Paleo Sweet Treats

I love sugar - I mean, I really, really love sugar.  One of the things that helped me begin this paleo/primal journey was the amazing blog of Mark Sisson - the idea of permenantly giving up chocolate for example was waaaaay too hardcore for me.  Mark espouses the idea of eating 'primal'- paleo, but with the inclusion of sensible vices, for example very dark chocolate :)  I can eat dark chocolate and coffee with heavy cream and still be healthy???  I'm in!

Did I mention how much I love sweet things?  I'm also not going to give up the occasional delicious sweet treat, but something I discovered in my Paleo journey is that foods do not actually have to contain a lot of sugar to taste sweet to me, or to satisfy those cravings for something sweet and comforting.  The following are some of my favorite super quick, super easy and super kid-friendly treats.

Paleo Pancakes

This is a recipe I have seen in various forms in various places, but mine is probably the simplest, and the best!

- 1-2 ripe bananas
- a handful of almond meal or coconut flour (I prefer the taste of almond meal, but if you are avoiding excess omega 6 then go for the coconut flour)
-2-4 eggs



Mash banana, and combine with beaten egg and almond meal or coconut flour  Drop spoonfuls into a preheated pan liberally greased with either grassfed butter, or if you prefer, coconut oil.  Make them small - they are more difficult to turn than 'regular' pancakes.  Serve as-is, or for a more decadent treat serve with some heavy cream and fresh berries.

These make a gorgeous weekend brunch, and are a great way to get protein into picky kids.  You can adjust the amounts of egg and banana to make it as sweet as you like (I like it with as little as 1/2 a banana to 3 eggs, but my kids prefer it a little sweeter) and remember, the more butter the better!  They also make a great 'plate' to take to a function where there is unlikely to be any other sweet treats that you would be happy to eat or serve to your family.

Chocolate Truffles

-This recipe was inspired by a product I bought for my children along the same line.  It was expensive, $2.50 for 5 'balls' and a lot higher in sugar than I would have liked, as it was mainly dates.  My girls assure me that my truffles are better!

-dates
-nuts of choice (I like a mixture of almonds and brazil nuts - for the selenium)
-unsweetened cocoa powder
-coconut threads or more cocoa powder for rolling

In a food processor, combine the 1 part dates with 2 part nuts, and a generous handful of cocoa powder.  Process on high speed until well blended and then shape into balls with your hands.  Roll in either cocoa threads or cocoa powder to coat and refridgerate.  These make a great addition to school lunches, or a healthy dessert.

Blueberry Soft Serve

Instant delish!

-1 part frozen blueberries
-1 part coconut cream

Using a stick blender whizz the above together until blended.  The frozen blueberries give the concoction the consistency of soft serve ice cream.  For added texture I like to throw in a handful of almonds before blending (although my kids prefer it without).  This serves one person generously, and is a great quick snack with loads of good fats from the coconut cream.  Alternately you can use coconut milk in a higher proportion and any other fruits that you prefer and serve this as a smoothie.