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Grain Free Apple Raisin Bars (dairy free, egg free, GAPS-legal)

I tried another new grain free snack yesterday – apple raisin bars. I got the recipe from Nourished and Nurtured (a great blog with lots of yummy-looking recipes!). These are so easy to make. I made them while I was making dinner 🙂  It is noisy to do all of the processing, but doesn’t take long at all. I used my crispy pecans instead of just soaked pecans. Still worked well. We haven’t actually eaten any bars yet, but I did taste a few chunks…very good!! They are a bit messy/soft even after a while in the fridge. So I stuck them in the freezer. We’ll have them for breakfast tomorrow and I’ll give a better verdict then. So far they seem like a very healthy, easy snack/breakfast. I patted the “dough” into a rectangle and cut it into 8 pieces (kind of like when I make scones).

The verdict…we all LOVE them! Rebecca has scarfed one down two days in a row for breakfast now. She’s requesting them. I guess I’ll have to make more dried apples so I can make more of these to have on hand. I love how healthy and easy they are. There isn’t even any added sugar. Awesome! We eat them straight out of the freezer (give them 1-2 minutes to soften).

Apple Raisin Bars

1 cup pecans (I used crispy pecans and skipped the soaking step below)
1 cup dried apples
1 cup raisins
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon, optional
unrefined coconut oil, for greasing your hands

Soak pecans in water with a pinch of sea salt for 12-24 hours. Rinse and drain well. Pulse nuts in a food processor until ground pretty well (but not too long or they’ll start turning into nut butter). Dump nuts into a bowl. Then place apples, raisins, salt, and optional spices in food processor and let it whir until well-combined and chopped. This will take longer than you think, but just let it keep going around and around. Then add back ground nuts and whir until well-combined. Dump it all onto a piece of wax paper. Then rub a bit of oil onto your hands to keep them from sticking to the mixture. Use your hands to do any last mixing necessary to get a consistent mixture, then form the mixture into a mound. Refrigerate for a couple hours, and then cut into pieces.

You can also vary the nuts and fruit to make other types. Lemon blueberry is delicious (made using almonds, dates, and dried blueberries with a little lemon zest).

Peanut Butter Fudge (grain free, dairy free, egg free, GAPS-legal)

I also made a batch of grain free fudge yesterday. I saw the recipe on Grain Free Foodies and knew I had to try it! It is so simple to make. And it is AWESOME!! Only a few minutes to prep. Then put it in the freezer for a bit. Then enjoy 🙂  A great treat, and a great way to get more coconut oil into my diet. I only made a half batch to try it since 1 cup of coconut oil is pretty expensive (don’t want to waste that if it didn’t turn out). I will for sure be making this again when I need to have a safe treat on hand. Rebecca and I both love it!

This is linked to the Gluten Free Recipe Parade at Heavenly Homemakers.

Peanut Butter Fudge

1 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup peanut butter
honey to taste (I used about 3 Tbsp. for a half batch)
dash of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Melt the oil in a saucepan on very low heat. Pour the oil and remaining ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Pour this mixture into an 8 x 8 pyrex dish (or similar glass dish) (I greased mine), and place in the freezer.

This fudge is best stored in the refrigerator or freezer.

Nut Butter Bread (grain free, dairy free, GAPS-legal)

I’m trying to do more grain free baking to have easy stuff on hand for myself. Yesterday I tried a new bread recipe from Grain Free Foodies. It sounded odd…making bread without any flour…just use nut butter. Would that work? But I gave it a shot…and it worked!!

This is really good (especially with lots of butter or homemade almond butter on it). And it’s a good base. I went for the sweeter version, although it didn’t turn out very sweet. I’ll have to add more honey next time. And maybe some cinnamon and raisins. Mmmm. I’d like to try a savory variety too. Either way this is very good and so simple to make.

I just mixed it by hand in one bowl. It only took a few minutes to throw together. I used natural peanut butter. Worked very well. I’m glad to have an easy, grain free snack for myself…and a way to get more butter in my diet 🙂

*Edited 4/20/11 – I made a cinnamon raisin version today. YUM!!! I’m sure this loaf won’t last long 🙂

*Edited 5/30/11 – I made a chocolate chip version last week (had to keep myself from eating it all in one sitting!). And I made a garlic version today. First savory version. Turned out well. I just cut out the honey and added extra salt and some garlic powder. I have also updated the recipe to be baking soda free so that it really is GAPS legal.

You can turn this into grain free pumpkin bread by replacing half of the nut butter with pureed pumpkin.

