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Category: Anti-Inflammatory Recipes

Rough Puff Pastry Bite – Low-Sugar

Rough puff pastry bite plates are great anytime as appetizers when you need a sweet or savory snack, or something tasty for guest plates. These lemon tart ones (but not tart tatin) are easy baked desserts you can make…

easy rough puff pastry bite plate.

And in one kitchen session. They can be made with no fancy tools, even though they’re a twist on a French classic puff pastry…

Vol au vent which means “fly in the wind.”

…Was someone baking and there was a swirling fly? Well, the name’s story origin is that the pastry is so light and puffy that they’d fly away with the wind.

…And hopefully straight into someone’s mouth. 😋

But with its fancy name, don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s complicated.

Because it’s as easy as dare I say premade bought phyllo sheets (that believe it or not, I’ve never used before, but I do know you have to bake them too!).

…Which btw, so easy to make your own phyllo dough for baklava.

…And easy to make your own pastry dough (that’s more forgiving than say cake or bread, so you don’t have to be fully ON and can make it before you finish your warm morning drink).

For starters, you just need 3 easy ingredients… flour, cold water, and butter.

…that will make these layers.

rough puff pastry bite layers with low-sugar lemon curd and blueberries.

…And my favorite part is you don’t even have to remember to take the butter out of the freezer in advance… yep, you read me right… take it straight out of the freezer and start prepping with your flour.

You can use a pastry cutter tool or knife to cut the hard butter.

Cold butter helps against have to fight a warming pastry dough that you would possibly need to refrigerate-and-wait for more than once.

Because besides for better bake texture, it’s also easier to work with cold or chilled (as in rested in the fridge) pastry dough.

And that’ll let you chill out. I like to relax in chair pose while waiting. 😊

Since puff pastry puffs are best when cold set in the oven where it warms and steams, you can take your freezer butter out when you’re ready to start. Yay!

Wow… that was a longwinded mouthful (like the blow away wind tasty pastries 💨) way to describe why you want to use cold ingredients.

And worth the describing effort as cold vs. room temp dough is one of the the differences between a flat pastry and a puff pastry result.

I found it’s not the amount of butter, if fat or calories matter to you.

It’s a couple pats of butter (2 Tbsp) that’s all you need.

You don’t need a stick for a cup of flour, in order for the butter tastes to come through and for your rough puff pastry to do its magic in the oven.💕

So in a few ways, this type of pastry is much lighter than a cookie (that relies on butter).

And this has one additional magical ingredient… cold water. 🪄

You gotta love ingredients that are 0.00 calories and zero dollars.

And another thing I love about pastry is you don’t need to add sugar (unlike cake) for it to work.

…Or you can even make savory puffs (or both on a plate)… I’m thinking mushroom or cheese puffs. 💭 Along with dessert puffs.

But you’re only as limited as your food flavor imagination and ingredients on-hand.

Tip: If you do decide to add a runny or wet filling in the hollow part of the rough pastry puff bite, keep it mind if it’s jam or a runny sauce, it will ooze out of the pastry in the heated oven.

An option would be to bake in a little in and then add more at the end or toward the end, if you want your bites to look full or gem-stone like.

Like, I added ready-lemon curd to each blueberry rough puff pastry bite at the end.

That looks like an inviting nest or bright egg yolk.

rough puff pastry bite layers.

But I added frozen (…there’s that magical word again. 🪄) blueberries for the oven. I didn’t drain them to keep them from oozing out.

Draining them and drying them still brings them to warmer temps that won’t work as well as frozen ingredients to preserve shapes.

And making this method of delightful pastry is more about discovering optimal temperatures for dough prep and oven rise, and temps for ingredients, and how they work in and out of the oven than say flavors.

…Because the refined buttery pastry tastes will be delicious with or without additional flavors. I mean… have you met a croissant you didn’t like?  It’s like that. 😊

And for an optional glaze finish, I brushed whole milk instead of egg that works all around.

