Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

Dessert

Smacaroons

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I am not lying when I say these smacaroons are awesome. Everyone who has tried them has loved them, and they ask, “These are healthy?!”

Yes. They are extremely healthy.

I have been snacking on these like crazy! They are a great on-the-go breakfast, dessert, or snack; or for serving on a lazy Sunday brunch.

My inspiration for making these came from Heather’s fantastic Grain & Sugar-Free Scookies. You all know how much I love grain-free and sugar-free foods, and her scookies looked amazing! Seriously, Heather, you are a genius!

My little bites of goodness ended up being more like a mix between a scone and macaroon instead of a scone and cookie, so the smacaroons were born!

Scones+Macaroons=Smacaroons.

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Smacaroons

Yield: 18 Smacaroons

Smacaroons

~These smacaroons are grain-free, gluten-free, vegan, soy-free, peanut-free, dairy-free, and, of course, sugar-free!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups raw almonds (or 2 cups almond flour)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
  • 1 cup chia gel (3 tablespoons chia seed+1 cup water. Let sit 20 minutes.)
  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 1 banana, mashed
  • 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375*.
  2. Blend raw almonds in a food processor or strong blender until almonds turn into almond flour. Don't blend too long or else it will turn into almond butter.
  3. Mix all ingredients together until well-combined. Batter should stick together.
  4. Take an ice-cream scoop (or your hands!) and form into balls.
  5. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. I like to broil it for the last minute or so, so the macaroons get a nice crunchy edge.
https://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2011/03/21/smacaroons/

 

I love the coconut+banana+chocolate combo. The coconut replaces the peanut butter in my favorite combo that I can no longer eat due to lent! The Smacaroons have a somewhat tropical taste with the banana and coconut, but it is comforting, too. They are soft and fluffy in the middle, but nice and crispy on the outside. They taste delightful straight out of the oven because the chocolate is nice and melty!

You can omit the banana if you want to make it completely sugar-free; but it tastes so good with the banana and bananas are good for you! Natural sugars are a-okay in my book!

 

Health Benefits

  • Almonds: Almonds are a major superfood, and they are full of monounsaturated, good-for-you fats. It contains many nutrients that benefit the brain, and regulate cholesterol. The monounsaturated fats and vitamin E reduce the risk of heart disease.
  • Coconut: Coconut is widely misunderstood because of it’s high fat content; however, coconut’s saturated fat is made up of medium-chain fatty acids. These medium-chains are easy to absorb and digest, and are converted quickly into energy. Coconut is also a great source of dietary fiber with a whopping 5 grams per oz.!
  • Chocolate: Click HERE for a post I did about all the benefits of chocolate.
  • Bananas: Rich in potassium, bananas help the body’s circulatory system deliver oxygen to the brain. This also helps maintain a regular heartbeat and a proper balance of water in the body. It also contains tryptophan to help relax you and lift your spirits!
  • Chia: Click HERE for a post I did about all the benefits of chia.

 

I calculated the nutrition facts for the smacaroons because I was interested to see the calorie content for something made out of mostly almonds. Each Smacaroon is only about 100 calories! I would take one of these over those artificial, bland, cracker-like 100-calorie packs any day!

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Do you follow recipes?

I never follow recipes really. I always change something in my food! I may glance over the ingredient list, but I always end up throwing whatever I want into the mix. I also rarely measure my ingredients. If it is the right consistency, it is probably fine!

There’s Peanut Butter on My Chocolate!

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Hello everyone! Did you all have a fantastic week? Can you believe it is Friday already?!

And you know what Friday means…..Cupcakes!

Well, it doesn’t actually mean cupcakes, but who doesn’t like a good baking day to relieve any stress built up from the week? These are the cupcakes I tempted you with last week.

 

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

~These cupcakes are based off of my Grain-Free Fudge Brownie Recipe. Gluten-free (grain-free), dairy-free, soy-free, and, of course, sugar-free!

