Amazing Grain Free Nut Free Banana Bread

Since going grain free, there are some old staples that have been lacking in our house, or so I was reminded (with all love and affection of course) by my eldest son recently. Upon seeing some really ripe bananas on the counter, he pointed out how long he has gone without banana bread (poor thing J ) I have not made any grain free loaves of any kind as of yet,  so the challenge was on. The resulting loaf was awesome, very moist and banana-ey, and received two thumbs up from the poor banana bread deprived teenager. I had used an entire cup of chocolate chips in the trial run, but I thought the chip to bread ratio was a bit much, so reduced it to ¾ of a cup , and thought the results were much better. (Said teenager however, said that 1 cup was just fine, so use your judgement on the amount of chips to use!)
The first batch I made had some issues with the very bottom sticking in the pan, so I lined the pan the next time with a strip of parchment, and it came out beautifully. 

Amazing Grain Free Nut Free Banana Bread

4 eggs, preferably pastured

3 small bananas or 2 large ones

¼ cup coconut oil, softened  

½ cup Coconut flour
1/4 cup chickpea flour

2 tbsp arrowroot flour

1/3 cup coconut sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup plain kefir or yogurt, preferably full fat

Pinch of salt

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¾-1 cup chocolate chips (Enjoy Life are great)

Butter or coconut oil butter ghee spray to grease pan, plus a piece of parchment if desired.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Grease a loaf pan well with butter or the coconut oil butter ghee spray (add a layer of parchment if desired)

With an immersion or stick blender blend all of the ingredients together until very well blended. Scrape sides to incorporate everything well. Stir in chocolate chips and let batter stand for 5 minutes to thicken up.  Scrape into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Loosen edges with knife, remove from pan and cool on wire rack before cutting.

Grain Free Crockpot Chocolate Fudge Pudding Cake

With the colder weather , as I have said before, I crave comfort foods. But my dietary needs and taste buds have changed so much in the past few years, those typical good old comfort foods just don’t fit anymore. So when I really get a craving for something, like this pudding cake I remember from my childhood, I reinvent it to suit the way we eat now. It is still definitely a treat, but one that you can indulge in without “most” of the guilt!

This cake is made in the Crockpot or slow cooker (I use my smaller 3 quart one, if you only have a large one, this recipe could easily be doubled, the leftovers are great!), and is typical of an old fashioned pudding cake, where you make the batter, and (gasp!!) ...pour a bunch of water on top of it...seriously! It then magically creates a moist fudgy pudding en-robed cake that cooks merrily away on its own while you throw together a nice healthy supper to balance it all out. It is best served at room temperature or chilled, IF you can wait long enough to let it cool! The pictures do not do it justice, it is just not photogenic.  But, what it lacks in beauty, it makes up for in flavour! (It also goes really well with a scoop of your favourite vanilla ice cream...just in-case you were wondering :)

You want a nice thick batter--if it appears
too thin, add another Tbsp or two of
coconut flour.

Grain Free Crockpot Chocolate Fudge Pudding Cake

Cake batter:

3 eggs

2 tbsp chickpea flour

1/3- ½ cup coconut flour (start with the 1/3 and add more if needed)

2 tbsp arrowroot powder

¾ tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp coconut sugar

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup of milk (use a non-dairy alternative if you wish!)

2 Tbsp coconut oil

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

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Topping:

1 tsp organic instant coffee powder (optional, but deepens the chocolate flavour!)

1/3 cup cocoa powder

½ cup coconut sugar

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grease pan

2 cups boiling water

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Butter/coconut oil or coconut oil butter ghee spray to grease the crockpot

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together all of the batter ingredients with an immersion blender until well combined. Scrape sides as needed.  (it should be nice and thick, add more coconut flour if needed to thicken it up) Spoon batter into the bottom of your greased crockpot, and smooth slightly.

Mix the topping ingredients together in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly across the top of the batter.

Gently pour the boiling water into the crockpot, completely covering the batter. Cover with the lid, and turn on to high. Cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Remove lid and let cool at least to room temperature before serving. The “pudding” part of the cake will thicken up the longer it sits. 

spread batter in greased pot

 sprinkle with coconut sugar-cocoa mixture

now, pour on the boiling water (!!!!) cover and cook!

the results? not pretty, but tasty!

Grain Free Chocolate Brazil Nut Muffins with a Cranberry Swirl

I love cranberries. So much that when I make a batch for the holidays, I like to make extra and freeze it in small jam jars, to pull out whenever a craving strikes. They are just too darn tasty to be relegated to the holiday season! I pulled a jar out earlier in the week and used some to top a meatloaf recipe that will be posted soon ( I will link here when I get it posted) . I wanted to make a muffin with chocolate and Brazil nuts, but knew they would need some sort of brightness to balance the flavours. Cranberry sauce to the rescue!  It added just the right amount of tartness to the muffin without overwhelming. I think these would be an awesome Christmas morning brunch muffin too!

Grain Free Chocolate Brazil Nut Muffins with a Cranberry Swirl

4 eggs, preferably pastured

1/3 cup coconut flour

2 T Sunflower Seed Flour

2 Tbsp Chickpea Flour

2 Tbsp Arrowroot flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

Generous pinch of Himalayan sea salt

¼ cup coconut sugar (or other sweetener of choice)

½ cup kefir or yogurt

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½ cup raw Brazil nuts, chopped

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Approx ½ cup premade cranberry sauce (see recipe here)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Place all ingredients EXCEPT the Brazil nuts and cranberry sauce into a medium mixing bowl, and mix well with an immersion blender , scraping down the sides as necessary.  With a spatula, mix in the chopped Brazil nuts (I chopped mine in my handy little chopper, you want to see some larger chunks to add a nice texture to the muffin) and stir well until combined.

