Healthy Fried Peaches

(gluten free, refined sugar free, can be dairy free/paleo/vegan)

Fried? Yes, that's right, "healthy" and "fried" in the same sentence.
This awesome little dessert is quickly whipped up by pan frying peaches in coconut oil.

I'm sure you've heard by now of the many good things about coconut oil. (If you're still not convinced, check this out.)

The warm honey-and-cinnamon flavored peaches make this reminiscent of peach pie, minus the loads of sugar.

It's pretty fantastic even if you aren't cutting sugar out of your diet, but it is absolutely a must if you are.
Because it has all of the "guilty-pleasure" taste with none of the actual guilt.

I came up with this recipe when I was eating Paleo, back before I got pregnant again. I was having some crazy bad sugar cravings, and this was my go-to for a dessert that didn't feel healthy. When I was eating Paleo, I still kept a little whole fat Greek yogurt in my diet (because I was breastfeeding and needed some extra calories, and because yogurt doesn't upset my body). But if you are eating strictly Paleo, or if you can't have dairy for any other reason, you could substitute whipped coconut cream instead!

I don't count calories- and the calories in this are all good ones- but if you are tracking, the calorie count comes to somewhere around 200 calories per serving before you add the yogurt. The additional calories depend on what (and how much) yogurt you use.

Healthy Fried Peaches

Serves: 2 small servings (or 1 large serving, I won't judge) 

Ingredients:

2 cups organic* frozen sliced peaches
2 Tbs coconut oil (virgin, unrefined)
1 Tbs raw honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon
greek yogurt (you can sub whipped coconut cream for dairy-free)

*Peaches are in the “dirty dozen”! Make sure you buy organic!)

Instructions: 

• Defrost 2 cups of frozen peaches.
(If you know you’re going to make this ahead of time, you can put the peaches in a container in the fridge for a couple of hours to thaw. If you need to defrost them faster, you can heat your oven until hot, put the peaches in, turn the oven OFF, and let them sit in the warmed oven for a few minutes. We don’t use a microwave in our house, but if you do, you could also defrost them quickly that way. They don’t need to be 100% defrosted- but the more defrosted they are, the quicker you will cook them and the more evenly they will cook.)

• When the peaches are thawed, mix the coconut oil, honey and cinnamon in a bowl until well combined.

• Heat a frying pan on medium heat, and put oil mixture in when the pan gets hot. Stir frequently.

• When the mixture is simmering (and looks bubbly & frothy), add peaches into the pan. Coat evenly with oil mixture, and arrange in a single layer. Return to a simmer, stirring frequently to be sure nothing burns.

• The mixture will get sticky and thick. If it starts to burn, turn your heat down a little and be sure to stir often.

• Simmer for about 10 minutes (depending on your stove and how cold your peaches were to begin with), or until a fork slides easily in and out of the peaches.

• Remove from heat.

• Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Feel satisfied and go on your way.

Guilt-Free Banana Bread

(gluten-free, refined sugar free, can be dairy free)

I love banana bread. It's one of my comfort foods of choice.
Perfect for breakfast, sweet enough for dessert...it’s all around just a good thing.
Except that usually, it’s full of a lot of not good things, like white flour, vegetable oil, refined sugar, and so on.
Unless of course, you get around that, and create something that’s more like a real bread and less like a post-breakup-meltdown-indulgence.

I found this recipe a few years ago when I was looking for a gluten-free banana bread recipe. It turned out great, but it still had quite a few things that, now, as I’ve refined my diet quite a bit, I don’t want to be cooking with.

So, this recipe was born- just a healthier, guiltless, but still really delicious version of the original. No gluten, no refined sugar, and only healthy fats.

The thing I love most about this is that, unlike a lot of other gluten-free breads, this banana bread is moist and dense- not at all crumbly or grainy. It’s also naturally sweetened from the honey, applesauce and bananas, but the sweetness isn’t so overwhelming as it can be in banana breads sometimes.

I’m pretty picky about my bread. This one passes the test!

Guilt-Free Banana Bread

Dry:
2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Wet:
2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup organic applesauce
3/4 cup raw honey
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs, whisked
1/3 cup grass-fed butter, softened (you can sub coconut oil)

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Grease a loaf pan with butter or coconut oil and set aside.

In a standing mixer, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mash bananas until very creamy, but not completely smooth (you want a few lumps in there!). Add applesauce, honey, vanilla and whisked eggs and stir. Add in softened butter and mix well.

Pour wet ingredients into the standing mixer, and turn mixer on low to stir. Once the dry ingredients have blended with the wet a little, turn the mixer higher and beat until the batter is mostly smooth.

[You can stir in walnuts or chocolate chips here if you so desire. I’m not fond of chunks in my banana bread, so I did without.]

Pour batter into the greased loaf pan.
The batter should fill up 1/2 to 3/4 of the pan at most. If you have extra batter, you can make a couple of banana bread muffins by pouring it into cupcake tins.

[Here, my pregnancy cravings got the best of me, and I threw together a streusel topping out of brown sugar, whole oats and butter. I’m not including this for two reasons- it kind of  defeats the purpose of making it healthy, and I have no idea how much of any ingredient I used anyway.] 

Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

Let stand at room temperature. This is great warm or refrigerated, but I love it most at room temperature. Store in an airtight container and enjoy at your leisure. :)