Quick N' Easy Healthy Holiday Dessert Recipes

One of the best ways I know to eat healthy, keep the weight off and your energy high is to consume fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. These foods when grown organically, carry a powerhouse of vitamins, phytochemicals, healthy oils, antioxidants and minerals, all proven to improve health and longevity when consumed on a regular basis. The USDA recommends that you eat 2-4 servings of whole fruit per day, and 3-5 servings of vegetables per day. There are loads of easy to prepare recipes for every season and occasion. The following recipes will introduce you to how wonderfully flavorful, beautiful and easy to prepare whole food dishes can be. The best thing about these recipes is, you can eat them without guilt, as they will be adding to your health, not detracting from it!! How wonderful is that?

Ingredients for these recipes are meant to be organic and can normally be purchased at your local market. Please use organic whenever possible. Committing to the use of organic products, supports your health as well as the health of our planet and the future of the children. Vote with your dollars, support organic when ever possible. Whole Foods Market is a good source of organic products. You may also order some speciality products from, Raw Guru, Sunfood Nutrition and Mountain Rose Herbs.

The first recipe is hot cacao. Cacao has been called the "food of the gods" by the Maya, and they hold annual celebrations in April to honor the God that discovered it. Cacao has many health providing properties, some of which are: very high ORAC rating ( antioxidant calculation ), high in magnesium, PEA ( helps to promote happy feelings ) and essential fatty acids. To read more about the history and nutritional value of cacao refer to this Squidoo page.To this basic recipe you can add a few drops of peppermint essential oil or extract and make a candy cane, or some cayenne or other hot peppers to make a fire fudge cacao that really warms you up!!

Real Hot Chocolate (Serves 2)
2 cups nut milk ( almond, brazil, hazelnut, cashew ) or rice milk or see recipe below
3 TBS raw cacao powder
1/2 cup raw agave syrup, coconut sugar or rapadura
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
pinch salt

Blend for 45 seconds in blender on high speed. You can continue blending until it is hot or heat it slightly in a an on your stove. Do not boil it!

Variations:
Brew a pot of Teecino ( coffee substitute made from grains ) and add the above recipe half and half.
Add a few drops of peppermint extract and a candy cane or cayenne pepper to the original recipe.

Plain Nut Milk (Makes 3 cups)
1 cup almonds, cashews, hazelnuts or brazil nuts, soaked until soft. Soak almonds overnight.
3 cups filtered water
dash salt
1 nut milk bag, paint straining bag or nylon stocking

Blend the nuts and water on high for about 45 seconds until finely blended. Strain through the nut milk bag or other fine strainer. Reserve the pulp for making pie crusts later. ( it freezes for 3 months ). Stir in the salt and the plain milk is finished. If would like you can add vanilla powder and agave to flavor the milk and use on your cereal or in coffee or hot tea. Keeps 3 days in the refrigerator.

The next recipe is a pudding. You can use this on it's own, layered as a parfait or as a dip on a fresh fruit platter. You can vary the recipe by substituting various different fruits, such as bananas, persimmons, strawberries, mangos, or papayas thus creating many different flavors.

Chocolate Pudding (Serves 4-6)
Meat of 3-4 young coconuts, to make 2 cups when blended ( white coconuts at most Asian markets )
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp lecithin, optional
7 TBS raw cacao powder
3 TBS raw cacao butter, melted ( optional )
8 TBS agave syrup
Dash cinnamon
Pinch salt

Coconut water if needed to blend, you may need to add a little of the water to blend, about 1/4 cup
Blend the coconut meat until smooth. Do not over blend, it will break the oil. Blend about 30 seconds or less. Add the cacao powder, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, agave and blend. Adjust flavor, then add the lecithin and cacao butter. Mixture should be thick and very smooth. Serve alone, as a torte filling or with cashew cream for a parfait.

Vanilla Pudding (Serves 4-6)
Meat of 1-2 young coconuts, about 1 cup
1/2 cup cashews, soaked 30 minutes or longer
1 tsp vanilla powder
4 TBS agave syrup, coconut sugar or rapadura
dash salt ( himalayan or celtic salt is best )
coconut water if needed to blend

For Vanilla Pudding: Blend the coconut meat until smooth. Add agave, vanilla and crystal salt and blend again to mix.

Fruit Variations:
Banana Pudding: to the blended coconut meat add 1-2 very ripe bananas, adjust flavor with crystal salt and agave, and blend to mix.

