In mixing bowl combine peanut butter, honey, cocoa, coconut oil, pecans, and half a cup of shredded coconut. Mix until smooth. Take spoonful-size scoops of batter and roll into balls in the rest of the coconut shreds.
Place balls on a baking sheet covered with wax paper and place in freezer until desired firmness.
Recipe submitted by Jocelyn, Costa Rica
Sarah’s notes: You can also use flaked coconut to roll the balls in (like I did, see the picture) instead of shredded.
1. Make coconut base: Combine melted coconut oil and raw honey. Whisk well to combine. Add shredded coconut and almond extract.
2. Using a small scoop, divide coconut mixture among 24 mini cupcake molds. Sprinkle each one with a little of the chopped almonds, dividing evenly. Place in the freezer on a level surface for 30 minutes to harden.
3. In the meantime, make chocolate topping: combine cocoa powder, honey, and coconut oil in a glass bowl set over simmering water. Whisk until coconut oil is almost completely smooth. Remove from heat and continue whisking, adding vanilla and coffee liqueur.
4. Remove frozen coconut bases from freezer and spoon a little of the chocolate topping on each cup. Place back in the freezer for another 30 minutes until frozen and set.
Cut the bananas in rounds. In a deep skillet, heat unsalted butter. When the butter melts, add in the brown sugar. When the sugar has dissolved in the butter, toss in the banana pieces and coat them well.
When the bananas are cooked and glossy (this only takes a few minutes), add in shredded coconut. Blend it in well, then take the bananas off the heat and set them aside to cool.
Now on to the ice cream part. I decided a Sweet Lassi Rose Ice Cream would be great with the bananas. This is what I did:
In a large bowl mix cane sugar and buttermilk. Whisk it together well until the sugar is blended in, then add in whipping cream, rose water, and salt. Pour everything into an ice cream maker and process as usual. Put it into the freezer until you’re ready.
Next we make something called Sirkhand. Take the yogurt and place it in a yogurt strainer suspended over a glass. Let it drain for at least 4 hours, or until it’s slightly thickened. Mix in a bit of powdered sugar to sweeten it slightly.
Putting It All Together
On the bottom of a small, slender glass place a spoonful of Sirkhand. Add a sprinkling of finely chopped pistachio nuts, 3 pieces of the cooked coconut-coated bananas, 2 scoops of Sweet Rose Lassi Ice Cream, and another small sprinkle of chopped pistachio nuts. Repeat the process in other glasses until everything is used up.
There it is. When a spoon is dipped in, one gets all the flavors of a banana split, without the traditional shape. With the butter and coconut flavor, a small dessert goes a long way. It’s rich but not heavy. So this is my version of a Banana Split.
Combine sugar, cocoa, coconut oil and milk in a saucepan. On medium heat, bring to a boil. Once mixture has reached a rolling boil, boil for exactly 1 minute.
Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and oatmeal. Also stir in shredded coconut if using.
Drop by spoonful onto wax paper. Let cool for at least 30 minutes (place in refrigerator after cooled at room temperature for faster firming). The cookies will become more firm as they sit longer.
Makes approximately 24 cookies, depending on size. Store in refrigerator.
This is a great quick and easy dessert for those “oh-my-goodness-I-need-to-make-a-dessert-and-I-have-less-then-an-hour-to-make-it!” moments. Its prep will be done in five minutes, chill time can be as quick as half an hour or less (stick it in the freezer) and it’s no bake, no cook, rich, creamy, and naturally dairy free and gluten free. Sounds pretty good huh?
The texture is great: a lot like fudge. Firm and silky, yet it melts in your mouth as soon as you take a bite. It’s very creamy too; you’d never know it didn’t have a speck of dairy in it.
The crust is a nice touch. I like using pecans. It adds a tiny bit of crunch, and the strong nutty flavor of the pecans stand out, yet infuses nicely with the strawberry vanilla cream. When making this part, be sure to blend just until it turns into a meal (the video will show you how). If you blend too long you could end up with a nut butter!
With all that said, I’ll admit that I do NOT like nuts. So this is saying a lot. It doesn’t taste like cashews at all.
The taste of the pie is all in the quality of ingredients you use. Use raw, unsalted organic cashews, high quality alcohol-based vanilla extract, and fresh, perfectly ripe organic strawberries and Tropical Traditions’ creamy raw honey and coconut oil and (Gold Label for a coconut taste, Expeller Pressed for no coconut taste). Don’t skimp on anything here; use the highest quality stuff you can get.
And last but not least, let the video take you through the recipe step by step, and enjoy a slice of the pie yourself. You’ll have to make it, of course. I’m not sharing.
Sarah:)
Dairy Free and Gluten Free Strawberry Cream Pie
Prepared by Sarah Shilhavy, Photo by Jeremiah Shilhavy
Heat honey, coconut cream concentrate and coconut peanut butter on low until melted and smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and pat into a well greased 9×9 pan.
Sprinkle top with more coconut and press lightly in the bars. Cool in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to set up. Cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
Mix all ingredients together well. Form into balls and refrigerate until firm…..I actually freeze them! When we make these they are gone in a few minutes because they are soooo good!
