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Category: dessert

Chocolate Sauce (grain free, dairy free, egg free, GAPS-legal)

I’ve been experimenting lately with a new version of hot fudge/chocolate sauce. I love my old recipe…but it has flour and butter. So I can’t eat it. Why do I need hot fudge in the first place? Well, I guess I don’t. But…I use it to take my cod liver oil 😛  I’m a wimp. But just a little chocolate sauce with my chocolate gel CLO makes it so much easier to take. So I’ve been experimenting. And I think I made a batch that is really good…and safe (if you consider cocoa safe for you). I used my old recipe as a starting point. And after some not so successful experiments here is what I came up with/what I like. Added bonus…one more way to get coconut oil in my diet 🙂  This tastes wonderful on mint coconut milk ice cream. As usual, I didn’t measure anything. And I made a small batch since I was experimenting. But I’ll try to estimate quantities. Not the best pictures, but you get the idea.

Chocolate Sauce

1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp. chocolate extract
2 Tbsp. coconut oil

Combine cocoa, water and honey in sauce pan. Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in extract and oil. Mix until well combined. Poor into jar and store in teh refrigerator.

If the coconut oil rises/hardens let the sauce come to room temperature and stir before using.

Mint Chip Coconut Milk Ice Cream (grain free, dairy free, GAPS-legal)

I made one batch of coconut milk ice cream this summer…and it sure was a nice treat for me. But not my favorite flavor. So now I want to experiment with flavors. Yesterday I tried mint chocolate chip. It turned out quite well. It did not taste like coconut milk AT ALL (that’s what I was hoping for). However I did add a bit too much mint flavoring, so it was kind of strong. But still good. I came up with my own recipe and didn’t really measure anything. I’ll estimate what I used. This is a no-cook ice cream (always good). And I added avocado for green color and creaminess. Even Rebecca liked this ice cream (she was not a fan of the chocolate version). So it must be pretty good. I did add a few mini chocolate chips (not GAPS-legal…or healthy). But I figure a few mini chips per dish isn’t a big deal. I ate some last night with hot fudge on top (updated GAPS recipe to come). YUM!!! Very creamy…tastes just like regular ice cream.

Mint Chip Coconut Milk Ice Cream

1 can full fat coconut milk
2 egg yolks
1/2 avocado
1/4 – 1/3 cup honey
1 tsp. mint extract (to taste)
1 tsp. chocolate extract (to taste)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Blend all ingredients (except chips) in blender until smooth. Adjust honey, mint and chocolate to taste. Chill in refrigerator (probably not necessary…but helps). Pour into ice cream maker and process according to directions (my Kitchen Aid mixer took about 20 minutes). Add chocolate chips during last minute of mixing. Store in freezer.

Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream (dairy free, grain free, GAPS-legal)

I LOVE ICE CREAM! It is my all time favorite food. And I haven’t had a serving of ice cream in at least 4 months!! It’s like pure torture. So I finally got around to trying out coconut milk ice cream yesterday. I was apprehensive since I wasn’t crazy about coconut milk the first time I tried it (in a smoothie). I wasn’t sure what flavor to try…something that would mask the coconut taste? I’ve seen plenty of recipes. But when I did a search yesterday the first one that came up was a chocolate version from Cheeseslave. I knew I had to try it. I didn’t think I could do chocolate because of GAPS. But according to Anne Marie it’s ok. Now, really you shouldn’t have it until you’ve been doing GAPS for quite some time and have had a lot of healing. But since I’m still on full GAPS I figured I’d go for it. It was a super simple to make. And the verdict? YUM!!! I have to say it does still have a bit of the coconut flavor. So it didn’t really taste like chocolate. It was almost more like coffee flavored ice cream. Which I’m not usually a huge fan of. But when you haven’t had ice cream in months you get over that very quickly 🙂  Maybe next time I’ll adjust it a bit and add more cocoa or some chocolate extract. Justin liked it too (although he likes dairy ice cream better). Rebecca wasn’t a huge fan. I think because of the coconut flavor. One thing that did strike me about this ice cream was the texture. So creamy. Honestly I like the texture of this better than the dairy based ice cream I make. And it didn’t get rock hard in the freezer. I could actually scoop it easily right out of the freezer.

