The ideal macaroon is a light ball of toasted coconut goodness with a slightly chewy center. It took seven tries but I finally got a recipe and technique for the perfect macaroon.
Macaroons are a great option for gifts because they fit into most diets. This macaroon recipe is gluten free, grain free, vegetarian, naturally sweetened, and paleo! If you are following along on my Wahls Diet journey these macaroons also follow her diet. But are they delicious? Yes, I wouldn’t put them in my Christmas cookie tins if they weren’t.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Use a food processor, mixer or, if you want an arm work out, a whisk to combine the coconut butter, honey, egg whites, vanilla extract, and salt until smooth. The mixture will be the texture of warm peanut butter.
Next fold in the sweetened and unsweetened coconut so it is evenly moist. The goal is to mix everything together without compressing to keep the batter light.
Using a scale measure out half ounce increments of dough and use wet fingertips to shape into loose balls. If you don’t have a scale you are aiming for about a tablespoon.
Place each ball onto the parchment paper. Macaroons don’t rise, so you can place them close together. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown, rotating the cookie sheet at 8 minutes.
Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet a couple minutes so they set before moving them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
These adorable cupcakes are made with coconut flour and whipping cream for the frosting. They are gluten free and sugar free!
Cupcakes:
Combine ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting them.
Frosting:
For the frosting I made whipping cream and used this as the base and added the other flavors to it. I made chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.
First get a carton of whipping cream and use a hand mixer to beat it until it is the consistency of whipped cream and forms stiff peaks.
For the strawberry I added some coarsely blended fresh strawberries to the whipped cream. For vanilla I added 1 tsp. vanilla extract and for chocolate I added the chocolate mixture.
For easy application frost cupcakes with a pastry bag and enjoy!
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.
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.
Our local peaches are coming into the farmer’s markets now. Oh my! Fresh peaches are SO heavenly… the trouble is, they ripen quickly and then the season is past… Of course, they can be frozen, but then what happens when the power goes out? I like to can my extra peaches and I do it with no added sugar or anything else. They are delicious!
Each bushel of peaches will yield approximately 21 quarts, or 42 pints of canned peaches. It is easiest to use wide-mouth jars, but you can use regular-mouth jars if you need to.
Set up your system thus… You will need a water bath canner, a large saucepan for scalding the peaches, a “jar lifter,” a small saucepan for scalding the caps, jars, new caps, a damp wash rag for wiping the rims of the jars, a large slotted spoon and something to remove the hot caps from the hot water when placing them on the jars. You can purchase a little magnetized wand for this or simply fish them out with a fork.
Fill the large saucepan 2/3 full of water and bring to a boil on the stove. Meanwhile, fill a sink or large dishpan 1/2 full of cold water. Place the new caps in the small saucepan cover them with water, and put them on medium/low heat on the stove. Fill your canner with sufficient water to cover the jars when you add them and begin heating it on low heat, covered, on the stove. Do NOT get in a hurry and turn the heat up high. When you add the filled jars of peaches, the boiling water might crack the jars!
A few at a time, lower the ripe peaches into the boiling water. Leave them there for about 20 seconds and using the slotted spoon, carefully remove them and transfer them to cold water in the sink. You can do as few or as many as you wish at a time. I try to figure out how many peaches will fill the jars that fit in the water bath canner and scald that many at a time.
Using a small sharp paring knife, cut the peaches to the pit, around the middle where the “rib” is. Remove the skin and twist the peach open. Remove the pit.
Next, cut side down, place the peaches into the jars. Using careful pressure from your hand, push the peaches down until they make enough juice to fill all the empty space in the jar. Only fill the jars to within 1 inch of the rim. Continue until all your jars are filled that will fit into the canner.
Carefully wipe the rims of the glass jars clean with a damp rag. Fish a hot cap out of the small saucepan, put it on the jar and put on the canning ring. Tighten firmly, but don’t get carried away!
Using a “jar lifter,” place each jar carefully into the canner- it needs to have a rack in the bottom. Do not put the jars directly on the bottom of the pot. If you do not have a rack, use a folded dish towel.
When all the jars are filled, and in the canner, be sure they are covered well with water, put on the lid and turn the burner to “high.” Bring the water to a full boil, and then you can begin timing the processing. Keep the water boiling well 25 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts.
Turn off the stove. Using the jar lifter, remove the jars and set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool. Be careful not to do this in a draft. It can break the jars. Allow them to cool 24 hours and then if you wish, you may remove the rings.
Simple. Sugar-Free. Only 2 ingredients! Gotta love that. Refreshing real food for any summer day. keep these stocked in the freezer for a nourishing and satisfying snack. I have no guilt letting my little ones have seconds of these! These frozen watermelon pops are shaped like stars for a special Independence Day treat, but you could use any shape you’d like. I plan on experimenting with flavors soon, like adding lime zest or minced mint to the coating. Yum!
Slice your watermelon into rounds about 1/2″-3/4″ thick. Remove any obvious and visible seeds, but don’t go digging for them and ruin the integrity of the watermelon.
Use your favorite cookie cutter (3″ is a good size) to cut shapes out of the sliced watermelon. Lay the cut watermelon on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Insert Popsicle sticks into the watermelon shapes.
Place in the freezer and freeze until solid, about 4 hours.
Warm your coconut butter (or have a freshly made batch of homemade coconut butter that is still in the liquid state from processing) by placing it in a small jar and floating that jar in a bowl or very hot water. Stir every once in a while. You want the coconut butter to melt back into a thick liquid state. If it is not thinning well, add a little coconut oil to it and stir. Add more hot water as necessary until it melts enough to spread.
