Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies -- gluten free, sugar free, grain free, vegan, delicious!

ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter (organic smooth)

1/2 cup coconut nectar

1/2 cup water

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground vanilla

1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1/2  tsp sea salt
1/4 cup finely ground chia seeds

3 cups almond flour

1/2   tsp baking soda

directions:

1. combine the peanut butter and coconut nectar

2. mix in the chia and water mixture

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

4. 

5. add the baking soda and almond flour, and mix well

6. scoop by spoonful onto a lined baking sheet, and flatten with a wet fork

7. bake at 345 for 14 minutes

8. store in an airtight container when fully cool

makes 4 dozen cookies (2 very full trays)

Simple Blueberry Muffins -- vegan, nut free, basic

ingredients:

1/2  cup coconut oil
1 1/2 cup boiling water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 tsp egg replacer mixed with 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup raw agave


1/2  tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

2 cups kamut flour


2 cups frozen blueberries



directions:

1. combine the ingredients in the order listed
2. gently fold in the kamut flour
3. gently fold in the blueberries
4. scoop into 24 prepared muffin cups
5. bake at 345 for 25 minutes

Chocolate Ice Cream for Zephyr -- vegan and sugar free

My beautiful child asked for chocolate ice cream. How could I say no?

This stuff rocks. The coconut milk makes it really creamy and thick. Fantabulous.

ingredients:

1 can coconut milk

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup raw cacao

1/2 cup agave

directions:

1. combine the ingredients -- I like to use an immersion blender, but I'm like that

2. chill the resulting concoction

3. freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's specification

Chocolate Cake for my son's birthday

Light and delicate in texture, moist, rich, insanely chocolaty. This cake is everything a chocolate cake should be. It is also gluten-free, grain free, high in protein, (and if you take away all the ganache and glaze, pretty good for you), and of course truly delicious.

ingredients:

1/4 cup agave

1/2 cup bittersweet callebaut chocolate morsels (or any other very high quality bitter sweet chocolate morsel you prefer) (100g)

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup organic butter

1 cup boiling water

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

 2 tbsp ground chia seeds

1 tbsp ground vanilla bean

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

pinch chili pepper finely ground

a little black pepper finely ground

3 dark roast or espresso beans, finely ground

1/2 cup raw cacao

1/2 tsp baking soda

4 eggs

2 cups almond flour 

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. pour boiling water over room temperature butter and chocolate morsels to melt them

2. when they are melted, add the agave and coconut sugar, followed by the apple cider vinegar

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

4. add the raw cacao

5. add the eggs and mix well

6. add the almond flour, and combine fully

7. add the baking soda

8. scoop the batter into prepared muffin cups

9. bake for approx 30-35 minutes, until the cakes feel firm and springy to the touch

or

10. pour the batter into prepared pans (buttered and lined with parchment

11. bake for 40-45 minutes, until the cake feels firm and springy to the touch

remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool before removing from the pan

I assembled the layer cake with a truffle ganache filling between the layers and a chocolate glaze covering the cake in a lovely layer of sheen and deliciousness. Plus, the glaze can hide a multitude of sins ... ;)

Truffle Ganache Filling

Chocolate Glaze

This recipe will make 24 baby cakes, or 3 x 8 inch layers. I guess it would probably make 2 of the 9 or 10 inch layers.

Peanut Butter Cookies Variation 2 -- Still gluten free, grain free, and good for you

My obsession with peanut butter continues. I found a source for smooth organic peanut butter that is very reasonably priced. The peanuts are roasted to perfection, and they add a pinch of sea salt to the concoction. The result is heavenly. My brain thinks it's candy, and I'll confess to eating it by the spoonful whenever I need a little snack. Sort of embarrassing, but oh well. For this recipe I used crunchy peanut butter this time. Maybe next time I'll try the smooth ....

These cookies are grain free, gluten free, and pretty good for you. They do contain agave, for those of you who are sensitive to it, but the effects are offset by the judicious addition of ground chia. Super yum.


ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter (organic, crunchy)
1/2 cup clear agave
2 eggs

1 tsp ground vanilla
1/2 - 3/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup ground chia
3 cups almond flour
1/4 tsp baking soda


directions:
1. combine the peanut butter and agave
2. mix in the eggs
3. add the vanilla and sea salt
4. mix in the chia
5. add the baking soda and almond flour, and mix well
6. scoop by spoonful onto a lined baking sheet, and flatten with a wet fork
7. bake at 345 for 16-18 minutes
8. store in an airtight container when fully cool

Chocolate Chip Baby Cakes for Papa Ed (Don't tell him they are gluten-free, sugar-free, and good for you ...)

Papa Ed doesn't like my brownies. Papa Ed likes the way chocolate cake from a bakery tastes, with thick fudge icing. I wanted to make some cakes to take with us to Oakville to share with Papa Ed, so I'm hoping these ones will not earn the thumbs down. We shall see. Will the copious quantity of callebaut save us? (Seriously, I think we went with the maximum chocolate-to-batter-ratio permissible by law.) Will this variation on our popular gluten free chocoloate chip baby cake recipe fit the bill? Will the soupçon of raw cacao and carob in the batter give depth of flavour without compromising the sweetness? Stay tuned to find out ...

Or try them yourselves?


ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
3/4 cups warm water
2 eggs
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp agave
3 tbps coconut sugar

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

2 tbsp ground chia seed
1 tbsp carob powder
1 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 cup almond meal
1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp coconut flour

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup bittersweet callebaut chocolate morsels (or other good quality chocolate chips)

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. combine the warm water and coconut oil to melt the oil
2. make sure it's not too hot and add the eggs
3. add the coconut sugar, agave, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, cinnamon, vanilla, ground chia seed, raw cacao powder, and carob powder
4. mix well (I used an immersion blender)
5. add the almond flour and baking soda and mix
6. mix in the coconut flour
7. when thoroughly mixed, add the callebaut and stir
8. scoop into 12 prepared muffin cups and bake at 345 for 37-40 minutes
9. store in an airtight container when thoroughly cool

After the fact update: Papa Ed ate two of them and then declared that they were terrible so no one else would eat any. ;)

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Baby Cakes -- Don't blink, because they'll be gone!

I whipped these little cuties up in just a few minutes. They are mostly virtuous, but just a little naughty. Sound like anyone you know? The chocolate is our usual fave, callebaut, which makes no excuses. It is a fabulously balanced tasting dark chocolate chip that I can't recommend highly enough. If you've never had the pleasure and are a chocolate lover, you might like to check it out. Callebaut also makes organic fair-trade chocolate, but I've yet to come across it. When it comes to a cake like this, or even chocolate chip cookies, I would absolutely recommend using the best quality chocolate you can get your hands on. The taste makes all the difference in the world. And real, good quality chocolate is a super-food. Which makes it guilt free, right? ;)

These cakes are full of blood-sugar stabilizing ingredients such as chia seeds and high protein flours. The sweeteners in these cakes are agave and coconut sugar. I chose agave for its uncomplicated and bright sweetness, but just used 2 tbsp of it. The addition of 2 tbsp of coconut sugar gives a darker sweetness with more depth and more complex flavours. That works out to 1/2 tsp of coconut sugar and 1/2 tsp of agave in each cake.

I know that people with blood sugar issues such as hypo-glycemia or diabetes need to be careful when indulging in sweets. However, with the small amount of sugar in dark chocolate and the small amount of agave and coconut sugar added to this recipe, the sweeteners are well offset by the protein rich ingredients and the chia. If you are very sensitive, you could safely halve the quantity of chocolate in the cakes. The cakes are too chocolaty for me the way they are, but my boys -- chocolate lovers both -- were very happy with them.

Also, I ran out of eggs, so instead of 2, I used 1 and 1 tsp egg replacer. OOPS.

ingredients:

2 tbps extra virgin coconut oil

3/4 cup warm water

1 egg

1 tsp egg replacer + 1/4 cup cool water (combined)

1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbps clear agave

2 tbsp coconut sugar

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1 tsp ground vanilla bean

2 tbsp ground chia

1 cup almond meal

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp coconut flour

1/4 - 1/2 cup chocolate morsels (Callebaut!)

