Salted Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Nice Cream Sandwiches

Salted Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Nice Cream Sandwiches - Made with an easy homemade banana ice cream, sandwiched between two soft chewy cookies and half drenched in a salted dark chocolate shell. 

(Dairy-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and grain-free)

Hands. Down. My favorite dessert on this blog! 

I feel like I always say that but as the stakes get higher, so does the quality of desserts and I’m telling you, this one will be hard to beat! 

Honestly, if you just read the tag line and see notes of homemade, soft and chewy, drenched, salted on top of the best dessert words like ice cream, cookie, dark chocolate shell - it’s like my taste buds are crying for joy! 

And my taste buds continue to cry as I make this dessert time and time again! 

It’s honestly a flawed system because my intentions are to make a big batch, store them in the freezer, so that I can have them longer. But since I know that I have the best dessert ever in my freezer just seconds away from my room, I can’t help but to run straight to the freezer and possibly (cough* eat all of them within days…). Again, as my taste buds scream in delight - sorry, not sorry! 

I would like to mention before you dive right into the recipe that this dessert recipe can be taken apart if you find yourself short for time, don’t have the patience to make banana nice cream, or just simply want to make one recipe over the other - completely up to you! Personally, the cookie recipe is hands down my favorite of them all! They really should have their own blog post on their own (make mental note). 

But if you really want to make this recipe and don’t have time, just simply cut corners by purchasing a good quality ice cream vs making homemade nice cream. This is also the right decision if you are allergic to bananas. Enough said.

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, pin it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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Salted Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Nice Cream Sandwiches - Made with an easy homemade banana ice cream, sandwiched between two soft chewy cookies and half drenched in a salted dark chocolate shell. 

(Dairy-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and grain-free)

PREP TIME: 45 MIN | COOK TIME: 15 MIN | SERVINGS: 12 COOKIES

Cookies 

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup cashew or sunflower butter

• 1/2 cup coconut sugar

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks

• 1/2 cup cassava flour

• 1/4 cup coconut oil

• 2 Tbsp plant based milk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Nice cream

• 2 cups frozen banana slices (1 large banana)

• 2-4 Tbsp milk of choice

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• pinch of sea salt

Salted Dark Chocolate Shell

• ½ cup dark chocolate chips

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• Smoked (or regular) sea salt flakes

Directions

1. Prepare the cookie dough by combining the wet ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Mix in the dry ingredients minus chocolate chips until well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and set cookie batter in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. 

2. While the dough is chilling, prepare the banana nice cream by combining all ingredients into a blender or processor until smooth and creamy. May adjust the liquid portion as you want a "soft serve" texture. Transfer ice cream to a bread pan to freeze. 

3. Freeze banana nice cream for 1-2 hours so that it hardens enough to scoop like ice cream, but isn't too hard where you can't scoop it. 

4. When you are ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

5. Using a cookie scoop, scoop out 1-2 Tbsp of cookie dough and roll into a ball (if 2 Tbsp will make 6 large cookies | 1 Tbsp 12 cookies) 

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes and let rest for 10 minutes before transferring cookies to a cooling rack. 

7. Top with smoky flaky sea salt and eat as is or wait oh so patiently so that you can make either ice cream sandwiches or crumble the cookies into the ice cream and make cookie dough ice cream! 

8. If you want to dip the ice cream sandwiches into chocolate, simply melt 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips with 1 tbsp coconut oil and dip premade sandwiches into the melted chocolate. Set sandwiches on a freezer safe plate and freeze for 5-10 min or longer until ready to eat! Sprinkle additional sea salt flakes on chocolate just before you put them in the freezer!

9. Eat immediately or store in the freezer in a freezer safe container for up to a month...if you can wait that long! 

Notes

• If you need a great dark chocolate recommendation, I highly recommend Hu Kitchen! Use code FROMTHEROOTS for 15% your first order!

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Apple Cider Churro Donuts

Apple Cider Churro Donuts - Apple cider meets churros - this healthier, baked not fried, donut is a delicious treat to bake during the fall season! Gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar free, nut-free, and paleo friendly.

Last week, we had a local event in the area where business fronts downtown Hartwell would open their doors for women to shop, receive discounts in store all while enjoying delicious fall treats! In my office building, the chiropractor made warm apple cider, chocolate hummus, and goat cheese stuffed dates with chopped pistachios. So good! 

Running on the apple cider train, I decided in my dreams that I should make some sort of apple cider donut! Haha, I swear, pressure to recipe development is where it’s at for me! As you can tell in the pictures, I have cute mini donuts sprinkled in and that is because my initial thought was to use them as a garnish for the apple cider!

