Category: salted caramel

Chocolate Cream Pie (DF, GF, & Egg Free) {THM:S}

If you’ve been craving Chocolate Cream pie but can’t handle dairy or eggs..I’ve got you! You won’t be missing either with this delicously creamy chocolate pie! I think I see more allergen friendly recipes in this blogs future!

Before sharing this recipe: The hands on part is minimal, but it does take several hours to fully set, so plan accordingly!

We had a smallish gathering for Thanksgiving this year & (as usual!) I got healthy dessert responsibilities!!

My entire family has been friends with my one of my brother in laws family since before I was even born…..& it was his chocoholic sisters request. She doesn’t really do dairy or grains & my sister can’t do dairy or eggs…so..challenge accepted!

I give to you….Chocolate Cream Pie that’s Dairy, Egg, Grain, Gluten, & Sugar Free! It may seem like there’s nothing left to create a pie without having any of those options, but trust me…there is! My whipped cream & milk chocolate loving little sister LOVED it.

I was quite surprised with how well it turned out since it was an experiment, so I immediately had to go make it 2 days later to ensure I had everything written down correctly as I got requests for the recipe. Such a hardship, I know…I had it for breakfast and afternoon snack this week. 🙂

I’ve had requests to share what ingredients I use, so I’ll just highlight a few….I plan on doing a master post of my ingredients for future reference.

I buy 99% of my grocery items from my local health food store, Golden Harvest Market, so available brands may vary, but at least you’ll know the gist of the ingredients.

Coconut milk: I use the Field Day brand for Full Fat & Light (or whatever happens to be on sale!) . You may be able to find Goya or Thai Kitchen which are both comparable.

Coconut Cream: I used the Thai Kitchen brand. Do not confuse it with CREAM OF COCONUT which is full of sugar!

Sugar Free Dark Chocolate Chips: I used the Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips, as they are completely dairy free. Feel free to use another brand, such as Bake Believe or THM’s own chocolate chips. I have not made this recipe using another brand so I cannot vouch for how they melt. NOTE: 9 oz. chocolate chips is the equivalent of 1 1/2 cups.

85% or darker chocolate (finely chopped) may be used, but you may need to increase sweetener as desired!

Sweeteners: My favorite sweetener is THM’s own Xylitol Free Gentle Sweet. It does not (to me!) have a strong aftertaste and the majority of people that are not sugar free do enjoy the baked items I’ve made with it. Xylitol is a HUGE no-no in my house since there are 2 EXTREMELY nosy dogs that live here & some of my family members can’t handle xylitol.

Swerve Confectioners Style is my go to for sweetening cream since its already ground and therefore it doesn’t have to be whipped until dissolved, which lessens the chance of overwhipping your cream.

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Chocolate Cream Pie (DF, GF, & EGG FREE) {THM:S}

All the chocolatey goodness of a Chocolate Cream Pie but Dairy Free!
Course: Dessert
Keyword: chocolate, dairy free, dessert, egg free, gluten free, keto, Low carb, pies
Servings: 8

Ingredients

CRUST

  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 3 Tablespoons Gentle Sweet or equivalent of other on plan sweetener
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
  • ¼ cup coconut oil, melted

FILLING

  • 2 teaspoons gelatin
  • 2 Tablespoons cashew milk or other nondairy milk
  • 1-13.66 oz. can full fat coconut milk (see notes on how to use light coconut milk)
  • ¼ cup gentle sweet
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1-9 oz. bag sugar free dark chocolate chips, or other on plan chocolate
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

TOPPING

  • 2-13.66 oz. cans full fat coconut milk, chilled
  • 1½ Tablespoons Swerve confectioners style sugar, or other on plan sweetener, powdered
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°

CRUST

  • Combine all crust ingredients except for coconut oil & whisk together using a fork or whisk until no lumps remain.
  • Add melted coconut oil to mixture & mix together with fork until completely blended. Press firmly onto sides and bottom of a 9-inch pie pan. (Using a measuring cup or tamper to press it down work well.)
  • Bake for 12 minutes. Set aside to cool.

