Making treats with pumpkin keto friendly is easy and tastes wonderful. In fact, sugar-free pumpkin desserts are some of my favorite. One way to prepare these is by combining almond butter with pumpkin. This is a winning combination for low carb desserts and of course keto desserts/paleo desserts. You might even consider adding almond butter and pumpkin to your sugar-free ice cream recipes (low carb ice cream).
The thing to keep in mind is that you can’t use much pumpkin puree.
It is a low carbohydrate food but ½ cup pumpkin puree does have 10 grams carbs. However, 10 grams spread over an entire recipe will only give between 1 and 2 grams carbohydrates per serving so you are quite safe.
Why should you even consider pumpkin when making your Paleo desserts and sugar free desserts? Because pumpkin is actually a super-healthy food!
Pumpkin is
- Higher in beta carotene than carrots
- Great for your vision, the antioxidants in pumpkin can neutralize free radicals that contribute to eye disorders such as macular degeneration
- Works as a stool softener
- Contains good amounts of dietary fiber
- Linked with a reduction in cancer of the colon and prostate
- Helps with blood sugar regulation
- Boosts the immune system function
- Good source of vitamin C
- Contains potassium, vitamin B2, vitamin E, copper and the mineral manganese
- Pumpkin seeds are good for the heart. They reduce cholesterol levels.
- Pumpkin seeds are anti-parasitic. They can give incentives for different types of worms and parasites to leave your body.
- Great for the skin
- Pumpkin seeds are high in tryptophan which increases your body’s level of serotonin. Serotonin keeps you calm in the midst of stress.
See why adding just a bit of pumpkin in your low carb desserts or even in your sugar free ice cream would be a great idea?
Flourless Almond Butter Pumpkin Coconut Bars
–Yields 16 bars
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup salted almond butter
- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin)
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup coconut cream concentrate (coconut manna)
- 1/3 cup chia seeds
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/3 cup erythritol or 10 drops liquid stevia
- 4 ounces of your favorite dark chocolate bar, broken up into pieces
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Grease a 9-inch by 9-inch baking pan with coconut oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the almond butter, coconut cream concentrate, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, chia seeds and egg with a hand mixer.
- Add the baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, erythritol or stevia, mixing thoroughly.
- Let sit at room temperature for about an hour, allowing the flavors to mix.
- Then add in half of the shredded coconut along with the chocolate pieces and mix. If batter is too wet, add ¼ cup hemp seed meal or flax seed meal.
- Pour batter into the greased baking pan.
- Add the remaining shredded coconut on top of the batter.
- Bake until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Cool pan on top of cooling rack.
- Cut into squares. Top with low carb ice cream (sugar free ice cream) if desired.
Low Carb Desserts vs. Ice Cream Fun Facts:
- One scoop of ice cream on a cone is equal to 50 licks unless you are a dog. You can bet that most people, unfortunately, are not choosing sugar free desserts like sugar free ice cream (low carb ice cream).
- One in five people share ice cream with their pet. Again, I wonder how many people are giving their dogs low carb desserts that won’t harm them!
- One ice cream on the market for dogs is called Frosty Paws.
