Turtle Dessert Recipes

Turtle Lake Refuge Recipes
We hope you enjoy these delicous and nutritious recipes. All our recipes call for organic and/or wild ingredients, all readily available just a few steps from the front door! But make sure the wild ingredients you pick have not been sprayed by neighbors or the local vector control. Request that the roadsides are not sprayed, include a yummy batch for a recipe you've made when you go ask you local officials not to spray!
Beverages	Entrees
Breads & Crackers	Desserts
Dressings & Spreads	Back to the Recipes page

	The Freshest Apple Pie Alive Crust: 2 cups pecans 2 cups dates Filling: 4-6 apples 1 T cinnamon 1 lemon (juice) In food processor, grind the dates and pecans. Form into the bottom of a pie pan. Add apples, cinnamon and lemon juice in the cuizinart and blend until the apples are finely chopped. Spread the filling in the crust and decorate the top. Delicious right away or chilled slightly.
Turtle Ice Dreams
	Turtle Ice Dreams are fast, easy to make and delicious. It is as simple as blending all the ingredients in the blender (the more you blend, the creamier it gets). Then place the mixture in a metal bowl in the freezer and stir once an hour to keep it creamy while it freezes. It takes about 3-4 hours. Turtle Ice Dreams came from the experience of eating avocado with honey. Yummy! Then add a little lemon, serve it cold and make it creamy. Even better! The only way to improve on this combination is to add local wild greens to the mixture! And thus, came the first Turtle Ice Dream recipe, the Green Revolution!
	Green Revolution Turtle Ice Dream 2 Avocados 3 Lemons 1 Cup of Honey 4 Cups Water 1 T Local Wild Life Superfood Powder
	Elderberry Turtle Ice Dream 2 Avocados 2 Lemons 1 Cup of Honey 1 Cup Cashew 2 t Vanilla 1 Cup Elderberries 4 Cups Good Water
	Mint Cacao Nib Chip Turtle Ice Dream 1 Avocado 1.5 Cups Honey 3 Cups Good Water 2 Cups Cashew 1/2 t Mint Oil 1 t Dried Local Mint 1/2 Cup Cacao Nibs - Stir these in after you blend it all together so you get the ‘chocolate chip experience.’
	Apple Pie A’ La Mode Turtle Ice Dream This recipe is just like apple pie mixed together with ice cream all in one. 1 Avocado 1 Cup Honey 2 Cups Good Water 1/2 tsp Clove 1/2 tsp Nutmeg 1/2 tsp Coriander 4-5 Apples 1 Cup Cashew2 Lemons (juiced) 1 T Cinnamon 2 tsp Vanilla
	Homemade Dried Granola Dusty Bender made the original granola recipe to sell. Now Joe Ortega is often found at Turtle Lake Refuge making this special granola. We use our apple sugar ground down from the fall apple harvest and add together hazelnuts with buckwheat, seeds and honey. It is then mixed and dried it to perfection. This granola is a lot like ‘brittle’. We leave it chunky for a great munching snack 2 lbs Hazelnuts 1.5 lbs Flaxseeds 4 lbs Oats 2 lbs Buckwheat 3 lbs Sunflower Seeds 5 lbs Honey 2 lbs Figs 4 T cinnamon 4 T Vanilla 4 T Apple Sugar Soak all the ingredients except the oats. Once re-hydrated, de-stem the figs and blend in food processor until a paste. Drain the water off all the other ingredients and mix together with honey, Tahini and fig paste. Add the cinnamon, vanilla and dry oats and mix well. Cover dehydrator sheets with the wet granola mixture leaving small holes in the spread for easier drying. Dry at 115 degrees F. or until dry and chewy (12 hours).
Raw Cacao Fudge
	Mikah Stanek was the original inspiration behind these fudge recipes and currently Shaheene is bringing her incredible creativity to the raw chocolate making art. Follow our basic fudge recipe and then add in the unique flavors and spices that each one calls for individually. Put the jar of coconut oil in bowl with hot water to soften it to a liquid. Meanwhile, grind cocoa in coffee grinder (1/2 cup at a time) until very fine. Sift any chunks out with a strainer and regrind them until the entire mixture of cacao is perfectly fine. Blend the nut (dry) 1 cup at a time into a fine powder in blender. Mix these two in a bowl with carob and spices or herbs and set aside dry ingredients. Mix honey, coconut butter, and the pinch of salt together and add to dry ingredients. Mix well! Roll into balls and drop into candy papers. Garnish each piece with a leaf of fresh mint or cashew or some theme that represents the kind of chocolate you are making. Refrigerate until they are firm and then indulge in the buzz of the raw cacao if you dare.
	Wild Mint Fudge 4 Cups Raw Cacao Nibs 2 Cups Carob Powder 2 Cups Cashews 2 T Wild Mint Powder 2 Cups Honey 1 Cup Soft Coconut Butter Pinch of Salt
	South of the Border Fudge 4 Cups Cacao 2 Cups Carob Powder 2 Cups Cashews 2 Cups Honey 1 Cup Coconut Butter 2 t Ground Local Red Chili 1 t Cayenne Pepper 1 T Mexican Cinnamon 1 T Mexican Vanilla Pinch of Salt
