I eat ice cream and brownies and think you should too.

Let’s face it – sometimes we need to indulge.  It’s fun, it’s normal, and best of all, when done smartly, it can be healthy!  This holiday season we experimented with various sweets.  I’ll be honest, nothing will ever be able to replace mom’s fudge, but I’m willing to bet most of you will agree the brownies and ice cream we made were a noteworthy substitute.  Three-year-old nephew approved in fact.  And honest to goodness…healthy.

Before I get to the recipes, here’s the skinny on the ingredients we used:

Chocolate

Chocolate, when in its true and unaltered form (raw cacao beans or powder), is a very powerful health food.  Raw cacao has more antioxidants than any food tested so far!  Crazy but true: the culprit we have spent all this time trying to avoid, the one we sinfully sneak after succumbing to a craving that’s powerful than our willpower, is actually quite good for us.  As more and more research pours in, the evidence keeps mounting.  There’re references to brain health, skin elasticity, cardiovascular health and even anti-cancer activity.  But wait!  The key to realize is that most of the chocolate products you buy (including my old favorite, the always-delicious but just never-good-for-you Reese’s Peanut butter cup) are processed, full of sugar and other stuff that isn’t really food, and contain so little actual cacao that they simply don’t count.  I agree, it’s a travesty.

Shopping Tip: Look for raw cacao powder for baking, ice cream, and no-bake brownies as well as the best hot chocolate drink you can imagine (ping me for a recipe).  If you’re craving a bar, look for 75%+ raw cacao.  We like Rapunzel brand organic cocoa powder.  

Oh, and "cacao," "cocoa," it's all the same thing, the former just sounds fancier I guess.  "Ca-cow."  Fancier?  Or something a rooster might say?  You decide.

Dates

Dates, when ground to a pulp in a food processor or blender,  and mixed with nuts and cacao powder make a wonderful sweet gooey bar that can proudly stand in for a doughy brownie, cake, or protein bar.  Did you know that apples, pears, figs, prunes and dates are the fruits highest in fiber?  Dates are also rich in vitamins and minerals, so be happy!  Eat a date a day.  A nice healthy date-based snack is a Lara Bar or a Pure Bar.  I love these little guys because 1) they taste amazing (try Peanut Butter and Jelly Lara Bars, you won’t be sorry), and 2) they have SO FEW ingredients, and they’re all real food!  Buy them in bulk on Amazon to save on cost.  You can usually get them for ~$1/bar vs. $1.50 and up in stores.

Shopping Tip:  If you can find bulk organic dates, awesome.  If you can’t, Earthbound Farm makes a nice packaged brand and they come pitted.

Coconut Milk 

Coconut milk is rich in calcium and B vitamins and one of the best fuels for healthy brain function.  We use it in our ice cream recipe, but if you're concerned about fat (even after me telling you that it's good fat, and you need it), you can use soy or almond milk instead.  

Try it at home:

No Bake Brownies

2 cups medjool dates, pits removed

1 cup raw walnut, almond and/or cashews (chopped in processor or purchased as pieces)

¾ cup cocoa powder

Water as needed (about ¼ cup all in)

1.      Place dates in a blender or food processor and process with a few tablespoons of water

2.      Add nuts and cacao powder.  Process until a moist, crumb-like dough has formed.  Add water if the mixture is dry.

3.      Spread into an 8×8 inch pan and press firmly into a solid brownie layer. Cut into bite-size squares and serve. (No baking!)

Makes 2 dozen small squares.

Ice Cream (The Almond Joy variety)

2 peeled bananas, frozen

½ can organic unsweetened coconut milk

3 Tbsp raw organic cacao powder

¼ cup almonds, chopped roughly

Combine frozen bananas and coconut milk in a blender and blend until smooth.  Add cacao powder and almonds and blend again.  Adjust any ingredient to suit your taste.  You may need to add liquid, either coconut milk, soymilk or water, to get it to be "pourable" and to promote smooth blending.  Refreeze for ice cream, or serve as-is if you prefer mousse.  The frozen bananas will make it chilly.  

If you're not a fan of coconut almond, substitute!  Throw in some frozen cherries or strawberries, replace the coconut milk with soy milk, and bump up the cacao powder a notch.  See how hard it is to not consume the whole batch in one setting!  And guess what?  If you do, it’s okay!  Because it’s all real food, and really good for you.

Makes a little more than 1 pint.

Putting it all together: