It’s easy to feel left out around the holidays when everyone is indulging in gluteny, sugary treats that won’t work with your body.

But don’t forget there’s a world of amazing treats for you too. You just need to make your own and I’ve got four easy ones that require no baking. They are low sugar, gluten free, dairy free and good enough to serve to anybody, even picky kids (just don’t tell em’ it’s healthy).

But yes it’s true, these Paleo treats are pretty darn healthy, one of them even includes an easy to digest veggie, pumpkin.  And they are yummy and really fun. I had just as much fun coming up with these recipes as I had eating them.

Some caveats. If you don’t do well with chocolate just leave it out, the recipes are just as good without it.

Also, these recipes are not for you if you have nut or coconut allergies. And if that’s the case I have an alternative suggestion for you.

It’s a miracle flour you can be substituted, 1 for 1,  for regular flour in your favorite Holiday recipes. And it’s full of gut-healing resistant starch that feeds good bacteria in your large intestine. It’s cassava flour. And you can use it to bake your favorite holiday cookies without the gluten reaction.

Paleo “Unoreos”

Ingredients

One or two bananas, chilled in the fridge

A can of coconut cream (this is not coconut milk but the thick, solid cream of the coconut)

1/2 cup of coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup of carob powder

optional: 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract or cinnamon

How to

Mix the melted coconut oil with the carob powder and mix until the lumps are gone. Add cinnamon and/or vanilla if you like those flavors.

Take the bananas out of the fridge, peel and slice into rounds

Use a toothpick or two to dip the banana into the warm coconut oil. If that’s too hard and time consuming, I have an easier method. Spread the banana slices on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and pour the carob mixture over it.

Use a measuring cup with a pouring spout for easier pouring.

Let it sit for a bit, then turn over and pour the rest of the mixture on the other half of the banana slices.

Put the cookie sheet in the fridge to cool for half an hour. If you want to eat it faster put it in the freezer for 15 minutes.

When they’ve hardened, spread a little bit of coconut cream on one banana slice and sandwich another one on top of it.

Your healthy banana carob coconut treats are ready to serve!

Pumpkaroons (pumpkin macaroons)

Ingredients

(makes 8 muffins)

12 ounces of pumpkin puree
1/2 cup of shredded coconut
1/2 cup of cashew flour (can substitute almond flour)
1/4 cup of coconut oil (melted) 2 tablespoons of pistachios
3 tablespoons of pistachio butter (can substitute almond or cashew butter)
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon of salt
optional: 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom
optional topping: 2 tablespoons of coconut butter (break it up with a spoon till it is easy to sprinkle over the pumpkaroon muffins.

Homemade Chocolate

1/4 cup Cacao butter
1 heaping tablespoon of honey
2 to 3 tablespoon of Cacao Powder
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla

How to

In a bowl, mix together shredded coconut, cashew flour, and pistachios first.

Add pumpkin puree and nut butter and mix well. I just used a fork to mix everything.

Add vanilla and optional cardamom or pumpkin pie spice if you prefer that.

Melt coconut oil and pour into the mixture and incorporate well.

Line a muffin pan with muffin liners and divide the batter between the muffin liners. This recipe makes about 8 muffins, so I made them in two batches or you can use another muffin tin if you have one.

To make the chocolate you melt the cacao butter then same way you melted the coconut oil. I simply submerge the whole jar in boiling hot water and pour off the melted bit into a bowl. I mixed the chocolate in a measuring cup with a pouring spout.

Add cacao powder and mix. Start with 2 tablespoons, mix well, add honey and taste. If you want the chocolate to have a stronger flavor add one more tablespoon. Add vanilla and mix.

Pour the chocolate over the pumpkaroon muffins and add an optional sprinkle of crushed coconut butter on top.

Put in the fridge for one hour for the oils in this recipe to harden.

Coconut trailmix bars

Ingredients

3 tablespoons of chocolate chips (I used the enjoy life brand)

1/2 a cup of coconut butter, finely pulverized like snow.

1/2 cup of melted oil

1 cup of your favorite dried fruit and nut mix: I used mulberries, golden berries and pumpkin seeds

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin spice

optional: if you want this to be pretty sweet add a tablespoon of raw honey or maple syrup. I used some lightly sweetened, chocolate coconut butter which I packed on top for extra sweetness. I ordered Nikki’s coconut butter from Amazon. It’s a treat in itself you can eat out of the jar. If you haven’t tried Nikki’s coconut butter, it’s a healthy snack for recovering sugar addicts. My favorite is the Vanilla Cake Batter. I ration it out because it’s priced like gold. But it’s hard to overeat this stuff because of the filling, healthy fats.

How to

Melt the coconut oil and add the vanilla extract to it.

Mix together chocolate chips, fruit and nuts mix in a bowl.

Throw in the pumpkin pie spice and pulverized coconut butter.

Spoon the mixture into a regular muffin tin, lined with paper muffin cups, or use a silicon muffin tray.

Fill each muffin mold half way, then pour the coconut oil on top to cover it.

Use a spoon to mix the dry ingredients with the oil inside the muffin molds. Spoon more of the dry ingredients on top and pack down. I put some pulverized chocolate coconut butter on top of my trail mix treats.

I even made another version of this where I added sunflower seed butter to the cups. This recipe definitely invites improvisation.

Put the muffin tin in the fridge for an hour for the trail mix treats to set.

Cashew Cream Cupcakes

 

Ingredients

1 cups of cashews (that have been soaked in water over night and drained)

1 lemon, juiced

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon of salt

2 Tablespoons of maple syrup

2 Tablespoons of ghee or coconut oil

1/2 can of coconut cream *

1/4 cup of chocolate chips

1/4 cup of cashew butter

1 or 2 sliced figs (or your favorite fruit for garnishing)

optional: 1 teaspoon of grass fed gelatin (for a boost of nutrition)

optional: 1/2 teaspoon of orange liquor

How to

Soak cashews over night and drain the liquid.

To make the cashew cream, put cashews in your food processor with the lemon juice, salt and vanilla, maple syrup, coconut cream, melted ghee or coconut oil and optional gelatin and process until its smooth.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and put a dollop of cashew butter in each and divide the chocolate chips between them.

Spoon in the cashew cream mixture until full and top each cupcake with sliced  figs.

Put in the fridge for a couple of hours for the cashew cream to solidify. If you are an impatient type like me you can put the in the fridge for half and hour and in the freezer for 20 minutes and enjoy quicker!