	Piñon Pine Fudge 2 Cups Cacao 2 Cups Carob Powder 1 Cup Cashews 1 Cup Pine Nuts 1 T Ground Piñon Pine Needles 2 Cups Honey 1 Cup Coconut Butter Pinch of Salt
	B17 Fudge B17 (also known as laetrel or natural cyanide) can be found in the pits of fruits such as apricots, plums, and peaches. During the fruit harvest season, we save our pits from the fruits, wash and dry them and store for the winter season. We crack these little mini almonds when we use them for this recipe. They taste like almond extract, sometime a little bitter, and sometimes not. It is a wise practice to eat just a few of these pits (not more than 5) every so often to help your body break down inferior proteins. If you eat too much at once, your tongue will go numb. 2 Cups Cacao 2 Cups Carob Powder 2 Cups Cashews 2 T Apricot Kernel(Use an apricot kernel for decorating the top of each) 2 Cups Honey 1 Cup Coconut Butter Pinch of Salt
	Wild Mint Magic Gabe Eggers brought the magic of these divine minty balls to life through his commitment to perfection and service. This is a simple and quick recipe that offers great pleasure to all those who partake in the treat. The wild greens inside bring you the tasty wild wisdom of nature’s intelligence in every bite. 4 Cups Pumpkin Seeds 1 T of dried Mallow, Dandelion, Amaranth leaves (Three Green Powder) 1 T of Mint leaves 5 Cups Dates (pit them) 13 Drops Mint Oil Rollin Sesame Seeds Place pumpkin seeds, the Three Green Powder, Mint leaves, and mint oil in food processor and blend together into a fine powder. Tip: add the mint oil very carefully by using a dropper. Pit the dates. Add all the dates to the mixture in food processor one by one while it’s blending. The mixture will clump up in the food processor when it is done. Empty the dough into a bowl. Separate batter into pieces that are 3 oz each. With clean damp hands separate and roll each 3 oz clump into 7 balls. Place the mini balls into a container of sesame seeds, put the lid on and shake vigorously. Remove the balls and either enjoy them immediately or save in sandwich bags for later. They keep up to a month in the fridge.
	Apricot Ginger Snaps Often our recipes get created because we have an abundance of something. Commonly, it is due to the local harvest, but this recipe was created because we accidentally ordered a huge box of ginger. So, we made very gingery ginger snaps and they stuck! 3 lb Raw Buckwheat Groats (soaked) 2 lb Sunflower Seeds 2 Cups Honey 2 T Organic Vanilla 2 Handfuls of Ginger 2 Cups of Apricots (pitted) Blend the sunflower seeds dry in cuisinart into fine powder and place in a bowl. Blend the soaked buckwheat in the cuisinart until it is a thick paste. And add to the bowl. Blend the apricots, honey, and ginger until smooth. Mix together all ingredients and form into cookies shapes onto dehydrator sheets without teflon. Dry overnight if using an electric dryer or for the solar varieties, dry for one day in the sun.
	Pumpkin Raisin Ginger Snaps This recipe emerged from the creative brilliance of Jillian Stein when RAS Farms gave us so many pumpkins to store for the winter, we had to think of something to do with them all. Follow the above ginger snap recipe but instead add pumpkin and raisins in place of apricots. 3 lb Raw Buckwheat Groats (soaked) 2 lb Sunflower Seeds 2 Cups Honey 2 T Organic Vanilla 2 Handfuls of Ginger 2 Cups of Pumpkin Flesh 2 Cups of Raisins
	Silent Paradise Energy Ball Tessa Canzona created the original Silent Paradise Ball and Montana Blevens added the ‘Energy’ twist of bee pollen and our Local Wild Life Superfood Powder several years later. The delight of this lightly sweet energy ball is the peace of mind that comes from eating a snack that gives health to you and to the planet. Drop into the silent joy of personal paradise when you indulge in this recipe. 2 lb Sunflower Seeds 1.5 lbs Soaked Figs 4 Cups Dates 4 Cups Coconut 2 Cups Carob Powder 1 T Local Bee Pollen 1 T Local Wild Life Superfood Powder Soak figs several hours before to re-hydrate them before grinding them into a paste. Blend all dry ingredients together in food processor. De-stem figs and blend in food processor. Pit dates and blend in food processor. Mix well and form into ball shapes by rolling them in your hands. You can cover them with coconut flakes as an option before serving. They keep well in the fridge for up to a month in a closed container or wrapped individually.

Classes & Events

Shop Turtle Lake

Turtle Lake Refuge is located at the Rocky Mountain Retreat at 848 E. 3rd Avenue in Durango, Colorado 81301.
We can be reached by phone at 970-247-8395, or via e-mail.