Tag Archives: treat

Strawberry Balsamic Granita

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It’s been so hot in Seattle that all I can think of making is frozen treats! Granita is an Italian dessert made of sugar, water and flavor or juice and is very easy to make.

Also check out Lemon Granita and Cranberry Jalapeno Granita!

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Ingredients

  • 10 ounces fresh strawberries (about 2½ cups), hulled
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar, or to taste
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon aged balsamic vinegar
  • More balsamic vinegar for topping (optional)

Preparation

  • Combine berries and sugar in a food processor until smooth. Stir in water and vinegar. Transfer to a glass baking dish and freeze for 30 minutes.
  • Thoroughly scrape the entire pan with a fork, breaking up ice crystals. Repeat freezing and scraping process every 30 minutes, until granita is firm but not frozen solid, 2 to 4 hours.
  • Spoon into small glasses and serve.
  • Garnish with a fresh strawberry and a few drops of balsamic vinegar (optional)

Thanks PCC Natural Markets for the inspiration!

dit-elle-Esther

Cranberry Jalapeno Granita

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A deliciously refreshing icy dessert for hot summer days (or Christmas holiday season). The Jalapeno adds a bit of heat (you can remove the seeds for a milder taste), so this is not really a kid dessert. Someone mentioned topping oysters on the half shell with this spicy-sweet ice, but I have not been that brave yet. 🙂

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Ingredients

  • 2 cups cranberry juice cocktail
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 4 mint sprigs
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, slices
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

Directions

  • Combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to boil
  • Cover and remove from het, let stand for 15 minutes
  • Strain cranberry mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a baking dish, discard solids
  • Cool to room temperature, stir in lime juice
  • Cover and freeze.
  • Once frozen, remove mixture from freezer and scrape with a fork until fluffy
  • Serve and enjoy with a mint sprig for garnish

dit-elle-Esther

Paleo Plum Pie with Crumb Topping

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This is a totally delicious breakfast, snack or dessert. Make it when plums are in season and top with ice-cream or Greek yogurt for some totally non-paleo deliciousness! 🙂

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Ingredients

For the crust

  • 2 cups almond meal
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • 1 egg
  • dash of salt (optional)

For the filling

  • 4 cups sliced plums
  • 1/3 cup coconut sugar
  • 2 teaspoons arrowroot powder (I used 1 Tbsp potato starch instead since I didn’t have arrowroot powder)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the topping

  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preparation

  • Preheat oven to 350° F.
  • Place almond meal and salt in a food processor and pulse briefly. Add coconut oil and egg and pulse until mixture forms a ball, adding a little water if necessary to make dough stick. Press dough into a 9-inch pie dish.
  • Toss together filling ingredients in a bowl; arrange in pie crust and pour remaining liquid over the top.
  • Stir together topping ingredients and crumble over filling.
  • Bake until the filling is tender and the top is golden, 35 to 45 minutes.

Thanks PCC Natural Markets for the inspiration!

dit-elle-Esther

Mango Pineapple Smoothie

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Mango, pineapple and coconut give this smoothie a delicious tropical flavor. Not to sweet, not tart.. it’s the perfect summer snack! There was so much smoothie, I made popsicles for the kids as well! 🙂

Blog mango smoothie

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup Greek Yogurt
  • 1 1/2 Cup Pineapple (I used frozen, but can also use fresh)
  • 1 Cup Mango (approximately one whole mango, if not using frozen)
  • 3/4 Cup Coconut Milk
  • 1 TBSP Chia Seeds

Directions

  • Blend all ingredients together and enjoy! 🙂

Thanks Athleta for the inspiration!

dit-elle-Esther

Chia Seed Pudding Cups

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Chia Seed Pudding Cups are super easy to make and a tasty and healthy paleo snack! You mix chia seeds into a cup of coconut milk, add some flavor and toppings, refrigerate for a few hours and voila! 🙂 No baking, no cooking, no fuss!

