How low can you go?! This gluten free chocolate peanut butter tart is sweetened with a delicious alternative sweetener that I have been enjoying of late —yacon syrup.
This lower glycemic sweetener is derived from the yacon plant which is often referred to as “apple of the earth.” Yacon is high in fructooligosacharides (FOS), a form of fructose that is lower in sugar than others and is in fact, also a pre-biotic. This sweetener feeds the friendly bacteria in the colon and can also aid in digestion. You can read more about Yacon Syrup on my Ingredients page.
Of course, as we all know, the best sweetener is no sweetener at all. I believe that humans were not made to digest large quantities of sugars. Fruit is available in most climates a couple of months of the year, if that. And then there is my family. They like their sweets regardless of the season.
And then there are my readers. While it’s pretty easy to find a recipe for gluten-free roasted chicken or gluten-free burgers, the pages of Sunset and Parade are not exactly swimming with gluten-free dessert recipes. As we all know, in our culture, gluten-free just isn’t the norm. And of course, finding gluten-free desserts that are lower in sugar, higher in protein and dairy-free? Well, there’s not exactly a lot of that out there.
Thankfully, I found this dessert on a fabulous blog that I follow called healthyindulgences.com. While I don’t utilize some of the ingredients that the lovely Lauren uses on her site, I do admire her low-sugar gluten-free recipes and think this one is a total winner. After all, who doesn’t want a little peanut butter with their chocolate?
Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart
- 1 ½ cups peanuts, roasted
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil or palm shortening
- 2 tablespoons yacon syrup
- Grind the peanuts in a to a fine meal (make a crunchy meal for a crunchier crust)
- Pulse in the salt and baking soda
- Pulse in the grapeseed oil and yacon syrup and continue pulsing until the dough is formed
- Remove dough from food processor and press into a 9-inch tart pan
- Bake at 350° for 8 minutes, until fragrant and golden brown
- Cool, then fill shell with Vegan Chocolate Pudding
- Serve
Feel free to use my standard chocolate pudding as referenced (and linked) in the recipe above, or, try this new lower-glycemic, gluten-free chocolate pudding sweetened primarily with yacon, below:
- 1 (13.5 ounce) can full fat coconut milk (not lite)
- 1 pinch celtic sea salt
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey
- 3 tablespoons yacon syrup
- 5 drops stevia
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- In a saucepan, heat coconut milk and salt over medium heat
- Raise heat and sift the arrowroot powder into the pot, then whisk vigorously by hand or with a [hand blender] until thick
- Whisk in agave, yacon, stevia and vanilla
- Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes; add chocolate, stirring vigorously until melted
- Chill for 10 minutes, then pour into cooled pie crust
- Refrigerate for 1-2 hours, until firm
I haven’t tried to use yacon and agave interchangeably, so am not sure if that would work in my recipes and others. Whenever I want to see if an ingredient works in a recipe I make sure to test it.
In terms of flavor, I find that yacon is not as sweet as agave and its taste is not as “sharp.” Its flavor is more mellow and “round.” On its own, yacon has a flavor similar to that of molasses, however, in the pudding recipe above, the chocolate mostly hides that flavor. If you try yacon, please stop by and let us know what you think.
And have a great Passover everyone!
letitsia says
Hi there, I was wondering what kind of chocolate chunks you used for this recipe? 60% dark? or darker?
Elana says
Hi Letitsia, if you click on the green text in the ingredients portion of the recipe you will be taken to each ingredient. Happy baking!
Shailaja says
Just made this & it’s so delicious! Will definitely be making this again & again. Thanks for sharing this
Judy Cleve says
I have been using some of your recipes but now find out I am allergic to almonds. Do you have recipes using other low glycemic flours? Thanks.
