Month: December 2016

December 26, 2016

True Ginger-no-bread cookies

wp-1482778808713.jpg

The cookie in the foreground is the focus in this post… the other one is an experimental vegan salted caramel cookie 🙂

This would be considered paleo without the white chocolate chips.  It’s certainly a Gluten Free cookie 🙂

Ingredients

-1 and 1/2 cup fine almond flour; 1 cup cashew flour (just use almond if you don’t have cashew)

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

-3 teaspoons Ceylon cinnamon

-1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

-1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

-3 tablespoons fresh finely grated ginger (more if you want spicier!)

-6 tablespoons unrefined, fair-trade molasses

-6 tablespoons coconut oil gently melted (can do a little less…5 tablespoons)

-dashes of Himalayan pink salt

What to do:

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

-Mix all dry ingredients together.

-Add in ginger and thoroughly mix in molasses and oil.

-Use a scooper to make cookie dough rounds. Hand roll them into a ball and then flatten them a bit once on your lined baking sheet. You can leave then as balls if that is what you want…but flatten to give a cookie-shape if you want them more classic cookie-shapes. These cookies won’t melt down and flatten on their own.

-Bake 12-14 minutes or until browned around the edges…depending on the size of your scoop.

-Cool at least 10 minutes.

-These are crispy once cooled on the first day. After storing a few hours or longer, they become chewier and lose the crisp due to the moisture and fat content of the cookie. They are tasty either way! This is just to let you know what your options are.

Happy note: My father in law said these were his most favorite cookies and asked for the recipe which is why this got typed up at all!!! Thanks, dad J

Option:

-For the holidays, I added 1 cup of small white chocolate chips for a festive touch. These would be delicious without the chocolate chips and healthier, too!

wp-1482778808714.jpg

You can see how these cookies add a different color and texture to this homemade dessert buffet 🙂

December 24, 2016

MINTY BROWNIE HEAVEN (Vegan. GF.)

20161223_224148.jpg

Base fudgey brownie layer
-2 cups soft pitted dates(I like caramelly kinds.. but go for Medjool if it’s easiest!
-4 tsp coconut oil
-1 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
-2 cup sprouted and dehydrated walnuts
-3/4 cup rolled oats
-6 tablespoon raw cacao powder
-1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (I used the kind sweetened with stevia)
-2 peppermint candy cane, crushed (for holidays)
(or crumble up 1/4 cup organic mint candy patties for non-holiday times)
 wp-1482547192927.jpg
Mint Ganache Top
-3/4 cup full fat coconut milk (only use the solidified portion of canned milk)
-1 tablespoon peppermint extract & a splash of mint extract
-1 cup dark chocolate chips (I like stevia ones unless you want to make your own!)
Decoration
1 cup of crumbled mint candies of your choice or 6 peppermint candy canes for thewp-1482547192949.jpg holidays, crushed and sprinkled on top
WHAT TO DO:
Base
  1. Use food processor to pulse walnuts and oats until finely chopped–like coarse sand. Set aside in larger bowl.
  2. Add dates, melted coconut oil, sea salt and process on high until a smooth paste forms. Let it get super sticky and dense.
  3. Add the raw cacao, walnuts/oats mixture, chocolate chips, and mint candy of choice. Process until thoroughly mixed.  It’s hard to over-process them, so keep going until you’re darn sure 🙂
  4. Line an 8×8 or smaller springform with parchment paper. (The smaller the pan, the thicker the brownie!) Press the brownie layer firmly into the loaf pan..use gloved hands. Chill while you make the ganache.
wp-1482296170977.jpg
Ganache Top
  1. Bust out your double boiler 🙂
  2. Add the coconut creamed part of your millk and mint extracts to the bowl. Heat until the mixture is steamy hot…not rolling at a boil.  Add the chocolate chips and whisk to mix thoroughly. Pour the mixture over the brownie layer and chill in the freezer.
  3. Chill for 30 minutes and top with crushed candy canes-press into the top ganache with your gloved hands gently.  Chill for another 45 minutes minutes and then cut into mini squares. Store in freezer. Allow 3o minutes in fridge before serving…and at room temperature, the nice chilled minty flavor will last about 2 hours before your should put in fridge again.
wp-1482547192996.jpgThis fantastic recipe is adapted from ilovevegan.com … Thank you!