When you think of the Stone Age they definitely didn’t have all of the sweet temptations we have today. There wasn’t ice cream, cookies, pies, cakes, or chocolate all over the place, just beckoning to be eaten. Today it’s hard to go without these things for long, but no worries, you can simply use prehistoric ingredients to make some of your favorite dessert treats in a healthy way. So out with the refined sugar, and in with the naturally sweet sources. On Paleo you really can have your cake (and brownies, cookies, etc.) and eat it too!
P.S. Use this low carb Paleo-friendly flour to make your Paleo desserts healthier and more decadent
Brownies
1. Grain-Free Raw Brownie Bites
These raw brownie bites require no baking, so it’s just a matter of assembling the ingredients and eating them up. With a stunning total of just 5 ingredients Rebecca has really outdone herself to bring you a simple yet satisfying brownie experience. The great part is that these can store and keep in the refrigerator for up to a week, but that’s only if your willpower let’s them last that long. If you’re anything like us you’ll never have to wonder how long they’ll keep, because they’ll be all gone before long.
2. Chocolate-Topped Paleo Plantain Brownies
These brownies use plantains, which are similar to bananas, but have a different texture and also contain less sugar. This makes them a great food while on Paleo, since you’ll still getting many of the benefits of a banana, including the fiber, without the added sugar. It’s not like these brownies don’t have their fair share of the sweet stuff, with maple syrup being used. You won’t feel like these are bad for you, but at the same time you won’t feel like they’re good for you either, since they won’t have that classic “health food” taste to them.
3. Banana Beet Brownies
Bananas and beets are two superfoods, so these could really be called Super Brownies. Bananas are packed with potassium and have a good amount of fiber, while the beets are a great source of antioxidants. These are loaded with multiple types of chocolate. You’ll get chocolate flavor from the protein powder added, which also means these brownies are going to keep you feeling contented longer. There’s also cacao powder and an optional dark chocolate bar, which we’d suggest using since these are brownies after all. They also have honey as an optional add-in, and this will give the brownies the sweetness they need.
4. Fudgy Pumpkin Blondies
These blondies are sure to make your mouth water. They contain just the right amount of chocolate mixed into a blond brownie so you’re getting the best of both worlds. It won’t be overpoweringly chocolatey like a traditional brownie, but by using chocolate chunks you’ll definitely be tasting the chocolate. The ingredients list is quite simple, and has subbed out traditional flour with almond flour and flax seed meal, so you’re not just cutting out the bad, you’re bringing in the good with added omega-3s. By using pumpkin puree you are bringing the nutrition of pumpkin and helping to give these the right consistency.
5. Secret Brownies
We’re not sure why these are secret, but they definitely use a secret ingredient that you probably aren’t going to believe is in a brownie: sauerkraut. Fermented cabbage in a brownie? Somehow it works, and adds a probiotic feature to a dessert item. These are a no-bake brownie that you can whip together in a matter of minutes because the food processor does all the work. The ingredients include almonds, cashews, dates, cocoa powder, cashew butter, and raw honey. These are sure to be the cure to any brownie craving, even though you won’t get that baking brownie smell wafting through your kitchen.
6. Spinach Brownies
Popeye never had it so good! These brownies use a heaping serving of spinach so that you’re getting fiber, iron, and more in each bite. But don’t think that you’ll have to plug your nose while you’re eating them. There are plenty of additional ingredients that will help you forget that there’s any spinach at all. There’s a plantain, which will help give it the right brownie texture. There’s also honey, molasses, and plenty of cocoa powder so these taste sweet and yummy like real brownies. It’s always good to eat your vegetables, but this is taking it to another level.
7. Fudgy Espresso Brownies
Get a coffee buzz and a chocolate fix at the same time with these espresso-infused brownies. They’re using strong coffee in this so there will be a good dose of caffeine for you, and there’s even coffee added to the frosting so you pretty much can’t escape it. At the same time they’re not holding anything back on the chocolate, so get ready for a coffee/chocolate battle for control of your taste buds. This may not be the best way to start every morning, but every once in awhile you can use these brownies as a way to wake up both you and your sense of taste.
