Tag Archives: low in sugar

  1. Homemade Chai Concentrate {+ Video}

    Making your own Chai Concentrate at home means you can make this warming spiced tea to suit your exact personal tastes and it’s far easier than you might think. Make sweetened or unsweetened and adjust the spices to your personal taste. Use any milk or non-dairy substitute you like and serve it hot or over ice.

    Homemade Chai Concentrate Recipe {sweetened and unsweetened}

    Homemade Chai Concentrate Recipe {sweetened and unsweetened}

    Homemade Chai Concentrate. This recipe is nearly 7 years old, at this point, and it’s still a major favorite of mine. It’s so so easy to make and you can customize your own recipe to exactly what you are looking for in your chai. I like mine spicy, with a strong tea flavor and with a subtle sweetness, if any at all. I personally find the packaged chai concentrates from the grocery store and at most coffee shops to really lack that nice spiced flavor I love and many times they are just far too sweet for me. Most are loaded with preservatives and other less than desirable ingredients. Why though?

    Chai is one of my favorite, comforting drinks to cozy up with, especially in the colder months. Plus, with the holidays upon us, it’s important to note that this is the perfect thoughtful handmade gift to bottle up and give to your chai-loving friends. Package with a cute label (FREE download included below for my printable labels you can easily customize) or label and enjoy the smiles and praise.

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  2. Grain-Free Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies – Gluten-free + Vegan

    Grain-Free Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies - Gluten-free + Vegan

    I am writing up this post and recipe from somewhere in the sky over the middle of America while we fly from New York to California. We’ll be in Long Beach for 8 days checking out homes and hopefully securing something for our March 1st arrival. So exciting!

    I am trying to keep my mind busy during this long flight by writing this up, watching episodes of Gossip Girl and dreaming of these cookies. I only wish I would have grabbed the last few and stuck them in my bag.

    By the time this post goes live, we’ll already be in California for a day and starting to look at houses. I am so excited to find up next place and to start this new chapter. It’s all so exciting!

    Grain-Free Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies - Gluten-free + Vegan

    OK back to the cookies. I came up with the idea to make these on earlier last week after having a crazy hankering for peanut butter cookies, that I don’t even normally care too much about. I like them just fine, they just aren’t my first pick. Rather than a standard peanut butter cookie, I thought a cookie inspired by the popular sandwich would be fun and super delicious. Plus, one of my least favorite things about a lot of peanut butter cookies is how dry they can be. I thought the jam would be the perfect compliment.

    These cookies came out so great, if I can say so myself. I brought them to my friend Carrie’s house for a little get together along with another sweet treat that I can’t wait to share with you guys. Everyone loved the cookies, hubby even proclaimed “these are the best cookies you’ve ever made”.

    They are moist and chewy with the perfect amount of slight golden brown crisp to the outside and the jelly center is such a treat. You could use whatever your favorite jelly, jam or preserves is. I used a strawberry jam that I grabbed at the co-op and I was so pleasantly surprised at how well it held up, it didn’t melt or get watery at all. I am sure you could use these same recipe and replace the jam with a hunk of chocolate, too. Something I was certainly dreaming of while these were baking.

    By the way, in case you were wondering, these cookies are AMAZING for breakfast with a nice cold glass of almond milk.

    Grain-Free Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies - Gluten-free + Vegan

    [print_this]Grain-Free Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies – Gluten-free + Vegan
    makes approximately 24 cookies

    • 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour (I use this brand)
    • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    • 3/4 cup organic creamy peanut butter, almond butter or sun butter (I used this brand)
    • 1/4 cup maple syrup (or honey)
    • 3 tablespoons organic palm shortening (I used this brand)*
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 tablespoon unsweetened organic non-dairy milk, such as almond or coconut
    • approx 1/4 cup of your favorite local jelly or jam, I went with strawberry

    *I am sure grass-fed butter would also be great here.

    Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

    In a large bowl, cream peanut butter, shortening, maple syrup, vanilla and non-dairy milk together with mixer. Mix until smooth and creamy.

    In a small bowl mix almond flour, salt and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to the wet. Mix with hand mixer until well combined, it may start out looking crumbly and dry. Just keep mixing it and it will come together into a thick cookie dough. (which by the way is SUPER delicious on it’s own).

