I must warn you that this easy gingerbread ice cream is not the healthiest with all of heavy cream and full fat milk, I wanted to make it the creamiest possible but I am sure it can be made a bit healthier. I just wanted to have something to indulge in for new years so I decided to go all the way.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and the unbelievable flavor I got with this ice cream. I think next time I will just go with cardamom ice cream. I got kind of creative and turned the ice cream into ice cream sandwiches. My kids were over the moon so this will be the perfect dessert for the new year’s coming up.

If you make the ice cream sandwiches you can also dip them in melted chocolate if you like and make them even more fancy. This time around I just wanted to keep them simple. This ice cream mixture it is also not to sweet but if you will like to add more maple syrup go ahead.

Moving forward with this recipe I think I am also going to turn the mixture into ice popsicles. They will be perfect for the summer or as a sweet treat.

Well, this will be my last recipe for the year. I hope to bring you even better recipes for the year to come so I wish everyone a happy, healthy successful 2018.

Enjoy!

Easy Gingerbread ice cream

Yield: 6 servinss

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cup full fat milk, you can also use low fat
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 3 tsps ground ginger
• 2 tsps cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to your machine's directions. For me the ice cream takes about 20-25 minutes.

Place ice cream mixture into a freezer container and place in the freezer to firm up. About 2-4 hours.

The post Easy Gingerbread ice cream appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

After searching for quite some time through quite a few chocolate recipes I combined, tweaked, replaced, and substituted some of the ingredients and came up with my own sensational chocolate mousse cake version.

I decreased the sugar content by a lot, used coconut oil which has medium chain triglycerides that are digested differently, and used whole wheat pastry flour to increase the fiber content. I would have used flaxseed meal but exposing flaxseed meal to heat would destroy its properties.

When ever I don’t require to make a chocolate cake that has to be gluten free or vegan this is going to be my chocolate cake recipe to go for. However, if you need a gluten free chocolate cake recipe here is another recipe for you. Also super delicious.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Mousse cake

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 10-12 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 oz dark chocolate, melted
• 3 tbsp instant espresso powder
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 3/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 cup unrefined sugar
• 3 organic eggs
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp aluminum free baking soda
• 1/2 tsp himalayan salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Mousse

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp maple syrup

 

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F. Line two 9 inch round cake baking pans with unbleached parchment paper and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl add the eggs, sugar, coconut oil, vanilla and warm water with the expresso powder dissolved in it and mix with a wire whisk. Add the melted chocolate gradually whisking at the same time if possible. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine. If you like you can add a stand mixer if you like.

Divide the cake batter between the prepared cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes before letting the cake cool completely on a wire rack.

On the meantime, place the maple syrup and heavy cream in a large mixing bowl and beat until stiff picks form. A the cocoa powder and fold with a spatula.

To assemble the cake. Place one cake layer previously baked in a cake stand and spread half the mouse over it. Top with second cake layer and spread the top of the cake with the remainder of the chocolate mousse.

Decorate as desired.

 Nutrition facts calculate based on the recipe giving 12 servings

The post Chocolate Mousse Cake appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I am trying to make some spring theme desserts, at last because I have had it with the cold! Not that it is too warm just yet here in NJ but much better temperatures than being in the teens.

When I made this recipe I actually made quite a bit of the mixture, which was great because I thought of placing the remainder mixture in the 3 0z cups and make individual serving sizes as well. Such a great idea because they are supper convenient and easier to eat, especially for my kids.

I also used Truvía® Spoonable, which is zero-calorie. You can use this type of Truvia to sweeten anything from coffee to tea, cereal to yogurt, and many other items of your choice. For this recipe I only used 2 tablespoons, which is equivalent to 1/3 cup of regular sugar. For those that suffer from diabetes, or high sugar issues, this may be a better alternative for you. Check out Truvia other products, they have other alternatives to sweetened your baking treats too.

To keep the recipe gluten free I used gluten free  graham crackers, however, you can use any other type of graham crackers of your choice. I am super excited to start making more frozen desserts. My kids love them and so do I.