8. Paleo Brownie Bites
These brownie bites are easy to pop, just be sure you don’t overdo it, as eating Paleo is all about stopping when you feel satisfied. They don’t require any baking, so as soon as you roll them into ball form and pop them in the refrigerator for awhile they’re ready to go. You may be surprised that it only takes 5 ingredients to make these, and you’ll wonder why other brownie recipes need so many different ingredients. These are great for bringing a dish to a party, for hosting a party, or just for the family to enjoy.
Cakes
9. Paleo Sticky Date Pudding Cupcakes
These cupcakes look very nice when they’re all put together, and they only contain ingredients that are Paleo approved. This means getting rid of the all-purpose flour found in almost every conventional cupcake, and replacing it with coconut flour instead. This will give the cupcakes the light texture they need, as well as a nice flavor. But the real show-stealer here is the date pudding that goes on top of them. They include a separate recipe for that so you can get both portions of these cupcakes going at the same time.
10. Paleo Banana Upside Down Cake
This cake is broken down into two layers, and is cooked upside-down fashion. The top layer is made up of fruit and nuts, and there is some wiggle room here if you don’t want to use a banana, or you don’t have a banana on hand. They say you can sub in some blueberries if you want. The cake layer is pretty standard, and that’s the one that will end up on the bottom, to support the fruity goodness on top. What you end up with is a multifaceted cake that has a sort of built-in fruity topping on it.
11. Paleo Cake Pops
Who says you can’t have fun on Paleo? These little cake pops look just like the ones you may have seen being sold in bake shops or coffee shops, only they don’t contain anything that is really bad for you. Dark chocolate, coconut milk, and almond flour are the main ingredients, and you just end up putting either a chocolate glaze on them, or a vanilla glaze, or a combination of both to get the right look. It may take a little practice to get them to look good, but you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding someone that will help you eat the mistakes.
12. Triple Chocolate Cookie Cake
This is either a cake-sized cookie or a cake that eats like a cookie. We’ve included it in our cake section because cookies are more of an individual serving, while a cake can feed multiple people. There is a bunch of chocolate throughout this wondrous creation, including raw cacao nibs, a dark chocolate bar, and raw cacao powder. They also went all out on the presentation, and you might have a hard time getting people to believe that this is a Paleo dish. It goes against the perception that Paleo is all about eating like a caveman and you just eat a bunch of meat. But Paleo eating can be very refined, as we see here.
13. Flourless Orange and Almond Cake
This is one of the simplest Paleo desserts on our list, and it only uses a handful of ingredients. The orange flavor comes from oranges of course, and one thing you’ll soon notice about Paleo is that it always uses the natural source of a flavor, nothing artificial. The almond comes from almond meal used to replace the flour that most cakes use. Some eggs, coconut syrup, and a bit of baking soda and this is ready for the oven. This has a mild flavor, so it can be topped or eaten with other foods and it won’t overpower them.
14. Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake
If you’re a sucker for crumble-topped coffee cakes this is sure to get your attention. There are two parts to this cake, the first is the apple cinnamon coffee cake as the base, which has a host of Paleo friendly ingredients. Be sure to go with the tweak of using coconut cream instead of sour cream or Greek yogurt to keep this entirely Paleo. Then we get to the crumble, which is an assembly of nuts, butter, sugar, and cinnamon. It’s not just any sugar used here, but coconut palm sugar, a naturally sweet source that has not been refined or processed like the sugar sold in big bags at the grocery store.
15. Chestnut-Flour Apricot Cacao Cake
This cake will really get you to change your belief as to what a cake looks like, tastes like, and has as its ingredients. For starters it’s using chestnut flour instead of all-purpose flour. It also has apricots baked right into the cake. The chocolate it’s using is raw cacao powder, and there are even pine nuts used as a topping. Coconut sugar and coconut milk are going to give this cake all the sweetness it needs, without taking a toll on your body.
Chocolate
16. Paleo Chocolate Coffee Coconut Truffle Desserts
Yes, you can eat truffles on Paleo. Should you eat them everyday? No. You don’t really want to get into the habit of eating any one thing everyday, because that’s not how they ate back in caveman times. They were hunters and gatherers, so their diet changed daily, or at least very frequently. Every once in awhile you may have to satisfy your modern cravings with one of these coffee coconut truffles, a pure indulgence that will rock you to your Stone Age core without using any unnatural or impure ingredients.
