Losin' it with PINK: dessert

Showing posts with label dessert. Show all posts

Monday, October 29, 2012

Low Calorie/Low Sugar Pumpkin Cookies

Halloween is a few days away and I knew I needed to make something that would help me avoid cheating by sneaking candy out of the kiddos dreaded candy bag. I knew I wanted something that would feel seasonal so I chose to make a treat with pumpkin. After doing a little Googling I came across this recipe for a pumpkin cookies that are made with steel cut oats and Truvia. I changed it slightly because I didn't have steel cut oats, only old fashioned and the PINK suggests we don't use the powdered form of stevia only the liquid form. Other than that I remained true to the recipe and I must say they are delicious. My kids even loved them which let me tell you is great on one hand because I feel good about giving these cookies to them, how often do you get to say that you feel good about giving my kids a cookie? But bad on the other hand because as they are eating them, I am wanting them to stop because they are going to eat all of my special treats...how selfish am I?

Remember these are a treat and should only be eaten as such. Also if you are on reset, they should be avoided. This recipe made about 60 cookies that were about 2 1/2 inches in circumference.

Ingredients

1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree

1 cup applesauce

3 scoops of Vanilla Whey Protein Powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

2 cups old fashioned oats ground in a blender to form a flour

20 drops liquid vanilla stevia

1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Start by grinding your oats in a blender until a flour like consistence is reached. I used my magic bullet to do this.

Add the protein powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and salt to the ground oats

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, this would include the pumpkin, applesauce, stevia and egg.

Stir until it is combined

Using a tablespoon drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet or use a Silicone baking mat. The mat I used is called a Sil-pat.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Enjoy and feel free to freeze these cookies so you won't be tempted to eat them all at once.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Apple Crisp

I'll be honest, I was craving something sweet all day long...I knew in the back of my mind that I had frozen sugar cookie in my freezer along with some birthday cake and they were calling my name. I resisted all day long and knew that I wouldn't be able to resist much longer if I didn't do something to crave my desire for something sugary. This apple crisp did the trick and I ate it guilt free. As a rule, I try to avoid posting to many dessert recipes on this blog because it is so hard to make them fit into the PINK blue print, this is how I fit it into the PINK blue print today. I choose to have a dinner free of slow carbs and instead have a slow fruit (apple) and dessertify it. (Yep, I made that word up.) Sugar cookies and cake in the freezer, you have no power over me!

Apple Crisp (serve 4-6 depending on serving size)
2 large apples
2 medjool dates
1/4 cup water
1 tsp arrowroot powder
2 tsp cinnamon (or more if you really like spice)
Juice of half a lemon

Topping
1/2 cup almond flour
1 medjool date
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut

Method

Start by soaking 2 medjool dates in a little warm water, set aside

Peel, core and cut up your apples, pour the juice of half a lemon over the apples to keep from browning

Pour the water off of the dates and pit the dates, then you are going to add the dates to your blender or food processor along with 1/4 cup of water and puree until a paste is formed. This is going to act as our sweetener for the apples.

Pour the date puree, arrowroot powder and cinnamon on top of your apples and mix to combine. The arrowroot powder will act as a thickener for any juices your apples give off.

Set the apples aside and make your crumble topping.

In your blender add 1 pitted date, the almond flour, coconut oil and cinnamon. Blend until a crumble type topping is formed. Note: You can get almond flour or almond meal at many health food stores. I make my own using the left over almond pulp when I make my own almond milk. If their is any interest in how I make my almond flour, I would be happy to post how I do that. I have already posted how to make your own almond milk, you can find that recipe here.

Pour the date/almond mixture into a bowl and and in your unsweetened coconut, stir to combine.

Sprinkle the crumble topping over your apples.

Cover and bake at 375 degrees between 30 and 45 minutes depending on how soft you like your apples. To get your topping crispy, uncover your apples about 10 minutes before they are done and the topping should crisp up nicely.

Enjoy

Sunday, February 12, 2012

3 Course Valentine's Day Dinner Part 3: Chocolate Panna Cotta

Dessert, let's get to that. I struggled with whether to post this recipe, not because it isn't good, it is really good but mostly because while all ingredients are PINK approved (with the exception of gelatin, not sure if that is) where do you put it in? If you are eating exactly as written on the PINK method and you just had course #2 of the Valentine's day meal, Soy Ginger Marinated Halibut on a bed of Oriental Slaw, you have used up your protein and carbs or fruit for the day. So this dessert doesn't fit into the plan, because it is more protein and slow carbs than you are allowed but it is still good for you as far as desserts go and all food used in the recipe is PINK approved, so choose for yourself if you want to include it in your meal for this special occasion. All told I believe you are getting in a 3 course meal for about 500 calories, not to shabby if you ask me.

Ok, now that I have said my peace regarding eating according to plan, you may ask, "what is Panna Cotta?" I describe it as a thick custard but, here is the definition according to Wikipedia.

Panna cotta (from Italian cooked cream) is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set. It is generally from the Northern Italian region of Piedmont, although it is eaten all over Italy, where it is served with wild berries, caramel, chocolatesauce or fruit coulis.

I took the traditional recipe and PINK'd it because cream, milk and sugar are a no no on PINK. Instead of milk and cream, I used Greek Yogurt and instead of sugar, stevia. I also didn't cook anything so technically I think this would be considered a raw dessert. I also added a crust of almonds and Medjool dates which is not typical of a Panna Cotta, typically it is just the custard similar to how you serve flan. You could leave the crust out if you so desire though it was my favorite part of the dessert. Here is the recipe.

Chocolate Panna Cotta

Crust:

4 Medjool Dates

1/2 cup almond meal

1 tsp coconut oil (optional)

Panna Cotta:

1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt

3 tsp Cacao Powder

2 tsp plain gelatin powder

2 tbsp warm water

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

stevia to taste

Berries for the top (optional)

Method

Start by pitting your dates. I found my dates at Trader Joe's in the produce section and got a 16 ounce package for $3.79 not bad and I can use them in lots of recipes.

Put your dates, almond flour (which is just ground up raw almonds, so you can totally make your own, if you don't want to buy) and coconut oil into your blender or food processor and blend until it forms a ball of "dough." I say the coconut oil is optional because I only used it to add a little bit of coconut flavor to the crust, the crust is really good!

Take your ball of dough and press it into you pan to form a crust. You could use just one tart or spring-form pan and make a larger panna cotta, I chose to use an individual tart and spring-form pan for mine, just because they are so cute. I only intended to get to servings out of this recipe but had enough to stretch to 3.