Almond Flour Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I have thought about trying to make a GAPS chocolate chip since the very early days, but since chocolate wasn't strictly legal back then, and since I hate to waste a lot of food on experimenting, I never did get around to it. Thankfully, the folks over at Our Nourishing Roots did the job instead. I tried their recipe (linked below), but I used unsweetened chocolate in lieu of the cocoa butter/cocoa mixture. I'm not sure if that is why my chocolate came out sort of chewy, like a stiff caramel, or whether it's because I kept adding honey until the chocolate tasted bittersweet to me. Either way, it turned into a delicious and functional chocolaty substance. I left it to cool overnight at (Pacific Northwest, winter, unheated) room temperature. The next day, I cut it into strips and kept it refrigerated. I really needed to work quickly with this stuff to prevent its melting, but it held together beautifully in the cookies.

Do try the coriander. It is a secret little trick that I used to use with my old white flour recipe.

Did I mention they're delicious? They are only very lightly sweet, but my recently off-the-wagon kids gobbled them up as happily as they had done with premium conventional ice cream merely days before.

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
3 cups almond flour
1 tsp. ground coriander (optional)
1/4 tsp. baking soda (optional)
2/3 cup GAPS chocolate chunks, cut into small pieces

Method

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut up butter and place it in an oven-proof bowl, and melt butter in oven while it heats. When butter is melted, remove bowl and add honey. Carefully mix in honey. At this point your bowl will probably be cool enough to touch. Blend in egg and vanilla. Add in salt and mix. Add in almond flour and optional coriander and baking soda. Stir well. Dough will be slightly stiff. Add in chocolate chunks and stir through. Place heaping tablespoons of batter onto a cookie sheet and press to flatten* (and round if necessary). Bake for about 10-15 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet. Using a very thin offset spatula, carefully transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Once they are cool enough to touch, eat them and enjoy. They hold up well, at this point. When they are thoroughly cooled, I recommend storing, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator.

*This dough does not spread, so you can place them close together, but you need to make each round as flat as you want the finished cookies to be, keeping in mind that if they're too thick, they won't cook through. I go for about 1/2 an inch high.

Gianduia Torte

If you like Nutella, you will like this torte! I made this awhile ago, before I knew that Dr. Campbell-McBride had OK'd cocoa for more advanced GAPSters. I am sorry I don't have a photo, but I am so happy I can share the recipe with you now :)

Ingredients

2 cups Hazelnuts
1/4 cup Butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup filtered water
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or butter an 8 or 9 inch round cake pan. Grind hazelnuts into a fine powder in a food processor. Melt butter and mix with honey in a medium-sized bowl. Add eggs, water and vanilla and beat until well-blended.

Pulse cocoa powder and salt into the ground hazelnuts. Gradually beat dry ingredients into wet ingredients.

Bake for 15-30 minutes until set. (Sorry I don't remember the exact time. When I make this again, I'll jot down the time and get a pic.)

Hazelnut Cake with Coffee Buttercream Frosting

I just turned 40. I wanted to have a special cake to celebrate. This one was a hit with everyone. There was only one piece left over, and I had to hide it to keep it safe ;)

Ingredients for cake

2 2/3 cups hazelnuts
8 Tbs. honey
8 large eggs, separated
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt

Method

Lightly toast hazelnuts in a 350 degree (F) oven. This takes about 15 minutes. They will just start to smell fragrant when ready. Allow to cool slightly. Place hazelnuts in a kitchen towel and rub vigorously to remove most of the skin. This does not have to be perfect. Discard skins. Finely grind skinned hazelnuts in a food processor. Use the pulse function to avoid over-processing (you don't want hazelnut butter).

Set oven to 300 degrees (F). Butter two nine inch cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. Grease parchment paper as well.

Combine egg yolks, two tablespoons honey, cinnamon and salt in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until thick and smooth, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in ground hazelnuts and set aside. Make sure this mixture stays at room temperature.

In a clean dry bowl, with clean dry beaters, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add 6 tablespoons honey. Continue beating until stiff peaks form and mixture is glossy.

Fold two tablespoons egg white mixture into hazelnut mixture. Continue gently folding in whites a tablespoon and a time.

Divide batter between prepared pans. Smooth tops. Bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Slide knife around edge of pan and gently pry up parchment paper. Turn out first layer onto platter. Thinly frost with coffee buttercream. Top with second layer, and frost more thickly with additional buttercream.

Ingredients for Frosting

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2-4 Tbs. honey
1-2 Tbs. strong espresso, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Method for Frosting

Cream butter and lesser amount of honey until light and fluffy. Taste. Add more honey, if desired. With mixer running, slowly beat in lesser amount of espresso. Taste. Add more espresso, if desired. Beat in vanilla. Must be used at room temperature, but may be stored in refrigerator.

