Fig Banana Crumble for One

Being the main cook in a family of eight children, most of my recipes are designed to feed a crowd! But there are occasions when it is nice to whip up a single serving for a snack, dessert, or special breakfast. This crumble is soaked, naturally sweetened, and is very easy to throw together! The figs make a nice change from standard crisps, and make this oh, so good, and good for you!

12-24 hours ahead of time, soak oats and flour in the warm water and whey.
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375. Melt 1 tsp. of butter in a small oven-proof bowl or ramekin, then add sliced figs and bananas, fig honey, cinnamon and salt. Stir well. Mix 2 tsp. butter into soaked mixture, then add honey, spices and baking powder. Crumble over fig mixture, and bake about 45 minutes, until done all the way through. Enjoy with a cold glass of milk!
* Fig honey is a delightful sweetener I discovered while in the Middle East. It is just 100% figs! Date syrup, honey or maple syrup would be great substitutions.

Paleo Almond Butter Cups

Missing out on peanut butter cups? Then try this recipe - quick and simple almond butter cups.

Mix up the coconut oil, honey and cocoa powder.
Use half the cocoa mixture to cover the bottoms of 6 cupcake papers
Freeze for 15 minutes
Put a small spoonful of almond butter in each cupcake paper and cover with the remaining cocoa mixture.
Freeze 15 more minutes

Berry Custard Clafoutis

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s … Super Custard? I was a bit skeptical before making my first clafoutis (“claw-foo-tee”). Ignoring the strange name, we decided to give it a try. This dessert has now launched itself into our family’s recipe book Hall of Fame. The custard base, combined with delicious fruit — and the easiest assembly ever! — prove that this isn’t any ordinary recipe. Warning: I recommend making a double batch.

Heat oven to 325*F. While oven warms, place butter in 8×8 dish to melt. (Double bonus - it greases your pan!)
In a medium bowl, beat eggs, honey, milk, vanilla, flour, and salt together.
Remove 8×8 dish from oven. Stir in melted butter to batter.
Dump (yes, dump!) fruit into 8×8 dish, spreading evenly.
Pour batter over fruit. Note: Fruit will gradually fruit to the top as it cooks.
Bake for 45 minutes until set and golden.
Serve warm or chilled.
HINT: Makes for a great breakfast the next morning!
HINT: Experiment with fruit combinations. You can’t go wrong! Add as much (or as little) fruit as you like.

Apple Crisp Snicker-doodle Crumble

This delicious family standby is excellent for any time of the year. The blend of snicker-doodle topping — along with juicy roasted fruit — creates a perfect dessert for any occasion. If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, serve it with a dollop of yogurt for breakfast! (Want to take it up a notch? Throw in plump raisins, frozen cranberries, fresh blueberries, or other seasonal fruit of your choice.)

NOTE: This recipe is easily adaptable for all special diets, including GAPS.

Layer sliced apples in a greased 9×13 dish.
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and egg. Mix until crumbly.
Sprinkle mix over apples.
Drizzle butter over the snicker-doodle topping, generously covering the top.
Dust heavily with cinnamon.
Bake at 350*F for 30-40 minutes. Enjoy warm or chilled!

Blueberry Banana Ice Cream (no added sugar)

In my quest to come up with dessert recipes with no added sugar I’ve hit upon a winner! This recipe has all the sugar it needs from those naturally occurring in the blueberries and a very ripe banana. I made mine with raw cream, farm-fresh eggs, and blueberries I picked myself.

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
Add to the ice cream machine of your choice and process according to their directions.
Enjoy the creamy deliciousness!
If there’s any left, store it in an airtight container in the freezer.

No Bake Vanilla Coconut Almond Cookies

These little bites are a nice treat when you don’t want to turn on your oven. Mix these no bake cookies up in about five minutes or so and then put them in the fridge for about 10. Viola!
Since discovering that several members of our family are gluten sensitive, we have been experimenting more with grain-free and gluten-free recipes. Now that it’s summer and 100+ degrees outside, we turn on the oven less. I love other no-bake cookie recipes and wanted to create something that my seven year old daughter could make by herself, since I’m not comfortable with her reaching into the oven just yet. This recipe is simple and delicious. Perfect for kids to make on their own.
You could even make other flavors by adding in lemon, lime or orange zest and playing with the seasonings. My daughter said that next time she wants to try dipping them in melted dark chocolate. Yum!

Combine coconut, almond flout and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together with a fork to get out any lumps.
Add remaining ingredients, except for milk. Stir together until the ingredients are well combined and start to stick together.
Test a piece of dough by lightly squeezing a pinch of it in your fist. If it holds together well, you’re done. If you need it, add the milk until it will hold it’s shape.
Roll into small balls or scoop with a cookie scoop and place on parchment lined baking sheets.
Refrigerate about 10 minutes to set.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Chilled Chocolate Strawberry Tapioca Pudding

I find tapioca pudding to be so versatile and adaptable to whatever you are in the mood for! I especially love it cold, with roasted, unsweetened cacao nibs stirred in for some crunch, and extra fruit for additional sweetness. This version only has a bit of sucanat, so it doesn’t have to be only dessert! Feel free to add more sweetener to taste for a more indulgent pudding.

