Recipes: Bring On Dessert with Better-for-You Sweets

Recipes: Bring On Dessert with Better-for-You Sweets

If healthier eating holds a prominent spot on your list of goals, you may feel it’s necessary to eliminate some of your sweetest favorites. However, committing to a nutritionally friendly way of life doesn’t have to leave desserts by the wayside.

Instead, rethinking nighttime treats with better-for-you ingredients like California Prunes as a quick substitution can make healthier eating easy. As a versatile ingredient that can replace added sugar, fats and eggs in all kinds of recipes, prunes can also add nutrients important for bone and gut health.

Plus, the copper in prunes inhibits bone breakdown, while boron plays a role in calcium metabolism and polyphenols can help decrease bone breakdown through their antioxidant power. As a fruit that’s high in vitamin K, which helps improve calcium balance and promotes bone mineralization, prunes are also a “good gut food,” meaning a single serving (roughly 4-6 prunes) can help support a healthy microbiome.

They’re easy to use in recipes that can become favorites in your household such as these Chocolate Energy Balls. Enjoyed as an easy, on-the-go snack, they’re a perfect way to refuel for an adventure, recharge after a workout or to simply savor as a healthy snack.

Chocolate lovers rejoice: This rich, delicious, gluten-free, grain-free Chocolate Covered Prune Fudge Cake is naturally sweetened using prunes instead of added sugar. If brownies are more your style, prunes can also take the place of eggs in these Vegan Brownies for a family-friendly treat that won’t wreck your eating plan.

To find more better-for-you desserts, visit californiaprunes.org.

Vegan Brownies
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Servings: 9

Prune Puree:
16 ounces pitted California prunes
1/2 cup hot water

Brownies:
nonstick cooking spray
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup California extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups light brown sugar
10 ounces California prune puree
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
flaky sea salt, for garnish

To make prune puree: In blender, combine prunes and water. Pulse to combine then blend until smooth, pourable consistency forms, scraping sides, if necessary.

Store puree in airtight container in fridge up to 4 weeks.

To make brownies: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 9-by-9-inch baking pan with parchment paper then lightly grease with nonstick cooking spray.

Using double boiler, melt chocolate and olive oil. Whisk in sugar and prune puree; mix until dissolved.

Into large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Gently fold in chocolate and prune mixture then add vanilla.

Spread batter in prepared pan, sprinkle with flaky sea salt and bake 20-25 minutes, or until top starts to look dry and brownies are just beginning to pull away from sides of pan.

Cool in pan. Remove then cut brownies into 3-inch squares.

Chocolate Covered Prune Fudge Cake
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 55 minutes
Yield: 1 cake (8 inches)

Cake: 
Coconut oil spray
14 tablespoons butter, chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup cocoa powder
10 soft, pitted prunes, chopped small 
1/3 cup maple syrup
6 eggs
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 cup almond meal

Ganache:
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
1 1/3 cups dark chocolate morsels

To make cake: Preheat oven to 300 F. Lightly spray bottom and sides of 8-inch springform pan with coconut oil spray. Place round piece of parchment paper in bottom of pan and lightly spray with coconut oil spray.

In small saucepan over low heat, place butter and vanilla. Use sieve to sift cocoa into saucepan. Stir with spatula until completely smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.

In bowl of food processor fitted with “S” blade, place prunes and syrup. Top with cooled butter mixture then process until smooth. Transfer to large mixing bowl, scraping all chocolate mixture from food processor with spatula.

In bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip eggs and coconut sugar on high speed 7 minutes, or until tripled in volume.

Add one-third of egg mixture to bowl with chocolate mixture. Using spatula, gently fold together until completely combined. Add almond meal and remaining egg mixture to bowl and gently fold to combine.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 55 minutes, or until set. Once cooked through, transfer cake to cooling rack and cool completely in pan.

To make ganache: In top of double boiler, melt coconut milk and dark chocolate until completely smooth. Pour prepared ganache over cake. Serve immediately for molten fudge effect or allow to completely set.

Chocolate Energy Balls
Recipe courtesy of Meg van der Kruik on behalf of California Prunes
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Yield: 24 pieces

Prune Puree:
16 ounces pitted California prunes
1/2 cup hot water

Energy Balls:
1 cup old-fashioned or gluten-free oats
2/3 cup toasted, unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup creamy natural nut butter (peanut or almond)
1/2 cup pecan meal
1/2 cup prune puree
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make prune puree: In blender, combine prunes and water. Pulse to combine then blend until smooth, pourable consistency forms, scraping sides, if necessary.

Store puree in airtight container in fridge up to 4 weeks.

To make energy balls: In mixing bowl, stir oats, coconut, nut butter, pecan meal, prune puree, cocoa powder and vanilla until completely combined.

Cover and chill in refrigerator 30 minutes. Once chilled, use small cookie scoop or measuring spoon to measure equal-sized amounts of mixture then form into balls by applying gentle pressure to dough using palms. Do not roll as balls will break apart.

