With Valentine's Day around the corner, I knew I needed to come up with a creative dessert that was easy to make and healthy to eat. Of course, it was not a surprise that the first recipe to come to mind was a Red Velvet Cake due to its iconic red colouring.
Since my No Bake Carrot Cake Bars are my number one post to date on my blog, I decided to embark on a second "no bake" recipe.
I had already created the basic fundation for a "no bake" bar with my No Bake Carrot Cake Bars, so all I really needed to do was to figure out how to get the "red" colour without using any artificial dyes.
Drum roll please..... I used BEETS!
Beets have been shown to:
- Fight cancer
- Help to reduce dementia
- Help to lower heart disease
- Boost eye health
- Boost endurance
- and the list goes on and on!
So, by simply using beets in this recipe, a healthy and easy, Red Velvet Cake was born.
Substitutions and Modifications
Cocoa Powder - you could use melted chocolate chips instead and then reduce the amount of sugar used and eliminate the butter
Beets - I used a package of frozen peeled beets. You could always use fresh beets, peel them and then follow the rest of the recipe.
To make a dairy free frosting - you can substitute the cream cheese with an almond based cream cheese such as Kite Hill
Flour Substitutions - you could always use all coconut flour or all almond flour in this recipe. If you do change the flours, you may need a little more or a little less of either flour or liquid. Coconut flour is high in fiber and therefore absorbs liquid easily so you may need to add some almond milk if the mixture looks too dry. As for almond flour, you may need to add more flour or less liquid to get the desired consistency.
Do not use regular all purpose flour in this recipe. For those of you who don't know, all purpose flour can be contaminated with E. Coli and therefore MUST be baked.
"No Bake" Red Velvet Cake Bars (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Low Carb, No Artificial Dyes)
These "no bake" low carb, gluten free bars use beets instead of artificial dyes. Super moist, these almond and coconut flour bars are simple to make and, with the addition of beets, are nutrient packed!
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 bars 1x
Ingredients
For the Bars:
- 150 g beets, chopped, cooked
- 150 g (1 ⅓ cup) almond flour
- 50 g (½ cup) coconut flour
- ½ cup stevia (or other sweetener of choice)
- ¼ cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 tbsp butter (optional depending on the consistency you have after the flours have been added)
For the Frosting:
- 6 oz cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup stevia (or other sweetener of choice)
- 1 tbsp almond milk
Instructions
- Line a 6 x 6 container with parchment paper.
- Place beets in a microwave safe bowl and cook until fork tender (approximately 2-4 minutes)
- Place beets, almond flour, coconut flour, stevia and cocoa powder in a food processor and process until a paste like consistency (approximate 2-4 minutes).
- Add salt, vanilla and softened butter (if using) and process for 1 more minute. If the mixture is too dry, add 1 teaspoon of almond milk. Keep adding 1 teaspoon at a time until mixture can be formed into balls. If mixture is too wet, add 1 tablespoon of coconut flour until mixture can be formed into balls.
- Place "dough" in a container and press down firmly.
- Place in refrigerator and let cool.
- While "dough" is cooling, prepare frosting by combining sugar, cream cheese and almond milk. Beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Once bars have cooled and slightly hardened, spread frosting on top of bars.
- Store in the refrigerator for 3 days or freeze bars and remove 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- See post for modifications
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Bars, Sweets, Breakfast
- Cuisine: Dessert
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar without frosting
- Calories: 202
- Sugar: 2.7 g
- Fat: 16.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 11.4 g
- Fiber: 5.9 g
- Protein: 5.9 g
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