Now, if you decide to use the apple cider churro donuts as a garnish for your apple cider or apple cider mimosas, then please take pictures and share - It would just be the cutest thing! 

Okay, I digress again. The reason why I added churro to the recipe name is not because these are made in the traditional sense as they are baked, not fried, but the cinnamon sugar topping! And bonus, if you decide to use a piping bag to fill in the donut pans then they create a natural churro design which is super fun and holds more cinnamon sugar topping. And who doesn’t want more of that!?

If you would like to see the kitchen equipment and ingredients I used to make this recipe, then scroll down below for the links! 

So while it is still fall season and you have apple cider and all of your fall spices, then make a batch of these apple cider churro donuts! 

I think I will make these for my niece and nephews for Thanksgiving breakfast this year :)

And hey, if you want to get super creative, here are some fun ways you can pair your donut with, if eating them on their own is not enough! Seasonal drinks like adrenal cream cider, coffee, hot cocoa, apple cider, turmeric latte, and chai tea, milk, ice cream (stop it!), dipped in nut butters, jams or the traditional churro style with chocolate sauce. 

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, pin it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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Apple Cider Churro Donuts - Apple cider meets churros - this healthier, baked not fried, donut is a delicious treat to bake during the fall season! Gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar free, nut-free, and paleo friendly.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Servings: 12 large donuts

Ingredients

Donut Batter

• 2 cups gluten free 1-to-1 baking flour

• ¾ cup arrowroot flour

• ½ cup organic applesauce

• ⅓ cup coconut sugar

• ⅓ cup avocado or coconut oil

• ⅓ cup organic apple cider or apple juice

• 2 large eggs (room temperature)

• 1 Tbsp apple pie spice seasoning

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

• ½ tsp baking soda

• ¼ tsp sea salt

• Avocado/coconut oil spray for donut pans

Churro Topping

• 3 Tbsp melted grass-fed butter, ghee, or coconut oil

• 3 Tbsp coconut sugar, maple sugar or date sugar

• 1 ½ tsp apple pie spice seasoning 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray silicone donut pans for easy removal. 

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (ie both flours, sugar, apple pie spice, baking powder and soda, and salt). Set aside. 

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, vanilla, applesauce, and apple cider/juice. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir well until fully combined. The batter should be scoopable, not pourable. 

4. You can either spoon the batter or transfer batter into a piping bag and fill into the wells of the lightly greased donut pan to make 11-12 donuts - you might need to do this in 2 batches depending on the size of your donut pan. 

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until set and a toothpick, when inserted, comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cook for about 5 minutes. Once cooled, remove donuts from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely. 

6. While the donuts are cooling, make the churro topping. Melt fat of choice in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, stir the sugar and apple pie spice seasoning. Brush the cooled donuts with the fat and either sprinkle with or dip donuts in the sugar mixture. Serve right away or store at room temperature for up to 3 days. Refrigerate or freeze to keep them longer. 

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Edible Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Edible Pumpkin Chocolate Cookie Dough - Super delicious and packed with fiber and protein to keep you satisfied. Dairy, gluten, and grain-free.

Not only is this cookie dough safe to eat, it’s chock full of nutrients thanks to chickpeas' excellent source of soluble fiber and protein. When you combine it with nut butter and pumpkin puree, it’s a nutritional powerhouse! 

Professional Cycle Syncer? This is a luteal phase recipe as it contains ingredients like sunflower seeds, pumpkin, and chickpeas that are great sources of B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, and fiber. During this phase, your body needs more calories and slow-burning complex carbs and beans provide calories while stabilizing blood sugar.

Bonus! PMS symptoms? Chickpeas are a great source of magnesium. They also contain vitamin B6 so when taken together, help reduce PMS symptoms! 

You can eat this for dessert, bring to a family or sports event, or simply grab a spoon and eat it straight from the fridge! 

You can most definitely use regular dark chocolate chips for this recipe, but I love using Hu Kitchen chocolate! For this recipe, I used one bar of hazelnut butter dark chocolate and used their grain-free cookies (chocolate chip and ginger snap) as the “spoon”! 

They just came out with seasonal dark chocolate bars: gingerbread and pumpkin spice and I BET that would truly level up this cookie dough! 

I love using their products because of their simplistic ingredient list: 

Organic cacao

Unrefined organic coconut sugar

Organic fair-trade cocoa butter

That’s. It.