Chocolate Cupcakes

  • 3/4 cup coconut flour***
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 5 dates
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup milk or milk-substitute (I used coconut milk)
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

***If you don’t eat grains or you cannot find coconut flour, oat flour can be substituted. To make oat flour, grind oats in a food processor or blender until flour-like.

Preheat oven to 375*. In a bowl, whisk the vinegar and milk together. Let sit for 5 minutes. In the meantime, mix together dry ingredients.

Blend the dates into a paste in a strong blender or food processor. Add the milk and eggs into the blender and blend until smooth. You may either mix the dry into the wet by hand or blend until smooth.

Lightly grease your muffin tin or line with paper, and pour the batter into each muffin space 3/4 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on rack.

 

Peanut Butter Frosting

~This frosting is very simple and smooth. If you like it sweet, add the date. Personally, I like the peanut butter frosting to be more rich and savory, so I omit the date.

  • 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup milk substitute
  • optional: 1 date ground into paste

Either mix the frosting by hand, or place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Psst! Or try Katie’s wonderful Banana Butter to make it a banana-chocolate-peanut butter cupcake! You all know how much I like that combo 😉

 

Assemble

Pipe the Peanut Butter Frosting onto the Chocolate Cupcakes in any way you wish. I didn’t have any fancy tips, so I simply placed my frosting in a ziplock bag and cut a hole in it. Then, I topped it with shaved, unsweetened chocolate and placed a peanut half on top.

Health Benefits

  • Chocolate: Click HERE for a post I did about all the benefits of chocolate.
  • Peanuts: These legumes are full of protein with 7g per ounce. They also have a great monounsaturated fat content that helps your heart and brain. Peanut is a good source of Coenzyme Q10 which protects the heart during the period of lack of oxygen example high altitudes and clogged arteries. It also has a high antioxidant and high niacin content that helps in the recovery of cell damage and provides protection against Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive problem.

 

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

If you celebrate lent, did you give up anything?

I’m not Catholic, but I do think it is a great idea to give up something that you love. I usually don’t give up anything, but I decided to give up something this year…..Peanuts! You heard right. This Peanut-Loving girl can’t have any peanuts or peanut butter for the next 40 days. These cupcake pictures are leaving me in agony…

 

Chocolate, Banana, and Peanut Butter.

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Enough said.

Those of you who read my blog regularly have probably noticed my obsession for the chocolate, banana, peanut butter combo.

For you new readers, welcome to the Chocolate, Banana, Peanut Butter Club!

 

Chocolate Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate Peanut Butter Crust

~This pie is very easy to make, and it has a great contrast between the chewy crust and creamy center. It can be made raw if you use raw cacao powder instead of cocoa powder, and substitute the peanuts for a different raw nut. Vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and, of course, sugar-free!

Serves 8

Crust Ingredients

  • 1 cup peanuts
  • 3 large dates
  • 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
  • pinch of salt (if peanuts aren’t already salted)

In a food processor or strong blender, blend all ingredients until thoroughly mixed. The mixture should stick together. If it doesn’t add a splash of water. Press the mix into a pie dish, and freeze while making the pie filling.

 

Filling Ingredients

  • 4 frozen bananas
  • 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

Blend the bananas and cocoa powder in a food processor or strong blender until the bananas have a “custardy” texture like Magic Banana Ice Cream. Put the filling on top of the pie crust and freeze for at least 2 hours.

 

Thaw the pie for about 10 minutes before eating. The pie should be set but not rock-solid. Who likes rock-solid pie?

Decorate if you wish. I topped mine with sliced bananas, a blob of peanut butter whipped with almond milk, chopped peanuts, and unsweetened chocolate shavings.

 

My slice. Do you see the peanut butter bleeding into the chocolate? So delightful.