17. Darker than the Darkest of Secrets Paleo Chocolate Pudding
For chocoholics that also happen to be on the Paleo plan this chocolate pudding is sure to put you back to center. This pudding has plenty of chocolate, as well as coffee added for a pick-me-up, plus it also has protein powder added in to make it more of a well-rounded dessert. You may want to substitute a more Paleo friendly protein powder for the whey protein, but some Paleo followers allow whey protein as part of their diet. There’s a lot going on in this little dish of pudding, but it’s all good.
18. Chocolate Torte 3 Ways
Why settle for one way to make chocolate torte when you can discover three different ways? That’s exactly what she’s presenting here, and you’ll love the way each one differs from the next. There’s orange-raspberry, coconut-chocolate, and mint-chocolate, so depending on what you’re in the mood for you can pick which one jumps out at you. They come out so good you’ll wonder how it’s possible to lose weight and eat this good. It’s all about using wholesome ingredients to make delectable food.
19. “Peanut” Butter Truffles
Peanuts are a no-go on Paleo, so they had to come up with a way to make these peanut butter truffles without actually using peanuts. That’s OK because there are plenty of other nuts that can stand in for peanuts, and here they’ve chosen sunflower seeds to do the job. If you haven’t tried sunbutter, which is sunflower seed butter, you have to try it, and this recipe would be a great one to test it out on. There is even some flax seed meal used here, so there will be added fiber and omega-3 goodness in each truffle.
20. Triple Fat Fudge
These won’t make you triple fat, it refers to the number of fats they’re using to make them. They actually use four different fat sources, coconut butter, ghee, coconut oil, and cocoa butter. These are all healthy fat sources, and approved for the Paleo diet. In fact, you’re encouraged to consume healthy fat daily as part of the plan. You don’t necessarily want to knock it out with one brownie, but having a treat like this once in awhile is also OK, as the Paleo philosophy is not about deprivation, but rather using high quality ingredients in place of low quality ones.
21. Death by Chocolate
Don’t worry, you’ll live to tell the tale of this chocolate monstrosity. They start by using their chocolate skillet cake recipe, and then add to it further to make it even more chocolatey and delicious. They’ve taken a few liberties here, which you’ll want to adjust if you want it to be purely Paleo. For example, they’re using whipped cream, which you can either let slide, or whip up a batch of whipped cream using coconut milk. You don’t want to get into the habit of nixing a recipe just because it has one or two things that aren’t Paleo. You simply make some adjustments and carry on.
22. Mini Chocolate Almond Mounds of Joy
These little “mounds of joy” are inspired by the candy bars Almond Joy and Mars. You probably know the jingle of sometimes feeling like a nut, and sometimes not. Well here there is definitely nuts in the form of almonds and hazelnuts. There is also plenty of chocolate, and coconut, but it’s unsweetened coconut so you may have to shop around before you’re able to find it. The end result is a chocolate treat that will let you circumvent the added sugar, dairy, chemicals and preservatives that come in conventional candy bars.
23. Grain Free Devilish Angel Food Mini Cakes
These mini cakes are so cute they make for a great presentation if you want to serve them to guests. It’s the first time we’ve seen angel food cake in mini form, and by popping a raspberry on top they really make a nice color contrast that stands out. Let’s get into how these are made. Coconut flour gets used instead of any grains, and there is even avocados used so you’re getting plenty of potassium, healthy fats, and fiber along with all of the deliciousness. A chocolate drizzle on the top really drives the flavor home.
24. Chocolate Cupcakes
These chocolate cupcakes are pretty standard, and we just had to include them because it’s nice to have a go-to recipe for chocolate cupcakes that you can make for different events and gatherings and not have to worry if they’re screwing up your diet. She’s topping them with coconut cream and cacao nibs, but really they’re just the foundation for whatever you want to put on them. Coconut flour and cacao powder combine to form the base of these cupcakes, and avoid the use of any wheat, gluten, or any grains.
Cookies
25. Chocolate Chunk Salted Caramel No-Bake Cookies
These no-bake cookies are sure to have you drooling as you make them. They take 10 minutes from start to finish, so hopefully you can contain yourself. There’s plenty of coconut in play here, from the use of coconut oil, coconut milk, shredded coconut, and coconut flakes, it almost reminds us of the shrimp scene from Forrest Gump. But those flavors don’t get in the way of the chocolate and caramel advertised in the title, and you’ll be bombarded by the big-time taste of these yummy cookies.
