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.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies -- dairy free, sugar free, high protein

Elaine was waxing poetic about her love for pecan meal, so I was reminded of the oatmeal cookies I used to make that involved dates and pecan meal. Pecan meal and dates together do lovely things that put me in mind of brown sugar. Yes, alchemy afoot. These cookies use good things like ground nuts and coconut flour, some spelt flakes, chewy raisins, sweet spicy cinnamons, and fragrant ground vanilla. There is no cane sugar, although there is a little coconut sugar, which won't elevate blood sugar levels, to sweeten along with the dates and raisins.

The flavour is complex and yet homey, with a lot of the traditional oatmeal cookie about it. However, the ingredients elevate it to a health food, and make it a reasonable, high energy snack.

My three year old is crazy about these, and I myself find them seriously yummy. I'm not sure my husband would sit in the dark with a glass of milk and eat them by the dozen, but he does like them, too.

They are not gluten free because of the spelt flakes, but they are an updated twist on an old favourite. If you prefer oat flakes to spelt flakes, you can certainly use those. Or, you can try any other type of flaked grain you please, if you have a preference. I like spelt because of the texture, but pretty much any flaked grain will work here. To be honest, I used spelt flakes because we'd run out of oat flakes  ... I guess that just proves that I am an opportunistic cook.

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

1/2 cup warm water

1/4 cup pitted honey dates

1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 egg

6 tbsp coconut sugar

1/2 tsp ground vanilla

1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp flax meal

1/2 cup pecan meal

1/2 cup blanched almond meal

1 cup spelt flakes (or large oat flakes or whatever flakes you fancy)

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp coconut flour

1/2 cup thompson raisins 

directions:

preheat your oven to 345

1. soak the dates in the warm water for 10 minutes, and then puree (I use a stick blender, but you can also use a food processor)

2. melt the coconut oil in the warm date puree

3. mix in your coconut sugar, your vinegar, and your egg

4. sitr in your cinnamon, vanilla, and sea salt

5. add the flax, pecan, and almond meal

6. mix in your spelt flakes and your baking soda

7. mix in your coconut flour

8. add the raisins

9. place spoonfuls on a lined baking sheet, and flatten with a wet fork

10. bake at 345 for 20 minutes

makes about 2 dozen (fairly large) cookies

yum!

New Bagels -- vegan this time, and full of seeds

I have a slightly new bagel recipe, and a slightly new bagel procedure. The bagels are soft and chewy on the inside, with a nice texture and a thin, crisp and chewy outside. Do you remember those chocolate chip cookies that came out in the 80s called 'Crispy Chewy'? I'm scared to think of what vast quantities of sugar went into them to achieve that texture. These bagels are nothing like those cookies, however. And I strongly advise against adding chocolate chips. I think the boiling process would be their downfall.


ingredients:

1 1/2 cup warm water
2 tbsp unpasteurized honey
1 tbsp bread yeast

1 tsp egg replacer + 1/4 cup water

1 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup spelt flakes
1/4 cup flax meal
1/4 cup chia seeds
4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

big pot
water
baking soda (approx 2 tbsp)


directions:

1. mix the honey into the warm water, and stir in the yeast (the water should be about bath temperature). Set aside
2. mix the egg replace with the 1/4 cup water and set aside
3. in your mixing bowl add the sea salt, spelt flakes, flax meal, chia seeds, whole wheat pastry (soft) flour, and apple cider vinegar
4. add the egg replacer mixture, and the proofed yeast/water, and mix it into dough
5. knead the dough for about 15 minutes (thank you Obsidian Betelgeuse)
6. divide the dough into 24 equal balls, and make those balls into bagel shapes
7. rise the bagels uncovered for about 1 hour
8. preheat the oven to 345. Heat a big pot of boiling water, and boil the bagels for 2 minutes per side (you can probably do between 4 and 6 at a time, depending on the size of your pot)
9. drain the boiled bagels on a cooling rack before placing them on a baking sheet (lined with parchment or silicone is best)
10. bake for 25-30 minutes at 345, switching the positions of the trays halfway through


Now an important thing to mention is this:
The top side of the bagels will be dry and firm, while the underside will be soft and malleable after rising. For this reason, I like to pick the bagels up one by one, and put them top side down onto a slotted metal spatula to deposit into the water. This way the bagel won't get squished and compressed before boiling. I also like to make sure the original top side is up when baking the bagels after boiling, and if I put the top side down for the first side of boiling, the top side is naturally up after the 2nd side of boiling.


Also, it is possible to coat the bagel in seeds or sprinkles of some kind after boiling, when the seeds will stick to them because they are wet. You absolutely don't want to add these before boiling. ;)


I hope that made sense.

Bagels

My earliest memory of bagels is riding in the car on dark winter Sunday mornings at about 6 a.m. with a big bag of hot bagels on my lap, making our way home from the bagel bakery up on Bathurst Street, mouths stuffed with hot, fresh bagels ...


I'm not going to get into a debate of Montreal bagels vs New York bagels, or even pretend my bagels have any kind of authenticity to them. However, unlike any bagels we can buy at Bathurst Street's famed bagel bakeries, or the bagel factory at the top of the mountain in Montreal, or at Zabars in New York, my bagels are pretty good for you :).


Like their brethren, my bagels are boiled before being baked, which gives that sought after chewy bagel texture. However, they involve no white flour whatsoever. Sadly, even the whole grain options at the bagel bakeries tend to be at least 50% white flour.


My bagels are full of flax seed, whole grain flour, occasional additions of some super food, and are moist and tasty, if not authentic.




ingredients:


1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp bread yeast


1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 egg (or 1 tsp egg replacer + 2 tbsp water, or just 2 extra tbsp water)
1/2 cup  spelt flakes
1/4 cup flax meal
4 cups organic red fyfe flour (up to 4 1/2)
1 tbsp sea salt




directions:


1. mix the honey into the warm water, and add the yeast. Set this aside to do its thing.
2. combine the flour, flax, spelt flakes,  and sea salt into a mixing bowl, or into the bowl of your mixer
3. add 1 beaten egg, the vinegar, and the foaming water/honey/yeast mixture, and gradually turn it into a dough. Add the final cup of flour bit by bit until you have achieved a dough that, while not sticky, retains a clammy feel and supple elasticity.
4. knead the dough for at least 15 minutes
5. once the dough has been kneaded enough, return it to its bowl, and cover it with parchment and a wet towel, and allow to rise for 45 minutes or 1 hour.
6. once the dough has risen nicely, divide it into 24 equal parts (approx 56 g each), and form these balls into rings by sticking your finger through the center and flattening slightly.

7. place the rings on lined baking sheets, cover with parchment and damp towels. Allow to rise for another 45 mintues or 1 hour.
(you will need 2 baking sheets for this, 12 per)
8. bring a large pot of water  with a couple table spoons of baking soda in it to a boil
9. boil the bagels 6 at a time (or 4 at a time if your pot is smaller) for 2 minutes per side (flip with a slotted spoon or slotted metal spatula)
10. return boiled bagels to the lined baking sheet (draining in the slotted spoon or slotted spatula
11. sprinkle bagels with seeds, sea salt, seasonings, spelt flakes, or whatever turns your fancy
12. bake at 345 for 25-30 minutes, swapping the upper and lower trays halfway through
13. eat with gusto and good friends
14. don't boil your bagels whilst naked.