Biscuits - Grain free, Gluten free

It has been a Loong summer over here. Hectic, busy and lots of vacationing.. 
So sorry for the delay! Just because I have been away doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking. 

Today it's snowy, cold and winter is blowing in. I felt like soup. Vegetable soup and what goes good with vegetable soup?
BISCUITS!
I can tell you it has taken me months to find biscuit that I like. 
I follow a lot of blogs, but none of them make a biscuit I am excited about. 
Coconut flour makes very dense biscuits, like think cake donut. Solid and heavy. 
I know without Gluten you cannot really acheive the same idea as glutenous baking powder biscuits, but you can still make them light. 
NOW to make them Grain Free is a totally different subject. You can make delicious ones with Oat or rice flour but then the carb load is just outrageous. 
A falling asleep carb load is not what I had in mind. 
So here is a delicious biscuit, light, cracky, moist, soft, hold together well and delicious savory with ham and cheese, or with honey and tea.
You can definitely serve these with guests over that eat wheat and they would like them. What's the secret to a soft puffy biscuit that is grain free? Whey powder.
My favorite ingredient of course! Adding whey powder to these not only has the nutritional benefit but it helps them rise and be not as dense.
 
Baking Powder Biscuits - Grain Free, Gluten free
Makes 8.

In a glass bowl:
2 C blanched almond flour
1 t aluminum free baking soda
1 t sea salt
2 T unsweetened whey powder

In a small bowl:
1/4 C melted butter, grape seed oil, or lard**
2 small eggs or 1 lrg egg
1/4 t sucralose, stevia or other sweetener

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry. Form into 8 equal size biscuits and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Biscuits will rise and puff up.
Bake at 350 for 8 minutes for soft and tender or 10-12 minutes for crunchy and firm.

Bottom should be just slightly golden brown. Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes before cutting, if they are too hot they will fall apart as you cut them. 

Make these savory and throw in some rosemary, dry mustard, dill, cheese, ham, chives, garlic etc. 

**substituting coconut oil for the butter will give them a coconut taste.

Store in a parchment or brown paper bag on the counter or refrigerate if desired. Storing in a Ziploc or plastic will make them very soft and they will mold fast.

Chocolate Chip cookies - flourless, grain free, dairy free, gluten free, sugar free

I was so excited today, I was planning on listing pancakes. However, I was really really really craving chocolate chip cookies. 

I wanted to make some but I have a hard time making them healthy.

I've been doing some research on baking pavlova cakes and pie crusts. I thought it would be a delicious alternative to grains using a meringue pie crust. 

I am planning on going crazy with making macaroons for Christmas this year. I will make them in every color! Why macaroons? 

They look great, colorful and decorative. But mostly, because then I only have to make one big batch and I can divide them per household that we go visit. No more making 10 different kinds of cookies because of all the different dietary needs and different tastes.

While I was browsing, I thought, how delicious would it be to make a cookie that was macaroon based instead of from grains. A meringue cookie, without being a shatter hard meringue. A meringue cookie without being gummy and chewy and funny looking..  A meringue cookie tasting like a cookie, looking like a cookie, and being small enough to shove one in my mouth every time I walk by type of cookie.

They are chewy, melt in your mouth tender, and simple ingredient wise compared to my other recipes. 

Honestly, I will probably never make any other kind of cookie again. They were sooooo good, and I don't feel guilty after eating them.

These are meringue cookies, or macaroons without the filling. You could fill them though, if you wanted. I could hardly stand waiting for them to cook though so I don't think I would fill them. 

They may look like ordinary cookies in the picture, but they are different. You could put them out on the table and just wait for someone to sneak one. They wouldn't even notice they didn't use flour or grains.

You can make them as difficult (by piping them out fancy) or easy (spoon) as you like. They will taste the same. 

They didn't spread, or rise. They didn't change shape or move, so put them in the same shape you want them to come out.

Chocolate Chip Macaroons - 

primal, grain free, gluten free, sugar free, dairy free

A macaroon (/mækəˈruːn/mak-ə-ROON) is a type of light, baked confection, described as either small cakes or meringue-like cookies depending on their consistency.

