Caramel Dip

I love caramel, but since I  have been dairy free, it hasn't really been an option... until I discovered this post on "My New Roots Blog"!  I changed up her recipe a bit just because of some of my limitations and what I had in the kitchen, so please check out her post for the original recipe.


Ingredients
2 cups pitted medjool dates, soaked for at least 4 hours in water
1/4 cup nut butter (I used peanut butter, but I think it was too strong of a flavour, I think cashew, sesame, or sunflower butter would be good.)
4 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
Soaking water as needed


Directions
1) Make sure you soaked your dates.
2) Drain dates, reserving the soak water. 
3) Add dates and all of the other ingredients except for soaking water into a food processor.   Blend on high until dates are smooth.  Add soaking water, 1 tbsp at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
4) Store in an airtight glass container in the fridge for up to a week.

Apple Puffed Oven Pancake
(From Diabetic Living)

Yields: 6 servings (1 pancake wedge, 1/4 cup apples)
Ingredients
1 tbs Butter
3/4 cup refrigerated or frozen egg product, thawed (You could also use 3 eggs, but I used egg product)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1/4 tsp apple pie spice (I used 1/8 cinnamon, 1/8 nutmeg, 1/16 cloves, 1/16 ginger, 1/16 cardamom)
1/8 tsp salt
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Nonstick cooking spray
2 medium apples, cored and thinly sliced (I only used on apple, but it depends on how much you want)
2 tbs packed brown sugar (I used regular sugar and it worked fine, recipe said you could use a sugar substitute)
2 tsp water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place butter in a 10-inch ovenproof skillet (cast iron works well) with flared sides. Place skillet in oven for 3-5 minutes or until butter melts. meanwhile, for batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, flour, milk, apple pie spice, and salt until mixture is smooth. Immediately pour batter into the hot skillet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until puffed and well browned.

Meanwhile lightly coat an unheated medium saucepan with nonstick cooking spary. Preheat over medium heat. Add apple slices, brown sugar, and the water. Cook for 4-6 minutes or until apples are golden brown and tender. Stirring occasionally.

Cut pancake into wedges and top with apple slices. Dust with powdered sugar.

I found this recipe and thought that it works well for someone that is also trying to watch what they eat for cholesterol reasons. This turned out really tasty, the best puffed recipe I have found yet, and fairly healthy to boot! The ingredients that makes this good for the heart are: apples, cinnamon.