Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Low Sugar Dairy Free Chocolate Sauce (3 Ingredients!)

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Dairy free chocolate sauce….the new way to top a waffle.

Dairy Free Chocolate Sauce

We sure do eat a lot of cream cheese around our house.

This has nothing to do with the recipe I’m about to share with you – except that it is my way of saying, “We definitely aren’t a dairy-free family.”

Why a Dairy Free Chocolate Sauce then?

  • Because coconut milk is nourishing and I like to use it in addition to cow milk as a way to give my family a variety of nutrients.
  • Because I love having recipes on hand that I can use to bless our friends who can’t eat dairy.
  • Because this Chocolate Sauce is rockin’ and I can actually eat it because it is low in sugar.

You pretty much can’t mess up this recipe. Go ahead. Try. Not that you would. (I mean, I can sometimes mess up a recipe without even trying, say…when I’m trying to talk and cook at the same time??)

But this recipe is really fool-proof and adaptable. You can make it a little sweeter if you like. You can keep the sugar low and enjoy this as a “dark chocolate” sauce. You can add a splash of vanilla extract or mint extract.

Oh my goodness, you could stir in some peanut butter! I just thought of that, will try it, and get back to you. You’ve gotta love it when a delicious brainstorm comes in the middle of writing a sentence.

How to use your Low Sugar Dairy Free Chocolate Sauce

  • We love it on fresh strawberries, bananas, blueberries, or raspberries.
  • Often we use it as an apple dip.
  • Try stirring it into a cup of hot coffee. Yup.
  • Instead of maple syrup, spread this sauce over your pancakes or waffles.
  • Hello. Just eat it on a spoon.
  • You can drizzle this on ice cream, but if you do have to eat dairy free, you’d also have to make or find dairy free ice cream (this was obvious but still worth mentioning)

Low Sugar Dairy Free Chocolate SauceYum

Low Sugar Dairy Free Chocolate Sauce
 
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Ingredients
  • 13.5 ounce can of full fat, unsweetened coconut milk
  • ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¼ - ½ cup sweetener (honey, sucanat, or brown sugar)
Instructions
  1. Mix ingredients in a small saucepan, cooking and stirring on medium heat until well combined.
  2. Serve warm or cold.
  3. Store this sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator, rewarming on the stove-top as needed. It will keep for up to a month in the fridge.

Low Sugar Dairy Free Chocolate Sauce

This sauce just takes a few minutes to whip up and it seriously tastes like a gourmet treat.

Need Coconut Milk?

I typically purchase cans of coconut milk in bulk online. Some of my favorite resources are:

Want the Dairy-Full version? You’ll find one here. Be warned: it’s super full of sugar. I should play with that and see how we can reduce it!

Can you think of other great ways to eat this sauce? 

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Easy Pecan Pie Bites

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It’s my turn to be a part of the Thanksgiving Recipe Swap! Others have shared appetizers, main dishes, and side dishes. Now it’s dessert time! (I’m sharing Pecan Pie Bites below. You will love these!)

Click over here to find all of the recipes included in the swap. Just to temp you, I’ll tell you what recipes you’ll find there:

  • Goat Cheese Artichoke Dip
  • Cranberry and Pecan Stuffed Brussels Sprouts
  • Pumpkin Spice Fruit Dip
  • Perfect Roast Turkey Breast
  • Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce
  • Gluten Free Stuffing
  • Roasted Garlic Green Beans
  • Balsamic Bacon Brussels Sprouts
  • Cranberry Orange Bars
  • Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
  • Protein Packed Pumpkin Rolls

Don’t those all sound awesome?! Go help yourselves to any or all of the recipes!

Now for the Easy Pecan Pie Bites recipe. These will just take you a few minutes to whip up. What a great addition to your holiday table!

pecan pie bites4

Let us all take a moment to notice something about these Pecan Pie Bites that doesn’t even matter a little bit but that absolutely really does matter:

These Pecan Pie Bites are adorable and cute.

Cute food matters. Food tastes better when it’s cute. I’ve tried to convince my sons of this truth. I see cute food and think, oh look how cute this food is. They see cute food and they are like, why are these Pecan Pie Bites so tiny? These teenage sons of mine proceed to eat the treats in large quantity which almost, but not quite, negates the cuteness.

I suppose I should also let you  know that these Pecan Pie Bites are very easy to make. They are made with only five ingredients, which are of course, all real food ingredients. They are naturally gluten and dairy free, which is a lovely bonus if that is a need for you. You can put these together in just a few minutes – my favorite kind of recipe. And above all, they are cute. Cute, cute, cute.

