Sarah Wilson’s low-sugar recipes for Easter

Posted on 26 March, 2024

Looking to shake up your Easter baking with some low-sugar alternatives to mountains of chocolate?

For those who for whatever reason would prefer their Easter indulgences to be as low-sugar as possible, we present three recipes from Sarah Wilson’s I Quit Sugar Ultimate Chocolate Cookbook—yes, including one for hot cross buns. Bon appetit!

Choc-Chip Hot Cross Buns 

If you’ve not indulged in the therapeutic act of baking your own hot-cross buns before, we highly recommend.

The kneading, the waiting, the glazing. It’s a satisfying recipe to complete.

• Makes: 15 buns
• Preparation time: 1 hour 35 minutes
• Cooking time: 20 minutes
• 1 tablespoon of dried yeast
• 3 teaspoons rice malt syrup
• 4 3/4 cups spelt flour
• 1 1/2 cups full-fat milk, lukewarm (not hot otherwise it will kill the yeast)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon stevia
• 60g butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 50g 85–90% dark chocolate, chopped finely

Glaze

• 2 teaspoons rice malt syrup
• 1 tablespoon of boiling water

Method

1. Mix yeast, 1 tablespoon spelt flour, warm milk and 1 teaspoon of rice malt syrup in a mixing bowl. Cover and stand in a warm place for 15 minutes until mixture is frothy.
2. Meanwhile, sift 4 cups of spelt flour, salt, stevia and spices into a large bowl and toss to combine. Add in the butter and rub into flour mixture with your fingers until combined.
3. Once the yeast mixture is frothy, add into the flour mix with the whisked egg. Stir to combine. Add in the chocolate pieces then fold through. Cover the bowl again and allow to stand in a warm place for 40 minutes or until dough has almost doubled in size.
4. Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 and lightly grease a 18x30cm lamington tin.
5. Punch dough down, turn onto a floured surface, and knead well until dough is smooth and elastic. Cut into three equal pieces then cut each piece into five. Knead each into round shape.
6. Place buns into the prepared tin in rows. Don’t worry if they don’t touch, they will expand in the oven. Cover and again allow to stand for 10–15 minutes in a warm place or until the buns have expanded.
7. Meanwhile, to make the crosses, sift 1/2 cup of spelt flour into a bowl and add 1/4 cup of water, mix to form a paste. You may need to add a touch more water to make the mixture a thick, but still fluid consistency. Fill into a small ziplock bag and then cut a hole across the corner. Use this to pipe crosses onto the top of each bun.
8. Place buns into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, combine the rice malt syrup with boiling water. Once hot cross buns have cooked, remove from the oven and immediately brush with glaze. Serve buns warm with a generous slather of butter.

White Chocolate Bunny Tails

• Makes 20
• Preparation time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups coconut butter
• ¼ cup raw cacao butter
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• ¼ cup coconut milk
• ¼ cup rice malt syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla powder
• Pinch of sea salt
• Shredded coconut, for rolling

Method

1. Place 1/4 cup coconut butter, cacao butter, coconut oil, coconut milk, rice malt syrup, vanilla and salt in a food processor. Process until smooth.
2. Transfer mixture to a bowl and refrigerate for 20–30 minutes until firmed up enough to roll into balls but not too much that the mixture is solid. Roll mixture into teaspoon-sized balls. Refrigerate until hard.
3. Mould remaining coconut butter in a thin layer around each ball and then roll in shredded coconut. Refrigerate until firm.

Flourless Berry Chocolate Cake

This cake tastes like fudge and cake combined. The addition of berries helps to cut through the richness of this moreish treat.

• Serves 14
• Preparation time: 10 minutes
• Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• coconut oil, butter or ghee for greasing
• 100g dark (85% cacao) chocolate, chopped into even-sized pieces
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
• 3 eggs, whisked
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pinch of sea salt
• 1/4 cup rice malt syrup
• 1 punnet fresh raspberries

Method

1. Grease a 20cm spring-form tin generously. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400 ̊F/Gas Mark 6.
2. Melt coconut oil in the microwave. Pour oil over chocolate chunks in a separate bowl and stir until smooth and combined.
3. Add cacao, cinnamon, salt, rice malt syrup and eggs to the chocolate/oil mixture and whisk until smooth batter forms. Gently stir through raspberries, reserving a few.
4. Pour batter into a greased pan and level out with the back of a spoon or spatula. Top with extra raspberries.
5. Bake for 25 minutes, until the centre looks just firm. Set aside to cool before removing from the pan. Dust with cacao, if you like.