Sugar cookie is one cookie that I get along with. It’s my kinda pairing. …Maybe yours too?
And with strawberry (or any berry), that’s berry good! 🍓 Like this plate of cookies is made low-sugar, gluten-free… and tasty good. Recipe below 👇
How this low-sugar sugar cookie recipe is different and can be cookie controversial is that there is no white sugar (or sugar crystal substitutes like Stevia that alters tastes).
With an optional light strawberry chocolate glaze at the end, you can keep this naturally low-sugar without missing a sugar beat! 🎉
Think of the strawberry seeds as sugar seeds 😊 And the gluten-free cookie crumbly bits falling off as sugar bits to please your sweet cravings.
This is a cookie challenge because with sugar in the name, NO table sugar doesn’t make sense… but if you’re like me, you’re up for the low-sugar challenge for your healthy body!
It’s a good balance FOR sweet taste buds with a healthy mix so there’s NO compromise.
And this is an EASY challenge because there are only 3 wholesome ingredients needed for this one-bowl sugar cookie to come together.
But it was not easy to come up with this on my end…
This was a journey… because I remember the crunchy hard sugar cookie vividly with sugar crystals on top shaped in dainty flowers with a whole in the middle that I once happily dreamed about. 🧒🏻
I had a sweet relationship with sugar.
…Never in my wildest dreams did I think making and eating my own cookies would be a typical Day in the Life that I’m happy about.
…And I never thought I’d graduate to making my own sugar cookie… without sugar crystals.
Maybe you get it because you too ate spoonfuls of sugar (and enjoyed every sugary food thing out there) like those of us who have a sweet tooth (or a full set of sweet teeth 😊)?
Thankfully for us who also aspire to healthy… the less sugar we eat, the less we crave and the fewer sweet taste buds as we get older.
That helps us align happy and healthy living.
Happy living is good for mental health.
And so if you want to add a glaze top to cookies and desserts, you can balance the healthy and happy ways (…and that’s what pleases my healthy and ex-catering self 😊).
Here on this plate I use a melted chocolate. I chose strawberry chocolate, but white or dark chocolate would work great too.
But in reality, most people use powdered sugar with a flavored liquid for a quick sweet glaze.
And that’s where sugar amounts can be over the top (in more ways than one!). ☹️
Because powdered sugar glazes are using another form of potent table sugar and even more white sugar, that’s not good and can tip the scales.
…AND you need a-lottta powdered sugar to make very little glaze. About 1-3/4 cup of powdered sugar is needed to replace 1 cup of granulated sugar… UGH!
So finding healthier ways like melting real chocolate is a smart and sweet tasty idea…
And you can happily smear the melted chocolate glaze on tops as you anticipate your cookie plate.
That’s one glaze that will go far! A mere 2 oz. of chocolate with a teaspoon of coconut oil will give the shine and get the job done for half-a-dozen cookies.
…You can make this no-guilt, low-sugar cookie batch in minutes when you get the sweet hankering!
It is anti-inflammatory healthy with the ingredients in the chocolate cake recipe below 👇… butdon’t let the healthy fool you.
Because this is a DELICIOUS and moist cake (you’ll see the batter below) that smells chocolate amazing from the oven when baking.
You may be surprised at the good food tastes and healthy, plant-based ingredients… and this may tip you in favor of becoming a healthy chocolate cake convert. 🧡
…Plus this chocolate cake has a melt-in-your-mouth soft cake texture like that from an ice cream sandwich or a packaged dessert with cream in the middle… 😋
On that note, you can add a cream in the middle or on the top… and maraschino or glace cherries too like in this ice cream illusion trio. 🍒🍦
Based on the previous descriptions, it’s hard to believe that mostly gluten-free flour is part of the chocolate cake mix.
Gluten-Free Flour
Since non-gluten flours are softer (and mostly used in this healthy chocolate cake recipe), you will need more gluten-free flour than if you were using all or mostly gluten flours like all-purpose flour commonly used.
