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?
Flourless Tart Crust
Ingredients
- 1½ cups peanuts, roasted
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil or palm shortening
- 2 tablespoons yacon syrup
Instructions
- 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°F for 8 minutes, until fragrant and golden brown
- Cool, then fill shell with Vegan Chocolate Pudding
- Serve
Equipment
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:
Free exclusive eBook, plus recipes and health tips, delivered to your inbox.
Lower Glycemic Chocolate Pudding Filling
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- 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.