This was an experiment since both Abram and I can be sensitive to coconut. I’m hoping we both handle it well. It was such a treat last night to have a little dish of ice cream…for me…that I didn’t have to feel guilty about eating. I hope it goes over well and I can experiment with other flavors and recipes. Not that I intend to eat ice cream all the time now. But it sure is nice to have a little treat once in a while. And even if you can eat dairy this is a healthy alternative to regular ice cream since coconut is so good for you. And this does not use any refined sweeteners. Just raw honey.

Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream

3 Tbsp. cocoa powder, organic if possible
1 can coconut milk, full fat
Pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract — homemade if possible (must be made with vodka to be GAPS legal)
4 egg yolks, ideally pastured or at least free-range organic (I only used 3 b/c we’re almost out of eggs…still worked great)

Add coconut milk and cocoa powder to medium saucepan on low heat and whisk to combine. Stir in the sea salt, honey and vanilla extract, and whisk until honey is incorporated. Remove from heat. Whisk in the egg yolks. Chill this mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions of your ice cream maker (it took about 25 minutes in my Kitchen Aid ice cream attachment).

Peach Ice Cream

 

I haven’t made ice cream all summer! Even in this hot hot weather. I finally got around to it yesterday.

I decided to try peach ice cream this time since we have fresh peaches. I used my basic vanilla recipe from Nourishing Traditions. And added some peach juice and diced peaches. I also tried using a 2:1 cream to whole milk ratio instead of all cream (something I read from Nina Planck). This turned out really well.

It is very good! We enjoyed it on top of homemade blueberry peach cobbler. It doesn’t get much better than that.

I used 2 medium peaches. It could have used one more to make it a little more peachy.

Peach Ice Cream

3 egg yolks
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. arrowroot
2 cups heavy cream, not ultrapasteurized
1 cup whole milk
2-3 medium peaches, diced, juice reserved

In large measureing cup whisk egg yolks and arrowroot. Add syrup, vanilla, cream, milk and peach juice. Mix to combine. Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to instructions (It took about 20 min. in my Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment). Add peach chunks during last minute or two. Transfer to a shallow container, cover and store in freezer.

Cherry Pie

A couple weeks ago we found out that our local orchard would be getting tart cherries! I didn’t think we could get fresh tart cherries around here. So I ordered 5 lbs. They came pitted so I didn’t have to do anything to them! Justin has wanted me to make a real cherry pie with tart cherries for years. And I always tell him I would but I don’t know where to get the cherries. Well, we finally have them. Picked them up yesterday morning. And can you guess what else we did yesterday morning? Made cherry pie 🙂  I don’t think I’ve ever had fresh cherry pie myself. I’ve never liked cherry pie…probably because most people use boughten pie filling (gross). This turned out great! I had to have a tiny taste…and even I like it. It was probably one of the uglier pies I’ve ever made…trying to roll out dough in a hot kitchen with a crying baby and a toddler that won’t stop picking at the dough is a bit of a challenge. I was happy to just get the crust in the pan in mostly one piece 😛  But it still tastes great. And I even let Rebecca make a mini pie for herself with the crust scraps.
Justin gave this two big thumbs up. I used my usual crust recipe and the filling recipe from the Food Network. This was quite easy to make. I didn’t add the butter or the sugar on top…I was lucky to actually get the pie done/in the (toaster) oven. I’m sure it would have been good, but it isn’t necessary. I froze the rest of the cherries so I can make another pie sometime or maybe try another cherry dessert with tart cherries.

Cherrry Pie

1 prepared double pie crust (recipe below)

4 cups fresh or frozen tart cherries
1 to 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (I used cane sugar/rapadura)
4 Tbsp. cornstarch (I’m sure you could use arrowroot instead or some people use tapioca)
1/8 Tbsp. almond extract (optional)

1 1/2 Tbsp. butter, to dot
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar, to sprinkle

Place cherries in medium saucepan and place over heat. Cover. After the cherries lose considerable juice, which may take a few minutes, remove from heat. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cornstarch together. Pour this mixture into the hot cherries and mix well. Add the almond extract, if desired, and mix. Return the mixture to the stove and cook over low heat until thickened, stirring frequently (took me about 3-5 min.). Remove from the heat and let cool. If the filling is too thick, add a little water, too thin, add a little more cornstarch.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare your crust. Divide in half. Roll out each piece large enough to fit into an 8 to 9-inch pan. Pour cooled cherry mixture into the crust. Dot with butter. Moisten edge of bottom crust. Place top crust on and flute the edge of the pie. Make a slit in the middle of the crust for steam to escape. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for about 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.