Gluten-free flours will make a soft batter without gluten. So you will not need to use a mixer. All you need is a spoon to combine the wet and dry ingredients.
It’s so easy to mix that I even just used one of the plastic teaspoons I was using to measure in ingredients to mix, that works just fine. Less cleanup. 😊
This is the perfect lazy day bake!
And you can use a silver spoon (or messy whisk) to mix ingredients if you prefer (or whatever makes you happy!).
The batter consistency almost looks like chocolate ice cream. How fitting!
And what makes this cake special and low-sugar healthy is the special sugar choice…
Maple Syrup
Table or white sugar is not needed for most bakes to add sweetness. And it’s not needed in this cake recipe, as the more healthy sugar choice is maple syrup.
A little maple syrup goes a long way to sweeten… and is low glycemic which means it won’t spike your blood sugar the way table sugar would.
That’s good for anti-inflammatory benefits.
Vermont Grade A maple syrup is one of the best.
And you can easily source maple syrup all over the Northeast. Maybe even around their sugar maple trees. 🌳
I used maple syrup from the Adirondacks for this recipe below. But our Canadian friends are also well known for their maple syrup that’s part of the country’s tradition.
…It’s not just GOOD for pancakes. 🥞
Maple syrup is also a cooling food, so it’s a great sweetner choice for warm days, your Pitta stress and irritations you have in your life. 😊, and for ice cream cool chocolate cake…
This is where it gets happy and fun!
Pick Your Flavors
For your chocolate cake batter, you can lean into pure chocolate with just the cocoa in the recipe, or you can add sophisticated adult tasting vibes with ginger, coconut flour, or dark cocoa (more like an Oreo cookie vibe).
You get to choose your flavors before you bake… like when you’re in an ice cream parlor shop picking out flavors.
If you want a dark cocoa vibe, you can add black cocoa that will be a more intense cocoa. Think of the blackish color from the black cocoa as dramatic chocolate like in your cookies and cream desserts.
Keep in mind, adding dark cocoa will mean that it’ll take longer to bake as any time you have dark (blackish) color bakes (cakes, cookies, bread, etc.), they take longer than lighter bakes to bake.
And for this healthy cake, if you prefer more chocolate and pure chocolate tastes, you can add chocolate chip morsels (approx. 1-2 tbsps) where you’ll get pops of chocolates in your baked bites like a chocolate chip cookie. 🍪
And if you want to make this cake with chocolate coconut-y vibes 😋, you can include 1 tsp of coconut chips. And substitute the almond flour in the recipe with coconut flour that’s also gluten-free.
And for more choices and variety, if you don’t mind a spicy kick… pair with pungent ginger (that’s delightful!). You can add a teaspoon of ginger powder. Red (chili) pepper flakes also go great with chocolate.
There are very few baking spices that don’t pair well with chocolate! 🍫
Other Tips:
Flatten and even out your chocolate cake batter with a plastic lid. Dust with cocoa (or a little flour) so that it doesn’t stick. Easy peasy! No need for a rolling pin.
Also, you can pre-score cut your cake shapes before baking. Or use a round springform pan for a traditional cake if you will be making a round cake to more easily pop the cake out since the cake won’t be as springy like with a mostly gluten-flour cake.
You’ll know when it’s baked done when you can lift the bottom in one baking piece. Don’t over bake this one or you’ll have cookies! 🍪🍪
And technically, you could eat this without baking like a chocolate mousse and don’t need to bake this cake batter because there’s no egg, BUT for the decadent light chocolate cake texture (and not no-bake cocoa balls), pop it in the magical oven.
And if you want to use egg, you can. I did an experiment to see the rise difference and there wasn’t much. Can you tell which ice cream chocolate cake has egg?
…Didn’t think so.
It’s the one on the right that’s slightly fuller and higher but only by comparison. 🐣 You’d not notice the difference on a ready-to-eat plate.