Store covered in airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 week.


About Family Features Editorial Syndicate

A leading source for high-quality food, lifestyle and home and garden content, Family Features provides readers with topically and seasonally relevant tips, takeaways, information, recipes, videos, infographics and more. Find additional articles and information at Culinary.net and eLivingToday.com.


SOURCE Family Features Editorial Syndicate

Black eyed pea recipes to bring good luck in the new year

Black eyed pea recipes to bring good luck in the new year

As we put together to change the calendar to 2023, there’s a Southern food stuff custom that quite a few believe that is a way to catch the attention of prosperity in the new calendar year. So why not give it a attempt?

“Southerners begin contemplating about that exclusive to start with big supper, with all of its symbolic dishes that tradition tells us will deliver prosperity and very good fortune in the coming calendar year,” Stacey Lynn, founder and recipe developer of Southern Plate, described to “Very good Early morning The united states.”

“Back in the days of [the] Civil War, Union troops swept as a result of the South, confiscating crops and livestock to use as provisions for their troops,” she reported. “Southerners who weren’t off preventing were being still left with cherished little, conserve for peas and greens. These dishes turned cherished and appreciated as what saved many a spouse and children from starvation during those people times and the custom of celebrating these dishes on the new calendar year was born.”

PHOTO: Vegetarian Hoppin Johns black eyed peas.

Southern Plate

Vegetarian Hoppin Johns black eyed peas.

Lynn shared two recipes that can be completed in a slow cooker and another vegetarian edition of the common dish.

Crock pot black eyed peas

PHOTO: Crockpot black eyed peas.

Southern Plate

Crockpot black eyed peas.

“This two-component food of crock pot black eyed peas and smoked turkey leg cooks reduced and sluggish in the gradual cooker for the most tender and flavorful dish,” Lynn claimed.

12 to 24 ounces dried beans of your selection

1 smoked turkey leg for seasoning

Position the turkey leg in the gradual cooker. Type the beans and pour them on leading of the turkey, then incorporate the salt.

Fully address with water and fill the sluggish cooker to inside of just one inch of the leading.

Go over and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or right away if owning for lunch the next day.

Vegetarian Hoppin’ John

PHOTO: Vegetarian Hoppin Johns Black Eyed Peas.

Southern Plate

Vegetarian Hoppin Johns Black Eyed Peas.

“This is two recipes in 1!” Lynn reported. “Understand how to make standard Southern black eyed peas and then use them in my flavorful vegetarian Hoppin’ John dish.”

2 cups dried black eyed peas

1/2 tsp crushed crimson pepper flakes (You can insert this to the peas as they cook dinner or to the rice as it cooks.)

Hoppin’ John’s vegetarian variation

1 medium cauliflower riced in the meals processor, or any rice you like

1/4 tsp black pepper or to flavor

1/2 cup chopped fresh new herbs (parsley, dill, cilantro or basil)

1 tbsp lemon or lime juice

4 tbsp butter or most popular cooking oil for vegetarians

Black eyed peas: Kind beans and soak them overnight (see notes). Drain off the soaking water and pour the peas into a pot, covering them with h2o and leaving plenty of extra to reduce the peas from cooking down. Increase remaining components and cook dinner for roughly two to a few hours or until finally tender. Get started cooking rice with the guidance below following about 1-2 hrs of cooking the peas.

Vegetarian Hoppin’ John: Heat the skillet and add 2 tablespoons of butter. When the butter is melted, insert the garlic. Stir that garlic around the pan right up until it’s fragrant (20-30 seconds).

Insert the cauliflower rice (or cooked rice), salt, and black pepper (far more or fewer relying on your style). Cook, stirring from time to time, till the cauliflower rice commences to crisp up and turns light brown in some bits (approx 7 to 10 minutes).

Choose it off the heat, and then stir in the fresh new herbs and lemon juice. Give it a taste then include much more lemon juice or salt and pepper, if you like.

Drain off the black-eyed peas when they are tender. Set aside whilst you start off to saute.

In a saute pan, saute onion in the remaining butter or oil till tender.

Location the rice, black-eyed peas, and onion in a substantial bowl. Stir to incorporate. Incorporate 1-2 tablespoons of incredibly hot sauce and stir all over again.

Pleasure Wilson, a New Orleans-based mostly food items creator, cookbook author, baker and editor in chief of Joy the Baker, provided her take on the classic food stuff that combines the essential ingredient with a further basic consolation foods.

“I’ve been dwelling in the South for more than a ten years and adore embracing Southern food items traditions. Having black eyed peas on New Year’s Day is intended to carry great luck in the new yr and who doesn’t want that?” she explained to “GMA.”

Verify out her recipe beneath.

Black eyed peas with cornbread dumplings

PHOTO: Black eyed peas and cornbread dumplings.

Pleasure the Baker

Black eyed peas and cornbread dumplings.

