As of this past Sunday, I officially completed the 21-day Crazy Sexy Diet cleanse. I’m proud to say that aside from a couple of exceptions (namely, some fantastic Irish soda bread on St. Patrick’s Day – worth it!), I was able to stick to the eating plan without much difficulty at all. And overall, I felt lighter, more energized and motivated, and was mostly able to reign in my sugar cravings. And then this week happened.
After three weeks without my beloved TJ’s vegan chocolate chips, I indulged in a small handful. But to my own surprise, they didn’t even taste that amazing. Maybe I played them up in my mind all those times that one time I couldn’t resist smelling the bag of chocolate chips? Nonetheless, the simple act of eating a few seems to have sent my sweet tooth into overdrive. Suddenly, I’ve been finding myself wanting something sweet after lunch, dinner – just about all the time.
Rather than fueling these sugar cravings with another small handful of chocolate chips, and then another, and another – never feeling satisfied and always wanting more – I decided to create a dessert that won’t leave me searching for my next fix.
Sorbet is one of my favorites, and I will almost always choose it over something like cake or cookies. Frosting, on the other hand, is a whole different ballgame. I will happily trade you my cake for your frosting.
Similar to my recent cucumber avocado soup, this sorbet recipe is ridiculously simple – fruit (fresh or frozen), water, a tiny bit of coconut oil (or alcohol! see my note below), and sweetener to taste. It’s easily customizable to whatever you have on hand. I made a blueberry lemon version and a banana sorbet (similar to the famous banana soft-serve, but a little lighter in texture).
Perhaps the past three weeks have messed with my taste buds, but this trumps those chocolate chips any day. It also doesn’t hurt that you can eat the entire recipe in one sitting and feel pretty damn good about it.
- For the Blueberry Lemon Sorbet:
- 2 C. Frozen, Organic Blueberries, mostly defrosted
- Juice & Zest of 1 Small Organic Lemon
- ⅓ C. Water
- 1 Tsp. Coconut Oil, melted
- Sweetener to Taste (I used 1 Tbs. Raw Agave and 7 drop of NuNaturals Liquid Stevia)
- For the Banana Sorbet:
- 2 C. Sliced Bananas (about 2 large bananas, fresh not frozen)
- ⅔ C. Water
- 1 Tsp. Coconut Oil, melted
- Sweetener to Taste (I used 1 Tbs. Raw Agave)
- Add the fruit (including the lemon juice and zest, if you’re making the blueberry sorbet), water, and coconut oil to the blender.
- Process the ingredients until smooth.
- Taste the mixture and add sweetener according to your taste preferences. Quickly blend to combine.
- Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
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How do you reign in your sugar cravings? Is there a “healthy” dessert that you’re currently loving?
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh man, fruit desserts are my favorite. In the summer, I make a lot of fruit pies. The crust recipe I use is fairly healthy, and I never add sugar – I figure fruit is sweet enough. It satisfies my sweet tooth while still being pretty good for me.
That sounds awesome! I can’t wait for farmer’s markets and summer fruits…
I love this recipe! Truth be told, I’d choose ice cream over any dessert, any day of the week- but I can appreciate sorbet almost as much. I have no idea how to control my sugar cravings- ha! No, really- I just try to make healthier choices and find things that are naturally sweet. I do also rely on a little bit of stevia to sweeten things up.
When I’m really craving something sweet for dessert, I make a little microwave muffin with coconut flour, cocoa powder, stevia, and a few other ingredients. It definitely gets the job done. But sometimes, just a bite of frozen banana or sunflower butter it good enough!
Now that I’m cutting back on sugar, I have a new appreciation for stevia. And I’ve been kind of obsessed with almond butter. I’m thinking of buying some sunflower butter to switch things up, but that stuff is even more addictive!
I’m a huge sorbet fan too. Ever since I was little I’ve always opted for the fruitier ice creams as well — Haagen Daz’s raspberry sorbet is SO good. I remember begging for $2.40 (I remember the exact price it was…still) just for a cup of it.
I love Haagen Daz’s sorbet!
ohhhh the mango haagen daz is heaven. just heaven. this recipe sounds amazing! I’m typically more of an ice cream over sorbet girl but you have me craving something more fruity now.
The mango might be my favorite sorbet flavor. Also, pre-vegan days I loved the Haagen Daz plain vanilla.
Awesome! We got an ice cream maker as a gift for my husband’s birthday (he LOVES ice cream!), so I might give this sorbet a try!
Nice! There’s nothing like fresh, homemade ice cream (and sorbet!).
Congrats on completing your cleanse! That sorbet looks so tasty and refreshing.
Thank you!
I’ve eliminated practically all sugar from my diet…& it is true, once you start eating a certain you don’t crave things you used to…this is mostly true for me but every once in a while, I feel the need to cheat! oh well. I’m looking at doing the crazy sexy diet cleanse very soon!
I loved the Crazy Sexy Diet cleanse! I’m aiming to stick to that style of eating moving forward (with some splurges thrown in, of course!).
This looks so yummy. I showed the pictures to my 4-year-old and asked him if we should make it sometime. He nodded his head vigorously of course!
Your blog looks great, as do your photos.
Awww, that’s adorable! Thanks so much, Jessica!
This recipe looks really good, but I don’t have an ice cream maker. Is there any way to alter it to make it without an ice cream maker?
I’m not really sure how this would work, but you could try blending the ingredients and then simply putting the sorbet mixture in the freezer until mostly frozen. Or maybe freezing it in ice cube trays and then popping those in the blender or food processor to get more of a soft-serve type of texture?
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