Bakeless Apple Tart, Courtesy of Natural Health Magazine

Recently, I heard from Maria, a Sugar Kicker, who is thrilled that she's been "totally sugar free and artificial sweetener-free for almost 2 weeks," because she feels "so much better."

Maria then sent me this fabulous recipe for Bakeless Apple Tart, which she found in the December/January issue of Natural Health Magazine.

I thought I'd share this with you, because it sounds so tasty.  Thank you, Natural Health.

FYI, as Maria pointed out, organic fruit and nuts and the finest cinnamon available are recommended.

Recipe serves 8

2 cups walnuts, plus more for garnish
1 1/2 cups dates, pitted
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4-inch wedges
1 cup raisins
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, plus more for garnish
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1)  In food processor, puree 2 cups walnuts into a fine powder and transfer to large bowl; then finely chop dates and transfer to same bowl.  Kneed walnut powder and chopped dates into a dough, press dough into 9-inch pie plate, and refrigerate overnight.

2)  In a large bowl, mix apple wedges, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice and refrigerate overnight.

3)  The following day, spoon apple filling into pie crust, arranging six apple wedges decoratively on top, and garnish with additional cinnamon and chopped walnuts.

Per serving:  342 calories, 17 g fat (1.5 g saturated). 51 g carbohydrates, 5 g protein, 5.6 g fiber, 3 mg sodium

I'd love to hear from readers if you tried this recipe and what you thought. Also, please make sure to eat a healthy, balanced meal with plenty of protein before eating this, because dates and raisins that are pretty high in sugar. But dried fruits are a wonderful dish for people phasing out the refined sugar.

Comments

[tim of emustore.com]

I agree with alot on sugar is bad ...i had to go off it for ages because of a candida infection and noticed the difference straight away..

[Joe T]

Don't see how you can say this on a Sugar blog. Glycemic index of dates: 103. Glycemic index of Life Savers: 70. The variety of dates that are commonly sold in the U.S. are horrible for people who want to reduce sugar. They're like the worst type of sugar with some added trace minerals and nutrients. http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_food_diet/glycemic_index.php Note from Connie: Joe, you raise a very good point -- that dates are high in natural sugars. However, if you have to choose between a sugar-filled apple tart and one containing only dates, I'd vote for the latter. In other words, for holidays, it's tough to expect perfection! Let people have a sweet taste of something that isn't as harmful as a sugary dessert.

[Joe T]

1 1/2 cup of dates--there's your Sugar Shock! The only benefit over 3/4 cup of sugar is that the pie might maintain more moisture. 100 grams of dates contain 44.6 grams of sucrose out of a total sugar content of 64.2 grams (see bottom of page 5 of this USDA article: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/Other/herr48.pdf Note from Connie: Well, you do have a point that the amount of dates should be limited, but if you're going to eat dates or candy, the former is much preferable!