DANIELLE AT HOME

Dessert

Watermelon and Strawberry Popsicles

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I love summer, long evenings, camping, days at the lake and all the yummy food and treats at a cook out! Does anything beat it? I really don’t think so. With the first summer celebration coming up on Wednesday (Canada Day!) Although were staying home and having a bbq for two (thanks COVID). I still wanted to find a refreshing, easy, healthy and delicious summer treat to make. Enter Watermelon and Strawberry popsicles! Not only are these delicious, but dessert is already made for Canada Day.

Watermelon Popsicles

I wanted to create a popsicle that was healthy and guilt free. I find I reach for fruity treats often in the summer and I’d rather them be a healthy option. These popsicles are simply blended fruit! Yep that’s all, there’s nothing more to it.

Ingredients

  • Watermelon
  • Strawberries
  • Lime Juice

Just blend your fruit together until smooth, pour into popsicle tray (I used this one), freeze and enjoy. Isn’t that insanely easy? Yep! These were fun to make too so I think it would be fun to involve your kids in making them as well.

Healthy Popsicles

Watermelon and Strawberry Popsicles

I’m sure you noticed there was no sugar or sweetener in my ingredients list. That’s because I find the blended fruit plenty sweet enough. But if you want things a bit sweeter, or your fruit is a little under ripe you could add a tablespoon or two of honey. Of course you could just use sugar, but I like to keep this natural whenever possible. Plus honey and watermelon is a winning combination!

Now you could make these popsicles adult by spiking with your liquor of choice, you could add extra lime and tequila for a watermelon margarita popsicle (YUM!). Or place an unskilled popsicle in a glass of champagne or prosseco for a super fun cocktail! Just make sure you mark which tray is for the grown ups!

I know I’ll be making these all summer long and I hope you all do too! Enjoy and stay safe this Canada Day (and 4th of July).

Danielle xo

 

Healthy Popsicles

Watermelon Strawberry Popsicles

A healthy sugar free summer treat.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Freeze Time 6 hours
Total Time 6 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 10 popsicles
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups watermelon
  • 1 cup strawberries
  • 1/2 lime, juiced

Method
 

  1. Place fruit and lime juice into a blender. Blend until smooth.
  2. Pour into a popsicle mould and place in the freezer. Freeze for a minimum of 6 hours.
  3. Run under warm water to release from trays and serve!

Notes

Optional:
If you like things more sweet add 1-2 tablespoons of honey.
If you want to spike these popsicles add 6 tbsp of your favourite hard alcohol.
Adapted from The Pretty Bee.

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Squares

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I have a major treat for you today! Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Squares!! These are so yummy!!! And guess what they don’t contain any sugar! I love to bake with natural sweeteners and this recipe fits the bill perfectly.

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Squares

I got the idea for this recipe from Ambitious Kitchen, Monique is such an inspiration to me and I’m so glad I adapted this recipe.

These Rice Krispie squares would be great as a healthy Valentine’s Day treat. If you or your partner are anything like me and my husband your still working on your 2020 goals and need to keep things pretty clean this Valentine’s Day. This hits the spot, although I am going to miss having a heart shaped box of chocolates or a couple of yummy linzer cookies!

These Rice Krispie squares are rich and satisfying. The peanut butter base is sweetened with maple syrup and flavoured with vanilla (I wish all PB tasted this good!). The top is covered in a this layer of quality dark chocolate and sprinkled with flaky sea salt!

My mouth is watering just thinking about eating these again!

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Squares
Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Squares

What makes these so YUMMY!

  • Natural Peanut Butter – lets you control the sweetness and packs a punch of PB flavour! The Costco Brand is my fav!
  • Real Maple Syrup – My go to natural sweetener, and it’s vegan!
  • Vanilla – A must is every recipe!
  • Ground Flax Seed – Adds a nice boost of fibre and Omegas!
  • High Quality Dark Chocolate – My favourite brands are Green & Balck’s or Theo. My favourite dairy free brand is Lily’s.
  • Flaky Sea Salt – Creates that salty sweet combo we all love!

Tips For the Perfect Bar

  1. Heat the peanut butter mixture over low heat. If it’s too high the peanut butter will stiffen up and the bars won’t hold there shape.
  2. When cutting the bars pull them out of the fridge for at least 10 minutes before you slice them. Bonus points if you use a hot dry knife to get nice clean cuts.
Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Squares

I love how this recipe turned out. I may have to sneak into the deep freeze tonight and grab one. I hope they make you and your sweetheart as happy as they make me!

