Category: Sweet Treats

Baked Apple Holiday Nachos

Baked Apple Holiday Nachos 1

In the weeks between Thanksgiving and January 1st, most of us gain weight without even trying. We indulge in the nostalgic dishes of the season and fill our glasses with festive punches, ciders and spiked nog. It’s the holidays, a time of togetherness and joy. The clinking of glasses and celebrating the excitement of a new year. Until we come to a screeching halt on January 2nd and suddenly we are wearing a different size pants than we were back in October.

This year, go into the holidays with a festive dessert recipe that won’t pile on the pounds. This recipe for Baked Apple Nachos is a festive take on my traditional Apple Chips. These addictive crispy apples  get topped with a drizzle of melted butterscotch, dark chocolate, and toasted hazelnuts for a crowd pleasing dish that doesn’t scream “healthy!” This recipe is also a great snack idea for kids and makes the house smell absolutely incredible.

Don’t be afraid to indulge this season, but keep a few recipes like this in your back pocket to keep things balanced.

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Baked Apple Holiday Nachos

Baked Apple Holiday Nachos

Ingredients

  • 3 large apples
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/3 c butterscotch chips
  • 1/3 c dark chocolate chips
  • 1/3 c roasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 200. Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Using a mandolin slicer or sharp knife, thinly slice apples and spread out on baking sheets. Remove any seeds.
  3. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake apples in oven 1 hour.
  4. Carefully flip apples. Bake 1 hour longer. Allow to cool in oven to room temperature. If you are going to do another batch, put that batch in the oven now.
  5. Toast hazelnuts in a small pan over medium heat, about 5 minutes.
  6. Coarsely chop hazelnuts.
  7. Melt butterscotch chips in microwave in a glass bowl working in 30 second intervals. Stir.
  8. Melt chocolate chips in microwave in a small glass bowl also in 30 second intervals. Stir.
  9. Arrange apple slices on serving platter. Drizzle with chocolate, butterscotch and chopped hazelnuts.
http://freshandfit.org/baked-apple-holiday-nachos/

Strawberry Banana Protein Ice Cream with Toasted Coconut

strawberry banana ice cream with coconut

What would summer be without an ice cream recipe? And since this is Fresh and Fit, it has to be a healthy yummy frozen dream. Something with fresh fruit, toasty goodness and a light creaminess. That is what you will find in this strawberry banana protein ice cream with toasted coconut. That’s right, protein! You will be adding a scoop of your favorite vanilla protein powder to this recipe. The end result is a light and frosty not heavy ice cream, or icy cream if you will, that you can eat in a cone or right out of a bowl. It satisfies the sweet and creamy craving with a little toasty crunch from the coconut. You aren’t regretting eating ice cream and you are satisfied; a win win if you ask me!

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Strawberry Banana Protein Ice Cream with Toasted Coconut

Yield: 4-6 servings

Strawberry Banana Protein Ice Cream with Toasted Coconut

Ingredients

  • 5 ripe frozen strawberries (freeze strawberries 2 hours or overnight)
  • 1/2 a ripe frozen banana (freeze 2 hours or overnight)
  • 2 c unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 4 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes

Instructions

  1. In a blender, combine all ingredients. Blend until smooth.
  2. Pour into small glass tupperware. Cover and freeze for 1 hour.
  3. Remove from freezer and stir, scraping sides. Return to freezer for 3 more hours.
  4. Heat a small pan over medium heat. Add coconut flakes and toast for 3-5 minutes, until just lightly golden brown.
  5. Once frozen, use an ice cream scoop to scoop out ice cream. Top with toasted coconut.
http://freshandfit.org/strawberry-banana-protein-ice-cream-with-toasted-coconut/

Strawberry Banana Protein Ice Cream

Sweet Tea and Mango Cream Popsicles

sweet tea and mango cream pops

It’s National Popsicle Week! That is just a good excuse for me to bring you these healthy and refreshing popsicle recipes. The first pop is the summer staple, Sweet Tea. Antioxidant rich black tea, fresh lemon slices and a hint of organic honey flavor these refreshing popsicles. Next up are the Mango Cream Popsicles; fresh, naturally sweet mango and creamy almond milk make a tropical combination perfect for summertime. Get your sweat on and cool off with either one of these delicious frozen treats.

Sweet Tea and Mango Cream Popsicles

 

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Sweet Tea and Mango Cream Popsicles

Yield: 2 of each popsicle

Sweet Tea and Mango Cream Popsicles

Ingredients

  • For Sweet Tea Pops
  • 1 c boiling water
  • 1 black tea bag
  • 1 thinly sliced piece of lemon, quartered
  • 2 tbsp organic honey
  • For Mango Cream Pops
  • 2/3 c ripe diced mango, divided
  • 1/2 c unsweetened almond milk

Instructions

  1. For sweet tea pops, steep tea bag for 5 minutes, stir in honey. Pour into Popsicle molds and drop in two lemon quarters in each mold.
  2. For mango pops, in a blender add 1/2 of the diced mango and almond milk. Blend until smooth. Stir in the rest of the diced mango and pour into Popsicle molds.
  3. Freeze 1 hour. Add Popsicle sticks and freeze two hours longer. Run under luke warm water and gently remove from molds.
http://freshandfit.org/sweet-tea-and-mango-cream-popsicles/

Summer Plum Galette with Almond Oat Crust

Summer Plum Galette Recipe

One of the most visually appealing recipes to me is the Galette. It is like a rustic pie that can be savory or sweet, with the filling gently nestled between the crust. I wanted to make one that wouldn’t completely destroy our summer fitness plans; so I created a crust using fresh oats and flaxseeds with lots of fiber and healthy fat. There is still a lot of butter in this delicate crust, so be sure to use a good grass-fed one like Kerry Gold. The filling is sweet and tart plums, a readily available rich and deep colored stone fruit during the summertime. Once slightly cooled, the galette is dusted with a little powdered sugar, just gorgeous.  Easier than pie!

Summer Plum Galette

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Summer Plum Galette with Almond Oat Crust

Yield: 8 slices

Summer Plum Galette with Almond Oat Crust

Ingredients

  • For Crust
  • 2 c rolled oats
  • 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
  • 1 stick cold grass-fed butter, cut into small slices.
  • 1 tbsp ice cold water
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 1 tbsp all purpose flour for rolling out dough.
  • For Filling:
  • 2 tbsp melted butter
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 4 plums thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

  1. Begin by pulsing oats in a food processor until fine (if using whole oats). If using whole flaxseeds, pulse those with the oats now.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, flaxseed, salt and 2 tbsp brown sugar.
  3. Using your hands or a pastry cutter, break up butter into dried ingredients until clumpy
  4. Add 1/4 c ice water (cubes removed) and shape dough into a ball.
  5. Press dough down into a think circle. Wrap in plastic or baggy. Refrigerate one hour.
  6. While dough chills, melt butter for filling in microwave 30 seconds. Combine with brown sugar.
  7. Thinly slice plums into half moon shapes. Combine plums with melted butter, and brown sugar. Stir.
  8. Preheat oven to 400. Once dough chills, roll it out using a rolling pin on a piece of floured parchment paper into a 12 inch circle.
  9. Fold up edges lightly, sort of like you would for pizza, this makes it easier to fold later. Transfer to a baking sheet on parchment paper.
  10. Assemble plum mixture in the center and fold up edges around the filling. Leave any excess butter in the bowl or crust may get soggy.
  11. Bake 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes. Lightly dust with powdered sugar.
http://freshandfit.org/summer-plum-galette-with-almond-oat-crust/