Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Easy and Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

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I have eaten at least three of these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups every single day since September. Please, you must join me in delighting in this simple, and apparently necessary, pleasure of life.

chocolate-peanut-butter-cups

Before I share more about this recipe, allow me to tell a story so that when you eat these in front of others, you will not make the same mistake I did.

See, it all started out back in September when I learned that I needed to add a significant amount of good fat to my diet if I wanted to improve my health, have more energy, and get rid of my brain fog. Seeing as I had no desire to lick coconut oil off a spoon or peel open a stick of butter like a banana, my quest to figure out how to easily eat all these good fats led me to discover these Chocolate Peanut Butter Fat Bombs.

They changed my life, and I’m not exaggerating. They are so very nourishing, made with loads of healthy fat and protein, and sweetened with stevia (stick with me though, even if you hate stevia). The fat bombs are delicious and I started feeling better immediately after I began eating several each day. Who knew? My body had been screaming for more nourishment from healthy fats!

Well, back to my story of what not to do.

We had company one weekend in October. I was eating a Fat Bomb while preparing breakfast. (Had to get my brain going, you know?) One of our guests walked in and asked, “Oh, what are you eating?” Suddenly I found myself in a quandary about how to answer. I could have simply said, “It is a healthy Peanut Butter Cup.” Right? Couldn’t I have just said that??

But no. I found myself launching into a very long narrative about my health journey during the past four years and how I’d been feeling awful during the past few months and couldn’t figure out what I could eat that wouldn’t make me feel awful. The very minute I started the story, I wanted to stop. I quickly realized that the kind ears listening to my “what are you eating” explanation were on extreme overload and most definitely confused. But I couldn’t stop because I’d already started and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to wrap it up. So I kept going on and on. I even found myself using phrases like “adrenal fatigue” and “intense detox.”

The poor dear. Some people want to know more about natural doctors and bad bacteria lurking in the gut. But some people just want to know, “Hey, what are you eating?”

So you guys. Make these, eat them, enjoy them, and let them nourish you. But for the love of pleasant conversation, when an innocent person asks you what you’re eating just say, “It’s a healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup.”

Now, it is Christmastime and treats are fun at Christmas. That’s why I’m re-sharing this recipe. But today I’m calling them Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups to ease the pain of anyone you might be having a conversation with over the holidays. You are so very welcome.

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter CupsYum

(Let’s all practice saying it together:
They say: What are you eating?
We say: “It’s a Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup.”
There now. Was that really so hard?)

Easy and Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
 
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • ½ cup coconut oil (I use expeller pressed so the coconut flavor didn't overpower.)
  • 1 heaping Tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 4 Tablespoons butter
  • ½ cup natural peanut butter
  • Liquid stevia to taste (I use 1½ droppers full of NuNaturals Brand.) OR 2-3 Tablespoons of honey or maple syrup
Instructions
  1. In a small saucepan, heat and stir together coconut oil, cocoa powder, butter, and peanut butter.
  2. Once melted and mixed, remove from heat and stir in stevia.
  3. Pour into 12 muffin lined muffin tins.
  4. Freeze for 20 minutes or refrigerate for 2 hours.
  5. Store in fridge and eat as needed.

By the way, these really taste best when they are right out of the fridge!

healthy-chocolate-peanut-butter-cups

I love that these are completely free of sugar when made with stevia. But if you don’t like or don’t have stevia, you can use maple syrup or honey instead. These will still be wonderful for you and only lightly sweetened.

I use silicone muffin cups like these when I make these “Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups.” This makes it so very easy!

Ever found yourself in an uncomfortable conversation while trying to explain something “weird” that you’re eating? Fun times.

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Easy Low Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake Whip

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Who even cares about a cheesecake crust? I’ve always been in it for the cheesecake filling anyway. Therefore, I have been making Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling and eating it with a spoon right out of a bowl.