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

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

2. add the agave and coconut sugar

3. add the vinegar

4. make sure the mixture is no longer warm and beat in the egg

5. mix in the egg replacer and water

6. stir in the salt, vanilla, and cinnamon

7. add the chia

8. add the almond flour

9. add the baking soda

10. add the coconut flour

11. add the chocolate morsels

12. scoop into prepared muffin cups, and bake at 345 for 37-40 minutes in the upper half of the oven

makes 12 cakes

Gluten free cakes of this ilk are fragile, and need to cool in their cups for a while before they are taken out onto a cooling rack. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge ... but don't blink ...

Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies -- Sans Sugar, and Gluten-Free

I always really liked sugar cookies. I liked the simple, vanilla redolent flavour, I liked the light texture, and I liked the cute shapes. When we were teenagers, my friend Jennifer and I made a huge batch of sugar cookies that we cut by hand into fantastic shapes and decorated with bright amazing colours of icing. We then took the whole batch down to Sick Kids hospital to give to the kids. A nurse confiscated them and promised they'd be distributed to the kids who were allowed to eat them. To this day, I have my secret doubts, and am at least halfway convinced that there were a lot of doctors and nurses grooving on the psychedelic effects of our beautiful creations. They were gorgeous, and back in the 80's, we all still believed sugar was good for you ... :)

Keeping with the theme of 'holiday' type cookies, I wanted to come up with a recipe for a sugar cookie that includes no sugar, and can be enjoyed without qualms. Like the gingerbread people of a couple weeks ago, these ones are also gluten-free. I'll do a not gluten free but still healthy alternative later on.

Coconut flour is an interesting flour. It absorbs water so prodigiously that you need much less of it than you would another flour. In fact, it could probably be used for disaster clean up following flooding ... I find the texture of cookies made with coconut flour improves after a couple of days, and then is really great, and keeps well for a number of weeks, even. In addition, coconut flour is very high in protein, with a good amount of fiber, won't spike anyone's insulin, is gluten free, and doesn't have the same inflammatory effects that many people experience with grain flours, even whole grain.

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup agave

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp ground vanilla bean (this is more or less optional, because it's a bit more esoteric, and the cookies will be nice without it, too)

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 cup almond flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup coconut flour

directions:

1. warm the oil to melt it

2. mix in the agave

3. mix in the eggs

4. add the vanilla and lemon

5. add the sea salt and vanilla bean

6. add the almond flour

7. add the baking soda

8. add the coconut flour, and mix well

9. wrap the finished dough in parchment, put it in an airtight container, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled (this will make it easier to work with)

10. divide the dough in half

11. roll half the dough between 2 pieces of parchment until reasonably thin, and cut with your favourite cookie cutters and transfer the shapes to a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet

12. amass the scraps and repeat until the dough is gone.

13. repeat with the second half

14. you should fill two baking sheets. The number of cookies will depend on the size of the cutters ...

15. preheat the oven to 300, and bake the trays for 20 minutes in the upper half of the oven. After 10 minutes cooking time,  switch their positions halfway through.

16. After 20 minutes total cooking time, shut the oven off, and leave the cookies in the oven for another 10 minutes.

17. After 30 minutes total cooking time, remove the cookies from the oven, and leave to cool for a few minutes.

18. remove the cookies to a cooling rack.

19. store in an airtight container.

20. these cookies keep really well, and in my opinion improve with age, and are at their best after a few days after baking

Ginger Bread People -- a spicy, seasonal treat

Gentle readers, after a few versions, I've come up with a recipe that tastes very good, and has a pleasing crisp crunchiness to it. Some of the ingredients will be a little surprising, especially if you are newer to my blog. It will be possible to leave out some of the 'superfoods', however, I do believe that these are what have allowed me to achieve the multi-layered flavour of which I was in pursuit. Oh, and of course they are low in sugar, high in protein, and good for you. They are also, I believe, gluten free, but I'm not 100% sure about some of the more esoteric ingredients such as maca powder and mesquite.

