Healthy Desserts

The desserts listed all have wholesome ingredients – unrefined grains, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruit, quality sweeteners, etc.  Because they have hearty ingredients with concentrated sweeteners and are well cooked, these desserts can be considered energizing and strengthening (in moderation).

Healthy Desserts

The use of sweeteners varies according to taste.  Try different types of quality sugars to find the right one and amount.  The following conversion chart will help you substitute sweeteners in other recipes containing refined sugars and to adjust the proportion of liquid ingredients.

Quality Substitution

Sweetener
(per each cup of sugar)

Reduction of total liquid per cup of sugar

Barley malt

1 ½ cups

slightly

Honey

 ¾ cup

1/8 cup

Fruit Juice Concentrate

 ¾ cup

1/8 cup

(True) Maple Syrup

¾ cup

1/8 cup

Maple Granules

1 cup

none

Molasses

½ cup

none

Unrefined Cane Juice Powder

 ¾ cup

none

Stevia (herb)

1 tsp

Add 1/8 cup

Rice syrup

 1 ½ cups

slightly

By the way, learn more about Stevia, the natural herbal sweetener here and find a lot of recipes using Stevia here.

Note: Commercial “natural” sweets often contain rancid oils and flours, chemical ingredients, huge amounts of fruit sweeteners from non-organic sources and soybeans that have been through devitalizing processes. The following recipes will hopefully stimulate awareness and ideas in dessert-making with foods that have healing potential.

Pie Crust (light pressed – one crust)
· ¾ cup oat flour
· ¾ cup brown rice flour
· ¼ tsp sea salt
· ¼ to 1/3 cup oil
· 2 to 2 ½ Tbsp ice water

Preheat oven to 400. Combine dry ingredients. Rub oil in with fingers. Add just enough water so the dough holds together but is crumbly. Press into a lightly floured pie pan. Flute edges. Prick well with fork. Bake 10 – 12 minutes or fill with pie filling and bake.

Pumpkin Pie (two pies)

· 1 medium pumpkin
· ½ cup rice syrup
· ½ cake tofu
· 1 cup sprouted wheat flour*
· ½ tsp each: cinnamon, ginger, cloves
· ¼ tsp nutmeg
· ¼ tsp sea salt
· 2 pie crusts

Preheat oven to 300. Prepare crusts. Peel and cut pumpkin into small pieces. Add rice syrup. Cook covered until tender. Add water if needed. Add tofu the last 10 minutes of cooking. Mix and puree all ingredients together. Pour into pie crusts and bake 1 hour.

*Sprouted wheat flour is a sweet flour used in desserts, breads, etc.

Apple Pie (one pie)
· 6-8 apples, sliced
· 1 Tbsp lemon juice
· 1 cup apple juice
· ½ cup raisins
· 1 tsp vanilla
· 1 Tbsp cinnamon
· 1 ½ Tbsp arrowroot, dissolved in ½ cup apple juice
· 2 pie crusts

Prepare crusts. Preheat oven to 375. Sprinkle apple slices with lemon juice. Combine raisins, apple juice, vanilla and cinnamon in saucepan and simmer 5 minutes. Add arrowroot mixture and stir constantly until thickened. Fill crust with apples. Pour in raisin sauce. Cover with top crust, flute edges with a fork and poke small holes in the top with a fork. Bake 35-40 minutes.

Sweet Potato Pie (one pie)

· 4-6 sweet potatoes (cooked)
· ¼ tsp each: cardamom, cinnamon
· Dash of nutmeg
· ¼ cup raisins
· ½ tsp sea salt
· 1 pie crust

Prepare pie crust. Preheat oven to 350F. Mash the sweet potatoes and mix in all ingredients. Fill the pie crust and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Carrot Cake

· 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
· 1 cup brown rice flour
· ½ tsp sea salt
· 1 tsp each: coriander, cinnamon, ginger
· 1 cup apple juice
· ½ cup raisins
· ¼ cup chopped nuts
· 3 cups grated carrots
· 2/3 cup maple syrup or unrefined cane juice powder

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and beat well by hand. Pour into oiled cake pan. Bake 1 hour.

Apple Cake: Use 2 cups chopped apples and 1 cup apple sauce in place of carrots.

Sweet Potato or Squash Cake: Use 3 cups cooked, pureed squash or sweet potatoes in place of carrots.

(Raisins are optional)

Baked Fruit:

Core apples and/or pears. Place in casserole, covered. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

Stuffed Baked Fruit:

Stuff cored apples and/or pears with raisins, chopped nuts and cinnamon. Pour apple juice over them to cover ½”. Bake until soft.

Lemon Cookies (3 dozen)

· 1 ½ cups brown rice flour
· 1 ½ cups oat flour
· 1 ½ cups amasake
· ½ tsp sea salt
· 1 Tbsp sesame oil
· ¼ cup roasted sesame seeds
· Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all. Roll dough unto small balls and press into preheated and oiled cookie sheet with the tines of a wet fork. Bake 10 minutes one side, turn over and bake 5 minutes more.
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