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.

Almond Flour Brownies

Imagine my delight when I discovered that Dr. Campbell-McBride had decreed that cocoa powder was OK for us advanced GAPSters. Then imagine my sadness when I discovered that there were zero decent almond flour brownie recipes out there on the internet. Of course I had to fill the void. Some things are worth a little trial and error! I believe I have finally got it right. These babies could definitely give the old gluten-laden variety a run for their money. I made these today, and there is one left (only because I don't think anyone else realizes it!).

These make a dense, moist, chewy, chocolaty brownie.

So here it is in all it's simple glory :)

Ingredients

2/3 cup honey
1/2 cup melted butter or coconut oil
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup cocoa (I used raw cacao)
1/4 tsp. baking soda (this can be omitted)
1/4 tsp. sea salt (omit if using salted butter)

Method

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix honey, butter, vanilla and eggs until smooth. (If omitting baking soda, beat eggs until foamy before adding in other wet ingredients.) Add almond flour, cocoa, baking soda and optional salt. Stir to blend. Pour into greased 8x8x2 inch pan. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, until center no longer jiggles and top feels cakey.

Cool on a wire rack at least until sides pull away from the edge of the pan before cutting.

Peach Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce

This is a simple yet unusual twist on cranberry sauce that has become our favorite.  If you like cranberry sauce, you can have a lot of fun trying different combinations of fruit, juices, and vegetables.

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups cranberries (one 4 oz bag)
2 cups of peaches, cut into chunks (frozen work fine)
1/4 cup pure pomegranate juice
1/4 cup honey (or to taste)

METHOD:

Combine all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to medium heat.

Continue to heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture has simmered long enough for the cranberries to pop, about 20-30 minutes.  The mixture should thicken as it simmers- if it gets too thick, or begins to scorch, you can add more pomegranate juice. 

Lemon Cardamom Cashews

Not to toot my own horn, but these are unbelievably good!  I can't have many cashews because of the oxalate levels but these are worth suffering for :)

INGREDIENTS:

2 T butter or ghee
1/3 c honey
zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
2 cups of cashews (preferably soaked and dehydrated)

METHOD:

Dry toast the cashews in an iron skillet or other heavy-bottomed pan on medium heat until they are slightyl browned and crunchy.

Add the butter, allow it to melt, then add the other ingredients.  Stir them to combine and cook until the liquid has bubbled for about 5 minutes.

Pour the mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with greased parchment paper and allow to cool.

Store in an airtight container preferably in the refrigerator.

Chili almonds

These are sweet and spicy and make a nice gift.

INGREDIENTS:

2 T butter or ghee
3 T honey
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chipotle powder (or cayenne powder)
2 cups almonds (preferably soaked and dried)

METHOD:

If the almonds are not crunchy, dry toast them in an iron skillet (or other heavy-bottomed pan) on medium heat until they reach desired level of crunchiness.

Add the butter to the nuts and allow it to melt, then add the other ingredients and thoroughly stir them together. 

Continue heating and stirring until the liquid bubbles for about 5 minutes, then pour the mixture out onto a cookie sheet lined with greased parchment paper and let it cool.

Store in an air-tight container, preferably in the refrigerator.

Chicken Liver Mousse

This is essentially a recipe from the Cheeseslave blog called Balthazar's Chicken Liver Mousse.  Amazingly chicken liver has become the favorite food of my 9-year-old son so I have been exploring different ways to cook it.  I am personally not a huge fan of it but this was pretty good, especially if you use the bourbon (I substituted bourbon for cognac).  I also followed her example and baked these without the water bath, and they were fine.

Blueberry Coconut French Toast

I have been making cake/bread out of coconut flour recently in order to make it low oxalate (the nut butter bread is high oxalate).  I added some blueberries to the batter to "liven it up", which does raise the oxalate content a bit, but not too much.  This was so delicious!  This would make a wonderful brunch for non-GAPS guests.

To make the batter, follow the recipe for Teri's Almond Cupcakes.  Substitute vanilla for the almond extract and add 1 or 2 handfuls of blueberries, depending on preference.  Bake in an 8 x 8 inch Pyrex dish (or in two loaf pans filled only halfway up).  The cooking time will be at least 10 minutes longer. 

To make the french toast, slice the bread into 3/4 inch thick slices.  If you used a square Pyrex dish, cut it into two 4 x 8 halves first, then cut each half into slices so the slices aren't too long to work with.  Soak in a mixture of 2 eggs with a little coconut milk, kefir, or yogurt, and vanilla extract.  Fry the slices in butter on both sides until golden brown.  Serve warm with jam, honey, or fresh fruit on top.

Mixed Spiced Nuts

This recipe is a slightly modified version of the one I found in the book "Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes" by Jennifer McLagan. That book is great, and I highly recommend it, but many of the recipes will need to be skipped or adapted for our purposes. These nuts are really delicious and definitely company-worthy.

