Healthy Swaps: Dessert Edition

It’s no secret, that more than half of America’s population has a  hidden sweet tooth.  For some of us, it shows up even when it’s not invited, which can present a  challenge and can stir up the daunting “g” word…guilt. In this week’s edition of healthy swaps, I’ll introduce some tasty guilt-free options. Yes, yummy desserts minus the guilt. Enjoy every single bite of these scrumptious desserts minus the remorse. Here are some great swaps and healthy options that are sure to cure that sneaky sweet tooth.

There are  a lot of healthy, guilt-free alternatives on the market these days.  However, many of them come with a hefty price tag. I like to keep my food simple simple, few ingredients and easy to make, yet marvelously delicious. If you are an ice cream guy or girl- try this instead…all you’ll need is three frozen bananas, 1 TBS vanilla extract and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. These basic ingredients serve as great base for this ice cream alternative. I don’t list an amount of almond milk because it’s going to depend on each person’s blender. You’ll need just enough to get things moving. The more high-powered blender you have, the less amount of liquid you’ll need. If it looks too watery, have no fear…just pop it into the freezer for thirty minutes to harden it right back up! Here comes the fun part, making more flavors.Some of my favorites include:

-2 cups fresh strawberries (frozen preferred or use less almond milk), 2 TBS almond butter. PB&J ice cream style. The best duo on this planet!

-1/2 cup fresh lemon juice and 2 scoops vanilla protein for a lemon pie twist

-3 large roasted carrots, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp ginger, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder No need for the 2,000 calorie piece of carrot cake when you got it in guilt free ice cream

-The options are endless!

The best part of this recipe, besides the guilt free part…you can eat it and not have to  deal with the concerns related to eating raw eggs…double win!-In a food processor add: 1 can garbanzo beans, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 4 TBS coconut butter, 2 TBS agave nectar or other sweetener of choice and 1/3 tsp liquid stevia 88% or higher –-scoop mixture out of your food processor and stir in chopped dark chocolate/cacao.

-EAT RAW!!!!

Love Peanut Butter Cups?-2 scoops chocolate protein powder

-Add a very small amount of water…just enough to create a paste with the protein powder

-With a muffin pan, place 1 spoonful of protein powder paste in bottom of tin, then layer 1 TBS almond butter or other nut butter of choice, lastly another scoop of protein paste on top

-Fill as many muffin holes as possible

-Place in freezer for 30 minutes to a hour

-Remove from freezer, pop out of muffin hole, wait 5 minutes or until you can easily bite into  it …then chomp away and enjoy!

 Here’s the healthy version of that traditional favorite.-Take 1 avocado, 1 banana, 2 TBS liquid sweetener of choice (agave), ¼ cup raw cacao powder or unsweetened dark chocolate powder. Place in food processor. Process. Enjoy!

(This process works best with an ice cream maker…if you don’t have one then you can use a blender then place mixture in freezer for a hour or two to harden up)-2 cups plain nonfat greek yogurt as your base. This will be less sugar than the above listed banana base

From here you can make all the additional flavors listed above or go crazy with your own new creations.How about a mint chocolate flavor? Try taking mint leaves, cacao powder and a little sweetener.