Danielle xo

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Squares

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Squares

Rich and delicious but guilt free. Sweet and delicious peanut butter rice krispie squares coated with dark chocolate ans sprinkled with sea salt!
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Chilling Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 16 bars
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Base
  • 2 tbsp Coconut Oil
  • 1 cup Natural Peanut Butter
  • 1/3 cup Maple Syrup
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • pinch Salt
  • 2 1/2 cup Brown Rice Rice Krispies
  • 2 tbsp Ground Flax
Chocolate Coating
  • 1 100g Dark Chocolate Bar (70% cocoa or higher)
  • 1 tsp Coconut Oil

Method
 

  1. Line a square baking pan with partchment paper. Grease lightly and set aside.
  2. Melt coconut oil over low heat in a medium pot. Add peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla and salt. Stir over heat until smooth and well combined. Remove From heat.
  3. Add rice krispies and flax seeds to peanut butter mixture. Stir to combine.
  4. Press rice krispie mixture into prepared pan.
  5. Microwave dark chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave. Microwave in 30 second incriments stiring between. Pour over bars and spread evenly.
  6. Refridgerate bars for atleast 1 hour before serving.

Notes

Adapted from Ambitious Kitchen

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

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Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all are enjoying your holiday weekend with family and lots of pumpkin pie! Today I thought I would share my Pumpkin Pie Smoothie. It’s creamy delicious, tastes like desert, but packed with healthy ingredients. Sweetened with maple syrup and it’s entirely dairy free! So yummy it can pass as breakfast or dessert!

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Smoothie!

For this recipe I use pumpkin puree, this is the unsweetened pure mashed pumpkin. That’s what you want for pretty much every recipe out there. We will add our own spices and sweetener. Pumpkin is full of Vitamin A and Vitamin C, it’s also super nutrient dense so it’s perfect for a smoothie.

I use a frozen banana in this recipe to keep the smoothie creamy and super cold. You won’t really taste it but it adds natural sweetness and keeps things cold. The sweetener for this recipe is maple syrup, being Canadian maple syrup screams Thanksgiving for me, but you could toss in a date or two if you’re really watching your sugar source. And of course no pumpkin pie would be complete without a little pumpkin pie spice, here’s a link on how to make your own blend if you can’t find it in the store.

Last but not least lets talk dairy, now something you don’t know is I’m actually about 80-90% dairy free. I cut dairy for my skin, but theres still a few things I can’t give up, like cheese. So I only have dairy when it’s truly worth it to me, like on holidays or in my very favourite dishes. Since we eat at other peoples homes so much this time of year I’m strict on dairy when I’m cooking for myself. This recipe is make with almond milk, coconut yogurt (this is the best brand I’ve found!) and coconut whipped cream ( I use this one, so yummy). Of course it will taste delicious with dairy products, but I thought I’d share just incase you struggle with dairy as well.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Smoothie!
Vegan Pumpkin Pie Smoothie!

As for the process for this recipe, well it’s pretty simple. Dump, blend, top and enjoy!

My husband was super skeptical of pumpkin in a smoothie, would it taste good, would it be too healthy tasting, or to make it delicious would it be so sugary that it really shouldn’t be eaten at breakfast? In the end he was really impressed!

This really is a must try for the fall and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Smoothie!

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

The creamy, delicious flavour of pumpkin pie without the guilt. A perfect festive breakfast, or a guilt free dessert!
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings: 2 small smoothies
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/4 cup dairy free yogurt (I use coconut yogurt)
  • 1/2 frozen banana
  • 1 tbsp real maple syrup (more or less to taste)
  • 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 cup nut or dairy free milk (I used almond)
  • prepared coconut whipped cream (optional)

Method
 

  1. Add pumpkin, yogurt, banana, maple syrup, spices, and milk to a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and top with coconut whipped cream if desired.

Notes

This recipe makes two small smoothies, or one large one. When I make this for breakfast I have one large one without whip.
 
Optional add ins/swaps:
  1. If you eat dairy feel free to use regular yogurt and milk.
  2. Swap maple syrup for a date if you want a more natural sugar source.
  3. Add flax, chia or hemp hearts to increase nutrition.
  4. Protein powder can be added if desired.

Spiced Pear Galette with Maple Whipped Cream

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My first dessert recipe of fall is a spiced pear galette! And it’s topped with yummy maple whipped cream, I’m so excited to share it!

Fall and winter desserts are my favourite. Rich chocolates, spiced fruit and delicious pumpkin are by far my favourite flavours for dessert. So today I thought I would share a galette. It’s a fun and super simple twist on the classic fall apple pie!

