Recipe: Chocolate Cherry Smoothie 🍒

Boy have we missed juicy organic cherries. Now that we were able to procure some from the local grocery store, we combined our love of this fruit with another favorite food, chocolate. Like many of our recipes, we try to avoid added sugar – even too much of the more natural, healthier kind- so adjust to your sweet tooth accordingly. Give this cherry chocolate smoothie a try!

Prep time: less than 5 minutes

Servings: about 4, makes ~64oz

Disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links or discount codes, meaning, at no additional cost to you, if you click through an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may make a commission.

Ingredients

4 cups non-dairy milk (we used hazelnut from Elmhurst)

1 cup swisschard and/or kale

1 cup cherries (fresh or we used frozen too cool this drink down even more) and 1 cup blueberries

2 tbsp cacao nibs

2 tbsp cacao powder

2 tbsp beet powder (optional)

4 medjool dates

2 tbsp almond butter

4 tbsp shredded coconut

Instructions

Add all ingredients into a 64 ounce blending container and then blend. You got your veggies in, congrats! Enjoy 🙂

Recipe: Brownie Overnight Oats

Dietitian confessions go both ways. While we’re often the ones people ‘confess’ to about eating certain junk foods, we also like to purify our minds and souls by relating our dietary ‘sins’.

You may remember that we have really loved ice cream throughout our lives, even to the point where travels to Italy were less about the architecture and more about finding the perfect gelateria (true story), but we didn’t reveal that we also grew up making (read: eating) brownies. Heaven on a dessert plate would be the two served together – brownie a la mode style. Hell would be making us choose only one to have at our last dessert. Obviously, it would be a real Sophie’s Choice situation.

As we’ve ventured into finding healthier forms of ice cream (done and done), we’ve done the same for brownies (check out our black bean version). But to have brownies for breakfast? Well, that required a little extra dietary finesse…and so we’ve created a decadent, yet healthy, version of eating brownies for the first meal of the day, or even as a snack for when sugar cravings strike. Care to partake? Here’s the recipe:

Disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links or discount codes, meaning, at no additional cost to you, if you click through an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may make a commission.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients

1 cup organic rolled oats

1 banana, mashed

1 cup non-dairy almond or hazelnut milk (DIY almond milk or the ready-made hazelnut version)

3 tbsp cocoa or cacao powder

2 tbsp chopped nuts (e.g. pecan, walnut, macademia) or nut butter

2 tbsp cacao nibs or 85% chocolate chips, optional

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Stir together rolled oats, cocoa/cacao powder and chia seeds in a mason jar or other container with a lid. Add nuts, nibs/chocolate chips, banana, non-dairy milk, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Seal the lid and shake vigorously for about 15 seconds. Place in fridge overnight. The next morning, top with chocolate chips and/or fresh berries if you’d like. Enjoy!

Recipe: Amaranth for Breakfast

Move over, porridge! We have a higher-protein option that also provides minerals such as iron, manganese and phosphorus. This delicious seed, not a grain, is called amaranth and there’s a rather sordid history which explains why we haven’t heard much about it until recent times. Marry it with chocolate and your taste buds will have a party!

Ingredients

1 cup water
1/2 cup amaranth
1/2 cup chopped strawberries
1/4 cup almonds (or choice of nuts; macadamia pairs well here too)
2 squares dark chocolate (we like 85% and 90% cacao versions)
2 tbsp shredded coconut
2 tbsp cacao nibs
1 tbsp cacao powder (optional)

Instructions

Bring water and amaranth to boil, cover, and then simmer for about 15 minutes. Amaranth is done when liquid has been absorbed. Carefully transfer into your breakfast bowl and add nuts, dark chocolate, coconut, cacao nibs and cacao powder. We often add maca or ashwagandha powder and a drizzle of honey in the case of the latter (as it is aptly called in Sanskrit “the smell of a horse”). Enjoy this power-packed breakfast!

Vegan Banana Pudding

In honor of National Vegan AND National Banana Pudding Month, we recently did a segment where we combined the two into a demo for Vegan Banana Pudding. Not only are you getting the benefit of the potassium, vitamin C and B6 from the banana but also the creamy texture it lends to this dessert! It’s a quick, no-added sugar dessert to eat when you have a craving and is perfect to share with others. If you are fans of chocolate like we are, you’ll notice how the cacao powder and nibs elevate this dessert to make it feel like a true treat. Top with your favorite fruit (our seasonal favorite is juicy pomegranate) and chopped nuts and enjoy!