Layered Popsicles

I'm always looking for a way to make food that is fun and interesting for my kids.  Sometimes it's about making things in fun shapes, other times it's about presentation, and other times it has to do with color.  Popsicles are fun, but they had lost their novelty for us, so I came up with this version.

You can make as many layers as you want in as many colors as you want.  Layers can be either fruit/veggie juice, like popsicles, or can be ice cream.  You can use coconut ice cream, peach ice cream (which can be made with other fruit such as pear or mango), or kefir cream ice cream. 

I found that layers work best with both a strong flavor as well as an ingredient to give it a bright color.  Here are some ideas for layers:

orange/carrot
lime/kale or other leafy green, or celery
raspberry or strawberry/beet
lemon/golden beet

If you want to sweeten the layers, heat the juice just enough to dissolve some honey in it (to taste).  If you put a layer of vanilla ice cream between two orange layers, it's like a creamsicle.

To make the popsicles, pour a layer of juice into the bottom of each mold and let it freeze.  Once the bottom layer is frozen (or nearly frozen), then pour another layer of juice or spoon a layer of ice cream in.  Continue this process until you have created all of your layers.  Inserting the stick or handle can be a bit tricky since you can't stick it into an already frozen layer.  The molds that I have have a handle with a small stick, so it just got frozen into the last layer.  If you do it this way, you have to be very careful when removing the popsicles from the molds or they can come apart at the layers.  It would work better to put long sticks in that go through each layer, and have some way of holding them up, such as covering the molds with plastic wrap or foil that will hold the sticks in place.

Coconut Macaroons

This is a simple and tasty way to use up extra egg whites.  These are also essentially the same as "normal" macaroons so make a nice snack for non-GAPS visitors.

INGREDIENTS:

6 egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c honey (you can use much less if preferred)
1 1/2 T vanilla extract OR 1 T vanilla extract and 1 tsp almond extract
3 c shredded coconut

METHOD:

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add the salt, honey, and extract slowly as you continue to beat until stiff.  Fold in the coconut or add while the mixer is running (if using a mixer).

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 30-40 minutes, until lightly browned but not scorched.

Let cool slightly before removing from parchment.  Once cool, store in an airtight container.

The Creamiest Ice Cream Ever!

This ice cream is made from kefired heavy cream and is so incredibly luscious and creamy.  The richness out-does Hgen-Daaz but with the tangy flavor of frozen yogurt.  This has become one of our favorite ways to get good fats and probiotics into diet.

To make the ice cream, kefir pure heavy whipping cream for at least 24 hours and strain out the grains (I would use between 2 and 4 pints).  Mix honey and vanilla into the kefired cream to taste, several egg yolks if you want (I add at least 3), and pureed fruit if you want.  Then freeze in an ice cream maker.  This also makes creamy popsicles with the "feel" of a fudge-sicle. 

Jam

This is a very simple way to make GAPS-legal jam.  It is a bit runnier than "normal" jam, but still works well.  You can adjust the level of sweetness to suit your preference.  I made my jam not very sweet at all, figuring that I could always mix honey in later for flavor.  Also, if you make it less sweet, then you can use it in savory sauces and dishes (such as apricot-rosemary turkey breast).

I used apricots, but pretty much any fruit that you would normally make jam from would work.  I simply cut up the fruit into large pieces- probably into quarters or eights- and then put it in a large stock pot.  I covered the fruit with cold filtered water and brought it to a boil, then turned it down to a simmer.  I think I added the honey at this point- I'm not sure it matter exactly when you add it. 

Simmer the fruit for several hours until it thickens and cooks down to a consistency you like (keeping in mind that it is thicker when cool).  Keep a close eye on it while it cooks so it doesn't scorch, and add more water as needed.  Once it has thickened, remove a little and let it cool enough to taste, and add more honey if desired.


Once the jam is done you can either can it or freeze it in small containers or ziploc bags.  I suggest making large batches in the summer when the fruit is in season and less expensive, but many of us on GAPS don't have as much control over when we are ready for certain foods.  You can easily make this in smaller batches during the winter as well.  Even though it may be more expensive, it can still be cost effective compared with purchasing SCD-legal jam online.

This jam is delicious on toast, in sandwiches, on pancakes or french toast, in crepes, or as a filling in desserts.

Cinnamon Nut Cookies

This is essentially a recipe that I found online but I don't remember where.  If it looks familiar please let me know who to credit :)  It's simple, my kids love it, and is a great way to use some of those egg whites that I always have left over from other things.