Nut Butter Bread

1 cup nut butter (or seed butter)
1/4 cup honey
3 eggs, separated
Pinch of salt
1 T vinegar or lemon juice

Beat egg whites until stiff. Set aside. Combine nut butter, honey, egg yolks and salt. Fold in egg whites. Add the vinegar or lemon juice (and any other add-ins) and mix well, then pour into a greased loaf pan.

Bake about 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven. It is done when a knife or toothpick comes out clean.

For a sweet bread, increase the honey to 1/2 cup and add cinnamon and whatever other spices you like, such as nutmeg or ground cloves. Adding more honey will extend the baking time so keep an eye on this. Cinnamon and raisins are great in this!

*To make it savory, reduce or omit the honey, and add a little more salt as well as crushed garlic, onion powder (if it is SCD-legal), and other savory spices such as thyme.

*To make pumpkin bread replace half of the nut butter with pureed pumpkin.

Navy Bean Hummus – Another Way to Sneak in Eggs (grain free, dairy free, GAPS-legal)

I’m just starting on my GAPS journey. And trying to figure out what I can/can’t eat. I LOVE beans…all kinds. And eat them all the time. I think I ate them every single day during my last 2 years of college 😛  I’ve always figured they were good for me…tons of fiber, right? Well, turns out that in reality most beans are very starchy…which is why they are so hard to digest…and so hard on my tummy. Most beans are not GAPS-legal. I was very disappointed to read that. Thankfully there is one kind of bean that is allowed – navy beans. It’s not a bean I’m used to eating. No particular reason why, just never really have. But over the past couple weeks I’ve been using them more. A couple weeks ago I tried making hummus with navy beans and chickpeas…a transition. It was very good. Justin didn’t even know I had used different beans. So this week I tried making hummus from just navy beans. The verdict…excellent!! I use my usual, basic recipe…even more scaled down/simple now. So easy to make. And so good. Just beans, EVOO and salt.

So, I have a safe, tasty hummus. But then I wondered if I could use my hummus as another place to sneak egg yolks into my diet. I tried it today. Tastes great! I couldn’t even tell it was there…aside from the color of course. Actually adding the egg yolk makes it look more like regular hummus 🙂  I only took a picture of it with the egg yolk added. So glad I tried this. It makes a very healthy and easy snack or lunch for me. Just pair it with some veggies and I’m all set. I think I’ll be making hummus quite often now. Protein, safe fiber and now eggs too. I just did one egg yolk in a samll dish of hummus this time. Maybe next time I’ll try 2 yolks. See how it goes.

I make a big batch without the egg. Then just add an egg yolk into the portion I’m eating at the time. I never actually measure anything. Just keep adding oil until it’s smooth. Then season to taste. I served it today with raw peppers and avocado. Sometimes I use slices/chunks of cheese for dipping. I also eat it plain.

This is linked to the Gluten Free Recipe Parade at Heavenly Homemakers, Grain Free Tuesday at Hella Delicious and Fat Tuesday.

Navy Bean (and egg) Hummus

2 cups cooked navy beans (soaked in water w/ whey overnight, then rinsed and cooked)
1/4 – 1/3 cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
unrefined sea salt to taste
(garlic or organic garlic powder to taste – optional)
raw egg yolk (optional)

In a food processor combine beans, salt and part of the oil. Blend, adding more oil until desired consistency. Check seasoning and adjust to taste.

Stir in raw egg yolk when serving for added nutrition.

Cinnamon Bun Muffins (grain free, dairy free)

I tried another recipe from Elana’s Pantry last night – Cinnamon Bun Muffins. Another hit! Who knew grain free baked goods could taste so good? 🙂  These were very easy to make. And all 3 of use loved them. Elana has a cream cheese frosting recipe to go with it. I didn’t add any frosting. They are great without. I just piled on lots of butter 🙂  As usual, I substituted some ingredients (I’ll post the way I made them). I used coconut oil for all of the oil, which makes these dairy free. But you could use butter instead. Her recipes says it makes 9 muffins. I made them a bit bigger and got 6. They took quite a bit longer to bake that way. They are fairly dense/filling with all of the almond and coconut flour. Definitely a nice treat. And they were a great complement to our omelet and roasted veggies. Next time I make them I might add some cinnamon to the muffin mixture to make them have even more cinnamon flavor.

Cinnamon Bun Muffins

Topping:
2 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. melted coconut oil or butter

Muffins:
1 cup blanced almond flour
2 Tbsp. coconut flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup melted coconut oil or butter
1/4 cup honey
3 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Mix topping. Set aside.

Combine almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. In a large bowl blend together oil, honey, eggs and vanilla. Blend dry ingredients into wet and scoop a scant ¼ cup* at a time into lined muffin cups. Spoon topping onto muffins. Bake muffins for 8-12 minutes at 350.