Because I wanted to maintain the texture of these strawberry cheesecake ice cream smooth and creamy I use heavy cream. I know is not the best of ingredients but once in a while it is OK. Is not like we eat this type of ice cream everyday so indulging once in a while it is fine with me.

Well I hope you get to make this recipe soon. The graham crackers give it a distinctive flavor that I love, the recipe is very easy to make since you don’t need an ice cream maker, and it is just plain delicious.

Enjoy!

Strawberry cheesecake ice cream

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 12-16 servings

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 cups heavy cream
• 2-3 tbsp Truvía^® Spoonable
• 8 oz low fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 12 oz organic frozen strawberries, thawed
• 10-12 gluten free cinnamon graham cracker, crushed
• 1-2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

In a medium mixing bowl add the graham crackers and with your hands crush them to obtain little pieces like in the picture.

Place the heavy cream and Truvia in your stand mixer, or hand held mixer,  and pulse until you obtain soft peaks. Add the strawberries to the stand mixer and pulse for 10-15 seconds until they crush a little bit. Add this mixture to the graham crackers.

Place the  cream cheese in the stand mixer and beat until soft and creamy. Add the cream cheese to the graham cracker bowl. With a spatula fold the ingredients together making sure that you don't over mix. You want to have some strawberries and graham cracker chunks.

Transfer mixture to a 9 by 5 inch baking loaf pan or ceramic container and freeze for at least 3-4 hours.

Alternatively, you can divide the mixture on 3 oz dixie cups and stick a wooden stick on each and freeze for at least 2 hours.

The post Gluten free strawberry cheesecake ice cream appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

The spiciness of these chili chocolate truffles kind of hits you right at the end. Depending on how spicy you like them you can add more or less chili. I added 1 1/2 teaspoons and that for sure was spicy, not too much but kind of perfect for me.

I actually took these chili chocolate truffles  to a Halloween party and they were a success. People were very surprised at the hint of spiciness. They thought it was unusual but very good.

For the coating I used cocoa powder, you can use any other coating of choice. Chopped nuts may work really good and even almond flour. Either way it will work just fine. Like my husband said, it is hard to mess up chocolate!

On another note, I have been really frustrate at my house progress. It is taking for ever. It has been almost 3 months since my house flooded and I can’t wait to get back to my kitchen. The current set up I have in my kitchen is pretty horrific and cooking and baking, especially taking pictures, makes it a lot harder since I pretty much have a closet size kitchen with hardly any light. I guess I have to be patient!

I am going to post a few before and after pictures when everything is set and done. I know the house is going to look a lot better but it is just hard to visualize. With all the aggravation and stress that I am going through I wish this had never happened!

Anyhow, I hope you like these chili chocolate truffles. They are extremely easy to make and they are just truly the bomb!

Enjoy!

These chili chocolate truffles are truly the bomb. The mixture of chocolate and chili is out of this world. If you like to make these truffles vegan you can use coconut milk instead of heavy cream and vegan chocolate. The result will still be awesome!

Chili chocolate truffles

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 32 truffles

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy cream, or coconut milk
• 12 oz dark chocolate, or vegan chocolate
• 1 1/2 tsp cayenne or chili powder
• Cocoa powder to coat

 

Directions:

Place the chocolate in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

Over medium to low flame heat the heavy cream on a sauce pan until it almost boils. Add the hot heavy cream to the chocolate and whisk with a wire whisk until the chocolate melts. Add the chili powder and combine.

Place mixture in the fridge and let it set for at least 4 hours. After the chocolate as set and harden using a small cookie scoop or tablespoon roll out the the mixture to form balls and roll them out on cocoa powder or any coating of your choice.

Keep refrigerated until it is time to serve.

NOTE: For a vegan version use coconut milk in place of heavy cream and choose a vegan chocolate instead of dark chocolate.

The post Chili chocolate truffles appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I made this no bake strawberry cheesecakes a couple of days ago. Not only they were super easy to put together but we really enjoyed them. For the base you can add a tablespoon of coconut oil with the graham cracker crumbs but I left the graham cracker crumbs by themselves. I actually like it like that.

I also used organic strawberries. Berries should be organic. It is one of the 12 foods to actually purchase organic. They are a bit more pricy but  worth it. They even taste better.