Nicole says
Dear Elana,
I want to tell you how your recipes have changed my life. I have issues with gluten. It is a bit of a love-hate relationship, and that tricky-sneaky gluten has managed to evade testing itself positive and so I am not officially a Celiac, although with the articles I have been reading lately I am realizing that those older tests are flawed. Regardless, I have tried my best to eliminate gluten from my diet (and even the high-carb gluten free fare gives me trouble….it is the high carbohydrate content and I have diabetes in my family, so although I am only 37 years old, I know I have insulin issues that I have to deal with now.) Eating high carb (gluten free or not) makes me gain weight and if it is wheat, watch out: I pork up like a corn-fed cow in no time at all. A lot of it is water retention, too, which started when I was a teenager but I did not know what was going on. It was mild, and I always knew I could gain 5 lbs in a day or two if I ate too much (not knowing what that “much” is…..it is wheat!!!), but it all ballooned out of control when I got pregnant with my first child, similar to your story, Elana. All 3 of my pregnancies were hell, and the water and weight gain were almost unbearable. I wish I knew then what I know now!!! I have experienced none of that with the almond or coconut flour recipes in your cookbooks, and you have changed my life from one of confusion, bloating, weight-gain misery, and ill-absorption of nutrients (deficiencies galore), to absorbing what I eat much better (with blood tests to prove it!), NO weight gain despite eating desserts and cookies from your books, quiches, etc. (ALL my favourite foods, with a different version à la almond flour!), no bloating, and understanding what is going on with my body and what I eat. THANK YOU for changing my life and that of my family. We all love eating this way and love the recipes. They are so tasty and delicious and I feel that I will never eat the “other” way again. There is no need to. I check out your website often (I am a busy working mom but go look at it when I have some free time now and then, and when I am looking for a new recipe to try) and I want to tell you how much I enjoy it! I just printed your chocolate peanut butter tart recipe and can’t wait to try it out this weekend….
Paleo is the ONLY way to go for me.
Thanks again for being such a great pioneer with almond flour and for putting your story out there. You have helped a lot of people and put what I was personally experiencing into words. God Bless you!
Very Sincerely,
Nicole in Toronto, Canada
Anna Zell says
How happy I am to be able to make chocolate pudding w/o eggs or dairy! I didn’t make the crust, just the filling used 2T agave, no yacon, no stevia and 60% chocolate chips. It’s fantastic.
Thanks as always!
Linda Wilson says
Can’t wait to try this recipe…amazing what can be done with good nutrution rich ingredient.
Katie says
I have made this a few times now! My partner and I seem to eat it all to ourselves over a couple of days lol soooo good!
Julie says
This looks amazing, I absolutely love peanut butter with chocolate!
I want to make this for company tonight, do you think it would be okay to substitute palm sugar for the yacon syrup?
Rhonda Ahrens says
Question about 73% cocoa do you have a good place you regularly get it? Many of your dessert recipes call for it but I only find bittersweet, 60% or 100% cocoa at standard stores like Safeway and King Soopers.
Thanks,
Rhonda
Maria says
Thank you so much for this delicious recipe! I made this for Thanksgiving and my family happily ate it along with many gluten/dairy/egg filled desserts on the table. Everyone loved it and nobody guessed it was specially made to accommodate my food allergies. I will definitely be making this again (probably this weekend!)
Diane says
I tried the pudding but didn’t have any yacon syrup so I used molasses instead. It tasted good before I put it in the fridge. However, four hours later, when it thickened it had a strong molasses taste. It was okay but next time I would try just a tablespoon of molasses. I do like the idea of that extra layer of flavor. I also used semi-sweet chocolate chips and 3 packages of stevia powder. Thanks for another great recipe, Elana! Love your cookbook and hope you create another cookbook soon!!
Whitney says
Elana-
I cannot eat coconut and was wondering if you had an idea as far as pudding goes. Strangely, I can use milk in baking (not drinking though) and know you are dairy-free, but do you think it would function as a substitute?
-Whitney
elana says
Krista, thanks for your comment and for sharing your substitutions, they sound amazing!
Krista says
I made this yesterday and it is fabulous!!! Thank you so much for this recipe. My kids loved it too.
We didn’t have peanuts so I substituted natural peanut butter and added a little over a 1/4 cup of coconut flour for the crust. It tasted like a peanut butter cookie. I also didn’t have agave so I used yacon syrup for the full amount of liquid sweetener along with powdered stevia. It still tasted wonderful.
This is going to become a staple recipe for holidays and get togethers.
elana says
Jess, Thanks so much for taking the time to experiment and for posting your results. The coffee version sounds amazing!
Jess says
This tart is unbelievably good! So rich, decadent – the birthday girl and dinner party guests were in love, and I could eat it, which thrilled me.
I did not buy yacon – maybe in the future. I used honey in the crust and used unsweetened chocolate for the mousse and then just increased the amount of agave. No problems at all. The second time I made it (yep, twice in one week) I added hot coffee to the chocolate mixture which was great as well.
