A few days ago I had lunch with friends at a popular vegan restaurant. It was a place that I had frequented often during my vegan days, but hadn’t been back to in years.
While soy and ‘faux meat’ just aren’t my thing anymore, the meal was nostalgic and tasty.
Then I overheard a couple talking at the table behind us. The woman was reading off the dessert menu and announced triumphantly to her dining companion that “these desserts are completely guilt-free because it’s all vegan!”
I nearly choked on my ‘faux meat’!
Guilt free?!? Cupcakes, cookies and parfaits….all made with cane sugar and grains. How exactly is this stuff guilt free?
Baked goods made with refined sugars are never guilt free. And masking sugar as ‘healthy’ based on the lack of animal products in the dish is just plain silly.
Eliminating refined cane sugar from our diets is one of the healthiest things we can do for ourselves. This fact has been proven time and time again in medical studies — far more definitively than any argument in defense of a vegan diet.
I got a little fired up about this whole subject of ‘guilt-free’ sugary desserts…and so I set out to convert one of the vegan desserts into a grain and refined cane sugar-free RHR creation!
This recipe for Zucchini Date Cake with Walnuts is made with ingredients that are truly wholesome, and in my opinion much more guilt-free than any dessert that contains cane sugar.
It’s the perfect way to use up fresh from the garden zucchini. Enjoy!
1 cup blanched almond flour
1½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg
3 eggs
3 tablespoons raw honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Banana, mashed
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
1 cup Green Zucchini, grated, water squeezed out
1 cup Dates, chopped
1 cup Walnuts, chopped
½ cup palm shortening
⅓ cup pure maple syrup
pinch of sea salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons arrowroot starch
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease an 8×8 cake pan with coconut oil.
Combine the almond flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl and set aside.
Combine the eggs, honey, vanilla, banana and oil in another bowl. Mix well and add the dry ingredients. Mix until fully combined.
Fold in the zucchini, dates and walnuts.
Pour batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and set. Remove from oven and cool before frosting. Enjoy!
Place all the ingredients, except the coconut oil, in a mixing bowl and beat until fully combined. Scrape down the sides and beat again.
Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the melted coconut oil, mixing until smooth.
Place the frosting in the fridge for 30 minutes before using. Store all leftovers in the fridge. Enjoy!
Calories: 291
Fat: 21g
Carbohydrates: 23g
Sodium: 228mg
Fiber: 3g
Protein: 5g
Sugar: 16g