In a stand mixer bowl, beat until stiff peaks form:

3 organic egg whites

1/4 t sea salt
pinch cream of tartar or lemon juice

In a separate bowl mix together:

powdered sweetener to equal 5 tbs sugar (sucralose, or stevia)

1/4 C almond flour

1 t vanilla powder**

dash cinnamon

Once egg whites are stiff, sprinkle in 1/3 of dry mix over top of the whites and fold in gently. About 3 folds. Continue until all mix is combined.

Add: 1/4 C semi sweet or unsweetened chocolate chips

Fold twice. On a large cookie sheet with parchment paper, drop delicately by the tablespoon. Swirl top and flatten to size of desired cookie (You can also pipe the cookies for more elegance).

Cookies don't rise or spread so little space is necessary.

Bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, or until slightly golden and crisp on the outside.

The cookies should be chewy and soft in the middle but slightly crispy on the outside. I probably waited 3 minutes before trying one and it was great warm. I will have to try one cold and notice the texture change. 

For best results keep cookies cold to stop meringue from turning gummy.

* If you don;t have vanilla powder, you can use vanilla extract but adding it to the egg whites while mixing. Too much vanilla with break down the whites.

Grain Free Granola - sugar free

Ever since we got a dehydrator I have been thrilled with making my own granola. When we first started going grain free spending 9$ for a bag for only 1 weeks worth was tragic.

Originally I have always been an oatmeal eater, still to this day because it's so delicious; organic gluten free oats; I don't know how you can go wrong.
Sadly, I have been trying to slowly reduce my oats to weekly or biweekly, just because there are good reasons to do that and I like experimenting. 

So I was thinking, a grain free granola? Hm, sounds good. Only I don't just want a mouth full of nuts.  I like almonds, but almonds on top of almonds is a little too much for me.
You know my new favorite ingredient is Whey Powder.  It's delicious, and has many different beneficial properties, besides being low in carb. 

So I thought, how great would it be to use Whey powder as a base for the granola instead of rolled oats.
 Here is what I cam up with:

 

 Grain Free Granola - sugar free 

Make this into, cinnamon raisin, strawberry vanilla, cranberry crunch, etc.

In a large mixing bowl:

4 C sliced blanched almonds*
2 C shredded coconut unsweet
1 C vanilla Whey powder unsweet
1 C organic raisins
1/2 C flax meal or 1/4 C chia

Stir together, In a seperate bowl mix:

1 C unsweetened apple sauce
2 T palm sugar, or equal to in splenda, stevia
1 T vanilla powder or real extract
2 T ground cinnamon
1 t sea salt

Combine the two bowls. Mixture should clump together but not be wet. Spread out on to several racks in dehydrator. Dehydrate at 200 degrees. Every 2 hours stir and crumble granola with your hands until mix starts to clump and dry together. Dehydrate 8 hours or so until crunchy.

Can be made in the oven baked at 200 degrees until crispy. Stir every 2 hours just the same.

Grain Free Bread - Dairy free, gluten free

I know, I know. It's been a LONG time since I have posted.

MY life just started getting busy, and busy, and busy, and it's time for some changes around here.

My business has been taking up all my free time, I am trying hard right now to actually increase my free time and pull away from my business slightly in order to have a life.

I have been cooking and baking just as mush as ever, but I haven't listed anything. I have lots of pictures stacked up. So I hope to have some great recipes to share with you.

I don't know what it is about today, but I felt like baking bread.

I am shocked actually to discover I should be eating more alternative grains then I am used to on a cleanse, so I have been making bread.

I know how some people just stay away from bread all together, but sometimes I am really at a loss for what to do with left over chicken, or ham and I would love just a quick sandwich.

I refuse to buy processed bread. Anything you can buy Gluten free, is full of horrible starches and more rice then I eat in a month. I can't force myself to eat them without feeling awful full allllll day and a total pile of guilt.

I have made some breads in the past.

Coconut flour, tapioca flour, almond flour, and I usually don't really care for them. I will say I don't like finding coconut flour in my bread.

I also don't like really dense cakey bread. But, of course you know it's near impossible to get a fluffy and light loaf without Gluten.

I went to my favorite organic, Natural food store and was very please with their big variety of nut butters. I have honestly never bought anything but almond or peanut. I thought, HEY, if I can make semi good bread from almond butter, what can I make from others?

I dunno if you have noticed but almond butter doesn't really have that much taste.

So what about other delicious organic butters? Raw cashew, tahini, sunbutter, pumpkin seed, hemp seed. There is just so many how can you choose?

