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Easy Low Sugar Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake

May 9, 2019 by Laura 2 Comments

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There are so many wonderful reasons to love the month of May. The school year ends (for most), the frigid weather finally becomes pleasant (in Nebraska), and strawberries are everywhere (in bowls, in plates, in my hand…). I will now introduce you to my most recent recipe experiment involving strawberries: Easy Low Sugar Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake.

This cake is moist. It’s flavorful. It’s low in sugar. It’s whole grain. It offers the wonderful taste of early summer joy. And friends, it is topped with Cream Cheese Frosting. I declare that to be the MVP of this cake – along with the strawberries, of course!

Cutting Back on SugarYum

If you’ve been around here long, you know that I’ve taken the liberty of cutting down the sugar in many recipes, making sure they still taste amazing. I believe a lower sugar ratio is something we can get our taste buds used to! I recommend cutting back on sugar gradually, starting with homemade desserts and muffins.

Hoping to cut back on sugar? Read some simple ideas here to help make that happen!

And now, I reward your cutting-back-on-sugar efforts by giving you this recipe:

Easy Low Sugar Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake

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Author: Laura

Serves: 15

Ingredients

2½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup sucanat or sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1½ cups fresh or frozen strawberries
½ cup milk
½ cup sour cream
½ cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
Puree strawberries until smooth.
Add pureed strawberries, milk, sour cream, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla.
Mix with beaters until smooth.
Pour into a buttered 9x13 cake pan.
Bake in a 350° oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool.
Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe options below)

Want to keep the frosting low in sugar too?

Here are my favorite Low Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting recipes!

Stevia-Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons softened butter
8 ounces softened cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Liquid stevia to taste (I use about 20 drops)

In a large bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. Add softened butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and stevia – whipping until well combined and smooth. Spread over cooled cake. Store in refrigerator.

If you prefer, here’s a slightly sweeter but still not too sugary frosting option:

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.

Looking for more Low Sugar Recipes?

Here are just a few of our favorites!

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The Easiest No-Churn Strawberry Ice Cream

July 23, 2017 by Laura 12 Comments

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As one who types for a living, I often find myself shocked at the words my fingers produce without asking me first. It’s as if they go on auto-pilot, typing with a mind of their own. There’s nothing I can do about this, and we can all be thankful for my ability to edit the words my fingers type without first asking my permission.

For instance, I’m so used to typing “Heavenly” (because I type HeavenlyHomemakers.com at least twelve times a day) that every time I write the words “heavy whipping cream” into a recipe my fingers automatically type “heavenly whipping cream.” In this case, I do think my fingers are brilliant because heavy whipping cream is quite heavenly, is it not?

The recipe I’m about to share with you happens to include said heavenly whipping cream. But also? According to my fingers that type on auto-pilot, this ice cream is of the un-churched variety. Sad, isn’t it? Allow me to explain…

strawberry ice cream

Without exception, each time I’ve typed the title of this recipe, it has come out like this: The Easiest No-Church Strawberry Ice Cream. Every single time. So this recipe is “the easiest” because you don’t even have to churn it. But no matter how much I concentrate on telling you that, my fingers type the words “No-Church” and this leads us to believe that this ice cream needs Jesus.

Do not miss the irony of this, because as we’ve already discussed, this “no-church ice cream” is made with none other than “heavenly whipping cream.” Thank you, fingers, for keeping me on my toes and confusing my brain. From now on, please let me tell you what to write instead of taking matters into your own hands. Literally.

The Easiest No-Churn Strawberry Ice Cream

5.0 from 1 reviews

The Easiest No-Churn Strawberry Ice Cream

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Author: Laura

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

4 cups heavy whipping cream
3 cups fresh or frozen strawberries
Maple syrup to taste (1/4-3/4 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Blend all ingredients thoroughly until smooth, creamy, and slightly thickened.
Pour mixture into a 9x13 inch pan.
Cover and freeze for 2-3 hours.
Scoop out ice cream and serve!
If Ice Cream is in the freezer for a long time, simply set it on the counter for about 15 minutes before serving to make it easier to scoop.

