On low, heat cocoa and coconut oil in saucepan until just melted. Remove from heat and add crispy cereal, stevia or honey, peppermint and salt and mix well. Place in loaf pan or other small glass baking pan.
Place in freezer until frozen (5-10 min) and cut up into pieces. Serves great with raw yogurt or over ice cream!
Line cookie sheet with wax paper. Soften coconut oil. When soft, add the peanut butter, ricotta cheese, vanilla, honey and salt and mix well with a mixer. Place in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.
Pour 1 cup of shredded coconut (might need more) into a small bowl. Remove mixture from refrigerator. Scoop a small spoonful of mixture and drop into shredded coconut. Using fingers or a clean spoon roll dough around in coconut to cover. Set on cookie sheet. Continue until all are formed/covered. The amount you wind up with will be determined by the size of your spoonfuls.
Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for approximately 30 minutes to set. Transfer to container and store in the freezer or the refrigerator. If you keep them in the freezer, they are like little bites of coconut/peanut butter ice cream which is how I like to eat them. This is my favorite snack and I always have them in my freezer!
1 tablespoon vanilla or seeds from one vanilla bean
2 tablespoons gluten free all purpose flour
Crust:
Taking a 9 inch springform pan, line the bottom with parchment paper. Then very lightly grease the sides with the coconut oil; and then lightly dust the sides with the coconut flour. Add all of the crust ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until you get a nice sticky mixture. Place all of this mixture into the bottom of the Springform pan; press into the bottom of the pan and 1 inch up the sides of the pan. Set aside until filling is ready.
Filling:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, add the cream cheese and sugar or honey and beat together with an electric mixer for 3 minutes or until fluffy. Pour the coconut cream concentrate into a large saucepan on a low temp setting and then immediately add the pumpkin and mix together until it is all one color. Be sure to stir regularly while this is warming for about 3-4 minutes and then add to the cream cheese mixture. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt and vanilla and beat until it is all one color again. Add the flour and mix well for 1-2 more minutes.
Take the springform pan and wrap the sides with foil about 2 inches up each side, then set the pan into a small roasting pan or cookie sheet with high edges. Pour your filling into the pan with the crust and place in the preheated oven. Pour hot water from the teakettle about 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. Bake until the center moves just slightly when shaken, about 70-80 minutes. Remove the cake from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After it has cooled for at least 2 hours, place it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours before carefully removing the outer ring; serve and enjoy.
Line a standard baking dish with wax or parchment paper.
In a double boiler melt 1 bar (3.5 ounces) of dark chocolate and 1/4 cup coconut oil, stirring continuously. Pour it into your lined baking dish, give it a tap on the counter to make sure it’s all settled and there are no air bubbles, then put it in the refrigerator to harden.
In a bowl, combine coconut cream concentrate, shredded coconut and slivered almonds. Pour this over the hardened chocolate. Again tap the dish gently on the counter to get everything to settle evenly. Place the dish back into the refrigerator and again let it harden.
Grab your favorite spoon and clean out the bowl while you wait.
Again, in a double boiler melt the other 3.5 ounces of chocolate and 1/4 cup coconut oil. Once melted, pour the chocolate over the top of the hardened coconut cream. Again, refrigerate.
Remove the dish from the refrigerator and gently give the paper a tug. The candy will easily pop free. With a large knife cut it up into squares. It works best if you lie the knife level and give even pressure straight down. A slight rocking motion can help.
One thing to note is that these can be very melty, especially in the summer or a warm house, so you’ll want to keep them refrigerated or frozen, which is all the better. You won’t want them setting on the counter, tempting you.
Soak pitted dates in hot water for 10 minutes then drain well & dry on paper towel. Blend the dates & coconut oil in a large food processor until smooth. Add cocoa, vanilla extract & honey, continue to blend until mixed well. Recipe can be made in 2 half batches for easier blending.
