Cooking with Essential Oils

For the last couple of weeks I have shared different ways to use essential oils. You can create rollers and hand lotions, but did you know that cooking with essential oils was possible? Young Living has a line of Vitality essential oils that are made just for your kitchen. You can use them in homemade dishes, desserts and drinks.

Don’t have a certain spice on hand no worries, these dietary essential oils have the same fresh flavor as herbs and citrus fruits from the market with the chopping, mincing, zesting or juicing. These Vitality essential oils also have a long shelf life.

Young Living essential oils all come with their Seed to Seal promise, which means it has undergone rigorous testing and meets their exacting benchmarks for sourcing, science and standards.

It’s easy to substitute essential oils for citrus juice or herbs and spices in your cooking. When just starting out begin with a small amount of essential oil and gradually increase to get the taste you enjoy. Since essential oils flavor can dissipate, add the oil immediately before serving. Use the following conversion chart.

Citrus fruit, juiced – add 10-15 drops of your essential oil
1 Tablespoon herbs of spices – 1 drop or less of your essential oil
1 teaspoon herbs or spices – Dip a toothpick in the Vitality oil. Swirl the toothpick through the wet ingredients and mix.

If you’ve been following along with my goal setting posts you know I am trying to incorporate more healthy recipes into our diet. Black Bean Brownies have been around for a while but I’ve never tried them! I decided to make a batch adding Peppermint Vitality essential oil. The end result was delicious and guilt free. Who knew brownies made from black beans could taste so good!

Peppermint Brownies

Ingredients:

1- 15oz can black beans
1/3 cup coconut oil
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8  tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup honey
2 drops Peppermint Vitality essential oil
3 eggs

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350. Rinse and drain black beans. Melt coconut oil until clear. You can do this in the microwave or on the stovetop. Blend all ingredients except the eggs in a food processor until smooth. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk eggs until well beaten. Fold eggs into cocoa mixture. Pour the mixture into a greased 8×8 pan and bake for 25-30  minute. Let cool for 15 minutes and then cut. Let cool for another 15 minutes and serve.

Have you cooked with essential oils before? What is your favorite recipe?