Grain Free Maple Pecan Cookies

These little beauties are made start to finish in a food processor. If you don’t have access to one, you could use your blender to process your pecans, just pulse until they are fairly uniformly ground. (If you go too far they will become pecan butter!)They keep well at room temperature for a few days, and freeze wonderfully too. 

Grain Free Maple Pecan Cookies

1 cup pecans

¼ cup butter, slightly softened

½ cup arrowroot flour

3 Tbsp coconut flour

2 Tbsp maple syrup

2-3 Tbsp coconut sugar (use 3 for a slightly sweeter version)

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

In the bowl of a food processor measure your pecans and pulse until they are fairly fine crumbs. You still want them dry, if you process too much you will make pecan butter!

Measure in the rest of the ingredients and pulse until it all comes together into a sticky dough.

Scrape out of food processor onto a plate or bowl, and chill for 30 min plus to firm up the dough.

Preheat oven to 350F

Roll chilled dough into balls and palace on parchment covered cookie sheet. Press a pecan into the top of the ball and bake in preheated oven for 10 -12 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Keep leftovers in airtight container for a few days, or freeze for later use. 

Grain Free Rhubarb Pecan-Coconut Streusel Muffins

My rhubarb is doing really well this year. While it is a reasonably easy plant to grow, you need patience for the first few years after planting your initial crowns. The plants need the first year to establish a good strong root system, and it is recommended not to pull any stalks during this initial growth time. The second year, you can harvest a small amount, but only at the beginning of the season. Herein lies the issue with my rhubarb. When I planted my first plant, in what I thought would be its forever home, I vastly underestimated the size of it in comparison to the space it would take up in the end of my herb garden. Season two saw it move to a second home, which, in hindsight was no better than the first. Two years ago, I found the perfect spot for it in my yard, and finally gave it a(nother) forever home (I say that now, lol!) Last year, the second year in its happy home, it came up sparsely, and did not have a great season overall. I was afraid, by the end of the year, that I was going to be buying a new plant and starting all over this spring. 

This tenacious plant proved me wrong though, and came up beautifully this spring, and has graced me with a beautiful crop of nice tart rhubarb. I am thinking I need to work on a grain free pie crust and attempt a strawberry rhubarb pie in the near future, just to celebrate the bountiful harvest!

When you chop your rhubarb, make sure the pieces are fairly small, so they don’t overwhelm the muffin. I cut my stalks in half lengthwise and then diced. If your stalks are very thick you may need to cut into thirds or quarters. My test kitchen at work gave these muffins 2 thumbs up, I hope you enjoy them too!

Grain Free Rhubarb Pecan-Coconut Streusel Muffins

Muffin Batter:

½ cup coconut flour

¼ cup arrowroot flour

2 Tbsp Chickpea flour

1 tsp baking soda

¾ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup honey

4 eggs

1 Tsp vanilla

½ c kefir or yogurt, (plain, not sweetened, preferably full fat!)

1/3 cup coconut oil

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2 cups diced rhubarb (make pieces fairly small)

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Streusel topping :

½ cup chopped pecans

½ cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)

2 Tbsp Honey

2 Tbsp coconut oil

2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375F

Line muffin tin with 12 papers, or grease really well. Set aside.

Measure batter ingredients into a large mixing bowl, and mix well with an immersion blender. Scrape sides of bowl if necessary to ensure everything is well incorporated and there are no lumps.

Mix in chopped rhubarb and mix well to combine.

Fill muffin liners ¾ full and set aside.

Quickly rinse your mixing bowl (or get a clean one, but hey…who wants more dishes??) and measure in the streusel ingredients. Mix well to combine.

Sprinkle evenly over the muffin batter and place in preheated oven.

Bake for 22-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven to a heat safe surface.

Let stand for 5 minutes, remove from pan and let cool on wire rack. Store leftovers in fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze for longer storage.

 I love my handy chopper from Epicure for chopping nuts!

Grain Free Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies (Dairy Free, Gluten Free)

Days by myself don't happen often, and I try to take full advantage of them. "Me" time today included kitchen time interspersed with laundry and housecleaning...not sure where the "me" part came in there, but the clutter and dust bunnies were getting to me...it had to be done!! In between loads of laundry, these cookies were born, and I am very happy with the results. I used a combo of coconut and hempseed flours, which is a bit different than my regular grain free flour mix. Generally I use coconut, arrowroot and chickpea flours as my go-to mix. But, being as many folks don't tolerate arrowroot or bean flours, I wanted to find a substitute that offered some nutritional value, and still tasted good. Hemp brings many things to the table, the biggest two being protein and fibre, which are great additions to a cookie! These would be great to pack in your lunch bag or to throw in your backpack for a mid-hike snack. I would recommend freezing any leftovers after the first day, as with most grain free cookies, their shelf life is shorter than most cookies. The recipe made about 28 cookies, if you want bigger cookies, adjust the cooking time accordingly, as they will take longer to bake. 