Today I knew I was going to bake bread, so I looked in the pantry and had inspiration.

I wanted to see if it was possible to make a better tasting bread that was just as good for sandwiches, as it was to smother with goat cheese and olive oil and eat as a snack. I want it to be grain free, and delicious without a lot of starches.

Delicious and moist, fluffly with air bubbles, and a crispy crust. It's pretty much all I could ask for. Now if only I could get my bread maker to make it for me :)

When it comes to the grocery bill, this is not a cheap bread to make. Compared to the $9 loafs you can buy though they taste better and cost about the same.

 I used a combination of raw and organic nut butters in this recipe with the desire of taste in mind. You can definitely use substitutes in place. The only butter I don;t recommend is coconut. It is by far different and I really don;t know what you would end up with. Changing the recipe could cause your bread to rise differently, bake faster, shorter and change color.

One thing I can note is using sunflower seeds will cause your bread to turn green. Not a very nice green either, but it is totally okay to eat. Using sunbutter you will want to decrease the baking soda in order to decrease the "green" doing so will make your bread more dense.

Grain Free Bread - Gluten free, Dairy free, Sugar free

Yields approx. 4-5 inch tall loaf

*Whey powder will give you a great rise, almost double in size without having to beat your egg whites. I recommend it*

In a stand mixer bowl:

3/4 C Raw Smooth Organic Cashew Butter

                                   - Substitute, Tahini, Pumpkin Seed, Almond, or a combination

1/4 C Organic Sesame Tahini (sesame seed butter)

4 organic eggs

1 T organic apple cider vinegar

1 T sweetener (honey, agave, stevia, sucralose, palm sugar)

Beat well until very smooth. Scrape the bowl and add:

1/4 C unsweetened Whey Powder

                         - substitute almond flour, I prefer to use good for you Whey powder versus

                           beating egg whites. If using almond flour you may want to beat egg 

                           whites separately and fold into ingredients.

2 T pumpkin seeds chopped

2 T chia seeds or hemp seeds

1/2 t sea salt

1 t aluminum free baking soda

1/4 c golden flax meal or arrowroot powder

Beat until smooth and thick. 

Grease a medium size bread pan with coconut oil or "flour" with flaxmeal and use butter.

Spread batter into pan and smooth out the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 min.

**Using a big pan will cause a shorter loaf of bread. If using a big pan double the recipe.

**change out the salt for cinnamon and vanilla if sweet bread is desired**

If you use a different combination of nut butter that you like let me know. I have found this to be my favorite blend. Almond butter will cause a much darker loaf but very delicious.

Crisp Crumble Topping - Grain Free, Sugar Free, Gluten Free

I found myself once again with a huge bag of fresh organic rhubarb ready to made into something delightful. 

I am not daring enough yet to try it as a soup or a stew. I have not come up with a recipe yet for a pie crust that follows the 17DD. 

The most recent one that I listed is my favorite and most up to date recipe so I am going to stick with that.

I suddenly was dreaming about the delicious strawberry rhubarb pie that I made a few weeks ago. The hot filling with cold vanilla cream is delicious!

I realized that I don't care if it's pie or not but the combination and the taste is what is the best. 

I had a thought that a crisp would be a good way to go. I knew I could figure out a way to make the topping without using anything I can't have. I was also glad not to have to make my kitchen all dirty making and rolling out pie crust. SO.. This is what I came up with.

A delicious crisp with a topping was crispy, golden brown, cinnamony and warm.

My only complaint is there will not be enough to last the week.

The best part about this topping is you could use it on absolutely any kind of crisp, or crumble you so desire. It will be a recipe that you can use as a substitute in any recipe needing a crumbly topping. I might actually get gutsy enough and try making it into a granola!

MMMmm I LOVE granola. Homemade granola is so good you could just shovel it in your mouth. But the oats always make it not very good for you if you shovel it in lol.

I also realized once trying it that it would work for a terrific substitute for graham cracker crumbs or a no bake graham cracker crust. 

First step, I made the topping. I wanted it to cool and dry out a tiny bit before adding it to the filling as I didn't want it to get soft.

