Maple Pecan Baby Cakes

Genius. Genius. Genius. Genius. That is all.

ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil

2 cups water

1 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp ground vanilla bean
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1/4 cup ground chia seeds
2 tbsp arrowroot flour

2 cups almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup pecans -- little pieces

pecan half to put on top of each one
maple syrup to drizzle on top of each one -- just a few drops, really



directions:

1. combine ingrediens in the order listed
2. scoop into muffin cups
3. bake at 345 for 60 minutes

viking granola

Our granola has continued to evolve. This one doesn't involve chopping the nuts which means it takes less time to make. However, it's eaten only by my husband, and he doesn't mind big nuts. Little mouths might prefer smaller pieces.

ingredients:

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup hot water

1 tsp ceylon cinnamon
1 tsp ground vanilla
1/2 tsp sea salt

2 cups shredded coconut
2 cups almonds
1 cup pecans
1 cup cashews
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds

1 cup oat flakes
1 cup spelt flakes
1 cup quinoa flakes


1 cup flax meal
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup hemp hearts
2 cups raisins


directions:

1. preheat the oven to 250
2. In a small bowl or large measuring cup combine the peanut butter, coconut oil, and maple syrup and heat gently to melt by adding 1/2 cup of hot water. Stir the vanilla, sea salt, and cinnamon into this mixture.
3. in a large bowl, combine the coconut, almonds, pecans, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, oat flakes, spelt flakes, and quinoa flakes. (Do not add the flax meal, chia seeds, hemp hearts, or raisins. Those will join after baking)
4. stir in the peanut butter, maple syrup, coconut oil, and water mixture and mix very very well.
5. spread the concoction onto 2 lined baking sheets, and bake at 250 for 2 hours. Leave in the oven to dry until cool.
6. when cool, pour into a bowl and add the raisins, chia seeds, hemp hearts, and raisins, and mix well.
7. store in an airtight container.

Muffins for my son: Magpie Muffins -- full of treasures

Okay you know the drill -- gluten free, grain free, sugar free, dairy free, high in energy, high in protein, awesomely good for you, and of course yummy.

Safe to say, things got a little silly. How else to explain the combination of peanut butter, shredded coconut, dates, pecans, carrot, and sunflower seeds? The results are great, hinting at chocolate despite its absence, and are sweet despite containing no other sweeteners than the date. An energy powerhouse, and very kid friendly.

ingredients:

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup evco
1 1/2 cup hot water
2 eggs
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2  tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup chia seeds
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup hemp flour
1/2 tsp baking soda


1 large carrot grated (1 cup)
1 cup dates chopped
1 cup pecans chopped
1 cup sunflower seeds



directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. combine the peanut butter, coconut oil, and water
2. add the apple cider vinegar
3. add the hemp flour and the coconut
4. add the eggs
5. add the baking soda and almond flour
6. add the carrot, dates, pecans, and sunflower seeds
7. scoop into prepared muffin cups
8. bake at 345 for 30 minutes

makes 24 muffins

Date and Pecan Muffins -- gluten free, sugar free baby cakes for breakie

My sweet little boy was very eager for there to be muffins in the house. A Saturday morning baking binge produced peanut butter cookies, a loaf of bread, and these date and pecan muffins. Pecans are an interesting nut in that they have an unexpectedly sweet and maple-reminiscent flavour. On the strength of those sweet little morsels and a full cup of chopped dates, I decided to go without any additional sweetener in these muffins. The combination of nuts and seeds will make these a very good, high energy snack, or even a reasonable quick breakfast.  Try 'em and let me know what you think. 

I hope they are worth it. In creating the recipe I managed to over-write my post from July 17th, which I then had to go and painstakingly recreate and pull from online caches. Or rather I made my poor beleaguered husband pull from online-caches.  At the very least, I owe him a muffin! I've tried to repost it all, but it may be a little messed up ...