INGREDIENTS:

2 egg whites
2 cups of nut flour or nuts that have been soaked and dried
1/4 cup honey
1 T cinnamon

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the egg whites until frothy.

If using nut flour, fold it into the egg whites.  If using nuts, grind them into flour (I use a coffee grinder for this, or you can use a food processor too), then fold them in.  Fold in the other ingredients.

Drop teaspoonfuls of the batter onto a  cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, until nicely browned.

For variation, you can use different combinations of nut flour and spices as well as flavoring extracts or lemon or orange zest.  

Pecan-glazed butternut squash pudding

This is good. (My husband says that "good" is not an adequate description of this dish. He says, "I took one little bite, and it was phenomenal!") I am using it as a substitute for my usual sweet potato dish for Thanksgiving. I am also having butternut squash in my winter vegetable medley, so I'm skipping the pumpkin pie and opting for apple cobbler instead.

Ingredients

Filling

1 small butternut squash

1-2 Tbs. honey

2 Tbs. butter (I used salted pasture butter, if yours is unsalted, add a pinch of salt)

1 egg

2 tsp. bourbon (optional)

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Glaze

2 Tbs. unsalted butter

1/4 cup honey

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Method

Bake whole butternut squash in 350 degree (F) oven until fork-tender, about 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle, cut in half and remove seeds, pulp and skin. Shred or mash the flesh into a bowl. Mix in remaining ingredients for filling. Spread in a greased 8 inch square baking dish.

For glaze: mix first three ingredients together in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture begins to carmelize (honey will turn slightly darker). Do not overcook, it will continue to carmelize in the oven. Add pecans, and spread glaze over filling. Bake at 325 degrees (F) for about 30 minutes or until glaze looks consistent and filling looks firm.

Candied Butter Pecans

This is basically the candied nuts recipe from Breaking The Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall.  I made this for Halloween along with some other candies it was by far my favorite.  It would make a great praline topping for ice cream if crumbled up.`

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound pecan pieces (or other nuts), previously soaked and dried
2 egg whites
1/2 cup honey pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon (or more?)

METHOD:

Toast nuts in oven at 300 degrees for 10 minutes on a large baking sheet.  Let cool.

Beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.  Slowly add in honey until well mixed in.

Fold in nuts and cinnamon.  Spread mixture on a large shallow pan, such as a jellyroll pan, that has been generously greased with butter or ghee. 

Bake for 30 minutes at 300 degrees, turning nuts every 10 minutes.  Bake a little longer if the butter hasn't disappeared.

Let cool in pan, then break into bite-sized pieces.  Store in a covered container.

Pie Crust II

This is my second take on pie crust, and I think it's better. It's crispier without the egg yolk, I think, and yummier with more butter! One of my non-GAPS friends says she likes this better than regular pie crust. I don't concur, but I still like it!

Ingredients

1/2 cup ground sunflower seeds
1/2 cup ground pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup ground pecans or walnuts
4 Tbs. butter
1/4 tsp. salt
2 egg whites

Method

Pulse all ingredients except egg whites in food processor until butter is blended through. Add egg whites a bit at a time and pulse through after each addition until mixture forms a ball. Chill for an hour or so.

Press dough into a 10 inch pie plate. Fill and bake according to directions for filling.

For a pre-cooked or raw filling, place in oven at 325 degrees Farenheit for 10-20 minutes until lightly browned. (The timing here is a ball-park estimate. I took it out when I smelled the pecans toasting.)

Peanut Butter Brownies

This recipe is from Breaking The Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall.  This was the first SCD recipe I ever made, back when I had just read BTVC and was convinced that we would benefit from the diet but equally convinced that it would be impossible for us to do.  This is still my favorite recipe from that book, and an excellent way to introduce anyone to how good this diet can be!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey (I use 1/4 and find it plenty sweet)
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking soda (not GAPS-legal, it works fine if you leave it out)

METHOD:

Thoroughly mix all ingredients (I find an electric mixer works best).  Pour into a generously greased 8" x 8" baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.   Do not overbake- these are so moist and chewy but get dry if baked too long.

Cinnamon Truffles

I've been looking for ways to get more butter into our diet lately (as an aside, I have to point out that you gotta love a diet that leads you to begin a blog post like that!).  I came up with this simple way to make butter into a nice little snack.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup butter or ghee (pastured if possible)
1 tsp honey (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (or more to taste)
Drop of vanilla extract

To roll the truffles in:
Any combination of shredded coconut or coconut flour, cinnamon (or any other spice you like), or ground nuts or seeds

METHOD:

Cream butter with honey, then mix in the drop of vanilla and cinnamon to taste.  You can add some coconut flour at this point if you want for texture.  Without the flour it is a lot like ganache, adding the flour makes it a bit more like cookie dough.

