Dairy Free Coconut Flan

  Without a doubt one of the best parts of the flan, besides the velvety rich texture, is the caramel syrup at the bottom. I love sugar, but my body does not! I've recently rekindled my love affair with agave nectar (organic and raw) and decided to give it a shot in place of the caramel syrup. Agave is already a thick luscious syrup, all I had to do to thicken it up a bit more was place it in the fridge. I hope you find this recipe as satisfying as I did. I highly recommend toasting the coconut before you add it in, it just creates another wonderful layer of flavor in this dessert.

  Ideally, you have 6-8 adorable little ramekins lying around. I on the other hand only have two medium ramekins, and I didn't want to be tempted to eat half the batch by using those. So I opted for a couple of soup bowls that are oven safe. This way I just cut each flan into fourths, which is how I got my 8 servings. Let's be honest though, I ended up eating two servings anyway. It was so good I couldn't stop!


Dairy Free Coconut Flan:

      yields 8 servings

• 1 can Light Coconut Milk, 13.3 ounces
• 4 large Eggs
• 1/4 cup Splenda
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened Coconut Flakes, toasted
• 2 tablespoons Raw Organic Agave or maple syrup
• 1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
• 1/4 teaspoon Coconut Extract
• Pinch of Salt
• Pinch of Cinnamon

  Preheat oven to 350F and fill bottom of ramekins with agave, swirl to coat the bottom, then place the ramekins in an oven safe dish. Slowly toast coconut in sauce pan while oven preheats, remove toasted coconut and place in a separate bowl. In the same sauce pan (carefully!) add the coconut milk, vanilla, Splenda, cinnamon, and salt. Cook over medium-high heat until almost boiling. Remove from heat, in the bowl whisk together the eggs and toasted coconut. Slowly add the milk mixture to the eggs while constantly whisking. Pour mixture into ramekins, then add hot water straight from the tap to the baking dish. Be very careful not to get any water into the ramekins, the water bath should come up the ramekins about one inch. Bake for 45 minutes, or until set. Let cool 30 minutes, then transfer to the fridge for an additional two hours to cool completely. I knew this was done when the top was "set," but the custard was still a little jiggly! If you're using individual ramekins then they should be done around 35-40 minutes.


  In total, this recipe is 737 calories, 41 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 25 grams of protein, 47 grams of fat, and 289 mg of sodium. Since this serves 8, per serving you're looking at: 92 calories, 4.8 carbs, 3 grams protein, and 5.8 grams fat.