Tag Archives: Dessert

recipe, treats

Molten S’mores Brownie

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This single serve brownie is only 200 calories and low in fat! It’s a perfectly decadent tasting dessert, but the oil is swapped for Greek yogurt. The brownie is awesome on its own, but the marshmallow graham cracker topping takes it to another level!

Single serving desserts are awesome if you struggle with portion control. Instead of having a whole pan of brownies staring at you from the kitchen, you make just one very special brownie to savor. I find that baking it gives it a nice fudgy texture, but you could make it in the microwave for faster prep time.

  
Ingredients:

(Serves 1)

35 grams (1/4 cup) boxed brownie mix

1 tablespoon nonfat plain Greek yogurt

1/2 tablespoon water

1/2 tablespoon egg whites

10 mini marshmallows

1/4 piece graham cracker

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

2. Mix together brownie mix, yogurt, water, and egg white in a small bowl. Transfer the batter to a ramekin greased with cooking spray.

3. Bake for 20 minutes. Top with marshmallows and graham crackers and broil until the marshmallows begin to brown, about 2-3 minutes.

  
To prepare in the microwave, cook for 1 minute, then at 10 second intervals until the batter is just barely set. Do not overcook!

  
Enjoy! It’s awesome :) for my macro counting friends: 28g carb, 4g fat, 1g pro, 1g fiber. I used Ghiradelli Triple Chocolate brownie mix for these calculations.

recipe, treats

Quest Bar Apple Pie a la Mode

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After seeing multiple Instagram posts about the new cookies and cream Quest Bars last week and finding an awesome deal on Slickdeals.net, curiosity got the best of me and I finally tried what is considered the BEST protein bar on the market. So far I’ve tried cookies and cream, chocolate chip cookie dough, apple pie, and white chocolate raspberry. I’m seriously impressed with all of them! Short ingredients lists, 180-190 calories, 17 g of fiber, and 20-21 g of protein per bar… AND they taste good! The apple pie and white chocolate raspberry are my favorite flavors so far because they have less of a stevia sweetener aftertaste. These are the perfect antidote to dessert cravings this time of year (Valentine’s Day and Girl Scout cookie season…)

Without further ado, here is a great way to enjoy any Quest bar flavor decadently!

Start with the bar…

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Crumble half of it into a cup…

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Microwave it for 20 seconds… And top with your choice of ice cream. This one was 75% off at the Albertson’s going out of business up the street. Arctic Zero would probably be the most guilt-free choice, since it’s only 150 calories per pint and basically made of whey protein.

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Enjoy the warm, melty bar with cool ice cream as your nightly bedtime treat!

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Let me know if you try this with any of the other flavors! I’ve done it with white chocolate raspberry and apple pie. Both versions were absolutely divine! The apple pie bar has real apple bits and the white chocolate chunks on the raspberry bar melt when you microwave them. YUM!

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recipe, treats

Paleo Pear Tart

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Even non-paleo eaters will love this pear tart! You can use the tart crust recipe with any kind of fruit or filling you like. The crust recipe is nearly identical to the one suggested on http://www.grassfedkitchen.com.

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Crust Ingredients:
1.5 cups almond meal (Trader Joe’s)
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tbs melted coconut oil

Filling Ingredients:
3 medium pears, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs maple syrup
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp arrowroot starch

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all dry crust ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir with a whisk.
3. With a spoon, stir in the cold water and vanilla extract.
4. Mix in the maple syrup and coconut oil with a fork until the dough is crumbly, but not lumpy.
5. Press the mixture into the bottom and sides of a tart pan. Bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool.
6. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, maple syrup, and arrowroot starch for the pie filling. Gently fold in the pears.
7. Fill the tart crust with pear filling and sprinkle with cinnamon.
8. Bake for another 15 minutes to finish off the filling.

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This tart would make a perfect Thanksgiving dessert to share. I really could use a round tart pan to make this prettier next time!

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recipe, treats

Healthy gluten free cheesecake bites

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Happy Independence Day! Colby and I celebrated with a hike at Mt Charleston… Sort of. It was too hot up there for me so we cut it pretty short. When we got home, I whipped these up as a festive 4th of July snack:

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These mini cheesecake tarts are made without butter or oil. The filling is protein rich and the crust is gluten free!

Ingredients:

For the crust:
1/2 c gluten free oats
3 tbs almond meal
1/2 banana

For the filling:
1.5 cups plain nonfat greek yogurt
2 tbs lemon curd
1-2 tbs gelatin, dissolved in small amount of water or milk
(You can use sugar free instant cheesecake pudding mix instead)
Fresh berries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pulverize the oats in a blender. Mash the “oat flour” with banana and almond meal to form a thick batter.

2. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Scoop a dollop of batter into each cupcake liner and flatten to fill the bottom of the liner. You should be able to fill 9-12 cupcake liners this way. Bake for 15-20 mins or until crisp and golden.

3. While the crusts are baking, make the cheesecake filling by combining greek yogurt with lemon curd and unflavored gelatin OR sugar free pudding mix.

4. Allow the crusts to cool. Top each crust with filling and berries.

5. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

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You can eat these with a spoon or carefully take them out of the liners.

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recipe, snacks, treats

Fresh Fig Jam

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I had lots of leftover figs from this weekend. Enjoy this sweet summer fruit in a homemade jam!

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh figs
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
Zest of one lemon
1/4 c honey
1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cinnamon stick

1. Place chopped figs and all ingredients in a saucepan. Heat until boiling.

2. Stir frequently as the sugar dissolves and the jam begins to thicken. This will take about 20 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick.

3. You’ll know the jam is ready when it doesn’t drip off a spoon easily. You can store it for up to two weeks in the fridge!

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Serve on toasted baguette with goat cheese.

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Drink some unfiltered pear cider with it (yum!!)

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Try swirling some into plain greek yogurt!

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Any way you serve it, you’ll love the ginger, cinnamon, and honey flavors complementing the sweetness of the figs. The lemon juice and zest balances the sweetness nicely! Next time I’ll see what happens when I use stevia instead of sugar.

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