5 Dairy-free, Low Saturated Fat Holiday Treats

Is it too early to mention the holidays?  And, more specifically, holiday treats?  I’ve been following the Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis lifestyle programme for exactly 5 years this month. I remember really panicking during my first Christmas after starting the diet.  It extolls a low saturated fat, dairy-free and largely plant-based diet and my previous Christmas’ were pretty much, well, let’s just say not dairy-free or low fat.  Over the years, however, I have come to really enjoy finding holiday treats that stick to the diet’s ‘rules’ whilst still satisfying a naughty food craving.

OMS does not prohibit sugar – thankfully!  So these recipes are not necessarily the healthiest of treats, but they are enjoyed by my family and friends every year and I now get requests to make them.  I’d love to hear if you try any of these and what you think of them.  And a big thank you to the sites from which I have found the recipes (I have linked to all in the names) – following the OMS plan is so much easier when you can search for plant-based recipes online!

Gingerbread Biscotti by Simple Nourished Living

This was the first holiday treat recipe that I attempted and they were lovely!  Really nice with a cuppa 🙂

Christmas Pudding Vodka by Not Quite Nigella

Vodka is considered a treat isn’t it?  Well, this is definitely a holiday treat.  I don’t drink vodka that often at all, but after a few weeks of resting and stirring, this Christmas Pudding Vodka is sweet and moreish, equally good with a bit of lemonade or soda for a long drink or on its own as a short with lots of ice.  We’ve also saved the steeped fruits and served them with ‘nice-cream’ (ice cream made with bananas)/non-dairy icecream/soya custard.

Ingredients

• 1 bottle (about 700ml) vodka
• 250g dark brown sugar
• 100g mixed peel
• 250g sultanas
• 150g raisins
• Grated rind and juice of 1 orange
• 1 tsp almond essence
• 6 cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 vanilla beans, split, seeds scraped
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp mixed spice

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and cover well with plastic wrap (reserve the vodka bottle and cap). Set aside in a cool place for 1 week (although I have left mine for up to 3 weeks before), stirring once a day. Strain the contents through a very fine sieve, pressing down well to extract all the liquid. Pour liquid back into the vodka bottle and screw the cap on tightly. Store in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Baked Apples  by The Spruce Eats

These apples are a really nice way to get some fruit into the kids and to have a healthy, warming pudding at the same.  I have recently discovered Alpro’s Almond Salted Caramel Ice-cream, which is amazing with this or a simple cinnamon ‘nice-cream’ goes perfectly too (see recipe below).

Ingredients

• 4 medium apples (Granny Smith)
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (ground)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 F
• Wash and scrub the apples well.
• Using a small paring knife, gently cut around the core of the apple starting from the top to remove the inner core and seeds. Be sure to remove all the seeds and any stringy, firm parts while keeping the bottom intact. You’ll want to remove all the core and have enough room to fill the emptied core.
• Stand the apple up on a baking sheet with the cored portion up.
• In a small bowl, combine the raisins, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Gently stir the ingredients together until they are well combined. Using a small spoon, fill each apple cavity with about 1 tablespoon of the raisin mixture.
• Place the apples in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes.
• After about 20 minutes, check the apples for doneness by piercing them with a fork or sharp knife. If the apples are tender, remove them from the oven. If not, continue baking in 5-minute increments until they are completely done

Cinnamon Nice-Cream

I was tinkering around with nice-cream flavours and this is my favourite.  This nice-cream is delicious with all kinds of winter deserts or just on its own.  I reeeeaaallly don’t like banana flavoured food, but I promise that this is lovely.  In fact, it hardly tastes of banana, just a creamy cinnamony loveliness, so great for people who can’t have dairy but still want an ice-creamy treat.

