Desserts

We will eat sparingly. These are all Gluten and Dairy Free. Each are Sweetened with Healthy Sweeteners.

Desserts

A good idea is to limit our Paleo Desserts to one or two a week. I must admit, I have not limited mine and still lost inches. However, I am diligent to do a Crossfit Workout 2 times a week and to eat just about 90% Paleo. It tastes so good, why not?

Paleo Just Keeps Getting Better

I discovered this recipe while scanning an email from The Civilized Caveman. This was in his top ten Paleo Recipes for 2014. It continues to be in my top ten now, 10 years later. It may be #1.

So Moist and So Fresh TastingFood can be medicine

With the fresh lemon and honey glaze drizzled over the top, this pound cake is the best pound cake I have ever eaten. The Lemon zest in the glaze almost gives it a taste of nuts (although there are no nuts.)

Ingredients for Pound Cake

DRY

2 Cups Almond Flour (I like to use blanched finely ground Almond Flour, but this is just my preference.)

1/2 C. Coconut Flour

1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

1 tsp. Baking Soda

WET

2/3 C. Raw Honey, Melted

2/3 C. Coconut Oil, Melted

4 Large Cage Free Eggs

1/2 C. + 3 TBLS Unsweetened Full-Fat Coconut Milk

2 TBLS Pure Lemon Extract

1 TBL Lemon Zest from organic lemon

Ingredients for Glaze

Freshly squeezed Lemon Juice from 2 Lemons

Lemon Zest from 1 Lemon

1 Vanilla Bean Pod (if you don’t have the Bean Pod, use pure vanilla extract). I discovered how good recipes are using the Bean Pod earlier this year. We happened to be at a store called Costco and there it was.

4 TBLS Raw Honey

How to Make

CAKE

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Prepare a 9×9 baking pan by coating the interior lightly with coconut oil.

3. Cut Parchment Paper to fit the bottom of the pan and place it over the coconut oil. I am so excited to learn this tip to use with other baking recipes as well.)

4. Place Oil and Honey in Food Processor (I used Blendtech) and process for 2 minutes.

5. Add other wet ingredients: Coconut Milk, Lemon Extract, Lemon Zest and process again until all is combined.

6. Combine dry ingredients and mix together.

7. Add dry ingredients into the processor and blend until smooth.

8. Pour into the prepared pan and bake 35 – 37 minutes.

9. Let cake cool a few minutes

10. Remove cake and cool thoroughly  (Before removing the cake run a  dinner knife around the edges to be sure they are not sticking. The Parchment paper in the bottom works so well.)

GLAZE

1. Prepare this while the cake is baking.

2. Cut Vanilla Bean Pod lengthwise. Scrape the little beans into a small saucepan.

3. Add in the Vanilla Bean Pod, Lemon Juice, Zest, and the honey to the pan and simmer 10 minutes stirring often or continuously.

4. Cool and remove the pod and toss. (or find some creative ways to use the left over pod. In my searching I have seen several.) http://www.thekitchn.com/5-ways-to-use-spent-vanilla-beans-202616

5. Pierce several holes in the top of the cake using a big fork.

6. Pour the Glaze over the cake top. Spread evenly.

7. Rest cake one hour so it can fully absorb the glaze.

Serve or store in refrigerator.

Recently I saw a post from ElanasPantry.com about a new Starbucks Gluten Free Valencia Orange Cake. Apparently it tastes just like the one Elana posted in 2009. She says it was actually created by Claudia Roden. She called it Gateau a l’Orange. It was later made popular by Nigella Lawson, who made hers with clementines instead of oranges.

It is easy and delicious!

INGREDIENTS

  •  2 Oranges
  • 4 Large Eggs
  • 3/4 C. Agave Nectar or Honey
  • 2 C. Blanched Almond Flour
  • 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
  • 1 tsp. Baking Soda

Step One is the Crazy Part

  1. Wash and then boil the oranges whole with peel and all for 1 1/2 hours. (I cut the time down on my second go around and still tastes delicious.)
  2. Place the whole oranges (yes, peel and all)  in a food processor and blend them until very smooth
  3. Toss in the eggs, agave, almond flour, salt and baking soda and process until well blended.
  4. Pour batter into a greased 9 inch cake pan. (I used a Pyrex square dish, brushed it with coconut oil and put a square piece of parchment paper in bottom.)
  5. Bake at 375 for 45 to 50 minutes. (NOTE: Either my oven is too hot or this is too high to bake at as mine burned. The second time I lowered temperature to 350 and baked 50-60 minutes testing with toothpick.)
  6. Cool in the pan for 2 hours

This cake is so moist and wonderful. Thank you Elana. Elanaspantry.com

Simple Cookies to Make and Freeze

Paleo desserts are so delicious. However, we need a word of caution. I need one too! We can’t think just because they are Paleo that we can eat our fill of them. Balance is such an important word to remember.

