Healthy AND Delicious Fudge - no butter or refined sugar!

For some reason I always seem to crave healthier foods during the summer months. I would say that I eat best in the month of July out of all the other months in the year. I am far from being vegan (I absolutely LOVE all things dairy), but when it comes to sweet treats, I always seem to want to try out vegan or healthier desserts during the summer months.

This vegan fudge has an amazingly smooth texture from the coconut oil, and the cashew butter and cacao powder give it an incredibly rich taste. It is sweetened with some pure maple syrup, which is much better than refined sugar. You can't tell at all that this fudge is not made with the typical ingredients of butter and refined sugar. The one thing you do have to remember about vegan desserts (and this vegan fudge) is that even though they are healthier, they are still loaded with calories. However, they are not "empty" calories, since cashews have tons of health benefits, natural cocoa powder is high in fiber, and maple syrup has awesome things in it like calcium, iron, potassium, zinc, and manganese. One piece has approximately 75 calories, and it is easy to snack on it all day long, so be careful with it! I was told by a few people that if I had not told them what it was made with, that they would have never guessed the ingredients. So if you do make it, make sure to tell people what it has in it in case someone has a nut allergy! I hope you enjoy this fudge as much as I do.

Recipe for Healthy AND Delicious Fudge - no butter or refined sugar!

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 cups of raw cashews*
1/3 cup plus 1 tsp. of coconut oil, divided (at room temperature)
2 tsp. of pure vanilla extract, divided
1/2 tsp. of coarse sea salt, divided
1/4 cup of cacao powder (I use Viva Labs cacao powder)
1/4 cup of pure maple syrup

*If you want, you can use 1 cup of store-bought cashew butter in this recipe. I recommend making your own cashew butter, though. If you use store-bought cashew butter, omit the cashews, 1 tsp. of coconut oil, 1 tsp. of vanilla extract, and 1/4 tsp. of sea salt from the recipe. 

DIRECTIONS:
Make the cashew butter first. Put the 2 1/4 cups of cashews, 1 tsp. of coconut oil, 1 tsp. of pure vanilla extract, and 1/4 tsp. of sea salt into the bowl of a food processor. Start the food processor and allow it to run. It will take several minutes (about 8 to 10 minutes) for the mixture to turn to a cashew butter. You will want to stop the food processor every minute to two to give the processor a break and to scrape the sides, if needed. Add more coconut oil to the mixture as you see desired. When the mixture turns into the cashew butter (it will be thick), remove it from the processor and scoop into a medium-sized bowl. Note: This is a recipe for the cashew butter that is used in this fudge.  If you want smoother cashew butter to use for spreading, you will want to run the processor for much longer and might want to check out other recipes for homemade cashew butter, like the one from The Healthy Foodie.

Add the remaining 1/3 cup of coconut oil to the cashew butter and use an electric hand mixer set on medium-low speed to mix until well combined. Then add in the remaining 1 tsp. of vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp. of sea salt, cocoa powder, and maple syrup. Use the electric hand mixer to mix until the mixture is smooth. Line a freezer-safe container (I used a square SnapLock container - 6" x 6") with parchment paper. Use a spoon or spatula to spread the mixture onto the parchment paper in an even layer. Then cover the container and place in the freezer for at least an hour before cutting into it.  Remove from the freezer and chop into desired sized squares. Store the fudge in the freezer and eat fairly soon after removing it from the freezer, because it becomes soft quickly from the coconut oil.

Recipe Makes Approximately 30 pieces of fudge, depending on how you cut it. Approximately 75 calories per piece (if you cut into 30 pieces)! Store in the freezer.

Recipe Adapted from: The Detoxinista, Originally from Raw Food, Real World

Easy Peanut Butter & Banana Frozen Yogurt

This summer has been a pretty hot one. It started out super nice, and then at the end of June, Maryland got hit with a massive heat wave. A couple of weekends ago, my sister-in-law, nieces, and nephew came for a quick visit. It was close to 100 degrees, but Greg & everyone decided to go out sailing (they are crazy). Well, I decided to lock myself in the house with the ACs running, and I made a cool treat for the kids to enjoy later. I also made some more a couple days ago, since I liked the recipe so much.

I found this recipe in Self Magazine. It's supposed to be healthy, and even though my version is still much healthier than ice cream, I pretty much un-healthified it (by using non-reduced fat yogurt & adding extra peanut butter)! The original recipe calls for chocolate chips, but I sweetened up the combo by adding honey and leaving out the chocolate chips.

This frozen yogurt recipe does not require the use of an ice cream maker, which was good for me because at the time I did not have one (but I just got one & I'm so excited to use it). All you need is a food processor and a freezer-safe metal bowl. The older kids really loved the yogurt (especially because  I topped their bowls off with lots of marshmallow fluff...). Ellie (7), however, did not like the yogurt, but she really doesn't like anything!

Greg & I also love this frozen yogurt treat. Greg finished off the photo/display bowl quickly after I took pictures, even though I told him a butterfly had landed in the bowl! We like it with marshmallow fluff, a  couple drops of honey, and honey-roasted peanuts. I'm sure it would taste great with chocolate sauce too!

Recipe for Easy Peanut Butter & Banana Frozen Yogurt

Looks like butterflies like frozen yogurt too!

INGREDIENTS:
2  7 oz. containers of regular Greek Yogurt, frozen
1 large banana, frozen & peel removed
2 Tbsp. of creamy peanut butter
2 - 3 Tbsp. of honey
Your choice of toppings (marshmallow fluff, chocolate sauce, honey roasted peanuts...)

DIRECTIONS:
To freeze the yogurt, simply put the containers in the freezer (or, you can scoop the yogurt into ice cube trays, and freeze in the trays). Once yogurt and banana are frozen remove from freezer. Carefully peel the banana with a knife. Put banana on a cutting board and cut off the two ends, then stand it up on the cutting board and hold with one hand as you use the other hand to carefully slice off the entire peel. Cut banana in fourths, and then put into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade.

Open yogurt containers (make sure to peel off the thin paper seal on top of the yogurt, if it has one). Use your hands to loosen the frozen yogurt from the container, then use force to get them out on to a plate or a cutting board. Once frozen yogurt blocks are out, put into the processor (or put yogurt from ice cube trays into processor) Add the peanut butter and honey.

Pulse the processor for very short periods of time in intervals, scraping down the bowl as needed. Allow yogurt to melt a bit, and continue to pulse. Once yogurt blocks have decreased in size, run the processor in 45 second intervals, scraping as necessary.

Once mixture is smooth, transfer it to a freezer safe metal bowl and cover with a lid. Freeze until the mixture sets a bit, about 20 minutes. Serve. If keeping in freezer, make sure to take out several minutes ahead of time before serving, so it is easy to scoop.

When ready to serve, scoop in individual dishes & put on your favorite toppings. Enjoy.

Recipe Adapted from: Self Magazine