Paleo Cashew Butter Bread

Bread is a familiar kind of comfort food that is full of grain and NOT ALLOWED  when you go Paleo. I went Paleo almost a year ago and I am just now getting around to making a loaf of bread.
It is nice to have bread available to eat once in a while but I don't eat bread daily. This post is my review of a couple recipes I have tried.

Today I'm sharing my favorite(recipe #1) so far. It wins based on texture and flavor. It's made with cashew butter, a little sweeter and has a porous texture. Recipe #2 is made with macadamia butter and is tasty but a little too eggy for my taste.
Recipe #1 requires making nut butter from your cashews. I didn't find cashew butter at my local Whole Foods. If you are looking for simplicity and ease of preparation then go with the eggy, I mean, macadamia nut recipe. The cashew butter recipe has more steps and will take longer in prep time but worth the extra time, in my humble opinion. Both recipes require a food processor.
I will share the recipe #2 in a future post but if you can't wait, here is where you can find the recipe.
Both recipes hold together when sliced and used in a sandwich and toasted.
Here is where I adapted this recipe from. www.Againstallgrain.com is one of my favorite blogs.

Follow carefully as there are several steps to make this a delicious loaf of bread!

Paleo Cashew Butter Bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup cashew butter(recipe below)
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 to 2 Tbs coconut nectar(2 Tbs for a sweeter loaf)
• 2 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Line bottom of loaf pan(8.5X4.5) with parchment paper.
3. Grease side of loaf pan with coconut oil.
4. Beat cashew butter with egg yolks using a hand mixer.
5. Add coconut nectar, vinegar and almond milk incorporating completely with hand mixer.
6. In a separate bowl use a hand mixer to beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
7. In a small bowl whisk together coconut flour, baking soda and sea salt. (Yep 3 different bowls)
8. Pour the dry ingredients into the cashew butter mixture and use the hand mixer to blend.
9. Hold your horses if your oven has not been reheated. Once this is done continue.
10. Stir egg whites into your batter thoroughly. Don't over mix.
11. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and place in the oven.
12. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.
13. Be sure you DO NOT open the oven door for at least 40 minutes. Don't peek!! It can effect how your loaf raises or not.
14. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 to 20 minutes, using a knife to loosen the bread from the side of the pan.
15. Cool for about an hour on a cooling rack before slicing.
16. Store in the refrigerator.

Cashew Butter
Ingredients

• 2 cups raw or roasted cashews (I used raw)
• 1 to 3 Tbs coconut oil
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions

1. Here's where your food processor gets a workout.
2. Add cashews and seas salt to food processor and pulse for a couple minutes.
3. Add 2 Tbs of the coconut oil while pulsing cashews.
4. Add 1 tsp coconut oil at a time scraping down the sides occasionally.
5. Pulse to desired consistency.

You will have enough cashew butter to make 2 loaves of bread.

I'll be having french toast using this bread this weekend. 

I hope this inspires you to try a loaf of paleo bread soon. 

ENJOY!!

Gingerbread Granola (Grain Free)

I love the way my house smells when I am baking something with ginger in it. Even more I love the taste of ginger in my baked goodies. One of my favorite snacks when I was fat was Ginger Snaps dunked in a glass of milk. This recipe reminds me of that snack. Instead I have a nutritious breakfast food.
Gingerbread Granola in a bowl of coconut milk. YUMMO!!
Guess what I'm having for breakfast!!

Gringerbread Granola (grain free)

Gingerbread Granola (Grain Free)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups slivered almonds
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup flax seed
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seed
• 1/2 cup chia seed
• 1/4 cup hemp nuts
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, shredded
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup black strap molasses (regular molasses can also be used)
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar.

Directions:

1. Toss spices and salt into the nuts, seeds and dried fruit mixture and mix well.
2. Pour molasses and vanilla over the nuts and spices and mix well.
3. Let sit for 10 minutes.
4. Stir in coconut sugar.
5. Spread on to the baking sheet and bake 30 to 40 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes or so to evenly brown.
6. Let completely cool. It gets crispier as it cools.
7. Store in an sir tight container.

Skip snacking on potato chips and go for a hand full of granola, It is real food so it satisfies your bodies need for nutrition. Chocked full of nutritious seeds and nuts and mineral rich molasses.
ENJOY!!

