Carrot & apple sauce muffins

The original recipe comes from here, but I can't follow directions, so I made my own version.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour (1 1/2 cups almond meal + 1 cup coconut flour)
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup shredded carrots
cinnamon
nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix together dry ingredients.
3. Add in beaten eggs, vanillla, applesauce, and carrots. Mix well.
4. Grease a muffin pan with coconut oil.
5. "Pour" in muffin batter. **
6. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.

We'll see how they turn out. (update: pretty tasty, but more like scones than muffins.)
I will try following the reciped more closely once I am done Whole30 and review them again.

** The mix was firm enough to make balls with... so they could be cookies too I guess.

Mini Chai Tea Muffins

Mini Chai Tea Muffins - makes 48 mini muffins (found here)

1/4 cup cane sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup apple butter or applesauce, unsweetened
1 cup gluten free all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
2 tablespoons unsweetened powdered cocoa
1/2 cup wheat free oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chai tea mixture - steep 4 chai tea teabags in 1/2 cup hot milk. Allow to cool.
1/2 cup diced apple

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Line a 24 cup mini muffin tin with paper liners and set aside. Heat milk and steep 4 chai tea teabags, and set aside to cool.

Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Stir in apple butter and honey until well combined. Stir in the flour, almond meal, flax seed, cocoa, oats, baking powder and baking soda, while slowly pouring in the chai tea mix. Stir batter until smooth. Fold in the diced apples.

Fill muffin tins about 3/4 full and bake for about 10-12 minutes or until a skewer, inserted in centre, comes out clean.

Chewy Paleo Brownie

Chewy Paleo Brownie Recipe (from here)
 

1 1/4 cup raw light agave syrup, gently heated (or raw honey)
3/4 cup natural cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup almond butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp chocolate extract (optional)
1 tsp instant espresso powder (optional)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1. Heat agave syrup gently over stove until warm (do not allow to boil). Stir in cocoa powder over low heat until smooth. Cocoa burns easily, so keep the heat on very very low.
2. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients except salt until thoroughly mixed.
3. Sprinkle batter with salt, and fold batter to mix it in.
4. Pour into foil-lined or parchment paper-lined 8x8 baking pan (or, grease the pan with coconut oil or your preferred oil)
5. Bake at 325F for 40-50 min.  Use toothpick inserted in center to determine done-ness. (I baked mine in a glass pan at 325F for 45 minutes, and it seemed perfect). Let cool completely before cutting. Store in a plastic ziplock bag to preserve moisture.

The recipe can accommodate an egg. It will make the brownies more tender and moist, and a little less chewy. To include an egg:
Reduce almond butter to 1 cup. Mix egg with vanilla extract, chocolate extract, espresso powder, and baking powder before combining with agave-cocoa-almond butter mixture.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe, Makes 16-20 (from here)

• 5 oz (1 1/4 cups) very finely ground blanched almond flour (NOT Bob's Red Mill...see notes)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (I know you're supposed to avoid salt, but this is seriously important for flavor)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup raw agave nectar (or 1/4 cup raw honey plus 1 to 2 tsp water. See below for date paste substitution.)
• 1/8 cup macademia nut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• A scant 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips.

• Heat oven to 325.
• Mix almond flour, salt, and baking soda well.
• In a small bowl, mix agave nectar, Macadamia nut oil, and vanilla.
• Combine wet and dry ingredients, mixing well. Add dark chocolate chips.
• Batter should be thick enough that you can roll a small ball between your palms and set it on the cookie sheet without it drooping or losing shape (see notes).
• Make 16 - 20 small balls of cookie dough and space them evenly on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Press the cookies down as flat as possible with the palm of your hand. This is important! The cookies will NOT spread out on their own.
• Bake about 6 minutes. Watch closely and remove when the edges start to brown. . . they could be done at 4 minutes or at 8 minutes depending on the size of the cookie and your oven calibration.

Recipe Notes:

Almond Flour:
The brand of almond flour you use is important because you want a flour that is very finely ground, and this quality varies greatly across brands. Bob's Red Mill almond flour is not finely ground enough - I did a test batch and the cookie batter is too runny and ends up ugly with a grainy texture. Honeyville Farms is the brand I used for the cookies pictured above and would recommend.