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Ingredients (1 serving)

  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1 Tbsp chia seeds
  • Flavor/topping of choice (pick one or make up your own combo!) 🙂
    • 1/2 tsp almond essence + chopped almonds
    • 1/4 tsp ground cardamom or cardamom seeds (open the pod)
    • 1/2 tsp vanilla essence + fresh berries (I used red currants)
    • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon + cinnamon sticks

Directions

  • Mix the coconut milk, chia seeds and flavor well
  • Pour into serving cup
  • Cover and refrigerate for a few hours or up to a couple of days
  • Serve and enjoy

dit-elle-Esther

Cherry Garcia Smoothie

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I was inspired by Lauren’s recent Healthy Cherry Garcia recipe and decided to make a super easy smoothie version. You really can’t go wrong with frozen cherries, chocolate and coconut milk or other milk base.

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1/2 cup frozen cherries
  • 1/2 oz or large chunk of chocolate
  • 1 Tbsp chocolate icecream or 1 tsp other sweetener like agave

Directions

  • Blend all ingredients together until smooth
  • Top with some chopped chocolate or chocolate covered almonds

dit-elle-Esther

Paleo Lemon Bars

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When life gives you.. lemons? Paleo lemon bars (pure deliciousness) to the rescue! These are a perfect cool summer dessert. Crowd pleasers and a great protein rich, not too sweet, not too tart dessert.

These did not last very long in my house.. just a warning, they are super yummy! 🙂

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Crust

  • 1/2 cup almond flour (or sesame flour if allergic to nuts)
  • 1/2 cup tapioca flour
  • 3 Tbsp raw honey
  • 2 Tbsp ghee or coconut oil (warmed if solid)
  • Zest of 1/2 lemon

Filling

  • 5 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp tapioca flour
  • 1/2 cup raw honey (warmed if solid)

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Mix almond flour, tapioca flour, raw honey and lemon zest in a food processor until a crumbly dough forms
  • Press into the bottom of an 8×8 glass baking dish
  • Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes
  • To make filling, whisk eggs in a medium mixing bowl.
  • In a separate bowl whisk the lemon juice and tapioca flour until fully combined.
  • Whisk lemon mixture and eggs together, being careful to not over-whisk
  • Whisk in the raw honey
  • Pour filling over crust
  • Place in oven and let bake for ~25 minutes or until just set (firm on outside, a little wiggly in center)
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool, refrigerate until set, about 4 hours

Thanks for the inspiration http://www.paleocupboard.com/lemon-bars.html

dit-elle-Esther

Marzipan

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Marzipan is a totally delicious treat with Scandinavian roots. In it’s most simple form – it’s ground almonds and honey. You work the two ingredients together into a sticky dough and then make balls or a loaf that you cut into slices. I remember as a kid making marzipan..  I don’t think you could get almond meal/flour in the stores where we lived in Norway so this was quite the cooking project.. First you had to blanche, dry and grind almonds (or just grind them with skins intact) with a hand held grinder until you had a fine almond meal. Then you would work in the honey. The best part was making shapes with mini cookie cutters. We would often make marzipan for Easter. We would roll the dough into small egg shapes and dip them in chocolate. After they were dry we wrapped them in tinfoil and hid them outside for our Easter egg hunt!

You can definitely make the honey/almond version, but the recipe below is a total winner. You use almond meal (yes, from a bag! :)), powdered sugar, egg whites, almond essence and the secret ingredient – rose water! Totally delicious and tastes like marzipan from a gourmet candy shop in Europe. I’ve made about 5 batches in the last few months but they kept disappearing (house elves?). I finally got a chance to dip them in chocolate and take some pictures! 🙂

Have fun, unleash the creativity and enjoy!

