Hello from California! I’m on Catalina Island right now and will be standing in my high school best friend’s wedding at 6pm tonight Cali time, but I couldn’t forget you, my loyal readers! Let’s celebrate with some Meltdown Friendly dessert recipes!
I love finding chocolaty recipes that just use unsweetened cocoa powder for the chocolate! It makes it much easier to ensure the recipe fits our plan and generally comes out better than when I have to make substitutions. I made this recipe for my 3P group’s get together. It was VERY dark/bitter – which some people like. Next time, I want to try adding some sugar-free syrup to give it a little more sweetness and moisture. Try adding 3-4 Tbsp and let me know if it works well for you!
Lighter Brownieshttp://naturallyella.com/2011/06/20/lighter-brownies/
- 2 Tbsp melted coconut oil (or grapeseed, olive ok)
- 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup Splenda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- ¼ cup almond flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg white
Preheat to 300. Mix all together and spread into lightly-greased small pan. Bake 30 min or until set. Makes 2 fat servings.
Here’s an example of a recipe that needed tweaking. Dark chocolate chips just won’t do! I used chopped unsweetened baker’s chocolate squares. Note that despite being unsweetened, chocolate bars or chips, unlike cocoa powder, need other ingredients to bind it. So, recipes that require unsweetened bars or chips are definitely an occasional treat with small portions! Again this recipe will be less sweet/more bitter than the dark chocolate chips as listed in the original recipe because they have added sugar. You may want to increase the amount of syrup or add in some Splenda.
Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes http://www.elanaspantry.com/flourless-chocolate-cupcakes/
- ¾ cup
dark chocolate chips– see note above - ¼ cup almonds
- 1 ½ eggs (I imagine using 2 full eggs would be fine)
- 2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
- 2 Tbsp sugar-free syrup
- ½ Tbsp vanilla
- TINY pinch of salt
Place chocolate and almonds in a food processor. Grind until the consistency of coarse sand (I would try to pulse even finer as the end product was rather grainy. Alternatively you can use ¼ cup almond flour.). Pulse in eggs, oil, and syrup. Then pulse in vanilla and salt. Spoon batter into muffin tin with paper liners. Bake at 350° for 12-15 min. Cool and serve. Makes 2 fat servings with about half a protein each; however, due to the amount of unsweetened dark chocolate, I would consider making 4 smaller servings.
Always be aware of the ingredients listed in any product you use (ask when you’re unsure!) and remember that desserts, even Meltdown-Friendly ones should be consumed in moderation and as a treat. Being able to finagle approved ingredients into sweet craving-satisfiers is wonderful and helps to make our plan more sustainable, but keep in mind that all the extras you put into your body (a little cocoa powder here, an extra Tbsp oil there, a lot of artificial sweetener) do go into your body and have some effect, hence keeping desserts as an occasional indulgence. With that being said, join me and feast in town, feast out of state, and as always…FEAST ON!!!
~Coach Lauren
