Five Favorite Clean Desserts
From time to time (every night?), I like to indulge in a bit of sweetness. Most often, however, I don’t have the time or energy to whip up something fancy. When it comes to making an at-home dessert, I have three main criteria: 1. it doesn't require me to turn on the oven, 2. it doesn't entail too much prep work or clean up, 3. it's made from real foods without refined sugar or any other nasties. I want it to be simple, clean and sweet-tooth-satisfying without being loaded with a bunch of heavy ingredients devoid of nutrients. That’s not too much to ask, is it?
Free from gluten, wheat, dairy, eggs, and refined sugars, these are my five favorite plant-based (and mostly raw) desserts which are all guilt-free ways to treat yourself when the sweetness craving strikes.
I’ve broken them down into categories: Easy, Easier, and Easiest. Easy recipes involve a bit of pre-planning and/or delayed gratification while the easiest recipe is for when you need that sweet hit immediately!
EASY
Carrot Cake with Creamy Lemon Icing
Healthy cake heaven without a cream-cheese-frosting hangover!
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 and ½ cup grated carrot
- ½ cup almond meal
- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
- ¼ cup raisins
- ¼ cup goji berries
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla powder
Icing:
- ¼ cup cashews, soaked for 2 hours and rinsed
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp raw honey, or stevia to taste
What to do
Cake:
Add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well with a hand blender until combined, otherwise pulse with a food processor. To make into a cake, mould into a cake shape and set in fridge for 2 hours. To make into cupcakes, grease a cupcake tray with coconut oil or use cupcake papers. Shape the mixture into balls and press into cupcake tray. Set in fridge for 2 hours.
Icing:
Combine ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Add a little water if necessary to facilitate blending. Transfer to bowl and chill in the freezer for about an hour to allow it to thicken. Spoon over cake / cupcakes and serve.
Raw Vanilla Mousse Tarts
By raw, I mean lazy!
Ingredients
Tart:
- ½ cup walnuts
- 4 medjool dates
- Pinch of sea salt
Mousse:
- 1 avocado
- 1 tsp maca powder
- 1 tsp lucuma powder
- ½ vanilla bean, scraped, or tsp vanilla powder
- 1 tbsp raw honey
What to do
Tart:
Pulse the walnuts, dates, and salt in a food processor until sticky. If too dry, add a tsp of water at a time until it becomes sticky like dough. Divide into four parts, spoon into muffin tin, and place in refrigerator.
Mousse:
Combine avocado, maca, lucuma, honey and vanilla bean in food processor. Blend until smooth. Fill tarts with mousse and decorate with sliced figs.
EASIER
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
High protein vegan cookie dough that you can take to the face without fear of salmonella poisoning or the obligation to bake into cookies!
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas
- 4 medjool dates, pitted
- 1 tsp coconut sugar, or 2 more dates
- 2 tsp vanilla powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup desiccated coconut
- 1/3 cup almond milk
- ¼ rolled oats
- ½ cup chocolate, chopped - I used Loving Earth’s coconut mylk chocolate, but you could use high-quality dark chocolate or cacao nibs
What to do
In a food processor, combine chickpeas, dates, coconut sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, salt, coconut and almond milk. Blend until smooth. Pulse in the rolled oats and stir through chopped chocolate. Put the dough in the freezer for about 20 minutes to chill. Pull out and eat with a spoon :)
If you do feel like making cookies, try these delicious raw cashew and cacao cookies.
Chili Chocolate Pudding
Creamy, chocolate-y, superfood-y, and full of healthy fats!
Ingredients
- 1 banana, frozen
- ¼ cup nuts, such as almonds or Brazil nuts
- 1 tbsp cacao powder
- 1 tsp maca powder
- 1 tsp mesquite powder (optional)
- 1 tbsp gelatin, or ¼ avocado
- 1 medjool date, pitted
- Splash of coconut milk, or water
What to do
Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and combined. Sprinkle chili powder and cacao nibs on top.
EASIEST
Banana Ice Cream
Ice cream without dairy? YES!
Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana, frozen
What to do
Peel, chop and freeze a ripe banana. Puree in a food processor or blender. Serve in a bowl and top with whatever you like. I like berries, or chopped almonds and cacao nibs.
Word to the Wise: Whenever I see the bananas in my fruit bowl getting some brown spots, I peel, chop and freeze them so that I have them on hand for making ice cream in just a few minutes!
Pretty sweet, ey? What are your favorite healthy desserts? Would love for you to share in the comments below!
x Steph