Abstaining from flour and sugar doesn’t mean I abstain from desserts. It means I am opening myself up to new flavors and, overtime, tasting food clearly. Never was this more apparent than when I first went sugar and flour free two years ago. Tomatoes were impossibly sweet. Roasted bell peppers tasted like candy. I’m hoping to cleanse my palate to that extent again. It takes time. About a month or two, if I remember.
This is my favorite dessert, my only dessert right now. It’s a Greek yogurt cup of clementines, dates, flax seed, unsweetened coconut, and oil. The boys and I can eat this up morning, noon, and night. The Mister isn’t as big a fan. He can’t get past the texture of yogurt. It disgusts him.
As with most of my recipes, this isn’t much of a recipe. I layered this dessert for the photos, but you know when I make it for myself I dump everything into a bowl and mix it up with a spoon, right? And that all mixed up, it looks like something curdled? I just wanted to make sure.
This yogurt cup, as unattractive it may be in its natural state, fills you up. And while I was joking about layering it to look pretty, I’ve done it twice since then. I forgot flax seeds can be thickeners and binders. I made this yogurt cup in the afternoon and put it in the refrigerator for after dinner. By the time I got to it, the yogurt was impossibly thick. It was almost like ice cream, which is a-okay in my book. So, two things to consider: it can be a meal and tastes even better when you make it ahead of time.
Clementine and Date Yogurt Cups
This recipe is flour free and sugar free, though you can certainly add agave or honey if you are accustomed to sweeter desserts. Try it once plain. Although yogurt can be sour for some, dates are impossibly sweet. If you get a bite of date in every spoonful, you shouldn’t need a sweetener. If 2-4 dates aren’t enough, try more.
1 cup non fat Greek yogurt
1 cup peeled and sectioned clementines, about three
2-4 Medjool dates, chopped
1 tablespoon flax seed, ground or whole
1 tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tablespoon Udo’s Oil 3.6.9 Blend (optional, but if you don’t use the oil consider regular fat yogurt)Dump everything in a bowl. Eat.
Or, if you’re feeling fancy, divide your ingredients by halves or thirds and layer it in pretty glass dishes. Store in refrigerator or eat.
Yum. I haven’t had breakfast yet and this makes me want to run to the nearest grocery store right this second. I have never heard of this oil – I clicked on the link but wanted to ask you more about it. Do you use it regularly for other purposes? What are the advantages of it? Do you cook with it? And thanks for the inspiration!
I use it for salad dressings, anything cold, and drizzled over hot foods, like rice or steamed veggies. You can’t heat it up. My nutritionist recommended it for me as a source for healthy fats/essential fatty acids. It’s part of my plan for healthy eating and recovering from various vitamin deficiencies. It’s very expensive, so I don’t expect very many people to buy it. I included it in the recipe for accuracy purposes. If it wasn’t for my nutritionist, I wouldn’t have given it a second glance.
Interesting – I need to do some research on nutrition. I am “grossly deficient” in Vitamin D (even though we live in Florida) and am looking for ways to improve my overall health. Flax seed worries me a little because I had estrogen positive breast cancer at 40. The research is unclear as to whether phytoestrogens like soy and flax are good or bad for someone like me. Thank you for the information.
When I was in college and much healthier and poorer than I am now, my absolute favorite dessert was frozen blueberries mixed with plain yogurt. The frozen blueberries make the yogurt turn into this ice cream-like consistency, and they’re so sweet and cold and refreshing. Another thing I loved was chocolate slim-fast powder, skim milk, and a few ice cubes all blended together. Tastes amazing after a hard workout.
I don’t like blueberries–and they are so good for you, too!–but I did something similar with grapes over the summer. That was really tasty!
I don’t even LIKE dates and that sounds amazing. Although I’d go for full-fat yogurt all the way. I am a sugar fiend and I find that full-fat yogurt–just the plain TJ’s brand, nothing fancy–tastes smooth and creamy even with nothing added to it. Rather mind-boggling what a difference the fat makes!
p.s. I love that I can edit my comments on your site. I inevitably spot a typo or word repetition and take advantage of it!
I agree with you about Trader Joe’s full fat yogurt. The fat makes a HUGE difference, which is why I recommend full fat if you don’t want to use the oil. Also, I don’t like dates, either. But even I, who by now is accustomed to less sweet desserts, need the dates to make it sweet. I can’t eat a date plain, but mixed in yogurt they are really tasty. Nico eats dates PLAIN! Like he’s munching on a cookie! Isn’t that so gross?
p.s. I’m such a perfectionist…are you surprised there is an edit feature here? I hate seeing typos in my comments when I’m on other blogs! ;)
That’s really helpful to know that you don’t like dates plain either! I am totally going to have to try this soon.
That looks delish! One of my favorite treats is plain yogurt with kashi crunch, slivered almonds and homemade pumpkin butter. I normally make the pumpkin butter with a little brown sugar, but I could probably use dates instead, couldn’t I?
I’ll take your word for it. Dates still remind me too much of the roaches that seemed rampant in the desert growing up. Wish I could get past it, but sadly…can’t
Yum! I am making this tonight :)
I hope you like it!
Oh wow, that looks delicious!
Hi Jules, I’m a new reader. The William Morris series is what drew me. One suggestion about the yummy recipe and any future recipe posts – is it possible to post/link a printable version? I’m sure you’ve seen many such arrangements, but if not, here is a link to a favorite blog of mine: http://www.thefrugalgirl.com . In the past, Kristen had a Wednesday Baking post and she would post a link to a printable version. (You can find these in the Wed Baking tab under her header). Yes, it is more work for you – fully recognize that fact! – but it is easier for your audience. Thanks for the lovely inspiration! I’m going to try this!
Thanks for the feedback, Theresa! I will look into it. I think I need a special plugin, which I haven’t looked for yet since I rarely post recipes. I might be posting more, and if I do it’s at the top of my list to create an easily printed feature.
Thanks again!
YIKES! Kristen has removed her Wednesday Baking tab from her page. However, if you do a search of her site using ‘recipes’ you will see examples of what she’s done. The first example, which does take a bit of scrolling, is ‘Cornmeal Loaves’. In that post is a link to her archived Wednesday Baking posts.
I noticed that! I’m on my way out the door, but thanks for the heads up. When I get back, I’ll look for the Cornmeal Loaves post. Thanks! :)
You know, I would have never in a million yrs thought up this flavor combo — I think this is so brilliant! I adore yogurt and make yogurt parfaits often, but like I said, these ingredients together have never ever occurred to me — This looks BEAUTIFUL!