During my past year   journey of eating  Fabufit Paleo, I have enjoyed the Paleo desserts so much; eating them only once and awhile on months I was really working on dropping inches, and a bit more on months I was establishing my new “Set Point” and not really focusing on any new inch losses. Personally, this has worked well for me. Of course, I do combine the eating lifestyle with consistent exercise.

Making some simple cookies and freezing them will help the “sweet tooth”. The Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies are also delicious frozen. Be sure to place a piece of wax paper between each to make them easy to take out just one or two  at a time.

I Discovered these Snickerdoodles in Elana’s Cookbook
Ingredients

2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup arrowroot powder

6 tablespoons coconut oil (My choice – Elana uses Grapeseed oil)

1/2 cup agave nectar

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

Ground cinnamon to sprinkle on top

How to Make

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper.

Combine the dry ingredients except for the cinnamon in a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.

Stir the wet into the dry until thoroughly combined. Spoon this dough one tablespoon at a time onto the parchment paper. Using two spoons is easier for me to work with. One to dip it up and one to scoop it onto the paper. Now press down with the palm of your hand to flatten. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake 7 to 10 minutes. I suggest 7 minutes as they cook quickly. Cool cookies on their baking sheet 30 minutes. Elana suggests letting these cool on the counter overnight and then storing them in airtight container. They were much better after being on counter overnight.

Our grandchildren seem to like these ever more than the Chocolate Chip ones.

I’d love to know which ones you like best.

 

Vanilla Inch Loss Ice Cream 

(Updated summer 2018)

This one is so easy. No ice cream freezer needed.

Use a powerful blender. These blender ice creams can save the day when you are hungry for something sweet and delicious.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 C Full Fat Coconut Milk
  • 2 Scoops Vanilla Protein Powder
  • 3 TBL Pure Vanilla
  • Pinch Sea Salt
  • 3 TBL Raw Honey or Agave
  • 4 Cups or more Crushed Ice

How to Make

Mix all but the ice together in a powerful blender. Blend. Now add ice 1/2 cup at a time as your blender will handle it.  Blend until smooth and frozen. Left over can also be saved and frozen for later. Great with Zevia Soda for a Root Beer Float.

 

Strawberry Ice Cream

Strawberry Ice Cream Paleo

(Updated summer 2018)

This one is so easy. No ice cream freezer needed. It is also very delicious with frozen pineapple instead of strawberries. …and read on for a most easy and incredibly delicious blender vanilla ice cream totally Paleo.

 

Ingredients

  • 1/4 C. Vanilla Protein Powder
  • 4 oz. Coconut or Almond Milk
  • 2 TBL Pure Vanilla
  • 3 TBL Agave Nectar or Raw Honey
  • 1 Cup Ice
  • 2 Cup Frozen Strawberries

How to Make

  • Blend the first 4 ingredients
  • Add ice  a little at a time  and blend
  • Chop strawberries (if your blender is not powerful enough to work with them whole)
  • Add Strawberries  a little at a time and blend until frozen.

Paleo Vanilla Ice Cream

 

I have been searching for an easier vanilla ice cream recipe. Last summer, I found a good one, but it is more time consuming than I liked because of using eggs and needing to be cooked first. (Who has time for that?) So after four tries, I have a delicious and super quick recipe for those of us who miss ice cream and want vanilla.  This is very similar to the strawberry above, but has to have several adjustments to make up for the lack of frozen fruit. Honestly, it is ridiculously delicious. It reminds me of the best of homemade freezer ice cream, soft serve ice cream and snow ice cream. Can you begin to get the picture?

Ingredients

  • 6 ounces of Full far Coconut Milk
  •  2 TBLS Pure Vanilla Extract
  • Pinch Salt
  • 3 TBLS Raw Honey or Agave
  • Added Drops of Liquid Organic Stevia for more sweetness if desired or substitute for part of Honey
  • 1/4 C Vanilla Protein ( did make my 3rd try without this and it was still really pretty good)
  • 4 cups crushed ice

How to Make

  • Blend all above except ice
  • Then Add ice a little at a time. Blend in powerful blender. I have a Blendtech which works perfect.  I think any blender that can crush ice would work. Our refrigerator has crushed ice, so I used the crushed ice from the refrigerator and dumped it into the blender and then blended to make it a smooth soft serve like ice cream.

My husband, John, doesn’t say much about my recipes. However, he really loves this one.

I like it so much too because a big portion of the ingredients list is Crushed Ice. This is a great Paleo Dessert by itself. For a special birthday, wouldn’t it be good on a Paleo Chocolate Cake?

