Grain Free Sour Cream Cherry Crumble Bars

 I love it when a Saturday rolls around, and I have no plans. Although, in my house, a “no plans” day still includes getting the laundry done, and housework, and dishes….I am sure you understand! I was also hoping for it to warm up enough outside for me to get a start on spring cleaning some of the gardens, but other than that, my day was free. So, to waste some time while waiting for the sun to do its thing and make it tolerable for some outdoor work without needing a parka, I tried a new recipe out.

These bars are quite tasty, and not overly sweet. I can see this being a jump off recipe for all sorts of variations. (The base and crumble would make a lovely date square…going to have to play with that!) Anyhooo, I picked cherries as the fruit, because I had some in my freezer, but I think any soft fruit would work. I am sure sautéed apples or pears would be awesome as well…oh the possibilities!!!

The only thing I thought of changing at all was the fruit to bar ratio, maybe upping the fruit a wee bit. But my friend Jenelle stopped in and taste-tested them and said they were perfect as is. So I will leave that one up to you!

If you use frozen fruit like I did, let it thaw and drain away the excess liquid before adding, or it will make your sour cream layer too wet. Definitely let them cool completely before cutting them up to allow the layers to firm up. 

Grain Free Sour Cream Cherry Crumble Bars

Base: 

6-8 dates, pits removed

¼ cup coconut oil, softened a bit

1 egg

1 cup pecans

1/3 cup coconut flour

1/3 cup arrowroot powder

½ tsp sea salt

---------

Crumble:

1/3 cup reserved base mixture

¼ cup shredded coconut (unsweetened

¼ cup coarsely chopped pecans

---------

Sour Cream layer:

2/3 cup sour cream

1 egg

¼ cup maple syrup

3 Tbsp arrowroot powder

1 Tbsp coconut flour

Pinch of salt

----------

Fruit: 

1 cup thawed and drained frozen dark sweet cherries (or other soft fruit of choice)

Preheat oven to 350F

Line an 8x8 glass baking dish with parchment paper, and set aside.

In a food processor, chop the pitted dates until they just start to form a ball. Measure the rest of the base ingredients into the food processor bowl and process until well combined. Pulse a few more times until it starts to form a ball.

Scoop out 1/3 cup of this mixture and set aside. Press the rest evenly into a parchment lined 8X8 glass baking pan. Set aside.

To the 1/3 cup of reserved base mixture, add the shredded coconut and the coarsely chopped pecans. Mix together until well combined (use your fingers!) and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sour cream filling ingredients until nice and smooth and pancake batter like. Pour over the base and spread evenly to cover.

With a spoon, evenly distribute the cherries, being careful to leave the excess juice behind.

Sprinkle the topping evenly over the cherry/sour cream layers and bake in preheated oven for 35-38 minutes, or until the filling is completely set.

Let cool completely before cutting into desired size square. Store any leftovers in the fridge for 2-3 days (if they last that long!) 

(the weather cooperated, I was able to clean out most
of my front gardens...my crocus's are beautiful!)

Grain Free Blueberry Dutch Baby Pancake

Dutch babies are probably my favourite pancake of all time. Anyone who has made pancakes for a crowd will appreciate the simplicity of this lovely oven pancake. Whiz the batter in your blender, pour in the hot pan and let the oven do all the work. No flipping, and you get to eat at the same time as everyone else! 

These also cook beautifully in a big cast iron pan (or multiple single serve ones if you are lucky enough to have them!) We have been known to cook them on the BBQ on those beautiful lazy weekend mornings, when the sun is shining, and the birds are chirping...when the BBQ is not buried in snow...

Grain Free Blueberry Dutch Baby Pancake

We like the darker Grade B
Maple syrup, it has a deeper
more intense flavour!

¼ cup butter

6 eggs

¾ cup whole milk (or alternative)

¼ cup coconut flour

¼ cup arrowroot flour/starch

½ tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

1 generous cup organic blueberries, fresh or frozen

Put butter in 9x13 glass baking dish. Place in oven and preheat to 425F

Place the rest of the ingredients (EXCEPT THE BLUEBERRIES!) into a blender, and blend on high until thoroughly blended. When oven is preheated and butter is melted and bubbly, (usually by the time your oven is up to temp your butter is ready!) carefully remove the glass pan from the oven (with oven mitts!) and pour the batter from the blender jar into the hot pan. Sprinkle the blueberries evenly and quickly over the batter. 

Return to oven and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the pancake puffs up and is golden around the edges. Remove from oven, cut into pieces and serve hot with topping of choice. 

The leftovers (if you have any!) are wonderful when re-heated in a toaster oven!