 

Health Benefits

  • Chocolate: Click HERE for a post I did about all the benefits of chocolate.
  • Peanuts: These legumes are full of protein with 7g per ounce. They also have a great monounsaturated fat content that helps your heart and brain. Peanut is a good source of Coenzyme Q10 which protects the heart during the period of lack of oxygen example high altitudes and clogged arteries. It also has a high antioxidant and high niacin content that helps in the recovery of cell damage and provides protection against Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive problem.
  • Bananas: Rich in potassium, bananas help the body’s circulatory system deliver oxygen to the brain. This also helps maintain a regular heartbeat and a proper balance of water in the body. It also contains tryptophan to help relax you and lift your spirits!

 

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

If you were to make a club, what would it be called, and what would you do?

Like I said earlier, join the Chocolate, Banana, Peanut Butter Club! We create hundreds of great recipes with our favorite combo 😉

 

A Sugar-Free Birthday

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Thanks for all the Birthday wishes!!! I had such a great day…

I woke up and had a great Birthday breakfast!

Veggie Omelet, decaf coffee, and fresh blueberries and bananas!

My fabulous birthday hat and fabulous 'sugar-free' cupcake mug!

Then I made yummy treats for the day…

Sugar-free Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Bringing cupcakes to elementary school tennis is a must!

I went about my day as usual, but had a great birthday dinner!

Anthony’s Coal Fired Wings (THE BEST! Grilled instead of basted in a yucky sauce and topped with rosemary), a big salad, Grilled potatoes, homemade gluten-free crackers, Vegan (soy-free, dairy-free, nut-free) spinach artichoke dip, and…..

Raw Chocolate Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate Peanut Butter Crust!!!!

It was such a great day, and I had a lot of fun making new recipes. I have a lot of new recipes to share with you…

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Did you bring treats on your birthday to school?

It was always a big deal with my elementary school. Cupcakes, donuts, candy, brownies, cookies……sugar crash!

Also, what recipes do you want me to give you first???

 

7th Heaven in 7 Layers

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I am so glad you all liked “A Day in the Life of a Sugar-Free Girl” post! You all had some great questions, and I tried to answer them to the best of my ability. There were a few people who requested me to do a post about my vitamins and supplements, and I think it is a great idea! I will get to work on writing a post about this.

Also, here is the Sugar-Free 7 Layer Bar recipe I taunted you all with on Monday!

It started out with me buying a bag of unsweetened carob. I don’t why I didn’t try this sooner! I thought I didn’t like carob, but I was so wrong! This stuff is amazing, and extremely sweet naturally (I can only handle a few pieces before I get a sugar-headache). However, I think it tastes more like butterscotch rather than chocolate.

 

Here is a breakdown of the seven layers of a regular 7-Layer bar and my healthy 7-layer bar:

Regular 7-Layer Bar: ***************************My Healthy 7-Layer Bar:

1. Graham Cracker crust                                                 1. Oatmeal Crust

2. Chopped walnuts                                                         2. Chopped Walnuts or Pecans

3. Chocolate chips                                                            3. Unsweetened Chocolate Chunks

4. White Chocolate chips                                                4.  Dried Fruit

5. Butterscotch chips                                                       5. Unsweetened Carob Chips

6. Sweetened Shredded Coconut                                   6. Unsweetened Shredded Coconut

7. Sweetened condensed milk                                       7. Coconut milk

 

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7th Heaven in 7 Layers

Serving Size: 18 bars

7th Heaven in 7 Layers

~These 7-Layer bars (or Magic Bars) are gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free, and, of course, sugar-free!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup oats
  • 1/2 cup oat flour (blend oats in blender until smooth)
  • 1/2 cup chia gel (mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 1/2 cup water and let sit for 20 minutes, or until they "puff up")
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
  • 1/2 cup chopped unsweetened chocolate (I used Baker's bars)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened carob chips
  • 1/2 cup chopped dried fruit (like dates, apricots, raisins, or cherries. Optional. They taste fine without the fruit, too!)
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 (14 oz) can of coconut milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375*.
  2. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan and line with parchment paper or foil to help lift the bars out of the pan.
  3. Mix the oats, oat flour, and chia gel together and spread on bottom of pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  4. Then sprinkle the walnuts in a layer, chocolate chunks, carob chips, fruit (if using), and coconut shavings on top.
  5. Pour the coconut milk evenly over the dish.
  6. Bake for 25 minutes or until the coconut is golden brown.
  7. Let the bars cool at room temperature for 2 hours (or in the fridge for less). If you try to cut the bars before they cool, they will crumble. Once they are done cooling, cut the bars and serve to hungry people 🙂
https://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2011/03/02/7th-heaven-in-7-layers/

In the pan cooling....the agony of having to wait! Ugh!

