Yes, I know some of you are thinking have you succumbed to pumpkin mania already? To that I say no, because it can't be pumpkin mania when pumpkin is torturing me. More specifically, every time I go to the coffee shop for my usual unsweetened cold-brew the pumpkin pastries torment me. So, this Pumpkin Espresso Hazelnut Fudge is my attempt to get a little of my own back in a way that won't ma[...]
Say hello to the Fruity Coconut Breakfast Tart! It's simple to make but interesting to eat, and easy on the eyes. The simple to make part is important, because most of my Saturday mornings are spent at my neighborhood Crossfit box (and by "neighborhood" I mean it's a ten minute jog away, great warm-up). If I'm going to make breakfast before heading off to the morning WOD (short for workout[...]
These cookies are pretty much a thought experiment, or a stunt. Can a cookie made of nothing but a variety of coconut products hold together and taste good? Um, yes! I'm curious why nobody has tried this before, but I've never seen a cookie like this. Lemme tell you, I'm glad these Only Coconut Cookies exist now, because they're so simple and tasty. Plus, if you're looking for a recipe for tre[...]
These 2-Ingredient Banana Coconut Cookies are the ultimate simple treat. They contain no gluten, grains, dairy, eggs, nuts or added sugar, and are so quick and easy to make (requiring only a bowl, a spoon, and a baking pan). I saw some two ingredient cookies on Instagram, then on Tumblr. I didn't see THESE two ingredient cookies, let's be clear, I saw banana and oatmeal cookies.[...]
This recipe was 100% the impulse of a moment. When the calendar flipped to August a few days ago, I happened to think "I wonder which weird holidays happen in August?" You know, weird holidays in the International Bacon Day or National Donut Day category. Well, the first one I found was National Raspberry Cream Pie Day! Too hilarious to pass up. So, I invented this recipe late July 31st.[...]
Who’s ready for sweet potato waffles? I call these savory sweet potato waffles because there’s no “added sugar” in the form of honey, agave, maple syrup, coconut sugar, dates, etc. There’s just coconut flour, eggs, coconut milk, salt and cinnamon. Cinnamon is one of those fun ingredients that seems to trick your taste-buds into thinking you’re eating something sweet when you’re[...]
This is how I do "seasonal cooking". I should be posting a crisp spring salad or even a leek pie... but nothing inspired me to preheat the oven like the thought of a rhubarb tart. That's life, sometimes! 'Tis the season for rhubarb, and I've been waiting to try making this tart for months! It came out as well as I hoped: the strips of rhubarb turn jammy, with the sourness&nbs[...]
I love recipes with fun names, and classic American baking features some great recipe titles. "Blueberry Boy Bait" may be among the best, however. No, I can't take credit for the name but I can take credit for an amazing grain-free adaption of a decadent treat (that may be even better than the original, who knows?) using all grain/gluten-free, low glycemic ingredients. Speaking of[...]
I had some vague idea of calling this recipe "Elvis Panna Cotta" (named after the famous flavors of his peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich) but peanuts aren't that exciting and the chocolate balances the taste of these beautifully. Sorry, Elvis. Banana and chocolate is such a classic combination, and bacon and chocolate is such a trendy combination, that I couldn't resist[...]
Welcome to my Triple Chocolate Paleo Granola tea party. I couldn't resist the bright red of strawberries, the white of spring blossoms and the delicate decoration on two over-sized Anthropologie tea cups! Anyway... Picture your Thursday night. Yes, you're approaching the weekend's event horizon, but mostly you are in the thick of wrapping up the week at work or school before the long exha[...]
Quite a few recipes on this site would probably give a vegan heartache, for obvious reasons. But this one is titled Vegan Heartache Cake because it's adapted in a roundabout way from a recipe in the Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache cookbook. The subtitle of that cookbook is "the ultimate feel-good book of natural cakes that taste naughty" which made me smile and piqued my interest. Plus I liked[...]
There are a few techniques that I recommend to make Paleo baked goods more fluffy. When baking with coconut flour in particular, sometimes the resulting cookies or muffins can take on texture similarities to hockey pucks. Correcting this requires a few extra steps but the improvements in lightness and palatability (that should be a word) are worth it. Room temperature eggs whip up much fluff[...]
Happy birthday to me! I celebrated by making this paleo German chocolate cake. While purists may cringe, I wanted something that tasted delicious but wouldn't leave me feeling seriously un-celebratory an hour after eating it. Hence my version of paleo German chocolate cake was born! I searched around for other Paleo German chocolate cake recipes to cut down the effort of developing my own,[...]