Measuring the almond flour by weight is much more precise than measuring by volume, so use a digital scale if you have one. Trying to measure almond flour by volume can lead to over- or under-measurement: if it is too packed or too fluffed-up you fit too much or two little of it into your measuring cup. If you don't have a scale and have to measure by volume, then do your best to gently spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off with a straight-edged knife. As a rule of thumb for this recipe, you should be able to roll the finished dough into a ball between your palms, and when you set it down it should keep its shape. Add a little more almond flour if it doesn't pass this test.

Sweetener substitutions:
I prefer agave syrup's flavor and performance in the recipe, but tested some substitutions:
Raw honey: It works just as well. I tried a batch that turned out looking almost identical, feeling a little bit chewier, and tasting faintly of honey.
Date paste: If you prefer "whole sugars" that come embodied in their originating fruit, I also tried a date paste that worked but yielded a slightly wetter cookie with slightly less traditional flavor. To make a date paste substitute, take 8 pitted dried dates and chop them very finely. Add 1/4 cup water to the chopped dates and heat in a pan or microwave, stirring frequently until they've softened and absorbed some of the water (about 30 seconds in the microwave, stirring every 10 minutes). Add water as needed to keep them hydrated and jam-like in consistency. Remove from heat and mash the dates as thoroughly as possible with a fork. Add another few teaspoons of water if needed and heat again briefly to further soften the mixture. Place the paste in a measuring cup. If you don't have 1/4 cup of date paste, add enough water to bring the mixture up to the 1/4 cup line. Proceed with recipe as written.

Macadamia nut oil:
It has a long unrefrigerated shelf life, but doesn't often fly off the shelf at your local supermarket, so those bottles may have been there for a while. Be sure to select a fresh bottle.

Chocolate & Spice Zucchini Bread

Recipe found here.

Shred 2 zucchini, then squeeze in a kitchen towel to remove as much water as possible.
Add about 1 cup shredded zucchini to mixing bowl with:

1/4 cup coconut oil, liquified
4 room temp eggs (cold eggs will harden coconut oil)
1/2 cup coconut sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp vanilla liquid stevia
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Mix with electric mixer.

Add to bread pan lined with unbleached parchment paper and greased on the ends. (I cut the paper the length of the pan and drape it down one side, across the bottom and back up the other side, like in this photo by Amy)

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Ovens vary, check to see if it's done by inserting a sharp knife in the center.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake - makes one 9" cake (found here)

1 cup milk, at room temp
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup gluten free all purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup almond meal
1 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon guar gum (can find in specialty food stores and it's cheap!)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Glaze:
1 cup 33% cream (whipping cream)
110 g unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons honey

To make cake:
Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Lightly spray a 9 inch round cake pan with oil. You can also use a 10" bundt  pan, but I don't have one of those ;)
Whisk together milk and coffee in a large bowl, until coffee has completely dissolved. Whisk in eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, and guar gum, then add to milk mixture. Whisk well. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake in centre of oven until a skewer, inserted in centre, comes out clean, about 25- 30 minutes. Allow cake to cool in pan, completely, on a wire rack before inverting onto a cake plate.

To make glaze:
Heat cream in a small saucepan until almost comes to a boil. Add chocolate and stir until just melted. Stir in honey. Drizzle over top of cake. Enjoy!

Pecan pie part II

It was so good I forgot to take a picture before eating it!

I brought the pretty one to the potluck and kept the second for myself. Yum!

The "ugly one" after a midnight snack.

Paleo Potluck treat

I've been out sick this week; not eating much, not blogging much.
But I'm going to a flux CrossFit Paleo Potluck tonight and I'm going to try this recipe out:


Paleo Pecan Pie
Filling
6 dates
3 eggs
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tbsp almond flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1.25 cups pecans
Pie Crust
1.5 cups almond flour
1/4 cup olive oil, melted


Preheat oven to 350. Mix together crust ingredients in small bowl. Press into pie dish to form crust. Bake for 5 minutes.
Prepare filling by putting dates into a food processor. Run until dates have formed a paste (make sure to remove the pits first). Add egg, syrup, vanilla, flour, and oil. Blend in food processor into smooth and well mixed. Gently fold in pecans to the mixture. Pour filling into the pie crust. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the pie is set.