ISO deserts, snacks- gluten free, sugar free, chemical free

Seraph

Sun, Sep 25 2011, 12:57 am

I'm looking for suggestions/recipes for deserts that are gluten free and don't contain any sugar. I want things naturally sweetened, no splenda, no stevia, no xylitol. I don't mind sweetening with honey, molasses, apple concentrate, dates, fruit, etc... but no processed white sugar, brown sugar, or chemicals. I especially would love recipes that are gluten free and sweetened with apple juice concentrate.

Also snacks that fit the bill. I know I can make popcorn, but other ideas would be nice.

I should also add that we're soy free and dairy free as well.

And if there's any chance that the recipes you mention can not be egg heavy, that would be terrific, but I'll take recipes even that are egg based.

Tova

Sun, Sep 25 2011, 2:49 am

Core and slice 6 apples. Add to pot along with 1 C water and a heaping teaspoon of cinnamon. Boil until soft. Delicious natural applesauce. Can double or triple. Can we served warm or cold - in the summer I serve cold in individual serving bowls with an apple slice or two for garnish.

Seraph

Sun, Sep 25 2011, 2:54 am

Tova wrote:

What kind of apples do you use? Because when I've tried doing it like that, it was pretty tart.

ra_mom

Sun, Sep 25 2011, 2:59 am

The way I do natural apple sauce that is sugar sweet, is peel core and cube cortland apples (the bigger they are, the sweeter the apple sauce will be). Place in pot and cover only 3/4 up with water. Bring to a boil, lower heat to lowest setting, and let simmer for 8 hours (overnight is good.) The long slow cooking brings out the natural sugars of the apples.

I also do this in the crockpot (with less water), on low for 12 hours.

Last edited by ra_mom on Sun, Sep 25 2011, 3:05 am; edited 2 times in total

ra_mom

Sun, Sep 25 2011, 3:04 am

Seraph wrote:

What type are cortland apples?
The only apple types I see here regularly are golden delicious, red delicious, granny smith, and occasionally gala.

Macintosh is similar. Or ask for cooking apples. I will try to find out what else you can use. (Probably gala from those you listed.)

Last edited by ra_mom on Sun, Sep 25 2011, 3:13 am; edited 1 time in total

Tova

Sun, Sep 25 2011, 3:05 am

Mine comes out best when made w/ Fuji apples. Not sure if you have that available. If you have the Kosher Palette (first one) it comes from there (the back, under Chanukah). They may talk about specific kinds of apples there.

Jewish Mother2

Sun, Sep 25 2011, 3:09 am

Seraph wrote:

What type are cortland apples?
The only apple types I see here regularly are golden delicious, red delicious, granny smith, and occasionally gala.

Seraph, we've had some beautiful apples this summer - I think they were called "sweety" and made great apple sauce without adding any sugar.

ra_mom

Sun, Sep 25 2011, 3:19 am

micki makes delicious poached pears
http://imamother.com/forum/vie.....rt=40

you can make natural fruit leather

baking apples cut in half, placed face down, cover and bake until soft

yOungM0mmy

Sun, Sep 25 2011, 5:49 am

for a snack, I love roasted chick peas - open a can and drain, spice to your hearts content (I like extra spicy, with cayenne pepper, etc), spray with a bit of oil if you want, and roast until they look like you want to eat them - I like them really crispy, almost like a bissli replacement.
you can also make your own potato chips - slice potatoes with a peeler to get really thin slices, then deep fry for a minute or so, and sprinkle with spices as soon as they come out. Alternatively, they sell http://www.tokyomango.com/toky......html to make chips in the microwave - fat free. I have used it, and it works great, you just need to do several batches before having a substantial amount to munch on.
Also, spicy butternut squash fries from KBD lightens up - slice thin, spice, bit of olive oil or spray, and bake.
For pesach I made a compote with apples, pears and peaches which was delicious.

Shopmiami49

Sun, Sep 25 2011, 7:30 am

Mixed nuts (not roasted) tossed with a beaten egg white and lots of spices. Roast on a low setting in the oven, stirring occasionally.

Food.com has a lot of recipes using chickpea flour and honey.

I made awesome black bean brownies and chickpea blondies. The brownies I sweetened with Splenda, but I'm sure you can use honey. The chickpeas use honey and fruit preserves.

Seraph

Sun, Sep 25 2011, 7:41 am

Shopmiami49 wrote:

I made black bean cake with honey for my sons' birthday party. It was ok, but nothing extra special.

I googled gluten free zucchini muffins and carrot muffins and they all called for sugar, etc...

Shopmiami49

Sun, Sep 25 2011, 7:50 am

Seraph wrote:

Shopmiami49 wrote:

I made black bean cake with honey for my sons' birthday party. It was ok, but nothing extra special.

I googled gluten free zucchini muffins and carrot muffins and they all called for sugar, etc...

The black bean brownies I made were delicious - try to find the link from Food.com for the recipe I tried out and you can compare it to the one you made to see if it interests you. The zucchini muffins I made were from I think Kaytlin's Kitchen blog (sp?) and it calls for sugar (I used honey) and whole wheat flour (I used soy, but you can use chickpea - same texture).

Shopmiami49

Sun, Sep 25 2011, 8:23 am

Seraph wrote:

Can you really just exchange sugar and honey in recipes?

No, not always b/c the texture comes out differently. But I always try - I'd rather chance it Smile

In the zucchini muffins, I found that it actually added to the texture.

nylon

Sun, Sep 25 2011, 9:40 am

Seraph wrote:

Can you really just exchange sugar and honey in recipes?

No, because the sweetener in honey is fructose which is sweeter and you have to account for the extra liquid in the honey. It also affects texture because honey is hygroscopic (attracts water) which is why honey cakes and cookies stay soft--I am not sure you could get a crunchy cookie. (By extension, this is why crunchy cookie recipes use white sugar, and chewy cookie recipes use a higher proportion of brown; molasses does the same thing.) Reduce the quantity by 25% (cup for cup... I'd have to do math to do it by weight as honey is heavier than sugar) and reduce the liquid in the recipe by 2 Tb for every cup of honey. I'd recommend using a milder flavored honey, as well.