Showing posts with label treats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label treats. Show all posts

Monday, December 14, 2015

20 Gluten-Free Treats for the Holiday Season

It's mid-December, which means it's time for some holiday sweets. You won't find wheat flour in any of these sweets, but it's one ingredient you'll never miss. Whether you follow a gluten-free diet or not, these desserts from cookies and candy to cakes and edible gifts, will make your holiday season complete.


1. Caramel Pecan Turtle Clusters


It's hard to resist the addictive combination of buttery pecans and chewy homemade caramel nestled under a creamy milk chocolate shell. Wrap up a few in pretty tissue paper and give a box as a holiday gift.



2. No-Bake Nutella Peanut Butter Cookies

The only thing better than a no-bake cookie is one that involves a winning combination of Nutella and peanut butter.


3. Crisp Meringues with Whipped Cream

This is just about the simplest dessert imaginable. You can make it with meringues purchased at the grocery store or at a bakery, or make them yourself. Together the crisp meringue and soft cream melts together into one sweet and simple dessert.


4. No-Bake Sesame Coconut Ginger Cookies

Moist and naturally sweet with a gingery bite, these cookies contain just five ingredients and couldn't be easier to make.


5. Coconut Snowballs

When it comes to cookies, deliciousness usually arrives in the form of flour, butter, sugar, nuts, and chocolate. But when you can't eat any of those foods, coconut — in all its delicious forms — is your new best friend.


6. How To Make a Chocolate Soufflé

Not only are chocolate soufflés one of the most heavenly things you can eat with a spoon, but they're also surprisingly not all that hard to make.



7. Classic Southern Pralines

You can call the praline a cookie, because it's shaped like one, but it's rightfully a type of candy. These no-bake treats are made entirely on the stovetop, and take just 15 minutes.


8. Eggnog Marshmallows

Homemade marshmallows make the perfect gift this time of year. And what better way to celebrate the season than with eggnog?




9. How To Make the Best Coconut Macaroons

Crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle — a good coconut macaroon has some texture for you to bite into. As long as you have some shredded coconut stashed away in your cupboard and a few eggs in the fridge, a batch of sweet macaroons can be yours in less than 30 minutes.


10. Holiday Nut & Fruit Brittle

Enrobed in caramelized sugar, the nuts and seeds in this holiday nut brittle look like little gems. It's easy to swap in your favorite nuts, dried fruit, and spices to create your own unique version.


11. Raspberry-Coconut French Macarons

French macarons make the most perfect, bite-sized presents. These macaron shells feature finely ground freeze-dried raspberries for sweetness and color. The raspberry flavor is subtle, and pairs beautifully with the coconut filling.


12. Baked Eggnog Custards

This seasonal treat is surprisingly light and smooth, with a subtly sweet eggnog flavor and a slightly boozy aftertaste.


13. How To Make Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

There's a lot to love about chocolate-covered strawberries. The crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth shell and the cool, sweet strawberry beneath. Whether you serve them for a party or give them as a gift, they're bound to be a hit.


14. Gluten-Free & Vegan Gingerbread Cake

Gingerbread, in all its many forms, is a classic holiday treat. And this moist, richly flavored gingerbread cake is certainly not one to be missed.


15. Heavenly Hash Bars

Just when you thought you'd filled your arsenal with enough delicious homemade holiday treats, along came heavenly hash to sweep them all under the carpet. The combination of bittersweet chocolate, roasted almond, and marshmallow is truly a gift.
meringue


16. How To Make French Meringue

With a crisp outer shell, slightly chewy center, and a subtle sweetness, baked meringues are a melt-in-your-mouth delight.


17. Chocolate-Dipped Figs with Sea Salt

Dried figs are a sweet and easy treat any day, but dip them in chocolate and sprinkle with a little sea salt and they become a treat worthy of anyone's holiday gift list.


18. Raw Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bites

These truffles might be raw and vegan, but trust me — they still taste like an indulgent treat. They'll certainly suit nearly everyone on your gift list.


19. Sweet and Savory Roasted Cashews

These crisp and flavorful roasted nuts offer a little something for everyone. There are brown butter-sage cashews if savory is your thing, and cocoa-dusted cashews for those of us with a sweet tooth.


20. How To Make the Easiest Chocolate Fudge

This classic fudge has a dense, textured chewiness as you bite into it, and then melts in your mouth. It's a classic holiday gift to give for a reason.
[via The Kitchn]

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Battle of the Frozen Treats: Sorbet vs. Ice Cream vs. Gelato vs. Fro-yo

If you’re going to splurge on a sweet frozen treat, which is your best option: sorbet, ice cream, frozen yogurt or gelato? And what are the differences anyway? Let’s break it down and end the battle of which frozen treat is healthiest, shall we?

Sorbet

Sorbet is made up of fruit juices, syrup and water. One cup of an all-fruit sorbet has 184 calories, 34 grams of sugar, 46.2 grams of carbohydrates and no fat. While no fat is good, sorbet is high in sugar and doesn’t have any calcium, like milk-based frozen treats do.

Ice Cream

Ice cream is made from milk, cream, sugar and egg yolk. One cup of vanilla ice cream, on average, has 267 calories, 32.5 grams of carbohydrates and 14.3 grams of fat. That mixture of cream and sugar makes this treat high in calories and fat. To put things in perspective, the American Heart Association recommends that total fat intake should be no more than 25% to 35% of one’s daily calories. Saturated fat should be limited to less than 7% of daily calories, and trans fat should be less than 1%.


Gelato

Gelato consists of milk, egg yolk and sugar. The lack of cream that is in ice cream means that gelato can have less bad fats. However, what it lacks in fats, it makes up for in added sugar. A half cup of vanilla bean gelato, which is the recommended serving size for the treat, contains 204 calories, 9 grams of fat, 25 grams of carbohydrates and 25 grams of sugar.

Frozen Yogurt

Frozen yogurt consists of yogurt instead of cream, which lowers its fat when compared to ice cream. While frozen yogurt is low in fat, the calories and sugar can be a problem. One cup of low-fat plain frozen yogurt is 214 calories, 2.9 grams of fat, 38.1 grams of sugar and 39.2 grams of carbohydrates. A cup of soft-serve fro-yo yields 235 calories and one cup of chocolate is 230 calories. Don’t forget that those calories don’t include toppings, which can range from the healthier, such as fruit, to the not-so-healthy, like cookie dough.

Women should consume no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar per day, while men shouldn’t have more than nine. To put that into perspective, a can of soda contains around 8 teaspoons of sugar.

THE WINNER: Sorbet!

Low-calorie, fat-free and offering at least some "good" sugars from the fruit juice, sorbet is a tasty way to cool down in the summer. Just eat in moderation and look out for that sugar!