You can also bring out the pastry toward the end and do this step. Or omit dairy and add honey. But first you gotta bake ’em!

…And before that, now you’re ready to make them!

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Rough Puff Pastry Bite - Low-Sugar

These are easy pastry bites where you don't need to buy premade pastry sheets.
Course Appetizer, brunch, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American, French
Total Time 1 hour
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

  • metal cookie cutters
  • small kitchen knife and/or small kitchen palette knife
  • rolling pin (baking roller)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all purpose flour (add more as needed)
  • 2 Tbsp frozen or cold butter
  • 3 Tbsp cold water (add more as needed)
  • pinch of salt
  • whole milk or egg for shine (optional(
  • sweet or savory filling (such as lemon curd and blueberries, or vegetable and herb ingredients)

Instructions

  • Step 1: Make the pastry dough: Add a layer of flour in a mixing bowl to start. Use fork or pastry cutter to cut/add in the frozen/cold butter in small pieces. Add remaining flour and start adding cold water. Work in ingredients together evenly by hand.
  • Step 2: Make the lamination layers. This will give nice lines to the bake out of the oven. This is a dough you can work and not be shy with. and actually you'll want to roll out or use the palm of your hand to flatten out and then fold the dough into thirds (like paper or envelope folds).
  • Turn the dough 90° and do the same folds (they don't have to be exact). If the dough is too wet, add back a little (bench) flour on top and bottom of dough.
  • Step 3: Let rest/cool: Place pastry dough in a container with a top in the refrigerator and let rest for about 10 minutes.
  • Step 4: Bring dough out and roll out ontop bench flour to about 1/4" thick. Cut out 2 of the same shapes for each bite, creating a bottom and then a top that has a hollow (window) center. Easy tip for the top: use a knife and/or small palette knife and cut out a hollow rectangle, and from there you can shape with your fingers into a more defined rectangle, or even a circle. Or use small metal piping circles. They will puff up in oven and change shape slightly.
  • Step 5: Assemble the rough puff pastry top/bottom and add any filling(s) you want to bake such as frozen berries. You can add jam and curds after baked.
  • Step 6: Brush pastry with whole milk or an egg wash if you want a light pastry top shine.
  • Step 7: Bake at 375℉ for about 35 minutes on the lower oven rack until golden brown. If you want more of a dark and crunchy texture, bake 40-45 minutes total or until deep brown.
  • Step 8: Let cool and add any additional zhugh, glazes, or sauces to your pastry.

Don’t forget to eheck out more brunch ideas or low-sugar dessert recipes.

Apple Meringue Dessert (No-Bake Light and No Added Sugar)

Apple meringue dessert is a light dessert that melts in the mouth. It can be made deliciously satisfying with low calories (under 100 if you’re counting) and from natural tasty sugars in healthy foods.

apple meringue dessert

…Oh, and so easy to make and NO Bake. Its creamy texture is pillow dreamy to dunk into.

An apple meringue dessert with light and cinnamon flavors is great for balancing seasons, like in-between autumn and end-of-summer wanderlust when you’re craving fall vibes, but not just ready for pumpkin comfort season.

It’s got cinnamon that also helps with anxiety (…Vata feeling?) that flavorfully pairs beautifully with apples… any and all apples.

That includes your favorites.

Gala apples are the classic red apple to me and great for this.

But if you’re like me, you can be lazy, and ready-made 4 oz applesauce container cup will work great! And actually even better for a smooth dessert. And is light with around 50 calories. And a large egg white is about 18 calories so you do the light math (and light food math)!

Then it’s just a little mixing, spoon plopping, and folding in… 1-2-3 and you’re done! It’s a 5-minute prep dessert that makes me so happy when the season strikes!

…And maybe you too?

Because Vata season is upon us in the Western hemisphere (as September approaches). And if you’re a dominant Vata, then this’ll help you calm too.

