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:
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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!
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 :)