Paleo Browned Butter Snickerdrooldles

After you try these cookies, you will never eat another “plain” snickerdoodle again or any other kind of cookie; they are that good. The process is a little bit long & complex, but believe me, these cookies are worth every second of work put into them. This recipe is compliments of Vanessa from Clean Eating With a Dirty Mind. She specializes in Paleo desserts and treats so the next time you want something really yummy, go check out her blog & make one of her recipes. This recipe makes 2 dozen cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups blanched almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup coconut crystals
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup Kerrygold grass-fed butter, browned
• 1 organic cage-free egg
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 1 Tbsp canned coconut milk, full-fat
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

For rolling mixture:

• 1/4 cup coconut crystals
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a large bowl whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, coconut crystals, cream of tartar, baking soda, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and salt, set aside
2. Brown the cup of Kerrygold grass-fed butter. Put the butter in a saucepan and continue to whisk constantly over medium heat until the butter turns brown and starts to give off a toffee like aroma. Immediately remove from heat so it doesn’t burn. Set aside and let cool.
3. In a separate bowl add the egg, raw honey, coconut milk, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar. Stir until combined. After the browned butter has cooled (you don’t want to cook the egg on accident because the butter is still too hot) stir it into this mixture
4. Now pour in the liquid browned butter mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. At this point you will have a dough that has a consistency similar to cake batter. Refrigerate the dough for 2-3 hours and it will harden and thicken up. You can even throw it in the freezer for a bit. Do not skip this step, I promise it will be worth it.
5. Prepare your rolling mixture in a small bowl
6. After your dough has hardened, preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Grab a piece of dough and roll it in a ball, then roll it into the coconut crystal/cinnamon rolling mixture and place on the baking sheet. Lightly press the end of your palm into the dough to flatten it a tiny bit, don’t press too hard, you only want a slight indentation. The cookies will spread a bit while baking.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes, then let cool. I let mine cool on the baking tray because when I tried to transfer them to the cooling rack they were so soft they fell apart, but after they cooled on the tray they solidified and became easily moveable
8. Enjoy!

Direct link to recipe: Browned Butter Snickerdrooldles

Paleo “Ice Cream”

I bought an ice cream maker at Costco last week because I’ve been craving something cold, the temps here have been more like summer instead of spring. This is the first recipe I tried and it is so yummy, has the same consistency of frozen yogurt without the bite of yogurt. Of course, I had to change it just a little; I put my variation at the bottom of the recipe. I’ve put the unit conversion beside the ingredients for my US friends.

Blueberry and Apple Gelato with a Cashew Base

Ingredients

150g raw cashews (~5.5 oz)

150g ice (~5.5 oz)

250g blueberries (9 oz)

250g fresh apple, chopped (9 oz)

150g organic maple syrup (~4 oz or 1/2 cup)

1 egg white

Method

Thermomix

Begin with cashews and ice, increase speed to 7 and blend until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients to Thermomix, slowly increase speed to 9 and until blend until smooth. Insert the butterfly and whisk on speed 4 for ten seconds. Freeze for 4-5 hours or until nearly solid. Cut into pieces, roughly an inch cubed, and place into Thermomix. Slowly increase speed up to speed 10, and refreeze.

Blender and Ice Cream Maker

Add cashews and ice to blender and blend until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Place ingredients into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.

My variation: I substituted fresh strawberries for the apple. Somewhere along the line, I had written down 2/3 cup maple syrup instead of 1/2 so mine turned out a bit on the sweet side.

I used an ice cream maker and it took about 20 minutes.

Link to original recipe: http://www.carmeneatjoy.com/2013/02/13/paleo-rainbow-gelatos-and-valentines-treat-roundup/

Grain Free Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Need a dessert in a hurry that no one will imagine is grain free and that everyone will ask for seconds? Then make this coffee cake. This recipe comes from cleaneatsinthezoo.com, I don’t know how this lady does it with 5 (count them FIVE) small children and a husband, but she comes up with this most amazing food that all of her kids and her husband likes. Now, go like her!

