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!

GF Choc Chip Cookies- remix

I have tried a heck of a lot of gluten free cookies recipes and (besides my mom's coconut macaroons), these are my favorite so far.

DIRECTIONS

NOTE!  I could not alter the image, and I didn't want to re-type everything out because I have a life, but after eating lots of these cookies, I would reduce the salt to 1/4 tsp and I would also reduce the xanthan gum to 1 tsp.

Use standing mixer to beat egg, softened coconut oil, vanilla, and honey until smooth.

Add all dry ingredients. Mix on low. When almost combined, add coconut yogurt until reaches cookie dough consistency.

When combined, slowly mix in chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 approx 15 minutes.

It is an odd quantity, but the nutrition facts are based on using the ingredients to make 27 cookies, which is exactly how many my little cookie scoop made.

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 Leek and Pepperjack Quiche

Happy Halloween!  For me, it was a day of corn mazing, apple picking, and pie/quiche making!

I used these great gluten free pre-made pie crusts to simplify the process.  I got them at Whole Foods.  They are made with brown rice flour and have zero grams of sugar per serving.  Whole Foods also makes their own brand of GF pie crust, if you're interested.

INGREDIENTS:
- 1 gluten free, ready-made pie crust
- 1 extra large organic leek 
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 T unsalted (cultured, organic) butter

- 1 1/4c shredded (organic) pepperjack cheese
- 1 T amaranth flour (or your other GF favorite)

- 4 (omega-enriched) eggs
- 1 2/3 c plain kefir (*or your heavy dairy of choice, it should not be fat free.  I incorporated some organic evaporated milk I had left over from making pumpkin pies)
- freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:

-Melt butter in fry pan and saute chopped leek and garlic until it begins to brown slightly
-Evenly spread into pie crust 

-Toss flour into shredded cheese
-Add cheese into pie crust, on top of leeks and garlic

-In a bowl, whisk eggs and kefir well
-Pour into pie crust
-Top with freshly ground pepper

-Place in oven, preheated to 445, for 15 minutes
-Reduce oven heat to 340
-Bake an additional 30 minutes
-Allow to cool slightly on cooling rack


Makes one 9-inch quiche.  Serves 6 generously.

It must be the garlic, but these smell AMAZING.  Gave my whole home a great, savory aroma.  Taste great, too!  Very simple recipe for a nice brunch.

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.

Diabetes-Friendly Strawberry Waffles

With Hubs' diabetes, and my love of waffles, I tried to bridge the gap with this recipe.  Unsweetened, but full of sweet flavor from pureed strawberries.  Instead of wheat flour, I used both high-protein almond flour and lower-glycemic organic barley flour.

1c Bob's Red Mill almond meal/flour 

1c organic barley flour

½ t baking soda

1t baking powder

1t salt

1t cinnamon

1 c buttermilk

2 eggs

½ t vanilla

0.5 lb strawberries, rinsed and sliced (that’s about 1c pureed or 1.5c sliced)

Preheat waffle iron until smoking hot, and grease very well with coconut oil, grape seed oil, or unsalted butter.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside.

Beat eggs and buttermilk together in blender.  Add sliced strawberries and blend until smooth and combined. This should make about 2-3c of liquid.

Pour liquid into bowl of dry ingredients and stir lightly to just combine. Do not over-blend.

Cook in greased waffle iron on MED-LOW (3 on a 7-point heat scale), about 1/2c at a time.

If you make 7 waffles, they will each have just under 200 calories, be ALL NATURAL, and be a pretty pink inside!

Raw Blackberry-Ricotta Tart

Its so raw, that its frozen.

Not exactly what you'd expect in the winter, but I am tooling with date-based recipes at present.

INGREDIENTS:

CRUST 

2 c pitted Medjool dates (about 12)

¼ c water

 ...

1c rolled oats

¼ c unsweetened shredded coconut

½ c slivered almonds

pinches of sea salt and ground cloves

¼ t ground cinnamon

¼ c water

DAIRY FILLING

2c part skim ricotta cheese

½ c plain Greek yogurt

1T local honey

1t orange zest

¼ t vanilla

TOPPING

2c+ blackberries, rinsed and dried

DIRECTIONS:

Use a food processor (or, less preferably, a blender) to combine dates with water until mostly smooth.

Add the rest of the dry ingredients to the mix.  Use as much of the 1/4 c water as necessary.  Blend until well combined and moist.  Smooth this crust mixture into a pie or tart pan, smoothing it up onto the sides a bit.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least a couple hours.  I refrigerated overnight.

Later, mix together the dairy layer until smoothly combined.  Smooth over the crust and add whatever fruit topping you want.  Allow to freeze for a good 2 hours-- long enough so the Dairy layer is solid enough to be cut, but not so long that the berries become little ice rocks.

If you don't consume it all after the 2 hours in the freezer, cut the rest into slices (it will be impossible to cut once its frozen solid), place back in freezer, and be aware it will need to thaw out a bit before eating later.  Makes a lovely breakfast the next morning!