FILLING

  • Sprinkle gelatin over cashew milk in small bowl & let soften for several minutes.
  • Heat coconut milk, gentle sweet, & salt together in pan over medium low heat until hot, but not boiling, stirring once or twice to ensure all sweetener granules are dissolved.
  • Add softened gelatin to coconut milk mixture and whisk together to dissolve all gelatin.
  • Place chocolate chips in a bowl and pour hot coconut milk mixture over chocolate chips.
  • Let mixture sit for 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth & stir in vanilla.
  • Cover bowl and refrigerate until mixture is set, 4 hours or overnight.
  • Once mixture is chilled, remove from refrigerator & using handheld mixer, beat on high (I use a small kitchen-aid hand mixer and high is 5 on it.) for about 3 minutes, or until mixture is creamy and slightly lightened in color.
  • Scrape into prepared pie crust & smooth top.
  • Press a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of filling & refrigerate until set, about 2-3 hours
  • Once set, top with whipped coconut cream

TOPPING:

  • Open cans of chilled coconut milk & scoop out ONLY the SOLID CREAM into a bowl. (The thin, watery part can be used in other recipes, like lentil soup or smoothies!)
  • Add sweetener & vanilla extract to coconut cream & whisk together using hand mixer on high speed for about 3-4 minutes, until sweetener is dissolved. It will stiffen, but not to the point of regular whipped cream.
  • Spread cream over top of pie or pipe it on decoratively using a large frosting tip.
  • Garnish with shaved chocolate or a chocolate glaze, if desired. (Any recipe would work for it, but the glaze from the Peanut Butter Cookie Muffins comes to mind.)

Notes

You may use low fat coconut milk in place of full fat.  If doing so you’ll need to increase the gelatin to 4 teaspoons (up from 2 teaspoons). Follow the directions, but if when softening gelatin it’s not completely moist, add a few more drops of nondairy milk until it is. (no more than a teaspoon or two extra should be needed.) 
Any on plan chocolate may be used, if using a milk chocolate you may want to decrease the sweetener.
1 can of coconut cream (not to be confused with CREAM of coconut!), may be used in place of the 2 cans of full fat coconut milk. You may need to decrease the sweetener as it will yield a slightly lesser amount than the 2 cans.
I like to use the Swerve confectioners style sweetener as it doesn’t leave a gritty feel and seems to help stabilize the coconut cream.
When covering the pie filling, I like to spray the plastic wrap with cooking spray to prevent sticking.

White Chocolate Raspberry Pie {THM:S}

A lightly sweet, deliciously creamy & rich pie!

Ahh, it feels good to be back with an actual recipe!

I feel guilty on occasion sharing pictures of my creations, because while I thoroughly enjoy making a 25 step, 60 ingredient, 2 day-process dessert recipe, I know there are MANY people out there who do not share in that joy. I imagine they groan when they see me sharing those pictures, because WHO ON EARTH has TIME to do THAT!?!?!

It’s now become my goal to share more ingredient, time, & shopping list friendly recipes with you all, so I don;t have to hear groans. 🙂

This recipe came about whilst (once again!) I was at work testing a seasonal cream pie recipe. (It was a Pumpkin Cream Pie recipe, in case you’re wondering!). My mind is now OVERFLOWING with variations of pie recipes to bring you.

Mint Chocolate Chip, anyone? How about Peanut Butter Chocolate…..Coconut Joy…..Pumpkin….Lemon Gingersnap?? (I think you get the picture. I hope to bring you those recipes & more this fall!) Any other suggestions from you, my dear viewers?? I love suggestions & welcome the challenge.

This pie is on the rather rich & sumptuous Heavy S side, what with the almond meal crust, cream, chocolate, & neufchatel cheeses, so you will easily be able to get 10 servings out of this. I like to enjoy it as my snack or meal, rather than an add-on to my meal.

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White Chocolate Raspberry Pie {THM:S}

A lightly sweet, deliciously creamy & rich pie!
Course: Dessert
Keyword: dessert, gluten free, Low carb, pie, raspberry, sugar free, THM-S
Servings: 10 slices

Ingredients

  • 1- 9 inch pie crust of your choice, baked (I like to use about 3/4 of this recipe, with the cinnamon omitted)
  • 2 cups heavy cream, divided
  • ⅓ cup Swerve confectioners style sugar (or equivalent of other on plan sweetener)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup sugar free white chocolate chips (I prefer the Lily's brand.)
  • 2- 8 oz. pkgs. neufchatel cheese, softened
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
  • 2-6 oz. pkgs. packages fresh raspberries, divided (it will be approximately 2 2/3 cup raspberries, TOTAL)