26. Happy-House Chocolate Chip Cookies
No Paleo dessert list would be complete without a chocolate chip cookie recipe, so we’ve decided to include two. This one is pretty much your classic chocolate chip cookie, and is sure to become one of your favorites. It’s good to remind your taste buds and your body that you can still have these sort of sweet treats once in awhile. By combining almond flour and coconut flour you come up with a very suitable replacement to ordinary flour, but with one key missing ingredient: grains. The rest is pretty much standard, except that the ingredients are all high quality and natural.
27. Apple Spice Cookies
The apple spiced cookies will give you something new to savor, since they look like a cookie but taste more like an apple pie. They have the right mix of seasonings and spices, perfectly cooked apples, and all of the other parts to a cookie that you’re expecting. They make your place smell absolutely amazing while they’re baking, and these are the kind of cookies you’ll want to eat while they’re still warm for maximum effect. they go great with a cup of tea on a cold day.
28. Triple Almond Cookies
Almond cookies are made in a certain way that is exclusive to almond cookies, and wouldn’t fly with any other cookie. They’re dry and one dimensional, just almond almond almond the whole way. These are completely different and actually quite moist. There’s also almond flour used instead of general purpose flour, and almond extract just in case you weren’t getting enough almond flavor from the whole almond and the almond flour. If you love almond cookies you’re sure to love these.
29. Chai Spice Cookies
Christina shows us how to get that delectable chai flavoring into a cookie that you won’t soon forget. If you’re a fan of a chai latte or chai tea, you’ll enjoy these, and it’s no surprise that they go well with either of those. She’s gluten-free, which in many cases means it’s also Paleo approved, but you’ll want to check the other ingredients before you use a gluten-free recipe, as not all GF recipes are Paleo recipes. But this one checks out and you can enjoy these whenever you get the notion.
30. Infamous Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Bacon in chocolate chip cookies is becoming more widely accepted, and if you’ve ever tried one, you’ll know why. Bacon makes it taste good. It adds savoriness to a sweet cookie, and you can’t help but notice the additional flavor. Also, it adds a new texture to the scene, and gives your teeth something to chew on rather than just plowing through the cookie and being done with it. This is a cookie you can slow down for, and you won’t even need a glass of milk, unless it’s almond milk, since cow’s milk is a no-go on Paleo.
Ice Cream
31. Strawberries & Cream Ice Cream
The butter crisp topping on this ice cream dish really makes it noteworthy. You’ll be getting the smooth, creamy texture of the ice cream juxtaposed with the crunch and nuttiness of the crisp. The ice cream is made with full fat coconut milk, so there’s no dairy involved, keeping this on the Paleo side. The strawberries are fresh, which is an important reminder to use fresh, premium ingredients whenever possible. The strawberries should really be organic as well, since conventional strawberries absorb a lot of pesticides and herbicides while growing, none of which was around 10,000+ years ago.
32. Creamy Ice Cream with Caramel Topping
Caramel seems like one ice cream topping that would definitely be banned from a Paleo authorized foods list. But it all depends on how it’s made, and you can be sure this one isn’t using a bunch of industrial-grade sugar. In fact it’s made from tahini, honey, coconut milk, and a bit of vanilla. So how’s it taste? Good! And when you add it on top of the instant ice cream recipe they include you’ve got a fast and delicious way to finish any Paleo meal in style.
33. Coconut Date Ice Cream
Imagine being able to make ice cream using just coconut milk and dates. They show you the steps necessary to take these two ingredients and make something special out of them. You simply top things off with some pecans and you have a delicious treat that will keep you happy and on track so you keep making progress. When you have a sweet dessert like this it just makes everything go more smoothly and keeps you away from the feeling that you’re being deprived.
34. Chocolate Ripple Coconut Ice Cream with Raspberries
This ice cream recipe is really all about the chocolate ripple, and mentions that you can swap out the raspberries for any other fruit you like or have on hand. The coconut ice cream recipe is a good one to have on file for times when you want to make a plain ice cream and then doctor it up with whatever toppings you like. This is one recipe where the method is the real attraction, showing you how to get the ripple effect throughout the ice cream.
