I discovered a wonderful world out there the other day. A world I had been oblivious to (I’ve been oblivious to a lot of things recently). A world where some beautifully talented and curious and dedicated food bloggers have quit sugar and taken to experimenting with sugar-free recipes. I’ll be profiling a few here going forwards, so stay tuned.
I came across Maria’s blog Scandi Foodie after interacting with her her sweet tweets recently. Maria is a props stylist originally from Finland, now living in Sydney. Her elegant food philosophy and styling have been influenced by her Scandinavian background, and she specialises in healthy, feel-good food. Feel-good food. Yes, I like it. And the Scandinavian aesthetic and social outlook is just TALKING to me right now.
And what about this recipe!!!! A very fine use of coconut products and a clever invention all round, don’t you think? The rhubarb? A fruit? Well, technically it’s a vegetable (and one with lots of health benefits, so say the Chinese) and doesn’t contain much sugar at all. It’s very tart, so you may wish to “sweeten” it with a little stevia. I reckon you could also use frozen berries, if you wanted. What say you, Maria?
sugar free rhubarb macaroon slice
- 100g quinoa flakes
- 50g coconut flakes (no sugar added)
- 50g rolled oats*
- 1 tablespoon raw pure cacao nibs (total sugars 3.6g/100g)
- 80g virgin coconut oil
- 2 large egg whites (free-range,organic)
- 200g rhubarb, cut into 1 cm slices
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 large egg whites (free-range, organic)
- 50g fine desiccated coconut (no sugar added)
Preheat oven to 180C and line a 25cm x 15cm baking tray with baking paper.
For the base, place the quinoa flakes, coconut flakes, oats and cacao nibs into a food processor. Grind the ingredients into a fine-ish mixture, then add the coconut oil and grind until the mixture comes together. Beat in the egg whites. Spoon the dough in the baking dish and, using your hands, spread on the baking sheet into a 1-2 cm thick base.