Ingredients

1. 5 cups almond flour
2. 1/2 teaspoon salt
3. 1 teaspoon baking soda
4. 1 tablespoon cinnamon
5. 3 eggs
6. 1 cup refrigerated, canned coconut milk (make sure it’s stirred up)
7. 1 cup pure maple syrup

For the Swirl

1. 3 tablespoons cinnamon
2. 5 tablespoons pure maple syrup
3. 3 tablespoons coconut oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease a 9 x 13 pan with coconut oil. 
2. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk and 1 cup maple syrup. Add to dry ingredients and stir until combined.
4. Pour into greased pan (it will be thick and may need to be spread into the pan).
5. In a small bowl, heat together the cinnamon, maple syrup and coconut oil until warm.
6. Spoon over cake mixture and then take a butter knife and “swirl” the swirl mixture through the cake (going in a up-and-down motion).
7. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving (trust me on this, let it cool the whole 10 minutes, that swirl mixture is like volcanic lava when you first take this out of the oven)

Direct link: http://cleaneatsinthezoo.com/index/2012/08/11/grain-free-cinnamon-coffee-cake/

Grain-Free Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Granola Bar Recipe

Boy, that title is a mouthful isn’t it? But, that’s how it originally appeared, so I’m keeping it. This is from joyfulabode.com, a Navy wife & mom who cooks grain-free. She has pictures of how a recipe should look at each stage, which I find very helpful. The direct link is posted at the bottom of this post.

Ingredients

1. 2.5 cups assorted nuts & seeds
2. 1 cup dried fruit
3. 2 cups shredded coconut (unsweetened – but I didn’t have to tell you that, right?)
4. 1/4 cup coconut oil
5. 1/2 cup honey (this is a little sweet for me, so next time I make these, I’m going to try 1/4 cup)
6. Splash of vanilla extract (or three)
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt
8. Generous sprinkle of cinnamon
9. Some more cinnamon (a woman after my own heart!)

Instructions

1. Roughly chop 1 cup of the nuts and seeds. Place in a bowl (the largest bowl you own).
2. Use your food processor to pulse the other 1.5 cups of nuts and seeds into a finer “chop”. Add to the bowl. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a coffee/spice grinder or a hand chopper).
3. Add your fruit.
4. Stir in the dried coconut.
5. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine oil, honey, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon. Cook until the mixture bubbles, then pour over the fruit/nut mixture.
6. Stir to combine completely.
7. Press your mixture into a parchment-lined pan of some sort. Press HARD (and she’s not kidding).
8. Cool 2-3 hours, then remove from the pan & cut into bars.

These are my favorite “granola” bars or non-granola bars as the case may be. They are a little crumbly, but they are really great for a quick breakfast bar or snack.

Direct link: http://www.joyfulabode.com/2010/09/12/grain-free-granola-bars/

No Bake Sticky Berry Bars

This is one of my favorite recipes to make & especially to eat. Everyone that has tried it has loved it. This is a non-dairy recipe.

This recipe comes from Juli at http://paleomg.com. If you haven’t seen her blog, go read it! She has great Paleo recipes along with great stories (most NSFW).

Prep Time: 20 min

Ingredients for the crust:

1. 12 medjool dates, pits removed
2. 1 cup cashews (I usually use macadamia nuts since they are less expensive to get here in Hawaii than cashews)
3. 2 tablespoons almond butter (again, I usually use homemade macadamia nut butter)
4. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
5. pinch of salt

Ingredients for the topping:

1. 6-8 oz blackberries
2. 6-8 oz blueberries
3. 1/4 cup maple syrup
4. 1/4 cup coconut cream concentrate
5. sprinkle of cinnamon
6. pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. First, make the crust. Add all ingredients for the crust to a food processor.
2. Put crust ingredients in a bread pan, press down until evenly distributed (or you can use a larger pan, just know your crust will be thinner)
3. Heat a small saucepan on medium heat. Add your blackberries and blueberries along with the maple syrup
4. Or you can wait to add the syrup after the berries begin to break down & explode (I’ve done it both ways & it turns out fine either way). Be sure to continuously stir so the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom and burn
5. Once you have almost a runny jam, add your melted/softened coconut cream concentrate along with cinnamon and salt
6. When all ingredients are incorporated, pour mixture on top of crust and press flat. Put in the fridge to harden for 30-45 minutes.
7. Cut into squares & serve

Juli’s note at the bottom is that she could have eaten the whole batch so she doesn’t know how many people it is supposed to serve. 🙂

I have made these with just blueberries only when our local Costco doesn’t have blackberries and it’s still good but it’s best with both berries combined.

Direct link: http://paleomg.com/bake-sticky-berry-bars/