GF no sugar Apple Pie

GLUTEN FREE, NO REFINED SUGAR APPLE PIE

INGREDIENTS

Crust

• 3c Gluten Free Baking Mix (Trader Joe's)
• 1.5t xanthan gum
• 0.5t baking powder
• 0.5t salt

• 12T cold, diced butter
• 1c sour cream
• ice water, as needed

Filling

6-8+ (the more, the merrier!) baking applies. I used Mutsu, but Granny Smith are good, too

2T honey

fresh grated ginger

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1t cinnamon

1t vanilla extract

2t tapioca

DIRECTIONS

• Dice butter and return to fridge
• Blend dry ingredients
• Use fingers to crumble butter into dry ingredients; eliminate lumps
• Slowly mix in sour cream
• As needed, add ice water to moisten
• Knead dough lightly
• Divide into 2 discs, wrap with cling wrap, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes
• Roll thinly and drape over parchment-lined pie pan(s)
• Pierce with fork all over
• Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes

• Use a veggie peeler to very thinly slice the apples, discarding pieces that are mostly peel
• Combine apples with remaining filling ingredients
• Layer apples into crust(s), filling every nook and cranny
• Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, until crust is brown and juices bubble
• Cool at least 1-2 hours before serving

*Makes 1 standard double crust pie/ 2 standard single crust pies/ 1 8-inch single + 1 8-inch double*

Mrs. Jackson's Sweet Potato Pie

Our new family Sweet Potato Pie recipe, which Hubs says tastes like his mother's!

Gluten free, reduced sugar, maple sweetened, whole ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

• 1-2 c almond meal or almond flour (I prefer meal for a sturdier crust)
• Pinch of ground ginger
• 1/2 c avocado oil, or enough to moisten the almond meal

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 c butter, softened 
• 1/2 c maple syrup, room temperature

• 3 c pureed organic sweet potato
• 1 can unsweetened evaporated milk (organic at Trader Joe's)
• 1T vanilla extract
• 1/4 t salt

• Freshly grated nutmeg

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375.

Bake 3-4 large, scrubbed sweet potatoes for an hour until very soft. Peel off skin and puree until smooth. Measure out 3 cups of sweet potato puree and set aside. (use the rest in a soup or sauce or baby food or whatever)

Lightly butter a large pie pan.

Use a spoon to combine as much almond meal and oil as you wish, depending on desired thickness of crust. Mix in a pinch of ground ginger. Press into pie pan evenly and bake for 5-15 minutes; do not over-bake. Set aside.

Beat eggs. Beat in butter and maple syrup.

Beat in milk, vanilla, and salt. Finally, beat in sweet potato puree.

Gently pour over crust. Generously grate nutmeg over the pie.

Bake at 375 for 50-65 minutes, until there is just a slight wobble. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

GF Figgy Pudding

A Happy Christmas English treat!  Gluten free, fruit sweetened, dense, moist, and a bit chocolatey!

Topped with freshly whipped cream and ground nutmeg-

INGREDIENTS and DIRECTIONS

1.5c dried pitted dates, roughly chopped

1/2c dried figs, roughly chopped

2c water

Put all in a medium saucepan and boil over medium heat.  Remove from the heat and stir in: 

1t baking soda

Let cool for 5 minutes, transfer to a blender and puree.

Separately, use a standing mixer or beaters to beat:

1 stick of softened unsalted butter

2 eggs

Use a wooden spoon to fold in fig mixture and:

2.5c gluten free baking mix

1/4c cocoa powder

Pour batter into well-greased pans and smooth the top before baking.  I used 2 small Pyrex ramekins and 2 small tart pans.  I suggest using a large muffin tin to make 10-12 individual puddings.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.  Cool 5-10 minutes at invert onto pan.  Best served warm.  I topped mine with freshly whipped heavy whipping cream and ground nutmeg.  Scoring the tops of the puddings and covering with a thin sauce would also be nice.

Happy Christmas!

GF Buckwheat Pancakes

I JUST made these and was so impressed that I'm recording the recipe ASAP!  I am not talented at making pancakes, so the fact that these held together when flipped (a miracle!) and were fluffy AND tasty, whoa.

Saving this recipe for next weekend, too!  Nutty and nourishing, they made a nice, substantial Saturday breakfast for me and Hubs.

INGREDIENTS/DIRECTIONS:

-1 cup buckwheat flour (homemade from toasted buckwheat groats)

-1 tsp baking powder

-1/4 tsp sea salt

-1/2 tsp each cinnamon, ginger, allspice

Combine in a bowl

-1 egg, beaten

-2 Tbs softened coconut oil

-1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

-1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Mix well and set aside while pan/griddle heats to MED with another 2 Tbs coconut oil 

Blop large tablespoons of batter in warmed & greased pan.  Makes about 8 pancakes (2 good servings). Flip when ready, after about 3 minutes. 

Serve with unsalted butter, maple syrup, and fresh blueberries. 