Spiced Pear Galette

A galette is essentially a freeform pie with only a bottom crust, it’s insanely easy and totally forgiving. It’s a rustic dessert, the edges should be jagged and rough. If you’ve even made pie you know that sometimes it’s not easy to get the dough perfectly rolled and placed. Although some of my ugliest pies have been the most delicious!

I chose pears for this dessert simply because they are one of my favourite fruits, there delicious and just don’t get as much attention as apples this time of year. I only started baking with them over Christmas last year, but I was blown away with the flavour they bring to a dessert. They’ve always been a favourite snack but now there a favourite dessert!

Spiced Pear Galette
Spiced Pear Galette
Spiced Pear Galette

I decided to leave the skin on the pears in this dish, I find pear skin much softer then apple so I didn’t think it would be a problem. Plus it’s much prettier this way in my opinion.

Now as for the spice mix, I just used a classic apple pie spice, if you can’t buy the mix in store here’s a link to how to make it. I could have played around with the spices more but I really wanted a classic flavour with a twist. So I used lots of apple pie spice.

Now the whipped cream! Of course you could top your galette with deliciously creamy vanilla ice cream, but I thought a flavoured whipped cream would be better for this yummy dessert. So I added maple syrup instead of sugar to heavy whipping cream. It’s so yummy I now want to put it on everything!

This dessert would be perfect for Thanksgiving, or just a simple Sunday dinner. I hope you give it a try and love it as much as I do!

Spiced Pear Galette with Maple Whipped Cream

Spiced pear filling on top of rustic buttery pastry, finished with slightly sweet maple whipped cream.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Chilling Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Servings: 6
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, French
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Crust
  • 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup butter, cold and cubed
  • 1/4 cup shortening, cold and cubed
  • 4-8 tbsp ice water
Filling
  • 3-4 small pears, sliced (1/8 inch thick)
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 3/4 tsp apple pie spice
  • 1 tsp corn starch
  • pinch salt
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • turbinado sugar
Maple Whipped Cream
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup (high quality)

Method
 

Crust
  1. Whisk, flour, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Add shortening and butter. Using a pastry cutter or two forks cut the fat into the flour until it is the size of peas. Slowly add ice water 1-2 tbsp at a time until a ball starts to form.
  2. Form dough into a disk, wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour
Filling
  1. Pre heat oven to 425 °F. Line a rimless baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
  2. Combine sliced pears, sugar, apple pie spice, corn starch and salt in a bowl.
  3. Flour the parchment lined baking sheet, roll pie dough out into a 9 inch rustic circle. Arrange pears in the centre of the dough leaving a 2-3 inch border. Fold border over fruit.
  4. Egg wash the folded dough and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until fruit is cooked and crust is browned. Remove and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Whipping Cream
  1. In a high sided bowl whip cream on high using a hand mixer. Continue to whip until soft peaks form, about 3-5 minutes. Add maple syrup. Whip for another 30 seconds to combine on medium high.
  2. Serve galette slightly warm or at room temperature with a large helping of maple whipped cream.

Notes

Adapted from Grandma’s Berry Pie
Spiced Pear Galette and Maple Whipped Cream

Peach Pie No Churn Ice Cream

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I scream, you scream we all scream for peach pie ice cream! LOL! Hi Guys, today I’m sharing the last recipe I made in my old kitchen! So sad! I’ve got some recipes that I tested there that I’ve yet to share but this is the last one I created and shot in that old 80’s kitchen. It’s kind of sad! If you don’t know what I’m talking about read all about it here!

Anyway, I’ve been holding on to this recipe for a while. Not to torture you, but I wanted to wait until we got a bit closer to peach season before I shared this magical creation!

Now this recipe is a no churn ice cream (yay for no special equipment!) with a peach swirl and chunks of buttery pie crust. Seriously delicious! I won’t lie this recipe is easy but it’s pretty time consuming. I’ve broken it all down for you in the recipe below but let’s run through a few key steps!

The Base: Now I did not re write the book with this one. Classic no churn ice cream base, just three ingredients. The Queen Martha Stewarts recipe of course!

The Filling: Peaches, sugar, cinnamon, butter etc cooked down until there is just a few chunks of peach left and lots of thick sweet delicious filling.

Pie Crust: I used a half recipe of my favourite classic pie crust (grandma’s recipe!). This time I used all butter because I wanted extra flavour (and truth I had no shortening).

Fold all of this together and you have summer in a bowl if you ask me!

Insanely delicious and super fun to make! I hope you give it a try!