My husband confided that he thought they were okay, but he wouldn't sit in a darkened room with a glass of milk and eat them by the dozen.

So, with that caveat and no further ado, I present to you Ginger Bread People version 3.0. (Yes, that means I have dozens of (not quite successful) version 1 and 2 left that I have to somehow get rid of ...)

ingredients:

1 organic egg (extra large)

4 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil (unrefined)

1 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar

4 tbsp clear agave

1 tbsp organic vanilla extract

1/4 tsp zest of organic orange, very finely chopped

1/2 cup organic coconut sugar (is there any other kind?)

2 tsp ground ceylon cinnamon (or just use regular cinnamon)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp ground ginger (variation: 2 tbsp ground ginger)

1 1/2 tsp ground allspice

1 1/2 tsp ground vanilla

a little black pepper

1 tbsp raw cacao powder

1 tbsp carob powder (variation: 2 tbsp carob powder)

1 tbsp mesquite powder

1 tbsp maca powder

3/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup flax meal

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 cups almond flour

directions:

1. lightly melt the coconut oil, and add the agave, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar, coconut sugar, and egg, mixing well

2. add the spices and orange zest

3. add the cacao, carob, mesquite, and maca (if using. if not, maybe just a couple extra tbsp almond flour)

4. add the salt and flax meal, mixing well

5. mix in the baking soda

6. mix in the almond flour

7. chill the dough in the fridge wrapped in parchment and tucked in plastic bag (chilling is sort of optional, but it makes it easier to work with)

8. cut the dough in quarters, and roll out each quarter between 2 sheets of parchment. Cut with your favourite cutter, and put on a lined baking sheet.

9. bake at 300 for 20 minutes, followed by another 30 minutes with the oven heat turned OFF as the oven gradually cools down. This will give the crispy texture we want.

makes two trays of cookies. bake in the upper half of the oven, alternating positions halfway through ...

store in an airtight container.

share with friends!

decorate with raisins before baking!

dip in your tea!

:)

Vegan Raisin Muffins -- Tuesday Morning Muffins with Friends

I had some friends coming for tea this morning -- someone I've know since kindergarten, along with her two daughters, as well as her mother. Three generations of fabulous females. :)

I put on a pot of decaf vanilla tea to steep -- a favourite of all ages around here -- and decided the occasion called for fresh muffins. I wanted to make a vegan recipe, because it's nice to mix it up. I came up with these lightly sweet, very healthy, and thoroughly delicious little tea cakes. My friend's 3 year old ate three of them. I think the other kids only ate two each. But still, you get the picture. Needless to say, we went through a baker's dozen of these little cuties with our vanilla tea.


ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

2 tsp egg replacer + 1/4 cup water

1/4 cup agave

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup flax meal

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground vanilla

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 cups almond flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup kamut flour

1 cup organic raisins (jumbo Thompson) -- pick through to make sure there are no stems attached ...




directions:


preheat the oven to 345


1. lightly warm the water to melt the coconut oil, add the agave
2. mix the egg replacer and 1/4 cup water well in a separate bowl, then add mixture to water, oil, and agave
3. add the apple cider vinegar
4. add the flax meal, almond flour, cinnamon, vanilla, and sea salt, and mix well
5. add the baking soda and mix
6. add the kamut flour and mix lightly and gently until just combine
7. add the raisins and stir very gently to combine
8. scoop the batter into 24 prepared muffin cups
9. bake at 345 for 33 minutes in the upper half of the oven

Chocolate Banana Cakes

One of these things is not like the other ... wait a minute. Scratch that. Neither of them are like the other. In one small way. Okay, I'll admit it. They are almost identical. :)

They are both delectable chocolate banana cakes made with a couple of over ripe bananas just begging for a chance at fate. They both have everyone's favourite superfood -- raw cacao. They both contain very little sweetner and a decent amount of protein. In fact, they are identical in every respect except for one naughty little detail. The bottom cake contains an addition of a few decadent morsels of Callebaut dark chocolate ...