35. Banana Split Ice Cream
A banana split makes perfect sense on a Paleo diet, because you’ll be using a banana which automatically puts it in the realm of the Stone Age. Sure, they weren’t making ice cream back then, but they would have had all of the required ingredients to do so. They point out that you can swap out the dairy with coconut milk, and they even give recommendations for how to make your own coconut milk, and which coconut milk to buy. The add-ins are Paleo because they’re all fruits and nuts with a dark chocolate bar added in for good measure.
Pies
36. Blueberry Cream Pie
A cream pie that’s made without any cream is a sight to behold. It’s amazing what some of these cooks and chefs can come up with when they are given the task of making delicious desserts that fit the Paleo mold. This cream pie looks and tastes like the real thing, even better when you consider that it’s not unhealthy in moderation. You can swap out the blueberries for any other toppings that make sense for you, and you might also enjoy eating it plain.
37. Sweet Spinach Pie
Sweet and spinach are two words you don’t often hear used together, but they’ve gotten them to cooperate in this recipe. The spinach she’s using is fresh spinach leaves, the kind you’ll find in the produce section. Go organic when you buy spinach because it’s a very absorbent vegetable. The sweetness that is making this all taste good is coconut sugar, which does a great job of making it seem like a pie and not like a vegetable. As a Paleo follower you simply have to get used to eating your vegetables each day, but maybe not in pie form.
38. Key Lime Pie
Big key lime pie flavor comes through in each of these mini pies. They’re fun to look at and also fun to eat thanks to that tart/sweet taste that comes with a key lime pie. There’s a separate recipe for making the coconut macaroon crust that holds the filling. This is the perfect crust for these mini pies, adhering to the Paleo way of baking and keeping it grain free. The filling uses as many traditional ingredients as possible for the right flavor.
Just Plain Sweet
39. Paleo Grilled Peaches with Coconut Cream
These grilled peaches taste great all year, but you may want to wait for when peaches are in season to get the best results. This makes for a great summertime dessert, and a good anytime dessert since you can buy organic peaches year round. The grilling is what makes them truly unique, and it may be a new taste sensation if you’ve never tried grilling peaches before. The coconut cream tastes great on them, and is reminiscent of a classic peaches and cream recipe but without using any dairy.
40. Spiced Autumn Apples Baked in Brandy
These apples get cored and then filled with an assortment of yummy ingredients. The alcohol in the brandy will get burned up during the baking process, and helps to soften the apple so that when these are done they’re nice and al dente. The other ingredients used all help bring out the flavor of the apple, with walnuts and raisins giving it plenty of texture, and nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves giving it just the right flavor. Even though these look professional made and hard to do, it’s actually pretty easy and it comes together in just a few minutes of prep time.
41. Caramel Apples
Caramel apples seem like the last thing you should be having when eating Paleo, but as long as you make adjustments on the caramel the apple is good to go. Honey and coconut cream make up the caramel, keeping the dairy and the refined sugar out of the equation, so there’s no concerns on whether this will knock you off track. It still might not be the best thing for your teeth, but at least it’s the healthiest sort of caramel you can make.
42. Paleo Sex in a Pan
This dessert has quite the name to live up to, and when you compare it to a traditional Sex in a Pan recipe it’s definitely been modified to accommodate Paleo eaters. No white flour is used, no refined sugar has been added, no cream cheese is used, no powdered sugar, no dairy, and no wafer cookies. Just layer after layer of Paleo approved foods that you don’t have to feel guilty about when it’s finished.
43. Coconut and Almond Dark Chocolate Bars
These bars have a delicious combination of flavors and are nice and portable for a dessert on the go. You can’t help but fall in love with the rich dark chocolate, and there’s also a noticeable coconut theme running throughout. This comes from two sources of coconut flavor, coconut oil and coconut flakes. Almond slices insure that you’ll get a nice almond flavor in each bite, and the dark chocolate is one thing you’ll want to be picky about and select the best available.