 

Health Benefits:

  • Carob: Unlike chocolate, carob contains no caffeine and it contains a number of nutrients, including vitamins A, B, B2, B3, and D. It contains a good dose of Pectin that helps to eliminate toxins from the body.
  • Chocolate: Click HERE for a post I wrote on all the benefits of Chocolate.
  • Coconut: Coconut is widely misunderstood because of it’s high fat content; however, coconut’s saturated fat is made up of medium-chain fatty acids. These medium-chains are easy to absorb and digest, and are converted quickly into energy. Coconut is also a great source of dietary fiber with a whopping 5 grams per oz.!
  • Oats: Click HERE for a post I wrote on al the benefits of Oats.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

What was your most memorable birthday dessert as a kid?

I remember my mom making me a birthday cake shaped like a jewelry box! It was my absolute favorite! It had candy necklaces, gold coins, and ring pops in it. It also had a beautiful ballerina on top that I got to keep. I wasn’t always sugar-free 😉


Chia: The Seed of Champions!

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Not only is chia seed great for chia pets…

Given to me by my little brother for Christmas! Thanks lil bro!

But it makes the easiest, most delicious pudding!

Chocolate Banana Pudding Parfait

~This parfait is a perfect dessert for special occasions, but it can also be a quick and delicious breakfast! Raw, Dairy-free, vegan, gluten-free, and, of course, sugar-free!

Ingredients

  • 1 serving Magic Banana Ice Cream
  • 3 Tablespoons chia seed
  • 1/2 cup milk substitute (like almond milk or coconut milk)
  • 1 Tablespoon Cocoa powder (cacao powder for a raw treat)
  • Optional Toppings: cacao nibs, unsweetened coconut shavings, coconut cream, chopped peanuts, banana slices

Mix together the chia, milk, and cocoa powder. Let sit in the fridge for about 20 minutes or until the chia seeds puff up into a pudding. While the chia pudding sets, make the Magic Banana Ice Cream.

Now, take a glass jar, bowl, or cup and layer the banana ice cream with the chocolate pudding. Top with whatever toppings you choose!

Usually I will make a huge batch of chia pudding, and keep it in the fridge for whenever I want to make a parfait, eat it plain, or mix into my oatmeal!

Benefits of Chia Seeds

The ancient Aztecs and Mayans used to carry this beloved seed with them on long journeys to increase their strength and endurance. Chia seeds can absorb up to 12 times it’s weight in water, so it is also a great hydrator. It can help electrolyte imbalances by maintaining fluid balances. When I play long tennis matches in the hot Florida summer heat, I will put a few tablespoons of chia into my water jug to help me last through the match.

Chia seed is also a great source of fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants. It can also help balance blood-sugar levels, so it is great for diabetics. It helps blood sugar levels by slowing the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar. I keep a jar of chia gel handy in my fridge at all times and will pour a little bit into my water throughout the day. I also use this gel to put in baked goods as an egg replacement. It is the best egg replacer I have found yet, and I highly recommend it to vegans and those allergic to eggs. 1/4 cup chia gel=1 egg.

Other great recipes with chia and chia eggs:

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Have you tried chia yet? If so, what are your favorite ways to use it.

Also, do you like parfaits? I just love parfaits. My sister and I used to always surprise our parents with breakfast in bed for their birthdays. We would always make yogurt parfaits with fruit and grape-nuts 🙂

P.S. For those Vegans who wanted to try my Grain-Free Banana Bread and Pumpkin Spice Bread, Kelsey substituted the eggs with tofu. It was a success! Check it out HERE.