My Best-Kept Baking Secret (Less Sugar, More Olive Oil)

Hi there,

So I just got back from picking blueberries in Michigan, one of my favorite things to do in the whole world. There’s something about standing in the parallel rows of bushes picking blue jewels off the branches that’s pure magic.

It’s a family tradition: my kids are 3 and 9 and I have photos of them doing this every year of their lives. This summer my daughter was old enough to exclaim, “I just love blueberry picking!” while popping them into her mouth, which was possibly the highlight of my year.

ANYWAY…

Of course I had to make something delicious with the mountain of berries we brought back. Usually its something like blueberry waffles with blueberry compote, or bright-purple blueberry oatmeal.

But this year I thought…

How about a treat that’s got no butter, natural sweetener, and less sugar overall?

Luckily, Alex and I have been playing with this idea a lot lately: and together we came up with the MOST DELICIOUS TREAT THAT YOU MUST TASTE. (Sorry to yell. It’s just true.)

Have you heard of taste bud rehabilitation?

I hadn’t, until my professor in a Harvard course I took on healthy living explained that when you’re used to eating things that are extremely sweet, after you cut back on sugar, it takes 3 to 4 weeks for your taste buds to adjust before fruit can start to taste actually sweet again.

I used to eat a decent amount of processed food and sugar, and personally I’ll say this is pretty accurate!

But once I started eating the Mediterranean diet, I started trying to modify my treats a bit. These days I try to lean on olive oil and eat less sugar. So here’s my baking secret:

• Secret 1: You can make pie crust with olive oil! And it’s actually good. Alex and I created this recipe for an apple dessert in our upcoming Mediterranean Every Night cookbook (!). It uses the heart healthy oil to make a pastry crust, which feels pretty revolutionary to me (because butter really does have scientific properties that make everything taste better).

• Secret 2: You can make a dessert with just over 1 tablespoon maple syrup per serving, and it tastes fantastic.

I’m all about the occasional super decadent treat loaded with butter and refined sugar, by the way. (For example, I ate my way through the pastries of Paris a few summers ago.)

But this blueberry tart tastes so deliciously natural and is so easy, it’s absolutely worth whipping one up yourself. I can’t wait to hear what you think!

It’s a rustic tart (essentially a galette, a free form French tart), meaning there’s no special equipment, no pans or crimping needed. Rough edges are the point!

Studies show that being socially connected is incredibly important for our overall health.

Since today’s recipe is a fun dessert, why not use that as an excuse to make it (or another treat) and give it away a few pieces to neighbors?

I must say, as a professional food blogger and cookbook author, I find sharing treats is a very, very easy way to make friends :)

This week’s intention: Make this tart or another treat, and share a few pieces with friends or neighbors.

xoxo
~Sonja