Dessert Ideas and Recipes

Black Bean Cupcakes with Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting:

- 1 cup Black Beans (I soaked and rinsed dry beans I had, but you can use canned if you wish)

- 2 egg whites, plus 1 whole egg

- 1/3 cup pumpkin puree; I made my own, and you can find the recipe in my "snack ideas" page (you can substitute canned if you wish, but make sure it is pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling!)

- 3 Tbsp coconut oil

- 1/4 cup carob powder

- 1/4 fresh vanilla bean (the entire pod, not just the scrapings of the inside, if you can't find the fresh beans, you can use 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract)

- 15 Stevia drops (you can use whatever sugar substitute you'd like in this one)

- 1/4 c Agave syrup 

- 1/4 c Carob chips 

Instructions:

- Preheat oven to 350

- line muffin tin with muffin papers

- put all ingredients except the carob chips into a food processor (or high speed blender: ninja, vitamix, etc.) and blend until smooth

- remove the blade, add carob chips and make sure to scrape down the sides of your processor so that you can make sure everything is evenly mixed

- divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups

- Bake for 20 minutes

For Frosting:

- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter

- 1/2 cup carob powder

- 1/2 cup coconut oil

- 1/4 cup agave nectar 

To make frosting, simply add all ingredients to your food processor or high speed blender and blend until smooth.  Once cupcakes have cooled, frost them as you see fit.  If you want a hot, delicious, gooey mess, frost immediately after baking. These do look a bit softer than traditional cupcakes, which are made with flour.  The texture is that of very moist fudge. (the cupcakes below have frosting added) 

Yields 12 regular cupcakes or 24 mini cupcakes.  Serving size is 1 regular cupcake or 2 mini cupcakes.  For added tastiness, sprinkle a few carob chips or freshly crushed hazelnuts on top.  Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts:
1 serving (1 regular sized cupcake or two mini cupcakes with frosting)
kcal: 143
carbs: 21g
fat: 5g
protein: 4g
sodium:79g
sugar: 12g 



Berry Banana Bread:

Delicious bread that is very filling and made from whole grains!  Can be eaten as a dessert, breakfast or snack.

Ingredients:
- 2 large bananas or 3 medium bananas, mashed
- 4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/4 c vital wheat gluten
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup cream top milk (you can substitute soy/almond/coconut milk if you wish)
- 1 cup blackberries
- 1/4 blueberries
- 2 Tbsp whole oats for sprinkling

This is a really easy bread recipe to make.  You only need one bowl; mix all ingredients together except berries.  Once batter is mixed, gently fold in berries.  Divide batter between two loaf pans and sprinkle 1 Tbsp of whole oats on top of each loaf.  Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes.  Once done baking, put loaves on cooling rack.  Serves 12 (per loaf).  Enjoy!

Nutrition info:
1 slice
kcal: 200
carbs: 39g
fat: 17g
protein: 7g
sodium: 188mg
sugar: 4g

Pumpkin Puree:

Easy, delicious, and a versatile ingredient.  It is especially to make home made during this time of the year because you can find sugar pie pumpkins pretty much anywhere.  If you're not familiar with sugar pie pumpkins, they are just a smaller, sweeter version of the pumpkins we carve for Halloween.  

Ingredients:

- 1 or 2, 2lb sugar pie pumpkins

- olive oil (optional)

- 1/4 vanilla bean (optional)

This is one of the easiest recipes I know.  I use the olive oil if I am using my pumpkin puree for something savory.  I use the vanilla bean if I am making something sweet.  My latest batch was used for Black Bean Cupcakes (see the recipe in my journal) and I did not use olive oil.

Preheat your oven to 350.  Slice the top (the part with the stem) off of your sugar pie pumpkin.  Then cut pumpkin in half.  Scrape out seeds and sticky bits of fiber.  Place each half of your pumpkin face down (the inside) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 40 - 50 minutes.  Depending on how many you are roasting and how much they weigh, the time will vary.  A great way to know if your pumpkins are done is that the skin will turn a slightly deeper orange-brown color.  Once pumpkins are done, remove from oven and let cool.  Once they are cool, scrape the skin off with a spoon.  It should slide right off.  Cut or pull pumpkin into chunks and load them into the blender.  Add 1/4 of a fresh vanilla bean and blend until smooth.  Easy peasy pumpkin puree.