This blog is all about Food. Real Food. Food that Nourishes, Heart and Soul.

Real Ingredients, Organic and Locally sourced whenever and where ever possible, shared with love.

No packages, no ingredients that are impossible to pronounce.

Real, honest food, from my kitchen to yours. Enjoy!

Sunday 12 March 2017

Orange Chocolate Chia Donuts (Grain Free, Gluten Free, Sweetened with Honey)


These little heavenly morsels were created for two reasons. The first being that I was ever so kindly given a bag of Salba Chocolate Chia Seeds a while back to see if I could come up with a recipe to incorporate them into (thanks Deb!) They have been sitting staring at me for way too long, awaiting a burst of inspiration for a new recipe. 

On to reason number two… We have been house hunting as of late, and our wonderful agent-who-is-also-my-sister-in-law has been driving us around kingdom-come for a number of weeks. We were embarking on another road trip and I wanted to surprise her with some tasty treats for the drive. (She is celiac, so cooking for her, with all of my own dietary issues, is a proverbial piece of cake!) So on went my thinking cap. My brain jumped to donuts pretty quick, and these lovely little chocolate coated chia seeds were screaming at me to use them. I also had some beautiful organic cara-cara oranges, for further inspiration. Chocolate and orange is such a classic combination that is so well represented in these lovely little morsels, I was absolutely thrilled with the results! The texture is not unlike a poppyseed muffin or loaf, with a delightful bit of crunch, and the mix of flavours conjures
 a little happy dance in your mouth!  So, to Deb and Jo, a labour of love, and a brand new recipe!

This is also my first post using pictures taken with my son Mac's amazing camera..I am totally enamored with it..(so much that he had to buy me my own memory card so I quit filling up his...)

Orange Chocolate Chia Donuts

½ cup tapioca starch
½ cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
3 eggs
Zest from 1 orange (make sure its organic!)
Juice from one orange (3-4 tbsp approx)
¼ cup melted coconut oil (***see end of post for handy tips to melt your oil!)
¼ cup honey
¼ cup kefir, yogurt or non dairy alternative
______
¼ cup chocolate chia seeds (Salba brand)

Preheat oven to 350F

Grease the donut pan with coconut oil or butter and set aside.
I love my silicone baster for greasing pans!!

Measure all ingredients except chia seeds into a large mixing bowl and mix with an immersion blender until well blended. If you measure your coconut oil first, and then use the same scoop for your honey, it will slide right out of the cup, no scraping required!! 
Handy dandy kitchen rasp is awesome for zesting citrus fruits!
be sure to zest first, and then cut and juice your orange !


 Ensure no lumps are left.

Stir in the chocolate chia seeds and let stand for 5 minutes to thicken up.
Scoop batter into a zip top bag, squeeze out the air, zip, and cut off one bottom corner of the bag (alternatively use a piping bag with no tip), 
fold the edge of your zip bag down when filling to keep it clean!

and squeeze evenly into pre-greased donut pan.
 
Bake in preheated oven for approx 10-12 minutes or until cooked thru.
Tip out onto wire cooling rack to cool completely before enjoying!
Store at room temp in an airtight container for 2-3 days. 
Alternatively freeze for later enjoyment!
 

***How to melt your coconut oil with ease!!
I keep my coconut oil in a mason jar, and melt it one of two ways: 
1. in-front of the vent on my
gas stove-top

2. immerse jar in your hottest tap water until
melted enough to pour out your measurement!