Peanut Butter Peck Cookies (grain-free, vegan, refined sugar free)

Peanut Butter Peck Cookies (grain-free, vegan, refined sugar free)

1/4 cup (56 g) coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (this doesn’t have to be fresh ground – I only did this one with store bought)
1/3 cup palm sugar
3 T. flax seed mixed with 3 T. hot water
1 t. vanilla
1/4 cup sifted coconut flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 t. xanthan gum
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/4 cup palm sugar
Homemade chocolate discs (see recipe below)

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, blend the coconut oil, peanut butter, palm sugar, flax egg, and vanilla. In a small bowl combine the dry ingredients, whisking well. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Shape the dough into 1.5 inch balls. Roll the balls in palm sugar. Bake for about 10 minutes. Do not over-bake! Remove from the oven and immediately top each one with a homemade chocolate disc, pressing down gently.

Homemade Chocolate Discs

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup palm sugar
Pinch of powdered stevia

In the top of a double-boiler, melt the palm sugar and unsweetened chocolate. When fully melted, stir in the powdered stevia. Taste and add more stevia until it is as sweet as you like. (I left mine barely sweetened.) On a piece of parchment, spoon small circles of chocolate to make chocolate discs, or use commercial candy molds. (I made discs, molded Christmas trees, and molded rounds.) This batch makes enough for about 2 batches of peck cookies.

SOURCE: http://themommybowl.com/2010/12/04/peanut-butter-peck-cookies-for-12-days-of-christmas/

Allergy FreeTangerine French Toast

I found the original version of this recipe here: http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/12/three-holiday-tangerine-french-toasts.html

but needed to modify for my dietary needs: gluten free, dairy free, soy free, refined sugar free so here is the modified recipe.

Holiday Tangerine French Toast
vegan, makes 8 triangles

4 pieces of sliced gluten free bread, soft (I like Whole Foods Prairie bread for this but use any you like)
1 cup + 2 Tbsp vanilla flavor So Delicious coffee creamer
1 large tangerine, zest and juiced
(About 1/4 cup tangerine juice and about 2 tsp zest.)
1/2 tsp cinnamon + a few more dashes
a few dashes nutmeg
1 Tbsp gluten free flour
1 Tbsp vegan buttery spread for cooking
*Earth Balance brand is my fave.
garnish: extra tangerine for garnish slices and zest, powdered sugar, maple syrup (but it doesn't need it!)

Directions:

1. Slice your bread diagonally, into 8 triangles.

2. Add the ingredients (creamer, spices, flour, tangerine juice and tangerine zest) to a flat-bottom dish. Whisk them together.

3. Turn your stove on med-high and plop your 1 Tbsp of buttery spread into non-stick pan. Allow it to coat the surface of the pan.

4. You don't want to over-soak your bread, however soaking it through is important. Using bread that isn't perfectly fresh may be the best way to combat french toast sog. But then again, I used a fresh loaf and it turned out splendidly. Dipping process: Dip and soak for 2 seconds on each side and immediately transfer to hot oiled pan. Repeat until your pan is filled to the brim with toasts. My pan held 5 triangles at a time.


5. Allow your french toast to sit in the pan! Don't go flipping-early or mushing it around on the pan or it will likely turn to bits and pieces and/or burn the crust off. Sprinkle a nice hefty dash of cinnamon on each of the toasts while they are cooking in the pan. After 3 minutes, flip the toasts. They should be a nice marbled dark golden brown color. If the first 'flipper' is still soggy and mushed after flipping, leave the remaining triangles unflipped for another 1-2 minutes. Then flip and again, test for doneness. Practice makes perfect!

6. Once all the toasts are flipped, allow them to cook for another 3 minutes on the other side. By the end of cooking time, the edges should be nice crisp, buttery and smell of warm cinnamon and candied tangerine zest. If your toasts didn't turn out perfectly the first time, try with the second batch of bread.

Possible troubleshooting errors: your pan wasn't hot enough, you needed a bit more flour or you over or under soaked your bread. Also note: you may want to refresh the buttery spread or even simply spray a bit of canola oil in the pan after a few cooking rounds. A 'greased' pan is a must for this french toast.

7. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh tangerine zest, a dash of cinnamon and a few tangerine slices. Other toppings are nice, but really not needed.

Grain Free Coffee Cake

This is a very interesting recipe for those of you who might be trying to eliminate grains altogether, low carbers, etc. I will be getting the ingredients this weekend to give this a try.

Grain-Free Coffee Cake

This recipe is moist and delicious. It never dries out and is best kept in the fridge after the first day. I've made a few changes to it, mainly doubling the cinnamon in the topping and increasing the cooking time. All of her recipes take longer for me to bake. I think that might be because Kelly creates these recipes in a very dry climate at an altitude of above 5000 feet and I am at sea level in a very moist climate. Although her recipe indicates to bake this coffee cake for 25 minutes, it takes me 45 to 50 minutes until it is cooked all the way through. No recipe can ever be perfect because of all of the variables involved. Just check for doneness in the center of the cake after 25 minutes. Then you be the judge as to how much more time it needs.

Wet ingredients:
2 cups cooked and drained white beans (at room temp)
6 large organic eggs
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup melted virgin coconut oil
3/4 teaspoon liquid stevia
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon almond flavoring

Dry Ingredients:
1/3 cup coconut flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Topping:
2 to 3 cups raw walnuts
1/2 cup coconut sugar
4 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons cinnamon


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-innch glass baking dish.

Use an 11-cup or larger food processor fitted with the "s" blade. Add to it all of the wet ingredients. Process until smooth. Then add dry ingredients. Process again until very smooth and creamy.

Pour batter into prepared pan, scraping the sides of the processor with a rubber spatula. Then rinse the food processor to make the topping.

Place the walnuts, sugar, and cinnamon into the food processor and process until nuts are very finely ground. The add melted coconut oil and process again. Sprinkle topping over cake batter.

Bake for *25 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Source: www.NourishingMeals.com

RECIPE CREATED BY Kelly Brozyna