Healthy Dairy-Free Paleo Chocolate Frosting

It shouldn’t be a secret that I love to bake! But my love of baking lead me to weight gain and blood sugar problems. Diabetes and being overweight runs heavily in my family and I don’t mess around with my blood sugar. I don’t want diabetes and I don’t want to take insulin. Period. I have spent the last 15 years trying to practice and perfect healthy baking.

As I have said before, I am a baker, not a cook. There was many a evening as a mother of small children when I solved the conundrum of what to eat for dinner with cookies. That’s a legitimate dinner, isn’t it? When I was baking instead of making real dinner, I tried my hardest to make those the healthiest cookies and cupcakes I could bake and packed with the most nutrition.

Ten years ago I was a raw vegan for all of maybe 3 days. I decided I was going to lose my weight for good. Those three days saw a CRAZY increase in my blood sugar but I did discover some good recipes. I became paleo after those three days of spiking and crashing blood sugar and learned just how much my body craves protein and fat. This recipe is loosely based off a recipe in a random raw vegan cookbook I checked out of the library during that time. I can’t even begin to tell you which cookbook. No, my recipe is not vegan. I will take natural honey over processed high fructose agave syrup any day. This recipe is high in natural sugars and I don’t make it super often but it stays in my repertoire as a special treat when I’m craving frosting. This recipe has been tried on many unsuspecting kids and always gets eaten happily.

Raw Cacao vs. Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder and raw cacao powder both come from the cocoa plant and both are fermented before processing.

Cocoa powder comes from a cocoa nib that has been roasted after fermentation. The roasted nib is squeezed to produce cocoa butter and then the leftover is used to make cocoa powder. Some producers then wash the cocoa powder in an alkalizing agent, usually potassium carbonate. Cocoa powder contains the natural acids of the cocoa nib. The wash produces a less bitter and pH neutral product. This is called Dutch process cocoa powder.

To produce raw cacao powder, the nib is roasted at a lower temperature and then ground into powder. The product is still considered raw and because of that it contains more nutrition.

Hershey’s cocoa powder is natural cocoa powder. I only use natural cocoa powder and that is why I can use it interchangeably with raw cacao powder. What I use in a recipe depends on what I have on hand. Both are acidic and contain the natural acids of the cocoa bean. They can be used interchangeably. My sensory son can not tell a difference. Or if he can, he has not complained about it. This same boy can detect slight differences in recipes. If I am feeling like I need to add extra nutrition I buy raw cacao. If I am feeling frugal I buy cocoa powder.

Just so you know, Dutch process cocoa powder can not always be used interchangeably because it has a different pH. Usually recipes that require a Dutch process powder will be marked as such.

Healthy Paleo Chocolate Frosting

For this recipe you will need:

• A food processor or blender. I use a Vitamix or a Cuisenart.

• 1/3 cup pitted dates. Usually I use deglet noor dates because Winco has them bulk and they are cheaper. Medjool dates will be slightly smoother.

• 1/4 cup honey

• 1 ripe, but not over ripe, avocado

• 1/4 cup cocoa powder or raw cacoa powder

The directions are really simple. Add your dates and honey to a food processor. Process until smooth. Add your avocado and cocoa powder to the food processer and again process until smooth. It’s that easy. I use it on paleo cupcakes, regular cupcakes, cakes, and just for eating. Avocado provides a creaminess to the frosting and the flavor is not noticeable. But because there is avocado, it should be refrigerated. It will last about three days in the refrigerator.

Yield: 12

Author: Kimberly Fulmer

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Healthy Paleo Chocolate Frosting

Healthy never tasted so good.

Prep time: 10 MinTotal time: 10 Min

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup pitted dates
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/4 cup cocoa power or raw cacao powder

Instructions

1. Combine dates and honey in a food processor and process until smooth. 
2. Add the avocado and cocoa powder and process until smooth. Enjoy! 

Nutrition Facts

Calories

74

Fat (grams)

3.5

Sat. Fat (grams)

0.8

Carbs (grams)

12

Fiber (grams)

2.1

Sugar (grams)

9

Protein (grams)

0.8

Sodium (milligrams)

2

Cholesterol (grams)

0