Ingredients

• One frozen banana per person (I find chopping up the bananas before freezing helps)
• Non-dairy milk
• Good shake of cinnamon (to taste)
• Optional extra – a tablespoon of almond butter for creaminess

Instructions

I really do ‘eye-ball’ this recipe.  I start by putting the bananas in a food processor and start whizzing them up.  I add non-dairy milk tablespoon by tablespoon to help the nice-cream on its way.  It may take up to 5 minutes to get the smooth consistency you what, stopping every now and then to scrape down the sides of the food processor.  I add the cinnamon towards the end, making sure to distribute it evenly with the processor. This nice-cream can be topped with nuts, cocoa nibs, chocolate sauce or berries – or all of the above!

OMS-Friendly Christmas Pudding by Stylish Settings

Christmas treats wouldn’t be Christmas treats without a Christmas pud, right?  If you’ve never been keen, I urge you to try this one – it is lighter than the ones you can get from the supermarket but just – if not more – tasty.  My kids help me to make one every year and we hide some coins wrapped in greaseproof paper inside (it is good luck if you find them) and we also make a wish whilst stirring the batter.  I haven’t actually made mine yet this year so hopefully, this will spurr me on to do it!

Ingredients

Dried Fruit Mix – you can use any combination of dried fruit that you like – sultanas, raisins, currants, dates, apricots, figs, prunes, mixed peel, glace cherries or cranberries.  I used 4 and 1/2 cups:

• 1 cup (150g/5oz) sultanas
• 3/4 cup (150g/5oz) raisins
• 1 cup (150g/5oz) currants
• 1 cup (150g/5oz) dried dates, chopped
• 3/4 cup (100g/3.5oz) dried apricots, chopped
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup orange juice +1/2 cup alcohol (rum, brandy) for soaking the fruit or for a non-alcohol pudding just use 1 cup of orange juice

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 green apples (125g,4.5oz), unpeeled and grated
• 1 cup orange juice – juice from 4 oranges, or use good quality juice
• 2 tablespoons EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 cups of self-raising (self-rising) flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1 cup almond meal (ground almonds)
• 2 teaspoons of mixed spice* (I used 1tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp allspice & 1/2 tsp nutmeg)

Instructions

• Place all the dried fruit, lemon zest and soaking liquid in a glass bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to soak overnight or for a couple of days stirring regularly.  The fruit should be lovely and plump.  You can heat the mixture in a saucepan first if you like.
• When your fruit is ready, grate the 2 green apples and add them to the mixture, together with all the wet ingredients.  Stir well so the sugar dissolves.
• Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir/whisk to combine.  Sift the dry ingredients over the top of the fruit mixture.  Gently fold the flour mixture into the fruit until it is combined.
• Spoon the pudding mixture into a 2-litre pudding container until it is three-quarters full.  I bought a carbon-steel non-stick pudding bowl with a lid that locks closed and handles which makes it so much easier.  I did cut a small piece of greaseproof paper to fit in the bottom of the bowl and lightly greased the sides with a little oil.  If you have a pyrex/ceramic bowl you will need to make a water-tight lid and string handle for it.  See instructions here.  You can also make 2 x 1-litre puddings, and freeze one for next year.
• Place the pudding bowl into a double steamer, or a large saucepan with a trivet or upturned saucer on the bottom.  This stops the top of the pudding touching the bottom of the pan and burning.  Pour boiling water around the pudding bowl until it comes halfway up the sides.  Put the lid on the saucepan/steamer and simmer for about 4 hours.  You will need to keep an eye on it and top up the water when needed. Use boiling water from the kettle.
• Remove the pudding from the saucepan and leave it to cool in the bowl.  If you want to eat it straight away, leave it to cool for 30 minutes before serving.  Traditionally though, you would now store the pudding in the pantry or fridge for a month to allow the flavours to develop (make a new foil lid and string if you don’t have a lidded pudding bowl).  To re-heat the pudding, steam for another hour or so.  Let it cool for 30 minutes and then serve with custard or cream.

I use Alpro soya custard, but my husband also likes Oatley cream.

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And there we have it!  I hope that these recipes keep you going this holiday season, I’d love to hear if you try any of them 🙂