Pumpkin Brownies (or Blondies, you pick!)
Plus: alternatives to Halloween candy that aren't boring and how to use your carrot tops for a chimichurri sauce to zhuzh up any meal!
Colorful chefs - new and old, welcome!! This is where we cook easy, delicious, saucy, colorful meals made from whole, unprocessed foods, and we make it fun, easy, and learn important stuff about metabolic health while doing it.
I’m noticing my newsletters are getting long (so many things and recipes I want to share!) so you might need to click “read in app” to view the entire thing pending your email provider. Would you prefer emails that are just recipes, and separate emails about other health topics? Let me know!
This week’s newsletter at a glance:
Halloween candy swaps…because no amount of artificial colors, dyes, and flavorings are good, even in moderation.
Healthy brownie (or blondie, you pick!) recipe… this is a two for one recipe, it’s so easy to make brownies or blondies with nearly the same recipe. Make this to bring to a halloween or fall gathering instead of candy!
Bonus recipe: carrot top chimichurri…I’m including a raw video of me making this in my kitchen because…you asked for it! 🫣
All these recipes are free on my website this week since some people are experiencing technical difficulties paying for the Color Club. Thank you all SO much for your patience. I should have an update on this soon, or else I’ll be knocking down the door of the Squarespace headquarters in NYC to get it fixed! 😠
Looking ahead: Next week I’ll be sharing all of the beach party recipes that I collaborated with Chef Ali (@healthysexystrong) on for the day after my wedding beach party! In this reel, I shared some of the brands and I included in the bar 🥰
Halloween Candy Swaps
You may not agree with my POV on this, but here it is:
I won’t be eating any of the standard American candy, not even “just a bite.” I believe the phrase “all good things in moderation” does not apply to things that were never meant to go into our bodies (e.g., dyes, artificial colors). I don’t feel like I’m missing out because I’m prepared with fun swaps and alternatives!
Here’s my why:
I know candy has been engineered to make it hard for me to just eat one. After one, I’ll just end up with cravings for more.
Since I don’t eat super sweet things often, and never eat candy like Skittles, M&Ms, Starbursts, Reese’s pieces, gummy bears, Swedish fish, candy corn etc., my taste buds have evolved where those things don’t even sound good, or taste good to me anymore. They taste too sweet.
It has taken me some time to get to this point. I used to LOVE candy!
One of the reasons why I want to continue to avoid processed and refined sugar filled candy (beyond obvious health reasons) is because I know if eat them, I will end up having more cravings for them. That’s how ultra-processed food is designed.
For more on this, I encourage you to read The End of Craving by Mark Schatzker for the best explanation I’ve read on how modern food, particularly processed food like candy, has been engineered to trigger cravings, making it difficult to stop at just one bite or one serving. He argues that the use of artificial flavors, sweeteners, and additives creates a disconnect between the sensory experience of eating and the actual nutritional content of food. This mismatch between flavor and nutrition leads to what he describes as a kind of "sensory deception" that tricks the brain into wanting more, even when the body doesn’t need the extra calories or when the cells don’t actually want that input.
If you want to change your baseline cravings, start by following the Cooking in Color approach and eliminating all refined sugars and grains and processed foods, and in just 2-4 weeks you’ll notice your cravings and desires change.
Lastly, the phrase “all good things in moderation” does not apply to the things that were never meant to go into our bodies. Good things in moderation is meant for GOOD things, like dark chocolate, dates, organic natural wine, etc. that we can enjoy, but should not completely over-do it on. This does not mean the yellow 5 and red 40 in M&Ms are good in moderation. I’ve been so inspired by Vani Hari and many more fearless leaders this week at Kellogg’s Headquarters in Battle Creek Michigan. Vani delivered 417,000 signatures asking Kellogg’s to remove artificial food dyes and harmful ingredients from their cereals. No amount of these additives are acceptable for children, or anyone, and MANY of them appear in halloween candy. I love this clip by my good friend Dr. Casey Means where she shares that the phrase “all good things in moderation” gives us this false permission to say yes to things that we should just simply say no to.
What I recommend for Halloween:
Plan ahead and have alternative options on hand - read on below for my suggestions!