For breakfast.

pumpkin-cheesecake-in-a-bowl

The way I see it, I’m eating a vegetable for breakfast, so I’m getting nourishment. I’m also eating good fat, so I stay full for longer than five minutes.

What else? Well, there’s hardly any sugar in this, so I feel no guilt that way, nor do I experience a mid-morning sugar crash. I should add to all of the above that this Pumpkin Cheesecake Whip tastes like spoonfuls of holiday happiness.

So between the vegetable thing, the good fats, the low sugar content, and the fact that this tastes wonderful – I think our holiday season will continue to get better by the bowlful.

Also, it only takes five minutes to make. This is what every Christmas recipe should be like.

Easy Low Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake WhipYum

Easy Low Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake Whip
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 2 8-ounce packages softened cream cheese
  • 1½ cups heavy whipping cream
  • 2 cups pureed pumpkin
  • 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 Tablespoons real maple syrup plus liquid stevia to taste (I used 2 droppers full of stevia)
Instructions
  1. Blend all pumpkin cheesecake filling ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Chill in refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.

easy-low-sugar-pumpkin-cheesecake-whip

Now let’s just say you’re a “gotta have a cheesecake crust” sort of a person. This is no problem. I have a crust recipe that is also low in sugar and incredibly delicious. You’ll find this recipe here.

no-bake-pumpkin-cheesecake

Or say you want a cheesecake crust, but you also want your cheesecakes to be cute and little and ready to serve to individuals. This is also no problem. I have Pumpkin Cheesecake Cups for you. You’ll find that recipe here.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

Now, it doesn’t take too much reading to realize that these are all the same recipe, just tweaked slightly to make them crustless, regular crust, or individual cup-sized crusts. We aim to please, and also we are suggesting that you eat cheesecake for breakfast, so now’s who’s your best friend?

No need to answer that. I mean, go ahead, though, if you want to.

 

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Easy, Low Sugar, Mini Crustless Cheesecake Recipe (and an amazing Blendtec Giveaway!!)

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This has got to be one of my most exciting giveaways to share with you! Why? Because ever since I invested in a Blendtec my kitchen life has become soooo much simpler! I wish I could give one to every person reading this.

I haven’t splattered cream all over my countertops and walls in months. Why? Because I don’t have to whip cream using my hand mixer anymore. Instead, I pour cream into my Blendtec and it whips it for me in less than 30 seconds. It is so, so easy.

I use my Blendtec for homemade applesauce now, throwing cooked apples in peel and all, and it makes beautifully smooth sauce. I use my Blendtec to mix muffin batters, cake batters, cheesecake, and so much more. Of course I use it for smoothies and all the normal blender needs. I use it at least once every day if not three times.

But about the cheesecake! Please allow me to introduce you to one of my favorite new recipes to make:

easy-mini-crustless-baked-cheesecake

I throw the five ingredients into my Blendtec, whip it for a few seconds until it is smooth, pour it into muffin cups, and bake. The stevia sweetens it, the small amount of maple syrup takes away any stevia aftertaste, and I’m left with the most delicious treat!

blendtec1
blendtec3

blendtec-2

Here’s the recipe, and check out the wonderful giveaway below!

Easy, Low Sugar, Mini Crustless CheesecakeYum

5.0 from 12 reviews
Easy, Low Sugar, Mini Crustless Cheesecake Recipe (and an amazing Blendtec Giveaway!!)
 
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 full droppers of liquid stevia
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Blend all ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Pour into 12 muffin cups.
  3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
  4. Turn off heat, open the oven door, and leave the cheesecakes in the oven for an additional 20 minutes. (Cheesecakes will puff up during baking but deflate while continuing to sit in the oven.)
  5. Transfer cheesecakes to the fridge and chill for at least two hours before serving.

easy-low-sugar-mini-crustless-cheesecakes

My family likes pouring homemade fruit sauces over the cheesecakes!

Check out Blendtec options here.

 

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Why You Should Eat Fat Bombs (and a Recipe!)

