Archive of ‘Featured’ category

Cakes and Cupcakes, Featured, Grain-Free, Low Carbohydrate, Paleo/Primal, Sugar-Free

Healthy Vanilla Coconut Cake (Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free) + A Tribute to My Beautiful Mom

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This is the story of a very special cake. 

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 A cake meticulously tested and frosted with care for the woman who encouraged my creative endeavors from day one. From the moment I could hold a paintbrush to the instant I started my blog back in 2008, she told me that I was talented and more importantly, that if I tried my best, that was enough. Without her support, I might never have grown confident enough to share my recipes and photos with the world.

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This cake is a token of my appreciation for the woman who lifted me up with her boundless love, generosity, and unshakeable belief in my abilities. In college, I went through a trying period of personal growth and transformation. Without Mom to talk me through it, it would have been far more difficult to see the light rays peeking through the storm cloud.

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Cakes and Cupcakes, Dairy-Free, Featured, Frosting, Low Carbohydrate, Nut-Free, Sugar-Free

Happy Easter! Healthier Carrot Cake Recipe Update (Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free)

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Happy Easter, y’all! Here in the Healthy Indulgences household, we’re serving up my Sugar-Free Carrot Cake with our holiday dinner.

Here’s my updated version of the old Sugar-Free Healthy Indulgences Carrot Cake (check out the photos! Pretty big difference between now and 4 years ago, huh? :D), with a couple of tweaks to make it even more delicious. It’s still gluten-free, sugar-free, and diabetic-friendly, at just 8 carbs per piece! It can also be made nut-free and dairy-free with a couple of modifications (see below!). 

The measurements listed work well with the wonderful non bitter pure stevia powder found at TJ’s. Have you hopped on the Trader Joe’s stevia train yet? I’m hooked! Hoping to see a larger bottle for sale in the future, ’cause $9.99 per oz is a bit steep for prolific bakers like yours truly. If you, too, are burning through stevia and would like to write to TJ’s about selling their pure, lactose-free in bulk, you can email them here. Once you’ve sounded off, don’t forget to come back for this fabulous cake recipe! 😀

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Featured, Grain-Free, Holiday and Seasonal, Low Carbohydrate, Paleo/Primal, Pies and Tarts

Paleo Pecan Pie with a Secret Ingredient (Low Sugar, Gluten-Free)

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Before I wax poetic about Thanksgiving, let’s all take a moment to watch the greatest Thanksgiving commercial of all time, starring the two salt shakers pictured above. My life as a Florida resident was enriched every holiday season by the sentimental holiday ads from Publix grocery store. 

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Beverages, Dairy-Free, Featured, Holiday and Seasonal, Paleo/Primal, Pumpkin, Vegan

Secret Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (Sugar-Free and Better Than Starbucks!)

What’s the secret to making a healthy, diabetic-friendly version of Starbucks’ infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte at home? 
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It involves real pumpkin, fresh spices, and a crock pot! You’re gonna brew up a batch of your own PSL flavored coffee creamer, so that you can have this nourishing and delicious treat every morning on the go! A few glugs of this sweet nectar of the gods (it’s that good!) will transform your coffee into something magical…

Homemade Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte

DId you know that the Starbucks version doesn’t contain any actual pumpkin?! 

The best part about making PSL lattes at home is that you can control the sugar and type of milk used. The recipe below is sugar-free and dairy-free! It’s made from a blend of creamy cashew milk and coconut milk, which creates an amazingly rich, silky smooth “cream” that lightens coffee just like dairy cream!

To keep this treat diabetic-friendly, I sweeten it with natural, calorie-free sweeteners called stevia and erythritol. You could use xylitol as well (3/4 cup xylitol = 1 cup erythritol), or mix erythritol and xylitol together for an even better sugar-free sweetening option. Keep in mind that xylitol will cause your blood sugar to rise, whereas erythritol and stevia will not. I like adding 2 Tablespoons of xylitol to the recipe below for an extra boost of sweetness. (*whispers* Find out why you need to combine sugar-free sweeteners in the Healthy Indulgences E-Cookbook!)

To make this paleo, simply swap out the sugar-free sweeteners for maple syrup or coconut sugar. 3/4 cup of maple syrup should sufficiently sweeten the creamer.You’ll want the Pumpkin Spice Creamer to be quite sweet since it’s a concentrated mix that gets diluted by coffee, so keep that in mind if you’re adding your own sweeteners. 

So, how can we make a PSL coffee creamer that tastes like pumpkin without any chunkiness from the pumpkin puree? I’ll show you how!

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Bread and Muffins, Dairy-Free, Featured, Fruit, Grain-Free, Holiday and Seasonal, Low Carbohydrate, Paleo/Primal, Vegan

Almond Flour Biscuits + Pumpkin Apple Butter (aka Fall In a Jar!)

These paleo biscuits will rock your world.

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 Slathered with Pumpkin Apple Butter, which tastes like a cross between pumpkin pie and apple pie, these biscuits will satisfy the fiercest of carb cravings.

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Sugar-Free Pumpkin Apple Butter make your house smell the best it’s ever smelled, getting you in the mood for pumpkin spice lattes and color changing leaves and knit scarves and all of the other seasonal accoutrements taking over storefronts and Pinterest.

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Brownies and Bars, Cakes and Cupcakes, Featured, Holiday and Seasonal, Low Carbohydrate, Pies and Tarts, Pumpkin, Sugar-Free

Holiday Indulgences: Sugar-Free Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

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Pumpkin. Gooey. Butter. Cake.

If you’ve heard of Paula Deen, you know what this awe-inspiring seasonal dessert creation is. Or more importantly, how it tastes. When I made this for my family as a freshman in high school, a new holiday tradition was born. We couldn’t stop eating it, and somehow a day after Thanksgiving there was nary a crumb in the pan of leftovers.

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