5-Minute Cheesecake Mousse

After making my Apple Pie Cheesecake Smoothie as well as my no-bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake, this easy recipe can be whipped up for a quick dessert, breakfast or snack. Plus, the flavor combinations are endless – add your favorite fruits, nuts, spices, citrus, juices, chocolate, coconut etc to make it your own – this stuff is yummy!

If you find yourself dessert-less when your sweet tooth hits and you’re short on time, this cheesecake mousse is a great way to go. It’s creamy and rich-tasting but doesn’t sit heavy in your tummy AND it will keep you full from the high-protein ingredients — bonus!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Mousse (see variation below)

Use your favorite fruit as the main flavor in this mousse, or combine a few like strawberry-mango for a tropical treat! I even listed a chocolate-peanut butter combo below if you aren’t in a fruity mood

5-Minute Cheesecake Mousse
Gluten-free, Grain-free, High-Protein, Vegetarian, Nut-free, Sugar-free

Basic Ingredients 

3/4 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup frozen or fresh berries* or fruit of choice  (could try 2 Tbsp all-fruit preserves too but you may want to eliminate the sweetener)
1/4 – 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp honey, coconut nectar or agave OR 1 packet of stevia or to taste (Feel free to adjust sweetness to your liking, will depend on your fruit and ingredients)
optional add-ins: lemon zest, orange zest, lime zest, ground cinnamon, ginger, cocoa/cacao powder

Garnish ideas, optional 
Fresh fruit
Chopped nuts or seeds
Shredded or flaked coconut
Cacao nibs, chocolate shavings or chocolate chips
Citrus zest
Granola or cereal
Chia seeds

Directions 

1. Add all ingredients to the bowl of a small food processor or high-powered blender. Process or blend until smooth, about 60-90 seconds. Garnish (if desired) and serve immediately or pour into a serving dish and chill for 30-60 minutes, then garnish and enjoy!

*To make a chocolate-peanut butter version, substitution 1 Tbsp cocoa or cacao powder and 2 Tbsp peanut flour OR 1 Tbsp peanut butter for the berries/fruit. If you are allergic to peanuts, use almond butter or sunflower seed butter.

Some of my favorite combinations:
1. Chocolate covered strawberry mousse (pictured) – use strawberries as the fruit, garnish with dark chocolate chunks and fresh raspberries or strawberries
2. Tropical Dream – use mango chunks as the fruit, add a drizzle of orange juice when blending (1-2 Tbsp), garnish with shredded coconut and fresh pineapple (or more mango chunks)
3. Blueberry-Lemon Crunch- use blueberries as the fruit, add a bit of fresh lemon zest (1/2 tsp), garnish with almond granola, sliced almonds and fresh blueberries

Carrot Cake Crunch Bowl

I’ve been loving on my “crunch bowls” or “dessert soups” for snacks or breakfasts. It’s more satiating and longer-lasting than a bowl of cereal with all the texture and flavor that I crave.

Lately I’ve been in the mood for carrot cake and warm spices so when I was short on time and had an abundance of baby carrots, I knew just how to use up a few. Too lazy to pull out the juicer (and clean it), I opted for a speedy blender bowl with a carrot cake-inspired recipe!

Side note: I had good intentions when I bought a juicer but I have yet to use it since the first few times I’ve pulled it out. I have a weakness for kitchen gadgets but ones that require a bit of cleaning have been set to the side with my schedule these days…excuses, excuses My speedy blender came to the rescue, again!

If you aren’t keen on slurping this “dessert soup” from a bowl, sip this from a glass in smoothie form

Carrot Cake Crunch Bowl (inspired by my Recovery Crunch Cereal Bowl)

Ingredients

6-7 baby carrots, chopped
1/2 cup plain coconut milk yogurt (can use cottage cheese, tofu or other yogurt for variations)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk  (or other non-dairy milk)
1/4 cup fresh or frozen pineapple (can omit
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder, optional
splash of pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (or more to taste)
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1 medjool date or drizzle of honey or agave (do not use honey if vegan)
4-5 ice cubes

For serving
2 Tbsp raw buckwheat groats (granola can be subbed)
1 -2 Tbsp chopped pecans, walnuts or almonds (or a combo)
1 -2 Tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes (or shredded coconut)

Directions

1. In a blender, combine carrots through ice and blend until smooth, about 1 minute.
2. Pour into a bowl, top with buckwheat groats, nuts and coconut flakes and enjoy!

High Protein Oatmeal Pancakes with Mixed Berry Chia Jam

Sunday mornings and big breakfasts go hand-in-hand in my world. Pancakes and waffles remind me of lazy weekend mornings…and because I slept in this morning, pancakes were on my to-do list when I woke up

I also had a bag of mixed berries in the freezer so I made some berry chia jam to top off this stack of my favorite pancakes. Not only do these pancakes have fiber from the gluten free oats and (optional) flax, they are protein-packed from the cottage cheese for extra staying power! I’ve made them before with my Peach Poppyseed variety but this time I went a more basic route since I was adding a bunch of berry goodness on top!