Pie Crust (double)

2 cups flour (white or whole wheat or a combo of the two)
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cups + 2 Tbsp. palm shortening or cold butter or lard
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. vinegar

Combine flour and salt in food processor. Add half of the shortening and pulse until it gets crumbly. Add remaining shortening and pulse until it looks like small peas. Add water and vinegar. Process until dough forms. Remove. Split into two parts. Use immediately or wrap in plastic and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Grain Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp (gluten free, egg free, GAPS-legal)

The farmer’s market started this week. And what are some of the first things there every year? Strawberries and rhubarb!!! A great combo for desserts. Yesterday Rebecca and I experimented with a grain free crisp. I didn’t have a recipe, and I didn’t measure anything. So I’ll do my best to write down a recipe. I used honey to sweeten it. And a combo of almond flour, coconut flour, chopped nuts, honey, coconut oil and butter for the topping. Turned out quite well. A little liquidy since I didn’t/couldn’t add any kind of starch/thickener. But still very good. And the liquid at the bottom worked well for syrup on top of the ice cream…on top of the crisp 🙂  Justin and Rebecca had some with vanilla ice cream. I was “good” and ate it plain. Still a nice treat. And very healthy! One more dose of coconut oil in my day 🙂  And healthy fruit. I would even consider serving this for breakfast. Really it’s quite healthy. Add some yogurt on top. A great treat for breakfast. This is a fun dessert to make with kids. Aside from the chopping Rebecca could help me with everything. And, yes, the last picture is the crisp in a princess bowl (hard to tell)…it was Rebecca’s snack…all I had time to get a picture of.

This post is linked to Grain Free Tuesdays at Hella Delicious.

Grain Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

3 cups diced rhubarb
2 cups chopped strawberries
1/3 – 1/2 cup honey (to taste)

Topping:
1/2 cup almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup melted coconut oil, butter or a combo of the two (I used both…it’s dairy free if you just use coconut oil)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used crispy walnuts and pecans)
1/4 cup honey

Grease 8×8 baking dish. Combine rhubarb, strawberries and honey. Pour into dish. Combine topping ingredients. Drop or press on top of fruit. Bake at 350 for 30 – 40 min. (until fruit is cooked and topping is slightly brown). Let cool. Serve plain or with ice cream, whipped cream or yogurt.

Carob Muffins (grain free, gluten free, dairy free)

Another long morning here with both kids up and raring to go earlier than usual. A long morning with no plans means…time to bake! I had actually semi planned on baking anyway, so I did have something in mind. I made another grain free muffin. I wanted to experiment with making one that was “chocolate.” I used carob instead to make them healthier. I can’t say these are GAPS legal because carob is on the no-no list 🙁  But I had one anyway 😛  They turned out well. I used my strawberry muffin recipe as a base and modified some things. I did add a few peanut butter chips to give a little extra flavor (not healthy, I know…but it’s only a few in each muffin). These are almost more like a cupcake…you could definitely use them that way. I’ll have to try making some frosting for these sometime. These are good…Rebecca and I both had one. I think next time I’ll add a little more honey and a little more chocolate extract to bump up the flavor a bit. And I might add another egg to add a little more moisture. But overall very good. And great texture. My other experiment was using mostly ground crispy nuts instead of regular almond flour. I just ground a mix of almonds, pecans and walnuts in the food processor until it was almost like nut butter (a little more coarse). Then used that in combo with a little almond flour. Still worked great. I’ll do that more often now so that my baked goods are easier on the tummy. And I don’t have to buy almond flour. A fun experiment. And tastey too. Not great pics…I was holding Abram and couldn’t adjust any camera settings, zoom, etc. And the muffin I took a picture of hardly had any chips (the small one I gave Rebecca to try).

