Eat dessert, burn fat? Yes, according to this forward-thinking chef

One look at Crosby Tailor’s Instagram page, and you’ll be ready to swear off sugar forever. (For real this time.)

Yes, his account is full of decadent dessert photos, but that’s the point—not only are they all completely sugar-free, but they’re filled with protein, healthy fats, adaptogenic herbs, and medicinal mushrooms.

A self-trained chef and nutrition junkie, Tailor started experimenting with superfood sweets about three years ago, during a stint working at the legendary Erewhon natural foods market in Los Angeles.

“I started with ice creams, puddings, and chocolate sauce, and eventually came up with this really cool base recipe for cookies,” says Tailor, who previously spent three years learning about Chinese medicine from Dragon Herbs founder Ron Teeguarden. “I was making things from scratch but with my own spin, using superfood powders and no sugar.” (There are tons of reasons why the white stuff is so bad for you, from its impact on your skin and sleep to its links to more serious conditions like insulin resistance, obesity, and fatty liver disease.)

Healthy fats are another cornerstone of Tailor’s recipes. As a former college football player and model, he’s tried just about everything from veganism to a raw meat-heavy primal diet, but always shied away from fat. “Once I realized that the saturated fats I was avoiding for so long actually made me feel great, the whole shift happened,” he says. “The more fat-adapted and insulin-sensitive you are, the leaner your physique. ‘Eat fat, burn fat’ is the idea.”

“The more fat-adapted and insulin-sensitive you are, the leaner your physique. ‘Eat fat, burn fat’ is the idea.”

He eventually adopted an eating style with elements from the Bulletproof and Paleo diets, and started making his own desserts with ingredients like beautifying grass-fed collagen protein, heat-stable coconut milk and flours, brain-boosting MCT oils, nutrient-dense algaes, body-balancing adaptogenic roots (astragalus, mucuna), and mushrooms (chaga, cordyceps). His sweetener of choice is Lakanto, a blend of monk fruit and erythritol that doesn’t impact blood sugar levels—one of sugar’s many major downsides—yet has a taste that rivals that of the refined stuff.

The end results, he says, are “like your favorite desserts that you had growing up—but there’s no sugar and you’re getting protein and nutrients.” It’s totally as good (and good for you) as it sounds, and the food world is taking notice—Tailor’s been tapped to host a cooking show on Snapchat’s new Brother channel, and he’s also working on his own baking mix, which is set to launch in September.

Ready to ditch sugar and eat more dessert? It’s totally possible—keep scrolling for two exclusive recipes by Crosby Tailor, the king of superfood sweets.

Jing’d Up Maca Toffee Crunch Smoothie

Once you’ve tried this decadent drink, you’ll never crave a boring old milkshake again. Explains Tailor: “The Jing’d Up Maca Toffee Crunch Smoothie is completely sugar-free and blood sugar-balancing, with 28 grams of protein from bone broth and collagen protein, the perfect amount of prebiotic fiber, and long-lasting energy from Bulletproof Brain Octane Oil and almond butter.”

As for the “Jing” thing, Tailor added three Jing Herbs to the mix, in homage to his Chinese medicine roots. “He Shou Wu is revered in Chinese medicine as one of the most quintessential herbs for longevity. It replenishes us when we burn the candle at both ends,” he says. “Chaga is a very potent immune-modulating mushroom, while pearl powder should be a staple in your herbal beauty regimen—it can help prevent wrinkles and sagging of the skin.” Stamina, invincibility, and a killer complexion? That’s one multitasking smoothie.

Ingredients
1/2 cup ice6-8 oz. unsweetened coconut or almond milk1 scoop vanilla bone broth protein1 Tbsp Bulletproof collagen protein1 Tbsp Lakanto1 Tbsp Natural Stacks prebiotic or 1 Tbsp tiger nut flour1 tsp gelatinized maca1/2 tsp Jing Herbs He Shou Wu1/2 tsp Jing Herbs Chaga1/2 tsp Jing Herbs pearl powder1 Tbsp raw almond butter1 Tbsp Bulletproof Brain Octane oil2 Tbsp cacao nibs1/2 dropper English Toffee Stevia

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Prebiotic Gingersnaps

“This might be one of the best things I’ve made to date—no joke!” says Tailor. “These butyrate-boosting bites are free of refined sugar, gluten, grain, and eggs. The only sugar comes from organic, unsulfured black strap molasses. The high amount of iron in molasses can improve mood and relieve some PMS symptoms, while molasses also combats stress with B vitamins and helps to stabilize blood sugar with high levels of chromium, which increases glucose tolerance.”

And yes, you did read that correctly—these cookies are filled with prebiotics, in the form of tiger nut flour. “Most of us are very aware that probiotics are essential for overall health and wellbeing, but for the most part, Americans don’t get enough prebiotics, which are starches that resist digestion and travel through the intestines to the colon to feed our good bacteria,” explains Tailor. “The best part is that all of these benefits are going to go into a delicious, nutritious, and guiltless cookie. Not only will your beneficial microorganisms be having a little party in your gut, but your taste buds will be getting down too.” Go ahead, RSVP “yes!”

Ingredients
Yields one dozen cookies
Dough1 cup tiger nut flour1/2 cup almond flour1 tsp coconut flour1/4 tsp baking soda3 Tbsp Lakanto1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt1 Tbsp cinnamon1/8 tsp nutmeg2 Tbsp Bulletproof grass-fed ghee2 Tbsp Bulletproof Brain Octane oil or MCT oil or coconut oil1 Tbsp Plantation organic unsulfured black strap molasses1/2 tsp vanilla extract2 tsp ground ginger or 1 1/2 oz. fresh pressed ginger

Coconut icing4 Tbsp full-fat coconut milk (chilled)1 Tbsp powdered Lakanto1/2 tsp vanilla extractPinch pink Himalayan salt

1. First, make sure your full-fat coconut milk is in the fridge so it has a chance to chill and slightly harden. (Don’t place it in the freezer.) Once you’ve opened the can, pour the liquid into a separate cup—you’ll only need the hardened coconut fat. Dig four tablespoons of full-fat coconut milk out of the can and into your mixer. If you don’t have one, you can also hand stir using a little bit of the coconut liquid (around 1 teaspoon) in a large coffee cup. Add the rest of the icing ingredients and whip up to a nice, smooth consistency. Scoop this into a plastic sandwich bag and place in the fridge.

2. Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a bowl, combine all dry dough ingredients. Using a mixer (stand or handheld), mix all the wet dough ingredients in a different bowl. Then add the dry ingredients, weaving them into the smooth texture of the oils. Once combined, the dough should be on the sticky side—you should be able to form the dough into a big ball.

3. Start breaking off tablespoon-size dough balls. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper and then drop cookie balls on the paper about two inches apart. Press the cookies down a touch to flatten them.

4. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cookies have a golden-brown edge. Give them time to cool on the baking pan and then transfer them to a rack.

5. At this point you can take the icing out, cut a small corner of the bag, and top your fresh-out-of-the-oven gingersnaps, or you can cool the cookies in the fridge and top them later. It just depends if you want the icing to melt over the cookie or stay solid for a more appealing presentation.

Your other favorite comfort foods are also getting clean makeovers—check out these recipes for deep-dish pizza, southern-style faves, and popsicles with a healthy twist.