Cranberry Maple Pecan Cookies

When I have a free morning, you're pretty much guaranteed to find me in my kitchen, baking something yummy (well, most of the time the results are yummy....) So, on one dreary Wednesday morning, I set out to bake a few things. I started with two loaves of my Amazing Grain Free Nut Free Banana Bread, (I had a request from my eldest son...he was feeling banana bread deprived again, poor thing :(  I also wanted to take in a treat for my co-workers, as a bunch of us were working late for our annual inventory...banana bread makes every daunting task better!!  While the banana bread was baking, and making my kitchen smell heavenly, I searched for another recipe to make. I remembered my recipe for these Grain  Free Cinnamon Raisin  Cookies, but was out of a few key ingredients (raisins for one!) I did have cranberries, and a bag of pecans, so I used my original recipe as a jumping point, and these cookies were born. Other notable substitutions were swapping out the coconut sugar for maple syrup, and the coconut flour for arrowroot, as the last of both went in the banana bread. The subs worked beautifully, these cookies are as good as the original recipe, if not better! I did increase the baking time a bit from the original recipe to crisp them up a bit more. This also increased the shelf life on them, and they stored at room temperature for 4 days without softening like alot of grain free cookies do.
One of the joys of baking is being able to think outside the proverbial box and not let a lack of ingredients deter you from creating something delicious!!

Cranberry Maple Pecan Cookies

½ cup quinoa flakes

½ cup softened unsalted butter

½ cup maple syrup

1 cup  almond flour

½ tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp arrowroot starch

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt (omit if your butter is salted)
---------
½ cup dried cranberries (fruit juice sweetened)
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat your oven to 350F

In a cast iron pan, toast the quinoa flakes over medium heat, stirring constantly until the flakes become fragrant, and are just starting to turn a slight golden colour. This will only take a few minutes, and they will burn quite easily, so you will need to pay attention! Remove to a plate to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and the maple syrup until really well combined. (i used my immersion blender to get them to combine well) Add the rest of your dry  ingredients, and mix well, Stir in the cranberries and pecans.

Scoop out onto parchment lined pan in about 1 tbsp spoonfuls. This makes approx 18 cookies.

Bake for 15-16 minutes. or until they are nicely browning around the edges and over the surface of the cookie. 

Let cool  on the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a coloring rack. They will be fragile when still warm, but firm up nicely when completely cooled.

Grain-Free Lemon Tart

It all started with this beautiful bag of organic lemons. They called to me on my trip the grocery store this morning, and they were so bright and cheerful, well... I just had to take them home with me!

They sat on the counter all afternoon, smiling at me with their dazzling yellowness, while lemon recipes swirled thru my brain. I finally settled on a lemon tart, and did a quick search on Pinterest.  My search came up with a ton of recipes, but none of them matched the ingredients I had to work with, and I was REALLY not wanting to make another trip to the grocery store (who knows what else would have called to me!!) So, there the lemons sat, looking like a bright little spot of sunshine on my counter, while my own creation worked itself out in my head. I love it when a recipe works the first time out of the gate. It is bright and lemony and tart, exactly what I was aiming for.  I kept the sweetener to a minimum, using dates as the sweetener for the base, and honey to sweeten the creamy lemon topping. I wanted the tart lemon flavor to shine, and shine it does! The crust is soft, and not really crumbly, it holds its own well against the smooth creamy filling on top. If you love lemon, you have to make these!

Grain Free Lemon Tart

Crust:

8 dates

1 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened!!)

1 ½ cup pecans

4 Tbsp arrowroot flour

½ tsp salt

2 Tbsp melted coconut oil

1 egg

Filling:

5 eggs

½ cup liquid honey

2 Tbsp arrowroot flour

1/3 cup almond flour(finely ground, I like JK Gourmet)

Zest from 2 lemons (organic!!!)

¾ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (6ish lemons?)

½ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F

Whiz dates in food processor until they are chopped and come together in a ball. 

Add the coconut, arrowroot, pecans and salt. Whiz until evenly ground, like coarse sand. Add the egg and coconut oil, and process until it comes together in a wet ball.

Press evenly into springform pan , and bake for 10 minutes in the center of the oven.  Remove from oven and set aside till needed. 

While it is baking, measure filling ingredients into a medium mixing bowl. Whiz with a hand blender until well blended. Pour into pre-baked crust and bake again for 20 -25 minutes.

Remove from oven when the filling is set and just starting to ever so slightly brown.

Let stand for 10-15 minutes on a wire rack to cool. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan and remove the outside of the springform pan. Cool to room temp before cutting. 

Store leftovers in the fridge.

Grain Free Chocolate Walnut Donuts

These little lovelies are a perfect treat when you want comfort food without the guilt (well, not too much guilt…)  They remind me of one of my favourite donuts from my old wheat eating days, without the gut issues and sugar crash!   I find them best the first day; they were a bit dry on the second day. Like most grain free baked goods, they do freeze well, so I would recommend freezing for storage, if they hang around long enough!

