Cookies!

Hey all!  I hope you had an awesome Christmas!  :D  We sure did.

And one of the reasons was ... cookies.  When your family has so many various allergies, it's hard to find something that everyone can eat.

But, I did it.

I started off with a recipe from The Gluten Free Almond Flour cookbook.  If you haven't tried baking with almond flour - you totally should.  It's so good!

I modified the recipe, so I think I can post here what I did.  I'll call it:

Cranberry Chocolate cookies

7 cups blanched almond flour
2 tsp. salt
1 c. canola or grapeseed oil
1¾ c. sugar
1 c. water
4 tsp. vanilla

Blend ingredients well.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a baking sheet with parchment.  Scoop batter into 1" balls.  Flatten slightly, and press your finger into the centre of the cookie, making a small dent.

Bake cookies for 20 min, or until dark golden brown.

Cool on sheet for 4 min., then remove to racks to cool completely.

Next, you make the chocolate!!

Melt unsweetened baking chocolate over low heat.  (I used 2½ boxes.)  Add sugar and honey to taste.  Add water as needed to make the chocolate spreadable.  Spread the chocolate over each cookie.

(Note: if I was as good as PW I'd have a picture of each step.  But I'm not.  So I don't.  ;)

Looking tasty!

Next, we make the meringue.


Fluffy white frosting

1 c. sugar
1/3 c. water
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
2 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla

In a saucepan, combine sugar, water and cream of tartar.  Cook and stir till bubbly and the sugar is dissolved.  In a mixer bowl, combine egg whites and vanilla.  Mix slightly.  Turn mixer on high, and slowly add sugar water to whites.  Mix for about 7 minutes, or until stiff peaks form.  Lick the beaters.

Now you're going to spread a little meringue on the cookies.

Doesn't that look good??  Yes, yes they were.  ;)

Now, I thought they needed some dressing up.  So, I made homemade cranberry sauce.  (Boiled one bag of cranberries with 1c. water and 1c. sugar.)  Then, I blended the cranberry sauce to make it smooth.  It was so pretty!  I put a tsp. on top of each cookie, then topped it with a pecan half.

Don't they look delicious?  You want to reach through the screen and grab one.  Yes, yes you do.

They were just enough sweet and sour.

I'd share, but we ate them all.  :D

So, there you go!  You should definitely try them.  I'm going to file this recipe away for next year... or for the summer, whichever comes first.  ;)

So goooood...

Last night was my sister's 30th birthday wine tasting partay!  :D

I had to make something delicious.  

I love me some PW's jalapeno poppers... but, sadly, I no longer can have dairy.  *pout*  So, I came up with something that I think is equally yummy.

So, we have jalapenos, Chorizo sausage, dates and bacon.

I took the sausage out of the casing.

Cut the dates in half, the bacon in thirds.

Half the jalapenos, and remove the seeds.  (Use gloves!!  Seriously!)

Fill the jalapeno half with sausage, stick on two date halves, and wrap with bacon.

Bake on a cookie sheet on racks at 375º F for about 25 minutes.

The house will smell so amazing.  

Mmmmmm...

They are SO.  GOOD.

I'll definitely be making these again and again.  ;)

And they are gluten-free, corn-free, soy-free, dairy-free!  :D

--

And just so you know, my baby girl was 10 months yesterday.  O.o

She can clap now.  

Don't you just love them chunky thighs??

Baking again.

So, I was searching for recipes the other day that use my newest favourite - almond flour.  

I found a great site - Comfy Belly.

She had this amazing recipe for Chocolate Muffins.

It called to me.


So, I gathered the ingredients. 

I mixed up the batter.  (Note - I used a combination of sugar and honey for my muffins... and I also used half of the sweetener that the recipe called for.)

Poured batter into the cute little muffin cups.

I wish you could've smelled them.

Seriously.  So good.  Ask my sister.  She ate one.  (And btw Heather, I think there might be one left in your van.  ;)  You should rescue it.  Unless you found it already.  :D  )


I added instant coffee and cinnamon.  Coffee just enhances the chocolate flavour, so  I added two heaping tablespoons to the batter.  And, I also put in about a tsp. of cinnamon... because I like cinnamon.  ;)


I also was going to make Cinnamon Cookies that day... but the batter wasn't holding together (totally my fault, I think I missed a step or something), so I turned it into cinnamon muffins.  They're good, too.


