Maple Vanilla Icing – Refined Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Vegan

December 23, 2017April 18, 2019

No gingerbread cookies or sugar cookies would be complete without icing! This is a super easy and allergy friendly icing for gingerbread cookies, and sugar cookies. Perfect for decorating cookies around the holidays!

Maple Vanilla Icing

Makes about 1/4 cup

Ingredients

3 tbsp + 2 tsp maple syrup

3 tbsp sweet rice flour (I used the Koda Farms Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour)

3 tbsp + ½ tsp melted refined coconut oil (I used one from Trader Joes)

¼ tsp + 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

tiny tiny pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Stir together the maple syrup, sweet rice flour, and vanilla extract until smooth.

2. Add in the melted refined coconut oil and stir until well combined.

3. Allow the icing to sit for a minute or two until the coconut oil cools a little and it’s easier to spread or pipe onto cookies.

To get a glossy finish on the cookies, ice the cookies while the icing is still warm, and use the back of a teaspoon smooth the icing to the edges of the cookie. If the icing firms up too much to frost with, just put the icing over a double boiler to gently melt the coconut oil and it will smooth right out again.

You can also use this icing to pipe with. I just scooped the icing in to a ziploc bag, cut off a tiny bit of the corner of the bag and used it to pipe the frosting onto the cookies.

If you want to pipe with the frosting, add in about 1/4 – 1/2 tsp more of the sweet rice flour to the frosting (to get a firmer frosting) and pipe the icing while the icing is still a warm.

If the icing gets firm to pipe with, scoop it out of the bag, heat it in a double boiler again, allow to cool for a minute and then scoop the icing back in to the bag, and pipe the icing as usual.

If it does look a little rough in places, you can dip your finger in some warm water and smooth down the rough edges, or use a wet toothpick for ever more precision in cleaning up the edges of your icing.

Maple Vanilla Sugar Cookies – Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Vegan

December 23, 2017April 18, 2019

These are great cookies, and super simple to make. They are sort of a cross between a traditional sugar cookie, and a fortune cookie. They have a wonderful crunchiness and the maple gives them a lovely sweetness.

Another good thing about these cookies is that they don’t contain any baking soda or baking powder, so the shape of the cookies don’t spread out or distort at all during baking.

The shape that you put the cookies into the oven is the same shape that they come out of the oven, perfect for holiday cookies.

You make them exactly the same way as the gingerbread cookies (hence the same instructions are repeated here) and the maple vanilla flavor really shines through in these cookies.

They aren’t too sweet, and I love them most when they are completely frosted with the maple vanilla icing. If you also love sweeter cookies, you can double the icing recipe. They frosting really gives the cookies a very polished look and makes them taste even more amazing.

Maple Vanilla Sugar Cookies

Makes 10 – 12 cookies

Ingredients

2 tbsp water

½ level tsp psyllium husk powder *

tiny pinch of sea salt

1 ¼ cup + 2 tbsp oat flour **

¼ cup + 1 tsp maple syrup

½ tsp + 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp + 2 tsp melted refined coconut oil ***

Notes – *Psyllium husk powder gels like nothing else, and there’s no great substitute for it. I found mine in the bulk spice section of the local Fred Meyer, but Whole Foods, Trader Joes have been known to carry it as well. If it’s not in the natural foods, or bulk spice section, check the dietary supplement/ digestive health (where the Metamucil is) section of the store or pharmacy as it’s sometimes sold there as well.

** I grind oats into oat flour using a blender. Don’t grind the oats in a food processor because the flour won’t be fine enough.

Any extra oat flour I don’t use in the recipe goes into an airtight container and I use it for another recipe.

If you’re making the cookies for someone who has celiac disease, use certified gluten free oats, as the oats from the bulk bins can sometimes be processed on the same equipment as wheat.

*** I used the refined coconut oil from Trader Joes, which is filtered and not bleached. It’s the fat of coconut oil, without the flavor which works great for these cookies. You can use regular coconut oil for this recipe, but it probably will give the cookies a mild coconut flavor. Because I used the refined coconut oil, these cookies didn’t taste of coconut at all.

Instructions

1. In a small bowl stir together the water and psyllium husk, try to stir out all the lumps. Set aside for a few minutes and let it gel.