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A few weeks ago while researching how I could add more fat into my diet, I came across this recipe for Fat Bombs.

fat-bombs-easy-and-delicious

That, my friends, is a Fat Bomb. They look like something terribly naughty. But instead, they are full of so much good nourishment! Your day just took a turn for the better. You have no idea how happy I am to share these with you!

Have you ever even heard of Fat Bombs? I sure hadn’t. But the biggest question is: why would I try to see how I could add more fat to my diet?

Well, I’ve been reading and studying more about regulating my hormones and blood sugar and keeping my adrenals functioning well – you know. Just a little light reading. Everything keeps pointing me back to “eat a lot of protein” and “eat a lot of good fats.” Hey, you don’t have to tell me twice.

Now, protein is an easy one for me. I love and crave meat most of the time. But I have been realizing that getting plenty of fat is a little bit more difficult (beyond what is naturally in the meat I’m being forced to eat). I’ve tried eating spoonfuls of coconut oil, but it’s just weird and I don’t love it.

diary3

See here’s the funny thing: I find that I mostly use butter and coconut oil in baked goods. But I’m no longer eating many baked goods. I can stir some butter into my veggies, but that’s still not very much fat. Cream in my coffee? Sure, but I’m trying to cut back on caffeine too (prayers welcome).

I’d be mad at my hormones and blood sugar and adrenals about all of this, but my quest to find wellness for all of these led me to find out about these Fat Bombs. So ALL IS FORGIVEN.

fat-bombs-rock

Everyone else can have their sugary cakes and cookies and I don’t even care because I get to eat Fat Bombs. They are kind of a cross between a Peanut Butter Cup and a Huge Piece of Fudge. No one feels sorry for me now. Everyone is jealous. But not to worry. I am here to share the recipe so that you, too, can make Fat Bombs.

Now, first, a warning: If you are expecting these to taste super sweet like a piece of Christmas fudge or an actual peanut butter cup, you will be disappointed. But if you appreciate the need to cut back on sugar and you prepare yourself for a lightly sweetened peanut butter chocolate treat, you will bite in and be so happy that you get to eat many bites before it’s gone. Yes, you will be so, so happy.

You will offer them to your family, saying something like, “These are so amazing!!!! You won’t like them, though.”

This is how things normally work with my family now. My husband is totally digging my sugarless, stevia-sweetened or otherwise very low sugar treats. Our boys are more skeptical. I’ve cut down the sugar drastically in our household, and they’ve barely noticed and are just fine with muffins, cookies, and cakes with the sugar cut down. But the stevia-only treats? They are not fans.

But as for me, I’m loving the Fat Bombs. So far I’ve only made a Chocolate Peanut Butter variety but a little Pinterest searching told me there are other kinds that I should try. Okay then. If you’re going to twist my arm.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fat BombsYum

5.0 from 3 reviews
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fat Bombs
 
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • ½ cup coconut oil (I use expeller pressed so the coconut flavor didn't overpower.)
  • 1 heaping Tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 4 Tablespoons butter
  • ½ cup natural peanut butter
  • Liquid stevia to taste (I use 1½ droppers full of NuNaturals Brand.) or 2-3 Tablespoons honey
Instructions
  1. In a small saucepan, heat and stir together coconut oil, cocoa powder, butter, and peanut butter.
  2. Once melted and mixed, remove from heat and stir in stevia.
  3. Pour into 12 muffin lined muffin tins.
  4. Freeze for 20 minutes or refrigerate for 2 hours.
  5. Store in fridge and eat as needed.

chocolate-peanut-butter-fat-bombs

Isn’t it happy irony that these also have protein in them? It’s like I’m getting a two for one on needed nutrients here.

Note: These do not taste as yummy when they are room temp. Keep them cold and eat them directly out of the fridge. Take it from me.