Now I just need another excuse to make it. :)
elana says
Thanks everyone for your super nice and interesting comments! Per all the queries as to where to obtain yacon, just click on the word “yacon” in the ingredients list of the recipe and you will be taken out of my site to one that sells this product. I link all of the products on my website that are less well known to sites where you can purchase them. You can also check the “purchase” section on the lower right hand side of my site for information on purchasing ingredients.
In terms of the question about the health impacts of eating cooked almonds, I believe that raw food has more nutrients than cooked food, however, I also believe that cooked food can make some of these nutrients more bio-available. From what I’ve read about nuts (see Sally Fallon), the best way to eat them is soaked and dehydrated.
Lynnette says
Elena, Bless you for finding Yacon, a sweetener kind to friendly tummy bacteria. I’ll be experimenting replacing other sweeteners with it and using dark cocoa or carob powder and adding a bit of coconut oil. Thanks!
Jess says
I am looking forward to making this. My only question is if anyone has an idea of how much I would need to increase the agave or other sweetener in order to use unsweetened chocolate. I guess I have two questions because now I am also wondering if the yacon syrup is necessary. I have spent a fortune trying out new food to accommodate my new-found intolerances and would prefer not to spend more if I don’t have to. Could I sub honey instead? Thanks so much!
kiruthika says
Hi Elana, I have tried some of your recipes and have had great success with them. I use a lot of almond flour for my cooking and was wondering if you had any thoughts about safety of heat on almond. I have read that heating nuts destroys their oils and might create carcinogens and other undesirable oils. Do you think by using almond flour regularly for baking (which I do almost every week) we are exposing ourselves to toxins?
I would love to hear your thought.
Lauren B says
Hi Elana! Your version of the tart looks absolutely scrumptious. It’s an honor to have such a creative, talented chef like yourself put your spin on my recipe. Goodness knows I get so many ideas looking here, since you were one of the first bloggers to use almond flour consistently. It’s wonderful to have someone else playing around with these healthful ingredients!
Once I can get my hands on yacon syrup I’d like to try your crust, as see if it brings something to the table that honey doesn’t. As usual your photo makes me want to lick the screen!
Jodye says
Yacon syrup sounds very interesting, I’ll have to scour around for it. And the tart, well, how can you go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter!
Holly says
I think I am in love. This sounds delicious!
Hannah Handpainted says
Looks luscious. Will have to try this on my choc/peanut butter loving hubby.
Diane-Thewholegang says
Wow this looks so good and it’s gluten free and dairy free. Where can I find the yacon syrup and how does it compare to agave as far as price, texture and taste? Thank you!
CoconutGal says
Wow, look at all that chocolate!! It’s really pretty too <3
I have some yacon just waiting to be experimented with!
gfe-gluten free easily says
It is a beautiful tart, Elana. The yacon syrup is intriguing. Mellow and round sounds nice for the flavor.
They should have lots of gluten-free recipes in those magazines, because such recipes really don’t have to be that hard. So many desserts can be naturally gluten free. One day, we’ll see them there!
Shirley
chrissy says
Elana,
Where do you get your yacon syrup? I saw some at the store, but it was in this tiny little jar and it was very pricey compared to agave. Thought of you yesterday… experimented and made a banana bread that I think is pretty good made with coconut flour!
Hugs,
Chrissy
VeggieGirl says
Never tried yacon before – intriguing!! Looove that pie.
Hannah Marcotti says
Wonderful…I ate 4 entire chocolate pudding pies after my third child was born (your recipe of course). Might be time for another one, to share this time!
Hayley says
That tart looks delicious. And I noticed your cookbook on the right. Congratulations! I can’t wait to get a copy!
StuffCooksWant says
We are investigating several alternative sweeteners, but haven’t tried yacon syrup yet. Will hunt some down and give it a try. This chocolate peanut butter tart looks like it could quiet our Reese’s peanut butter egg cravings…which we have not given in to …yet. Thanks for the idea!
Meagan says
When I saw this post I said “Oh baby.” Haha! I follow Lauren’s blog too and I think she is wonderful as well as her recipes! I have yet to try it out, but I am happy to see your spin on her version. I might make both and compare! She uses a different sugar, erythritol, and have yet to get my hands on some. I’ve researched yacon syrup a little and am happy about it’s benefits, but VERY disappointed about the price! We just have to chose what we sacrifice right? Thanks for another great recipe Elena :)