The Easiest No Churn Strawberry Ice Cream2

So as you can see, you don’t need to churn this Strawberry Ice Cream. And contrary to the message my fingers are trying to convey, you and I can actually take this to church if we want (because my fingers are not the boss of me.)

If we do take this treat to church and people ask how it’s made, we can tell them about the “heavenly whipping cream” that is the not-so-secret ingredient that makes the ice cream taste so good.

Who knew that an easy ice cream recipe could be the gateway to deep spiritual discussion? Who even knew?

Want more No-Churn Ice Cream recipes?

A note about sugar content:

In this Strawberry Ice Cream recipe as well as the Chocolate and Vanilla versions shared above, replace maple syrup with stevia or the other way around. My preference is to use about 1 Tablespoon of maple syrup and about 30 drops of liquid stevia. The stevia cuts the sugar content dramatically while the maple syrup takes away any bitterness the stevia leaves behind.

Enjoy not churning your ice cream. Or not churching it. Whatever.

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5-Minute Low Sugar Peanut Butter Ice Cream (No-Sugar Option!)

July 25, 2016 by Laura 4 Comments

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Of all the low sugar, no churn ice creams I’ve tried and loved, I like this Peanut Butter Ice Cream the best.

Low Sugar Peanut Butter Ice Cream

This time around, I tried using only stevia. The result?? Well…if you’re used to not eating any sugar, a stevia-only ice cream will taste very good to you. But if you’re used to sugar or even maple syrup? A stevia-only ice cream will only taste so-so.

Therefore!! I suggest using a combination of both. Sweetening your ice cream with mostly stevia (to give it the sweetness it needs) and a tiny bit of maple syrup (to take away any bitterness) seems to be the perfect combination. The second time I made this, instead of using only stevia, I used 2 droppers full of stevia and 1 Tablespoon of real maple syrup. Boom. Major hit – even with others who are used to eating sugar!

As always, feel free to sweeten this according to your preferences, needs, and tastes. I’m just thankful I can continue to make low sugar, super lazy ice cream in fun varieties! What a fun treat!

Low (or no!) Sugar Peanut Butter Ice Cream

5-Minute Peanut Butter Ice Cream (No-Sugar Option!)

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Author: Laura

Serves: 6

Ingredients

2 cups heavy whipping cream
¾ cup natural peanut butter (I use homemade, creamy)
3 droppers full of liquid stevia (or 3-4 Tablespoons real maple syrup or a combination of some stevia and some syrup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

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.)
Pour mixture into a small casserole dish.
Cover and freeze for about three hours.
Scoop and serve right away.
If ice cream is left in the freezer overnight, you may need to let it sit on the counter a few minutes before serving!

Other Low Sugar, No Churn Ice Cream Recipes:

Have you tried any of these recipes? Someone suggested adding some arrowroot powder to the mix to make the ice cream more scoopable. I’ve not tried it because I’m out of arrowroot. What are you finding that is working for you with these ice cream recipes?

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Make Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream – No Ice Cream Freezer Required

June 18, 2015 by Laura 2 Comments

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Orange Ice Cream

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Orange.

Orange who?

Orange you glad I didn’t bore you with the ridiculous banana knock-knock joke your three year old thinks is funny every time he tells it over and over? Between my four boys, I heard that joke 45,000 times. It was so hilarious every single time, of course. If you don’t know which joke I’m talking about, I am very, very jealous and and also very happy for you. Look it up if you must, but I’m warning you: do not tell your three year old.

All jokes aside, orange you excited to try this recipe? You should be! It’s very refreshing – and super easy. No need to dig out the ice cream maker and rock salt. You do need a high power blender, however. I invested in a BlendTec about a year ago, and I’m not sure how Ma Ingalls and I ever lived without it. That thing is a power horse and makes my kitchen life so much easier. I probably use it three times every day – no exaggeration.