Again, you don’t have to use these products to make this recipe, but if you want to, here the website or my SHOP PAGE and code FROMTHEROOTS for 15% off your first order! 

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A post shared by Candace Dorsey| From the Roots (@fromtherootsblog)

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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Edible Pumpkin Chocolate Cookie Dough - Super delicious and packed with fiber and protein to keep you satisfied. Dairy, gluten, and grain-free.

Ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas

• ½ tsp baking soda

• ½ cup sunflower or nut butter

• ¼ cup pure maple syrup

• ¼ cup pumpkin puree

• ¼ cup dark chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar (chopped)

• 1 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning

• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Flaky sea salt for garnish 

Directions 

1. Place drained chickpeas in a medium saucepan and add the baking soda. Cover the chickpeas with water and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat for 5-10 minutes or until the chickpeas look bloated. In a fine mesh strainer, drain the chickpeas and run cool water over them. No need to peel the chickpeas now that they are soft and should create a creamy texture!

2. Transfer cooked chickpeas and the rest of the ingredients except for chocolate in a food processor. Puree mixture until completely smooth and creamy in texture. May need to pause a couple of times to scrape down the side of the processor bowl. 

3. Transfer mixture into a bowl and fold in chocolate chips until evenly distributed.  Refrigerate until ready to serve and garnish with flaky sea salt. 

Mango Melon Sorbet with Chamoy Sauce

Mango melon sorbet with chamoy sauce - A popular Mexican condiment that is salty, sour, spicy, and sweet. Paired with the two most favorite summer fruits and sprinkled with chili lime seasoning - it’s the ultimate refreshing summer dessert! Naturally sweetened, dairy free, and bursting with flavor! 

It is sad to say that my taste buds have not been in contact with chamoy sauce until two weeks ago! It’s actually embarrassing, just writing it out. I thought, maybe because I just wasn’t exposed to it being that I have live in the South and Midwest my entire life but it’s not that because out of all the places in the world, I had my first chamoy experience in this small Mexican sorbet shop in Oklahoma! 

That day forever changed my taste buds for the good! Literally, if you had chamoy sauce, your mouth is probably drooling at this point - because that is what it does to you! 

Chamoy = Salt + Sour + Spicy + Sweet

Meaning, chamoy has a unique flavor profile that hits your tongue to where you instantly want more. Traditional ingredients include flor de jamaica (hibiscus flowers), lime juice, dried apricots, sugar, prunes, ancho chilies, and cayenne powder. 

To make this super easy, while deriving sugar from fruit only, and using ingredients that most consumers can find at a grocery store, we are using just 5 ingredients: organic apricot jam, dried ancho chilies, lime juice, cayenne pepper, and salt. 

So what do you put chamoy sauce on? Personally, I just add the chamoy sauce into a squeeze bottle and squeeze it straight into my mouth but that might be a little TMI…

You could put chamoy sauce on fresh mangos as a refreshing healthy snack, make mango chamoy fruit roll ups, or  use it as a swirl to mango or fruit paletas, mangonadas, chili lime mango smoothies, or agua frescas. 

But my new favorite way of using this drool worthy sauce is pouring it over sorbet. For this recipe, I used my two favorite summer flavors: mango and watermelon to create a sorbet swirl. Layering chamoy and tajin or TJ’s chili lime seasoning in between sorbet is the ultimate refreshing summer treat! 

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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Mango melon sorbet with chamoy sauce - A popular Mexican condiment that is salty, sour, spicy, and sweet. Paired with the two most favorite summer fruits and sprinkled with chili lime seasoning - it’s the ultimate refreshing summer dessert! Naturally sweetened, dairy free, and bursting with flavor! 

Ingredients

Watermelon sorbet 

• 2 cups seedless watermelon cubes

• Juice and zest of one lime

• 1 Tbsp honey (optional)

Mango sorbet

• 2 cups mango chunks (fresh or frozen)

• Juice and zest of one lime

• 1 Tbsp honey (optional)

Chamoy Sauce

• ½ cup fresh lime juice (5-7 limes)

• 1-3 dried ancho chilies 

• 1 - 10 oz jar organic apricot jam

• 1 tsp salt

• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Directions

1. To make the sorbet 

   1. cut up fresh watermelon until you have about 2 cups worth. Place watermelon chunks on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and place in the freezer to freeze. (up to 4 hours or overnight)

   2. If you are using fresh mangos, follow the same procedure (a) 

   3. Place frozen watermelon chunks into a blender or processor with juice and zest of lime and sweetener. You may need to add Tbsp increments of water to help the blending process. Once smooth in texture, transfer to a freezer safe pan like a bread pan and place in the freezer until firm, about 4 hours. 