Ingredients
1 cup cashews
2 frozen bananas
1 fresh banana
2 medjool dates
1/2 cup coconut cream
1.5 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions
Blend and serve chilled. Enjoy!

5 Spice Hot ‘Choffee’

Cold mornings require some extra effort and incentive to get out of bed. This warming, caffeinated, chocolate-y drink will help provide a firm boost as you launch into your day!

Ingredients

8oz coffee
4 oz non-dairy milk (coconut milk or almond milk)
1 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder
1 or 2 anise pods
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp honey
optional (cloves)

Instructions

Prepare coffee as per usual (we used a moka pot) and heat milk on stove top along with cacao or cocoa powder, cayenne, cinnamon stick, black pepper, anise pods and honey. Simmer for about 5 minutes and add milk to coffee.

Recipe: Spiced Vanilla Chia Pudding

Oh boy – this is a filling, satisfying treat without tons of calories. What’s more, it’s made with a variety of items that may be found in your pantry or fridge. Get your sweet tooth filled without tons of sugar and experience the health benefits of fiber, omega-3s, blood sugar stabilization, and CHOCOLATE.

Ingredients
2 cups homemade almond milk
6 tablespoons chia seeds
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 heaping tablespoons whole cacao beans or 1/4 cup cacao powder for a smoother finish
1/4 cup fruit (i.e. raspberry, strawberry, and kiwi work well)

Instructions
Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Refrigerate overnight, or until set. Garnish with cinnamon, fruit, cacao beans, and a drizzle of honey if desired.

Recipe: Celebrity Couple! Choco-cado Cookies

When celebrities get together, the press loves to dub them with a cute and catchy portmanteau; Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s ‘Brangelina’ being one of the most well-known. Well they need to move over because chocolate and avocado or ‘Choco-cado’ have once again proven themselves a yummy pairing, deserving of the spotlight. We’ve already seen them come together for a delectable pudding and we’re starting to think these two are suited for a long-term, possibly exclusive, relationship.

Do you know what this means? In less than 15 minutes, this recipe makes it possible to fully enjoy some dark, rich cacao along with some creamy, (healthy) fatty avocado in a fudgy cookie form. It doesn’t even have flour!

“Incroyable!” say the French readers. “Ausgezeichnet!” say the Germans. And you? Well, you may have your mouth too full of cookies to exclaim anything. That’s okay, we can all envision the look of bliss crossing your face.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

Prep time: < 5 minutes
Baking time: about 8-10 minutes
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dark cacao or cocoa powder (we used Nativas Naturals cacao powder)
• 2/3 cup ripened avocado flesh, mashed
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup coconut sugar, depending on your desired sweetness
• 2/3 of bar dark chocolate, cut into small chunks (we used a chocolate bar with 88% cocoa content)
• 1 egg (or 1 tbsp ground flaxseed and 2.5 tbsp water mixed together as vegan egg-less option)
• ½ tsp. baking soda

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. With a hand mixer/food processor/vivacious Vitamix blend avocado and coconut sugar, then egg. Add cacao powder and baking soda to mix and then stir in dark chocolate chunks. Try not to salivate over the bowl. Use coconut oil to grease baking pan; dollop cookie dough mix on pan and flatten with spoon. Bake for 8-10 minutes and then cool them down; unlike most cookies, these taste better after 30 minutes or so in the fridge. Makes 10-12 cookies.

P.S. Not gonna lie, we made these babies into ice cream (dairy-free) sandwiches. More on that later 🙂

Recipe: Ultimate Chocolate Black Bean Brownies

Kids (and adults) love these brownies; many times they are surprised to find that black beans could be used to make a dessert. Next time you have a bit of a sweet tooth, give these chocolate-y brownies a go!

Keeping with the theme of these recent blog posts, see how many of these ingredients you can make organic (and/or free-range, in the case of the eggs).

Ingredients:

1-15oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsp. melted coconut oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa/cacao powder
1/4 cup ground almonds
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips or 3 oz dark chocolate bar, in pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F and use liners to fill in muffin tin or spray with cooking oil. Add all ingredients to a large food processor or mixing bowl (except the chocolate chips/ pieces of dark chocolate). Process for 2 minutes or until batter is smooth, then stir in chocolate chips/pieces. Pour batter into muffin cups and bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before transferring brownies to wire rack.