That’s when back-to-school or nostalgic moods can strike… where you may not feel settled in transition and you can’t put your finger on what it is.

And your moods can be all over the place… like you like comforting fall vibes and vibrant summer colors and flavors so you settle on mustards and burnt oranges.

But an apple dessert like this can be enjoyed year-round. 🍎

You can omit the cinnamon and add in lemon zest. Or do both. And if it’s winter (or you’re feeling Kapha), add a little allspice that has cloves and/or cardamom. That’ll get you movin’!

And if you’re feeling like doin’ it easy, grab a 4 oz applesauce that you keep in your pantry and comes in handy!

Actually applesauce sometimes taste even more pure with cinnamon. It’s important to use unsweetened applesauce because apples are already sweet. And use cassia cinnamon (which is the usual cinnamon you find in the spice or baking food aisles).

And if you want to do some cookin’ you can take whole apples, and cut them into chunks. Then heat in a pot until they’re softened and turn into apple “butter.” There’s no butter. But it’s a thicker compote than jam.

Let cool and then mix into your bowl. And you’re good to go!

Don’t skimp on cinnamon. When you’re needing the balance, it’s so calming! And it’s good for the gut. It’s anti-inflammatory and a great substitute for sugar taste AND helps lower blood sugar.

This is the dessert using applesauce that is less than 5 minutes to make.

cinnamon in egg white dessert

For more flavors (and fun), I can think of more than just cinnamon to dunk into this… how about you?

apple meringue dessert
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Apple Meringue Dessert - No Sugar and Low-Fat

This is an easy dessert that you can make no-cook with applesauce.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

  • 1 handheld mixer

Ingredients

  • 1 4 oz applesauce, unsweetened
  • 1 tsp cinnamon spice plus more for zhughing
  • 1 egg white
  • 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  • lemon zest (optional)

Instructions

  • Mix the egg white on a mixer on medium for 2-3 minutes until fluffy. Add in lemon juice to help stabilize.
  • Add in applesauce and cinnamon. Alternative: if you would like a chunky dessert, use a whole apple instead. If you would like a smooth dessert using whole apples, cook apple chunks on medium heat on the stove until softenedd and turns into apple butter (closer to applesauce consistency). Let cool and fold into the egg white.
  • Zhugh with more cinnamon on top and/or lemon zest.

Notes

Tip: Since it's often hard to mix just one egg white with a mixer, you can add two and save the other half for another time.

 

You can also check out other low-sugar sweets and lighter, low-fat desserts.

Cottage Cheese Chocolate Mousse – Easy and Light Dessert

Cottage cheese chocolate mousse is something that’s light and full of protein. How easy is this delicious dessert to make? …Easy to very easy.

cottage cheese chocolate mousse bowl.

And these are the easy steps:

Step 1: Blend up cottage cheese (to get rid of the soft small chunks). You can use a Magic Bullet blender that’s easy. Add a little milk if needed. I added coconut milk. Water will be too thin.

Tip: For individual mousse single portions, you won’t need to add as much cottage cheese or ingredients to blend. Blending 1/2 cup of cottage cheese will work in a Magic Bullet

But to make a 6 oz. or more, maybe you’ll need to do 1 cup of cottage cheese (minimum) in a regular size larger blender.

Step 2: Then take about 1 oz chocolate either from a pure chocolate bar or morsels, and place in a heat safe bowl inside a larger heat safe bowl (bain marie setup). I broke up a regular dark chocolate bar. In other words, you don’t need to go to the baking section of the grocery store for chocolate. 🍫

It all works the same for melitng chocolate.

I added in coconut milk that’s a great add to melt chocolate. it’s like a ganache finish, but without any heavy cream. You can also use your milk of choice. You do you! 😁

With a double broiler (bain marie) setup, the chocolate won’t likely burn and the milk doesn’t curdle. You can microwave or heat water in a bowl and then add a smaller heatproof bowl or mug with the chocolate.