44. Pineapple Coconut Bars With Chocolate Macadamia Nut Crust
These bars are Paleo gourmet desserts that you simply can’t resist. Each ingredient comes through in the overall flavor, and you can taste wonderful things like macadamia nuts, pineapple, dates, honey, and even some fresh lime juice. These look just as good as they taste, making them great when entertaining guests. There aren’t any grains involved, instead they’re using almond flour for the crust to give it a great texture and additional flavor. This doesn’t need long to bake, so it can be prepared pretty quickly and is sure to impress.
45. Homemade Nutella
If you love the taste of Nutella but want to avoid the sugar and vegetable oil that makes up the majority of its contents, we’ve got you covered with this homemade recipe. It puts things right and makes it with hazelnuts as the main ingredient, the way it should be. It also contains organic butter, honey, coconut water, and organic liquid vanilla. That beats the actual label of Nutella, which shows it’s made up mostly of sugar, vegetable oil, with only a fraction of the product containing hazelnuts and cocoa.
46. Lemon Bars
Lemon bars are a sweet and sour way to get your dessert cravings covered. These lemon bars use lemon juice and lemon zest to give them that distinct lemony taste, and leave out the white sugar, the all-purpose flour, and the low-quality butter used in traditional recipes for lemon bars. The end result is a clean pan of lemony goodness that you don’t have to feel bad about eating. Almond flour and coconut flour replace the all-purpose flour to keep these grain free, and honey is used to sweeten things up.
47. White Chocolate Lamingtons
The lamingtons are made with white chocolate instead of the normal chocolate. They are also made grain-free and dairy free because the cook has Crohn’s disease. Whenever you’re following a recipe like this you’ll want to double check the ingredients list to make sure that it adheres to Paleo as well. We’ve checked for you and it’s all good, so you can enjoy these lamingtons and get a taste for this traditionally Australian dessert.
Bonus Dessert Recipes
48. Crunch or No-Crunch Brownies
Chewy, rich brownies are the goal here, and there’s two different ways to make them. You can either go with the crunchy version which adds in tigernuts, which are definitely worth reading up on if you’ve never heard of them before. They’re also using tigernut flour to help give these brownies the right texture and consistency. No matter which way you choose to make them you’re in for a real treat in terms of the flavor.
49. Paleo Raspberry Chocolate Banana Cake
There’s something about mixing berries and chocolate together that just works. Here they’re using raspberries as the berry, which provides a tartness as well as a sweetness to the cake. To round things out they’ve added a banana so you’ll get extra fiber and potassium added in. Avocado and coconut oil add in healthy fat and take the place of butter so you’re getting a cake that’s just as tasty but is healthier thanks to better ingredients.
50. Avocado Pistachio Matcha Ice Cream
Want a healthy ice cream? Just add together three ingredients that are healthy all by themselves, and you’re on the right track. Avocado provides healthy fat, fiber, and a good dose of potassium. Pistachios add in more healthy fat, fiber, and protein, and matcha is green tea powder that will infuse the ice cream with antioxidants. You’ve never tried ice cream like this before, and it’s an odd feeling when ice cream promotes your good health. That’s the magic of Paleo!
50. Pumpkin Ice Cream
Perfect for the fall months or any time of the year, adding real pumpkin to the ice cream making process is a novel idea. You’ll get the smooth and creamy consistency of the pumpkin plus the extra vitamins and minerals it contains. It’s easier when you use canned pumpkin puree, and they’ve managed to keep this recipe entirely dairy free but still have it deliver real ice cream flavor thanks to full fat coconut milk.
52. Chocolate Cream Pie
Sometimes you just want a classic, and that’s where this chocolate cream pie delivers. It looks like a chocolate cream pie, it smells like a chocolate cream pie, and by golly it tastes like a chocolate cream pie. It sends massive signals to your brain that all is well, that you’re not on a diet, and that food can be fun as well as healthy. Somehow they’ve managed to sneak in some sweet potatoes to the pie for added nutrients and a perfect texture.
53. Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Why decide between a chocolate chip cookie and pie when you can have both at the same time? This chocolate chip cookie pie is the creation of a genius that has combined two things that just about everyone loves and made them into one. The unbelievable part is that it uses just five ingredients so you don’t have to stock up on a lot of items in order to make it. A great recipe to have up your sleeve for unexpected guests and impromptu get togethers.
47 Paleo Desserts to Satisfy Any Sweet Tooth
Jess (Paleo Grubs)
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