looking over tasty healthy desserts for Christmas that are also good for you
then watch this video because I'm sharing with you three delicious recipes
that are great healthy dessert ideas for the holidays and if you're new to keep
up with live this is the place where we make delicious Paleo recipes and discuss
how the ingredients can benefit your health so make sure to subscribe and
let's get into it so the first thing we are making are these pecan pie bars
which might be my favorite recipe I've made all season so I'm using a blend of
almond flour and coconut oil both the which are full of healthy fats
which are going to help keep our blood sugar stable to that I'm adding in a
little bit of vanilla as well as a little bit of maple syrup just for some
sweetness and then I'm just gonna use my spatula to mix that all together until
all of our ingredients are combined and you get a nice wet sticky dough and this
is what's going to be the base of our pecan pie bars so I took a loaf pan that
I lined with parchment paper just to make it easier to pull the bars out
later and this is going to make 8 bars but if you want to make more you can
definitely double this recipe and use a square pan so go ahead and press down
your dough into all the corners so you get a nice even layer and we're gonna be
putting that in the oven to bake while we make our topping so while that's in
the oven go ahead and take a pan and heat that to low medium heat and add in
some coconut oil some coconut sugar which is a great unrefined sugar as well
as some maple syrup and it's this blend that's going to create a really nice
wonderful caramel filling that's going to combine with our pecans to create
that nice decadent bar the great thing about this is that there's no high
fructose corn syrup which is what is used in a lot of pecan pie and pecan
bars that you're going to normally find once it bubbles for about two three
minutes take it off the heat and add in a little bit of vanilla definitely set a
timer because you don't want to let it bubble too long or it will burn to that
I'm adding in a little bit of arrowroot flour but I mixed with a tablespoon of
almond milk just to help it dissolve and this arrowroot is key because it's what
really helps it to and really create that nice texture to
that I'm going to be adding in some chopped pecans be sure to get ones that
are unsalted because you definitely don't want to be adding salty nuts to
this mixture and then just fold that in until all of the pecans are coated with
our caramel once the base layer is out of the oven
go ahead and take your pecan mixture and scoop that out onto the top and spread
that out into a nice even layer and the great thing about these is that they can
definitely be made in advance and like I said you can double or triple the recipe
they are also freezer friendly I put all the leftovers of these in the freezer
that I wasn't going to eat within the next 24-48 hours because the freezer
helps things stay fresh as opposed to the fridge so after baking that for
about 25-30 minutes I allowed that to chill for a couple hours in the fridge
because you want that caramel candy to kind of set a bit and then I'm slicing
it in two bars and I actually brought some of this over to my friend's house
for her to try and she said that they were like her favorite thing of all the
treats that I brought her so they are very delicious your friends and your
family are going to love them and they are definitely a key recipe to add into
your holiday list next up we are making gingerbread truffles so for this I'm
using dates which have a great natural caramel flavor to them to that I'm
adding in some coconut cream which is just the thick part of the coconut milk
from a can as well as a blend of spices which is just ginger nutmeg and cinnamon
and to that I'm going to be adding in some coconut flour which just helps the
texture of the inside of the truffle and to that I'm adding in a tablespoon of
blackstrap molasses and it's important to get blackstrap because it's that one
that has all the benefit this has lots of minerals it has iron manganese so if
you're going to be using molasses make sure you use the blackstrap one so then
I'm just blending that until smooth and using a little scoop to scoop out a ball
and then I'm dipping that in paleo chocolate and I like to make a homemade
paleo chocolate which is just cacao coconut oil and a little bit of maple
syrup and I will leave the ratios for that down below but you can definitely
also just melt down your favorite dairy free
chocolate and use that to coat them so the scoop each of your balls out I use
about a heaping teaspoon for each of them and then I dip that into the Paleo
chocalate and set that on a sheet of parchment paper so that it peels off
easily and doesn't get stuck after about 15-20 minutes in the fridge the
chocolate is set and you have these wonderfully delicious gingerbread
truffles so next we are making some peppermint brownies so I'm just using a
bar of this mint chocolate I really like this brand because it doesn't have any
weird ingredients it's only made with good things and their ingredients are
also really simple Plus this ready has a little bit of mint in it so I figured
why not so I'm breaking down this bar of chocolate so that we're gonna use the
nice mint which is gonna add that little boost of mint into the brownies and to
that I'm going to be adding in some coconut oil and we're gonna melt those
down together until everything is nice and smooth so just make sure it's smooth
with your whisk and then to that I'm adding in some maple sugar but you can
definitely add in coconut sugar - I just had maple sugar on hand and then I'm
adding in two flax eggs that I really allowed to gel for a good 15 minutes you
can use eggs in this recipe but because the other recipes were vegan and
plant-based I wanted to keep this whole video vegan so I'm just using flax eggs
here but you can use either just really make sure you allow the flax eggs to gel
up because you really want them to bind our brownies I'm adding in a little bit
of peppermint extract as well as some cacao and some Kasaba flour and cassava
is a great grain free flour it's probably what's in most like similar to
a white flour in terms of consistency so add that in until everything is nice and
combined and your flour and your cacao and everything is just abused and then
I'm just going to scoop that out into my square pan but I lined with parchment
paper again either line with parchment paper or make sure you really grease it
well I just find when I line baked goods with parchment paper I can just pull it
out after and slice things up plus it makes cleanup super easy so just spread
your batter into all of the corners and while that's in the oven
I'm gonna make a really delicious cashew frosting so I have my soaked cashews
that I soaked for an hour in boiling water but you can also do it overnight
to that I'm adding in some coconut oil as well as coconut cream and a touch of
peppermint extract too and then you're gonna blend that up until it gets nice
and smooth this is a super simple frosting recipe I did chill this for a
little bit but if you want it to be a bit softer just allow it to get out of
the fridge for a little bit before you spread it on but if the brownies are
still a little bit warm it is going to melt it so that's why I chilled it or
you can just make sure you allow your brownies to fully cool before putting on
your frosting so that it's not running down the sides or into the brownies so
once you spread that out I'm gonna go ahead and add some crushed candy canes
and I found these at my local Whole Foods I loved them because the red dye
was made from beets and the other ingredients were very like whole simple
ingredients which is important because you don't want to buy candy canes with
red dye red dyes one of the worst things you can consume is just linked to so
many different bad things for your body so go for ones that aren't artificially
colored and then you just have to slice up your brownies so as you guys can see
this made nine large brownies for me and if you're not eating them within the
first like 24-48 hours I always suggest putting them in the freezer to help keep
them nice and fresh or share them with friends and family too because they will
definitely love this recipe so I hope you guys enjoyed this healthy dessert
video if you make anything be sure to tag me on Instagram so that I can see it
and share it they're all such good delicious recipes I haven't had a pecan
pie bar and I don't know how long because they're normally made with
things that I can't eat so it was really excited for that recipe this year let me
know your favorite down below and don't forget to check out my holiday recipes
playlist there's tons of good stuff in there more desserts but also like
breakfast like egg nog pancakes gingerbread pancakes cinnamon rolls so
many good things in there to make for the holidays that taste so good but are
also good for you I hope you guys are all having a great day and I will
you in my next video bye guys