Fun Fat Fact: It’s hard to over-eat these. After two bites I always think that I will finish one and enjoy a second because I’m loving it so much. But by the time I finish the one, I am full and satisfied, ready to stop eating. Then I stay full for a couple of hours, which is great because I typically need to eat little bits all day long.

I love this about good fats. They satisfy. (As opposed to empty carbs or bad fats that tell your body that you need more in order to be satisfied, so we tend to over eat them.)

Why Good Fat is Good

  • It gives us energy. (So don’t eat fat if you prefer to be lethargic.)
  • It builds healthy cells.
  • It helps our bodies use Vitamins A, D, E, and K.
  • It helps us have healthy skin, as well as helps our other organs to be protected. (Skin is an organ. I always forget this, but I think it’s so cool.)

So there you go. We all need to be eating good fats. These Fat Bombs make eating good fats extremely fun and happy, and they only take a few minutes to stir together.

Oh how I hope you like the Fat Bombs as much as I do. Best treat ever. (So says the girl who hasn’t had a cookie for a very long time.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Simple Meals is where it’s at, my friends! You will love this!!

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Easy 5-Minute Frozen Yogurt Cups

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I think I just discovered my new favorite snack. Look at these adorable Frozen Yogurt Cups!

Frozen Yogurt Cups

How is it that just when I think there can’t possibly be any more great new food ideas, I come across another wonderful new way to make something delicious and fun? I love how many wonderful ways we can enjoy real food.

I am one of the biggest food geeks. Nobody loves food as much as I. Except for maybe you, which is why you and I have so much fun together here. Isn’t food so very much fun!?!?!!!!!!

frozen yogurt2

At the very least, we all love to eat. It’s just that some of us like to also gawk at our groceries, get a thrill out of creating fun menus, and dream daily of new recipe ideas. Occasionally we might tear up when we look at the full shelves in our beautiful pantry. Some of us.

All this excitement over little frozen yogurt cups. Hey. You have no idea. I saw this idea and loved it, but I didn’t know that I would love it, love it. But the easiness of this idea! The endless options of what can be done to create variations that every family member will like! The deliciousness.

frozen yogurt4

Because making Frozen Yogurt Cups is so very easy, this would be a great “recipe” to hand over to your kids to make. Everyone can create these with their favorite goodies (granola, berries, nuts, peanut butter, chocolate chips…).

You can buy pre-made, flavored yogurt if you like, but since many store-bought options are so loaded with sugar and other not-so-great ingredients, I much prefer to buy or make Whole Milk Plain Yogurt and add my own sweetener and vanilla. If you don’t make your own yogurt, plain store-bought yogurt works just fine for this “recipe.”

It’s easy to make yogurt: learn more here.

Easy 5-Minute Frozen Yogurt CupsYum

Easy 5-Minute Frozen Yogurt Cups
 
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Serves: 10-12
Ingredients
  • 1 cup whole milk plain yogurt
  • Sweetener of choice (I used 1-2 Tablespoons real maple syrup)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Toppings like fresh berries or peaches, granola, chocolate chips, etc.
Instructions
  1. Prepare muffin tins with liners (I used silicone liners which makes this very simple!)
  2. Stir together yogurt, sweetener, and vanilla until well combined.
  3. Scoop 2-3 Tablespoons of yogurt mixture into prepared muffin cups.
  4. Top with fruit if you like.
  5. Freeze for 1-2 hours until solid.
  6. Serve.
  7. Transfer leftovers to a freezer bag and pull out for snacking as needed.

Easy Frozen Yogurt Cups

To Fantastic Frozen Yogurt Cup Tips:

1) These worked wonderfully in my Silicone Baking Cups. They popped right out once frozen and clean up was so simple!

2) You can use your Frozen Yogurt Cups to make smoothies! I mean, frozen yogurt and berries? This is what smoothies are made of. Throw some Frozen Yogurt Cups into a blender with a little milk and you’re set!