6. Crumble Topping - grain free, gluten free, sugar free, low carb

In a large mixing bowl:

1/2 C blanched organic almond flour or ground almonds/nuts

1/2 C sliced blanched almonds or unsalted dry roasted pumpkin seeds

1/2 C sugar free vanilla/unsweetened whey powder

1/2 C xylitol with 1 t of organic mollases/breakfast syrup (for brown sugar taste)

                                                    or

           organic coconut palm sugar/ brown sugar sucralose blend

2 T cinnamon

In a separate bowl mix melted butter with vanilla and molasses(if using):

1/2 t vanilla powder or 1 t real vanilla extract

1/4 C plus 2 T melted butter or organic coconut oil/lard

Mix the dry ingredients and slowly stir in the melted butter stirring constantly until the mix begins to clump together and stick. It should look like coarse oat meal. If needed add more butter or coconut oil to until desired texture.

Set the bowl aside.

In order to make the filling 17DD compliant and starch and grain free you are going to have to use a fabulous alternative to traditional corn starch. Konjac powder. If you don't have this you can definitely substitute gelatin or regular tapioca starch.

I love how it's 0 calories, 0 carbohydrates and thickens 10 times stronger then corn starch. GREAT for diabetics or anyone wanting to avoid the regular high glycemic index of starches. 

This recipe usually needs 3 Tablespoons of flour or corn starch. I used 1 tsp on Konjac and I found it to be exactly right. 

The only trouble with Konjac I find is if you add more before it has completely thickened you can pretty much turn anything into jello. lol. Watch your gravy turn into a jello mold, (don't laugh it happened to me ok). 

Konjac powder is also used to make Noodle and "rice". Of course don;t expect them to be the same as traditional pasta but they hold together like a regular noodle and do the job. They just don't taste like anything, konjac is tasteless. I am really beginning to love these noodles. I see lasagna in the future! it's 17DD friendly!!!!

Strawberry Rhubarb Filling - sugar free, starch free

Feel free to reduce the sweetness to what suits you best. I like it slightly tart if you want it sweet add the full 2 C equal to of sugar.

In a large bowl toss together well:

3 C chopped organic rhubarb

2 C sliced organic strawberries

1 t konjac powder or 3 T tapioca/arrowroot/corn starch (not 17DD compliant)

Mix the konjac well with the fruit until it is evenly spread to reduce any clumping.

Stir in:

1 T real lemon juice

1/4 C egg whites or 1 organic egg

1 1/2 C xylitol, stevia  or sucralose (any sweetener equal to of sugar)

Mix well until filling become sticky and well combined. Pour half of the filling into a grased 9x9 square baking dish. Stir your topping and using your hands drop crumbles of half of the topping over the filling.

Add the rest of the filling over the topping. Crumble remaining topping over the filling.

Cover with tin foil and bake 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to 400 degrees and bake uncovered for 20 minutes until rhubarb is tender and the topping darkens and becomes crisp.

Meet me back here tomorrow for pancakes!!!!!!! :)

Chocolate Lava Cake - Sugar free, flour less

I always have trouble with my chocolate cravings following cycle 1. I like chocolate, but since we don't buy sweetened chocolate anymore it's really not good alone by itself.

I love chocolate desserts, but not just melted chocolate gobbed onto fruit.

So, I was searching through my delicious grain free cookbooks and found a great option for a chocolate Lava Cake.

One of my most favorite desserts when we would go out for dinner was chocolate lava cake or toffee pudding.

Nothing is really more delicious in my book.

Of course the trick right now is to avoid any kind of starches or grains or flour. So luckily I was able to figure out a recipe for lava cake without any kind of flour whatsoever. 

If you have ever made a flour less chocolate cake I am sure this is very similar. 

The addition of whey powder causes them to puff up and be more cakey then traditional flour less cake.

They are only partially baked so the inside is soft and warm still like lava. The best part was they fell after baking and left a delicious hole in the center just waiting to be filled with something creamy. If you eat them directly out of the oven they will still be puffed up like the picture above. Thats how they looked right out of the oven. After about 10 minutes they looked more like this.

<---------------------------------------------------

I had this thought of coffee ice cream that I usually order and I figured I would be able to get the same flavor out of whip cream without added sugar. 

Ice cream is not allowed on 17DD and neither is caramel sauce right now.

So coffee whip cream!

It turned out fluffy, creamy and coffee delicious. I hope you use this as a great recipe to fall upon on any kind of diet as they are significantly low in carbs and delicious. This brings me to recipe number 5 out of 17. I hope your having as much fun as I am.

