Coconut Almond Skinny Chocolate

Ingredients:

1/2 c. coconut oil

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

3 1/2 Tbsp Xylitol or Truvia, powdered

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c. dried coconut, shredded and unsweetened

1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)

 

 

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients except oil in a bowl.

 

 

 If your coconut oil is at a solid, heat gently to make stirring easier. You don't want to heat it too much though because you'll start to kill the healthy enzymes (note my coconut oil looks a tiny bit brown in the picture because I added my vanilla to it).
 

Stir your oil and the rest of your ingredients together.
 

 

 Pour into a glass dish lined with wax paper, refrigerate for a couple hours before cutting.
 

Peel off wax paper and cut into squares.

 

Store in refrigerator or freezer to keep your chocolate solid. Coconut oil makes a delicious chocolate, but since it is oil it will melt if not kept cold.

 

This is an "S" dessert if doing it with THM!

 

 

 

No-bake lime cheesecake shooters

 

I found this recipe on a site called "Oh, That's Tasty". I've changed it a little to more suit what I had on hand and to be THM (Trim Healthy Mama) approved. Also, I didn't have any shot glasses, so I use 6oz Mason jars. The next time I make them I want to use the 4oz jars, but I need to buy them first, so the 6oz work for the time being! This is an "S" if you're doing it along with THM.

Makes 6-8, depending on serving sizes

Crust:
3/4 cup walnuts

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese
zest of one lime
juice of one lime (or 1/2 or 3/4, depending on how sour you like things)
2 tablespoons Xylitol or you could use Truvia to taste instead
1/2 t. vanilla
1/4 c. heavy cream

Topping:
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 tab. Xylitol
1/2 t. vanilla

 

To make crust: place whole nuts in either a food processor, or a powerful coffee grinded (what I use) and process until very fine (see picture below on right). The original recipe called for 1/2 cup pecans, (which I want to try sometime) but since I didn't have any when I decided to make this, I used 3/4 cup of walnuts.

Gather 6 empty jars, 8 shot glasses or any kind of small glass bowls.





Divide the finely ground nuts among the jars and press the nuts down using a skinny bottle (that's been washed) or anything the will fit inside of the jars.

Whip the 1/4 cup heavy cream in a bowl until soft peaks form:

Peel some of the lime peel and slice into small strips:

Zest and juice lime:

Combine lime zest and juice along with the cream cheese, vanilla and sweetener. Whip this all up till it gets past looking like cottage cheese (top part of the image below), and starts to look smooth and creamy (bottom image).

Split the filling between the six jars and spread over the nut crust. Whipped the remaining heavy cream with the remaining vanilla and sweetener until soft peeks form. Spread over the filling mixture and garnish with the lime strips.

Store in the refrigerator enjoy ;-)

 

Note: Since I used xylitol in this recipe, I wanted to share with you the difference between the two xylitols I have. The one to the left in the picture is the one that I used. It's much finer so it dissolved quickly. The one on the right is a much coarser xylitol. You can use this as well, only make sure you put it in the food processor or a coffee grinder first, so that it's fine enough to incorporate into your filling and cream without tasting the granules.   

Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Whipped Cream

I did a lot of playing around with recipes and mixing different ones to make what you see here. At the time, my dad couldn't have wheat, but I didn't like most of the gluten free cake I had tried on account of them being too dense. So I set out to experiment, and this is what I came up with.

In this recipe I used a grain called Amarantha. It has a nutty flavor and is gluten free! You can buy the grain at your local health food store. If you do not have a grain mill, you can also buy the flour there. But it's cheaper and fresher if you can buy the grain and mill it yourself.

Start by grinding about 1/2 cup of Amarantha grain (this gave me about 3/4 cup Amarantha flour) on the "pastry" setting in your WonderMill. Now you're ready to begin!


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl combine dry ingredients:

3/4 cup (rounded) Amarantha Flour (use your WonderMill to grind the grain to flour)
3/4 cup (rounded) Tapioca Starch
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup evaporated cane sugar (any sugar will work)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. xanthan gum

Add wet ingredients to your dry ones and mix:

1 cup warm coffee, milk, or Almond milk (I used 1/2 cup coffee and 1/2 cup milk)
2 eggs
3 tab. oil (I used safflower oil)
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp. hazelnut (optional)
1/2 tsp. vinegar

Line muffin pan with paper baking cups. Spray lightly with non stick cooking spray.

Fill each muffin cup 2/3 - 3/4 full (depending on how big you want your cupcakes). Bake in 350 degree oven for 18-20 minutes.

When done, pull out of oven and place on cooler rack to cool. While they are cooling you can make the Whipped Cream for the top!

Chocolate Whipped Cream:

Begin with making a stabilizer for the whipped cream. This will help to keep if from "melting" and getting drippy when it sits for a bit.

Place in a small pan:

1 tsp. unflavored gelatin
4 tsp. cold water

Combine and let sit until thick. Place over low heat, stirring constantly just until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

In a mixing bowl combine:

2 cups heavy whipping cream (at least 24 hours old and very cold)
2/3 cup - 1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract.

Beat until slightly thickened.

While beating slowly, gradually add gelatin to whipped cream mixture. Whip at high speed until stiff.

Add:

3 tab. cocoa powder

Frost cooled cupcakes or put whipped cream in a pastry bag and pipe onto cupcakes. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve. Makes 12-18 cupcakes.

Note: This recipe was one that I entered in the Grain Mill Wagon Challenge!

 

 

 

 

Pie Crust

 Makes 4 single 8inch crusts (pictured above) or you can also use to make the top and bottom of 2 enclosed 8inch pies.

INGREDIENTS:

   3 cups flour
   1 1/4 cup shortening (I use Spectrum Naturals Organic Shortening)
   1 tsp. salt (I like to use sea salt)
   2 Tab. apple cider vinegar
   4 Tab. cold water
   1 egg

DIRECTIONS:

      Mix flour and salt together

 

   Cut in shortening until well blended

 

 Beat the egg, water, and vinegar together and add to your flour mixture. Stir until all the flour is absorbed into the liquid. If your dough is still a little too dry, you can add a little more water. 

 

 Stir into a ball and place in a lightly floured surface

 Divide into 4 balls and place one of the balls on wax paper. Place another piece of wax paper on the top

and roll it with a rolling pin until it's a little bigger than the size of your pie pan.

 Remove the top layer of wax paper. Place the dough (it wax paper side up) on top of your greased pie pan.

Peel the top layer of was paper off and press the dough down into the pie pan

 Remove any crust the overhangs the pan by a lot. Roll the rest of the overhanging crust towards the edge of the pan and pinch together.

Finish the crust by pressing against the edges of the pie crust with your finger tips or with a fork.

 

Fill with pumpkin pie filling, or any kind of fruit filling and top with a crumble. Bake according to directions for filling.