Healthy Vegan Raw Creme Brûlée

I have a pretty intense sweet tooth which has been leading me to make bad decisions lately (i.e. cupcakes). So I decided to make a healthy dessert and immediately consulted Peggy K's recipes. She is the queen of healthy and tasty desserts and most of her recipes that I've tried have come out fabulous. You know that "healthy" desserts don't always come out the best but Peggy sticks to more "liquidy" instead of "fluffy" recipes, which you need flour and eggs for.

This creme brûlée is so easy to make if you have a Vitamix or good food processor. The ingredients are easy as well, I already had everything at home, no extra shopping required. But if you don't have some of these ingredients, I recommend shopping on Nuts.com in bulk. Even with the shipping cost, it's cheaper than the bulk section at whole foods and the stuff usually arrives in 2 business days.

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 cup almond or coconut milk

1 1/2 cups raw cashews

1/3 cup coconut sugar, plus extra for topping

1 small ripe banana

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp real maple syrup

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 tsp vanilla extract

banana slices for bottom

Directions

• In a high-speed blender or food processor, combine milk, cashews, coconut sugar, banana, coconut oil, maple syrup, chia seeds, and vanilla and blend until smooth.
• TIP: If you don't have a good food processor/blender, soak the cashews for about 2 hours to soften them. Also, grind the chia seeds in coffee grinder.
• Layer banana slices across bottom of four ramekins (I don't have these so I just used a glass container)
• Refrigerate for about an hour (you can skip this if you need dessert fast)
• Remove from fridge and sprinkle coconut sugar to completely cover the top of each ramekin. Using a blowtorch, caramelize sugar until bubbling and golden. If you're fancy enough to have a blowtorch (I don't), just place the dessert under the broiler for a few minutes until golden (see picture below).
• Refrigerate for about an hour before serving.

My apartment smelled amazing after taking the creme brûlée out of the oven and it tasted amazing after I waited impatiently for it to cool. What makes this dessert healthier than something with processed sugar is the coconut sugar because it's closer to something found in nature and thus has fiber and nutrients that will not make your insulin spike when you eat it. Again, Nuts.com is the best place to get coconut sugar. It is not sweetened coconut flakes and does not even taste like coconut in my opinion. The rest of the ingredients are also very healthy!

If you like this recipe you should read Peggy K's book, Must Have Been Something I Ate and her newest book Kitchen Cures. She is a holistic nutritionist that can heal your ailments with food. 

How do you satisfy your sweet tooth?

Have you ever had a "healthy" dessert fail? 

Mine was an attempt at making paleo and vegan muffins.