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Those who know me and my style of baking are well aware that I try to use natural sweeteners instead of refined sugar in my baking projects. I am forever playing around with natural sweeteners such as coconut sugar/raw honey/date paste, in order to ‘healthify’ any dessert recipe!
You can only imagine my curiosity and excitement when a package of Natvia goodies was express posted to my door. The healthy baking goddess inside me was screaming out, YAY!
♥ Stevia Plant
♥ What It Is:
Natvia is a natural sweetener made from Reb A stevia, and erythritol. Reb A is the purest and sweetest parts of the stevia plant, and erythritol is naturally occurring nectar in fruits, such as melons and grapes.
♥ Health Benefits:
Natvia is 100% natural and fructose free, has 95% fewer calories than sugar, contains no aspartame, or saccharin and it’s great for baking and cooking.
Another bonus- Natvia tastes nothing like artificial sweeteners. Because it’s natural, there are no nasty chemicals and no bitter aftertaste.
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♥ Recipe Idea:
An interesting ingredient calls for an even more interesting recipe. But what could I possibly make!?!? Muffins…boring. Cookies…done that. Raspberry Streusel Bars that are both gluten free and vegan?…Delicious. These even got the thumbs up from the guys at work. Bonus!
Recipe adapted from: www.elanaspantry.com
Makes 16 bars
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♥ Crust:
– 2 cups almond meal
– ¼ teaspoon sea salt
– 2 tablespoons coconut oil
– 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
– 1 tablespoon water
• Pulse ingredients together in a food processor until dough forms a ball
• Press dough into a lined square baking pan
• Bake at 180°c (fan forced) for 12 minutes
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♥ Streusel Topping:
– ¼ cup coconut oil
– ¼ cup almond meal
– 2 tablespoons Natvia
– ½ teaspoon sea salt
– 1 cup walnuts
– ½ cup shredded coconut
• Pulse oil, almond flour, natvia and salt together in a food processor until combined
• Briefly pulse in walnuts and coconut, so they are left coarse, not pulverized
• Set streusel aside
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♥ Filling:
– 1 cup raspberries (either frozen or fresh)
– 4 pitted medjool dates (soak in water for a few hours before to soften)
• Process raspberries and the soaked dates in a food processor or blender until combined
• Spread raspberry mixture over warm crust
• Sprinkle streusel topping over raspberry mixture
• Bake at 180°c for 15 minutes
• Cool for 10 minutes, then refrigerate for 2 hours to set
• Cut up & serve!
Store remaining bars in the fridge for up to 1 week.
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These bars can also be served warm as a delightfully healthy autumn dessert. Just add a little vanilla ice cream or Greek yoghurt & raw honey. See, life without refined sugar isn’t so bad at all!
♥ Where To Find It:
Natvia can be found at Coles and Woolworths or online, try Aussie Health Products.
Find out more about quitting sugar with Sarah Wilson’s “I QUIT SUGAR” E-book!
Article by Kavisha, self confessed ‘health foodie’ who believes a little dessert is good for the soul. She is currently studying for her Master of Wellness at RMIT University and blogs at Style My Coconut.
Yummo, is natvia a 1:1 ratio with sugar in baking, or do you use less? thanks, and fabulous recipe as always 🙂 coconut oil seems to be a winning product in cutting back on sugar! x
Wao Really your recipes are very interesting. Love it.
Hi Hannah,
Natvia is a bit sweeter so i would use less 🙂
Yum! I might try this with blueberries.
Glad everyone is loving it! Kasey: please do! In a month! 🙂
I am making this recipe right now! I’ll have to check back in 2hrs and let you know how it went!
UPDATE: it was delicious!! I made a few adjustments – added some “no egg” egg replacer to the base mixture, just to give it a little more sticking-together-ness. Also I made it in a round springform tin and served it in triangular slices. Delicious and a hit with friends! Kinda ruined the healthiness of it by serving with chocolate soy ice cream though.
Yay Anneke! Good tips with the egg replacer, and serving it with chocolate soy icecream sounds absolutely delicious!!!! Did you take any snaps? X
I have just purchased a jar of Natvia and was excited to find a sweetener that seemed to be healthy and natural sugar substitute. However, I noticed that the ingredient list described Erythritol as a substance naturally found in fruit. I am suspicious – why isnt the fruit actually listed. To me it reads more as a statement, than an ingredient. I did some research and found this:
In 100DaysOfRealFood.com erythritol is described thus, “erythritol is a naturally occurring sugar that is sometimes found in fruit, but food manufacturers don’t actually use the natural stuff. Instead they start with genetically engineered corn and then go through a complex fermentation process to come up with chemically pure erythritol.”
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/04/25/stevia-food-babe-investigates/
Is the Erythritol in Natvia derived from fruit, or is the corn and fermentation process used? If it is the latter, this will be the first and last jar of Natvia I purchase. Drat.