Peach Pie No Churn Ice Cream

The flavours of peach pie ribboned though a creamy rich vanilla ice cream base.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Chill 6 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 7 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 1 Loaf Pan
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Pie Crust
  • 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold cut into cubes
  • 3-6 tbsp ice water
Peach Filling
  • 3 peaches, peeled and chopped
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp white sugar
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch salt
Ice Cream Base
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 cups whipping cream (30-40% fat)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Method
 

Pie Crust
  1. In a medium bowl whisk salt and flour together. Add butter, using two forks or a pastry cutter combine the butter and flour together until the butter in the size of peas. Slowly add ice water mixing the dough with a fork until a ball begins to form.
  2. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill.
  3. Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll Dough into a 9 inch disk. Place on alined baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Set aside to cool.
Pie Filling
  1. In a large sauce pan add peaches, sugars, lemon juice, butter, cinnamon and salt. Cook over medium-low heat until peaches break down and a sauce forms. This should take about 15-20 minutes. Break large chunks of peach up with a spatula.
  2. In a small bowl whisk water and cornstarch together to create a slurry. Add to peach mixture and continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes. You want a thick sauce with a few peach chunks.
  3. Once cooked down pour into a bowl and place in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes.
Ice Cream
  1. In a medium bowl whisk together sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, set aside. Ina large bowl whip whipping cream until stiff peaks form this will take 3-5minutes.
  2. Gently fold whipped cream into the sweetened condensed milk mixture.
  3. Pour a third of the ice cream base into the loaf pan. Layer broken up pieces of pie crust and peach filling on to ice cream. Use a knife to swirl filling into ice cream. Repeat three more times. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least 6 hours to freeze.
  4. Serve ice cream in bowls, on desserts or even waffle cones (or bowls!). Enjoy!!

Notes

Adapted from Martha Stewart.

Lemon Bars

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The first time I made lemon bars was from a Barefoot Contessa mix. My dad brought me the mix home from a business trip in Texas. I was a teenager and they were delicious and so fun to make. My family, especially my dad loves citrus. Lemon is just so fresh, tangy and delicious!

As tasty as the mix was we all know homemade is defiantly better! So when creating this recipe I turned to my cooking Queen and the Queen of lemon bars Ina Garten. I’ve made her recipe before and it’s delicious but I like a thicker shortbread base and a less floury filling. This lemon bar recipe is my dream lemon bar. A thick sweet shortbread base that’s buttery and soft but sturdy to support the filling. The filling is sweet but tangy and super smooth and thick.

Lemon bars are an incredibly easy dessert to pull together but you do need to remember a few key things to make these lemon bars the best you’ve ever tasted. Firstly press the dough into to pan. Make sure it’s pressed together well this will prevent a crumbly mess when you go to eat them. Chill these bars overnight! I know that’s hard but if you want the best results possible chill them overnight! and make sure you store them in your fridge! There is nothing worse then a runny lemon bar! And lastly don’t dust with powdered sugar until you’re ready to serve. If you refrigerate powdered sugar you’ll end up with the sugar melting into the bars and they wont look very nice!

Overall these lemon bars are really easy and so delicious! They are perfect for summer entertaining. I love my sweets but my preference is a bar or a cookie, just a small bite to satisfy my sweet tooth. These do just that! I hope you make them this summer! Enjoy!

Lemon Bars

Thick, buttery crust topped with a luscious lemon filling. A tart and sweet treat!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Cooling Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 50 minutes
Servings: 24 bars
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Shortbread Crust
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
Lemon Filling
  • 2 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 cup lemon juice

Method
 

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×16 baking pan with parchment and set aside.
Shortbread Crust
  1. In a mixing bowl stir together melted butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth. Add flour and stir to combine. When a ball begins to form stop mixing.
  2. Press dough into the prepared baking pan. Ensure dough is evenly distributed and pressed well into the pan. I use the bottom of a cup measure to make my crust even and smooth.
  3. Bake crust for 15-20 minutes, the crust should be every lightly browned at the edges. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Leave the oven on.
Lemon Filling
  1. In a large bowl whisk together sugar, eggs, lemon juice and flour. Ensure filling is completely smooth. Pour over semi cooled crust.
  2. Bake for 30-35 minutes. The centre of the bars should be set, but soft. Jiggle the pan if the centre isn't runny they are done. Cool at room temperature for 1 hour. Then place in the fridge for at least another 3 hours, but for best results chill in the fridge overnight.
  3. When ready to serve lift bars out of the pan and slice into squares. Dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Notes

Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction and Barefoot Contessa.
Classic Lemon Bars - YUM!