2. In a medium size bowl, sift the oat flour, and salt together.

3. Add the maple syrup, and vanilla to the oat flour mixture, and stir until well combined. Add in the gelled psylium husk and stir until you no longer see any bits of the gel.

4. Add the melted refined coconut oil to the mixture and stir until well combined. It will look very sticky, but don’t worry. There’s no need to add any additional flour, the coconut oil will firm up in the fridge and the dough will sort itself out.

5. Let the dough sit in the bowl for 2-3 minutes and it should be firm enough to scoop onto some plastic wrap. Wrap it up and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

6. Preheat your oven to 325 F. Cut the top and sides off of a gallon size Ziploc bag and open it and lay it flat to form a long rectangle.

Dip a paper towel in a little bit of neutral flavored oil (like avocado oil or vegetable oil) and oil the inside of the plastic. Don’t use the coconut oil for this, it solidifies too quickly and the dough ends up sticking to it.

7. Take the dough out of the fridge and cut it in half. Wrap the half you’re not working with in plastic wrap and set to the side.

If the dough breaks when you try to roll it out, you can knead it with your hands for a little bit so that the coconut oil in the dough melts a little from the heat in your hands. It should soften up and become easier to work with after this.

If the dough is too sticky to work with, you can add about 1 tbsp of oat flour, and knead it into the dough to combine, or put it back into the fridge to firm up for a few minutes.

Roll out your dough between the layers of oiled plastic to 1/4 of an inch thick, re-oiling the plastic each time your re-roll out the dough.

Cut out the shapes with the cookie cutters. Use something like the flat edge of the back of a butter knife (an offset spatula would be perfect for this) and run it under the cookies to get them to release from the plastic.

If there are any little bits of the dough stuck to the plastic after you peel your cookies off, make a little ball out of your scrap dough, and drag it over the plastic and it should clean it right off.

If your finding it difficult to remove the cookies from the plastic (especially for more complex shapes like snowflakes), cut the cookie shapes out using the cookie cutters, and remove the excess cookie dough from around your cookies. Then lay the cookies that are stuck on the plastic onto a plate and stick them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. After that, the cookies should be firm enough to peel off the plastic and set them onto the baking sheet.

I usually use my finger to press the sides of the cookies smooth, just to clean up the edges.

Place the cookies onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 325 for 34- 38 minutes (I baked them for 36 minutes) until just lightly golden brown about the edges and firm to the touch.

Allow the cookies to cool before icing.

Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

Gingerbread Cookies – Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free, Nut Free, Vegan

December 23, 2017April 18, 2019

It just doesn’t really feel like Christmas without gingerbread cookies.

These cookies are free from nuts, gluten, refined sugar, dairy, egg free and completely vegan.

They are also delicious.

They are actually the best gingerbread cookies I’ve ever had. Who knew you could make amazing gingerbread cookies that work with so many dietary restrictions?

These cookies are crunchy, and not too sweet. They have a lovely warm flavor to them, and are perfectly spiced (without being too spicy) so they are perfect for kids as well.

The black pepper is optional, but I do think that it gives the cookies a wonderful complex rich flavor.

Another good thing about these cookies is that they don’t contain any baking soda or baking powder, so the shape of the cookies don’t spread out or distort at all during baking.

The shape that you put the cookies into the oven is the same shape that they come out of the oven, perfect for holiday cookies.

If you like your cookies on the sweeter side, double the recipe for the Maple Vanilla Icing and give those cookies a good coating of icing. So good…

Gingerbread Cookies

Makes 10 – 12 cookies

Ingredients

2 tbsp water

½ level tsp psyllium husk powder *

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp + 1 tsp maple syrup

1 tbsp + ½ tsp organic unsulfered blackstrap molasses

1/8 level tsp ground black pepper (optional)

¾ level tsp ground ginger

1 ¼ level tsp + 1/8 level tsp ground cinnamon

1 ¼ cup oat flour + 3 tbsp oat flour **

tiny pinch of sea salt

3 tbsp + 1 tsp melted refined coconut oil ***

** I grind oats into oat flour using a blender. Don’t grind the oats in a food processor because the flour won’t be fine enough.

Any extra oat flour I don’t use in the recipe goes into an airtight container and I use it for another recipe.

