Nourishing Sweets and Treats

Here are some of the other recipes I mentioned wanting to share for the Nourishing Sweets and Treats Carnival. I've had a lot of fun with this and want to say Thank you to Kimi for all the work she puts into sharing good, healthy information with us!

In this post I will share recipes for Cranberry Chocolate Cookies, Apple Crumble and Vanilla Crème Sauce.

Cranberry Chocolate Oatmeal cookies



This recipe started as one from Sue Gregg’s Dessert book , so it was nourishing to begin with. Her recipe uses Kamut instead of wheat flour. I really wanted to try Kamut but could not find it anywhere. I made a few small changes to suit us. Here is my version:

½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup (1 stick) organic butter
1 egg
1 cup Sucanat (evaporated whole sugar cane juice) Read more about Sucanat here
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup wheat flour (freshly ground if possible) This is where you could use kamut.
11/2 cups rolled oats, ground to make 1 cup.
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup oats (old-fashioned, not quick cooking)
½ cup chocolate chips or bar broken into pieces
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Step 1:
Put cranberries in a bowl and cover with water. This will soften them.
Grind oats into a fine powder. I use a coffee grinder, a blender also works.
Set aside.

Step 2:



Place butter, egg, sucanat, and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk to blend.
(As you stir these you will be amazed at how good it smells! It is the sucanat).

Step 3:



Mix together flour, ground oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Pour into wet ingredients and stir.

Step 4:



Drain cranberries and add to batter. Also add oats, chocolate chips, and nuts. Stir to combine.


Step 5:
Drop tablespoons full onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Allow room for spreading.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet immediately and allow to cool.


My kids gobbled these up. They are tasty, but not too sweet. And..shock of all shocks, my husband, who generally does not care for cookies, and is not thrilled with whole wheat, said they were good!


You could try all kinds of additions to this recipe: raisins, other nuts, other dried fruit, more chocolate....



Apple Crumble

A simple, slightly sweet, apple dish. Serves 4.

I am very happy with how this one turned out. I started out with a recipe from the The Liver Cleansing Diet, but I changed the crumble topping so much that I feel I can now call it my own. I don't think butter is on the Liver cleansing diet! (The book does have some yummy recipes).

Here is the recipe:

6 Granny Smith apples, cored and sliced
(Since I used organic apples, I left the skins on. I would peel apples that are not organic).
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 Tablespoon honey
2 Tablespoons water
1/4 cup oats
2 Tablespoons shredded coconut
2 Tablespoons ground nuts (I used a mixture of sunflower seeds, almonds, and flaxseeds. Grind them in a coffee grinder)
2 tablespoons wholewheat flour
1 ½ Tablespoons maple sugar
2 Tablespoons melted butter



Place sliced apples, allspice, honey and water in a pot, cover and simmer until apples are soft (just soft - not mushy). When cooked, pour mixture into an oven proof dish.

To make crumble: Mix the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle this crumble mixture evenly over apples.





Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes (until crumble is golden brown).

Lovely served warm. Delicious served with Vanilla Creme sauce (recipe below)





Vanilla Crème Sauce

This recipe takes a little pre-planning. It keeps for 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. So make ahead if possible.

1 cup Cashews
1/4 cup and 2 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Soak Cashews in water for 2 hours. Drain.
Place soaked cashews in blender and add the rest of the ingredients.
Blend until creamy.

Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
Delicious on pies, crumbles and fruit.

This recipe comes from Jennifer Cornbleet’s book Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People . I love her book and DVD (Raw Food Made Easy). They really help simplify raw food preparation. Preview the book, including this recipe (and other dessert recipes) on google books (Click here).

The Nourishing Sweets and Treats Carnival is hosted at The Nourishing Gourmet. Hop over there and check out all the delicious recipes.