If you use a ceramic bowl, the water shouldn’t be that hot. I usually hold the heated water bowl without oven mitts, just to let you know that it doesn’t need to be that hot. (Use heated tea in a mug as a simple comparison).

After the chocolate bowl bathes in the water bath for a few minutes, the chocolate should easily melt. You can stir with a kitchen silverware utensil to encourage the bigger bits to finally melt quicker.

I like to use polyphenol-full dark chocolate to melt so it takes slightly longer than milk chocolate, but we’re talking unnoticeable seconds longer.

Step 3: Incorporate in the cottage cheese, that should lighten up the mousse. Hand combine until the mixture is even and smooth.

You could stop there for more of a chocolate pudding texture. but for a lighter mousse, add in some of a whipped egg white. That’s extra protein too. 😊

Step 4 (optional): In a separate dry bowl, whisk an egg white for 1-2 minutes on high where it will fluff up looking like a pillow cloud.

No sugar needed (like in a meringue). Why add if you don’t need to for better taste or texture? Healthy is good. 👍

It’s easiest to use a machine hand mixer (instead of a stand mixer) as they can handle one egg whipping and quickly.

…It’s similar thinking to using a Magic Bullet instead of a full-on size blender. 💭

Then add a little of the  fluffy  whipped egg white (meringue) to the melted chocolate (ganache).  You will find that you can use 1/4-1/2 of the voluminous fluffy egg white. And then you can use the extra meringue egg white to layer your final cottage cheese chocolate mousse dessert if you like.

Like this…  it kinda looks like chocolate marshmallow ice cream, but we know that’s not what this is…

cottage cheese chocolate mousse.

Or…

cottage cheese chocolate mousse bowl.
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Cottage Cheese Chocolate Mousse

This is a protein version of chocolate mousse dessert that's easy to make with cottage cheese and healthy enough for breakfast.
Course Dessert
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

  • Magic Bullet blender or regular blender
  • handheld mixer

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup cottage cheese
  • 1/2 Tbsp coconut milk or milk of choice
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 oz chocolate morsels or 2 Tbsp chocolate bits

Instructions

  • Make the melted chocolate. Setup a double broiler (bain marie setup) method with chocolate bowl set inside heated water bowl. Stir in the milk.
  • Blend the cottage cheese to smooth. Add milk as needed.
  • Pour cottage cheese into melted chocolate-milk mousse mixture.
  • Whip up egg white in a separate bowl for 1-2 minutes on the high setting on a handheld mixer, until light and fluffy voluminous.
  • Add some of the fluffy egg white to chocolate mousse. Add up to 1/4-1/2 of the egg white to your lightness preference.

You may also like summer light dessert recipes, and easy Magic Bullet recipes.

Cheesecake Bar – Feta Healthy and Lighter

Feta cheesecake bars are a great healthier dessert that can be a great protein starter with cheese, egg, and yogurt protein

feta cheesecake bars.

Crumbly feta is a popular cheese that you don’t expect in a cheesecake. It’s lighter (less creamy), delicious and more healthy than traditional cheesecake ingredients.

And in fact, feta cheese has more protein, calcium and probiotics, and is lower fat than most cream cheeses. It has lower lactose and is usually easier to digest.

Both the probiotics in the yogurt (or Greek yogurt) and feta supports gut health.

And the best part is… this is such a a simple cheeesecake bar recipe!

You can make this feta cheesecake in the same baking dish or cup you will be using in the oven. So it’s less than one-bowl easy!

In just a few mixing spoon strokes, and then baked in the oven… it’s made from start to finish in less than an hour.

Tip: use a white ceramic, light color, or glass baking vessel to keep it baking slower (and not as likely to burn sides).

If you have dark or metal pans, turn down the temperature and bake for a few additional minutes.

The feta cheesecake bar prep steps:

I added the egg, and whisked the egg to break it up first. You can also do this with a fork or spoon that would be just as easy.

