Vegan Raw Desserts

kid friendly desserts

Holiday Peanut Butter Cups

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Happy Holidays Everyone! Today I am putting a holiday twist on an all time favorite, Peanut Butter Cups. These healthy vegan treats have all  the fun, but none of the guilt or refined sugar. I have this chocolate in my freezer at all times.

Check out the video below to see how easy it is to make these little guys.


Vegan Holiday Peanut Butter Cups
Print Recipe
Healthy, vegan holiday themed peanut butter cups.
Servings Prep Time
24 candies 10 minutes
Passive Time
1 hours
Servings Prep Time
24 candies 10 minutes
Passive Time
1 hours
Vegan Holiday Peanut Butter Cups
Print Recipe
Healthy, vegan holiday themed peanut butter cups.
Servings Prep Time
24 candies 10 minutes
Passive Time
1 hours
Servings Prep Time
24 candies 10 minutes
Passive Time
1 hours
Ingredients
Chocolate
Peanut Butter Filling
Servings: candies
Instructions
Chocolate
  1. Mix all wet ingredients together in a small bowl. Add cacao powder and whisk until well blended. Use about 1/2 teaspoon to distribute chocolate into holiday tree mold. Transport to freezer to set while making peanut butter filling.
Peanut Butter Filling
  1. Mix all ingredients together in small mixing bowl. Place filling into piping bag. Fill remainder of tree mold with peanut butter mixture. Let freeze for one hour.
Recipe Notes

Helpful Hint:

A little goes a long way with the chocolate sauce. Remember that the peanut butter is the superstar and let it shine. Also note peanut butter trees should be enjoyed straight out of the freezer.

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Carrot Cake

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Fall is coming! Well, it is for most of you in America! For us here in San Diego, I think we have a few more Santa Ana’s and warm beach days before we feel the cool nights and brisk days… But that doesn’t stop me from wanting to make delicious goodies with more cinnamon and nutmeg to get me in the mood! This week, I am finally sharing my recipe for raw carrot cake.
vegan-carrot-cake
This is a very special recipe to me. I developed this cake over a year and a half ago, and it was so good, it almost made it into my cookbook, Sweets in the Raw: Naturally Healthy Desserts. However, something wasn’t 100% with it. I mean, it was a solid 97%, which is way more than a passing grade, but I knew I could make it better with a little time. Now I should mention, the previous “final recipe” took six attempts to get it right. This new recipe took an addition two more attempts, and I have finally nailed it! I really love this dessert, and you’re going to love it too.
Vegan Carrot Cake
Print Recipe
Calling all carrot cake lovers! Living healthy no longer means living without your favorite cake! Enjoy this healthy spin on an old time favorite.
Prep Time
20 Minutes
Passive Time
Let Set Over Night
Prep Time
20 Minutes
Passive Time
Let Set Over Night
Vegan Carrot Cake
Print Recipe
Calling all carrot cake lovers! Living healthy no longer means living without your favorite cake! Enjoy this healthy spin on an old time favorite.
Prep Time
20 Minutes
Passive Time
Let Set Over Night
Prep Time
20 Minutes
Passive Time
Let Set Over Night
Ingredients
Cake
Vanilla Cashew Frosting
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Directions For Carrot Cake: Process all ingredients except for additional ingredients in food processor until process until even consistency. Sprinkle in remaining ingredients and pulse until evenly blended. Firmly press crust into silicone mold and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  2. Directions For Vanilla Cashew Frosting: Blend all ingredients until smooth even consistency in blender. Remove cake from silicone mold. Evenly spread frosting onto cake. Set aside in refrigerator for 1 hour.
Recipe Notes

Helpful Hint

The flavors of this cake get deeper and more powerful with each hour it sets. I suggest making these one day before you plan on serving for the perfect flavors.

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Easy No Bake Nectarine Cobbler

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raw nectarine cobbler

This may not be a big shocker, but I really like fruit. Like if I had to pick one food group to eat for the rest of my life, fruit would be it!! I love everything about fruit — its natural sweetness, its juiciness… I mean, what’s not to love?! Now if I had to pick a favorite fruit, that’d be a bit harder…
Anyways, about two weeks ago, I finally had time to go to a local produce store in San Diego that I had been meaning to go to for months now. It’s called Specialty Produce and I’d heard amazing things about it. They supply the produce to local restaurants in San Diego and even better, they only sell food from California, meaning this produce is crazy fresh!

stone fruit

When I arrived, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect as it is not your typical grocery store. It is this massive warehouse, nothing very special to look at, but what it lacks in appearance, it makes up for in quality! My first goal — go directly to the cooler. Why? Well, because I saw that they promoted purple raspberries, and there was no way I was going to leave this place without trying one! But, when I got there, I saw sooo much more!