Anyway, dear friends and lovely readers, happy muffining!

ingredients:

1 cup boiling water

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/4 cup shelled hemp seeds (hemp hearts)

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp ground vanilla

1 tsp korintje cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp sea salt

2 1/2 cups almond flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

4 eggs

1 cup chopped honey dates (no pit)

1 cup chopped pecans

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. combine the boiling water with the coconut oil to melt it

2. add in the chia seeds, hemp seeds, and apple cider vinegar

3. add the sea salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger

4. mix in the almond flour and baking soda

5. stir in the eggs once the mixture is not too hot

6. add the chopped dates and pecans and a generous dollop of positive thoughts and wistful memories

7. scoop into 24 prepared muffin cups

8. bake at 345 for 28 minutes
9. allow to cool for a while before removing from the muffin cups
10. store in an airtight container when fully cooled.

Dates are so sweet they taste like candy, and I'm having a hard time convincing my son these muffins don't have candy in them.

Maple Pecan Cookie Bars -- gluten free, grain free, vegan, good for you

It's good to mix things up. I tell myself this as I stubbornly force my infatuated gaze away from the peanut butter in my fridge. Shows strength of character, I tell myself. I can do this. I can make something that doesn't involve peanut butter.

 I make cookies every week to send with my son to preschool. So my cookies have to be kid friendly (what's the point otherwise?), and I don't mean just sans nudity and sans expletives. (Speaking of expletives -- I unwisely dropped the f-bomb in front of my son a couple of weeks ago, but managed to convince him that what I had really said was 'frog'. As in 'Oh FROG' when an error resulted in a large mess and much frustration. He still thinks I am being unfair blaming amphibians for my own missteps ... But I digress.) Cookies have to taste good enough that grubby little hands will stuff them in sticky little mouths and ask for more. Hopefully these will fit that bill. They also have to be real food and sustaining so a bunch of three year olds are properly fueled for art-making, mischief making, and general good-spirited learning. I made a similar concoction in the summer that vibed on walnut, raisin, and chocolate, and I do realize I am walking the line with these ones. But, heck, I had a bad week, and I'm in a mood to live dangerously. Maple and pecan is a long standing, well respected combination, so on the strength of that, I will challenge the kids this week to these cookie bars, and defy them not to enjoy them.

Eat the cookie bars!
EAT. THE. COOKIE BARS!

(Sorry, was that scary?)

ingredients:

3/4 cup boiling water

1/2 cup flax meal

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp ceylon

2 tsp ground vanilla

black pepper

1/2 cup hemp seeds (hemp hearts)

3 cups blanched almond flour

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped pecans

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. combine the flax meal, boiling water, and maple syrup and let sit for 10 minutes

2. add the coconut oil, coconut sugar, and apple cider vinegar

3. add the cinnamon, vanilla, sea salt, and black pepper

4. add in the hemp seeds

5. add the almond flour

6. add the raisins and pecans

7. press into a rectangular baking dish lined with parchment

8. bake at 345 for 50 minutes

9. cut into bars

10. store in an airtight container when cool

Gluten Free Maple Coffee Cake Baby Cakes

I decided to revamp one of our favourites. This coffee cake has no dairy, no gluten, and no agave. Instead, it has almond and coconut flours, and is sweetened with a little maple syrup. Not being a big maple syrup fan myself, I'm not convinced this is an improvement. ;) However, if you like maple, then this lightly maple flavoured cake might well be for you. It is a dairy free and gluten-free confection, and the stultifying powers of the coconut flour are mitigated by the charm of vanilla and sass of cinnamon. A teensy bit of apple cider vinegar helps hit that high note, allowing the flavours to all balance beautifully. And of course the moistness engendered by the coconut flour allows you to enjoy these cakes for days and days and days and days ... provided, of course, that they last that long. Lots of protein means this snack keeps blood sugar stable, and is pretty good even for the sugar sensitive.

Mangia!