Then I added the Greek yogurt (or plain yogurt), the feta cheese crumbles, and a drizzle of honey.

Then combined together with a few spoon strokes.

And a few dollops of strawberry (or raspberry) jam that’s a delicious pairing with the slightly salty feta and tart yogurt… oh, and the chocolate that will be added.

I remember when I was a teen and I worked at an Italian restaurant in the pantry, and I would take a bamboo skewer to make swirly designs with the dotted chocolate syrup in the dessert before it was carried out to the table.

And in modern times, I did my Jackson Pollock with melted chocolate. That was the art mood I was in. And you can use your creative mood into your cheesecake masterpiece. This is the batter before it’s baked.

It was all made in this baking vessel, so it’s not one-bowl easy, it’s no bowls simple bake and clean up.

The lines will work well with a presentation of cheesecake bars that this will turn into.

…And you’re probably wondering how square bars will be made out of an oval dish?

First bake in the magical oven.

Let cool.

You could serve your cheesecake in your baking vessel with no extra effort, but the squares or bars are nice to share.

So cut out a big rectangle.

Looking at the oval dish as a clock, with a knife, draw a cut from  2 o’clock to  4 o’clock, 4 o’clock to 8 o’clock, 8 o’clock to 10 o’clock, and 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock as corners). Then cut/divide into squares.

Lift up the squares with a small spatula (palette knife).

You’ll have extra sides to nibble on. 😋

And since feta cheese is less creamy, you get cheesecake pieces that could be guiltless picked up by hand.

feta cheesecake bars.
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Feta Cheesecake Bars - Simple and Healthier

These are healthier cheesecake bars with feta cheese and yogurt, that you can make in the baking vessel you will oven bake with.
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (or plain yogurt), thicker
  • 1 Tbsp feta cheese
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 Tbsp jam (strawberry or raspberry)

Instructions

  • Break up egg in baking vessel.
  • Combine in yogurt, feta, and honey with a spoon.
  • Add small dollops of jam and spread in with a toothpick or skewer.
  • Drizzle melted chocolate (optional)
  • Bake at 350°F/180°C for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Fruit Pastry Tart – Low-Sugar

Fruit pastry tart is so easy to make. And such a tasty dessert that can be made light with just a little butter. They’re pop in your mouth friendly for any occasion (and especially brunch gatherings).

You’ve probably seen fruit pastries at bakeries or French pastry shops yesteryear. They’re vintage. But not these on the plate that were just made.

These homemade ones are inspired by those past turn of the century desserts…

fruit pastry tart.

And I first saw them at a gourmet food market called Sutton Place Gourmet that’s now branded as Balducci’s. “Gourmet” was the word we used for foodie today.

The bakery section had the fruit desserts with strawberry, kiwi, and blueberry on a curd pastry base (that I now know how to make and you can too!).

Besides fruit colorful, they were one of the few individual desserts out there… as in, no need to share. So they stood out!

Plus, the desserts also had a shiny glaze ontop, even more than the one in my  strawberry gaze plate. 🍓🍓 They looked like shiny food magnets you’d stick to your fridge.

Those were the days that I worked in hotel catering.

And never back then did I think I would make these fruit pastries at home.

Each can get her own tart.

Also, below I’ll tell you how you can make a fruit pastry tart and keep this dessert recipe, low-sugar… with sweet and sour-tart tastes.

Basically, a tart tart. And a sweet tart (for the sweethearts 💕).

Oh, and you can also make these low-fat. I already pointed out the little butter than can be added.

…It’s a myth that you need a lot of butter to make pastry. I think we learned buttery habits from pies that are a kind of pastry.

It’s true you need a little butter (as in a pat or two, but not a whole stick). Measuring is not so important with butter in this application.

And unlike cake, neutral oil will not work well the same in taste or texture in a sweet pastry. If you’re a cake girl 🙋🏻‍♀️, see my butter vs. oil notes.