*I filled the muffin cups at least 3/4 full and made 6 muffins. I baked them at 350 for 20-23 min.

Grain Free Muesli Scones

I tried another grain free breakfast recipe from Elana’s Pantry this morning (she has lots of great looking recipes!). Muesli scones. Yum!!! I LOVE anything like museli/granola. And I love scones too. Put them together…and make them grain free…awesome! These are super easy to make. And they taste great. Justin and I both really like them. They are even better when you pile butter on top 🙂  I served them with blueberry, cherry, strawberry kefir smoothies. A wonderful, nutritious combo to start the day. Again, I substituted ingredients a little (I personally don’t think agave is healthy at all, so I use honey). And I used what nuts/seeds/fruit I had on hand. I ended up with a combo of raisins, cranberries, crispy sunflower seeds, crispy pistachios, crispy peacans and crispy haszelnuts. Also, the recipe says it makes 16 scones…those would be pretty tiny scones. I made 9…and they still weren’t that big. I baked 5 this morning and froze 4 to have on hand for an easy breakfast some other time. You can prep the dough ahead and stick it in the fridge to bake later too (I prepped it early and then baked them just before breakfast so they were fresh out of hte oven). LOVE this recipe. I will for sure make these again.

Grain Free Muesli Scones

2 cups blanched almond flour
½ tsp. celtic sea salt
½ tsp. baking soda
——————————————-
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup dried apricots, cut into ¼-inch pieces
¼ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup sesame seeds
¼ cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
——————————————–
**whatever combo you like, preferably with crispy nuts/seeds – I used raisins, cranberries, crispy sunflower seeds, crispy pistachios, crispy peacans and crispy haszelnuts.**
———————————————
1 large egg (size does matter as dough will not hold together with a small or medium egg)
2 Tbsp. raw honey (I used a bit more than this.)

1.In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt and soda.
2.Stir in dried fruit, seeds and nuts.
3.In a small bowl combine egg and honey.
4.Stir wet ingredients into dry.
5.Use your hands to form dough.
6.Shape dough into a 6 ½ x 6 ½ square that is about ¾” thick.
7.Cut dough into 9 squares.
8.Bake at 350° on a parchment paper lined baking sheet for 12 minutes.

Peanut Butter Cups (grain free, dairy free, egg free, gluten free)

Yesterday I wanted a fun, easy baking project for Rebecca and me. A while back I had seen a recipe for homemade peanut butter cups on The Coconut Mama. They sounded so easy and so good. So we gave them a try yesterday. YUM!!! These are very good. Who knew it was so easy to make your own peanut butter cups that are so much healthier? It’s not something I’ll make all the time since it’s not a cheap treat. It uses quite a bit of coconut oil…and it only made 5 pb cups. But definitely a fun indulgence once in a while. Rebecca helped me put the ingredients in the processor. Then I did the rest…while she helped lick spoons 😛  I made one subsitution (that would make mine not dairy free). I used regular butter instead of coconut butter since I don’t have any. Still worked great. I also used my homemade peanut butter that I already had on hand. Which made this a very quick project. You could use boughten natural pb too. They aren’t the prettiest pb cups, especially on the first try. But they sure are good. Quite messy, but that’s what you get when you don’t add a bunch of hydrogenated oils, etc. to make them shelf stable. Mine don’t look exactly like the kind you buy…I probably added a little too much pb…but is that really possible? 🙂

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Chocolate

3 Tbsp. organic cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. coconut butter (or regular butter, softened)
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. of coconut oil
Sweeten with raw honey or maple syrup (I used a few Tbsp. of raw honey)

Blend well in blender of food processor.

Peanut Butter (this is my recipe…for a full batch of pb, way more than you need for the cups)

2 cups crispy nuts, such as peanuts, almonds or cashews
3/4 cup coconut oil
2 Tbsp. raw honey
1 tsp. sea salt

Place nuts and sea salt in food processor and grind to a fine powder. Add honey and coconut oil and process until “butter” becomes smooth. It will be somewhat liquid but will harden when chilled. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Serve at room temp.

To assemble pb cups:

Scoop chocolate, 1 Tbsp. at a time, into muffin paper cups (I used my silicon muffin cups) until the bottom is covered with chocolate. Add 2 tsp. of peanut butter. Then cover peanut butter with more chocolate.

Freeze peanut butter cups 4-6 hours before serving (mine only took about 1 hour…then I let them set on the counter for a few minutes before eating them).