“This black eyed peas and cornbread recipe is a participate in on chicken and dumplings — just one of the most comforting dishes there is — and the excellent comforting way to start out the new yr,” Wilson explained. “It truly is greatest savored on the sofa watching a movie with your mates and family members. Cheers to a Delighted New Yr!”

2 Italian sausage link, uncased

1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 clove garlic, minced (a scant 1 tablespoon)

1 16-ounce package frozen black eyed peas (about 2 1/4 cups)

2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, coarsely chopped

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, additionally much more to flavor if wished-for

1/2 teaspoon refreshing cracked black pepper

3/4 cup all-objective flour

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and reduce into cubes

1/4 cup chopped scallions

Heat a significant dutch oven (I utilized a 10-inch extensive pan) in excess of medium heat. Insert the uncased sausage and cook, breaking the sausage up with a wood spoon as it cooks. At the time the sausage has launched some oil and commenced to cook through, include the onions. Cook dinner until onions are tender and translucent, about 5 minutes. Incorporate the garlic and cook for 2 minutes far more. Increase rooster stock, peas, drinking water, thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Convey to a boil, partially address the pan and minimize heat to very low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Although the beans simmer make the cornbread dumplings. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking soda, and salt. Include the butter cubes and crack the butter bits into the dry components till the butter bits resemble oat flakes. Toss in the scallions. Insert the butter milk and stir right up until completely blended.

The moment the beans have simmered to tender, spoon the cornbread batter into the simmering beans, making 8-12 dumplings. Deal with and permit to simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and appreciate warm with a sprinkle of parsley and hot sauce.

“I obtain that this dish is most effective the working day it is really designed, but you can retail outlet leftovers in the fridge and reheat gently on the stovetop inside a working day or two,” Wilson claimed.

Kitchen Tools That’ll Bring Out Your Inner Chef This Thanksgiving

Kitchen Tools That’ll Bring Out Your Inner Chef This Thanksgiving

If it’s your year to host Thanksgiving dinner, there’s a lot to prep and cook—the turkey, the million different casseroles and sides, desserts—it all can be overwhelming. From the ultimate roasting pan to a state-of-the-art potato ricer, the nine picks below will make your life a little easier on Thanksgiving. 

(For more tools to step up your cooking game, check out Mansion Global Boutique’s Kitchen section.)

Credit: Kitchenaid

Prep work can take forever, whether you’re chopping veggies for stuffing or making homemade whipped cream for pumpkin pie. Kitchenaid’s 5 Cup Food Chopper ($69.99) is a powerhouse of a gadget that makes chopping, blending, whipping and pureeing less of a hassle.

Credit: Le Creuset

Le Creuset’s Stainless Steel Roasting Pan ($138) encourages a beautifully roasted and golden brown bird that’ll impress your guests. The dishwasher-safe and durable roaster comes with a nonstick rack for even cooking that fits up to a 14-pound turkey. 

Credit: Caraway

A roasting pan won’t be the only piece of cookware you’ll need to create a praise-worthy Thanksgiving meal. Caraway ditches the chemicals for its Cookware Set ($595) so you can feel good about the tools you’re cooking with. It comes with a fry pan, sauce pan, sauté pan and dutch oven for all your kitchen necessities. 

Credit: OXO

Smooth, silky potatoes are a must for any Thanksgiving spread. OXO’s Good Grips Potato Ricer ($28.99) is made to sit on top of bowls or pots for better leverage. Perfect for potatoes, parsnips, or any other root veggie you plan on adding to your holiday menu. 

Credit: Great Jones

Ceramic bakeware that’s functional and looks good, Great Jones checks all the boxes. Stoneware Sweeties’ ($65) playful look will add a pop of color and design to your table. The casserole and pie dish duo is perfect for sweet and savory dishes your guests will keep coming back for. 

Credit: Inka

Thanksgiving always comes with heaps of leftovers that end up cluttering your fridge and freezer. Inka’s Food Containers ($85) will help organize what’s left of your meal and keep them from leaking with its InvisiSeal technology. The sleek containers come in a set of three to 18 pieces so you can store as little or as many leftovers you might have left. 

Credit: Schmidt Brothers Cutlery/Food52

Made with German stainless steel, the Zebra Wood Steak Knives ($119.99) from Schmidt Brothers Cutlery are a sophisticated and practical addition to your table setting. Plus, the set comes in a luxe keepsake wooden box to store them until your next holiday get-together.

Credit: JK Adams/Food52

The versatility of JK Adams’ Reversible Carving Board ($102) creates the perfect surface to carve your show-stopping turkey. One side is flat for ideal carving and the other includes an indent for your roast so it doesn’t slide or tip. Grooves on each side of the maple wood board collect juices for minimal mess. 

Credit: Michael Aram

Handcrafted from stainless steel and brass, the Gold Orchid Measuring Cup Set from Michael Aram ($195) will make measuring ingredients easy and elegant. Gold orchid detailing on the stand adds a tasteful look to your kitchen.