Try not to overindulge in the alternatives - just because I’m offering some fun swaps, does not mean you should go crazy on them! These treats, even when free of refined sugar, still provide our brains with the sensation of sweetness, so this creates the feedback loop where the brain continues to crave sweetness. Now, this craving won’t be nearly as intense as the craving from processed foods, but the more you consume “sweet alternatives” the more the brain expect sweetness, ultimately feeding the cycle of cravings rather than helping to break it. Be sure you continue to eat your colorful plates of healthy fats, fiber, protein, and micronutrients as well, and especially before eating sweets!
If you are going to indulge in halloween candy, or other treats this holiday season, I’m not here to shame you! My recommendation would make a plan for how much and how often, and then when you have it, enjoy it! Food is meant to be a sensory enjoyable experience but make a plan for when to cut it off because it gets harder in the moment! For example, something I’ve heard from my friends with kids, is that after halloween they will let their kids get 1 treat for 3 days, then the “switch witch” comes along and swaps the candy for a toy! Genius!
Now, this does not mean I’m the witchy woman on the block that hands out apples instead of something fun…although I love apples 🤣! Below, I’m sharing a list of Sonja-approved, Cooking in Color, halloween and fall treats.
To be on this list my criteria are:
No refined sugars, and no more than 5g added sugars
No dyes, fillers
No refined grains
Non-GMO, ideally organic also
No seed oils (they sneak into candy too!)
Store bought swaps:
At most Whole Foods or Amazon
Evolved Keto Cups - These also come in individual little packets! They have tons of flavors. Made with monkfruit extract. Perfect swap for Reese's cups. I LOVE these.
Hu Kitchen Chocolate and Hu Chocolate Covered Cashews - Another one of my favorites, uses unrefined coconut sugar which will impact blood glucose pending serving size, but it is the cleanest chocolate on the market and made with organic cacao and organic fair trade cocoa butter.
Simple Mills Sweet Thin Cookies - You can also get in individual packs, easy to hand out! Made with coconut oil.
Emmy’s Organics Coconut Cookies - I’ve seen these in individual snack packs too!
Smart Sweets - These are colored with fruit and vegetable juices. While I’m not a huge fan of these since they are made with a number of modified ingredients, they have no artificial sweeteners, added sugars, or sugar alcohols and they are a much better swap than traditional gummy bears.
Lesser Evil Organic Popcorn Snack pack - made with coconut oil!
At Costco (at least the one near me in LA!)
Unreal Dark Chocolate Mini’s - they come individually wrapped!
Homemade swaps:
Likely not for trick-or-treaters, but for fall gatherings!
Stuffed dates: Slice open some medjool dates, remove pits, fill with almond butter, and top with a few Hu chocolate clips or Lily’s chocolate chips and Maldon sea salt! SO DANG GOOD.
My no-bake peanut butter protein & fiber balls (for Color Club members)
Note: In any homemade goods if it calls for almond or peanut butter, you can swap for sunflower seed butter for a nut-free version.
For more inspo on fun healthy halloween alternatives, I also love Kelly LeVeque’s pinterest board.
If you’ve got other recommendations you think should be on this list, please comment below! I’ll share other recs on social!
This week I’ve got a Pumpkin Brownie recipes, that you can also easily turn into a Pumpkin Blondie recipe, pending what you are in the mood for. I polled you all on Instagram and the results were mixed so, it’s a two for one! If you wanted a hybrid, you could also add a little less cacao powder to the brownie and it would be a pumpkin brownie-blondie.
The why for this one is pretty simple - we all need a fall, festive and delicious, but also blood sugar friendly and nutrient dense alternative to the refined grain and refined sugar options out there. My friend Tim, one of my taste testers, said the blondie tasted like Dunkin’s pumpkin muffin, I’m not exactly sure what that tastes like but from him that’s a big compliment. 🤣
I gave another batch to some of my neighbors, and they had no notes, so these are READY FOR YOU to make!
Below is the BROWNIE recipe, for the blondie instructions, see this link on my website.
Serving size: Makes about 9-12 servings pending how large you cut them
Total time: ~30 minutes
Prep time = 10 minutes
Cook time = ~20 minutes
What You’ll Need
8 or 9-inch square pan (I use a non-toxic Caraway pan)
Large mixing bowl
Spoon
Measuring spoons and cups
Ingredients
In the order in which you’ll use them, always!
WET INGREDIENTS
2 eggs, whisked
If vegan, leave out eggs and as an alternative mix one tablespoon of ground flaxseed with three tablespoons of water until it's thick and creamy. This adds some bonus fiber too!
