Tag Archives: healthy dessert

Ginger Pear Quinoa Crumble

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‘Tis the season for diet temptation. To avoid feeling deprived, I like to find ways to healthify my favorite holiday dishes. This one comes from the amazing Dawn Jackson Blatner (again!) and is a great substitute for pie. Making them in ramekins also allows you to portion control, my number one problem! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • cooking spray
  • 1 1/2 pounds pears (about 4), cored and sliced
  • 1 Tablespoon 100% maple syrup
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped candied ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons arrowroot or cornstarch
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • Crumble Topping
  • 1 cup quinoa flakes (if not available use rolled oats)
  • 1/4 cup pecans, finely chopped in a food processor
  • 1/4 cup 100% maple syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried nutmeg (freshly grated is best)
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • Special Equipment: 8 ramekins (3-4 ounces each) or 9 X 5 loaf pan

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Mist ramekins with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together the pears, maple syrup, lemon juice, candied ginger, vanilla, arrowroot and salt.

In another bowl, mix crumble topping ingredients until well combine.

Portion the pear mixture into the ramekins. Spoon the crumble topping mixture over the pear mixture in an even layer.Bake 35 minutes until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

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Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

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I am on a pumpkin-craze right now! And my favorite dessert is cheesecake so I figured….why not combine the two! Genius! What’s not to love? Oooh, that instant 5 lbs you gain from cheesecake. Touche. How about we “skinnify” it? This means I’ll have to call in the pros and who better for the job than Kelly at Eat Yourself Skinny? I love this girls’ approach to healthy eating. She has ridden the wave of crash diets and bingeing on unhealthy food but has found that a lifestyle change, a little experimentation in the kitchen and some honest to goodness motivation to stick with it is the key to success. I couldn’t agree with her more. So without further a do, I give you….

Mini Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecakes – Eat Yourself Skinny

Crust

  • 7 graham cracker sheets
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

 Cheesecake Mixture

  • 8 oz. Cool Whip Free
  • 1 (8 oz) package fat-free cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup NuNatruals stevia (or sugar)
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract

 Pumpkin Mixture

  • 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1/8 tsp. allspice
  • Optional cinnamon sticks for garnish

Directions:

1. In a food processor, grind up the graham cracker sheets into fine crumbs.  {If you don’t have a food processor or blender, place the graham crackers into a bag and crush them with a rolling pan or a cup.}  Place the graham cracker crumbs into a bowl and add in the ground cinnamon and sugar.  Melt the butter and add it to the graham cracker crumbs.

2. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and put one tablespoon of the graham cracker crumb mixture in the bottom of each liner.  Press down the crumbs with your hand.  Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whip the cream cheese, vanilla extract and sugar (or Splenda) for a few minutes until fluffy.  Add the Cool Whip and whip until smooth.  To make the pumpkin mixture, combine the pumpkin puree, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger and allspice.  Add 2/3 cup of the cheesecake mixture to the pumpkin mixture.  Stir with a spatula until the two batters are completely combined and there are no lumps.

4. Fill each cupcake liner with 1 1/2 scoop fulls of the cheesecake mixture.  Each liner should be filled almost to the top.  Now place three dots (or two big ones) of pumpkin batter onto the cheesecake batter in the liner. Use a toothpick to swirl the two batters.

5. Once each cheesecake cup is swirled, placed the cupcake pans into the fridge to chill for a few hours (I chose to keep mine in overnight) until firm.  Serve and enjoy!

And a funny dog pic for the road, just because…..

That is totally what I look like when a fish touches me too!! Haha have a good day friends!

Questions:

1. What is your food philosophy?

2. What is your favorite dessert? And how do/would you “skinnify” it?

3. What are you going to be for Halloween?

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Vegan French Silk Pie

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I will be the first to admit that I am not gifted in the baking category. More often then not, my desserts turn out tasteless, flat or just not good. Well NOT TODAY! I found this recipe crumpled up in my recipe folder so I have no idea where I got it but it is so delicious I can’t stop eating it or talking about it! You are not even going to BEGIN to believe what it’s made out of….but don’t let that scare you. It’s so easy to make too!

Ingredients

  • Pre-made pie crust (or you can make your own if your so ambitious)
  • 1 package of silken tofu (you can use firm too if you like your pie to be less mousse-like)
  • 1 tsp cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbsp almond milk (you can also use skim/whole/soy, etc)
  • A dash of salt
  • 8-10 ounces dark chocolate chips
  • 2-3 Tbsp agave nectar

Directions

1. Melt the chocolate on the stove then add all of the ingredients and melted chocolate to food processor and blend until smooth.

2. Pour mixture in to pie crust and refrigerate overnight.

Also, for those of you who couldn’t make it to our Chicago Blogger meet-up a few weeks ago, Amanda posted her spaghetti squash salad for everyone to share! No joke, everything she makes is fall-off-your-chair amazing so pleaaaaase try this, you won’t be disappointed! (click on the link for the recipe)

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