If you’re making the cookies for someone who has celiac disease, use certified gluten free oats, as the oats from the bulk bins can sometimes be processed on the same equipment as wheat.

Instructions

1. In a small bowl stir together the water and psyllium husk, try to stir out all the lumps. Set aside for a few minutes and let it gel.

2. In a medium size bowl, sift the oat flour, spices and salt together.

3. Add the maple syrup, molasses and vanilla to the oat flour mixture, and stir until well combined. Add in the gelled psylium husk and stir until you no longer see any bits of the gel.

5. Let the dough sit in the bowl for 2-3 minutes and it should be firm enough to scoop onto some plastic wrap. Wrap it up and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

6. Preheat your oven to 325 F. Cut the top and sides off of a gallon size Ziploc bag and open it and lay it flat to form a long rectangle.

7. Take the dough out of the fridge and cut it in half. Wrap the half you’re not working with in plastic wrap and set to the side.

If the dough is too sticky to work with, you can add about 1 tbsp of oat flour, and knead it into the dough to combine, or put it back into the fridge to firm up for a few minutes.

Roll out your dough between the layers of oiled plastic to 1/4 of an inch thick, re-oiling the plastic each time your re-roll out the dough.

I usually use my finger to press the sides of the cookies smooth, just to clean up the edges.

Place the cookies onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 325 for 34- 38 minutes (I baked them for 36 minutes) until just slightly darkened about the edges and firm to the touch.

For small cookies (about 1-1.5 inches in size) bake for 22-24 minutes, until slightly darker around the edges.

Allow the cookies to cool before icing.

Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

Mini Chocolate Peppermint Pies – Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free Tarts

December 16, 2017

Before I cut out gluten, dairy, and refined sugar out of my diet, one of the things that I looked forward to every Christmas was the arrival of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Peppermint Bark Squares at the local grocery stores.

How I loved those little squares… so creamy, and rich, and wonderful. I loved opening each of those little brightly colored red and white wrappers.

I loved the little crunchy bits of that swirled in amongst the smooth bright flavor of the peppermint white chocolate. They were so festive, and eating each one felt like such a treat.

This year, I decided that I would come up with a recipe to get that same sort of feeling of eating a chocolate peppermint treat at Christmastime, (but one that I could eat with my dietary restrictions) so that I wouldn’t feel like I was missing out on anything.

These little tarts are vegan, and nut (without the cashew cream) / soy / and gluten free, so they will work with a variety of food sensitivities and food allergies, and would be a good dessert to bring for any holiday party.

You can make this mixture ahead of time and spoon it into the tart shells right before serving. You can eat them as is, or top them with some cashew whipped cream, or a little star made from the scraps of your pie crust for a more festive look.

Any way that you eat them, I hope that you really enjoy them this holiday season!

Makes 6 tarts

(Ingredient amounts for 12 tarts listed at the end of the post)

Ingredients

1/2 cup roasted sweet potato puree

5 tbsp maple syrup

4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (I used the Ghirardelli’s brand one)

1 tsp strong coffee or espresso*

6 tbsp melted coconut oil **

1/8 tsp peppermint extract (I used the McCormick brand one) ***

tiny pinch of sea salt to taste

Instructions

1. Melt the coconut oil, and add it along with all the other ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth.

2. Taste the mixture, and if the peppermint flavor isn’t strong enough, add another drop of peppermint extract at a time to the mixture until you’re happy with the flavor.

Peppermint extract can be very strong, and there’s a very fine line between it being perfectly minty in flavor, and way too strong.

If you accidentally add too much extract, you can add in a little more of the other ingredients to balance the flavor out again. This recipe is pretty forgiving and can take a little tweaking if need be.

If your sweet potato puree was cold from the fridge before you blended the mixture together, the coconut oil may have set before it had a chance to incorporate with the rest of the ingredients. What you can do in this case is gently heat and stir the mixture over a double boiler until it’s glossy and smooth.

For serving, if you want the mixture to be sort of soft and pudding-like, you can gently heat the mixture up again using a double boiler, just until the coconut oil melts and the mixture turns glossy, and then spoon it into the tart shells. Coconut oil melts at 76 °F, so it won’t take long to heat up. For the pictures in this post, I heated the filling using this method before dolloping the filling into the shells, which gives the tarts a beautiful finish.

