Almond flour wafers -- a vegan, gluten free, awesome and crisp little cookie

For personal familial reasons relating to but not limited to systemic inflammatory response, the reading of 'Wheat Belly', some mysterious rashes, a nodding acquaintance with depression, and a cupboard that contains almond flour and coconut flour, we've been off gluten containing grains entirely lately. We've been subbing in such goodies as the aforementioned almond and coconut flour, with generous accompaniment of chias. I've made a version of this thin crisp cookie many times in the past, and have always found them pleasing. Whether or not they will hit the same note for my husband as his favourite spelt flour version, I don't know. However, I'm perfectly delighted with the results. For anyone unfamiliar with coconut nectar, it is a perfectly lovely, flavourful, body-friendly liquid sweetener that will not blow the back of your head off with sweetness, but it does such a beautiful job in cookies like these.

ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil -- melted
1/2 cup coconut nectar
2 tbsp vanilla extract


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

1/4 cup chia seeds finely ground
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour

sprinkle of eythritol for the top



directions:

1. combine the ingredients in the order listed
2. chill the dough
3. roll the dough  in two parts  and cut into perfect squares after trimming the  edges
4. bake at 345 in a preheated oven for 12 minutes then dehydrate for 2-3 hours at 170
5. cool and break into pieces
6. store in an airtight container

Chocolate Layer Cake

My son told me he'd like a chocolate cake with pink icing for his upcoming birthday. As a trial run, I made this double layer chocolate cake with vegan ganache filling and raspberry frosting for our anniversary today. Delectable. The chocolate cake is delicate and moist. The chocolate ganache is sumptuous and rich. The raspberry frosting is sweet and tart and balances beautifully with the chocolate. My husband and I both loved it. My son decided he'd like chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for his birthday instead. Go figure! Happy 8th anniversary, baby.

ingredients:

2 cups hot water
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil (organic and unrefined)

1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup date sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar


4 tsp egg replacer + 1 cup cool water

1 cup raw cacao

2 tbsp ground vanilla bean

1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp stevia powder

 2 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 cup ground chia seeds

4 tbsp coconut flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

directions:

preheat the oven to 345
prepare your baking tins. I used 2 x 8" silicone square pans and just gave them a once over with coconut oil. For metal pans, use coconut oil as well as parchment.

1. combine the first 2 ingredients. Let them sit for a few minutes until the coconut oil melts.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients in the order listed.
3. divide into your pans. Makes 3 small round layers, 2 eight inch square layers, or 24 small cakes
4. bake at 345 for 1 hour in the upper half of the oven
5. allow to cool at least a little before removing from the pan. Cakes will be more delicate than traditional flour cakes.

When cool, fill with vegan ganache and frost with raspberry frosting!!

Raspberry Frosting

Chocolate ganache filling

Vegan Chocolate Fudge Icing/ Ganache/ Truffle ...

I made this ganache type cake frosting to use as a filling between layers this time. An inch thick. Yup, that's how I roll. This is only a double layer cake. It is has a third layer in the middle that is purely ganache ... Last time, it was the icing on the baby cake, literally. It makes gorgeous truffles, too, and my son and husband are crazy about it. Fabulosity.

ingredients:

1 cup pitted honey dates
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup unrefined cacao butter
1/2 cup coconut nectar

2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp stevia



1 cup raw cacao

directions:
1. combine the hot water, dates, and coconut oil and cacao butter. If the cacao butter isn't melting, heat everything up a little. Let sit for 10 minutes to fully soften dates.
2. puree with an immersion blender until beautifully smooth
3. mix in the coconut nectar, cacao, vanilla, sea salt, and stevia
4. cool
5. use. Or eat by the spoonful. I dare ya.

Raspberry Icing

I wanted to make a pink icing. This is very dark pink, and has an intense raspberry flavour. It is gorgeous on chocolate cake.

600 g frozen raspberries -- cook down, then strain,

1 cup pitted honey dates

1/2 cup extra virgin coconut oil


2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp arrowroot

16 drops of strawberry stevia




directions:

1. cook the raspberries down and then strain to remove all the seeds. This is a lot of work as you have to push the puree through the strainer. Don't give up. You will vanquish the puree. I promise.
2. wash the pot then add in the other ingredients and cook until nice and soft.
3. puree with a hand blender.
4. add the arrowroot powder, stir, and bring to a boil
5. turn off the heat and let cool

Samosas in February

Part 1) dough

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

2 cups kamut pastry flour (finely ground, whole grain)

1 cup blanched almond flour

1  tsp sea salt

3/4 cup filtered water

directions:

1. put the flours, salt, and oil in a food processor. pulse a few times to thoroughly combine.

2. turning the machine on, slowly trickle in the water until the ingredients clump together and form a dough. If it seems too dry, add more water whilst the processor is on, a teaspoonful at a time. You do not want to add too much water, because then the dough will be very hard to work with. Too little water and the dough will be too crumbly.

3. take the dough out of the food processor, wrap it in parchment and put it in a plastic bag, or wrap it in plastic wrap. Set the dough aside to rest. (you can also make it ahead of time and put it in the fridge. However, it will need to come to room temperature before you can use it.