If you were to ask my husband about this trip, he’d say I was like a little kid in a candy store! There was so much fruit, and some that I had never even seen before! Lucky for me, the nicest guy working there clearly saw I was excited, possibly even overwhelmed honestly, and came to the rescue. He started off my fruit exploration experience by asking what I enjoy the most, and then took it one step further and asked if I preferred tart versus sweet fruit. Because I couldn’t narrow it down, he let me sample all the different varieties of fruits (who knew there were so many differing flavors?!), but I was unaware he was saving the best for last! We starting off with fruits a little more tart, like the purple raspberries and bush berries, then moved onto fruits a little sweeter, such as the blueberries, strawberries and peaches. But that last fruit… white nectarines. I mean, I love nectarines, but on my list of favorite fruits, it’s just average. Until he sliced me a piece. Now, if you can imagine fireworks going off in your mouth from a pure sweet bliss, that is exactly what was happening to me! I knew right then and there I was going to buy a ton of these bad boys and whip up a special dessert!

And there you have it — the White Nectarine Cobbler. Now it is time to go enjoy my new  favorite dessert, before my husband finishes it all! 🙂
cobbler
Nectarine Cobbler
Print Recipe
I LOVE this time of the year! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and stone fruits are finally in season! This is the perfect time of year to enjoy peaches, nectarines, plum, apricots and cherries. My favorite part of this season is making an already amazing fruit even better by jazzing it up with other whole and healthy ingredients. This week I was inspired to to make a white nectarine cobbler!
Servings Prep Time
6 servings 10 minutes
Passive Time
3 hours let set in fridge
Servings Prep Time
6 servings 10 minutes
Passive Time
3 hours let set in fridge
Nectarine Cobbler
Print Recipe
I LOVE this time of the year! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and stone fruits are finally in season! This is the perfect time of year to enjoy peaches, nectarines, plum, apricots and cherries. My favorite part of this season is making an already amazing fruit even better by jazzing it up with other whole and healthy ingredients. This week I was inspired to to make a white nectarine cobbler!
Servings Prep Time
6 servings 10 minutes
Passive Time
3 hours let set in fridge
Servings Prep Time
6 servings 10 minutes
Passive Time
3 hours let set in fridge
Ingredients
Fruit Base
Crumble
Servings: servings
Instructions
Fruit Base
  1. Peel ripe nectarines and cut into slices. Sprinkle with vanilla lemon juice, coconut oil and cinnamon. Gently mix by hand and place in to 8x8 pan.
Crumble
  1. Place pecans, dates, salt and cinnamon into food processor and blend for 1 minutes. Sprinkle over Fruit Filling.
Recipe Notes
To find the perfect nectarine:
1. Look for a medium-sized fruit. Gigantic nectarines will be a little grainy or mealy, and the really small ones tend to be tart and generally picked before fully ripening.
2. Look for a soft, sweet-smelling fruit. Buy them when they are still somewhat firm (not rock hard), but almost a little soft to the touch. This will ensure that they will be ready in one to two days if left out on your counter. Now, you may look a little silly, but smell your fruit! It should have a light, sweet fragrance.
3. Ask some in produce or at the farmer’s market to try a sample. Not only will it guarantee you a great batch, but the people working may teach you even more tricks to ensuring a great fruit every time!
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Sweets in the Raw Pre-Release Book Signing

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Book siging

I am still coming down from all the love last week! Last saturday, I had my first Book Signing Event as an extra special thank you to all of the people who inspired me to create my new book Sweets In The Raw:Naturally Healthy Desserts.  About 3 years ago, I would  make healthy vegan desserts for my clients at Marquis Pilates & Fitness at our annual holiday parties. They continued to ask me for the recipes  and would hire me to make desserts for their parties. A year later, I had the crazy idea of putting a book together just for them, but, somewhere along the way, it got sooo much bigger than that! As I posted pictures on my Facebook and Instagram, I started gaining some attention. I realized that there was nothing  out there like what I was trying to create! That was when I decided that if I was gonna do this, I should do it BIG! I wanted the whole world to be able to have access to healthy desserts. And that is exactly what I am working on!

Sweetsintheraw

Last saturday, I am so blessed to say I had so much love and support. Of course I had all of my friends from the studio come, but I was so surprised and excited to also see people that I hadn’t seen in over 4-6 years! I had old colleagues, crossfit buddies and massage clients show their love and check out what this Naturally Healthy Desserts journey was all about! To say it all went well would be an understatement. We even ran out of desserts, it was so busy!

book-signing-dessert-display

But, there is even better news! Although I was originally told that I could only sell advanced copies of my book at this one time event, there have been so many requests for my book that I have been given the green light to sell additional pre-released copies between now and July 31st! Yes, that’s right! If you wanted to get a pre-release copy of the book but couldn’t make it to the book signing, it isn’t too late! Just click this link to order.

book-signing-marquis-pilates

My journey has just begun! September 1st will be my BIG official national release! In the meantime I will need your help to share this book and message of real #naturallyhealthy desserts with the world. Please feel free to share pictures of the delicious desserts you are making and share your favorite recipes with your friends! Thank you again everybody!