I prefer the texture when the filling has been refrigerated. It’s like a cross between a fudgy peppermint chocolate frosting and a chocolate mousse. Once you spoon it into the tart shells, you can give the filling a glossy finish (it won’t have the same “dollop” look, but will still look really nice) by dipping a teaspoon into hot water, and smoothing out the tops of the tarts before topping them with cashew whipped cream, a little pie crust star, or leaving them as they are.

3. Spoon the filling into the tart shells and serve immediately.

I used this recipe for the tart shells. For the stars, I used the scrap dough, cut them out using a small star shaped cookie cutter and baked them on a silpat at 375 for 10-15 minutes until golden brown around the edges.

* I add 1 tsp ground Italian Roast Coffee to a mug with 1/4 cup of hot water, allow it to cool, cover with plastic wrap and then refrigerate this overnight. This strong coffee is good to have on hand for this recipe, but also for adding a depth of flavor to other chocolate things like hot chocolate, brownies, and even chocolate frosting.

**I used regular coconut oil, and there is the faintest hint of coconut flavor in these tarts. If you that’s not really your thing, you can used refined coconut oil instead so that you don’t get that hint of coconut flavor in the tarts.

*** I would prefer to use an organic peppermint extract, but this is just the one that I had on hand, and the flavor is good.

P.S. I’ll let you in on a little secret – this recipe makes enough filling for about 7 1/2 tarts, but what that means is that you can fill the 6 tart shells, and save the extra filling as a treat to eat later after all the holiday parties. When you get home, you can look forward to having a quiet moment to yourself to sit in your jammies, and eat this and fall asleep watching Christmas specials on TV. No one will ever know…

For 12 tarts

1 cup roasted sweet potato puree

10 tbsp maple syrup

8 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (I used the Ghirardelli’s brand one)

2 tsp strong coffee or espresso

12 tbsp melted coconut oil

1/4 tsp peppermint extract (I used the McCormick brand one)

tiny pinch of sea salt to taste

The Very Best Gluten Free Pancakes – Oat Flour, Vegan and Egg Free Friendly, Dairy Free

December 10, 2017

(These are the vegan pancakes, made with maple syrup)

When I first started on this gluten-free, food sensitivity journey, I found out that I couldn’t tolerate many of the ingredients in store bought gluten-free flour mixes.

And I missed pancakes.

I missed eating them with maple syrup, and fresh peaches in the summer time. I missed eating them them with strawberries and blueberries. Pancakes are a very nostalgic and American food, and it really felt like I was missing out by not being able to eat them.

It took me a year and a half to get this pancake recipe perfect, but I’m honestly so glad that I kept at it until I figured it out. These pancakes are wonderful! They are slightly crispy on the outside, and pillowy soft on the inside. They are not gummy at all.

They are made from simple ingredients, and cost very little to make.

The first time I finally figured out this recipe, I flipped over the first pancake and my heart skipped a beat when I saw how beautiful and golden that little pancake was. I had finally gotten it right, and it was so exciting!

(The non-gummy cross section of the pancakes).

They are perfectly sweet, so you don’t absolutely need to drizzle over more maple syrup when you serve them, but you can of course! Especially if you like your pancakes extra sweet.

They are pretty hearty little pancakes and very filling. Each batch serves about 2 people. I have been known to make extras, and then eat them out of the fridge cold when I was too tired to think of something else to eat.

They work great for this! Especially after a long day if you’re being tempted by the siren call of those cookies you stashed away in the cupboard from your pre-gluten free days. You can eat these instead, and not feel ill afterwards.

You can pack a few of them in a little Tupperware container with some berries (fresh or frozen is fine) for breakfast. They heat up well in a toaster oven as well.

The Very Best Gluten-Free Oat flour Pancakes

Makes 10 pancakes (about 2 servings)

Ingredients

200 gm oat flour – or about 2 1/4 cup + 3.5 tbsp by volume *

scant ½ tsp of baking soda

tiny pinch of salt

1/4 cup of maple syrup

1/4 cup tbsp of melted coconut oil

2 eggs **

½ cup of water

1.5 tbsp of apple cider vinegar

Instructions

1. Sift together the oat flour, baking soda and salt.

2. In a separate bowl stir together the water, maple syrup, vinegar, eggs and the melted coconut oil.

3. Pour the wet mix into the dry, and stir this altogether until pretty smooth. Set this mixture to the side, and set a timer for 15 minutes.

