Caveman Desserts for the Holidays

You’re not willing to compromise your newfound food priorities (allergy free, low carb, primal!), but you also don’t want to be a “downer” for the holiday parties. While I personally wouldn’t mind a party full of meaty goodness, your guests might not agree. Here are some great recipes to fill your dessert docket without compromising your health!

pecan date ginger cookies
Mix 3 eggs, 1 cup finely chopped pecans, 1 tablespoon of ghee or lard, 5 dates, chopped, and 7 pieces of naked crystallized ginger, finely chopped. Add a teaspoon of cinnamon, a pinch of salt, and vanilla if desired. Form into cookie balls, or just spread evenly in a greased pyrex pan for bar cookies, and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

Instead of ginger and dates, try substituting orange-flavored dried cranberries, or raisins, or dried wild blueberries!

home made applesauce
This is not only good at dinner, it’s an excellent replacement for pie.
Chop apples into “two-bite-sized” chunks – you can either peel the skins or leave them on. We prefer to leave them on. Pile them up in a pan (we usually use a soup pot and make a very large batch!). Add just a bit of water to the bottom of the pan so that the apples don’t burn: two or three tablespoons is enough. Add cinnamon to taste – we like to put a lot of cinnamon in! We also put a spoonful of ghee in to give it a rich flavor, this is optional.
As the apples get softer, mash them with a potato masher. We like to leave quite a few chunks in the applesauce: you can mash it thoroughly or leave it chunky as you prefer.

If you prefer apple pie, why not use the pecan pie crust and dish your chunky sauce right into it – or bake it up as an “open-faced” pie? Delicious!

We love to make the Almond Honey Cake for the holidays (or for birthdays!), and it’s fun to make Almond Meal Pancakes thinner like crepes, and stuff them with sugar-free jam, or roll them up with ghee, honey, and cinnamon!

And, although I usually use these an an appetizer, there’s no reason you can’t call Bacon-Wrapped Dates a dessert!

bacon dates appetizer
Stuff almonds into pitted dates. I like to put two almonds per date for extra crunch. I like to use Whole Foods brand uncured bacon to wrap them, because it is sliced extra thin, and wraps up very well. You could also use Neiman Ranch or Wellshire Farms bacon. Make sure NOT to use black forest style bacon, as this is not generally gluten-free (barley malt used for coloring).
Cut the package of bacon in half, so that each strip of bacon is now two half-strips. Wrap each date in a half-strip of bacon, and set them into a pyrex baking dish with the “seam” down (so that they stay rolled up). Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (check often to stop them at your desired bacon “done-ness” – some people like to cook them longer for crispier bacon, some people prefer chewier bacon.)
Let them cool a bit out of the oven – the dates get very hot!

this article is part of our Surviving the Holidays with Food Allergies series