Let go of desserts as guilty pleasures &
welcome them in as loving delicacies.

Your body is your temple so why settle for desserts that pollute it with damaging substances like white sugar and refined flour?

In this post, I’ll introduce some core elements of a healthy dessert that will leave you feeling satisfied and energized rather than sluggish and zapped after the inevitable sugar crash. I have crafted a luscious recipe and will detail the process step-by-step and list the ingredient at the very end for easy reading.

Newsflash: desserts can be health promoting!

It’s all about what goes into it and this recipe is full of whole foods that will nourish your temple and entice your senses. Just look at this cacao!

Desserts should be fun, healthful and rewarding, and all it takes to achieve this is a shift in perspective and a little knowledge. What we’re going for is something that feels decadent, luxurious and special. This doesn’t have to mean ingesting ingredients that leave us feeling empty and inflamed. Instead we’re going to make a dessert with ingredients that leave us feeling more vibrant and alive.

Did you know desserts could be so good?

Dessert does not have to equal Guilt!

Desserts can be a treat you offer to yourself and loved ones in an act of self indulgence of the best possible kind!

The Key to healthy desserts is getting to know your ingredients.

The SAD (Standard American Diet) heavily emphasizes white sugar, white flour and refined oil for creating desserts. It goes without saying that there’s not much food value in these ingredients and they will leave you depleted (not to mention the contamination of herbicides and pesticides in conventionally produced ingredients). So what do you make healthy desserts with?

Let’s back up a bit here. What are we after with a dessert?

It may be as simple as the primal craving for FAT and SUGAR. These macronutrients are not evil, but have gotten a bad rap. What we are after in creating healthful desserts is the conscious combination of healthy fats and sugar (and in this case protein, vitamins, antioxidant and minerals, too) in a fun and delicious form.

Sugar

Forget white sugar, don’t even go there! Don’t buy it, don’t return its calls, don’t talk about it to your friends. Sugar robs minerals from your body and causes inflammation big time. The most natural way to eat sugar is the way that nature creates it: in fruit. Your body will be better able to process the fiber and slowly absorb sugars, vitamins and minerals, which will nourish, not neglect your temple. There are instances when you may choose to use a liquid sweetener and there are many natural options.

Some natural sources of sweetness that lend themselves to desserts:

• Fresh fruits like banana, mango, berries
• Dried fruit (dates, raisins, apricots etc…)
• Honey
• Maple syrup
• Agave, coconut or date nectar
• Coconut sugar
• Xylitol

Each of these interacts differently in terms of blood sugar. For instance, dates and coconut sugar are considered low on the GI (Glycemic Index), while honey and maple syrup are much higher (they more quickly raise blood sugar levels). The good news is that they all come packaged with minerals and, in the case of raw honey, a host of beneficial compounds.

Xylitol is a bit of an anomaly…

It is considered a sugar alcohol and is actually GOOD for your teeth and gums! It is commonly extracted from birch trees, but also from a variety of agricultural crops. Make sure to obtain organic xylitol as anything else is extracted from GMO corn. This unique substance looks and tastes a lot like white sugar (it may even trick you!), but doesn’t register as sugar in the body. Its pathways of digestion are more akin to fiber and it will not raise blood sugar levels. It will not caramelize like sugar cane crystal and in large doses may act as a laxative. It also freshens the breath by acting as a type of oral probiotic and lessens cavities.

Fat

The same goes for fat as does for sugar. Fat is healthiest in its natural form in which nature created it. Nuts and seeds are the most abundant source of whole fat ingredients and make great dessert ingredients. They all have their unique health benefits, but in their fresh and organic state are all wonderfully nourishing food. They also have different roles in desserts too.

Some are silky, others crunchy and some can be used as binding and thickening agents (like chia and flax). Other “free” fats may be called for as well and are a great addition to the diet so they are at home in healthy desserts.

