I love a theme where you can create whatever you want, there’s no pressure and I can just enjoy the moment of cooking exactly what I want…..That's what this weeks @cookwithus theme is all about: Free for All!

….. or not cooking when it comes to this recipe!

No bake desserts are something I got into since I don’t have oven. I really have come to love them as their is no need to worry about walking away and burning something, also they keep for ages in the freezer so you don’t have to eat them all up over a couple of days and feel a bit guilty for over indulging! And there seems to be a lot more health benefits from eating raw food, which most no bake dessert are. This one did require some cooking and therefore is not completely a raw dessert.

However Some studies have shown that higher amounts of beta carotene are found in cooked forms of fruits and veggies compared to raw. Because beta carotene converts to the fat-soluble vitamin A, it’s important to consume this nutrient with a fat for best absorption.

Beta carotene is an antioxidant that converts to vitamin A and plays a very important role in health. It’s responsible for the red, yellow, and orange coloration of some fruits and veggies

Pairing these foods, herbs, and spices with a healthy fat such as olive oil, avocado, or nuts and seeds can help their absorption.

What great news! so this dessert is even healthier than I thought, the combination of the fat from the other ingredients nuts & seeds will allow better absorption of beta-carotene in the pumpkin & sweet potato

I also don't like using sugar much these days even if it's so called healthy unrefined sugar, I get jitters, heart palpitations, mood swings and crashes. So where I would of added coconut syrup to make it sweeter in the past, I haven't here although it's optional if you wish to do so.

Instead I used carob and my secret ingredient: lucuma powder which naturally have high sugar content and taste sweet. Lucuma is a Peruvian fruit and comes with a whole host of health benefits.....

I always prefer to make basic ingredients myself, of course you can buy pumpkin puree but for me it seems cheaper and fresher to just make it myself. Same goes for the peanut butter, which you could substitute for almonds, I used my high speed food processor to grind the peanut into a butter, it takes a long time and I had to add a bit of coconut oil even there I would say I never get to the peanut butter consistency that's super creamy but it will do and you will definitely save yourself some money especially if you use almonds.

This recipe is for the @cookwithus competition Thanks to @curie and @sneaky-ninja for supporting the contest! Thank you to the Cook with Us team - @chefsteve, @pandamama and @offoodandart for running the comp!

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