Oh, you guys. Can something taste beautiful? If anything does, it's this cashew cheesecake. In fact, I had to work hard to make the cake look as lovely as it tastes. The combination of whipped cashews, saffron and rosewater with a pistachio crust makes for a dessert out of The Arabian Nights. It took me ages to work up the courage to attempt a cashew cheesecake. Or, "cheesecake",[...]
This is no ordinary chocolate tart. Its chipotle-spattered topping gives you the first clue: this dessert is muy caliente. Beginning with an ancho chile crust, it features a filling of rich date paste studded with Brazil nuts (and spiced with more ancho chiles and cayenne pepper). The finish is a topping of chipotle ganache. Ta-da! I call this Montezuma's Spicy Chocolate Tart because it[...]
This recipe is an allergy-friendly recreation of Sex in a Pan, which is traditionally layers of pudding, cream cheese, and whipped cream stacked on a sweet crust. I changed the ingredients to be dairy-free and grain-free, but still accomplished six layers of decadence. The cashew butter can be easily substituted for sun-butter (sunflower seed butter) and the pecans for shredded coconut to make it[...]
I know. Everyone is posting pumpkin recipes. You'll be gagging on the stuff long before Thanksgiving. But these aren't like those other pumpkin recipes, the ones smothered in sugar and cream. Let me explain... The original purpose of these muffins was "easy breakfast treat". Often I'm out the door with nothing but a black coffee in the morning... but when I want breakfast I want breakfast and[...]
Yum One of my closest friends visited from Dallas this weekend, so of course I made a cake! This is so easy to throw together, I mixed it up in twenty minutes from stuff I already had around the kitchen. Well, I bought the flowers especially for it but they're optional. Been wanting to put flowers on a cake after I saw the flower power cake from Green Kitchen Stories, and with a sprinkle of bee[...]
Turmeric and I are having a moment. Well, it's considerably longer than a moment. After reading Grassfed Girl's post on the benefits of turmeric, I've been incorporating the colorful spice into everything for months. You probably already eat it regularly if you're a fan of Indian food, but with recipes like this, you can eat it for breakfast and a snack! When I was turning the idea of t[...]
Cherries aren't my favorite fruit. That honor goes to pineapple. No, mango. Some tropical fruit, for sure. But cherries do have a special place in my heart: my favorite ice cream flavor is Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia and I could drink black cherry juice by the gallon. So, when I saw a recipe for the rustic French dessert clafoutis (grain-free!) from Tanya at Feed the Clan, I was hooked. Trad[...]
I was tempted to title this post "Baking with Constraints". I made a trip to the grocery store solely for the specialty items in this recipe. . . but I forgot to ensure the pantry was stocked with two Paleo staples: baking soda and coconut oil! So, if you notice the lack of leavening agent aside from eggs, now you know the sad, forgetful truth. I don't know from where in my subconsc[...]
I drove down to my parents' ranch northeast of Austin, TX for a small family reunion this week to celebrate Independence Day together. It was everything a July 4th celebration should be: plenty of BBQ, family lounging on the front porch, dogs twining between legs and panting in the shade. It was also wonderful to see the newest foal on the ranch again... Zing Tiki was hardly standing on wobb[...]
Today I filled out a mandatory health assessment at the office (an on-line form in which you answer questions about your sleep, perceived stress, diet, cholesterol, blood pressure and other biometrics). I don't have accurate data on blood pressure or cholesterol at the moment so I left those numbers blank...and the form AUTO-GENERATED that I have high blood pressure and high cholesterol based[...]
Things are just cuter when they're smaller, aren't they? That's certainly the case with the combination of strawberries in a coconut custard with a cocoa crust: great in a full-size tart, but somehow better in a mini version. This strawberry tartlet is a pleasure to bake and a pleasure to eat, and crossed my mind when I saw the gluten-free Rhubarb Coconut Honey Tart over on the theKitchn, whic[...]
Well, I've been in a rut. There have been quite a few recipes I have been excited about sharing since posting the hedgehog cookies, but flop after flop has come out of the oven until I almost wondered if my baking mojo was gone forever! Then paleOMG posted a photo of a lush carrot cake from her advance copy of Gather on Instagram last Friday, and I was inspired. Didn't want the mess and effort[...]