Copycat Sin-O-Bun (Juice Press)

Hubs will tell you that every time we go in to New York City, I DEMAND that we stop at Juice Press for a Sin-O-Bun!  They are the perfect, hearty, scrumptious little snack.  And more than that, I ate one right before we got married so I wouldn't get hangry during all the photos :)

Here is what the box looks like:

Here are what mine look like:

I must say, they look uncannily similar to the real deal, if I do say so myself!

I used another copycat recipe I got online and made some tweaks.


INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups buckwheat groats (Whole Foods bulk bins)
• 5 Medjool dates
• 2T ground flaxseed
• 1t+ ground cinnamon
• 2t vanilla paste
• 1t maple syrup or dark honey
• Dash of sea salt

(Note for next time: maybe add 2T almond butter + 1 extra date to dough)

• 1/4c unsweetened vanilla almond milk (if necessary)

• Can of coconut milk (NOT the "lite" kind)
• 1T maple syrup or dark honey
• 1/2t vanilla powder
• 2T coconut water

• 15 raisins (or 1 more Medjool date)

DIRECTIONS:

• The night before... 
• Refrigerate the can of coconut milk in advance so the coconut butter separate from the coconut water  
• Soak dates in a small bowl of water overnight  
• Soak buckwheat groats in a sauce pan with water overnight 

• The next day...
• When the dates are soft, remove pits and roughly chop
• Drain and gently rinse buckwheat

• Combine the first group of ingredients (buckwheat through sea salt) in a blender
• A Vitamix works really well here
• Stop blender periodically to make sure ingredients are being evenly mixed
• If more liquid is required to make a pasty dough, add the almond milk
• Turn dough out onto the counter
• I like to have the counter covered with plastic wrap first
• Use hands to form 15 small balls/buns and slightly flatten onto a plate

• Now make the cream topping by beating together all of the coconut butter from the top of the refrigerated can of coconut milk + a couple tablespoons of the remaining coconut water from the can + the vanilla powder and extra honey/syrup
• When smooth, spoon on top of each of the buns

• And now, to finish...
• Top each bun with one raisin, or one piece of chopped date
• Lightly sprinkle more cinnamon over the top of everything
• Allow to refrigerate for a couple hours

The hands-on time is minimal and the reward is great!  Great taste and very similar to Juice Press'. They were a little drier than the original version, so I may add some almond butter to the dough and/or include another date or two.  Considering each Sin-O-Bun costs $4 at Juice Press, this recipe will be saving me A LOT of money!

Dark Chocolate Pudding Upgrade

This is an update from an Avocado Chocolate Pudding Recipe I published long, long ago.  These days, I'm much lighter on the sugar situation (Hubs' diabetes, etc.) and so the recipe no longer calls for copious amounts of agave syrup and now features 8 generous servings of pudding sweetened only with 3 dates and one small banana, for a very deep, dark chocolate flavor.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 dates, softened
• 1/2 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk

• 1 small banana, mashed
• 4 ripe avocados
• 1 t ground vanilla beans
• dash of sea salt
• 1.5 c cocoa powder

• 1 can organic coconut milk, chilled and separated
• 1 T xanthan gum

DIRECTIONS

Pour boiling water over dates and allow to sit for 20 minutes or so.  When soft and not too hot, remove seeds.  (Note: use leftover steeping water to make sweet, hot tea!) Transfer dates to a blender with the almond milk and blend until smooth.

Add banana, avocados, vanilla, salt, and cocoa to the blender.  Blend for quite a while until it starts to be smooth.  If it is too dry for the cocoa to fully incorporate, don't panic!  Because...

Meanwhile, you should have had the can of coconut milk in your fridge since at least the day before.  It will separate to a hard coconut cream on top, and a liquid coconut water on the bottom.  Scrape the cream out and put it into a separate bowl and set aside.  Pour the coconut water into the blender.  Add the xanthan gum.  Blend until completely smooth.

Pour into 8 or so small cups or bowls.  Refrigerate a couple hours for best texture.

When you are ready to serve, whip up the reserved chilled coconut cream with electric beaters and add to the top of the pudding like whipped cream.  A sprinkling of dried, unsweetened coconut flakes is a nice finish.

And there's your delicious vegan, raw, low sugar, all natural dark chocolate pudding!

GF Pumpkin Squash Chocolate Chip Cookies

A re-vamp of Grandma C's famous pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!

http://foodieforfoodies.blogspot.com/2012/09/pumpkin-strikes-back.html
(original recipe at ^link)

The adjustments include using squash from our CSA farm share.  Also I used a (gluten free!) mixture of almond and amaranth flours, coconut oil, and bananas instead of sugar.
-No sugar added
-Gluten free
-No canned ingredients / BPA
-Whole grain
-Whole food

INGREDIENTS and DIRECTIONS:

1/3c coconut oil
2 mashed bananas
1 egg
1t vanilla
2t baking powder
1/2 t sea salt
1t freshly ground nutmeg
1.5 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger

Beat together in a standing mixer.


2c squash puree (pumpkin or other squash)
2c amaranth flour
3/4 c almond flour
1t xanthan gum

Mix until just combined.


1c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Gently mix.


Plop spoonfuls onto 2 cookie sheets, greased with more coconut oil.  Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly and EAT!


Super delish, super natural, keeping it groovy.