If you haven't already, you need to give almond flour a try.

Makin' Chocolate cake.

With so many food allergies/intolerance's in our house, it makes finding a recipe everyone can eat somewhat difficult.

Lately we've been enjoying recipes from Elana's Gluten-Free Almond Flour cookbook.

(Yes, you need to buy it and try them.   ;)


This time, it was Chocolate Cake.

Here's the ingredients.

Baby Nana was very, very grumpy.  Why should she be happy since she can't yet eat almonds, chocolate and egg whites??

Biggest brother to the rescue!  Happy to go outside while my kitchen helper and I make cake.

First, the almond flour.

Next, the cocoa.

Baking soda.

Imagine the salt.  ;)

Agave nectar.

Farm fresh eggs.  :)

Imagine the vanilla.

And now, the mixing.  (And yes, I know I'm bad.  I *never* use a bowl for wet and a bowl for dry.  That's an extra dirty bowl.  One bowl all the way.  ;)

Pour into greased cake pan.

Repeat process for second cake.

Ready to bake!

When cool, make sure young, hungry child doesn't sneak a taste.  Frost bottom layer with 7 Minute Frosting.

Place top layer on.

Frost whole cake - use ALL frosting in bowl.  (Can't waste the sugary goodness.)

Devour.

The results?

Good.  It was a little dry, but that could be because I halved the amount of agave the recipe called for.  (I always cut the sugar in half in cake recipes.)  Also, I was busy with the baby while it was cooking, so I let it go for the recommended baking time in the book without checking to see if it was done sooner.

I'll just have to give it another try.

Awww.

Wordless Wednesday

I thought about just posting the pictures… but I figured there might be a revolt.  ;)

Here’s the recipe:

Elana’s Classic Drop Biscuits
2½ c. blanched almond flour
½ tsp. sea salt
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ c. grapeseed oil
¼ c. agave nectar  (I used 1/8 c.)
2 large eggs
1 tsp. lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine ingredients thoroughly.  Drop the batter in scant ¼ cups 2 inches apart onto the baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 min, until golden brown.
Fill with mayo, tomato, bacon and fried onions. 

**I doubled this recipe, and got 20.  The original says it should make 8.

Now, go buy Elana’s Gluten-free Almond Flour cookbook!!  The biscuits and chocolate chip cookies alone are worth it.  ;)

Baking with coconut flour

I've started to use coconut flour to make bread (and cake!) lately.

It's yummy!! Seriously!

The loaves of bread are short, but soft and squishy with a great flavour.

And the cake!! I've made a German Chocolate cake twice now - once with butter, and once completely dairy free.

Want the recipes? :D

They're originally from the book Cooking with Coconut Flour, by Dr. Bruce Fife. I've modified them just a bit, to suit my tastes better.

Coconut Bread

6 eggs
1/2 c. grapeseed oil or melted butter
2 TBSP honey
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. coconut flour
1 tsp. baking powder

Blend together eggs, oil, honey and salt. Add in coconut flour with baking powder, and mix thoroughly until there are no lumps. Pour into greased 9x5x3 loaf pan and bake at 350° for 40 minutes. It will be nicely browned on top. Remove from pan and cool on rack.


German Chocolate Cake

2/3 c. butter or coconut oil
1 1/3 c. cocoa powder
8 egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
2 whole eggs
8 egg yolks
1 c. coconut milk
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. coconut flour

Melt butter or coconut oil in a saucepan over medium hear. Add cocoa powder and mix together. Remove from heat and let cool. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar together until stiff peaks form; set aside. In a separate bowl mix together 2 whole eggs, 8 egg yolks, coconut milk, sugar, salt and vanilla. Stir in cocoa mixture. Whisk coconut flour into batter until there are no lumps. Fold batter into egg whites. Pour batter equally into 2 non-stick 8" round cake pans. (I use a little coconut oil to grease the pan.) Bake at 350° for 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack. Remove from pans, and layer the cake with Coconut-Pecan Frosting in the middle. (Yum!)