Instructions

  • Bake pie crust of your choice & set aside to cool.
  • While crust is cooling, whip together using either a hand or stand mixer, 1 ⅔ cups of heavy cream with the vanilla and sweetener until slightly stiff peaks form & set aside.
  • Over VERY low heat or in top of double boiler over barely simmering water, melt white chocolate chips and ⅓ cup heavy cream together, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.
  • Whip the Neufchâtel cheese until smooth, using either a hand or stand mixer.
  • Add melted white chocolate mixture, salt, & lemon juice to neufchatel cheese and whip until smooth again, scraping bowl down as necessary.
  • Add half of raspberries (you could probably use all of them if you so desire, I just like to garnish the pie with them!) to neufchatel cheese/white chocolate mixture & mix on low until mixed in and pie is lightly tinted pink. (There will still be chunks of raspberry.)
  • Fold ½ of whipped cream into berry mixture and scrape into cooled pie crust, spreading to fill crust evenly.
  • Either pipe or spread the remaining half of whipped cream decoratively over top of pie.
  • Garnish with remainder of fresh raspberries and a few white chocolate chips if desired!

Notes

Divided amounts for ingredients:
Cream: 1/3 cup for melting white chocolate, 1 2/3 cup for remainder of recipe.
Raspberries: 1-6 oz. package or 1 1/3 cups per step.

Until next time!!! Stay safe….& eat pie!

Caramel Cashew Swiss Meringue Buttercream {THM:S}

This Swiss Buttercream Frosting is the perfect combo of sweet, salty, caramely-ness!

By this point you all are probably wondering if I even cook, and probably imagine I spend all day every day baking and eating said baked goods. No, I promise I do love to cook just as much (or even more) as I love baking, but baking is definitely my first love. After all, I got started in the kitchen when I was about 4, baking biscuits!

I do intend to post savory recipes at some point, but I have more baking/sweets recipes than savory ready to go, so you’ll have to suffer through sweets recipes for a bit yet.

Savory recipes are much harder for me to write down, since I’m a add-a-pinch of-this, add-a-dash-of that, add-a-doonk-of-this, add-a-splash-of-the-other-thing type of cook, so it takes me a bit longer to get a savory recipe written out.

I’m very much looking forward to sharing those savory meals with you…but for now….here’s another frosting recipe, which is my personal favorite! I do have a few more flavor variations on the way, so stay tuned!

I first created this recipe a little over a year ago for one of my sisters birthday, whose taste buds run along same lines as mine, so it was a TREAT to create this one. (Pardon the picture size…when I made this a year ago, I didn’t have my camera with, so these are phone pictures. I hope to update them soon, but I haven’t had a chance to yet!)

It also the cake I chose for my first Trimmiversary, December 2018.

I created a layer cake with it by doing this:

I made the batter for the Magic Salted Caramel Cupcakes (Trim Healthy Table, page 379), but instead of turning it into cupcakes, I poured it into 3 greased, parchment lined, and floured (I used Oat Fiber) 6 inch cake pans. I then baked them for about 25 minutes. Let cool slightly and then run thin knife around edge of pan to make sure cake is completely separated from pan, and turn out onto a parchment covered cooling rack. Let cool completely. (I made this late in the evening so I didn’t have time to finish it, so once it cooled to room temperature, I stuck the layers in zip-lock bags and put them in the freezer until I was ready for them.

The drizzle and topping is the caramel sauce for the cupcakes.

Print Recipe

Caramel Cashew Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Ingredients

  • ⅔ cup swerve brown sugar (or other on plan brown sugar like this one from Gwen's-Nest.) See notes for measuring Swerve brown sugar.
  • 3 large egg whites
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened and cut into 1-tablespoon pieces
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ t. caramel extract (Feel free to swap out for another flavoring!)
  • 1 cup cashew butter (You may use any nut butter in this. Peanut butter is DELICIOUS!)