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Ingredients

  • 1½ cups almond flour/meal
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure almond extract
  • 3/4 teaspoon quality food grade rose water (it is strong!)
  • 1 egg white (this is a few tablespoons and I used pasteurized egg whites from a carton)

Instructions

  1. Place the almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor and pulse until combined and any lumps are broken up. Add the almond extract, rose water and egg white and process until a thick dough is formed. If the mass is still too wet and sticky, add more powdered sugar and ground almonds. Keep in mind that it will become firmer after it’s been refrigerated.
  2. Turn the almond marzipan out onto a work surface and knead it a few times. Form it into a log, wrap it up in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
  3. This will keep for at least a month in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer. Bring to room temperature before using in any recipe.
  4. Makes about 12 ounces of marzipan or almond paste

I modified this from the original – thanks for the inspiration Daringgourmet.com

dit-elle-Esther

Paleo Carrot Cake

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Love Carrot Cake? Yes, please! You could top this with some chopped walnuts or toasted coconut! Even just the carrot cake and cream cheese frosting is delicious. Make this as a cake or 12 individual muffins. 10 eggs seem like a lot for a recipe like this? It’s just under 1 egg per muffin. I think of it as a great source of protein! Blog carrot cupcakes cream cheese frosting coconut-2 Blog carrot cupcakes cream cheese frosting coconut-1 Ingredients

  • 5 whole  Raw Carrot, peeled and shredded
  • 1 cup  Grade B Maple Syrup
  • 3/4 cup  Coconut Flour, sifted
  • 1 Tbsp  ground Cinnamon
  • 1 tsp  Baking Soda
  • Pinch of Sea Salt
  • 10 Eggs
  • 10 Dates (Medjool)
  • 1 Tbsp  Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 1 cup  Organic Coconut Oil, melted
  • 2 cup  Cream Cheese Frosting (below)

Directions

  • In a food processor, using the grating blade, shred carrots and then place in a large ziplock bag or bowl with lid.
  • Pour maple syrup over carrots and let marinate in the fridge for an hour.
  • Preheat oven to 325°F.
  • In a small mixing bowl, add sifted coconut flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
  • Make date mixture by combining dates and a little water and microwaving for a minute – mash with a fork.
  • In a large mixing bowl or kitchen mixer, blend eggs, vanilla, melted coconut oil, and date mixture.
  • Add dry ingredients to wet and blend.
  • Remove carrots from the fridge, and drain the excess maple syrup from the carrots using a colander. Stir grated carrots into cake batter.
  • Grease two 9-inch cake pans with coconut oil – or – line a 12-muffin tin and pour batter into pan/s.
  • Bake for 35 minutes, ~25 if making muffins
  • Test center with a tooth pick—if it comes out clean, then the cakes are done. Remove from oven and cool.
  • Frost cake with cream cheese frosting, garnish with walnuts or toasted coconut, and serve.

Frosting Ingredients (Ok, cream cheese is not paleo.. but Elana’s Pantry has a coconut frosting that looks delish!)

  • 1 Tbsp  Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2 cup  Grade B Maple Syrup
  • 16 oz  Full Fat Cream Cheese (bring to room temperature to soften)
  • 2 Tbsp Ginger Root, grated (optional.. sounds good, but I have not tried this option yet!
  • 1 cup Toasted Coconut (for garnish)
  • Directions: Blend all ingredients (except coconut) with a mixer. Use immediately or refrigerate. Top with toasted coconut!

Thanks and modified slightly: http://www.primalpalate.com/paleo-recipe/carrot-cake/ dit-elle-Esther

Raw “Tapioca” Pudding

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Blog chia tapioca pudding

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (raw) cashews
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract
  • pinch celtic sea salt
  • ¼ cup chia seeds
  1. Place the cashews and water in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth
  2. Blend in the agave, vanilla, almond extract and salt
  3. Place the chia seeds in a large mason jar (½ gallon size), pour the cashew mixture into the jar and shake well (very well!) – or just whisk well in a bowl.
  4. Place in the refrigerator overnight
  5. Serve

Serves 4

Thanks Elana’s Pantry!

dit-elle-Esther