During this time, make your stainless steel pan non-stick.

4. When there’s about 3 minutes left on the timer, start to heat up your pan.

If medium heat on your burner is a 5, set the heat to 4. You want to be just a little lower than medium heat.

5. When the timer goes off, give your batter a good stir (no gluten means not having to worry about over-mixing this batter).

Spoon 2 tbsp of pancake batter onto your pan for each pancake, and use the back of your spoon to gently spread the batter into a little circle, just to smooth out the shape of your pancake.

Cook the pancakes 1 min to 1.5 minutes on the first side until you see small bubbles forming on the surface of the pancake, and the sides have firmed up.

Flip the pancakes over and cook another 20-30 seconds until they are a pale golden brown, then stack the pancakes on a plate to the side. I usually cook 2 pancakes at a time so that I have room to flip them (I cook them in a 10 inch skillet). If the pancakes start to brown too fast, turn your heat down a little and cook them for a shorter amount of time on the first side.

The batter should be a little on the thick side so that the pancakes cook up nice and fluffy.

If you like thinner pancakes, you can add about 1-2 tbsp of water to the mix to thin it out. If the batter is too thin, stir in a little oat flour to thicken the batter up again.

If you use 2 tbsp of batter per pancake, then they end up about 4 inches in diameter. You can make the pancakes larger by using more batter, and adjusting the cooking time.

(Adult Pancake – 2 tbsp batter, and Baby Pancake – 1 tbsp batter).

* Notes – Ideally you would weigh out the oat flour, but measuring it by cups and tablespoons will work in a pinch.

Costco sells organic maple syrup for $12 – $13 / liter. The oats I grind myself in a blender (wearing earplugs, because it can be noisy). Don’t use a food processor to grind the oats, because it won’t be able to grind the flour fine enough. I put any extra oat flour into an airtight container and use it for other recipes.

** Substitutions – you can sub white vinegar for apple cider vinegar, and any neutral flavored oil for the coconut oil. You can also swap out a few tablespoons of maple syrup for water if you want them less sweet. The maple syrup just gives the pancakes a mild sweetness and a nice brown pancake color.

***Egg-free and Vegan versions – This pancake recipe is the gift that keeps on giving. It continues to amaze me every time I eat them, and make them with or without eggs.

To make them egg-free, just swap out the eggs for an extra 1/4 cup of water per egg. The texture isn’t quite as fluffy as when you use the egg, but definitely still respectable, and much better than when I tried to use a banana to bind the pancakes instead.

I’ve also made a version where I swapped out the maple syrup for 4 tbsp of honey, and used an extra 1/2 cup of water instead of the 2 eggs. They were very good as well, and the honey also acts a little as a binder.

If you make the pancakes egg free, use 1 tbsp of batter for each pancake instead. Making the pancakes smaller makes it easier for them to cook through, and you’ll get a better texture than if you made them larger. I was very surprised at how beautiful the honey egg free pancakes were that I made today. They were a beautiful light golden brown when I flipped them over, and I was happily shocked that it worked as well as it did.

I served the honey ones today with a little jam that I made from just cooking down some frozen peaches, blackberries, blueberries and a dash of maple syrup over medium heat until thickened. It was so good!

It’s amazing how much joy a pancake recipe can bring. However you make these pancakes, I hope that you enjoy them and get to share them with someone that you love.

Let me know how the recipe works out for you.

Happy Eating!

How to Make a Stainless Steel Pan Non-stick (non-toxic)

December 9, 2017April 18, 2019

(This is what the pan looks like before the coating of oil).

When I decided to stop using non-stick cookware, one of the hardest thing to get my head around was how I was going to be able to cook things like pancakes and sunny-side up eggs.

I googled “how to make a stainless steel pan non-stick” and wasn’t able to find an answer.

So after much trial and error, I finally figured it out. And it’s actually super simple to do.