Working with one pop at a time, pour a tablespoon or so of the coconut butter on the watermelon shape and use a butter knife to spread it around and on the sides, much like you are “icing” a cake. The coconut butter will harden rather quickly. Place the finished pop back on the parchment to finish hardening. Repeat with remaining pops.
Eat immediately, or store in the freezer in an air-tight container with parchment sheets between layers.
If you have never tried preparing a raw dish, this is a very delicious starter recipe. It’s simple and only takes about 15 minutes to prepare.
Put 10 apricots, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 3 tbs. coconut oil, maple syrup, and salt in a blender (a high-speed like a Vita-Mix works best). Blend on high until smooth and pour into a pie pan. Chop up 4 remaining apricots in little bits and sprinkle them onto the apricot purée.
In a food processor, make the crumb topping by processing nuts, dates, 2 tbs. coconut oil, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and vanilla until it resembles coarse crumbs (before it turns into a butter). Sprinkle on top of apricots. Now you can either serve it right away or stick it in the dehydrator at 105º for 30 minutes to 3 hours if you’d like it warmed and your house to smell divine. Scoop onto plates or bowls and serve immediately. Store leftovers in the fridge. It stays good for 3 more days.
These little treats are fudgy and rich, yet high in protein! Don’t tell anyone what the secret ingredient is…most people won’t be able to guess!
Place all ingredients for brownies (except for mini chocolate chips) in a high-powered blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Stir in mini chocolate chips by hand and pour into a 9×13 pan that has been lined with parchment paper and then greased. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut marshmallows into small chunks. After brownies have baked 30 minutes, sprinkle with marshmallows, and then top with peanut butter chips. Bake another 5 minutes or so. Let cool and chill thoroughly before cutting. Cut into small squares (they are very rich!) and enjoy!
Our new backyard has huge patches of rhubarb. What to make with all of it? We started with this crumble, which combines the sour rhubarb with sweet maple syrup and strawberries, and soft fruit with crunchy coconut flakes. Perfect with coconut milk ice cream!
Gently stir the filling ingredients together in a 9×13″ dish.
In a small bowl, mix the topping ingredients and spoon over the top of the filling, gently evening it out. Bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees. You may want to cover for the first 35 minutes and then uncover for about 10 minutes to keep the topping from getting too brown.
We served this with coconut milk ice cream. Delicious!
This rich, delicious cake is not only gluten and grain free, but dairy free as well! Yet it is so moist and decadent you wouldn’t be able to tell…
Cream together applesauce, oil, and sucanat, and then add eggs one at a time, beating well. Sift together dry ingredients and add to egg mixture. Finally, fold in carrots and nuts. Pour into 2 9-in. cake pans that have been lined with parchment paper and greased with coconut oil. Bake at 325 for 40-45 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then carefully turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting: Soak cashews in hot water for about 20 minutes to get them to soften up. Blend until creamy and smooth, then place in a small saucepan along with coconut cream, honey, stevia, arrowroot and water. Heat for about 5 minutes, until it thickens considerably. Remove from heat, and when it is completely cool, transfer to the freezer for several hours, until it is very thick. It will have a sticky, “gloopy” consistency at this point. Whip with an electric mixture for several minutes, and add almond milk a few tablespoons at a time until desired texture is reached. Spread on the cooled cake and transfer to the refrigerator until ready to serve. Enjoy with homemade ice cream!
I’m excited to share a gluten-free and grain-free adaptation of my grandma’s petit fours Easter cookie recipe. It’s moist yet not crumbly, and it’s low-carb, filling, and delicious. Best of all, it’s suitable for anyone avoiding grains or gluten, and made with just a few accessible ingredients. Enjoy!
Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix the almond flour, fat and sweetener. In a food processor, mix the almond flour, fat (I used a combination of coconut oil and ghee), and honey or maple syrup.
Mix the egg and extracts. In a separate blender, beat the egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt.
Combine the mixtures. Pour the egg-extract mixture into the processor with the almond flour mixture, and whirl until well incorporated.
Shape petit fours. Shape 1 teaspoon-sized pieces of the dough into round cookies, and add to baking sheet, gently pressing down very slightly to flatten a bit. Space cookies at least an inch apart because they expand. You can make smaller cookies if you wish, or larger. These were about one and half to two inches wide.
Bake petit fours. Stick baking sheet in preheated oven and bake for 7-9 minutes. If you keep for an extra minute, they get darker. For the darker cookies, I kept for 8 minutes, and then ‘broiled’ for a minute to get the top to brown. Since I was trying it for the first time, I wanted to test the texture of both the light and dark ones, and I’m happy to report that each was tasty in its own way. Be very careful and monitor the cookies carefully so they don’t burn.
Leave to set. After baking, leave out on the counter to set for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy warm, with a glass of milk or tea. To store, keep in a sealed container on the counter for up to a week.
Chia seeds are the richest plant source of omega-3′s. Just one tablespoon contains 2,375mg’s (ALA not EPA/DHA). They are a complete protein as they contain all the essential amino acids in appropriate balance. Chia seeds contain 11g’s of fiber, 4g’s protein, and 27 nutrients.
Food process milk, chia seeds, cacao and sucanat for 3-5 minutes in your Vitamix or food processor until a thick pudding consistency.
If using a food processor, you may need to process longer.
Serve with whipped cream.
Read more about chia seeds here: Health Benefits of Chia Seeds.