Sweet

I've always been pretty interested in healthy eating (although I haven't always eaten healthy) and when we were expecting Inara, I knew that I wanted to make the right choices both for her and for myself. If I want to be there for her and be able to grow old and see what she gets up to in life, it's my responsibility to try to stay healthy. Besides, I have a lot of unfinished business out there myself.

We've been able to avoid sugar almost completely with Inara so far, but it just seems cruel to say no if I'm eating a cookie in front of her, so I figure that the best solution is to just minimize sugar for us as well. Lately, it's become sort of a game to try to find recipes for tasty treats without sugar, or to change some old favorites into healthier options. The tricky part really isn't to go sugarless when it comes to baking, the tricky part is to avoid all the hidden sugars in stuff like ketchup and yoghurt. I'm not a fan of artificial sweeteners, light products, food colorings or unnecessary preservatives either, so shopping sometimes takes a bit longer. 

A couple of months ago I tried a completely sugar and fat free recipe for chocolate muffins and was floored by how delicious it turned out. I just felt I couldn't keep this to myself, so here is the recipe (originally from http://rasmartmamma.wordpress.com/category/glutenfritt/):

  
In Swedish:

Råsmarta chokladmuffins, 10 st              
2 dl mandlar
3 ägg
2 dl dadlar
1 banan (väl mogen!)
1 dl havremjölk
2 dl havregryn
1 dl kokos (jag uteslot detta)
5 msk kakao
1 msk bakpulver
ev. en liten skvätt agavesirap

Mixa först cashewnötterna till mjöl i en matberedare. Tillsätt övriga ingredienser och kör vidare tills du har en jämn smet. Dadlar varierar i sötma, så smaka av smeten och tillsätt eventuellt en liten skvätt agavesirap för extra sötma –behövs inte alltid! Smörj en muffinsplåt med olja och ”bröa” med kokos, klicka i smeten i formarna. Grädda i 200 grader i ca 12-13 minuter. Känn på dem, de ska vara fasta men inte helt hårda.

In English:

Rawsmart Chocolate Muffins (10)
1 cup raw almonds
3 eggs
1 cup dried dates
1 ripe banana
1/2 cup oatmilk
1 cup oats
5 tablespoons coco
1 tablespoon baking powder
If needed, a small amount of agave

Grind the almonds in a food processor until they're a fine powder. Add all other ingredients and mix thoroughly. Since some dates are sweeter than others, you may need a dash of agave, but I didn't. Grease a muffin tin (or use paper molds). Bake at almost 400 F for 12-13 minutes. They should be firm, but not dry. 

Let me know what you thought if you decide to try it! 

Trying the big kid swing.