Now, I have to confess I'm not much of a chocolate eater, and I tend to turn up my nose at banana. (Cooked is okay, but raw? Erk.) However, I live with a couple of true chocolate lovers and banana eaters. My little son's first experience with chocolate was raw cacao nibs, which taste to me exactly like dirt. However, to him they are wonderful. I guess I don't  need to bring up the cigarette butt eating incident again, but ...

These little cakes were very popular in our house. We did half the batch with Callebaut morsels, and half sans. The raw cacao make them taste gratifyingly chocolately even without the punch of the chocolate. However, my husband will attest that they certainly aren't harmed in any way by the addition. ;)

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup clear agave

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 over ripe bananas (about 1 cup)

1 cup pecan meal

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

dash of freshly ground black pepper (optional)

1/4 cup raw cacao powder (or cocoa if you must ;))

1 cup kamut flour (finely milled, pastry flour texture, whole grain, please)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 to 1/2 cup of high quality chocolate morsels

directions:

preheat oven to 345 and prepare 24 muffin cups (or use a rectangular pan if you prefer)

1. lightly warm the milk and oil together to melt the oil (coconut oil is a solid below 24 degrees)

2. add agave, and eggs, and stir briskly to combine

3. add vanilla

4. lightly mash the bananas (don't puree), and stir into the wet ingredients

5. stir in the pecan meal, sea salt, cinnamon, and black pepper

6. stir in the raw cacao and baking soda

7. add the kamut flour and mix thoroughly

8. if you are not adding chocolate morsels, spoon the batter into 24 muffin cups

9. if you are using chocolate morsels, add 1/2 cup chocolate morsels to the batter, and spoon the batter into 24 muffin cups

10. if you are adding chocolate to half the recipe as we did, spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups, then add 1/4 cup chocolate to the remaining batter, and spoon the remaining batter into 12 more muffin cups.

11. bake at 345 for 22-24 minutes in the upper half of the oven, or until the tops spring back when pressed lightly with a brave finger.

12. use them to bribe your husband to clean up his room.

Chocolate Muffins -- And Now For Something Completely Different ...

CHOCOLATE MUFFINS

Well, it has been a few years since I've posted. I've done a lot of cooking in the past few years, although I haven't documented it. And it's only gotten smarter and sexier. (I, on the other hand, am a different matter.) And I've hatched a mini-me (actually, a mini-he), so my cooking has also become kid-friendlier.

As my harried mom-friends continue to clamour for easy and nutritious recipes to feed their kids, I thought I would stop being so lazy, and at least try to post once in a while. If I can remember how to write :).

Here is a recipe for decadent-tasting chocolate muffins that are guilt free for you and nutritious for your kids. They aren't the end-all and be-all of nutritious, but they are up there on the good for you scale. They actually do qualify as food, as opposed to falling in the nebulous category of food-like substances. My husband wolfed down a couple and then started to pass them out to the guys who are renovating the house next-door. He likes to get people to take a bite and then tell them after that it's good for them, just to watch the surprise register on their faces.

Here's the recipe. Questions? Let me know and I'll do my best to clarify my convolutions and explain my quirks.

1 1/4 cup filtered water, warmed

1 cup pitted honey dates

1/4 cup clear agave

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

2 tsp egg replacer + 4 tbsp filtered water

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp cinnamon

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup pecan meal

1 cup almond meal (blanched)

1/2 cup kamut pastry flour (whole grain)

1/2 tsp baking soda

preheat oven to 345

1. soak dates in water for 10 minutes, and then puree dates and water together

2. add rest of 'wet' ingredients and puree again

3. stir in dry ingredients one by one

4. scoop batter into prepared muffin tins. I use silicone cups placed on a baking sheet. They need to be oiled the first couple times you use them, but after that are amazingly non-stick, and wonderfully non-wasteful.

5. bake for 30 minutes in the center of the oven

6. remove from oven when the top feels springy to your touch

7. remove muffins from muffin tins or silicone cups a few minutes after removing from oven.

makes 24 (small) muffins

enjoy ... :)