They are also magic, so prepare to be amazed. See, you put a pecan at the bottom of each muffin liner. Then you pour in the pie mixture. The pecan rises and bakes at the top, making magical cuteness.

pecan pie bites5

Easy Pecan Pie Bites

Yum

Easy Pecan Pie Bites
 
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Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • ½ cup honey
  • 3 eggs
  • ⅓ cup melted coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 24 pecans (about ½ cup)
Instructions
  1. Fill 24 mini muffin tins with paper liners.
  2. Place a pecan at the bottom of each liner.
  3. Whisk together honey, eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla.
  4. Scoop mixture into the prepared muffin tin, filling about ¾ full.
  5. Bake in a 350° oven for 15-25 minutes or until evenly browned.

Easy Pecan Pie Bites ~ Naturally Gluten and Dairy Free

See? I told you they were easy. These will be wonderful to have on your holiday table so that when there are pumpkin pies and apple pies and cheesecakes and all the other desserts – people can take one (or five) of these cute little Pecan Pie Bites which have portion control already built in. How very practical of them.

Enjoy, and I’ll see you over at the Thanksgiving Recipe Swap!

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No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Bites

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Cookie bites? Eh. We like ’em okay. ;)

Because we all like healthy snacks and we absolutely love easy recipes – let us take a moment to review the previous no-bake cookie bite recipes shared here:

One idea turned into another, and now we have No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Bites to add to the list!

No-Bake Cookie Bites - Easy Recipes!

With a few ingredient tweaks, a Peanut Butter Cookie Bite came about. Of course, a peanut butter cookie bite must be gently pressed with a fork like the real deal, don’t you think? These taste so much like Peanut Butter Cookies, we couldn’t believe it. But instead of being an actual cookie full of sugar – they are a high protein, high fiber, low sugar snack. But hey, call it a cookie since it still tastes like one. Healthy treats are so exciting!

Peanut Butter Cookie Bites - No Bake!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Bites Yum

No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Bites
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 cup natural creamy peanut butter
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup coconut flour
Instructions
  1. Mix the ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.
  2. Roll the mixture into teaspoon-sized (or whatever sized) balls.
  3. Press down gently, criss-cross, with a fork.
  4. Refrigerate before serving.

It really is that easy.

(Here are my homemade peanut butter instructions.)

 No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Bites

Where to get Coconut Flour:

Many have asked about Coconut Flour. I order it from Tropical Traditions or Amazon. A little bit goes a long way, so don’t let the price-tag scare you. Coconut flour is naturally gluten free, high in fiber, and high in protein. I love it for its nutritional value!

Ways to enjoy these No-Bake Cookie Bites:

  • Packed in a lunch
  • As a snack/pick-me-up
  • Before or after a work-out
  • On the road during a trip
  • In a box, on a train, with a fox, in a tree (thank you, Sam I Am) – Do you really need any more reasons to love these? Eat them any where for any reason!

Lovin’ these No-Bake Cookie Bites!

Give me more cookie flavor ideas to play with!! What would you like to see here?

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Order Soy Free Chocolate Chips Before They Melt in Your Mailbox!

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I’m not joking. I’ve had this happen before. I ordered chocolate chips in the summertime, and by the time they reached my house, they had melted together into one giant clump.

Not to worry. I figured out ways to still use them. No chocolate left behind, as they say. But if you’re wanting your chocolate chips to stay chippy – I recommend you order now and stock up before the weather gets too warm.

Right now Amazon has a case of 6 – 10 ounce bags of Enjoy Life Soy Free Chocolate Chips for just $22.14. This is a great stock-up price, so buy now and freeze them for later.

enjoy life six pack

Unless you like 10-ounce blobs of melty chocolate mess. Then, by all means, wait until July to order. ;)

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Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips – Great Price at Amazon!

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My friend emailed to let me know that we can get a 6-Pack of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips for just $18.60. Sweet!

These are allergen free and yummy. It’s a great time to stock up! Shipping if free if you have Amazon Prime. I keep this variety of chocolate chips in our freezer to use in baking. They are great!

enjoy life six pack

Need some recipe ideas for your chocolate chips? Here are our favorites:

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Hot Chocolate Souffle ~ A Recipe That Just So Happens To Naturally Be Grain Free and Dairy Free

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hot chocolate souffle 2

Elias, our 12 year old, is my cookbook buddy. Just like me, he enjoys looking through new recipes, getting food ideas, looking at the food pictures. He’s my right hand man when it comes to finding new recipe ideas to play with.

During our past few trips to the library, Elias and I have picked up different cookbooks to look through and get ideas from. This Hot Chocolate Soufflé is one he found recently. He liked the look of the dessert and figured we could adapt it with our healthier ingredients pretty easily. Obviously, he cares so much about using healthier ingredients, just like all normal 12 year old boys. Ha. Haha. Ha. Ha.  Well, at least he knows his mom cares, and he sort of understands why. Really, all he was concerned about was that this recipe looked like a yummy chocolate dessert. What else matters, right?