   4. Follow the same procedure with mangos. You can either mix the frozen fruit chunks together or make them separate. 

   5. To serve, let the sorbets rest on the counter a few minutes before scooping. 

2. To make the chamoy sauce

   1. While the sorbets are freezing, prepare the chamoy sauce by preparing the ancho chilies. 

   2. Tear the stem off and deseed the ancho chilies. Submerse dried chilies in boiling water for a few minutes until the chilies are soft. 

   3. In a high speed blender, place the soft ancho chilies along with the entire jar of apricot jam, lime juice, salt, cayenne pepper, and a ladle or two of the water that the ancho chilies were in. 

   4. Blend on high speed until extremely smooth. Taste sauce and adjust flavors if need to (i.e. I typically add an additional ½ tsp cayenne pepper because I like it super spicy!) as well as sauce consistency. This should make about 2 cups worth. If you are unsure about the sauce consistency, look at the pictures above for reference. 

   5. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.  

3. To assemble! 

   1. Swirl chamoy sauce in a clear glass to coat the bottom and sides of the glass. One scoop each of mango and watermelon sorbet and layer with more chamoy sauce and tajin or TJ’s chili lime seasoning. Continue with another layer of one scoop each mango and watermelon sorbet and top with more chamoy sauce and seasoning. Enjoy!

Lemon Pound Cake with a Blood Orange Glaze

Lemon Pound Cake with a Blood Orange Glaze - Bright and simple gluten-free pound cake that’s perfect for any occasion. 

Not going to lie, recipe tasting this pound cake recipe was hard. Mentally hard. I had to wake up early in the morning so that by the time the pound cake was cooled and glazed, I immediately dropped it off at the office before I could think to take a slice for myself. It’s just that good! 

Since I made this recipe close to Mother’s Day, my coworkers alluded to the fact that it’s the perfect Mother’s Day dessert! And, they are right - because what mother doesn’t love moist pound cake and citrus!? If anything, my mother first introduced me to pound cake - lemon pound cake in fact! 

Although bittersweet, even though we are nearing the end of the blood orange season, you can use whatever citrus fruit juice you would like as the glaze. For example, I played with oranges, grapefruit, and limes - all complement the lemon flavor in the pound cake. 

So why not impress your mother with this super easy pound cake recipe! Not only is the recipe super simple (no need for a kitchen aid mixer) but it’s aesthetically pleasing thanks to dehydrated citrus slices! 

All you have to do is: 

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees

2. Slice citrus thinly using a serrated knife or mandolin

3. Spray bacon rack with a neutral oil spray (like avocado)

4. Place citrus slices on a rack and bake for 1 ½ hour to 2 hours

That’s it! So what are you waiting for, make this now!

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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Lemon Pound Cake with a Blood Orange Glaze - Bright and simple gluten-free pound cake that’s perfect for any occasion.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cup gluten-free baking 1-to-1 flour

• ½ cup organic cane sugar

• 4 Tbsp lemon juice + zest

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• ½ cup plain yogurt (dairy or lactose-free)

• 2 eggs

• ¼ cup avocado oil

• 1 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp baking soda

• ¼ tsp salt

Glaze

• ½ juice blood orange

• ½ tsp vanilla extract

• ¼ - ½ cup organic confectioners sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your loaf pan with parchment paper and spray the inside using a neutral oil like avocado oil spray. 

2. In a medium bowl, whisk your dry ingredients until combined. 

3. In a larger mixing bowl, whisk your wet ingredients until combined. 

4. Slowly add your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients until combined. The mixture might look thick but that is okay! 

5. Pour mixture into loaf pan, spread evenly into the pan, and bake for 30-35 minutes or until lightly brown and toothpick, when inserted, comes out clean. 

6. While your loaf is cooking, prepare the glaze by mixing the juice, vanilla, and sugar until desired consistency. (may need to add more or less of confectioners sugar or juice)

7. When the pound cake is done baking, let sit in the pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Once the pound cake has cooled down, pour the glaze over the pound cake and enjoy! 

Notes

• To make dehydrated citrus slices: Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Slice citrus thinly using a serrated knife or mandolin. Spray bacon rack with a neutral oil spray (like avocado). Place citrus slices on a rack and bake for 1 ½ hour to 2 hours. That’s it!