Fruit Tarts

Dessert! Quite possibly my favorite meal of the day, and definitely a favorite for the boys. I was concerned about all the sugar they were consuming in the form of brownies, cookies, and ice cream. This little beauty of a healthy dessert helps curb our cravings for the bad stuff. I dare you to stop at one tart!

1 large handful of raw almonds or mixed nuts, soaked overnight
2 to 3 dates (soaking optional)
1 1/2 cups any fruit, cut into small pieces
Drizzle of Agave Nectar

Drizzle agave nectar over the fruit and toss. Let stand while preparing the tart "crust."

Drain the nuts and dates, removing pits from the dates if they have them (I forgot to do this once - sort of wreaked havoc on my food processor). Place in a food processor with an S-shaped blade and process until the mixture starts to form into a ball. Add an additional date or two if the mixture is not forming into the ball shape. The actual amount of dates needed will depend on their size. You can add a little cinnamon, allspice, or other seasoning for variety.

Take small sections of the almond mixture, flatten, and build up the sides slightly. I recommend doing this on a sheet of waxed paper. Continue until you have used all the "dough" (this amount of nuts will yield about six tarts).

Scoop fruit into the center of each tart. Top with additional agave nectar, if desired.

Note: Agave nectar is a wonderful sweetener. It has a low glycemic index, which means it won't cause your blood sugar to spike. Agave nectar is very sweet, so you use less than other types of sweeteners.

Random Factoid: White sugar is bleached by filtering it with charred animal bones. If you're going to use regular sugar, I suggest Sucanat, which is a natural sugar. I do NOT recommend "raw" sugar as it goes through the "bleaching" process before molasses is added to give it the brown color.