Ingredients

4 cups mixed unsalted nuts (I used pistachios, slivered blanched almonds, cashews and walnuts here)
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 Tbs. butter (I've tried it with unsalted and with salted, cultured butter, and both worked fine)
2 Tbs. honey (I made it with one Tbs. the first time, and it was good, but 2 is better)
1 Tbs. dried rosemary (crushed in palm) or 2 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary
dash cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (180 C.)

Place the nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 10-20 minutes, stirring a few times, until browned to your liking. (I like mine browner).

While the nuts are toasting, place a small heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add the coriander and cumin, and toast until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat, and add the remaining ingredients, except salt.

Place the pan over low heat and stir constantly until the butter and honey melt and dried rosemary softens, about four minutes. Add salt and keep mixture warm.

Transfer the nuts to a large bowl, pour the spiced butter on top, and stir until the nuts are well coated. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if desired. Allow to cool completely for the nuts to crisp up. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Cole Slaw

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 yellow onion
3 carrots
1 large green cabbage

for the dressing:
1/4 c plus 2 T olive oil
1/4 c mayonnaise
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 T lemon juice
honey to taste

METHOD:

Grate or puree the onion in a food processor.  Grate the carrots.  Put the thin slicing blade on the food processor and slice the cabbage.  Place the vegetables in a large bowl.

To make the dressing, whisk together the ingredients and pour over the vegetables.  Stir to coat thoroughly, then taste and adjust the seasonings.

Green Beans with Garlic

This is a delicious, simple side dish served warm as well as a flavorful and very portable salad for lunches and picnics.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb green beans
2 T butter or ghee
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
salt to taste
fresh dill (optional)

METHOD:

Rinse and trim the green beans.  Cut them into 2 inch pieces.

Steam them until they reach desired softness.  The time will vary, so keep a close eye on them after about 5 minutes and taste one to check the level of doneness.

Remove the beans to a bowl.  Add the butter, and stir to let it melt and coat the beans.  Then add the crushed garlic, vinegar, and salt, and fresh dill if using.

You can serve this right away or refrigerate for later use.

Dairy-Free "Cheez-It" Crackers

These crackers are about the closest I've come yet to a "junk food" flavor, at least a savory one.  They taste a lot like a Cheez-It or goldfish cracker.  These are based on a recipe I found in an episode of Raw World TV, which you can view here on YouTube.  They present the recipe as a cheese sauce as well as a cracker recipe, however when I made it it didn't have the "cheese-like" texture that theris did.  Maybe you need a Vitamix to make it into a sauce.  It might be worth playing with this for those who are really wanting a macaroni and cheese type sauce.

To make it as crackers, follow the same basic recipe, which is to put one red bell pepper, one cup of macadamia nuts, some salt and cayenne pepper in the blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Then spread it thin on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate until it reaches the desired level of dryness.  At 105 degrees this took me well over 24 hours, so I would use a higher heat.  If you want to make crackers in cute shapes I would pull it out partway through, when it is still pliable, and cut it with cookie cutters, then put it back to continue drying. 

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.

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.

Baked Seed Crackers and Pizza Crust

I originally came up with this recipe as a pizza crust (which, by the way, I think is the best one so far), but quickly realized that it would also work well as crackers.  As a pizza crust, it's a little on the crispy side (which I like), and as crackers they are a little on the soft side.  If you like your crackers crispier, then simply leave them in the oven longer. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 c ground pumpkin seeds
1 c ground sunflower seeds
1 tsp salt
1 large or 2 small eggs
1-2 tsp olive oil
optional- crushed garlic, chopped parsley, dried Italian herbs, or any other ingredient for flavor

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ideally the seeds should be soaked in water overnight, then dried in the oven or dehydrator on a low setting.  Once dry, they can be stored in jars so they are ready when you want to cook.

Grind the seeds before measuring out 1 cup each.  I like to grind mine in a coffee grinder that I use only for seeds, nuts, and spices.  Blend all ingredients with an electric mixer in a medium bowl.  The dough will be very stiff.  Vary the amount of olive oil based on how dry the dough seems- if it is wet enough with one tsp, then omit the second one.  If you are adding herbs, garlic, or anything else for flavor, do it now.  For the batch in the photo, I added 2 cloves of garlic and a handfull of chopped parsley (additional flavors are good for both crackers and pizza crust).

Grease a cookie sheet and sprinkle it with coarsely ground pumpkin seeds.  Pat the dough into a ball shape and place it in the middle of the cookie sheet.  Beginning in the center and moving outwards, squish the dough flat with your hands.  I suppose you could also cover it with waxed paper and roll it out with a rolling pin.  I try to get it to about 1/4 of an inch.  For pizza crust, you may want to make the edges slightly raised, for crackers, make it flat.

