Well I am back & hoping to be more present in my blogging now that everything seems to be falling into place in my life once again. I have a new boyfriend who is a few months older than me (YAY!) and who is incredibly awesome to me, and makes utterly happy. I have currently been presented with a new challenge: my babe is lactose intolerant (boo). I have been on the hunt for all things lactose free including trying to make dishes and desserts friendlier for him. Now one thing that I find funny is that he LOVES chocolate, and chocolate does not seem to bother him and lucky for him I prefer darker chocolates as opposed to milk chocolates which is better also.
I found an amazing recipe for Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding which turned out to be perfect for 2 people, but I decided to doctor things up and try to not only make it lactose free but also a bit more healthier. Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too? As long as you do your homework and, of course, in moderation, you definitely can!
Before I get into the recipe, let's talk about some of the changes I made and how you can change them also. Immediately you will notice, of course, that I use Lactose Free 2% milk; should you decide to use regular milk, take into consideration some of the nutritional values may change a bit especially if you decided to do full fat milk or even heavy cream. Like I said, I am on a lactose free mission and have found the perfect cheese at one Whole Foods Market made from almond milk and tastes like regular cheese; Green Valley Organics also makes yogurt, sour cream, kefir and cream cheese; and Sprouts Farmers Market carries lactose free cottage cheese.
Let me not forget to mention that you can use fat free or light whipped topping instead of the CocoWhip; again, just remember there may be slight nutritional differences. However, I MUST tell you how delicious this is, and the bf was blown away and amazed by the taste.
Also you will notice, I use Raw Cacao Powder instead of cocoa powder. Raw cacao is made by cold pressing unroasted cocoa beans; this keeps the living enzymes in the cocoa and removes the fat. Raw cacao powder is much better than cocoa powder in that it lowers insulin resistance; is high resveratol (a potent antioxidant); reduced risk for cardiovascular disease; reduces risk for stroke, reduces blood pressure; is rich in magnesium, iron, potassium, calcium, zinc, copper & manganese; boosts your mood promoting a better sense of well being. I use raw cacao powder in place of cocoa powder in lots of recipes including my overnight oats; it has a strong, rich, deep chocolate flavor. The brand I buy is NavitasNaturals which can be found in the nutrition/health food section of HEB for $9.99; you might think that is too expensive, but a little goes a LONG way!
Another thing you will notice is that I use Coconut Sugar in place of regular sugar. Why? Coconut sugar is MUCH better than regular sugar as it has a lower Glycemic Index measure of 35 as opposed to 60 in regular sugar. (BIG plus for diabetics) Also research has shown that coconut sugar has impressive amounts of nutrients such as zinc, iron, potassium and calcium. The brand I buy is Madhava Organic which can be found in the baking section at HEB for less than $5.00.
Ok, so I've rambled on for too long so lets get on with the recipe. Since this is a 2 person recipe, you can definitely get away with buying those cute little 4-pk King's Hawaiian rolls; of course you can double this recipe for 4 people.
Ingredients:
3 1/2 King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls, cubed
2/3 cup Lactose-Free 2% Milk
1 1/2 tbs Raw Cacao Powder
2 tbs Coconut Sugar Pure & Unrefined
1 tbs Kahlua
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Eggland's Best large egg
1 oz Baker's Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate Squares
1 tsp SoDelicious CocoWhip Light
Cooking spray
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes or until toasted. Remove bread from oven.
Combine milk and next 5 ingredients (milk through egg) in a medium bowl, whisk well until thoroughly combined.
Add bread
Toss gently to coat.
Cover and chill 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.
Divide half of bread mixture evenly between 2 (6-ounce) ramekins or custard cups coated with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with half of chocolate. Divide remaining bread mixture between ramekins; top with remaining chocolate.
Place ramekins in an 8-inch square baking pan (I only had a loaf pan at the moment which had the perfect depth); add hot water to pan to a depth of 1 inch.
Bake at 325° for 35 minutes or until set
Serve each pudding warm with 1 tsp whipped topping.
Looking at the values of the healthy version I encountered, I managed to bring the calories down by 68, I brought the total fat within the range it needs to be for the calories involved, lowered the carbs by 14 mg AND brought the sugars down 15 g. Granted based on these numbers the sugar level is about 8 g over the mark for the calories involved, but I still brought those numbers WAY down from the original recipe so that's a major thing to take into consideration.
Calories 327
Total Fat 10.7 g
Sat Fat 5.7 g (2.43 g over)
Cholesterol 120 mg
Sodium 223 mg (169 mg under)
Potassium 112 mg
Carbs 44 g (5 g under)
Fiber 2.6 g
Sugar 20.9 g (8,4 g over)
Protein 13.7 g (5.5 g over)
The dessert was, however, a true and utter success. My babe polished it off and, as I stated earlier, loved the CoCoWhip ;so if you or someone you know is lactose intolerant and don't mind a little coconut flavor, try this stuff out.
Hopefully you'll try this out and enjoy as much as we did. If you like the blog, please feel free to like/follow the page.
Until next time, Happy Eating!!