But speaking of exaggeration, check out this orange:

orange ice cream 1

I got two of these giants in my Bountiful Basket order last week. As you can see, this one was so huge, I could barely hold it in my hand. This recipe calls for two medium-sized oranges. The above orange does not qualify as “medium-sized.” He is an over-achiever and we are so proud. I used about 1 1/2 of this size orange for this recipe. And really, this recipe isn’t rocket science because I don’t know what rocket science is and also because this recipe is flexible in its ingredient quantities. Just freeze some orange wedges and throw them in a blender with the other stuff and it makes a really great treat.

Knock, knock.

Just kidding.

Alrighty, here is the very easy recipe, which I found here and tweaked only slightly. Thank you for the great idea, SuperHealthyKids.com!

Low Sugar Orange Ice CreamYum

2 cups whole milk or coconut milk
2 medium-sized oranges
3 Tablespoons maple syrup or 20 drops liquid stevia
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peel oranges and divide them into sections. Lay them flat on a cookie sheet. Place them in the freezer for about two hours or until they are frozen solid.

Put half the frozen orange segments into a high power blender. Add milk and blend until smooth. Add remaining oranges, maple syrup or stevia, and vanilla. Continue blending until smooth.

Pour mixture into a 9×13 inch dish. Place in the freezer for 1-2 hours before serving. (If it is in the freezer longer than 1-2 hours, remove from freezer a few minutes before serving to make scooping easier.

Orange Ice Cream with dairy free option!

Do you have a BlendTec or other high power blender (like Vitamix)? What all do you do with it? Isn’t it great?!

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links.

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Low Sugar Carrot Cake With Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

May 8, 2015 by Laura 11 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

This Carrot Cake might be my family’s favorite low sugar treat so far!

I cut the sugar from the original recipe from 5 1/2 cups to just under 3/4 cups total. Not too shabby, eh? And just look at this plate of deliciousness!

Low Sugar Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

I personally like the Stevia Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting recipe you’ll find with this Super Moist Chocolate Cake recipe. But my boys were asking if maybe I could make the frosting just a little bit sweeter this time. Why not? I simply added 3 Tablespoons of real maple syrup to the frosting and they LOVED it. How’s that for a healthier alternative to 4 cups of powdered sugar? Oh yes.

Low Sugar Carrot CakeYum

Low Sugar Carrot Cake With Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

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Author: Laura

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup sucanat
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups finely shredded carrot (about 6 carrots)
1 cup melted coconut oil
4 eggs

Instructions

Stir together flour, sucanat, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
Mix in shredded carrots, melted oil, and eggs.
Pour batter into a buttered 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bake in a 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool completely before spreading on frosting.

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.

Go forth and pin this recipe. Or print it and pin it to your shirt so you can make it this weekend. This is an order, or at the very least, it is a very sweet suggestion.

Looking for more Low Sugar Recipes?

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7 Healthy Ingredient Holiday Drinks You’ll Love

December 20, 2014 by Laura 30 Comments

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7 Healthy Ingredient Holiday Drinks You'll Love

Yum

There is something about special drinks at Christmas time that I just love! Below, you’ll find 7 tried and true holiday beverages that you’ll love too…

Homemade Hot Cocoa

Warm Vanilla Soother

warmvanillasoother2sm

Homemade Healthier Eggnog

100% Juice Punch

Christmas Brunch Punch {with 100 juice!}

Chocolate Caramel Coffee Creamer

Chocolate Whipped Cream for Coffee

Chocolate Whipped Cream - Perfect For Your Coffee

Peppermint Cream Cocoa

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Switching to Whole Food Sweeteners Without Breaking the Bank

November 2, 2014 by Laura 16 Comments

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While switching from processed food to nourishing food doesn’t have to be terribly expensive, there’s no way around this one: White and brown sugar are cheap. Sucanat, real maple syrup, muscovado, honey, and stevia are not cheap. I can get a 2-pound bag of brown sugar at the store for $1.78. Sucanat, on the other hand, is usually $5.00 for 1.5 pounds. Ouch! It’s worth it to buy the good stuff, but it isn’t fun to pay for.