 For pizza- bake for 20 minutes (or longer if it looks very wet).  Remove from oven, top with sauce and toppings, then return to oven for as long as it takes for the toppings to get hot and cheese to melt if you are using cheese.

For crackers-bake 25-30 minutes, depending on how crispy you like them.  Cut them into squares with a pizza cutter.  If you left them in a long time to get crispy, you should cut them quickly while they are still a little soft.  Top with hummus, yogurt or kefir cheese, or any other topping you like.  If you made them on the softer side, you could cut them with cookie cutters to make them look fancy.

Bacon Cheddar Potted Cheese

When I was a kid, one of my favorite flavors of the holidays was those salty cheese spreads that came in the Christmas food packages.  I loved how they were so creamy and salty, and probably loved them partly because of the MSG.  A friend recently posted a recipe online for one of these spreads and when I saw it I knew I had to make it work for GAPS.  I think this is even better without the MSG.

INGREDIENTS:

2 T coconut oil
12 oz raw cheddar cheese
8 oz bacon (I used Organic Prairie brand)
2 shallots
1 T bourbon
1 cup kefir or homemade yogurt (you could probably use coconut milk if you don't have either)

METHOD:

Chop the bacon and cook in the coconut oil until crispy, remove and set aside.

Fry the shallots in 2 T of the fat left from cooking the bacon, until caramelized.

Chop the cheese into small cubes and put into the bowl of a food processor along with the bacon, and pulse until well blended.  Add the kefir, bourbon, and shallots and continue to blend until the mixture is creamy. 

At this point the mixture is a thick spread or dip, that would go well with veggie sticks, apple slices, crackers, or coconut bread or nut butter bread..  You can easily adjust the consistency by adding in more kefir, if you want a thinner dip.  For an extravagant salad dressing, or dressing for vegetables, you could thin this down a lot with oil and vinegar as well as more kefir.

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.  

Lima Bean and Roasted Red Pepper Salad

This salad is so simple and absolutely delicious. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup cooked and rinsed lima beans
1 roasted red bell pepper
about 1/4 cup chopped parsley
1-2 T olive oil
squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Salt to taste (preferably a course, gourmet salt such as Hawaiian Red Salt)

METHOD:

Cut the pepper into chunks and mix with the beans and parsley in a small bowl.  Add enough olive oil to generously coat the vegetables, squeeze on some lemon juice, and sprinkle on the salt.

Trail Mix

It seems a little silly to post a recipe for trail mix as it's such a simple snack and one that is infinitely variable.  However, I came up with this particular blend that is a little more fancy than just peanuts and raisins and is really a treat.

Mix together:

2 parts nuts
1 part granola
1 part dried fruit (chopped if large fruit)
chopped GAPS "chocolate" coconut candy

When making the coconut candy for this, you can use the leftover bits from cutting it with cookie cutters, or you can roll it out and cut it into squares, than cut it into small pieces.  This is a replacement for chocolate chips so I was going for the equivalent size.  The coconut candy does get soft if not refrigerated so you may want to store this in the fridge.  I kept mine in the cupboard and didn't mind the softer texture.

When I made this, I used granola that had raisins in it, so for the dried fruit I added chopped dried apricots for variety.  I used peanuts but using different nuts and combinations of nuts would give this some variety.  My friend Chris was just saying that hazelnuts and dried cranberries are a great combination.  There are so many ways of varying this recipe, I'm sure you'll find your own favorite way to make it! 

You can make this ahead of time and put some in plastic baggies and you have a convenient "take along" snack food, just as convenient as the old snack bars and junk food that many of us probably used to keep around for convenient snacks on the go.  It is also delicious enough to go into a Christmas stocking as a treat, especially if it were in a small tin.

Lima Bean Hummus

It looks sort of grayish in the picture because I added black olives before I thought about how unappetizing that might make it look in the photo!  Honestly this tastes so good that my husband has wondered why everyone doesn't make hummus with lima beans.  This would work fine with other white beans that we're allowed on GAPS, but as they are higher in oxalates I decided to go with limas.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups soaked and cooked lima beans
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt (or more to taste)
3 T lemon juice
3 T olive oil (or more depending on how "wet" your beans are and the texture of hummus that you like)

METHOD:

Put all ingredients in the blender or food processor and blend to desired consistency.  Taste and adjust flavors.  You will undoubtedly find your own blend of ingredients that you like best. 

For variation, try adding olives, anchovies, roasted garlic, roasted peppers, dried tomato, or whatever herbs and spices you like.  If you find an especially tasty variation, please post it in the comments for us all to enjoy!

If you serve the hummus with sliced veggies for dipping it makes a nice side dish or even a light meal.

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.