Part 2) filling

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

1 onion finely diced
4 cups split chickpeas, already cooked

2 medium sweet potato, finely diced

1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric

directions:

1. saute  the onions, and add the chickpeas and some of the salt and the cumin, and cook until the onions are translucent

2. add the cabbage, and sauté

3. layer in the rest of the ingredients, sprinkle with salt, and cover to cook for a while
4. stir to fully combine, and finish cooking

Part 3) samosas

directions:

1. take the fully rested dough, and divide into 20 g balls using a kitchen scale. Or if you are not as ocd as me, just make ping pong ball size dough balls. Try to make them even. Using the kitchen scale method, I got 35 balls this time. You could make 'em a touch bigger and get 24 balls, but I like this size best. Keep the balls covered by a piece of parchment topped by a damp towel to keep them from drying out. This is very very important!

2. one by one, roll the dough balls into circles, put some filling in the middle, and fold three sizes to make a triangular package. You should probably roll the dough on baking parchment or a mat of your choice. I find this dough easy to work with and somewhat forgiving.

3. place the samosas on a lined baking sheet. You don't need to leave a lot of space between, but you also don't want them to touch.

4. here, you have to make the decision to bake or to freeze. If you elect to freeze your bounty for later, put the baking sheet fully loaded into the freezer. Once the samosas have frozen solid, put them in airtight freezer bags. They can be baked right from frozen in about 40 minutes at 345.

5. If you choose to bake them now, put your baking sheet in the oven at 345 for about 25 or 30 minutes, until they seem adequately brown for your liking. If you want to bake them in a few hours, cover the samosas on the baking sheet with a piece of parchment topped by a damp towel.

Warming Winter Vegetable and Lentil Crockpot

I was going to be at work all day, and Papa and Nana were coming to play. So, knowing that Papa is a huge lentil fan, I loaded up my crockpot with a bunch of goodies. The resulting concoction is so flavourful and sweet and sour and savoury and spicy. The flavour is not overwhelming, but rather symbiotic. Everything about it is comforting and delicious. Try it. You'll like. The sweetness of sweet potato with the brightness of lime and sundried tomato, and the warmth of ginger. I kinda, you know, love it already. My husband made garlic toast out of our almond flour/coconut flour bread to go with this and it was fab beyond all reckoning.

ingredients:

1 cup finely chopped shallots
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
2 cups very finely chopped green cabbage
1/4 cup finely chopped sundried tomatoes

2 cups massoor lentils

2 cups frozen green peas

1/4 cup almond butter
1/4 cup coconut butter

1 cup diced celery hearts
2 cups diced carrots


4 cups diced sweet potatoes


4 tsp sea salt
2 tbps oregano
black pepper
1 tsp chile powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground ginger

9 cups water (I add boiling)

2 tbsp lime juice


directions:

1. layer the ingredients in the order listed. I combine the almond butter, coconut butter, lime juice, and seasonings with 1 cup of boiling water and pour it on, then pour on the rest of the water.
2. cook (I did it on High for 6 hours)
3. turn off and after stirring thoroughly, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, and add water if needed
4. serve or let the flavour mature and serve the next day
5. Today we are serving this with garlic toasts made from our 'almond flour and coconut flour bread'.

Vegan cookies -- spelt and chia keep it simple

ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil --  a little melted
1/2 cup coconut nectar
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp ground vanilla bean
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1/4 cup finely ground chia seeds
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups spelt flour


directions:

1. combine ingredients in the order listed

3. roll out dough in two parts on lined baking sheets -- I cover the dough with a piece of parchment when rolling because it's a little sticky
4. score into squares, and sprinkle with coconut sugar if so desired
5. bake at 345 for 12 minutes


I rolled out in two parts directly onto lined baking sheets and just scored it with a butter knife before baking into squares, which I  then broke along the score marks after baking.

Simple!!

The Perfect Chocolate Muffin -- vegan, gluten free, sugar free, nut free, and AMAZING

A few little tweaks here. No flax this time. Only chia. Some people (who shall remain nameless) seem to be sensitive to flax. As in it doesn't agree with their digestive system. These are a powerhouse of superfoods and gorgeous ingredients. And remarkable for what they don't have. No dairy. No eggs. No refined sugar. No gluten. No nuts. No grains. 

These are a great snack -- full of reliable and body-friendly energy sources. Give 'em a try. You won't regret it. The are "delicious". I put the word delicious in quotations because that was a quote from one of my two main muffin tasters.

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil (organic and unrefined)

1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup date sugar

2 cups hot water

1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 cup raw cacao

1 tbsp ground vanilla bean

1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp stevia powder
2 tbsp carob powder

4 tsp egg replacer + 1 cup water

1 cup shredded coconut -- ground fine
1/2 cup hemp hemp hearts, ground

1/2 cup ground chia seeds

1/2 cup ground pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup ground sunflower seeds

2 tbsp coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

directions:

1. combine the coconut oil, and hot water. Let sit for 10 minutes. 

2. add the cacao, carob, vanilla, salt, stevia, hemp seeds, shredded coconut, and mix

3. add the egg replacer mixture

4. stir in the ground chia seeds, ground sunflower seeds, ground pumpkin seeds, followed finally by the coconut flour. Then add the baking soda

5. scoop into prepare muffin cups and bake at 345 for 60 minutes

makes 24 amazing muffins. Amazing.