5. Chocolate Lava Cake - Grain free, sugar free, flour less

In a mixer whip together until creamy:

3/4 C melted butter/coconut oil

3 organic eggs

1/4 C egg whites or 2 egg white

1/4 C heavy cream/cashew milk/coconut milk

Blend dry ingredients together:

1/2 C xylitol, date sugar, or date syrup (my recipe) (palm sugar or sucralose may be substituted)

1/4 C unsweetened whey powder

1 t baking soda

splash organic apple cider vinegar

Slowly scoop dry ingredients into mixer bowl while spinning. 

Once well combined slowly pour in chocolate so that it doesn't seize.

4 oz unsweetened bakers chocolate or 1/2 C melted

Slowly pour the chocolate in a steady stream into the batter and beat for 1 minute.

Grease 6 ramekins or 6 large muffin cups with coconut oil.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes at 400 degrees until the center is still moving when you shake the ramekin.

Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Dollop with coffee whip cream just before serving.

Coffee Whipped Cream - sugar free

1 C of whipping cream

2 T strong coffee

1 t real vanilla extract

1 t stevia

2 T fresh ground coffee

Whip whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in coffee, vanilla and stevia. Sprinkle coffee grounds and fold in.

Dollop whip cream into centers of each lava cake. Eat while warm. Sprinkle with more coffee if so desired.

Breakfast Egg Muffins - grain free, gluten free, starch free

It was a very nice long weekend and I realize when I come back home and get back to routine how much my baking is missed.

When it comes to lunches if I haven't been making anything there is really nothing to eat besides carrot sticks and canned fish.

It's difficult being Grain Free and eating breakfast on the go, especially when you get down to 17DD as the regular grain free indulgences all of a sudden become non existent.

Your main source of breakfast food becomes eggs and yogurt in Cycle 1.Yogurt is fine but eggs on the go? Boiled eggs are only fun for about a week. 

I make a fair bunch of fritatta and egg casseroles but even those can be troublesome to eat when you're driving to work with a delicious hot steaming coffee.

SO ... I had a VISION!

What if I was able to make a delicious breakfast muffin! Not just a muffin like all of my other recipes, but a BREAKFAST muffin.

We're talking Eggs, cheese, turkey bacon, scallions oh yum.

I looove my lemon, cranberry, whey powder muffins. They are great. But sweet muffins with sweet yogurt and sweet coffee is not for every day.

Here is a fabulous way to eat a balanced breakfast, grain free, starch free, and without additional carbs.

I love how you don't need a mixer or a food processor, to complete these. 

You can obviously pick many different savory flavors to complete these muffins.

I stuck to my basics. 

I used the silicon and the paper baking cups to make them easier to remove from the pan without sticking. You could omit these by using coconut oil or butter to grease the muffin tins.

I added some whey powder to the recipe to make them more "cakey" other than "eggy" and I quite liked it. You may need to adjust seasonings accordingly to make up for flavors, and sweetened or unsweetened whey powder.

Using the whey powder in the muffin will also cause them to "rise" similar to a regular muffin. Without the whey powder you will probably have fairly flat muffins.

If you want to omit the whey powder completely it will be totally fine. To substitute the whey powder I would recommend coconut flour.

This brings me to my 4th 17DD safe recipe!!!

4. Breakfast Muffins - grain free, starch free, dairy free, gluten free

In a glass bowl scramble together:

6 organic eggs/whites equal to

1 C coconut Milk/Dairy Milk/Cream/Almond Milk

1 t sea salt

1/2 t garlic powder

1/4 t black pepper

1/4 t onion powder

dash of paprika

Add to egg mixture:

 

1/2 C finely chopped vegetables.

• scallions, bell peppers, pimentos, mushrooms, tomatoes etc.

4 slices turkey/chicken bacon fried crisp and diced (ham, bacon, sausage etc)

1 cold 4 oz cream cheese brick chopped into pieces (1 C old cheddar cheese)

Mix the filling into the egg mixture and scramble as you would an omelet. You want to leave the cream cheese in pieces as it will melt in the oven.

Slowly scoop in 3 T unsweetened whey powder or 2 T coconut flour

Mix all ingredients together and pour into greased or paper lined muffin cups. Fill 2/3 full and bake.

Bake at 400 degrees for 13-18 minutes. Just until the top is firm, and starting to brown.

Let cool for 10 minutes before eating.