So the choice is yours… to egg or not. Either way, enjoy these crowd pleasers for your next table party!
Healthy chocolate cake where you can make one 8" or 9" round cake or 4 - 3" wide cakes shaped in ice cream cone or fun cookie cutter shape (your choice). Great for parties and all ages!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Ingredients
1cupalmond flour
1/2cupalmond milk, plus additional (add as needed)
1tbspmaple syrup
1tbspcocoa powder + 1 tsp
1/2tspbaking soda
1tbspall purpose flour
1tspapple cider vinegar
11/2 tsplight olive oil (or neutral oil)
pinch of salt
Instructions
Mix ingredients by hand with a spoon. Almond flour is a gluten-free flour that will make a softer batter. Work in enough wet ingredients so the batter falls off the spoon together. The batter will be noticeably more grainy and less gloppy/smooth than a full gluten flour batter. For chocolate cake sandwiches, roll out to about 1/4 inch thick.
Bake at 325°F for about 20 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Don't overbake or you'll get cookies.Sometimes the bottom is still moist, so if you use a springform cake pan, you can take a small peek or simply add another 5-10 minutes to ensure it's dry at the bottom. When you bake at low temps and slow, you don't have to worry about burning your cake and still getting a little rise.
Tartufo can be your next dessert or even birthday cake you’ll be dreaming of. It’s kinda like an ice cream cake with an Italian vibe.
The recipe below is made with love and a mascarpone ice cream fitting for tartufo individual cakes that you and party guests will love. 💗
Tartufo is not a common dessert.
You don’t hear people talking about it much in everyday life, but this spumoni resembling one inside is a delicious party dessert! 🎉
As the name sounds, tartufo has Italian roots. Not only is it an ice cream cake, but it’s also a truffle or edible fungus.
And with a dome shape, it’s fitting for both.
It also has spreads its wings into other continents as others (like me) can’t resist…
And anyone who gets like a giddy birthday party girl over ice cream cake. 🎈
Facts about Tartufo:
First off, tartufo is usually made with gelato, but the cheese ice cream (recipe below 👇) I think is as delish and simple to make…
The ice cream is made with mascarpone cheese and yogurt and didn’t need an ice cream maker.
Mascarpone is a smooth and creamy cheese that when frozen has an ice cream texture. It’s kinda like cream cheese but more smooth and less sticky.
And if you’re looking for a dairy-free version, a tartufo with spumoni ice cream made from coconut oil is another delicious option.
Either way, the sweet and fresh pairing flavors add a tasty-dreamy reality. If you’re looking for spring color inspiration, this dessert could be the one! 🌱
And in the middle, what makes a tartufo extra special is biting into the surprise center that’s often a cherry, like in a cherry cordial… where the effect is different than a cherry on top like on a sundae that’s usually eaten first or put to the side. 🍒
If a cherry alone excites you (like it does me)… then you may want to stop reading and start making this! 💕
And if you aspire to healthy desserts and low-sugar 🙋🏻♀️, the healthy ingredients include Greek yogurt, pistachios, Pandan, cherries, coconut oil, and honey…
So you’re getting adult ingredient tastes and low-sugar healthy sensibilities that good for longevity and especially if you follow an anti-inflammatory or Mediterranean diet.
And it’s not just the healthy dessert aspects you’ll love… it’s an easy (no bake dessert recipe) to make that can easily be shared!
And the last bit that everyone will love is the hard chocolate shell that gives a dessert ice cream bar vibe that always put smiles on faces of all ages.
This recipe is for a dessert plate to share for 1-2 people.
Course Dessert
Cuisine desserts
Author Brandy@HealthyHappyLifeSecrets
Ingredients
1/4 cupGreek yogurt, plain and unsweetened
1/4mascarpone
Pandan gel
2tbsppistachios, chopped
extra pistachios, finely chopped for topping
1tbsp raw honey
2tbspchocolate for top coating
Instructions
Mix mascarpone with chopped pistachios and a drop of pandan gel until you get a consistent green color.