Raise your hand (and leave a comment) if you’re a food geek like me. Raise your hand (and leave a comment) if you aren’t a food geek, but appreciate that other are so that you can enjoy eating yummy food. See, everyone wins. :)

 

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Low Sugar Treats the Real Food Way

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Gimme one good reason any of us should eat sugar.

Fine. It tastes good. 

But we all know that too much sugar causes big, big problems for all of us. Our bodies can’t utilize much of it for nourishment, but it does have to do something with it. Turn it to fat, perhaps? Tuck it away in our hips? Make us sluggish, achy, and depressed? Well that all sounds like fun.

What are our options here? Avoid all the sugar? Switch to fake sugars like aspertame and splenda?

No, no, NO! Never think that fake sugar is better than real sugar. But maybe we don’t have to give up on treats either. I’m not a big fan of sugar, but I sure do love me a good treat.

That’s why, about a year ago, I started creating low sugar recipes from real food ingredients. I’ve learned that most treats are unnecessarily over-sweetened. In fact, I once cut the sugar in a cake recipe from 6 cups down to 1/2 cup. The result? Amazing. Moist. Flavorful. Delicious.

41 wonderfully yummy recipes later, we can definitely conclude that we don’t have to add oodles of sugar to a recipe to make it taste good. Those 41 recipes turned into this:

Low Sugar Treats

Yum

Why I’d love for you to have the Low Sugar Treats eBook

These recipes are perfect for everyone who wants to:

  • create yummy treats without overloading on sugar
  • stick with real food options
  • prepare nourishing treats for lunchboxes and snacks

From cookies to cakes to cheesecakes to ice cream – it’s amazing how cutting the sugar in recipes doesn’t effect their deliciousness!! Can you believe all of these can be made with very little sugar?

low sugar treats contents

You’ve likely tried several of these that I’ve shared here during the past year. I love that all of these recipes are now in one convenient download. I’m printing mine and keeping it in a binder in the kitchen for easy access. My family is set now when it comes to birthdays, snacks, and well, even the occasional breakfast. (Hey, there’s less sugar in these goodies than a typical breakfast muffin or serving of cereal.)

These recipes use whole grains (or no grains, depending on the recipe), healthy fats like coconut oil and butter, and sweeteners like:

  • Stevia
  • Sucanat
  • Real Maple Syrup
  • Honey
  • Raw Sugar (in small amounts)

You can use the sweeteners of your choice, making the recipes to meet your family’s taste preferences.

So many treats, so little sugar. It’s a win-win!

Our Heavenly Homemaker’s Club Members have access to this amazing resource plus ALL of our eBooks, eCurriculum, printables, and so much more – for one very low price! Join us here!

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Let me know which recipe becomes your favorite!

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Low Sugar Chocolate Ice Cream – No Churn!

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If the Low Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream would work with three ingredients without being churned, I figured a Chocolate version would work.

I was right!

Low Sugar Chocolate Ice Cream Bowl

Several suggested that if we added whole milk to the cream/sweetener/vanilla combo it would scoop out nicely. I tried that on my round two of ice cream and didn’t find it to work as well as the milkless version. I’ve decided to stick with only cream and not add milk. I’m curious what you discovered if you tried the recipe!

The only adjustment you need to make to make a chocolate version is to simply add cocoa powder to the vanilla ice cream recipe. (And if you want Chocolate Mint, just switch the vanilla extract with some mint extract. Easy!)

Low Sugar Chocolate Ice CreamYum

Low Sugar Chocolate Ice Cream - No Churn!
 
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Ingredients
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 3 Tablespoons real maple syrup (more or less to taste)
  • 3 heaping Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Blend ingredients together with a hand mixer or in a high power blender until they have thickened - but have not yet turned into stiff whipped cream. (The mixture should still be runny.)
  2. Pour mixture into a small casserole dish.
  3. Cover and freeze for about three hours.
  4. Scoop and serve right away.
  5. If ice cream has been in the freezer overnight, you may need to let it sit out to soften for a few minutes before serving.

