DESSERT FORECAST: A LIGHT FLURRY OF SWEETNESS!

The forecast in Dessert this season calls for light airy wholesome ingredients that don’t make your mood cold or weigh you down, whereas last year's forecast was a cold frontal storm of butter with a crazy blizzard of white refined sugars! The good news is that although it’s cold outside, you can make  it so hot inside! Infact, the weather forecast has been been unpredictable because those hot foods (metabolism boosting) often bring in warm fronts throughout the winter often shaking up the weather forecast for desserts! Global shifts in the health movement have transitioned from those colder ingredients like refined sugars, white flours, and heavy dairy for 2016 into a light flurry of sweetness!

HERE ARE A FEW WAYS TO GET A DELIGHTFUL FORECAST!

Throw off the cold forecast by taking those classic desserts and making it a bit warmer to make this winter a light flurry of sweetness! (the recipes below are highlighted examples of these principals) 

1. Avoid butter, heavy cream, refined sugars, and gluten

2. Replace butter with avocado, coconut oil, almond butter, or olive oil 

3. Use Natural Sugars instead of white sugars from Honey, coconut nectar, date sugar, coconut sugar, Agave light, Maple syrup 

4. Try replacing refined sugars from whole fruits like apple sauce, bananas, dates, prunes 

5. Look for ways to add protein through the  ingredients flour, (protein powder, garbanzo flour, oat flour, coconut flour) , eggs, egg whites, Greek style yogurt 

6. Replace milk and dairy  with non dairy alternatives, powdered peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter

7. Look for ingredients that are packed with fiber

FRENCH VANILLA HOLIDAY COOKIES (GF, DAIRY FREE)

PREP TIME: 15 Minutes COOK TIME: 12 Minutes TOTAL TIME: 27 Minutes

Nutrition per serving plain without the frosting: Makes 22

91 Calories , 14 net carbs , total carbs :16  Fiber: 2 grams Sugar: 5 grams Protein: 2

Total Fat: 2 grams

INGREDIENTS

1 Egg,

½ Cup plus ¼ cup of Coconut Milk lite SoDelish

2 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil

1 Cup of Sweet Rice Flour

1/3 cup of Coconut Flour

½ cup of Enjoy All Purpose GF  Flour

1 Tablespoon of Vanilla

1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

1/4tsp of Xanthan Gum

1/3 cup of honey plus 1 Tablespoon of honey at the end (at the end)

1/3 cup of Stevia, or Xylitol

½ tsp of salt

¼ cup of water plus 3 tablespoons of water to make more moist

1 Packet of French Vanilla protein packet shake

¼ cup of water and (3 tablespoons of water at the end)

Coconut oil for greasing the pan

FROSTING

2 6 oz of cartons of coconut vanilla Greek Style yogurt

1 ½ Tablespoon of Honey

½ lemons peeled and remove seeds and one quarter of lemon with skin

2 Tablespoon of powdered peanut butter

1 Tablespoon of Stevia

Dark Chocolate Chia Seeds – 2 Tablespoons

DIRECTIONS

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit.  Mix all ingredients in a bowl except one tablespoon of honey  and 3 tablespoons of water until the end to make the dough more moist.  Grease a cookie formed tray or sheet, or you can roll out the dough and used cookie cutters. Once you are finished pop in the oven and put in for 12 minutes. Don’t go longer than that or you can pop out a minute earlier for the cookies to be more moist.

FROSTING

Slice the lemon in half and remove the skin of one half and the seeds and then take a quarter of the other half of the lemon and use that to throw into the blender mix. Use the coconut yogurt and the remaining ingredients except the dark chia seeds and blend until consistent. Then take a teaspoon for frosting and use on top to decorate cookies with chia seeds.

NOTES: To make vegan you can replace  one egg with Two Tablespoons of Flax Seed/ Flax meal mixed with Two Tablespoons of Water

#ZENONAPLATE VANILLA FRUITCAKE (GF, DAIRY FREE)

No refined sugars, butter, cream, or gluten, Can easily be made vegan, and the cake itself without the frosting has no dairy

PREP TIME:  10 Minutes  COOK TIME: 60 minutes TOTAL TIME: 1 hour and ten minutes

Serves 20 pieces

Nutritional Information per Serving

Calories : 124 , Net Carbs: 23 , Total Carbs :24 Fiber 2 grams, Protein: 2 grams, Total Fat 2.2  Sugar: 11.0 grams

INGREDIENTS

3 Eggs

1 tsp of white vinegar

2 4 oz cartons of unsweetened applesauce

1 Tablespoon of Vanilla

1  small Carton of Coconut Milk Vanilla Yogurt Greek style (5-6 ounces

1 small Carton of Almond Vanilla Yogurt  (5 -6 ounces

1 ½ avocado peeled, skinned removed and pit

1/3 cup of honey

1 tsp of xanthan gum (corn starch gf can be used)

1 ½ tsp of baking soda

½ cup of stevia or xylitol

1 cup of gf Sweet rice flour

½ cup of tapioca flour (gf)

2/3 cups plus two tablespoons of fruits bit (mix of dried fruit your choice

DIRECTIONS

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a separate bowl beat the three eggs and add the white vinegar to the eggs to help keep that fluffy texture. Then add coconut yogurt, applesauce and mix. Then in a blender place the raw avocados with the almond yogurt and blend until puree form, and then add to the bowl of liquids and add honey, vanilla extract, and start mixing until uniform. Then add all the dry ingredients except the dried fruits. Then fold the dried fruits in the batter and mix evenly. Then take a medium size circular cake pan and use coconut oil to grease so dough doesn’t stick. Then pop in the oven for 60 minutes. Take out and cool for 15 minutes. The inside of the cake once you cut in should be a bit gooey moist from the applesauce, but the outside golden

NOTES: To make recipe vegan: Replace eggs with 6 Tablespoons of Flax Meal or Chia Seeds and 12 Tablespoons of Water mixed with the seed or flax meal. 

#ZENONAPLATE CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN BLUEBERRY MOUSSE/FROSTING 

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Nutritional Information per serving for 2o people above as cake frosting

Calories: 22, Net Carbs: 4, Total Carbs: 4 Fiber: .6,  Sugar: 3 grams Protein, 1 Total Fat: 0

Nutritional Information per serving for 3  as a mousse

Calories: 144 calories, Total Carbs: 27 grams, 4 grams of Fiber, 23 grams of Net Carbs, 9 grams of Protein,  Sugar 20 grams

INGREDIENTS

 2 Greek Vanilla Yogurt 5.3 ounces

½ pumpkin puree

2 tsp of cocoa

1 can of unsweetened Apple Sauce

1/3 cup of blueberries

2 Tablespoons of Monksugar or Stevia

½ tsp of nutmeg

1 Tablespoon of Honey

½ tsp of xanthan gum

¼ tsp of Cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

In a blender combine the above ingredients and garnish with dark chocolate chips and blueberries

NOTES: To make vegan replace Greek Vanilla Yogurt with Almond yogurt or Coconut dairy free Greek yogurt. 

To find out more go to www.zenonaplate.com