The next step is to roll it into little balls.  You may need to refrigerate it for awhile to do this, but it will be tough to do because the heat from your hands will melt the butter a bit.  Decide what you want to roll the truffles in- straight ground cinnamon, ground cinnamon mixed with shredded coconut or coconut flour, and straight shredded coconut all work well.  All of those options are in the photo above.

Put whatever you want to roll the truffles in into a small bowl.  Scoop up a small amount of the butter mixture, briefly roll it in your hands, then drop it into the bowl, and continue rolling it in the bowl.  I prefer a ball about 3/4 of an inch across.

Store in the refrigerator when done.

Banana Hazelnut Bread or Cake

We ate this before I could photograph it :)

This is based on the recipe for banana cake by Elaine Gottschall in Breaking the Vicious Cycle.  The hazelnut flour gave it more of a look and feel of wheat then anything else I've tried.  Unfortunately, I also discovered that I'm allergic to hazelnut flour.  This can be a bread or a cake, depending on how much honey you add to it.

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups hazelnut flour (other flour should work as well)
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup melted butter or ghee
1 tsp baking soda (optional, not GAPS legal)
2 extra ripe mashed bananas
honey- 1/3 cup for bread, 2/3 cup for cake

METHOD:

Mash bananas with a fork in a large mixing bowl.  Add other ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Pour into a greased cake, loaf, or baking pan. 

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40-45 minutes, or until the top springs back when poled.  Baking time will vary depending on the shape of pan used.

Strawberry Shortcake

No, it's not all treats with me! It's just that I expect good soup, roasted meat, delicious vegetables etc. on GAPS. When I find desserts that I think are really tasty, I'm excited, because I didn't expect to be able to enjoy something like strawberry shortcake while on the protocol. This recipe also makes a great cobbler topping.

The cake in this is more like pound cake than shortcake, but it is really good. (You might have noticed that it's awfully similar to my other muffin/cupcake recipes.) The whole family plus picky visitors enjoyed every bite of this. I made it a lot when strawberries were in season around here, but we were so busy I never got a pic. to post. These strawberries are still local and organic, but they must have come from a greenhouse. They were still sweet though.


Ingredients

1/3 cup melted butter or oil
6 eggs lightly beaten
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup coconut flour

Method

Mix all ingredients together and divide among 12 muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 20-25 minutes. I like these when they just start to brown. The tops become glossy and yummy!

Cut muffins in half crosswise and top with sliced strawberries that have been tossed with honey to taste and a dash of vanilla extract.

Sunflower Cake

This cake is very simple, with no fancy frills, and would make very good muffins. I think it would also work well as a layer cake.  It is moist and spongy and has the texture of a bran muffin. I have heard of a place in town that sells sunflower shaped cake pans and intend to get one to jazz this up.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of soaked sunflower seeds
2 T coconut oil
1/3- 1/2  cup honey
4 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon

optional, will make it "spongy-er"

1/2 tsp baking soda
1 T apple cider vinegar

Method:

First, I ground the sunflower seeds into a smooth paste in the food processor..

Then add the other ingredients, including the baking soda if you are using it, but not the vinegar yet. Blend it all until the mixture is well combined, then ad the vinegar if you are using it and blend a little more to mix.

Pour this mixture into a greased 8x8 baking dish or 9" cake pan..

Bake for 50-60 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Knife inserted in center should come out clean when done.

Note- I haven't tried this, but with the addition of the right spices, this cake might make a nice gingerbread.

Peanut Butter Pie

I made this for my son's birthday party a couple of weeks ago. It is a layered frozen pie, that tastes really decadent. It's reminiscent of fluffer-nutter sandwiches.


It was a big hit with the adult non-GAPS guests. My mom even asked me for the recipe. So here it is. (Hi, Mom!)







Ingredients

1 recipe pie crust
1 recipe marshmallow frosting
2 cups salted organic peanut butter, at room temperature, divided


Method

Fold one cup peanut butter into at least two cups frosting. You can add more so that it appears light and fluffy and so it tastes good :) Spread in prepared and cooled pie crust. Place the whole lot into freezer until it is firm, at least four hours.

Spread second cup of peanut butter on the frozen first layer of your pie. Freeze again until second layer is firm. At least two hours.

Spread a thick layer of marshmallow frosting on top of the whole thing, until it's close to the top of your pie crust. Freeze again until serving time.

This does not freeze solid, so you won't need to bring it out too long before serving. I did take it out, then put it back in, because it was thawing out.