1 cup pumpkin puree (or just use half a 15 oz can which is about 2 cups, because measuring something from a can into a measuring cup is no fun!)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp maple syrup
Option: If you have it on hand you can instead use 2/3 cup allulose. Allulose is about 70% as sweet as cane sugar so you need a little more than other sweeteners. Allulose is plant based sugar (found in some fruits) and does not cause a rise in blood sugar because your body does not metabolize it in the same way it does table sugar.
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup almond butter (if nut allergy, do another 1/2 cup tahini)
DRY INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp almond flour (or coconut flour if nut allergy)
2 tbsp arrowroot starch
1/4 cup unsweetened cacao powder - I like Navitas Organics
2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice on hand, mix 3 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp ginger, 2 tsp cloves, and 2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips (3/4 in the brownies, 1/4 for topping) - I like Hu Baking Chips or Lily’s Dark Chocolate Baking Chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (3/4 in the brownies, 1/4 for topping)
1 tsp salt
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 or 9 inch square pan with avocado or coconut oil or line with unbleached parchment paper.
Start by cracking the 2 eggs into a large bowl and whisk them together.
In the same bowl, combine the rest of the wet ingredients (pumpkin puree, coconut oil, tahini, almond butter, vanilla extract). Stir together until smooth.
Mix all dry ingredients (almond flour, arrowroot starch, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, cacao powder, salt, 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips and 3/4 cup walnuts). Mix together well.
Pour batter into the prepared pan.
Sprinkle remaining walnuts and chocolate chips on top and press lightly into the batter.
Bake for 20 -24 minutes or until they spring back when you use your finger to press in slightly. Check at 20 minutes and assess! Remove from the oven and allow to completely cool before cutting (this is the hardest part).
Swaps and Tips
Storage: The leftovers will keep best in the fridge and they will keep for up to a week!
Nut free: Swap almond flour for coconut flour and omit the walnuts.
Vegan: Instead of the eggs, mix one tablespoon of ground flaxseed with three tablespoons of water until it's thick and creamy. This adds some bonus fiber too!
Want more protein: Add in 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder (I use BeWell by Kelly plant-based protein for baking) + 2 tbsp of your milk of choice.
Reel
Nutritional Info
Per serving, makes about 12 servings
Calories: 370
Carbohydrates: 26g
Fiber: 7g
Net carbs: 19g
Protein: 8g
Fat: 28g
Sodium: 280mg
Sugar: 10g
Carrot Top Chimichurri
If chimichurri is not part of your regular routine with herbs or with carrot tops, it should be! It’s carrot season now through April, so they are everywhere and I highly encourage you to get the ones with the tops.
When the tops are still attached, it’s a sign of freshness since the greens wilt quickly after harvest. So, if you have carrots with the tops, it means you're getting a fresher carrot overall! Carrot tops can act like herbs and serve as a swap for herbs in any dish, and this sauce is no exception.
Fun fact, according to nutritional information (because shockingly, the research on carrot tops is limited 🤣) the tops have around six times the vitamin C as the carrot root. Carrot tops also have vitamin A and fiber, so don’t throw them out!
Here is my pitch on why you should make a chimmichuri ASAP: It’s a vibrant, herb-packed sauce that adds fresh, zesty flavor and ZHUZH to grilled meats, roasted vegetables, eggs, salads and really…anything. Chimichurri is rich in healthy fats from olive oil, as well as antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals from fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, or as in this version…carrot tops! The balance of acidity, thanks to the vinegar, can also help your digestion, while the garlic offers anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties. Are you convinced?
Recipe is available on my website for free and on the Color Club, and I just threw my camera on as I made it since you’ve been asking for some longer, more informal videos. I’ll improve this if it’s something you like - LMK what you think!
I also made CLAMS for the first time this week with my friend Tim and I loved them. How do we feel about clams? Should I do a healthy clam ramen dish? We used miracle noodles (made with konjac root) and they were delish.
That’s all for this week! Please comment below and share feedback on what you like, don’t like, want more of, and less of etc. etc.
Chefs Kisses,
Sonja
Great newsletter!
Cannot wait to make these. I weirdly enough have another brownie recipe in the oven right now that uses black beans in it! I’ll definitely be trying out the pumpkin ones next.