    Scoop the  dough 1 tablespoon at a time onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. I found it easiest to form uniform sized balls, by rolling the tablespoon worth of dough in my hands. Gently press down and make a large thumbprint in the center of each cookie. Scoop the jam, approximately 1/2 teaspoon’s worth, into the center of each cookie.

    Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned and slightly crisp. Allow to cool on the baking pan for 5-10 minutes, they will be quite delicate while they are warm, so make sure you let them cool and set for those few minutes. Then, transfer them off the cookie tray to a cooling rack to finish cooling fully. Store in an air-tight container, in the fridge for a few days. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.

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  3. Spicy Dark Chocolate Bark with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds and Sea Salt – Gluten-free + Vegan

    Spicy Dark Chocolate Bark with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds and Sea Salt

    I know I mention not being one of those people that is overly obsessed with sweets, and while that is true, one thing I can never walk away from is really good dark chocolate. That bitter bite with the subtle sweetness is the perfect combination, add some spice, crunch and salt and then you’ve really got me hooked.

    I started making bark a year or two ago, as the perfect treat to make for a dinner party, or you can wrap it up in some really nice handmade packaging and even give it as a gift. I always buy the highest percentage of cocoa containing dark chocolate I can find since that darker and more bitter, the better. Lately I have been loving Endangered Species 88% Dark Chocolate, and the bonus is that instead of refined white sugar, the sweetness in their bars comes from unbleached beet sugar. How cool is that?

    Spicy Dark Chocolate Bark with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds and Sea Salt

    One of my favorite things about making my own chocolate bark is all of the fun combinations you can create with different ingredients. You can use dried fruits, different nuts and seeds, spices, herbs, etc. You can really make something special every time. Since I was creating another healthy Halloween treat for my ongoing series this month with Free People, I thought that adding toasted pumpkin seeds was the perfect seasonal twist on this, and the addition of the spices bring a nice unexpected heat, and the chipotle powder has a nice subtle smokey flavor.

    Feel free to play around with your own favorite add-ins, and make this your own. Here is another dark chocolate bark recipe that I made a while back, that I love.

    This recipe was originally shared on the Free People Blog BLDG 25.

    Spicy Dark Chocolate Bark with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds and Sea Salt

     

    [print_this]Spicy Dark Chocolate Bark with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds and Sea Salt

    • 12 ounces of gluten-free, vegan dark chocolate (I used this)
    • 1/2 cup of hulled, unsalted pumpkin seeds
    • 1/4 teaspoon of smoked chipotle powder, plus a bit extra
    • 1/4 teaspoon of chile powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
    • 1/4 teaspoon coarse grey sea salt (Fleur de sel)

    Place the pumpkin seeds in a dry skillet over a medium heat. Toast the pumpkin seeds for about 3-5 minutes, until they jump around a bit in the pan. Set aside to cool.

    Line the bottom of baking sheet with parchment paper leaving a small overhang. (I drizzle a small amount of oil on the pan first so the parchment paper will stay put and not wrinkle).

    Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over hot water, or in a microwave on low in 30-second bursts. Stir often with a rubber spatula so it melts evenly. Stir in the spices and half of the pumpkin seeds.

    Pour the chocolate onto the baking sheet and smooth with a spatula into an even layer. Sprinkle with the remaining pumpkin seeds and a pinch or two of additional smoked chipotle powder and the sea salt. Chill in the refrigerator until completely set, about 20-30 minutes, or in the freezer for 5 minutes.

    Peel the bark off the parchment paper and break into irregular pieces. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator, it is best in the first a couple of days but can be stored up to two weeks.

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  4. Gluten-free Vegan Apple Cobbler

    Gluten-free Vegan Apple Cobbler

    First off, I know the name makes this dessert sound so far off from the traditional cobblers that we all know and love. How can a cobbler be good without flour or butter? I am sure you are thinking this tastes like a healthy hippie dessert, made from sticks and dirt. WRONG. You really would never know that the gluten or the dairy is missing in this one. It is full of flavor and is so deliciously satisfying. My husband, Mark, is a southern boy who loves his cobbler. He actually gets angry at crisps and how “stupid they are” (in his words). Whenever we head down south, he seeks out cobbler on every trip. He loved this cobbler, he kept telling me he couldn’t believe it was gluten-free! He of course served a big ‘ol scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of it, but I can’t really blame him.