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Pumpkins are abundant this year so why not take advantage of the abundance of recipes with pumpkin in it. I have already shared
Pumpkin Bars,
Pumpkin Granola
Pumpkin Spice Frappe
Pumpkin Cheesecake (dairy free)
Processing your own pumpkin can save tons of moolah. Freeze it in 1 cup portions bags. Shizam, Pumpkin dessert any time of the year!

Here is a delicious recipe for Pumpkin Coffee Cake with pecan crumb topping. 

Easy to make and easy to make substitutions for sweetener and fat. 

You can easily substitute coconut oil or palm shortening for the butter to make this dairy free.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Cake:

• 1/2 cp butter, melted
• 1/2 cup coconut nectar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup pumpkin pulp, pureed
• 1 cp almond flour, packed
• 2 Tbs coconut flour, packed
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ginger

Topping:

• 1/2 cp almond flour, packed
• 2 Tbs softened butter
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 Tbs coconut nectar
• 1/2 cp chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat oven 325 degrees
2. Grease 9X9 glass dish or similar size
3. Stir together all wet ingredients for cake.
4. Add all dry ingredients and whisk until well incorporated.
5. Pour into dish.
6. Make topping by combining all ingredients and mix together with a fork. (It will be sticky)
7. Sprinkle/spread evenly over top of batter.
8. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until cooked through.

Tastes great while still warm or at room temperature although it can be difficult to remove from the dish before it is completely cooled. This is super moist and the flavor becomes richer each day. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
This has been my adaptation of the recipe I found here at GlutenFreeFix.com. Thanks Michelle!!
What is your favorite fall recipe?
ENJOY!

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Cups(coconut caramel)

A mistake gone GOOD!!

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Cups

I was thinking I wanted to make frosting with my coconut sugar. Well, frosting is NOT what I made. Instead I created a delicious caramel candy that screamed to be made into some sort of decadent confection.
The caramel filling is totally coconut. Coconut milk, coconut butter and coconut sugar. You'll need a blender and a hand mixer for this recipe.

Caramel-pecan topped variation

Here goes:

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Cups

Caramel filling

• 1 1/2 cups blond granulated coconut sugar
• 1 heaping Tbs coconut butter
• 2 to 3 Tbs canned coconut milk This might be more for desired consistency. Add a tsp at a time over 2 Tbs.
• 12 to 24 pecan halves for chocolate cup assembly.

Instructions for caramel filling:

1. Place sugar in blender and blend on high for 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Dump powdered sugar into a medium bowl and use a fork to cut in the room temperature coconut butter,
3. Add 2 Tbs coconut milk and using a hand mixer, blend until smooth, adding 1 tsp milk at a time to desired consistency.
4. Caramel is now ready to use.

Chocolate Coating:

• 1 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips
• 2 tsp coconut oil

Instructions for chocolate coating:

1. Melt chocolate chips and oil in a double boiler.

Assemble the caramel cup:

1. Prepare mini-cupcake pans by putting cupcake papers in pans.
2. Spoon melted chocolate into the bottom of the cupcake paper.
3. Next spoon a half teaspoon caramel filling in the middle of the chocolate cup.
4. Place a piece of pecan on top of the caramel.
5. Cover with another spoon of melted chocolate.
6. Once all the cups are filled in this order, place the pan in the freezer on a level shelf.
7. Leave for no more than 15 minutes.
8. Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container.

You can also top with a pecan half instead of covering with chocolate. Both variations are pictured.

This recipe was a total mistake but what a deliciously decadent mistake. I see these becoming part of my edible gifts at Christmas time.

How to Make Pumpkin Pulp Puree

Don't be afraid to delve into the land of food preservation!

While my children were still small, I had a 1/2 acre garden. I used to can green beans, tomato juice, and freeze corn and zucchini and an assortment of other fruits and veggies. I don't have a garden anymore nor do I can green beans and tomato juice. I would much rather spend my time on the golf course or taking a long bike ride or even spend an afternoon with my grandkids at the pool.

This year with pumpkins in such great abundance, I decided to put a few lbs of pumpkin pulp in the freezer. It's easy to do although it might take a little while to complete.

Canned pumpkin is not cheap and if you use it much in during the holidays, it can get quite expensive. I have used all but one of the cans I stockpiled from last winter.