I went through a long phase growing up where I preferred jelly/jam on my pancakes over maple syrup. When I look back, I pinpointed the issue: soggy pancakes! I never ate my pancakes fast enough because I was a chatty kid at the breakfast table. No more soggy cakes for me though! To this day, my remedy is to serve my syrup on the side

Feel free to add more sweetener if this jam is a little too tart for your taste. You can use this jam on toast, in your PB &J sandwiches, stirred into oatmeal, or smeared onto anything your little heart desires

High Protein Oatmeal Pancakes (adapted from my Peach Poppyseed Cottage Cheese Pancakes)

Ingredients

1/2 cup gluten free oats
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
2 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk (or other milk works fine too)
1 tsp honey, agave or maple syrup (or stevia to taste)
1/2 tbsp flaxseed meal (optional for added nutrition)
1/2 tsp gluten free vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract (optional but I love the flavor)
1 1/2 tsp coconut oil, butter, ghee or other oil for pan (or cooking spray if preferred)

Optional add-ins:  1-2 tablespoons fruit of choice, chopped nuts, seeds, chocolate chips

For serving
Mixed Berry Chia Jam (recipe below)
Fresh blueberries or other berry
Coconut butter

Directions

1.  Heat griddle or large frying pan over medium-low heat.
2. In a blender (I use the individual serving Cuisinart here) or small food processor, add oats and pulse until resembles a flour. Add ingredients (cottage cheese through extract) and blend until well combined. Stir in add-ins if using at this time.
3. Add oil or butter to pan until melted. A couple tablespoons at a time, add batter to the pan and cook golden brown on the bottom and there are a few bubbles on the surface. Flip and cook another 2 minutes or so until golden brown.
4. Garnish with berry chia jam, coconut butter and/or your favorite pancake topping (more butter, maple syrup, honey, applesauce, fruit compote, coconut butter etc) and serve!!!

Makes 6-8 small/medium pancakes, serves one hungry person (me after my workout) or 2 small portions
Recipe can be doubled or tripled if needed

Mixed Berry Chia Jam (adapted from Oh-she-glows)

3 cups mixed berries, frozen or fresh (I used the assorted frozen from Costco)
2 Tbsp honey, agave or maple syrup (or more to taste, do not use honey if strict vegan)
1 Tbsp coconut milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 1/2 Tbsp chia meal/flour (ground chia seeds OR use 2 Tbsp chia seeds)
4-5 drops of liquid stevia (or to taste)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium-sized non-stick pot, bring the berries, liquid sweetener and coconut milk to a low boil.  Stir frequently, and reduce heat to low-medium to simmer for about 5 minutes.  Mash the berries with a potato masher or fork, leaving some for texture if desired.

2. Stir in the chia until thoroughly combined and cook the mixture down until it thickens to your desired consistency, or about 15 minutes.  Stir frequently so it doesn’t stick to the pot.

3. Once the jam is thick, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract and stevia.  Add more sweetener to taste if desired.  The jam should keep for at least a week in an air-tight container in the fridge.

*If you want a smoother texture, you can puree the jam in a food processor liked I did. Next time I will leave it more chunky for added texture…plus it’s one less thing I have to clean up!

Butternut Whoopie Pies with Goat Cream Cheese Filling

The leaves are turning bright yellow and orange in Montana, the air is crisp and it’s set to snow tomorrow. It’s about time my pumpkin and winter squash recipes start appearing!

And so the goat cheese craving continues…yet this time in sweet form You are welcome? Don’t be scared! These butternut whoopie pies have a slightly tangy but deliciously sweet and creamy filling to compliment the autumnal spiced cake-like cookies.

This recipe was adapted from King Arthurs’ pumpkin whoopie pies to make them gluten free. I cut the recipe in half since it was a “test recipe”, and I sure wish I hadn’t. These were delicious! I used up the last bit of King Arthur’s gluten free multi-purpose mix with this recipe, but I think that any all-purpose gluten free mix can be substituted.

A few other tweaks I made were eliminating the cloves since I didn’t have any on hand, reducing the sugar a bit while adding in some stevia, using butternut squash puree for the pumpkin (it’s my favorite of the winter squashes) and subbing honey for the molasses. Yummm.

A “baby” whoopie pie! Oh how I love mini foods  

I’ll be making a FULL batch again soon, and I’ll definitely be using this goat cream cheese filling as a frosting…I could eat that on all toast, cookies, cake or even apple slices I thought it was plenty sweet but feel free to tweak the sweetener based on your preference.

Butternut Whoopie Pies with Goat Cheese Filling (adapted from King Arthur)

Ingredients

For the cookie

1/4 cup butter  or ghee (use Earth Balance for dairy-free), room temperature
1/4 cup grapeseed oil (or other neutral tasting oil)
2/3 cup coconut palm sugar (or other granulated sweetener)
1 Tbsp honey (or molasses)
1/8 tsp pure stevia (or 3-4 more Tbsp sugar)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 large egg
3/4 cup butternut squash puree (or other winter squash puree or pumpkin)
1 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp King Arthur’s Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose mix
3/4 tsp xanthan gum

For the filling
3 ounces of cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat version)
2 ounces of mild chevre (goat cheese), at room temperature
1 tbsp butter, ghee or Earth Balance, room temperature
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp honey, maple syrup or agave (or more to taste for sweeter filling)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat mat and set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine butter, oil, coconut sugar, honey, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
3. Add in butternut puree and eggs and whisk until combined.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour and the xanthan gum. Add to the wet ingredients until combined.
5. Scoop the thick batter onto prepared cookie sheet (size will depend on how big you want your pies to be). Bake smaller cookies for 12-13 minutes and larger one for 16-17 or until lightly golden around edges and slightly firm to touch while still soft. Remove from oven and let cool completely while you prepare filling.
6. Use a beater or a mixer, beat cream cheese, chevre and butter until light and creamy. Add in vanilla and sweetener to taste.
7. To assemble, spread filling on bottom of one cookie and place another cookie on top to create a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Enjoy!

Makes about one dozen 2 inch whoopie pies or 6-7 (4-inch) pies