Laura Marquis Signature

PS: Be on the lookout for the Strawberry Cheesecake Tutorial video next friday on my youtube channel.

 

ADVANCED BOOK SIGNING OF SWEETS IN THE RAW: NATURALLY HEALTHY DESSERT COOKBOOK!

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The day is almost here, the day of my very first book signing. Two years ago, when I first decided I was going to create a healthy dessert cookbook without refined sugars, I had no idea the journey it would take me on. My goal at the time was pretty simple: create a couple dozen healthy and delicious dessert alternatives for my friends, family and clients and put it into a cute cookbook… Easy enough, right?
In the industry of healthy and fitness, there is a lot of time and energy put into the next big fad and way too much time spent telling everyone what they can’t have and very little on what you can have. After taking the time to learn and understand what highly processed foods and sugars do to the body, I began some R&D into the healthiest desserts I knew of at the time — vegan desserts. Unfortunately, I found that many of these desserts were using highly processed ingredients. I then turned to raw desserts and, although the basic concept was amazing — simple, no baking required, all whole ingredients — they still weren’t actually healthy. Most of recipes I found were loaded with so much refined sugar (the kind that makes your blood sugar go sky high) that it completely cancelled out the benefits of the whole foods they were being paired with!  Lucky for me, I came across a few bloggers, chefs and cooks who showed me how to use whole ingredients in a new way!  People like: Susan Powers of rawmazing.com, Angela Liddon of ohsheglows.com, Megan Gilmore of detoxinista.com, Heather Pace of sweetlyraw.com, Laura-Jane The Rawtarian at therawtarian.com and Ella Leché of pureella.com. Now all of these beautiful ladies don’t necessarily just make desserts or exclusively use unrefined ingredients. But, thanks to them, I was truly inspired to start using natural sugars in completely new ways. After learning that skill, the recipe crafting process came quite easily, after all, I did grow up in a kitchen with a mom making homemade desserts on the daily! Months of playing in the kitchen and 46 recipes later, I now have what is the very first raw, vegan family & kid-friendly dessert cookbook made with no refined sugars or processed ingredients – Sweets In The Raw: Naturally Healthy Desserts! 

Book Cover for "Sweets in the raw - Naturally Healthy Desserts" by Laura Marquis

So what can you expect in this book? Simple, beautiful, easy-to-make desserts with fresh whole ingredients. The recipe chapters are organized by dessert type so there is a chapter for: Bars, Bites & Cookies, Cakes & Tarts, Candies, Fudge & Truffles and Frozen Treats, Ice Cream & Sorbets so that when your sweet tooth hits, you can easily find a recipe to satisfy it. There are even handy icons at the top of every recipe page to let you know exactly how long each recipe should take with a Soak Time, Prep Time and Freeze Time symbol. I have even added a whole section about the most important things to know about eating healthy sugars so that you have less confusion with this sweet and sticky subject.
To think that this Saturday I will be hosting my very first book signing for the people who inspired it all is so surreal! I have been able to accomplish so much in such a short period of time, all thanks to your love and support! I hope that this book not only gives you delicious recipes (Strawberry Cheesecake and Raspberry Sorbet are my favorites!), but also gives you some inspiration to play around in your own kitchen.
To get your hands on this Pre-Release, be sure to RSVP to the event. If you are unable to make it this time around, the book will be nationally released in September, and you can expect a large book tour when it comes. Thank you for all the help during this journey!

Strawberry Cheesecake

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If you are looking for crowd-pleasing Valentines’s Day dessert then look no further! This vegan strawberry cheesecake is all you will need! It is fresh, light and creamy!

strawberry-cheesecake

Strawberry Cheesecake
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
12 mini cheesecakes 15 minute prep time
Passive Time
4 hour freeze time
Servings Prep Time
12 mini cheesecakes 15 minute prep time
Passive Time
4 hour freeze time
Strawberry Cheesecake
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
12 mini cheesecakes 15 minute prep time
Passive Time
4 hour freeze time
Servings Prep Time
12 mini cheesecakes 15 minute prep time
Passive Time
4 hour freeze time
Ingredients
CRUST
CHEESECAKE FILLING
Servings: mini cheesecakes
Instructions
CRUST DIRECTIONS
  1. Process all ingredients until graham cracker-like consistency in the food processor. Firmly press crust mixture into the base of 2 small springform or 12 mini molds. Set aside.
CHEESECAKE FILLING DIRECTIONS
  1. Process all ingredients except for strawberries and cherries until even blended. Add remaining fruit until smooth, even consistency in the food processor. Evenly spread filling onto base. Set aside in freezer.
Recipe Notes

Helpful Hint: If you are unable to use fresh fruit, be sure to fully thaw your strawberries before adding them into the filling; otherwise the coconut oil will harden up and create a chunky looking texture.

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