Last winter I bought the last 2 cans of organic pumpkin pulp at the local Trader Joe's. I kinda felt bad while I was still shopping as I heard customer after customer asking where they could find the canned pumpkin and each one being told all the canned pumpkin has been put on the store shelves and if they didn't find any, they were all sold out. I strategically placed a couple bags of sweet potato chips on top of the cans so no one could see my canned pumpkin. The check out clerk announced he had thought they were out of canned pumpkin as I was checking out but was glad to see I found a couple cans. I then heard the lady at the next register send her husband back into the store to recheck the shelves for more. Sorry fellow shoppers but I got them first.
I won't be scouring the shelves this year. I am putting pumpkin in the freezer and saving a few bucks.
Here's how....

1) Using a sharp knife,
cut your washed pie pumpkin in half

2) Pry apart and remove seeds

3) Remove the insides using
an ice cream scoop.

4) Place pumpkins flesh side down in dish and pour
 about 1/4 inch water in the bottom of the dish.
Place in oven for about an hour at 350 degrees.

5) Scoop cooked pumpkin out of
 the skin and place in bowl when cooled

One big bowl of cooked pumpkin pulp.

6) Place pumpkin pulp in the
 food processor in batches to puree

7) I packaged one cup of pureed pumpkin per ziploc baggie for the freezer.
I got  7 cups of pumpkin puree for about the same cost as one can of pumpkin.

I hope you find this post helpful. It is really simple and fast to plan ahead for future baking projects.
Look for more pumpkin recipes here in the near future.
You can also use the same procedure to cook and process fall squashes such a butternut, acorn and crookneck. Squash can also be used to substitute for the pumpkin.

Here are a few pumpkin recipes I already posted:
Pumpkin Squares
Frozen Pumpkin Spice Frappe
Pumpkin Granola
No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake (Dairy-free)
ENJOY!!

Pumpkin bars with Raw Pecan Crust

It's fall and pumpkins are in abundant supply. I will be posting lots of pumpkin recipes including how to prepare a pie pumpkin in future posts. I love this time of year and love the pumpkin and assorted squash that is harvested in the fall.

I  have a weird ingredient alert. This recipe calls for agar agar, It is a vegetable gelatin. Unflavored gelatin can be substituted.

Pumpkin Bars with Raw Pecan Crust

Crust:

Add the following to your food processor:

• 1 cup pecan pieces (add a handful more if your pecans are whole)
• 1/2 cup almond meal flour (I used Trader Joe's Almond meal)
• 5 soft pitted dates (soak first if they are dry)
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Pulse till it begins to form a ball or is chopped up well. Scrape down the sides occasionally.

Press into 9X9 square dish.

Note: You don't need to grease or line the dish first. The raw crust won't stick.

Topping:

Combine the following in a small sauce pan:

• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar (has low glycemic index)
• 10 drops vanilla flavored liquid stevia
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp cardamom
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon

Simmer till coconut sugar is just dissolved.

Once the coconut sugar is dissolved add:

2 tsp agar agar powder (Not flakes! You would need far more if you use flakes!) I got my agar at Whole Foods in the bulk food section

Whisk agar powder  into the pumpkin mixture while simmering for about one minute. My pumpkin mixture thickened very quickly.

Pour over crust.

Refrigerate till solid.

Store in the fridge.

ENJOY!!

This recipe was adapted from the recipe I found on TheSpunkyCoconut. Thank-you for sharing your incredible gift with those of us still learning.

Mini-Chocolate Cupcake Poppers

Chocolate is on my brain lately. I made chocolate cupcake poppers with chocolate frosting tonight. I'm taking them to my Thursday night bible study. I like to make popper size because there isn't a commitment to eat a huge piece of cake. I'm into downsizing my portions.

Another reason I like making mini cupcakes is the baking time is reduced, I get in and out of the kitchen faster.

While getting in and out of the kitchen tonight quickly, I didn't get a series of pictures of the baking process. And my frosting isn't very pretty. It kinda melted on me. But, hey, it's delicious. I'll share that recipe in a future blog post.

I don't remember where I got this recipe but here is my altered version of the recipe I found online.

Chocolate Cupcake Poppers

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup blond coconut (palm)sugar(made from coconut nectar)
• dash salt
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 Tbs vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup hot water mixed with 1 pkt Starbucks VIA

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In large bowl mix together dry ingredients.
3. Create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add wet ingredients all except the coffee.
4. Begin mixing the wet ingredients into the dry incorporating completely.
5. Whisk in coffee.
6. Line mini-cupcake pans with cupcake papers.
7. Fill each cupcake paper with about 1 heaping tablespoon of batter.
8. Bake 12 to 14 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

 This recipe made 36 mini cupcake poppers.

Enjoy!!