Coconut Pecan Frosting

1 c. coconut milk
1 1/2 TBSP tapioca starch
1 c. sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 c. butter or coconut oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. shredded coconut - medium
1 c. chopped pecans

Mix coconut milk, tapioca starch, sugar, egg yolks and butter in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Remove from heat, and add vanilla, coconut and pecans. Let cool before spreading between the cake layers! This recipe makes lots - there will be leftovers after you use it as a filling... unless you spread it on really, really thick! :D

I frosted the top and sides of this cake with Fluffy White Frosting - also known as 7 minute Frosting. Yummo!

Mmmmm... yes, it was that good.

You should totally go and buy Dr. Fife's cookbook, and experiment with coconut yourself. :)

Justin makes pancakes!

So, last week I decided it was time for Justin to learn how to make pancakes.

He was thrilled. :) And, he had three little helpers, who were eager to help dump/mix/taste... whatever was required.

Mmmmm... blueberry pancake batter.

The first pancakes!

Justin and his helpers... they DID have clean clothes on when they started... ;)

Almost ready to eat!

The final verdict? Yummy!

Great job, Justin! Now we just need to speed up the process... two hours is a long time to wait for pancakes. :)

Pecan-Crusted Chicken Drumsticks

I have a binder that I keep recipes in. I print recipes that I find on the internet that look good, and stick them in the binder. Today, as I was hunting for something different for the drumsticks that were thawing on the counter, I came across this recipe. It's adapted, of course, to fit our needs.

Pecan-Crusted Chicken Drumsticks

1 Family pack of drumsticks (I think there were 22 in there.)
2 eggs, beaten
1 box of Rice Thins - the purple box, which I think is sesame - crushed finely
about 3/4 c. finely chopped pecans (I didn't measure, but I think it was about that.)
1 TBSP sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
pepper, parsley to taste
Grapeseed oil for drizzling (Or butter, if you can have that.)

Toss chicken in the egg to coat. Combine crackers, pecans, sugar, salt, pepper and parsley in a ziploc bag. Add chicken drumsticks two at a time. Shake well to coat. Place chicken in a lightly greased baking pan. (Mine is 11x14") Drizzle with oil or butter, and shake any remaining coating on top.

Bake at 400° for 45 minutes.

Mmmmm. These are awesome. And the coating was just crunchy enough.

(I would have attempted a better picture, but the batteries in my camera died. Oh well. You get the idea. ;)

Blueberry Waffles

Yesterday was Pancake Day. So, I decided to make waffles for supper! :) I had some blueberries in the fridge, so they became Blueberry Waffles. Yum!

Here is the recipe I used:

3 c. white rice flour
2 c. brown rice flour
1 c. sweet rice flour
1 c. sorghum flour
2 c. tapioca starch
2 tsp. salt
12 tsp. baking powder
6 c. milk
8 eggs
1 c. grapeseed oil
2-3 tsp. guar gum
1 small container blueberries

I beat the eggs, then added the milk and oil. Then the dry ingredients. I did have to add a little extra flour. (The original recipe only called for 8 c. flour. I think I ended up with 10 - you may have to add another cup of white rice flour.) Then I added the blueberries. The batter should be a little thicker than pancake batter.

Cook according to your manufacturer's instructions.

This recipe made 42 waffles. Enough for everybody to be slightly piggy for supper, with some left over for a snack for another day! :)

We served ours with real maple syrup, and butter for those who could have it. They are awesome, and I will be making them again. Maybe even today, so I'll have lots in the freezer. :)

Sometimes, the simple stuff is the best.

With this pregnancy, I have not really been able to eat eggs for breakfast. They gross me out. And, cereal makes me sick. So, I've turned to eating leftovers for breakfast.

This morning, my leftovers were awesome.

I had ground beef, carrots, potatoes, a smattering of peas and rice, and I also cut up half a red pepper. Heated it in a little grapeseed oil, sprinkled on some celery seed, garlic salt and pepper, and there you go.
It was so good.

I could eat it all the time. Except, now I don't have any more of those things in tiny containers in the fridge. ;) Hopefully whatever I can come up with tomorrow will be equally delicious.