‘Secret ingredient’ Dark chocolate ice cream

Ok so I made you wait…and wait!

You first saw it melting into the choc-chunk cookie pie, but now here we have it in its own right. My super healthy dark chocolate ice cream. Top it with nuts, sprinkles, coconut flakes or a chocolate drizzle, this ice cream is light and refreshing whilst packing a substantial punch…all due to its secret ingredient…

Black beans!

Yup, another spin on the worlds healthiest fudge, further fuelled by the success with this chocolate frosting, it was only a matter of time before the worlds healthiest chocolate ice cream was born!

Perfect teamed with a warm dessert, served soft with layers of fruit or spooned into a cone to enjoy drippy ice cream in the sun shine. The sunshine actually came out today…whoooo!

I call this dark chocolate ice cream as it has a richly intense slightly ‘bitter’ dark chocolate flavour (bitter is not the best word to use- but I hope you know what I mean!) Using coconut milk may give a creamier result (not I have not tried it that way). You could easily jazz up this recipe with mix-ins of coconut, cookie chunks, chocolate drops…..

I topped this cone with a simple chocolate drizzle made with agave syrup, cocoa and melted coconut oil. I mixed approx. 1 teaspoon of each together to create a thickish runny chocolate sauce which froze upon contact with the cold ice cream.
                                                                                                                                                                            

Recipe: Dark chocolate ice cream

Makes approx. 600ml

Ingredients

1 batch fudge- see below

1 ½ cup ‘milk’

3 tbs agave

30ml rum (I used Malibu)

Fudge ingredients:

½  can black beans- rinsed and drained

1 mashed banana

½ cup cocoa powder (or raw cacoa powder)

1/3 cup dates

2 tsp vanilla extract

½  tsp cinnamon

½ tsp stevia

½ cup ground oats**

2 tbs ground flax

2 tbs ground chia seeds

Method

Mix up the fudge by combining all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients to the fudge dough and blend until you have a thick smooth liquid of yoghurt like consistency. Pour into a freezer container with easily removable lid. Place in the freezer for a few hours until solid, stirring twice every hour or two as it begins to solidify.

You can either serve in a semi-frozen state as a ‘soft serve’ dessert, or wait until fully set.

Note: once frozen it will freeze hard due to low fat and sugar content. Taking the ice cream out of the freezer and placing in the fridge 30 mins before serving will help soften it up a little. The alcohol content helps to make a more uniform softness, without it the softening process takes longer and is less consistent (although the resultant ice cream still tastes good!)

Note: I do not have an ice cream maker so have not tried using that method.

* This cone is not vegan or gluten free. I made this particular ice cream for my sister who isn’t vegan and this was the only option available to me. I know vegan and gluten free cones are available- Barkat and Escal are two such brands that are available in the UK.

** for further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Chocolate chunk cookie pie

Another cookie-pie you might be thinking…?  Oh yes, but it’s a full throtle ‘Cookie Pie’ not a breakfast cookie-pie.

This warm and melty chocolately pie tastes like cookie dough….only it’s good for you! Would I ever let you down?

You’ve probably already guessed what’s coming next…beans. Ok it’s another chickpea recipe, but hey what’s not to love when chickpeas can taste this good (i.e like cookie dough pie!)  There are so many recipes of this kind floating  around blog world and so it was only a matter of time before I attempted a healthy, gluten free version of my own. 

This is the second time I have made this dessert and the fist time it was tasty but a little dry. The second time around it was perfect. I attributed this to two factors... 1) don’t skip the dates as they add a caramelly sweetness and moistness, 2) make sure you don’t over cook the pie- it wants to be only just cooked when tested with a skewer.

To take the decadence factor up a notch I teamed this pie served warm from the oven (so so so good served hot) with a dollop of my newly developed super healthy dark chocolate ice cream. You will think I’m crazy when I tell you this ice cream has beans in it too (black beans this time!) but I’m gonna make you wait for that recipe….

A healthy, high protein, warm and comforting dessert…perfect whatever the weather be it summer or winter…you can never go wrong with a slice of cookie pie for dessert. Top tip: don’t skimp on the choc chunks…the oozy melty part is the best bit! (see the difference between the top pic and the one below- no melted chunks below)

Recipe: Chocolate chunk cookie pie

7” round cake pan

Ingredients

1 cup cooked chickpeas

4 tbs vegan yoghurt (or apple sauce)

1 tbs coconut oil- melted

3tbs agave

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup buckwheat flour

¼ cup quinoa flakes (could sub oats*)

Approx. 1/3 cup finely chopped dates

¼ cup chopped nuts (I used hazlenuts)

Tiny pinch salt

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ cup dark chocolate chunks (reserving some for the top)

Handful of nuts for top- optional

Sprinkle of coconut sugar or rapadura- optional for a crisp topping

Method

Blend the wet ingredients with the chickpeas in a food processor/blender until smooth. Mix all remaining ingredients (other than choc) together in a medium bowl and then add the blended wet ingredients. Mix together , adding the chocolate chunks last (reserve a handful for topping).  

Spoon the batter into a smallish approx. 7” greased round or square cake pan, smoothing the top with a knife and sprinkling the remaining choc chunks/nuts for decoration. Press the nuts and chocolate lightly into the batter.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for approx. 15 mins until cooked through and slightly golden. Be careful not to overcook otherwise you’ll have a drier cake…still tasty but much better moist!

* for further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Quinoa berry cookie-pie

You know how much I love breakfast! You know how much I love my oats and breakfast cookies!

Well, this ‘monster’ of a single serve cookie-pie is a spin off based on my apple version but instead of using oats I have gone full out GF for those with oat sensitivities and use quinoa flakes for a subtle tasty variation.

I love this version just as much as the original oat version (although I feel like a traitor for even saying that!)  The chia seeds mixed through the simply berry filling really help provide the thickness to the sauce (and another helping of super nutrients) but ground flax seed would probably also do the job here.

This was my breakfast last Saturday morning and in the light of the morning sun I was really pleased with the way these photos turned out (particularly the 3rd photo).  I’m really working hard with my photography in recent months….I enjoy it so much and know that if I could get to grips with the technical side of things a bit more (and not rely on Photoshop so often to correct my white balance etc) I could do so much more.

All in good time…I must not expect to be able to run before I can walk!

Recipe: Quinoa berry cookie-pie

Serves 1 (fairly large portion- you could propbably share if you were so inclined!)

Ingredients- cookies:

1/4 cup quinoa flakes

3 tbs buckwheat flour (other flours would probably be fine too)

3tbs dessicated coconut

¼ tsp baking powder

1 tbs ground chia

½ tsp almond extract (or vanilla)

1 tbs agave

3-4 tbs vegan yoghurt (or regular yoghurt for non vegan)

Sprinkle of sliced almonds to decorate- optional

Ingredients- filling:

½ cup to ¾ cup berry filling (I used cherries, strawberries and raspberries)

1 tbs ground chia

1-2 tsp agave (if necessary)

Method

Mix and mash all the cookie ingredients together well to form a thick sticky ball of dough. Divide into two and flatten the ball with wet palms and place both on a lighly greased microwaveable plate. 

Cook on full powder in the microwave for 1 min 20s. Press with your finger and if there are no visibly sticky bits you’re done.

Whilst the cookies are cooking, prepare and chop the fruit into 1-2 cm sized chunks.  Either on the hob or in the microwave cook the berries and agave down for a just few minutes until softened. Remove from the heat and stir through the ground chia to thicken.

Lay one cookie as a base and pile on the filling, adding the other cookie as a top. Dust with almond slivers or berry slices if desired. Serve immediately.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.