This post is linked to Grain Free Tuesdays at Hella Delicious,

Carob Muffins

1 1/2 cups of nut meal, nut flour or ground nuts (I use ground crispy nuts)
3 large eggs, separated
1/3 – 1/2 cup of honey
1/4 tsp. of sea salt
2 tsp. of vanilla extract
3 tsp. chocolate extract
1/4 cup carob powder
1 cup add ins (optional…chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, carob chips, dried cranberries, dried cherries, etc.)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Prepare muffin tins with liners or grease with oil or butter.

In a small bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside. In separate bowl mix all other ingredients (except add ins) until smooth. Fold in egg whites. Fold in add ins. Fill muffin cups.

Bake for 30 – 35 minutes. Makes 9 – 10 muffins.

Grain Free Peanut Butter Brownies (gluten free, dairy free, GAPS-legal)

Yesterday was a cold and rainy day (with thunderstorms and hail…at the end of April…yuck!), so Rebecca and I decided to bake. I saw a super simple recipe on Grain Free Foodies recently for peanut butter brownies. We gave it a try. It was very simple. Only 3 ingredients! The verdict…ok. Honestly they don’t have a ton of flavor. I think I’ll add a little more honey if I make them again (I used about 1/3 cup). They would definitely be better with something chocolate in them 😛  They got a little dark on the edges. I think that might be from the palm shortening I used to grease the pan. Rebecca really likes them. So that makes this a great recipe…not very sweet and GAPS legal…and Rebecca likes them. Score 🙂  The original recipe uses baking soda. I left it out. The texture is really good. I think I just still have a big sweet tooth. Hopefully at some point that will change and these will taste sweet to me 🙂

Grain Free Peanut Butter Brownies

1 cup peanut butter (or any kind of nut/seed butter)
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 tsp. baking soda (not GAPS-legal, it works fine if you leave it out)

Thoroughly mix all ingredients (an electric mixer works well). Pour into a generously greased 8″ x 8″ baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Do not overbake- these are so moist and chewy but get dry if baked too long.

Butterscotch Pudding

Justin’s birthday was this week. We are finally able to celebrate today since he’s back home. I wanted to make him a birthday dessert that was fairly simple, something we don’t get often, NOT cake 😛 and that didn’t make a huge amount. So I decided to do trifles…with homemade pudding. I’ve made chocolate pudding before. And that was awesome! I figured I’d try Laura’s butterscotch pudding this time. Another great recipe. So simple. It didn’t get quite as thick as my previous batches of pudding. But I probably just didn’t let it cook long enough. It still tastes great. Not GAPS-friendly since it has arrowroot and sucanat. But I still had to sneak a taste 🙂  I used some homemade chocolate cupcakes that I had in the freezer to make the trifles. And per Rebecca’s request I topped them with sprinkles 🙂

Butterscotch Pudding

2 1/2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
2/3 cup rapadura (dehydrated cane sugar juice…has a wonderful “molassasy” taste!)
4 Tbsp. arrowroot powder
1/4 tsp. sea salt
3 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla

In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, egg yolks, rapadura, arrowroot powder and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring CONSTANTLY until pudding begins to thicken. Remove immediately from the heat, and continue to stir until pudding is creamy. Add butter and vanilla and continue to stir until mixed. Pour into serving dishes and serve warm, or chill for two hours and serve cold.

Peanut Butter Fudge (grain free, dairy free, egg free, GAPS-legal)

I also made a batch of grain free fudge yesterday. I saw the recipe on Grain Free Foodies and knew I had to try it! It is so simple to make. And it is AWESOME!! Only a few minutes to prep. Then put it in the freezer for a bit. Then enjoy 🙂  A great treat, and a great way to get more coconut oil into my diet. I only made a half batch to try it since 1 cup of coconut oil is pretty expensive (don’t want to waste that if it didn’t turn out). I will for sure be making this again when I need to have a safe treat on hand. Rebecca and I both love it!

This is linked to the Gluten Free Recipe Parade at Heavenly Homemakers.

Peanut Butter Fudge

1 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup peanut butter
honey to taste (I used about 3 Tbsp. for a half batch)
dash of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Melt the oil in a saucepan on very low heat. Pour the oil and remaining ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Pour this mixture into an 8 x 8 pyrex dish (or similar glass dish) (I greased mine), and place in the freezer.

This fudge is best stored in the refrigerator or freezer.