Coconut Butter

Coconut Butter is delicious, and ever since I tried it I knew it was going to be an expensive taste because at WF it costs $11 a jar. However, after some searching on the internet, I found that you can make your own very easily if you have a vitamix or blendtec type of blender (it may be possible in a regular blender, but I'm not sure). If you are on a GF diet I highly recommend buying one of these blenders. I know it's pricey, but very worth it. I use mine everyday, whether to grind rice, almonds, sugar, coconut, carrots or make a green smoothie. Worth every penny. Anyway, coconut butter is delicious on top of sweet potatoes, waffles, and just about anything.

To make your own buy some unsweetened dried coconut (at WF's it's about $2.39 a pound). Put enough of the dried coconut in to reach the 2 cup line on your blender, then let it mix on high for about a minute. You may need to use the temper stick, but let it blend until it's nice and smooth. Then pour it into a glass jar  and you're done! (maybe you have the same jar from the coconut butter you bought at the store, like I did) To fill up the whole jar it takes about $3.50 worth of coconut, which is much cheaper. If you eat it like I do, you'll save tons of money. My little one year old loves to eat coconut butter off a spoon and points to the jar and says "yummm!!" when he sees it.

Waffle/Pancake Recipe

This is my go to for breakfast, just about everyday. I love this recipe because it's very flexible, and most times when I make it I don't even measure precisely.

2 1/2 cups brown rice flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup ground golden flax (I buy the cold milled golden flax from costco)
1/2 cup orange juice (it makes it lighter but it works just as well without it)
about 2 cups of water

Mix it all up in a bowl and let sit for a few minutes (the brown rice flour and flax soak up water) and add more water if needed. You want more of thick mixture, but if you've ever made pancakes or waffles before you should have an idea of what this should be like.

Top with coconut oil, or coconut butter and enjoy with your favorite syrup.

Not your traditional Carrot Cake

This has to be one of my all time favorite dessert recipes. It has carrots, which is a bonus if you're trying to include more veggies in your diet (however, I don't think it really counts with all the sugar that goes with it, but...oh well) This has a light texture, and not that much of a carrot taste. I don't add nuts or raisins because I prefer it to be plain with a light orange coconut frosting. I'll have to take a picture next time I make it, but I figured posting the recipe was a good start. 

SUGAR Mixture:

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup olive oil

-Mix in a large bowl (it will look kind of like sand)

 

Flour mixture: In a seperate bowl, mix together

2 cups brown rice flour

1 tsp xanthum gum

2 Tablespoon Baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

 

Mix together, then add to sugar mixture

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs (at room temp)

 

Add FLOUR Mixture to SUGAR Mixture. (everything shoudl be mixed together now)

If you have carrot pulp from juicing this is preferable but shred about 1 1/2 lbs of carrots. When you add to the FLOUR and SUGAR mixture it should be about 3 cups. Mix well, add Pecans or other nut (if you like nuts in your cakes)

 

Now everything should be mixed together. Seperate into two round baking pans, coated with coconut oil, or a nonstick product. (to make it easier to get out, put parchmant paper on the bottom)

 

Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 min, until a toothpick put in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for about 5-10 mins. Remove from pan. Now make frosting

 

FROSTING:

1/4 cup virgin coconut oil

about 1 cup powdered sugar

 

If you'd like orange frosting, then zest one orange and add juice-- mix to desired consistancy (adding powdered sugar as needed). Or if you like plain, add about 1 tsp of cinnamon or other desired spices (such as nutmeg, cloves, ginger)

 

These also turn out well as cupcakes, mini cupcakes, mini bundt cakes, layer cake, rectangle cake...you get the idea

Why isn't there a ton of baking going on?

Because the kitchen looks like this

Lemon Bars (Dairy/Casein Free, Gluten Free)

Prior to going DF/CF, I used to make this quite a bit. I love citrus and lemon bars have always been one of my favorite desserts. 



Ingredients:

For the crust:
1 cup rice flour
1/2 tsp xanthum gum
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
8 Tbs. melted coconut oil

For the filling:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbs. brown rice flour
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest (optional)
3 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tbs. rice milk

Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
Directions:
To make the crust, preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish, preferably glass.


In a bowl, mix together all the crust ingredients except for the coconut oil and mix well. Add the coconut oil gradually, until you get a soft texture. I used a regular spoon to mix and push down in my pan. If you like crust on the sides, then push the dough up the side a bit.
. Bake the crust until pale golden, 20 minutes (or about 15 if you're doing convection bake). Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the crust cool completely. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

To make the filling, in a bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, flour, salt and lemon zest. Add the eggs, lemon juice and rice milk and whisk until just blended and pour the mixture over the baked crust.

Bake until the filling is set but still jiggles slightly when the dish is gently shaken, about 20 minutes, or longer if using a metal pan. Transfer the pan to the wire rack and let cool for about 30 minutes. It also tastes good warm, almost like a custard type of thing.

Enjoy!
adapted from Williams sonoma

Muddy Buddy

I had a hankering for muddy buddies, but the classic recipe calls for chocolate chips and butter. Both have dairy so I decided to make a dairy free version. Here it is...

1 box of Rice Chex
1/2 cup cacao powder
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 coconut oil
1 tsp gf vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar

melt peanut butter and coconut oil until smooth, then add cacao, vanilla and mix. Pour over chex and put in a plastic bag, and pour powdered sugar over. Shake the bag until your hearts content. Enjoy.
First time I made this, the peanut butter mixture wasn't evenly coated on all the chex but, I actually liked having pieces that weren't all covered.