Divide evenly between 12 muffin cups, either greased or lined.

Top with approx. 2 tsp of cranberry sauce (be generous!), and swirl in with a butter knife or the end of your measuring spoon.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove to a wire rack and cool for as long as you can before gobbling them up!

Grain Free PBJ Bars

I created these bars on the weekend when I decided to try a new flavour of the grab-and-go-type bars that have become a staple in our freezer. I intended to make a chocolate and brazil nut combination, but someone found my stash of brazil nuts in the fridge, and that combination quickly went out the window. So while cupboard/fridge surfing for inspiration, I found a lonely jar of crunchy peanut butter.  (my guys all like the smooth kind, and I inadvertently came home with a jar of crunchy not too long ago, and there it has sat ever since…I had to take pity on it and use it!) The jar of raspberry jam sitting beside it completed the inspiration, and these babies were born. Grain free protein packed goodness  that is now stored in my freezer for a tasty on the go treat ( I roughly calculated the protein of each bar to be about 8 grams). I am sure you could swap the peanut butter for any other nut butter you wish if peanut allergies are an issue.

Grain Free PBJ Bars

½ cup almond flour

½ cup coconut flour

2 tbsp chick pea flour

¾ tsp baking soda

¾ tsp Himalayan or Celtic sea salt 

1/3 cup coconut sugar

½ cup natural organic peanut butter (mine was chunky)

4 eggs, preferably pastured

2/3 cup plain yogurt (I used a full fat one)

1 tsp vanilla

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½ cup raspberry jam, preferably fruit juice sweetened  (or flavour of choice)

Preheat oven to 375F and grease a 8x8 glass baking pan with St. Francis Coconut Oil Butter Ghee Cooking Spray or butter, or line with parchment paper. Set aside.

Place all ingredients EXCEPT the raspberry jam into a medium to large mixing bowl, and blend well with an immersion blender until well combined, scraping down the sides if necessary.

Scrape batter into prepared  pan. Drop the reserved jam by teaspoon-full’s evenly across the top of the batter, and run a knife thru the batter and jam in a zigzag pattern to swirl the jam into the top of the batter.

Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool in pan before cutting.

I cut mine in half diagonally, turn the pan ¼ turn and then cut again 6 times evenly, creating 12 rectangular bars.

At this point you can store the bars in a container in the fridge for a few days, or , as we do, wrap in parchment or plastic wrap individually and store in the freezer for a quick snack or lunch box treat. 

Grain Free Nut Free Chocolate Zucchini Snack Cake

If you garden, and you grow zucchini, you know as well as I do that one plant can supply you with more zucchini than you can possibly use in one season. In my garden this year I planted 3 zucchini seeds. I am still not sure why I did that...at the time it seemed like a great idea. Mother nature vetoed my crazy plan though, and only one plant actually grew. In hind-site, mother nature was smarter than I, one plant was the perfect amount of zucchini for us, three would have been overwhelming. The illustrious "zucchini fairy" would have been gracing everyone on my street with a plethora of zucchini had all three actually grown!

I am always trying new recipes for zucchini, to use up the bounty from our garden. We have made lots of zucchini noodles with our spiral slicer this summer, multiple simple salads from the zucchinis thinly sliced on my mandolin, lightly marinated in Herbamare,  and grilled zucchini from the gargantuan ones that grow seemingly overnight have become a favourite this year as well. 

This cake is a favourite too. It is a  nice moist chocolaty treat, perfect for an after school snack, lunch box treat, or even a dessert if you dressed it up with a little cream cheese icing. 

Grain Free Nut Free Chocolate Zucchini Snack Cake

2 cups grated zucchini

1 tsp salt 

3 eggs

1 banana, very ripe

1/3 cup kefir or yogurt

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup coconut flour

1/3 cup hemp flour

1/3 cup chickpea flour

¼ cup coconut sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup cocoa powder

¼ cup coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 350F

Sprinkle the grated zucchini with 1 tsp salt, stir and set aside to drain in a colander. (this helps to release the moisture from the zucchini, helping to keep the snack cake from being too moist)

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl with an immersion blender until well mixed, scraping down the sides as needed.

Squeeze and drain the excess moisture from the zucchini. Mix into the batter well.

Scrape into a greased or parchment lined 8x8 glass baking pan

Bake for 50-55 min or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool in pan completely before cutting. 

Grain-Free Nut-Free Gluten-Free Blueberry Pancakes

I found myself alone for breakfast on a Sunday morning, and had a craving for blueberry pancakes. I was out of almond flour (again!) so I got creative with some other grain free flours and came up with this tasty version.  Tasty and quick, a perfect breakfast for one on a sunny Sunday morning!

This amount made 1 large pancake in my 8 inch cast iron pan. It could easily be doubled for more servings.

Grain Free Nut Free Blueberry Pancakes

1 egg

2 tbsp kefir (or yogurt)

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tbsp chick pea flour

1 tbsp hemp flour

1 tbsp sunflower flour

1 tbsp coconut flour

¼ tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt
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1 tbsp butter

¼ cup of organic blueberries, rinsed and dried

Whisk all ingredients together well,(excluding the butter and blueberries) making sure there are no clumps of flour.

Melt butter over medium high heat in a cast iron or other pan of choice.

Scrape the batter into the pan and cook for approx 4-5 minutes, or until the edges start to look cooked (they should look set, and loose the shine of the raw batter. Don't flip too soon or you may have a mess on your hands!) Sprinkle the batter with the blueberries, and flip carefully to cook the other side, approx 2-3 minutes.

Serve hot with toppings of choice.