By heating the oil in a pan this way, the oil binds to the surface of the steel (forming a polymer – whatever that means…), creating a temporary non-stick coating. I’ve used this method with olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado various times and all have worked great.

Instructions

1. Start with a cool stainless steel pan. Rub the bottom of the inside of the pan with probably about ½ tsp (maybe less) of olive oil with either your fingertips or a paper towel. You only need a thin layer, but want to coat the entire bottom of the pan so that there are no gaps in where you put the oil.

2. This can get a little smelly so, I’d turn on the cooking fan for this.

Put the pan onto a cold burner and turn the heat up to medium. Hover your hand a few inches above the pan. When the air over the pan feels about as warm as a warm bath you’d give a baby (so not too hot) then turn the burner off, and leave the pan to cool on the burner while you prep your veggies for your stir-fry, or your pancake batter.

3. Then just cook as usual.

The non-stick coating is temporary, but you should be able to get through cooking a batch of pancakes, or fry a few eggs on this surface just fine before you need to add a little more oil.

When you’re done cooking, you can scrub this non-stick surface off with some baking soda mixed into a paste with a little dish soap and a scrubby sponge. When I need a non-stick surface next time, I just repeat the process.

(This is what the pan looks like after it’s been heated with the oil).

For me, I cook on an electric stove, and I’ve done this enough times now that I know that if I start with a cold pan, it takes 5 minutes to heat to the baby bath level of warmth. Now I can just rub the pan’s surface in oil, put it onto the burner, turn on the stove, turn on the fan, and set a timer for 5 minutes.

You may have to adjust the timer for your stove, as you may find that your stove heats up more quickly or more slowly than mine does.

I always stay in the kitchen as I do this, just in case the pan starts to smoke.

If you see the pan start to smoke, pull the pan off the hot burner right away (also turn off the burner) and put the pan on one of the cold burners to cool. Once cool, it should still have created a non-stick surface and you can just cook on this pan as usual.

If you fry an egg sunny side upon this surface, I’d cover the pan with a plate or a lid while the egg is cooking. The egg white cooks through more evenly with a lid on the pan.

What would you cook using this trick? Let me know in the comments below.

Happy Cooking!

How to Keep Baby Spinach Fresh for Longer

December 5, 2017April 18, 2019

These days, most baby greens come prepackaged and washed in those plastic clam shells at the supermarket. They are super convenient, but the greens seem to always spoil quickly. As it turns out there is a very easy fix for this.

When you open the package, take 2-3 paper towels, fold them in half, and lay them on top of your greens before you close the lid and put them into the fridge. The paper towels absorb the excess moisture that can cause your greens to wilt more quickly. Every few days, check to see of the paper towels are damp. If they are, just replace them with new paper towels, and compost the used ones.

These baby spinach leaves really have been in my fridge for 2 weeks (that’s why the box is so empty, I’ve eaten most of it). This trick works great!

Different greens will have different shelf lives, even if you use this trick. Spring mix doesn’t last as long as the baby spinach does, but this will still work for that as well. This works very well for romaine lettuce, as it’s a sturdier lettuce.

I think that I’m going to post a new recipe every Saturday from now on. Occasionally I may write additional posts other days of the week. I have a number of tips for how to keep food fresh, and how to freeze foods that can spoil quickly, and I’m really excited to share those with you as well.

Please feel free to comment below, and let me know if this trick works for your lettuce too! I think that this must have saved me a small fortune (in baby greens) by now, and it feels great when you can make the most of the ingredients that you have.

Apple Tarts – Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Vegan

November 23, 2017April 18, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a bonus recipe, my gift to you for Thanksgiving! I hope that your family will enjoy them as much as my family does.

Apple tarts are full of fall flavors, and conjure up happy memories (or simply lovely daydreams) of wearing plaid (lots of plaid), and being bundled up in warm hats, scarves and mittens, and going to the local orchard for a fun day of apple pickin’ with friends and family.

These tarts are simple to make, they just require about 35 minutes of your time, and a bit of stirring. I made up a batch of apple filling last night, and it’s just sitting in the fridge as we speak. I’ll spoon it into the tart crusts and top them with some cashew whipped cream right before serving.

You can easily double the batch to make the filling for 12 tarts, and I’ll leave the measurements for 12 tarts at the bottom of post, just in case you need them. You may have to slightly adjust the cooking times for the bigger batch.