Persimmon: Blend in 2 fresh, peeled and chunked persimmons to the recipe above, & reduce the amount of agave by half.

Mango: Blend in 1 cup of mango chunks and reduce the amount of agave by half.

Chocolate Almond Rum Balls (Makes 60 small treats)
1 1/2 cups organic almonds or other nut, preferably soaked & dehydrated
10 -12 organic medjool dates, pitted and soaked if not already soft
5 TBS organic raw cacao powder
3 TBS organic raw cacao butter, melted
3 TBS organic raw agave syrup
1 Tsp organic vanilla powder
1 TBS myers rum or rum flavoring ( optional, they are great without it )
dash Himalayan Crystal Salt
1/2 cup organic dried shredded coconut, finely chopped nuts or cacao powder

In a food processor grind the nuts until fine. Do not over process or you will break the oil in the nuts. Add the cacao powder, salt and vanilla and pulse several times to mix. Add the dates and agave, process enough to mix. Adjust flavors. Add the melted cacao butter and process, a ball will probably form in the processor. Roll this mixture in 1 heaping Tsp increments into desired shape and then roll in coconut, nuts or cacao powder to coat outside. These will keep several weeks in the refrigerator or up to 3 months covered in the freezer.

Easy Fabulous Fudge (Makes 30, 1 oz pieces)
1 cup young coconut meat
1 cup nuts, cashew, pecan or both, soaked until soft, about 1 hour
1 cup dates pieces and prunes, soaked until soft
1/2 cup irish moss gel ( optional )
6 TBS cacao butter, melted or coconut oil for slight coconut flavor
2 cups raw cacao powder
1/2 cup lucuma powder ( optional )
1/2 cup agave
1 TBS vanilla powder
1/2 cup coconut sugar, powdered or use rapadura
dash salt

Flavors:
peppermint oil, orange oil, grate ginger and lemon zest, cayenne pepper, substitute coconut oil for the cacao butter.

Soak the nuts, dates and prunes in water until soft. While you wait use the blender to powder the sugar and set aside. Drain the nuts, dates and prunes and blend them with the agave, coconut meat, irish moss and a little water if needed to turn over. If your blender isn't that strong, use a food processor. Add the cacao butter and blend just a few seconds. In a large bowl mix salt, vanilla powder and cacao powder together, then add the date mixture and stir until well blended. Line a 7" x 9" glass pan with parchment paper and pour mixture in. Smooth the top by wetting your hand and then pressing down the mix. You can add some ground cacao nibs to the bottom, middle or top if you like for more real cacao flavor. You can also fine chop some walnuts and mix them into the fudge just before you put it in the glass pan, or just put them on the top and press down firmly. Refrigerate 12 hours or freeze. Fudge will keep in the refrigerator for 3 weeks or 3 months in the freezer.

Spicy Apple Cobbler Pie (Makes one 9" pie)
Crust:
3 cups almond flour
3/4 cup date pieces soaked until soft
1 tsp vanilla powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
pinch salt

Put in food processor and process until it forms a ball. Grease a 9" glass pie pan with coconut oil & press crust into pan.

Filling:
In a blender:
2 cups chopped apples
2 TBS lemon juice
2 TBS agave syrup or coconut sugar
1/2 cup raisins and or prunes soaked until soft
1 tsp vanilla powder
1/4 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
dash salt

Blend until smooth.

Topping:
1/2 cup fine chopped raw pecans and walnuts

Assembly:
Remove the core and thinly slice the apples until you have 4 cups, about 4 medium apples. These can be gala, fuji, delicious, honey crisp or your favorite sweet apple. In a large bowl mix the sliced apples with the pureed mix from the blender and spoon into the pie pan. Sprinkle with the chopped walnut/pecan mix. It is ready to enjoy! Keeps in the refrigerator for 5 days. For a lighter dish just skip the crust. Put the filling directly into the pie pan and sprinkle the topping.

Al a Mode - The fastest way to have great healthy non dairy ice cream for your apple pie is to buy from Whole Foods or your organic market. I love the one made by Coconut Bliss, it is heavenly!! No guilt, real food.

I hope you enjoy these Healthy Holiday recipes, and have some fun making them. If you would like more information and recipes like these you can visit Dr. Diondra at Alive N' Juicy Blog or Learn Raw Cuisine. Happy Holidays!!