain anexcellent source of resveratrol, with is an antioxidant that has been found tohave protective functions against cancer, heart disease, and degenerative nervedisease. Hands down, this recipe has made it on to my “Too Good To Be True”List. 

Ingredients

Peanut butter center

  • 1 ½ C of roasted peanuts (salted)
  • ½ C of smooth all natural peanut butter (unsalted)
  • ½ C of cashew butter (unsalted)
  • 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
  • 1 pack of Graham crackers
  • ½ tsp of Himalayan Sea Salt

Chocolate layer

  • ¼ lb. Dark chocolate chips (vegan or regular)
  • 2 Tbsp. coconut oil 

Directions

Put roasted peanuts into food processor andblend until grainy. Blend graham crackers until powdered. Mix processed peanutsand graham crackers until well incorporated. Add peanut butter, cashew butter,coconut oil, and sea salt. Use your hands to incorporate mixture. Should resultin moldable mass. Put in fridge for 20 minutes or so to harden. Remove fromfridge, form balls (less than an inch in diameter), put on parchment paper ontray, chill in freezer for 15 minutes. Take chocolate chips, microwave for 1minute, add coconut oil, mix thoroughly. Remove balls from freezer, dip inchocolate and place back on tray to cool, pop back in the freezer. Drizzledesign: after 5 minutes or so pull out of freezer, take a spoon, drizzledesired patterns, pop back in freezer for 1-2 hours. Enjoy!

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