Apple Tarts

Makes 6

Ingredients

2 Fuji Apples – cut into 1/4 inch dice (about 2 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 level tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp avocado oil (or any neutral flavored oil)

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan (if doubling the recipe, us a large pot instead) cook the apples, water and maple syrup over medium high heat for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

Wear an oven mitt and a shirt with long sleeves to stir the mixture, as the steam from the cooking apples can be hot.

2. Turn the heat to medium, and cook for another 10 minutes stirring constantly.

Don’t touch the mixture with your hands during the final 10 minutes, or until it cools, as we’re basically making a caramel with apples in it. You don’t want to burn yourself from the hot sugar mixture.

The pieces of diced apple will become golden brown, and there shouldn’t be any more pools of liquid in the pan. The mixture will become more difficult to stir, and lots of tiny tiny bubbles will form on the bottom of the pan while you stir.

The mixture is done cooking when you can turn your spoon to the side and most of the apple mixture on the spoon will stick to the spoon instead of falling back into the pot.

3. Take the pan off the heat, and carefully scrape the mixture into a bowl and allow to cool.

I kinda love how the middle tart almost looks like an apple pie version of a golden snitch. An apple tart with the wings of golden (gluten free) pie crust!

4. Add the cinnamon, vanilla extract, and oil to the cooled apple mixture and stir to combine. Spoon about 2 tbsp of the apple mixture onto each tart shell, and top with a dollop of cashew whipped cream. Serve immediately.

For 12 tarts

4 Fuji Apples – cut into 1/4 inch dice (about 5 cups)

1 cup maple syrup

3 cups water

1/2 level tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

4 tsp avocado oil (or any neutral flavored oil)

Amazing Mashed Potatoes – The Best Vegan Mashed Potatoes Recipe – Dairy Free, Vegan

November 20, 2017April 18, 2019

I first made these last year. I wanted super creamy, buttery rich mashed potatoes without any of the dairy. These definitely fit the bill. They were unbelievably good, and I hope that you love them as much as I do.

These mashed potatoes reheat better than normal mashed potatoes (hooray!) and can be made ahead of time and reheated just before serving.

Do be sure to let your guests know that the mashed potatoes have cashews in them though, just in case anyone has any nut allergies.

By gently heating the olive oil it removes the pepperiness of the olive oil, and gives it a much more neutral flavor. This also removes some of the nutrients of cold pressed olive oil. To me, that’s ok for the holidays, but you could use any neutral oil in place of the olive oil and they mashed potatoes would probably still turn out well. If you do use a neutral flavored oil, then you can skip the step of heating the oil and add the oil directly to the cooked potatoes along with the cashew cream.

Amazing Mashed Potatoes
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1/3 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight

½ cup + 3 tbsp. water

3 lb russet potatoes (I used 2.8 lb for reference)

2/3 cup + 1 tbsp. olive oil (or neutral flavored oil)

1 ¼ tsp. – 1 ¾ tsp. sea salt

¾ tsp. black pepper

Instructions

1. To make the cashew cream soak the cashews overnight, then drain them. Blend the cashews and 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp of water until smooth. Set aside.

If you forget to soak the cashews, you can boil them for 50 minutes (it’s a long time I know, but they plump right up), adding water the pot occasionally if the water runs low. Drain them and allow them to cool to room temp before using.

2. I would heat the oil on the back burner of the stove, just so it’s less likely to be accidentally knocked over by a pet or a small child. Gently heat the olive oil in a dry medium saucepan (if there is any water in the pan, then the oil might splatter) over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until it loses it’s peppery aroma and smells slightly fruity. Don’t touch the oil but waft it so that you can smell if the oil has lost its pepperiness.

Olive oil naturally smells peppery, but when it loses that smell, it loses that peppery bite in its flavor as well, which is what we’re looking for here. Once it smells fruity, take the pan off the heat and set it aside to cool to room temp.

3. Peel and cut the potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Add the potatoes to a large pot of cool water along with a drop of oil to prevent the pot from boiling over. Bring the potatoes to a boil over medium high heat and then turn the heat to medium and cook the potatoes for about 10-15 minutes until you get no resistance at all when you pierce the potatoes with a fork.