While I don’t have any earth shattering advice about finding fantastic deals on these wholesome sweeteners, I do have some suggestions based on what works for me.

Switching to Whole Food Sweeteners Without Breaking the Bank

1. Stop eating so many sugary desserts.

I know. You’re rolling your eyes. I feel your pain on this one because I’m a recovering sugar addict. Pray about this and let God’s power be your will-power. You don’t have to cut out desserts altogether (unless you feel called to). You simply need to keep sugary foods a treat instead of pouring on the sugar like it’s a food group. You’ll be amazed at how much money you save on sucanat, honey, and maple syrup when you stop eating so much.

2. Cut the sugar in half.

When baking muffins, quick breads, and breakfast bars, I find that half the sugar called for in many recipes (even mine!) works just fine. The baked goods are still sweet and tasty. This saves quite a bit of money on wholesome sugars!

3. Drizzle your syrup.

Dousing your pancakes or waffles in real maple syrup? That’s an expensive breakfast! A little drizzle of rich, flavorful maple syrup goes a long way. It’s also fun to pour a tiny quarter-sized bit of syrup onto your plate, then dip the corner of each bite to sweeten it just a touch.

4. Pull out the cheap stuff when feeding a crowd.

If I’m feeding 40 teenagers, I leave my sucanat in the pantry and pull out the cheap brown sugar. There’s no need to use $6 worth of sucanat when I can use $1.50 worth of brown sugar for a big group of kids who really don’t care about whether or not the brownies were made with organic sugar or not. I certainly don’t mind sharing “the good stuff” with company occasionally, but it just really isn’t worth spending extra money when three pans of dessert are going to be devoured in two minutes. I never compromise on using real butter (instead of margarine), and I always use my freshly ground flour (no one can even tell) – but compromising on sugar? At least it’s actual sugar instead of artificial sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Which leads me to…

At the end of the day…

It’s all sugar. Sucanat is healthier because it’s processed very little and still contains nutrients. Real maple syrup is straight from the tree. Honey is made by bees and is as natural as it comes. But to our bodies? It’s all sugar. Read this post about Breaking Free of Sugar Addiction for more of my thoughts on this.

This means you may decide that switching to sucanat (and paying the higher price tag) is just not worth it.

I believe the bigger focus needs to be on cutting back on sugar (in all its forms). Focus on filling up on fruits and vegetables instead. You’ll be amazed at how sweet your fruits and vegetables taste when your palate isn’t coated with a cookie.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Which sugars do you choose to purchase and use for your family?

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Get a 32-Ounce Jug Of Maple Syrup For As Low As $15.60

January 10, 2014 by Laura 8 Comments

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maple_syrup

I’m always on the look-out for a nice deal on real maple syrup. Typically, if I find a 32 ounce jug for under $20.00, I snatch it up!

Here’s what I found on Amazon today, and here are the price options:

Anderson’s Pure Maple Syrup, Grade B, 32-Ounce

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Flaky Cream Cheese Pastry – The Healthy Way

March 15, 2012 by Laura 94 Comments

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Back in my former life – the one in which I innocently and cheerfully ate Chillsbury* dough from a can – I loved making a cream cheese pastry dish that always got rave reviews. It was simple. You spread a can of Whillsbury* crescent dough on the bottom of a pan, throw in some cream cheese filling, top it with another round of Gnillsbury* crescent dough, bake it, and eat. I loved that stuff, as did everyone else who ate it with me.

Gone are my days of eating biscuits or crescents from a can. Oh, and can I just pause to say this: I do not miss that vulnerable and insecure feeling that always came from never knowing when the can would pop open and dough would ooze out. Maybe it is just me, but waiting for the biscuit can pop always put me slightly on edge. Yeah, it was probably just me. I have can-popping-biscuit-bursting-forth issues, I think.

Anyway, I had forgotten all about this delicious dish, which is crazy, because hello? It does have cream cheese in it. It occurred to me recently that the perfect replacement for Billsbury* crescent dough would surely be my go-to whole wheat yogurt dough. Why I hadn’t thought of using it to figure out a new Cream Cheese Pastry dish, I have no idea. But I finally thought of it, tried it, and here it is. My family devoured it for breakfast this morning, which means that next time, I have to double it for sure!