Put fudge mixture into 1 gallon heavy duty freezer zip lock bag. Add nuts & seal bag with most of the air out then massage by hand until the nuts are mixed well into the fudge. Press all the air out of the bag, seal & place on flat surface & press down firmly to shape the fudge. Refrigerate for 1 day.
Compress fudge again on the 2nd day to get a firmer fudge consistency. On the 3 day it can be cut into 12 pieces. Keep refrigerated until served.
For holiday meals, freeze separated fudge pieces for 1 hour then stack fudge on a chilled serving plate immediately before table presentation.
Add the nuts and dates to a food processor and combine until the mixture looks like rough sand.
Add in the syrup and oil and pulse until dough forms.
Press dough evenly into 9 inch tart pan covering the bottom and sides. Place in the freezer while you make the filling so it can set.
Filling:
In a saucepan, combine the coconut milk, oil, butter and sugar and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat to low and add the pumpkin, syrup and seasonings, stir well
Add the mixture to a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth.
Poor filling into the crust and place the tart into the freezer to set-up, about 30 minutes
Remove from freezer and place in the refrigerator, store there until right before you are ready to serve it.
Quick notes
**I used Deglet dates which are smaller than Medjools, so you may only need 2 Medjools.
Combine the pumpkin, almond butter, syrup and oil in a bowl.
In a different mixing bowl, combine the flour, protein powder, lucuma, spices and salt
Add the wet to the dry and mix well. Place the mixture in the freezer for a couple hours until it has hardened a bit and can be formed into balls.
Once mixture is hard enough to handle, form inch in diameter size balls and place them on a cookie sheet or plate lined with parchment and place back in the freezer for 30 minutes.
While those are in the freezer, add the chocolate chips and cacao butter/oil to a small mixing bowl that has been placed over a small pan of boiling water. This is to get the chocolate to melt without burning it. Once water is boiling, turn down to a simmer.
With a spoon or a toothpick, place each ball into the chocolate and coat. Return each truffle back to the parchment paper and put back in the freezer to let the chocolate set, about 15 minutes
Prepared by Sarah Shilhavy Photo by Jeremiah Shilhavy
We have a new recipe and video for you all today, and it’s perfect for this time of the year, being pumpkin and all.
It’s pretty easy too, if you know what you’re doing. Cheesecakes can be tricky. They’ll crack if too much air is whipped into the batter, won’t mix well if the ingredients are too cold, refuse to be creamy if a certain ratio is off, and just be generally irritating among other things. But all that can be avoided, if you:
1. Follow the recipe as written. If you decide to substitute this for that and use that thing instead of the original thing and it explodes, you alone will be responsible for that. Just saying…
2. Have all filling ingredients at room temperature. Especially the cream cheese, sour cream, eggs and pumpkin. The warmer those ingredients are, the easier the batter will mix and become silky smooth.
3. Use a paddle attachment. If you have one. It won’t whip air into the batter as much and thus avoid over mixing.
4. Mix just until combined. Don’t let the mixer keep running if everything is already well blended, and try to keep it on a low setting because high speed = air and air = tiny little bubbles that will cause the cake to crack during baking. Basically, air + cheesecake = not good.
This dessert should be a hit with both those who like and dislike pumpkin. It has just enough pumpkin to keep the fans happy but not enough for it to be overwhelmingly pumpkin-y. When you bite into it, you get just a hint of spice and subtle pumpkin laced throughout the silky, creamy, dense cheesecake.
If you’re still a little lost or uncertain about making this, the video will take you through it in a step by step process, and you’ll also get to see all the guidelines in use.
Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a 9×13 pan with coconut oil.
For the shortbread, cream the butter and sugar until well blended. Add flours and mix well. Dust fingers with cornstarch and press into prepared pan evenly.
Beat cream cheese, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in the bowl of an electric mixer just until well blended and creamy. Add sour cream and vanilla, blend well. Mix in eggs and add pumpkin. Do not overbeat and try not to whip air into the batter.
Pour filling into pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. Top should still jiggle slightly when you shake the pan.