    I honestly was playing around with this recipe thinking it would likely not work on the first try and I would have to try it again and again to get it right, so I am pretty shocked that it not only worked, but it was absolutely delicious. I plan to make it again in a smaller pan next time, so both the apple filling and the cobbler topping are a bit thicker, but that is just a personal preference. When I loaded the apples into the pan it looks like so much, but as it cooked down it definitely sunk in a bit, so maybe the answer is more apples. I liked that the cobbler topping got a bit brown and crisp and I love how beautiful it looked as it baked and sunk in around the apples pieces. The spices were perfect, the topping was crisp and perfectly doughy and the sweetness level was exactly where it needed to be. Obviously everyone’s personal sweet tooth is a little different plus the sweetness of the apples may affect how sweet the filling is, so taste your apple filling before you put the topping on, you may find that you want more sugar. I personally don’t like excruciatingly sweet desserts. Plus, since it isn’t disgustingly sweet it would also make a delicious breakfast, if you are into that sorta thing.

    Speaking of sweet, feel free to play around with sweetener options too, I had wanted to use coconut sugar, but I finished off what I had in the pantry on the pumpkin bread. You could also play around with using honey or maple syrup as the sweetener in the apple filling. Just remember if you use a liquid sweetener in the cobbler topping, to adjust your flours accordingly. Also, if you aren’t vegan and you absolutely need to have butter in your cobbler, you could certainly substitute butter for the palm oil shortening. I just really wanted to try making this without butter. I am so excited that this cobbler came together and it’s so incredibly delicious, plus low in sugar (just a half cup in the whole recipe), no butter and gluten-free. I am so proud of this!

    Gluten-free Vegan Apple Cobbler

    Gluten-free Vegan Apple Cobbler

     

    Gluten-free Vegan Apple Cobbler
    serves 6

    Apple Cobbler Filling
    2 1/2 pounds (or more) peeled apples – I used a mix of Crispin’ and Honeycrisp apples
    1/4 cup organic raw cane sugar or coconut sugar
    1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
    1/4 teaspoon cloves
    1 teaspoon vanilla

    Cobbler topping
    3/4 cup almond flour
    1/4 cup sorghum flour
    1/2 cup tapioca starch
    1 teaspoon fine sea salt
    1/4 cup organic raw cane sugar or coconut sugar (plus a little bit more to sprinkle on top)
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ground (plus a little bit more to sprinkle on top)
    1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
    1/4 cup unsweetened organic almond milk, you may need less
    4 tablespoons chilled organic palm oil shortening (you can use unsalted butter here instead, if you wish)

    Preheat the oven to 375º F.

    Make the cobbler topping first. Combine almond flour, sorghum flour and tapioca start with the salt, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut the pieces of shortening into the flour mixture until it comes together, it should be like coarse sand. Pour in the almond milk, a little at a time, continuing to stir until it all just starts to come together. You may not need all of the almond milk, so don’t add it in too quickly. It will feel a bit sticky, don’t worry.

    Form the dough into a ball using your hands and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Place it into the fridge while you peel the apples. Once the apples are peeled, core them and cut them into thin slices or small cubes, place them in your baking pan and drizzle them with the lemon juice and set them aside. (I used a 11″ x 7″ pan, but I think next time I would use my 8″ x 8″ pan.)

    Take the dough out of the fridge, it should be a bit firmer now and roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Don’t press too hard, just enough to flatten it out into a square the size of the pan. Place the rolled out square onto a baking sheet and place it into freezer, let it chill while you finish preparing the apple filling.

    Add the sugar, spices and vanilla to the apples, toss gently to combine everything. Check on your dough, if it seems nice and firm and chilled, pull it out and gently lay it over the top of the apples, it is definitely a tricky maneuver but you can do it. I just peeled the parchment paper off of one side and flipped that size down on top of the apples, then I carefully peeled the other parchment sheet off the top. If any of the dough rips or peels off, hangs over, etc – you can just easily fix it up with your hands. The dough is really forgiving and it definitely doesn’t have to be perfect. If all else fails and your cobbler topping is being a jerk, or it’s too sticky, just spoon it on top biscuit style, it will still be totally delicious.

    Sprinkle another teaspoon or so of sugar on top of the cobbler as well as a little sprinkle of cinnamon. Place the pan in the oven and bake the cobbler for 35-40 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the topping is brown and firm. Cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then serve.

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