*name changed to protect the ~~innocent~~ guilty

cream_cheese_pastry

Flaky Cream Cheese PastryYum

Dough:

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup plain yogurt

Filling:

1 – 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup real maple syrup (sugar, sucanat, or honey would work too)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice (optional)

Mix together all four dough ingredients and knead lightly to form a nice ball. Divide in half. Press one half of the dough into an 8×8 inch baking dish.

Whip together the cream cheese filling ingredients. Pour filling over the bottom crust.

Roll the second half of the dough into a square and place it on top of the cream cheese filling.

Bake in a 350° oven for 30-40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Allow pastry to cool slightly before slicing and serving.

Tell me – am I the only one here with can-popping-biscuit-bursting-forth issues? I’ll admit it right now, it makes me jumpy just thinking about it. ;)

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Homemade (Healthier) Chocolate Milk

February 27, 2011 by Laura 75 Comments

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I have not one, but two recipes to share with you today in regard to making a healthier variety of chocolate milk. If at all possible, I encourage you to stay away from commercial chocolate syrup, as it is full of high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup. (You can’t tell, but I’m making a “blechy” face right now and it isn’t pretty.)

This first recipe for Chocolate Syrup is from a friend of mine right here in town. {hi, Nancy!} It’s the easiest recipe ever, making it a perfect solution for those of you who really want your chocolate syrup but want to avoid HFCS.

Homemade Chocolate SyrupYum

1 cup sucanat
1/2 cup cocoa
dash of sea salt
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix sucanat, cocoa, sea salt and water in a medium sauce pan. Whisk ingredients together and cook on medium-high heat until the mixture begins to boil. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Allow mixture to cool for just a few minutes. Stir in vanilla extract.

Add Homemade Chocolate Syrup to your glass of milk to taste. Store syrup in the refrigerator.

If you look real close, you can see a reflection of me with my camera
in the round part of this cute little pour bottle.
Try to focus on the chocolate syrup. I wasn’t having a good hair day.

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

The boys have declared this Chocolate Syrup to be quite delicious.
It will be a special treat every once in a while at our house!

Now for recipe number two. This is how I’ve been making chocolate milk for the past several years. (Makes you wonder why it took me so long to share this, huh? I have lots of excuses.)

Now don’t freak out or anything, but I often add a few raw, farm fresh eggs into the blender when I’m mixing these up. I don’t worry one bit about getting sick from raw eggs that come straight from my friend’s farm. Their chickens are allowed to roam free all day long and eat all the healthiest chicken feed and you know…bugs. Healthy chickens means healthy eggs, and we eat them free of fear. Raw eggs are great brain food.

Okay, this post is not about the safety of raw eggs. But I did just want to let you know that if you want to add farm fresh, free ranged eggs to this Quick Blender Chocolate Milk recipe, you’ll find that the nutrition level goes WAY up, as does the creamy-richness of this chocolate milk! (I really don’t recommend putting raw eggs into this – or into anything – if the eggs are not organic, free range, farm fresh eggs. Please do your own research about this to determine what you feel is safe.)

Quick Blender Chocolate Milk

6 cups of milk
3 Tablespoons cocoa
4 Tablespoons real grade b maple syrup (give or take, depending on your taste)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put all ingredients into your blender and mix well.

Chocolate Milkshakes

Malachi LOVES the job of serving the Chocolate Milk out of our fun blender.

So there you go. Many of you were screaming for a healthier chocolate milk recipe, so now you have not one, but two to choose from!

And now, the Heavenly Homemakers Recipe Challenge continues. I’m in the process of figuring out a healthier Onion Soup Mix recipe and have played a little bit with Angel Food Cake. The Angel Food Cake I tried first completely sank and went from four inches tall to 2 inches tall. I’m still working on it. I guess that’s why this is called a “challenge”, huh? :)

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