Briefly pulse tapioca in a blender or coffee grinder until broken in smaller pieces (optional). Soak tapioca in hot water for a few minutes while you chop the strawberries and assemble ingredients. Add strawberries, sucanat, cocoa powder, salt and milk to the pan with the tapioca and bring to a boil over medium heat. Separate eggs, slowly add in a bit of the hot tapioca to the egg yolks to temper, then add back to the pan, turning off heat. Whip egg whites until glossy, then fold into tapioca with stevia and vanilla. Let cool completely before transferring to refrigerator to set.
Serve with berries or bananas, cacao nibs or chocolate chips, whipped cream, nuts, etc. The toppings are endless! Or enjoy plain 🙂

Peanut Butter Cream Pie (Grain-free)

This pie was a definite hit with my family! With a dark chocolate, grain-free crust, and a dreamy peanut-buttery frozen filling, it is a decadent treat without being too rich. Using homemade yogurt cheese not only lightens it up, but also adds a probiotic boost. If you can find raw, grass-fed cream, that takes things up even another notch…

Make the crust first: In a bowl, mix together almond flour, salt and cocoa powder. Cut in butter until large chunks, then stir in honey. Press into a parchment lined 9″ springform pan and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, until set. Thinly slice the banana and sprinkle over crust; let cool.
For the filling: Beat cream to soft peaks and set aside. Whip together yogurt cheese, sour cream, peanut butter, powdered sucanat, vanilla and stevia until light and fluffy. Gently fold in whipped cream until combined. Reserve 1 cup of this mixture, then spread the rest over the crust. Add the 2 T. cocoa powder to reserved mixture until well combined, then gently swirl into pie with a spatula or butter knife. Sprinkle with cacao nibs, and place in the freezer for at least 8 hours to set.

Open-Face Fresh Peach Pie

This lovely and delicious pie is made from fresh, halved peaches. Only one crust is used. Served with real whipped cream, this is summertime Heaven!

Prepare the pie shell from your favorite pie crust recipe. Place in 9-inch pie pan and flute the edges.
Combine Rapadura, butter and flour to make crumbs.
Sprinkle half of the crumbs into unbaked pie shell.
To peel the peaches, blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds, plunge into cold water, peel, cut in half and pit the fresh peaches.
Place them cut side up in the pie shell.
Cover with the rest of the crumb mixture.
Sprinkle lemon juice over the top.
Bake in a preheated 375 F oven for 40 - 45 minutes. (Runny liquid should be gone when it is done baking.)
Allow to cool completely before serving.

Healthy Soaked Whole Wheat Cherry Clafoutis

This subtly sweet cherry clafoutis is a perfect breakfast dish with hints of maple syrup and buttermilk laced throughout the batter and beautiful sweet black cherries adding a burst of sweetness and beautiful coloring along the top of the clafoutis. This dish will please even the littlest members of your family.

Mix the flour and buttermilk in a small bowl. Cover the bowl and set in a warm place over night.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Mix the eggs, maple syrup, milk, applesauce, vanilla and sea salt in a small bowl.
Slowly incorporate the egg mixture into the flour mixture. Do not over mix.
Pour the batter into a greased pie pan or medium cast iron skillet.
Arrange and place the cherries in the batter. Press down gently to make sure the cherries are fully incorporated into the clafoutis.
Bake the clafoutis for 20-22 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and separating from the edge of the pan and a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the clafoutis.

Low-sugar Apple Pie Filling

This recipe calls for only 1/4 cup of honey to sweeten an apple pie! I promise you, you will not be disappointed. It is very nice. Serve it with a slice of cheddar cheese on the side… my father used to say, “Apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze!”

Stir all the ingredients together thoroughly.
Pour into a 9 inch pie plate lined with pie crust of your choice.
Top with a vented pie crust (cut a few slits in the top) and flute the edges.
Bake at 350 F for approximately 1 hour
After baking the pie for 60 minutes, insert a small sharp knife into one of the vents in the top crust and test to see if the apples are done. They should be very soft, and this time can vary with the variety of apples you use. If they are still a little firm, you will need to bake it longer.
Allow to cool well before serving.

Honey Sweetened Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies (Grain/Dairy/Egg/Refined sugar Free)

I wanted to make cookies for my family one night as a special treat, but as I looked at my pantry and my refrigerator it became apparent that I was out of many ingredients. I decided to try and whip something up anyway with things I had on hand and they came out great! The taste was delicious. The texture is crunchy, rather than chewy, but for no eggs or butter I was happy. I will remember these particular almond flour cookies to make for some friends who have dairy, egg, gluten allergies and those eating only honey sweetened desserts. Fast and delicious!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Mix together dry ingredients with a fork. Add remaining ingredients except chocolate chips* and combine thoroughly. Let the dough rest for five minutes.
Fold in chocolate chunks or chips. (I just chop up my favorite dark chocolate candy bar).
Roll into small balls and place on the parchment paper. Use the bottom of a glass to gently press down the cookies. If the glass is sticking too much, wet it with water on the bottom.
Bake for 8-9 minutes. Cookies will not brown much. Slide parchment onto wire racks to cool. Allow to cool on a wire rack before removing from parchment.
*Feel free to sub carob chips if you don’t eat chocolate.