Grain Free Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies (Dairy Free, Gluten Free)

1 ripe banana

2 eggs

1/3 cup coconut oil, softened but not melted

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup coconut flour

¼ cup hempseed flour

½ cup coconut sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ cup chocolate chips

½ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 cookie pans with parchment paper and set aside.

With an immersion blender mix together the banana, eggs, apple cider vinegar and coconut oil until well blended. Add the dry ingredients and with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix well until all is well incorporated. Let stand 5 minutes to let the coconut flour absorb the liquid.

Using a tbsp measure, scoop onto prepared pans, leaving a bit of room between cookies for expansion.

Using the flat bottom of a glass or jar, flatten cookies a wee bit. You will probably need to grease the bottom of whatever you use to flatten, as the batter is sticky.

Bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes. Carefully remove cookies to a wire rack and cool. Enjoy!

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

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Crumble:

1/3 cup reserved base mixture

¼ cup shredded coconut (unsweetened

¼ cup coarsely chopped pecans

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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

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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!)

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)
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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 Pumpkin Goat Mini Cheesecakes With Maple Coconut Cream

I made these little cheesecakes to welcome a friend home from China. All of the goat cheesecake recipes I found also contained cream cheese, which I could not use do to our friends issues with lactose, so I came up with my own recipe using just goat cheese. I was worried the chevre flavour would be too strong, but, although it did have more “tang” than regular cheesecake, the flavours of the pumpkin and spices complimented it nicely. The mason jars were a pretty touch, the layers looked lovely thru the glass!

Grain Free Pumpkin Goat Mini Cheesecakes With Maple Coconut Cream

Crust:

½ cup pecans

¼ cup macadamia nuts

¼ cup coconut sugar

1 cup almond flour/meal

Pinch of salt

2 tbsp coconut oil

Filling:

2 tubs of Wholesome goat Fresh Chevre (225g)

1 cup cooked pureed pumpkin

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp fresh grated nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

¼ tsp cloves

1/2 tsp ginger

3 eggs

1/3 cup maple syrup

Pinch of salt

Topping:

1 can full fat coconut milk, chilled at least 8 hrs or overnight

1 tbsp maple sugar

4 tbsp chopped toasted pecans for garnish if desired

Preheat oven to 350F

For Crust:

In a food processor, chop the pecans and macadamia nuts until they make a coarse meal. Add the coconut sugar, salt, almond meal and coconut oil and pulse to combine.

Divide mixture between 8 ramekins or 1 cup mason jars, pack firmly and set aside.

Filling:

I used the bottom of a small
spice jar to pack the crust.

In a stand mixer, cream the goat cheese until creamy.  Add the pumpkin puree and mix till well combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing between each addition. Add in the maple syrup and spices, mixing  until combined.

Divide evenly between the ramekins or jars (wipe drips from sides of glass jars if using)

Place filled jars in a deep baking dish, and place in preheated oven. Fill the baking pan with very hot water coming at least ½ way up the sides of your ramekins or jars.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the cheesecakes are set and slightly puffy in the center. (the cooking time may depend on the container you choose to bake in. A wider shorter ramekin may cook in slightly less time)

Carefully remove pan from oven, and remove jars from water, setting on a wire rack to cool slightly. Refrigerate until chilled thru, a few hours at least, or overnight.

Use a cast iron pan to toast
the pecans, they only take a few
minutes. Remove from pan
when they start to become
fragrant and slightly brown.

Topping:

Just prior to serving, take chilled coconut milk from fridge, and turn can upside down. Using a can opener, remove top of can and pour off the liquid part of the coconut milk, reserving for another use if desired.

Scoop the solid part out of the can and whip with the maple sugar in a stand mixer for approx 5 minutes or until it is a nice, smooth and creamy consistency similar to whipped cream.

Spoon  desired amount onto chilled cheesecakes and top with toasted pecans and a small drizzle of maple syrup if desired.

Before....

And After... :)

Goat Cheese and Date Bites

A very good friend of ours is leaving the country on business for 6 months. So, we cooked a farewell dinner for him on Sunday. I made these appetizers on a whim, and was very pleased with the results. The fig vinegar was an impulse purchase from Whole Foods a while back, and while it was expensive, it was worth it in the long run. A drizzle is all that is needed. My bottle is almost empty, I think a road trip is in order !

Goat Cheese and Date Bites

6 dates, cut in half, pit removed
4   slices from a log of goat cheese, cut about ½ inch thick, and then cut into three sections each, so you end up with 12 pieces of cheese,

6 large basil leaves, cut in half (or 12 smaller ones)

12 pecan halves

Fig vinegar to drizzle

Place ½ of a basil leaf in the cut side of each date half. Place a piece of goat cheese on each, and press a pecan half into the cheese. Repeat with all 12 pieces of date, and arrange on a plate. Drizzle with the fig vinegar and serve.