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

3/4 cup warm water

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp ground vanilla bean (or 1 tbsp extract)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

black pepper (not too much, and freshly ground)

1 cup almond flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup organic thompson raisins

1/4 cup chopped pecans

** and coconut sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle on top **

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. combine the water and coconut oil to melt the oil

2. add the maple syrup and vinegar

3. add the eggs

4. add the salt, vanilla, pepper, ginger, and cinnamons

5. add the almond flour

6. add the baking soda

7. add the coconut flour

8. add the raisins and pecans

9. scoop into prepared muffin cups, and sprinkle a little cinnamon and coconut sugar on top of each one

10. bake at 345 for 35 minutes in the upper half of the oven

11. makes 12 muffins, so make sure you share them with maple lovers

Baby Cake Coffee Cake -- Baby Cake #2

Baby Cake Coffee Cake

The texture of these is delicate and moist, and the taste is so rich and flavourful that you won't miss the white sugar, white flour, and other assorted evils of a more traditional coffee cake. Enjoy, and consider naming your first born (first born baby cake) after me.

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups organic whole milk

2 organic eggs, large

1 tbsp vanilla

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil (I prefer Nutiva)

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 tsp sea salt

2 cups fine almond flour (I used JK Gourmet)

1 tsp organic vanilla bean powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

a quick grind or five of black pepper

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup fine kamut flour (whole grain)

1/2 cup organic thompson raisins

1/2 cup chopped pecans

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. warm the milk slightly

2. add the coconut oil, and stir until melted

3. add eggs and stir briskly

4. add vanilla and maple syrup, combining well

5. add salt and spices and almond flour, and stir well

6. add baking soda, mix well

7. add kamut flour, and mix thoroughly but briefly

8. add raisins and pecans

9. pour batter into 24 muffin cups, and sprinkle the top with a little cinnamon and a lot of coconut sugar

10. bake at 345 for 30 minutes in the upper half of the oven

Coffee Cake

REALLY MOIST AND REALLY YUMMY

I thought it would be fun to whip up a coffee cake last night. We have music class on Saturday mornings with our friends, and our Aunt Sarah and Uncle Ted often visit before that on their way home from the St. Lawrence Farmer's Market. I wanted to be able to offer something wholesome yet delicious to go with coffee or tea, or to be consumed by the fistful by toddlers from chubby little fingers. You could definitely make this cake as 24 muffins if you didn't want to make it as a large rectangular cake.

This cake is redolent with cinnamon and vanilla, and that slightly complex dark sweetness that comes from maple syrup. It was well enjoyed by everyone, and is really a little too wholesome to be truly a cake or a cupcake, although surprisingly sweet, especially when you consider out how little sweetener there is in it.

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups organic whole milk

2 organic eggs, large

1 tbsp vanilla

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil (I prefer Nutiva)

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 tsp sea salt

2 cups fine almond flour (I used JK Gourmet)

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

a quick grind or two of black pepper

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup fine kamut flour (whole grain)

1/2 cup organic thompson raisins

1/2 cup chopped pecans

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. warm the milk slightly

2. add the coconut oil, and stir until melted

3. add eggs and stir briskly

4. add vanilla and maple syrup, combining well

5. add salt and spices and almond flour, and stir well

6. add baking soda, mix well

7. add kamut flour, and mix thoroughly but briefly

8. add raisins and pecans

9. pour batter into a greased rectangular pan, and sprinkle the top with a little cinnamon and coconut palm nectar

10. alternately, you can bake this in 24 prepared muffin cups (use paper liners if you aren't using silicone)

11. bake at 345 for 35 minutes

I cut my rectangular cake into 24 pieces, so the following information would be the same for the cake or the muffins.

each piece/muffin contains:

1/2 tsp egg

1/2 tsp coconut oil

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp raisins

1 tsp pecans

2 tsp kamut flour

3 tsp milk

4 tsp almond flour

etc.

Not such a huge amount of sweetner, and plenty of protein.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.