The less butter in pastry gives it a less buttery taste, but the compromise is well worth it if you want to keep it more healthy. The hint of butter tastes are definitely still there in moderation.

fruit pastry tart with strawberry, kiwi, and curd.

And you can still work with the dough to make pie and pastry shapes.

You can even make these checkered pie design (with you know the country cross hatch pastry pie-style 🥧)… or simply just place them on a checkered napkin 😊for a homemade effect.

The obvious simpler way (like the open-face fruit tart photo’d above) can be done easily with 5-10 minutes of total prep time, 35 minutes baking time, and 5 minutes or less curd (stove) making time.

There are 3 simple steps for a dozen or half-a-dozen fruit pastry tart: make the tart shells, curd, and arrange the colorful fruit (the fun-nest part!).

The prep steps are: bring out the ingredients (including the butter first to not forget like I often do) for the pastry, preparing fruit you’ll use, and separating an egg yolk from egg white for curd (easier to do when an egg is cold).

Some tips:

Save the egg white for a savory meal or a light, but protein-full dessert like cottage cheese chocolate mousse or a ricotta semi freddo dessert.

For the butter, since it’s a modified smaller amount used in this recipe, you can set it ontop of the stove while the oven is preheating. If you’ve got a standard kitchen appliance setup like mine, one or more of the stove burners turns warm when the oven is turned on (even though the stove itself is turned off).

Heat rises.

And as that happens, you can make the curd on the stove. They work great in mini fruit tarts too.

Like these (cute?) ones! I paired strawberry with tart rhubarb on a lemon curt tart that I’m taking to a picnic. Two tarts in one. 😋

They look like little dessert sushi. 🍱 And they make great catering dessert adds.

…Oh look, one extra for moi!

It looks a bit craggy, haha. Like a wheel that won’t go far!

But truth is, I never aim for perfect shapes. Good is good enough. Because I know they’ll get gobbled up in nanoseconds.

I kinda like that they’re rustic, as there’s no mistake that these are home made!

And make no mistake they are as delicious (if I may say so) when you pop them in your mouth.

…Did I already mention they have no added sugar (as a bonus)? 

I kept mine without added sugar (besides the sweetness in natural fruit).

But on that note, for a glazed look and to keep it low-sugar, you can add a healthy drizzle of honey that pairs well with the fruit flavors and especially well with pastry buttery flavors. This keeps the dessert bite sweet and in good balanced taste proportions…

The small amount of lemon curd goes exceptionally well with strawberry.

…Maybe serve with a strawberry lemon trifle parfait?

Some like raspberry, but I think straw-lemon is a heavenly balanced pairing. And butter and honey is on that same high level.

You’re in for a sweet treat (…even if it’s bite size sweet craving one!).

Ready to make this? 

fruit pastry.
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Fruit Pastry Tart (Low-Sugar)

This is a simple dessert that makes for a great catering table. This will make 6 mini tarts or 2 hand-size pastry tarts.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American, French
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp softened butter
  • 1 Tbsp water (plus more)
  • lemon curd (instruction below)
  • fruit of choice
  • honey (optional)

Instructions

  • Cut the softened butter into small pieces and incorporate (fully coat) into the flour. Use just enough water to bring the butter and flour together. The water will make up for the small amount of butter that will adhere to the the flour. Make a pastry disc. Cover and refrigerate for a few minutes.
  • Shape pastry in muffin tin. Bake at 350°F for about 35 minutes or until edges and bottom are golden brown. Let cool at room temperature.
  • Make the lemon curd. On low heat, combine 1/4 cup flour, 1-2 Tbsp butter, 1 egg yolk, and 1/2 tsp lemon juice or zest. Add the egg yolk last. Stir constantly so egg doesn't cook. Once the mixture comes together, remove from heat. Refrigerate for a few hours.
  • Add a small amount of curd in pastry tart shells. Add fruit of choice on top such as as seasonal berries.
  • For a glaze look you can drizzle a small amount of honey ontop.