Some sources of fat you may use in desserts:

• Cashews
• Coconut
• Avocado
• Hemp
• Pecans and Walnuts
• Flax and Chia seeds
• Almonds
• Sunflower and Pumpkin seeds
• Coconut oil cacao butter
• Grass fed butter
• Hemp and flax oil

A Note on Nuts and Seeds

Most seeds and nuts contain phytic acid, an anti nutrient which blocks absorption, hurts digestions, robs minerals and causes dental carries. It is best to soak seeds and nuts for the recommended time before consuming to neutralize this anti nutrient and make the nutrients more accessible and digestible. Sometimes this is not practical for a dessert, but an exception to the rule now and again isn’t the end of the world.

Okay, with that nutritious information under our belts, let’s get to the Main Event. The Recipe!!

And I think we've taunted you with teasers enough!

Recipe: Divine Chocolate Mousse Pie

For this recipe I will take you through the basics of crafting a raw pie that fulfills all of the aforementioned healthy dessert basics!

This is full of nutrient dense ingredients, 100% vegan (if you substitute honey for nectar or syrup) and full of beneficial vitamins and enzymes (no oven required!). This can be adapted to suit your tastes and availability of ingredients. For instance, nuts and seeds are interchangeable, raisins can be used in place of dates, baked squash or sweet potatoes could substitute for the filling and be spiced a la pumpkin pie. Or if you find yourself with some berries on your hands… You get the idea. The name of the dessert game is variability!

How to make a blissful, an extraordinary Divine Chocolate Mousse Pie

My favorite part of this (besides indulging in it) is how simple it is. With a few whole food ingredients and a little time, you too can craft gorgeous works of culinary delight. I chose this recipe because I snagged a bunch of ripe avocados on sale from a health food store.

Without further ado...

Ingredients to make one Divine pie:

Crust

1 Cup pecans
¼ Cup shredded coconut
4 medjool dates

Filling

1 Cup cashews
4 Medjool Dates
3 Ripe Avocados
5 Tbsp raw cacao powder
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp raw honey
½ Cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardomum
2 pinches of salt
Lots of love!

Step 1: Prep

For this pie, you will need to start soaking the dates and cashews ahead of time. This will soften them and ensure a silky texture for the final product. Soak cashews for 1-4 hours before making the pie. At the same time, pit 4 medjool dates and soak in ½ cup of water.

Step 2: The Crust

Grind the nuts to a fine powder. A food processor works best but we use a Nutribullet (small personal blender with grinding blade). Remove pits and coarsely chop the dates. Add dates and coconut to nuts. Pulse until it begins to form into a large ball. If you’re doing this in a blender, you’ll have to finely chop the dates and squish them by hand. Once it’s all mixed, spread it evenly on the bottom of a pie plate with the back of a spoon.

Step 3: Filling

Warm coconut oil until it liquefies. Drain the cashews and add the food processor or blender along with soaked dates (including the soaking water), spices, salt, coconut oil and quartered avocados. Blend until smooth. If you’re using a food processor add cacao in now. If you’re using a blender you’ll have to mix it in with a spoon. Add filling to crust and spread evenly.

And smooth it out.

Step 4: Finale

Here’s where it gets fun! Take some time to artfully decorate your creation. Healthy desserts are all about self-love so take some time to lovingly create an edible mandala of sorts. Place in freezer for about 2 hours to help the pie “set up”.

Voila!

And the best part:

Instead of a sugar-crash tummy ache, you’ll feel uplifted and energized after eating this nutrient dense pie.

This is a very rich dessert, so don’t go overboard just because it’s healthy. This is a low Glycemic dessert, so you can be sure it won’t spike your blood sugar off the charts! Plus it’s full of antioxidants and healthy fats. Cacao shines through as an amazing super food that offers an incredible amount of antioxidants and “feel good” chemicals like theobromine (translates as god food) and anandamide (the “bliss chemical”). Cacao has been known for its effects to open the heart in more ways than one. Cacao also packs a load of magnesium, which helps with muscle relaxation and calcium assimilation, a mineral sorely lacking in most diets.

Thanks for reading! Hope this teased your taste buds & INSPIRED your inner healthy artist-chef!

This post is an entry for @healthsquared's Six Week Health Week Four .

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