Our little granddaughters request that we make ice cream almost every time they come over. They both love helping make it and deciding on the flavor for the day.  Caris loves lemon (just add some lemon extract and less vanilla) and Cali’s favorite is vanilla.  They think no it is really good with a Paleo chocolate chip cookie or two.

 

 

Moms and Grandmoms Have to Make Cookies – Fabufit Paleo

Chocolate Chip Cookies

addapted with gratefulness from elanaspantry.com
I must admit: I used to make cookies years and years ago and then healthy eating came along and those recipes didn’t taste good enough to waste the time making……………..until I found this one. ~ Dani

Dry Ingredients

2 1/2 cups Honeyville Almond Flour (I found this at a store in our area called Costcos. It seems to be a finer almond flour to work with.)

1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

Wet Ingredients

1/2 cup Ghee (or Coconut Oil)

1/2 cup agave nectar

Mix in at end

1 cup dark chocolate (72% or higher)

Instructions:

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a big bowl

2. Mix the wet ingredients in smaller bowl

3. Mix the two sets together

4. Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper

5. Place 1/2 inch balls of the dough on paper and press

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes

Tips:

I used a 72% dark chocolate bar and broke it into pieces to yield about 1/2 cup of pieces. Next time I will use the whole 1 cup as called for,  as it was so very good. I broke it using a mortar and pestle little set I had for crushing vitamins. Some of my pieces came out fairly big, but were so good that way.

My test was to see if this recipe would pass the test of an 8 year old particular eating grandson, an almost 2 year old baby and a daughter. All LOVED these cookies. Of course, John is not particular and he really liked them too. We had them with our newly found Vanilla Bean Fabufit Paleo Ice Cream.

French Silk Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 Can Coconut Cream (14ounces).
  • 3 Packets of Powder Stevia
  • 2 Tsp. Pure Vanilla Flavoring
  • 3 TBLS. Dutch Pressed Cocoa

How to Make

Take  Coconut Cream out of the can and mix thoroughly

Add 3 or more TBLS Dutch Pressed Cocoa

Add 3 packets of powder Stevia

Add 2 tsp. pure Vanilla Flavoring

Place in a precooked Paleo Pie Crust

Cool or Freeze if Desired

Serve with Paleo Whip Cream

This  Can also Be Used on Fruit, Sweet Potatoes
Decadent Brownies

From Paleo Indulgences by Tammy Credicott

These are so very good. I make them and then freeze them individually for emergency events I am going to.

  1. Preheat over to 350 degrees
  2. Place all of Step 1 ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat until melted. Then remove from heat
    1. 2 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
    2. 3 TBLS full-fat coconut milk
    3. ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    4. 3 TBLS coconut oil, melted
  3. Place all the Step 2 ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk to combine
    1. 3 TBLS arrowroot starch
    2. 1/4 cup coconut flour, sifted
    3. ¼ tsp baking soda
    4. Pinch sea salt
  4. In separate bowl combine Step 3 ingredients
    1. ½ cup pure maple syrup
    2. 2 eggs, whisked
    3. ¼ cup canned organic pumpkin
  5. Add the Step 1 chocolate mixture and all the Step 3 wet ingredients to the Step 2 dry ingredients. Blend well with a hand mixer
  6. Pour the batter into a coconut oil greased 8 by 8 inch glass baking dish. Bake 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  7. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cut brownies into squares and enjoy. Store leftovers in an airtight container up to 2 days or freeze up to 3 months.

Easy Almond Butter Balls with added DecorThis recipes is one my family has enjoyed for years. I always used peanut butter, but the Almond Butter is delicious and much better for us. Almond Butter is also Paleo approved.

Basic Almond Butter Balls

This recipe is basic. There are many many ways to make these really elegant with coconut flakes, nuts, etc. as you see in the above photo.

These are really simple to mix up, requiring no cooking and providing a great source of protein.

Kids like these a bunch as well. I like to make a double recipe and freeze half of it. (These are good frozen as well.)

Ingredients:

  • 1 Cup Organic Almond Butter
  • 1 Cup Natural Protein Powder
  • ½ to 1 cup Honey – I generally try for using just one half cup honey but may need more to be sure the balls stick together well.

You can make these into little balls and even freeze them. They are perfect for a time when you really wish to have just a small something sweet. Do be careful as they are so very good, it’s easy to eat too many. Limit them to about two and train your body to eat them slowly as you sip on a cup of herbal tea.

3 Ingredients make this delicious dark chocolate3 Ingredient Dark Chocolate

Here is the treasure I found at 360yourlife.com years ago.  The site is no longer up. Thank you Brooke Thomas for creating such amazingly delicious “healthy subs.”