Grain Free Breakfast Bars

I’m just starting to experiment with some alternative/grain free flours. So far I’ve only used almond flour. And only to make grain free fish sticks and salmon cakes. This morning I used it for some actual baking. I made a batch of grain free breakfast bars. I got the recipe from Elana’s Pantry. I modified it a bit to use healthier ingredients. These are really easy and really good!!! Justin and I both like them. And it’s nice to have something grain free that isn’t just a huge pile of chopped nuts 😛  I’m anxious to keep experimenting with almond flour. I also bought some coconut flour to try. These bars were a tiny bit crumbly. I’ll probably add a little more honey and/or oil next time to hold them together better. Very excited to have a breakfast bar that I can eat. And it even kind of tastes like I’m eating my beloved/forbidden oats 🙂

*Edited 4/9/11 – I made a 2nd batch today. I used a little more coconut oil and honey. And I added a little bit of coconut flour. They turned out great!! Less crumbly. A little more bar-like. 18 minutes in the oven seemed to work well.

Grain Free Breakfast Bars

1 ¼ cup blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup melted coconut oil or butter (I used coconut oil)
¼ cup raw honey or pure maple syrup (I used honey)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup shredded coconut
————————-
½ cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup almond slivers
————————-
**I used 1 1/4 cups of whatever crispy nuts/seeds I had on hand/sounded good. Today I used crispy sunflower seeds, chopped crispy almonds and chopped crispy walnuts.
¼ cup raisins

In a small bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda. In a large bowl, combine the oil, honey and vanilla. Stir dry ingredients into wet. Mix in coconut, seeds, nuts and raisins. Grease an 8×8 baking dish with butter or coconut oil. Press the dough into the baking dish, wetting your hands with water to help pat the dough down evenly (I didn’t need to use water). Bake at 350° for 18-20 min. Let cool. Cut into squares.

Honey Roasted Peanuts

Back in high school and college I ate honey roasted peanuts all-the-time. Like every single day. I haven’t had them in a long time now. I know any kind of nut in a jar from the store would kill my tummy (MSG anyone?).

But this week I was making some crispy peanuts. And I thought it might be fun to try to make honey roasted peanuts. They turned out well.

This is another fun grain free snack to munch on that is GAPS friendly. They would also be good mixed in with regular popcorn, caramel corn or kettle corn.

Honey Roasted Peanuts

2 cups crispy peanuts
raw honey to coat (2-3 Tbsp.)
sea salt to taste (1-2 tsp.)

Mix nuts, honey and salt. Spread on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 250 for 10-15 minutes (check on them to make sure they don’t burn). Let cool completely. Break apart. Store in sealed container.

Cheese Crisps (gluten/grain free)

My SIL posted a recipe this week for cheese crisps. And I knew I had to try them right away! Eating gluten free/mostly grain free I miss things like crackers. These are a great substitute. I just made a very small batch last night to try them out as I was making dinner. So easy. And very good! Rebecca kept sneaking up to the counter and grabbing another one 😛  I love that these are easy and fast enough to make while you’re cooking dinner. So you can have a fresh batch whenever you need. I used mild white cheddar last night…happened to be the cheese that was opened. I’ll have to try it with other kinds as well. Looking forward to having some with our soup tonight. Maybe I’ll try sliced cheese on my cheese crackers 😛  I didn’t add any seasoning. I thought they were great as is. But I’ll have to try that sometime.

Edited 3/11/11 – I tried these with marble cheese and parmesan cheese last night. LOVE the parmesan.

Cheese Crisps

your favorite block of cheese OR your favorite shredded cheese
seasonings of your choice (optional)
parchment paper

Preheat your oven to 350. Put some parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

I used a block of cheese, but you can use shredded cheese if that’s what you have, or what you prefer. If you’re using shredded cheese, toss it together in a bowl with any seasonings you feel like using. You can try lots of different seasoning options. Just don’t use salt… cheese is already salty enough on its own. Once you have the shredded cheese and seasoings mixed, place about a teaspoonful of cheese in little mounds all over the parchment-lined cookie sheet, spaced out because they will spread.

If you’re using a block of cheese, slice it thinly and cut it into little squares. About an inch square is good. Again, they will spread out, so place these on the parchment-lined cookie sheet with some space between them.

Bake for 5-7 minutes. Then take a peek. The cheese will be all bubbly. If the edges are starting to crisp up or brown a little, take them out. If you’re not sure, leave it in for another minute or two. I had to leave mine in for about 9 minutes. If you take them out too soon, you won’t get crisps… you’ll just have rubbery melted cheese.

When you remove them from the oven, you’ll need to let them cool. I just pulled the parchment off the cookie sheet and placed it on my counter. If you don’t have cool to the touch counters, then place the crisps on a cool plate. After a few minutes, they’ll be crisp.