Add plastic wrap inside your small bowl with an overhang for easy pullout so that the cheese doesn't stick to the bowl. Add the mascarpone cheese to the bowl. Freeze for at least 30 minutes. Then add a layer of the Greek yogurt that will be the bottom layer. Add the surprise cherry or sweet treat in the middle. Freeze again. Make your melted chocolate. Onto plate: drizzle honey at the bottom and add your tartufo.
Pour melted chocolate quickly ontop of the frozen tartufo, and add fine pistacho crumbles before the chocolate sets. Freeze again.
About 30 minutes before you're ready to eat and enjoy, bring out to room temps from the freezer. Serve and enjoy.
Cocoa balls are a fun way to ring in the holidays. ✨They’re festive and healthy! And these shiny ones are made from dark cocoa and natural peanut butter. No baking needed.
Working in event planning for a decade, I learned to be creative with food to decorate a plate for events like this…
The ingredients are simply rolled up and then dipped in melted dark chocolate… and then zhughed with some fun nonpareils. The recipe is below. ❣️
…I love how a little uniform tiny confectionary dots can add a smile that reminds me of childhood innocence. I’m easily amused. 😊
Old-fashioned nonpareils bring a nice, FUN texture candy crunch or sprinkle to a party table. I’m sure Girl Meets Farm Molly Yeh would agree with me. 🥳
And their perfectly round shape balance an imperfect confectionary creation for us imperfect humans.
We can put our own stamps on these cocoa balls.
These ones could have been cocoa powder dusted (like a chocolate truffle) with a dry look.
But I think the step of giving a tempered chocolate coating-look bring some added happy temperaments. 😋
Getting a best melted chocolate coating without making a ganache is seconds-easy, and healthy with plant-based ingredients like dark chocolate that’s also anti-inflammatory healthy.
Then you can roll these cocoa balls into their fun paper candy holders that are ready to be shared or popped in your mouth.
…I guess you could say these please the girl scrapbooker in me that likes anything paper and dainty you could use for parties! 🎊 A piñata and a few balloons never hurt either! 🎈
Then with any extra melted chocolate you have leftover, while still wet and room temperature, you can mix in peanuts, raisins, other nuts, or dried fruits to make a healthy snack or plate decoration.
And this type of festive Fiesta plate can be one of your dessert table centerpieces that you can make in advance and set out.
For parties, it’s always good to make more than you think you will need, so you can plate up quickly if needed.
And actually, I could’ve turned this plate into a decorative wreath piping in green leaves and red accents or adding mint leaves and glace maraschino cherries like on this Christmas bundt cake if I wanted to get all decked out. 🍒
Another simple and festive no-bake recipe you can add to your festive table is mint chocolate biscuits.
Lemon cookies are one tasty way to brighten up your holiday and Christmas cookie baking fun. 🎄
At first, it may sound strange to bake in lemon during the holidays.
…Because when we think of Christmas cookies, we traditionally think of chocolate, pistachio, or spices for Christmas-y vibes… and not summery lemon-y ones.
…But actually lemon is a winter fruit as most citrus fruits are.
Tip: you can buy lemons in the grocery stores in the winter months and freeze them for year-round use. You can save money this way as lemons are abundant in winter and when their price falls.
And these two healthy-inspired lemon cookies warm up the holiday baking season and festivities…
How to make these lemon strawberry and lemon rosemary cookies are step-by-step below… ⬇️
…So now that we’ve established lemons 🍋 are great, tasty year-round ingredients, they’re also super healthy.
Lemons are loaded with Vitamin C and full of limonene that’s an antioxidant.
And not only body healthy, the sunny lemon yellow is going to put anyone in a good happy mood… while brightening up tastes.
…Just ask those in the Mediterranean regions where cooking lemon into the daily diet for longevity reasons is a happy way of life.
