Dessert Ideas??

I love making any kind of crisp, apple, pear, berry, peach YUM!

Here's one I make when I'm craving ice cream!

Grab your favorite low fat yogurt, a special K bar or something similar (I use half of the yogurt bars), half a cup of berries, and low fat whipped cream.

Crush half the granola bar into medium chunks.
Scoop yogurt into a small good portion sized bowl, cover with chunks of granola, add berries and whipped cream, and chill for about 10-15 min!

Almonds go well with it if you aren't fond of granola, but I found the yogurt bars taste best. Low in calories, good for you, and keeps you away from the ice cream!

3/4 cup(s) graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbsp light butter, melted
2/3 cup(s) low fat cream cheese
6 Tbsp fat-free cream cheese
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 large egg white(s)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup(s) sugar
3/4 cup(s) light fruit pie filling, cherry

.Place 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter; mix well. Spoon 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture into bottom of each liner and press down gently; refrigerate until ready to use.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat both types of cream cheese until fluffy. Add lemon juice, egg whites, vanilla extract and sugar; beat until smooth.

Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly into muffin liners; bake until set, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Top each cheesecake with 1 tablespoon cherry pie filling. Yields 1 cheesecake per serving.

Calories: 106 Carb: 25 Fat: 2 Protein:4

I posted this for someone yesterday - hope it's of interest

Here are two of my favourite pudding recipes. I am wheat, diary, egg, yeast, alcohol and caffeine intolerant and never eat anything with additives or sweeteners, as even Stevia tends to have bulking agents, which I distrust. As you might imagine, that makes it a bit difficult for most desserts. However, I have devised a number of recipes over the years to satisfy the urge to have an occasional pudding and I've pasted my two favourite ones below. These are not gluten free, but they are wheat free. There is a difference. Wheat has a lot of gluten and I can't handle it, but I can manage the lesser quantities of gluten contained in barley, spelt and oats. If you are celiac and can have no gluten, then these won't be suitable for you.

Apple barley couscous pudding

As someone with a wheat, dairy and egg intolerance I'm always on the lookout for nice healthy puddings that don't have these ingredients in them. Believe me, there aren't that many! This one has the benefit of being virtually fat free too - and although there is a little sugar on top, it's only 5 teaspoons between 6 portions, so not too much - and it caramelises on top to give the golden crunch.

Serves 6
Preheat oven to 200 C/ 400 F / gas 6

600ml (2.5 cups) of apple juice
115g (2/3 cup) of couscous (I use Belazu barley couscous)
40g (1/4 cup) of sultanas (golden raisins)
1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice
2 Bramley cooking apples, peeled, cored and finely sliced
25g or 2 tablespoons of demerara sugar (I use raw Demerara or you can omit altogether)

Method

1. In a saucepan put the couscous, apple juice, mixed spice and raisins over a gentle heat and bring it up to simmering point and until it just starts to thicken.
2. In a flan dish or other type of low ovenproof dish, pour in half the mixture to cover the bottom.
3. lay out half of the apple slices evenly on top of the base of couscous.
4. Pour the remaining couscous over the top of the apples and smooth it out.
5. Now lay the remaining apple slices in a circular pattern over the couscous, slightly overlapping
6. Sprinkle the demerara sugar evenly over the apples, if using.
7. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown. You may need to turn it half way through if it is browning more on one side than the other.
8. You can serve it now by using a spoon - spoon portions into a bowl.
However, if you leave the pudding to cool down and go cold, the couscous will continue to swell and will become solid. It can then be cut into slices like a cake. It tastes just as delicious cold.
238 Calories per portion (a 1/6th of the dish)
You can ring the changes by using different fruits eg dried apricots chopped up instead of raisins, or different juice, like mango and apple, or a different spice.
It stores very well in the fridge for 2-3 days and can be reheated in the microwave in a few seconds.


Banana muffins
I devised these muffins last year and now generally always have some in the freezer as a healthy snack. You might find them more dense and chewy than your average muffins might be, but they get round my inability to eat wheat, dairy, eggs and sugar! Below is the basic recipe, but as I suggest below, I mix and match all sorts of fruits and spices in them.


1 cup pinhead oatmeal (or any type you prefer)
1 cup raisins
1 cup apple juice
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or nut of choice, or omit)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (more if you like it or substitute ginger or whatever)
Put all of these ingredients into a mixing bowl, give it a quick stir then cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave it to soak for a while - at least half an hour but I have left it several hours and even overnight.

Now add the last 3 ingredients

1 cup of wholemeal flour. I use spelt or rye, or you can use a cup of gluten free flour.
1 rounded teaspoon of baking powder and 1 level tsp of bicarbonate of soda (the raising agents)
Three ripe bananas mashed in another bowl to a purée – however, if you have a food processor then whizz them up until they are light and fluffy as this significantly adds to the lightness of the muffins as it adds a lot of air..

Mix everything together.
Now, if you like, you can add some extra fruit, such as a couple of chopped nectarines, or apples, or blueberries. These fruits stay whole and juicy and make it extra special.
In a 12 hole muffin tin, very lightly oil each hole. Because there's no fat in the muffin mix you can't use paper cases as it sticks so you have to oil the tins. You don’t have to oil if you use silicon muffin cases as they don’t stick to them.

Divide the mix between the 12 muffin tin spaces. They won't rise too much, so you can fill them right up.

Oven 180 C degrees (350F) for 25-30 minutes. My oven is fan assisted so you may need to adjust.

Leave to cool for five minutes before taking a knife and gently levering out of the tins onto a cooling rack (or popping them out if it’s silicon ones).

Delicious when warm but they get a bit tougher when they are cold. They freeze very well. I take one out of the freezer and defrost for 2 minutes and then on high for 20 seconds. This fluffs them back up again and makes them warm.

Instead of bananas I've used chopped and puréed apples as the puree mix and you can also chop lots of different fruits: peaches are great, as are blueberries and raspberries and also changed around the soaking mixtures to use pear juice or added cranberries instead of raisins. I’ve even tried it successfully with rice milk.

You can also do it in a loaf tin and cut into slices. In which case you have to bake it for 40-60 minutes. Does particularly well as an apple cake, that one. However, I like the muffins for portion size and so I can freeze them easily. They work out at about 150-200 calories per muffin depending on what ingredients you add, but they are quite substantial as a snack.

This may not be to your taste but it's what I have come up with to get round my intolerance to wheat, dairy and eggs and cut back on added sugars.