Low Sugar Chocolate Ice Cream

If you didn’t guess already, this ice cream tastes delicious in my favorite Coffee Milkshake. Follow the recipe here, scoop in some of this chocolate ice cream, and you’ll have a Chocolate Mocha Milkshake.

Still to come as I continue to experiment – Low Sugar Peaches and Cream, Strawberry, and Peanut Butter Ice Cream! Hmm, while I’m at it, I suppose I should try a Mocha Ice Cream. This is too much fun.

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Low Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream ~ 3 Ingredients ~ No Machine

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I just ate a bowl of vanilla ice cream. This hasn’t happened in over three years because my body gets mad at me now when I eat much sugar. But let me say it again: I just ate a bowl of ice cream. Happy, happy, happy, happy!!

Low Sugar Ice Cream

I’ve been wanting to figure out how to make low sugar ice cream (for three years), but I had two hang-ups:

  1. I was feeling pretty lazy about pulling out my ice cream freezer.
  2. I wasn’t confident that cutting the sugar in ice cream would taste good and I didn’t want to waste ingredients.

So I started doing some looking online. There are plenty of recipes for “no churn” ice cream so I could avoid the trouble of getting out my ice cream machine, but they all call for sweetened condensed milk. Nope. That wouldn’t make it low sugar.

Other recipes took way too many steps, at which point I figured I might as well suck it up and get out my ice cream freezer.

Finally, I decided to try the “no-churn” method I’d read about – but with healthier ingredients I feel good about instead of condensed milk – and just see what would happen. I decided if it didn’t turn out – at the very least I could re-purpose the cream mixture into a smoothie.

When you see this recipe you will wonder (like I am wondering) why it took me so much research and time to figure this out.

Three ingredients. Three. They are so obvious. (Cream, maple syrup, vanilla. See? Why did I make this so hard?)

The trick is to whip the ingredients together just long enough that they thicken, but don’t turn into whipped cream. This isn’t hard as long as you’re watching carefully. I put the ingredients into my Blendtec, whipped for 15-20 seconds, poured the mixture into a dish, froze it, and boom. I had Low Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream.

Low Sugar Vanilla Ice CreamYum

4.6 from 5 reviews
Low Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream ~ 3 Ingredients ~ No Machine
 
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Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 3 Tablespoons real maple syrup (more or less to taste)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Blend ingredients together with a hand mixer or in a high power blender until they have thickened - but have not yet turned into stiff whipped cream. (The mixture should still be runny.)
  2. Pour mixture into a small casserole dish.
  3. Cover and freeze for about three hours.
  4. Scoop and serve right away.
  5. If ice cream is left in the freezer overnight, you may need to let it sit on the counter a few minutes before serving!

Low Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream

A key player in this recipe is Homemade Vanilla Extract. I decided “why just add one teaspoon when I could add two?” This, of course, makes the ice cream much, much better tasting. (Ironic, isn’t it, since I was just saying that you can use half the amount called for in recipes since this vanilla is so potent? Use less vanilla in this if you like, but I am loving the strong vanilla punch of two teaspoons in this vanilla ice cream!)

I learned that if you freeze this for less than 3 hours, the ice cream will be too liquidy. But if you freeze it for more than 3 hours it becomes a bit hard. The solution for “too hard” ice cream? Simply pull it out of the freezer and let it sit on the counter for about 10 minutes before serving. It’ll soften just enough for you to scoop it out.

low sugar icecream5

low sugar icecream4

Want your ice cream to be not-so-low in sugar?

My kids agree. Simply add a little more maple syrup until you have reached your desired sweetness level. You might also try adding a few drops of liquid stevia.

Because we have the whole summer ahead of us, I will now spend time creating variations of this Low Sugar Homemade Ice Cream. I’m thinking peach, strawberry, chocolate, mint, chocolate mint, and whatever other ideas you have for me.

Go make yourself some ice cream!!