Ingredients

  • ½ cup 100% pure maple syrup
  • ¼ cup coconut oil
  • 2/3 cup cacao powder

How to Make

Mix all ingredients in a high speed blender until well combined. Pour into glass dish or mini cupcake wrapper and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. If you want to use it as a dip, simply pour into a bowl and enjoy!

If making chocolate covered fruit, dip the fruit and place in the freezer for 30 minutes until chocolate hardens.

(One recipe stretches for 12 muffins)

Here is the frosting to make the birthday mini bundt cakes very delicious.

Mix

  • ½ cup palm shortening (I found at Whole Food store)
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
  • Pinch sea salt

Add

  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 TBSP arrowroot starch
  • 1 tsp coconut flour, sifted
  • 2 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder

Blend again

With mixer on low, slowly add the coconut oil until incorporated. Whip frosting on high until light and fluffy.

Refrigerate if needed to firm up a bit, and then whip again. I didn’t have to do this. It was perfect without whipping again.

Can Store a Week

Frosting can be stored in the refrigerator up to a week. Let it soften a bit at room temperature and fluff it up with a hand mixer before using.

Paleo Chocolate Mini Bundts

Delicious Paleo Chocolate Mini Bundts

For A Great Birthday Cake Replacement, I double this! 

I made these for our niece’s birthday. She had actually skipped Paleo eating for the birthday weekend, but certainly enjoyed them the following week. The palm shortening for the frosting (recipe above) was hard to find. I finally found it at Whole Food Store (in a tub). That shortening made the frosting creamy and totally delicious.

Mix Dry Ingredients

  • ¼ cup coconut flour, sifted
  • ¼ tsp. sea salt
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Wet Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 TBSP pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup pure maple syrup
  • ¼ cup coconut milk (full fat or light)
  • ¼ cup coconut oil, melted

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Place dry ingredients in medium bowl and whisk
  3. Add wet ingredients, except the coconut oil. Mix with hand mixer
  4. With the mixer on low, slowly pour in coconut oil. Mix well.
  5. Divide the batter evenly among muffin tins. Use cupcake liners
  6. Bake 22-25 min, or until center springs back when lightly pressed
  7. Cool 10 min in pan and turn out onto a wire rack. Cool completely
  8. Frost with Chocolate Frosting or serve with Quick Blender Paleo Vanilla Ice Cream..

Paleo Delicious

There is a salad at Abuelos Mexican restaurant that is served with a Creamy Honey Lime dressing and Toasted Slivered Almonds. This weekend I searched for these recipes. The dressing I found isn’t the same; so the search continues on that. But the almonds….yes, these are delicious. I just substituted Coconut Sugar for processed sugar.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Slivered Almonds
  • Several TBLS Coconut Sugar to cover Almonds
  • A little Coconut Oil

How To Make

  • Heat  coconut oil in a really heavy duty skillet. (My Cuisinart ceramic didn’t work well as I really had to clean it afterward. I plan to use my heavy griddle next time.)
  • Add the Almonds and Coconut Sugar and stir on medium heat until sugar is caramelized.
  • Remove from pan and place them on parchment paper or an oblong glass dish to spread out and cool.

 

Cinnamon Candied Pecans (Paleo)

Oh my goodness! These are so good. John and I had gone to our grandson, Chandler’s, Volleyball competition at the convention center, and there was a vendor selling bags of these candied pecans.  I felt sure there would be a Paleo way to make these. The recipe below is a combo and adjusted recipe from the ones I found. This was also the most simple one. The only thing I am still not sure about is how to get the pure vanilla in evenly. This last test I added it to the coconut oil in the pan. This seemed to work well except that I should have added it before I heated the oil.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Pecans

1/8 Cup Coconut Oil  or less (Just cover the bottom of your skillet well.)

3-4 TBLS Cinnamon Sugar (Your Preference on Spice/Sweetener amounts)

1 – 1 1/2 t. Cinnamon

1 – 1 1/2 t. Pure Vanilla

1/4 tsp. Sea Salt

How to:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Line cookie sheet with Parchment Paper
  3. Place the Coconut Oil and the Pure Vanilla in skillet on low heat.
  4. Add the Pecans
  5. Combine the other ingredients and sprinkle over the Pecans
  6. Toss for a few minutes
  7. Place and spread evenly on cookie sheet
  8. Bake for 10 minutes

Shortcut:

If you want to make these a little quicker and easier, this works too:

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Place Pecans on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake 7-10 minutes
  3. Place Coconut Oil in a big skillet
  4. Add the Cinnamon Sugar, Cinnamon, Salt (and some Vanilla Extract if desired.)
  5. Toss and cool

These are delicious on green salads::

Paleo Salads