Delicious ideas for tasty desserts appealing to everyone!
It seems more and more people are looking for dairy free options these days. I often get asked about transitioning away from conventional milk products in cooking and am slowly but surely learning about how to make great tasting dishes without dairy and frequently without gluten as well. It’s all new to me so the process involves a fair bit of trial and error, which is why I was excited to learn about a great new e-cookbook that is going to save me a lot of testing time and potential frustration. 
What is this helpful book? It’s the Jesse Lane Wellness Cookbook: Healthy Dairy Free Desserts and it’s packed with more than thirty holistically delicious dessert recipes that everyone can enjoy guilt-free. The recipes are straightforward to prepare and are accompanied by very pretty images which add to the book’s appeal.
A self-professed sugaraholic, Jesse Lane Lee is a trained holistic nutritionist and food educator who has personally grappled with food intolerances for many years so she genuinely knows what she’s talking about. Her unique sweet creations are made with whole food ingredients and do not contain any soy, dairy, white flour or processed sugar. Best of all, they are also high in fiber, an important nutrient that slows down the release of sugar into the bloodstream. As Jesse explains, this helps avoid a sugar high, which is inevitably followed by a crash. Fiber basically makes sure your energy levels stay balanced.
As an added bonus, the Jesse Lane Wellness Cookbook: Healthy Dairy Free Desserts also contains a guide to healthy baking substitutes and alternative sugars, so you can learn how to transform your own favourite recipes into healthier treats.
To learn more, or to purchase this terrific, inexpensive cookbook which you can enjoy on your favourite digital device, please visit the Jesse Lane Wellness site.
I’m pleased to share one of Jesse’s creations from the book. This flavourful, easy to make dessert is not only delicious, it’s also dairy and nut free!
Pear Apple Pie Crumble by Jesse Lane Lee
This Pear Apple Pie Crumble contains sweet apples and pears nestled in a flaky spelt crust topped with a sweet crumble. Jesse likes to use spelt flour in this recipe because it adds a delicious nutty flavor to the crust and it is a great source of manganese, which is important for healthy joints.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ¼ cups spelt flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons organic butter or coconut oil, chilled and cut into cubes
- 3 to 4 tablespoons cold water
Filling
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup spelt flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 large apples, peeled and sliced
- 1 large pear, peeled and sliced
Crumble Topping
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, softened
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup spelt flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup oats
Method
- Mix 2 ½ cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp cinnamon in a food processor fitted with the metal blade or by hand.
- Cut 3/4 cup of chilled butter/coconut oil into chunks and add it to the food processor and process until the butter/coconut oil is the size of peas.
- If you are mixing by hand, use a pastry blender or two knives to cut the chilled coconut oil into the flour; do not stir.
- Slowly add 3 to 4 tablespoons of cold water – add just enough until the mixture holds together.
- Form the pastry into a disk and wrap in parchment paper then place in the refrigerator to chill for an hour.
- While the crust is chilling, mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. Add the apples and pear; toss to coat.
- Mix all the topping ingredients together a separate bowl and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and place on a large sheet of parchment paper. Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin until it is 1/8 inch thick and roughly 12-inches in diameter (for a 9-inch pie plate).
- While you are rolling out the dough, the parchment paper may slide around; however, the parchment paper makes for a very easy transfer into the pie plate. If you do not wish to roll out the dough on parchment paper, use a floured surface.
- Place the rolled out dough on the pie plate and trim the edges leaving an extra half inch. Tuck the extra dough underneath itself to form a thick edge and flute with your first two fingers and thumb.
- Add the pear and apple mixture, top with the crumble topping and bake at 350F for 50 minutes. Check the pie after 20 minutes and if the crust edges are getting dark cover them with foil. Cover the rest of the pie for the last 10 minutes of cooking if the topping is golden brown.
Makes one 9″ tart.
Constantly Cooking with Paula Roy 