Here’s what’s fun about this Hot Chocolate Soufflé recipe:

  • It’s very easy to make
  • It only has 4 ingredients
  • It can be made for those who need to avoid gluten and/or dairy

Hot Chocolate SouffléYum

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup sucanat powdered sugar
5 eggs, separated
pinch of sea salt

Separate eggs – whites and yolks – into two separate bowls. Stir sucanat powdered sugar into the egg yolks until smooth. In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate, stirring constantly and removing from heat immediately after chocolate has melted. Stir melted chocolate into egg yolks and sucanat mixture. Beat egg whites and sea salt until stiff peaks form. Fold chocolate mixture into the egg whites until barely mixed. Pour mixture into a 8×8 inch baking pan. Bake in a 400° oven for about 15 minutes or until done through and through.

Grain Free, Dairy Free Hot Chocolate Souffle

These would be great for your Make-Ahead Lunch Box. Also, I looked into where you can purchase allergy free dark chocolate chips. Here’s what I found:

    Do you like looking through cookbooks and recipes? (Hope so – this site is full of ’em!)

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7-Minute Strawberry Ice Cream ~ Dairy Free Option

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Healthy food always takes a long time to make, right? Not at my house.  Healthy food always tastes like “health food,” right? Oh, for real.  Healthy food always costs a lot of money, right? Not if I can help it. 

Most of the guests I feed at my house don’t even suspect that I’m serving them healthy food. In fact, I fed this simple Strawberry Ice Cream to someone last week, and all he knew was that I was handing him a dish full of homemade ice cream. All he knew was that it tasted delicious, he loved it, and he asked for seconds. He was impressed that I had “taken the time” to actually make homemade ice cream. He had no idea it was made in 7 little minutes. He had no idea the dessert didn’t have any added sugar (I used stevia). He had no idea the health benefits of what he was eating. He just thought he was eating really good ice cream. Boom.  Score one for healthy food that doesn’t appear to be health food.

Yes, from start to finish, this ice cream just takes about seven minutes to make. No ice cream freezer necessary – all you need is a strong blender or food processor. By the way – those seven minutes it takes to make this treat? Well, it’s not like it takes 7 minutes of work on my part. I just put the ingredients into the food processor and walk away. God bless the person who invented food processors so that I can check email while I’m making ice cream.

7-Minute Strawberry Ice CreamYum

4 cups (give or take) frozen strawberries
1 can (13.5 ounces) chilled coconut milk or 1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 drops liquid stevia or 1 Tablespoon real maple syrup or 1 Tablespoon honey

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor or blender until smooth and creamy. Serve right away. Makes 4-8 servings.

7-Minute Dairy Free Strawberry Ice Cream

Have you tried the Cool Pineapple Cream Dessert recipe yet? This is pretty much the same recipe, except for the obvious switch from pineapple to strawberries. I found that when using pineapple, I didn’t need to add anything else to sweeten the treat. Strawberries are a little more tart, so adding a tiny bit of stevia made this perfect.

Next I plan to make this treat using frozen peaches. Then maybe frozen blueberries. Then frozen raspberries.

Health food? You can keep your rice cakes. I’m having ice cream.

What’s your favorite “healthy food” to serve that doesn’t appear to be health food?

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Dairy Free Options to Replace Cream Soups

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If you’re looking to replace canned cream soups on a recipe, there are several options I’ve recommended. (Read this post to learn more.) 

However, all of the ideas I’ve thought of include dairy. What about those of you who need to avoid dairy? 

Shucks…I have no ideas. We’re very creamy and buttery at our house.

Our One Dish Meat and Potato Meal, which uses Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

Never fear though – I have a whole lot of readers and they are all smart and full of ideas. I’ll just bet many of you have some experience with this and can chime in with some great suggestions.

So let’s hear it! What can you use in a recipe to replace Cream Soups that will be a healthy alternative but does not include dairy?

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Coconut Cupcakes (Dairy Free!)

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My adorable little nephew isn’t able to eat dairy, which means his (favorite) Aunt Laura had to do a little bit of experimenting before his visit last week. I came up with a very delicious and healthy Coconut Cupcake recipe that all of my kids loved! Coconut Milk is awesome stuff and works very well for baking. (I had purchased a case of Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk to experiment with and to have on hand.)  We don’t need to eat dairy free at our house, but I will be making these cupcakes again!

Coconut CupcakesYum

3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups sucanat
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 can (13. ounces) coconut milk
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

Mix all ingredients together with beaters. Spoon into 24 paper lined cupcake pans. Bake at 375° for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

1/2 cup palm shortening (I buy palm shortening from Tropical Traditions or through Amazon.)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (I use organic, unbleached powdered sugar or I make powdered sugar myself with sucanat and a blender.)
1-2 tablespoons coconut milk
shredded coconut for garnish (optional)

By the way, this Coconut Milk also works great for making these pudding recipes and these whole wheat donuts. Yes, Aunt Laura does like to spoil her nieces and nephews, what can I say? Don’t worry. I also gave them protein and vegetables. :)

Ever done any cooking or baking with Coconut Milk? I’m excited to experiment more with this great product!

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