Healthy Lemon Cookies
And so… in search of making one happy, anti-inflammatory lemon cookie, I was inspired by using healthy oils (no butter) and more healthy, natural sugar sources that have vitamins.
…But that was waayyy before I started baking all of my own sweets including cookies (my favorite!) for consumption…
Actually, I used to play a game with myself in the cookie grocery store aisle where I would find the healthiest cookie in a package with the smallest amount of sugar for the tastiest effect.
That was how I defined high cookie value.
Those were the day before I discovered how easy it is to bake your own cookies (that’s faster than if you go to the store and back).
And if you’re trying to lower your sugar intake (that’s a good idea! 💡) but love cookies, tart lemon is a great ingredient dimension add to cookies so the focus isn’t on sugar.
…The sour taste buds are doing a front row Radio City Rockettes happy dance with the secondary sweet buds behind. 👯
Like in this celebrational plate of healthy cookies with a strawberry lemon drizzle dessert surprise (made of Greek yogurt and buffalo mozzarella) in the middle.
Clockwise from left to right: lemon strawberry cookie, lemon almond thyme cookie, spiced cookie
Baking in healthy ingredients is anti-inflammatory for skin and gut heath.
And making a cookie without butter or white sugar of any kind — that’s also deliciously tasty, holds together, and is crunchy (wow, that’s a mouthful!) — similar to store-bought cookies, is a dream come true! 💕 ..
And these lemon cookies with strawberries 🍓 fit the bill. They’re zesty and sweet in every way…
…Maybe that’s where zest-for-life came from?
And you can make lemon cookies like these with mostly healthy ground almond flour where you can save money by chopping your own whole almonds with a machine.
Recipe below.👇
…Or you can make a thyme-rosemary lemon cookie that’s Mediterranean-diet-lemon-and-olive oil healthy.
Since you’re using oil instead of butter for this cookie, you don’t need to refrigerate or cool the dough before rolling out as an added bonus.
For the flour for those lemon cookies, use gluten-free flour like coconut or almond flour (again).
And for the sweetness, use a tablespoon of honey or maple syrup.
Those sweet ingredients also act as binders along with the olive oil. Honey is great for moisturizing in dry, winter months and maple syrup for cooling down in hot months. But either are great year-round!
You can measure the healthy EVOO, but it’s much more fun if you look at cookie making as a new adventure like the wonder you had as a kid. 💭
…In your wonder, you can take a cup of flour and make a mound. Then, make a small well in the middle (like you would if you were making pasta) and add a tablespoon of olive oil in the well and start combining… and see what happens.
You’ll probably see that you need more oil to hold the flour together.
Try another tablespoon of EVOO. Then add a tablespoon of honey (or maple syrup).
Then add lemon zest from one lemon, and you can also add your herbs like rosemary and thyme.
Keep combining and adding a little bit more of the ingredient amount you need, like more olive oil…
Cookies are super forgiving. 😋
When the cookie dough can hold together with crumbly bits falling off, that’s when you know you will have a good cookie crunch when fully baked.
Place a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper on top of your dough, and roll out the dough (or flatten dough with the palm of your hand for imperfect cookies).
Then you can form your cookies into the shape you like by hand or cookie cutters.
Bake on 325°F on the higher baking shelf for about 12 minutes. I like to flip the cookies (from bottom to top) about 5 minutes before they’re done so they are baked more even as the bottoms get brown faster.
Lemon cookies also tend to burn quicker than darker color cookies like gingerbread cookies, another favorite for this ‘lil Miss Cookie Monster! 😋
Use a chopping processor machine to chop almonds to a fine almond flour or use store-bought almond flour. Combine with all ingredients except bench flour to make the cookie dough.
Add bench flour to your working surface and roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shapes and add to a baking cookie sheet with a non-stick surface (Silpat or use baking spray).
Bake on 325°F for about 12 minutes or until sides are golden brown.