Instructions

  • Combine sweetener, egg whites, and salt in bowl of stand mixer; place bowl over pan of simmering water. Whisking gently but constantly, heat mixture until slightly thickened, foamy, and registers 150 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 2 to 3 minutes.
  • Place bowl in stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat mixture on medium speed until consistency of shaving cream and slightly cooled, 1 to 2 minutes.
  • Add butter, 1 piece at a time, until smooth and creamy. (Frosting may look curdled after half of butter has been added; it will smooth with additional butter.) Once all butter is added, add vanilla and cashew butter; mix until combined. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light, fluffy, and thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds, scraping beater and sides of bowl with rubber spatula as necessary.
  • If final frosting seems too thick, warm mixer bowl briefly over pan of simmering water. Place bowl back on mixer and beat on medium-high speed until creamy.

Notes

If you don’t have Swerve brown sugar, just use the equivalent of sweetener of your choice, and add a small amount (1/4-1/2 t. of blackstrap molasses).
When measuring the brown sugar, crumble it into your measuring cup and then lightly level it off. If you pack it in it will be VERY sweet!
This frosting can be made up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container. When ready to frost, place frosting in a microwave-safe container and warm briefly on high power until just slightly softened, 5 to 10 seconds. Once warmed, stir until creamy.

Making THM my own, part 2 {THM:FP w/S options}

What better way to stay warm & cozy while the snow keeps falling than with a cup of this Fuel Pull Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate!

No recipe this time, just another edition of my tweaks to approved THM recipes! (Check out my first edition here!)

These are both Fuel Pulls, which star as way to either round off your meal or to have as a light snack.

#1 Instant Cookie Dough Protein Bars (FP), Trim Healthy Table, page 428 (follow recipe directions).

I multiply the recipe by 8. I figure if I already have the ingredients out, I may as well make it worth my while!

Here’s what I do to tweak it:

1. Replace the pressed peanut flour with an equal amount of powdered almond butter. (Find it here or at your local grocery/health food store.)

2. Replace the gentle sweet with an equal amount of Swerve confectioners style sweetener. This will make the bars smooth, with no graininess from the gentle sweet.

3. Use the amount of water called for in the recipe, replacing 2 teaspoons of it with 3/4 teaspoon caramel flavoring, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring.

4. Replace 1/2 of the chocolate chips with an equal amount of finely chopped nuts of your choice.

5. If making the 8x recipe, increase the salt to 1/4 teaspoon TOTAL.

For dividing these up, I have used a silicone bar pan like this or else I press it evenly into a 8 or 9 inch square pan lined with parchment paper baking or plastic wrap. Pop it into the fridge to chill, then remove from pan and cut it into 8 pieces.

If you want to turn these into a S, simply increase the butter by 1/2, or double the chocolate chips or nuts!

#2 THM Chocolate Whey Protein (find it here, check at your local health food store, or use another on plan chocolate whey protein!)

I debated even sharing this, as it is SO extremely simple, it’s not even a recipe!

I’m not even sure if people need this, but considering this is one my favorite ways to get a little extra protein and my favorite bedtime snack, here goes!

Salted Caramel Protein Hot Chocolate -16 oz.

Fill your 16 oz. mug with 1/2 water and 1/2 cashew milk (or other nondairy milk of your choice).

Pour all but about 1/3 cup of it into small pan and heat to just below boiling. (It’s important it’s not boiling. Read why below!)

Add 1 scoop (1/4 cup) chocolate whey protein powder, 1/2 teaspoon caramel flavoring, & a pinch of salt to milk in mug and blend well until smooth, using a battery operated whisk (or pour cold milk into blender and add whey protein.. blend on low until smooth).

It’s very important to dissolve the whey protein powder in COLD liquid. If you add straight hot liquid to the whey, it’ll curdle & who wants to eat curds and whey unless you’re Little Miss Muffet?!?

Add hot milk to cold milk mixture and blend just until completely mixed and all protein powder is dissolved.

Enjoy!

If you’re wanting to turn the hot chocolate into an S instead of a FP, there are a few options:

1. Add a few Tablespoons of 1/2 & 1/2 to your milk/water mixture.

2. Top finished hot chocolate generously with homemade whipped cream.

3. Add a Tablespoon of butter, coconut oil, or ghee when blending in the last step. If you do this option, it’ll fit in the Deep S category which concentrates only on the most pure and healthiest fats.

Feel free to switch out the caramel flavor for other flavors/extracts. I haven’t tried many, but I’d imagine any berry flavorings would be delicious, as would be mint! Leave out the salt if you’re switching out for other flavors.