Making chocolate the easy way {VIDEO}
There’s no better feeling than giving something that’s truly caring . . . and getting the credit for being a magically creative chocolate maker.
Japanese Pumpkin Pie
Conventional pumpkins continually overshadow a vast, deliciously endowed, and diverse spectrum of beautiful winter squash, time and time again in recipes. But not this year…
Our sweet prayers answered: Yacon Root
The holidays are just setting in and I’m stoked. I have an amazing pumpkin pie recipe that I’ll be posting in the next few days, just in time for Thanksgiving. In it, I’m using a special healthy sweetener called yacon syrup, which is made from a sweet, low glycemic root. I thought I’d give you a little headstart on the recipe, so here’s a quick video I did with Navitas Naturals on this amazing ingredient.
Double Chocolate Hazelnut Candies
Needless to say, these candies are an all-around “yes.” The exterior chocolate coating will remain solid at room temperature, and the inside pocket is a soft, sweet blend of cacao and hazelnuts.
The great egg substitute
One of my favorite baking facelifts is replacing eggs with “superseeds” like flax or chia, which are full of omega fats, fiber, protein and minerals. I swear: your muffins can’t tell the difference. Here’s the formula…
Out with the cane, in with the palm sugar (with video)
When I need a sweet boost in recipes I’ll always turn to fruit or stevia first (whole natural foods = yay!), but when those foods simply can’t pull the weight, it’s palm sugar comes to the rescue. I teamed up with superfoods company Navitas Naturals a couple weeks ago — who offers organic palm sugar — and shot this fun Navitas-style video for their “Chef’s Notes” video series.
No Bake Brownies
Undercover health benefits like antioxidants, good omega fats, potassium, magnesium (and more) nutritionally rank this dessert as more of an energy bar than an “extra 20 minutes on the treadmill indulgence.” Best of all, five ingredients plus five minutes is all it takes to go from zero to brownie.
Red Raspberry Pops
One of my favorite experiments thus far turns out to be one of the easiest: Red Raspberry Popsicles – enhanced by date syrup that’s added just before freezing so it stays in tight little flavor pockets throughout the popsicle. Heaven brought to you by your freezer, and an ideal summertime treat. Here’s how to make them.
Is agave syrup good, bad, or just kinda tasty?
Agave recently has been under fire with negative backlash all across the health-food spectrum. But is agave really that bad? Can it be compared to high fructose corn syrup? Should we go out of our way to avoid it? Let’s take a look.
Green Mango Smoothie
There’s something about this blend, with its thick frosty creamy mangos and sweetly inviting flavor that makes it more than “just a smoothie.” I make it a little extra thick, throw it into a bowl, and eat it with a spoon as a quasi-sherbet-like dessert.