It’s a fabulous feeling to wake up without what I call a “sugar hangover”. Do you ever get those? You know, the headache and dry mouth that come from eating a dessert with sugar the night before? It’s not too pleasant. Luckily, since steering clear of sugar this month, I’ve not only been sleeping better but I’ve also been waking up more clear-headed.

By this stage, your cravings for sweet foods may well have gone (or at least abated somewhat). If they haven’t though, or if you’d still like to have a treat after a meal (or for breakfast), here are some sugar-free recipes for you to try. I’m a bit of a make-it-up-as-you-go cook, but these concoctions have been surprisingly good.

Banana-coconut ice-cream
Serves 1-2

1 frozen banana (peel banana, chop into chunks, place in a reusable container and freeze)
1/4 tin coconut cream

Put the frozen banana chunks in a food processor with 1/4 tin of coconut milk and pulse until smooth. Check the consistency and add a little more coconut cream if you’d like a softer ice-cream. Done.

If you’d prefer to use fresh coconut instead of the tinned cream, just carefully chop the top off a fresh green coconut, reserve the water for later use, scoop out the flesh and add a little at a time to the processor till the consistency’s right for you. You can also add any other frozen fruit you’d like, along with LSA, a little powdered Spirulina… Get creative!

Chia pudding
Serves 2-4

1 cup milk of your choice (tinned coconut milk, almond milk etc)
1 tbsp cacao/unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp almond/cashew butter, if you want
Vanilla essence, if you want
Stevia drops or granulated stevia, to taste
1/4 cup chia seeds

Blend up your milk, cacao powder, nut butter and vanilla. Have a little taste. If you’d prefer a sweeter pud, add a couple of drops of stevia or a little granulated stevia and blend to combine. Put the chia seeds in a large reused jar or dish, or share them between several smaller jars or serving dishes. Pour equal amounts of the milk mixture over the top and mix/shake to combine.

Refrigerate overnight or for at least three hours. This is a pretty tasty brekkie…

Now, this final recipe isn’t for a dessert, but it’s a treat just the same and I have to share it because it’s so fun and healthy:

Cauliflower pizza
Makes 2 pizzas

1 large head of cauliflower (about 20cm in diameter)
2 eggs
4 tbsps coconut flour or almond meal
Any toppings you fancy

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Chop the cauli up into florets and place in a food processor (you might need to do this in a few batches, my food processor is powerful but tiny). Pulse until the cauliflower looks like white breadcrumbs.

The next step is about cooking the cauliflower and getting out as much moisture as you can, so you’ve got a more “stickable” pizza base dough. You can do this in two ways. You can steam it in a bamboo steamer for five minutes (place a clean muslin cloth/thin tea towel in the base of the steamer, then put the cauliflower “rice” on top), or you can cook it in boiling water for a few minutes. The first method might be best for retaining the most nutrients. Once your cauli’s cooked, transfer the crumbs to a large, clean muslin cloth or tea towel. Gather together the ends of the cloth and squeeze out as much moisture as you can. I get about a cup.

Transfer the cauliflower to a large bowl and add your eggs and 4 tbsps coconut flour or almond meal. Mix to combine. The “dough” should be sticky but not wet. If it’s too moist, add a little more flour or meal. Place baking paper on two baking trays and dump half of your dough onto each tray. Press each pile together into a ball and then flatten into a round about 1cm thick. Bake in your oven for 10 minutes.

Remove the two bases from the oven and top with whatever you’d like. I use plain, sugar-free tomato paste, fresh herbs (lovingly grown by my flatmate), sliced zucchini and tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella or goat’s cheese. Return to the oven and back until golden around the edges. Remove, slice up and … eat! This is amazingly easy to make and such a fun way to eat more veg.

Enjoy cooking,

Danielle x