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Low Sugar Banana Cake

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I’ve come a long way since 2008.

Here’s what I used to think about adapting recipes to make them healthier: I thought that if I simply switched white flour for whole wheat, white sugar with sucanat or honey, and vegetable oil with coconut oil or butter – I was healthifying a recipe. So way back in 2008, I did just that. I took my regular recipe for Banana Cake and switched out all the bad for the good and shared the recipe with you here. I even called it “Healthy Treat for Today: Banana Cake.”

I really thought the changes I’d made had created a healthy treat.

In my defense, I suppose the changes I’d made did make the cake healthy-er. Getting rid of empty ingredients and bad fats and replacing them with ingredients our bodies can utilize does make a recipe healthier. But I stop short now of calling a treat healthy if it still has loads of sugar in it.

This goes to show that we always have room to grow and learn, right? Makes me wonder what I’ll write a year from now after I learn more!

In the meantime, I’ve re-healthified what I thought was a healthy cake. Even with this newest version of Banana Cake, I still maintain that it is a treat and that other foods provide more of a nutritional punch than this. Still – with the sugar cut way down and with the ingredients all being foods our bodies recognize and can utilize – do feel free to eat this for breakfast if you like. ;)

Banana Cake

Low Sugar Banana CakeYum

5.0 from 2 reviews
Low Sugar Banana Cake
 
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Author:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • ⅓ cup sucanat or brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 over-ripe bananas, mashed
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup milk or buttermilk
  • 1 stick butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients.
  2. Mash bananas in a separate bowl.
  3. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients.
  4. Pour in mashed bananas and all other ingredients.
  5. Stir well (or beat with hand mixer).
  6. Pour into a greased 9×9 inch pan.
  7. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
  8. Allow to cool completely before frosting with the Cream Cheese Frosting below.

I prefer to make Cream Cheese Frosting with Stevia now so that it has no sugar in it. My boys prefer it if I add just a little bit of maple syrup.

Stevia Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces softened cream cheese
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Liquid stevia to taste (I use 2 droppers full)

Whip ingredients together until smooth. Spread over cooled cake. Store in the refrigerator.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces softened cream cheese
¼ cup softened butter
3-4 Tablespoons real maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

With a hand mixer (or in your blender), whip together all ingredients until smooth. Spread over cooled cake.

Low Sugar Banana Cake

Share something you’ve learned recently that has changed your mind about what makes a recipe “healthy.” 

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Low Sugar Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

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If we can make Low Sugar Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies, then surely we can add a little cocoa powder and make Low Sugar Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies, dontcha think??

It’s too easy.

I had the grand idea of baking these in muffin cups so that they’d take on the look of a peanut butter cup. Too bad that didn’t really work.

low sugar chocolate pb cookies1

They look kinda cute in the muffin liners, but they didn’t really flatten enough to take on the shape of a peanut butter cup. We ate them anyway. It wasn’t a problem.

Low Sugar Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Get my Homemade Natural Peanut Butter Recipe here. You’ll be amazed at how delicious homemade peanut butter tastes (and how easy it is to make)!

Low Sugar Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter CookiesYum

Low Sugar Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
 
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Author:
Serves: 15-20
Ingredients
  • 2 cups natural peanut butter
  • ⅓ cup sucanat, honey, or brown sugar
  • ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
Instructions
  1. Mix the ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Use a small or medium scoop to place dough balls on a cookie sheet, about two inches apart.
  3. Bake in a 350° oven for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned.
  4. Allow them to sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before removing them to cool on a rack.

The flavor of these cookies is super delicious. These will give you a great chocolate peanut butter fix, without all the sugar or even flour!

I know I just shared this low sugar cookie list last week, but when it comes to cookies and cutting sugar, I want to be sure you know I have your back.

More Low Sugar Cookie Recipes

I get many of my best ideas from YOU. What other cookie recipes should I play with to see if I can create a low sugar version?

 

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