My strawberry cheesecake layer was not too dense. I use quite a bit of strawberries to make it lighter, which I liked. I don’t like the cheesecake layer to thick. If you do, just add less strawberries.

I think you can make these strawberry cheesecakes with other types of fruit if you like. Blueberries, raspberries and peaches would also be great.

Is anyone having a especial dinner or treat for valentine’s day? We have been sick with a stomach bug for days so we are not feeling too good. I wish I got the flu instead of the stomach virus…it is so much harder on me.

Anyhow, I wish everyone a great valentine’s day.

Enjoy!

No bake strawberry cheesecake

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 16 oz low fat cream cheese
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 tbs maple syrup
• 1 full dropper liquid stevia
• 13 graham crackers
• 12 oz organic strawberries

Directions:

In your food processor add the graham crackers and pulse until pulverized. Divide the graham cracker between 6 parfait classes or any other glasses of your choice (I didn't add any butter or coconut oil to the graham crackers but you could if you like, I like my graham crackers without it though)

Add the cream cheese, yogurt, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, 8 oz of the strawberries and stevia to the food processor and pulse until combine. Divide this mixture between the 6 glasses.

In a medium bowl, with a hand stand mixer, whipped the heavy cream with the 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. Divide the heavy cream between the 6 glasses and decorate with the strawberries. You may sprinkle a little bit of reserved graham crackers over the strawberries if you like.

Place the cheesecakes in the refrigerator and let them cool for at least 2 hours before serving.

The post No bake strawberry cheesecake appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

Let me start by saying these Gluten free Banana pudding cupcakes are the absolute bomb. These are going to be one of my favorite cupcakes to prepare at gatherings. I mean, who doesn’t like banana pudding? and on a cupcake form? Well I think that is just even better.

For this time around I used a vanilla gluten free mix but keep in mind you can use any type of vanilla cupcake recipe you may like. Next time I will use my own gluten free vanilla recipe for the cupcake batter. While this gluten free mix was great I found it a bit too sweet so less sugar would be ideal for me.

Also, I used tapioca pudding for the pudding part because it is the only pudding I could find that is natural and doesn’t contain tons of added chemicals and crap. Homemade pudding would be ideal, maybe next time.

Once the Gluten free Banana pudding cupcakes where done and cooled it was really easy to assemble them together. Just make sure that if you have any left over cupcakes you keep them in the refrigerator.

I have done the real banana pudding before and this recipe was also the bomb. Super simple to put together and extremely delicious. The second time I made it instead of just using heavy cream I used Greek yogurt. It was really good too, it just had a little tangy kick to it but if you find vanilla Greek yogurt I think that won’t give you the tangy kick as much.

There is not much I can say about these Gluten free Banana pudding cupcakes but that they were just the bomb. I hope you get to try them soon. If you do let me know how you liked them.

Enjoy!

Here you can see how I made the little indentations on each cupcake. Fill it in with a slice of banana and the vanilla pudding followed by the heavy cream and banana chip if using. These banana pudding cupcakes are the bomb so I hope you get to try them soon.

Gluten free Banana pudding cupcakes

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 14-16 cupcakes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 1 package gluten free vanilla cake mix
• 22 oz tapioca vanilla pudding, or any other vanilla pudding
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1-2 bananas, sliced
• Dry bananas chips to decorate

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners and set aside.

In a large bowl mix in the eggs, oil and water (the gluten free mix will let you know how much). Add the gluten-free vanilla mix and combine. With a medium cookie scoop fill each cupcake liner 3/4 of the way and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Immediately remove cupcakes from the pan and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

On the mean time, on a large bowl, with a hand mixer, whipped the heavy cream with the maple syrup.

To assemble the cupcakes, with a spoon or a knife cut the middle out of each cupcake leaving a border around the edge, just like in the picture. Place a banana slice in the hole followed by two tablespoon of vanilla pudding. Pipe the heavy cream on top and decorate it with a slice of banana. Repeat this method with all of the remaining cupcakes.

Store leftover cupcakes in the fridge.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 16 cupcakes.

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