Grain Free Chocolate Walnut Donuts

4 eggs

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

½ cup sour cream

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup coconut flour

¼ cup coconut sugar

1/3 cup arrowroot starch

¼ cup chick pea flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

___________

Add-in:

¾ cup chopped walnuts (no big pieces! )

-------------------

Topping:

¼ cup chopped walnuts

½ cup chocolate chips (I like Enjoy Life)

2 tsp coconut oil

Preheat oven to 375F.

Grease donut pan with a rubber basting brush or piece of paper towel and butter, ensuring you cover the entire inside surface. Set aside.

Mix all ingredients up to the add-ins together in an 8 cup mixing bowl with an immersion blender. Scrape sides of bowl when needed and mix until well blended. With a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, fold in the first amount of chopped walnuts and stir until well mixed. 

Scrape batter into a medium sized zip-top baggie, squeeze out the excess air and zip closed. Snip the end (alternatively, if you have an icing bag and a large tip, use that)

 and pipe into greased donut pans, filling each cavity about half way. 

Repeat with second pan or bake for approx 12 minutes, remove from oven, tip donuts from pan onto a wire rack. Let the pan cool before refilling to bake second batch. (This amount should make 24 small donuts; adjust your cooking time if your pans are larger.) 

While your donuts are baking, in a double boiler or a heat safe bowl set over a pot of just simmering hot water, (don’t let the water touch the bottom of the bowl!) gently melt the chocolate chips and the coconut oil together. Stir until smooth, and leave over barely simmering water until needed. 

When donuts are all cooked and cooled, drizzle with the melted chocolate, and then sprinkle with the ¼ cup of chopped walnuts. Let stand until chocolate drizzle firms up. (Refrigerate for 15 min if you want to serve them quickly!) 

Best eaten the same day, they tend to be a bit dry on the second day. Keep leftovers in fridge for 3-4 days or freeze. 

Quick Maple Chipotle BBQ Sauce

This sauce goes together quickly and has a nice thick consistency that goes amazingly well on pork ribs (and probably anything else that could use a thick slather of sauce!) Play with the chipotle powder and make it as hot (or not) as you like. 

Quick Maple Chipotle BBQ Sauce

1 med onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic minced

2 tbsp coconut oil or butter 

1 can tomato paste (156ml)

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

2/3 c maple syrup

4 T molasses

1 tsp salt

½ tsp chipotle pepper powder (increase or decrease by ¼ tsp depending on your love of heat!)

Sauté onion over med high heat until starting to soften and brown, add minced garlic cloves, sauté 1 min more. Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir well, bring to a boil then reduce heat to med low. Simmer for 15-20 min. puree with hand blender until smooth. Use right away, or Keep in fridge for up to a week.

Egg Drop Soup with Kale and Miso

I was driving home the other day, and talking to my hubbie on the phone(using the  Bluetooth in my car, of course...safety first!!) about what he was going to feed me when I arrived home (He had the day off, it was his turn to cook!). He was going thru all of the bits and pieces of leftovers in the fridge, but they were all spoken for already other dinners (these lovely Stuffed Baked Sweet Potatoes from Against All Grain were one of those meals). I could hear his frustration building as we spoke…there was NOTHING to eat quickly….or so he thought, silly guy! I had him start sautéing some veggies, and when I arrived home threw the rest of the soup together in a flash. We had two beautiful bowls of hearty, nutrient dense soup that was absolutely delicious, and ready in about 20 minutes flat. (and the bone broth was frozen too!) Dilemma solved, and in such a tasty way!


Egg Drop Soup with Kale and Miso

Makes 2 generous bowls of soup.

 1 medium red onion, peeled and chopped

1 cup chopped kale, (approx 2 lg leaves) thick stem removed

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp avocado oil (or coconut, or butter)

2 cups bone broth (use beef or chicken, I believe we used beef )

1 cup water

1 tsp Mame miso (or miso of choice)

2 tbsp water

½-1 tsp sriracha sauce (optional, look for one with good ingredients!)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Smoked sea salt to taste

This is a traditional soybean
Miso... there are many other
types. The flavour will differ
slightly, but any of them
would work!

In a medium pot, sauté the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes over medium heat. Add the chopped kale and sauté until the veggies just start to brown and soften, 3-4 minutes more approx.  Add bone broth and the first amount of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer. (if your bone broth is frozen, like mine almost always is, add the frozen stock to the veggies, put a lid on the pot and leave on medium heat until melted, then bring to a boil and simmer)

While it simmers, in a small bowl, mix the Miso paste with the second amount of water until well combined.  Add the sriracha if using, and stir into gently simmering soup.

Slowly drizzle the beaten eggs back and forth over the surface of the soup, taking care not to pour all in one spot. Lightly stir (you don’t want to mix the egg in totally) until the egg turns opaque, approx 1 minute.

Season with salt and serve warm.