4. Drain the potatoes and put them into a large mixing bowl. The potatoes should take about 50 minutes to cook, and at this point, the olive oil should be cool.

If the pan of oil is still warm, spoon about 1 tsp of oil onto a plate and let it cool for a few minutes. Taste the cooled olive oil and see if it’s still peppery.

If it still has a peppery flavor, heat it for a few minutes longer over medium heat until it smells fruity. Drop a teaspoon of the oil onto a plate, allow it to cool and taste it again.

If the olive oil has lost it’s peppery flavor, allow the olive oil to cool to room temp before adding it to the potatoes. Don’t stir the hot oil into the potatoes, because you’ll be using a hand mixer to whip the mashed potatoes and you don’t want hot oil to splatter over anything or anyone while the potatoes are being whipped.

5. Roughly mash the potatoes with a fork, and stir the oil into the potatoes by hand until you no longer see any pools of olive oil. Stir in the cashew cream, 1 tsp of salt, and pepper. Then using a hand mixer, whip the potatoes until creamy and fluffy.

6. Taste the potatoes, and add salt ¼ tsp. at a time until you’re happy with the seasoning. I ended up adding 1 ¾ tsp. salt to my batch, but you may have to adjust your seasoning depending on if you have a slightly different weight of potatoes.

7. Serve warm, or stash in the fridge to reheat right before serving.

If you’re putting a dish straight from the fridge into the oven, put the fridge-cold dish into the cold oven (so that the ceramic dish does shatter from the temperature change between the cold fridge and the hot oven). Then preheat your oven with the dish inside so that it warms up with the oven and bake as usual.

You can reheat any mashed potatoes by covering the dish tightly with foil, and baking at 300 degrees for 45 minutes until warmed through.

Note- You can also add in some granulated garlic, and some nutritional yeast for “cheesy” mashed potatoes that are just delicious, or just have some extra nutritional yeast and granulated garlic on the table in case someone would like to add them to their own serving.

What To Do With Leftover Celery

November 19, 2017April 18, 2019

I don’t often cook with a lot of celery, and I always seem to have some leftover this time of year after making stuffing and gravy.

Instead of letting it languish in the back of your fridge (until you have to throw it away) you can freeze it and use it in future dishes. There are just two things you need to remember with frozen celery.

1. Don’t let it defrost before cooking with it or it will brown. Add it straight from the freezer to the pan. It’s still edible when it turns brown, just not so pretty. If you need to dice the frozen celery further before cooking, try and do it quickly so that the celery doesn’t have time to defrost before it hits the pan.

2. You can use frozen celery in any recipe that calls for cooking celery, it’s not so great in recipes that call for raw celery (like potato salad) because frozen celery will lacks the color and crunch of fresh celery.
I’ve even used frozen celery to make dairy and gluten free clam chowder and it came out great.

You can also add some frozen celery to a pot with some diced onion, sliced carrot, leftover chicken, broth and cooked brown rice or gluten free noodles for a quick and tasty chicken soup. Its also great in minestrone or other vegetable soups.

Directions

1. Wash and slice the celery into ½ inch thick slices. They look like beautiful little crescent moons this way, and the size makes it easy to add to recipes. I also love when little bits of chopped celery leaves peeking out of dishes because they make any dish a little prettier and cheerier.

2. Place the celery into a Ziploc bag and freeze flat.

When you want to use the celery, just break off as much celery as you need in the recipe and put the rest back into the freezer. Ta da! No more wasted celery!

Hope and Butterflies

Category: Egg Free

Maple Vanilla Icing – Refined Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Vegan

Maple Vanilla Sugar Cookies – Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Vegan

Gingerbread Cookies – Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free, Nut Free, Vegan

Mini Chocolate Peppermint Pies – Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free Tarts

The Very Best Gluten Free Pancakes – Oat Flour, Vegan and Egg Free Friendly, Dairy Free

How to Make a Stainless Steel Pan Non-stick (non-toxic)

How to Keep Baby Spinach Fresh for Longer

Apple Tarts – Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Vegan

Amazing Mashed Potatoes – The Best Vegan Mashed Potatoes Recipe – Dairy Free, Vegan

What To Do With Leftover Celery