Banana Bacon Peanut Butter Muffins (DF SF RSF Grain-Free)

So, I have been on this crazy peanut butter kick that seems to have no end. Peanut butter ERRYTHANG. It's been added to a fair number of muffins, including today's experiment. A few friends and I were talking about bacon on Facebook today, and I got interested in making some bacon into a muffin. This recipe is the result.

I've been trying to be mostly grain-free for the past couple of months. It's been good for my diet but it's been somewhat of a dilemma in the baked good department. Everyone likes to use nut flours, but they tend to make things so heavy and crumbly. I've been running with a combo of almond flour and some kind of starch (e.g. tapioca or potato). At a 1:1 ratio, this made an excellent texture that is soft and spongy but not rubbery.

To start this one, you have to cook the bacon pieces. I left them fairly coarsely-chopped, but it's up to you. Set the bacon aside to cool and turn the oven to 375.

Then I like to start mixing the dry ingredients together. I strongly suspect you may not actually need xanthan gum in these. But I didn't want them to fall apart, so I added a tiny bit. You can set this aside and work on the bananas. I chose two large, very ripe bananas and mashed them reasonably. I like my banana muffins to have small pieces of banana, so I didn't really puree them.

Cream the coconut oil, coconut sugar (you can really use any kind of sugar here if you like) and eggs. I would also add the peanut butter at this time, because you have to mix it forever if you add it too much later. Once they are creamed nicely, add the dry ingredients. At the point it's fairly well-mixed, incorporate the bananas. At the very end, fold in the chopped cooked bacon.

Scoop the batter into the muffin tin and bake for about 13-17 minutes. I overfilled some of my cups, so it took me longer than I expected.

That's it? Even including cooking the bacon, this only took me about 30 minutes from start to finish. I suspect it will not take me quite as long to eat the whole pan. Enjoy!

Banana Bacon Peanut Butter Muffins

Dry Ingredients:
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup starch
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking soda




Wet Ingredients:
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 coconut sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup peanut butter

2 bananas, mashed

1/2 cup chopped cooked bacon

Cream wet ingredients, then add dry. Add bananas at the end, and fold in chopped bacon. Bake at 375 for 13-17 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Great-Grandma's Chocolate Cupcakes (GF)

I think I've finally nailed it. You need to understand (and you probably do already) that gluten-free baking just isn't like regular baking. I have been told over and over again that in order to enjoy GF baked goods, you have to change your expectations. Well, for these chocolate cupcakes, I promise that you don't. They are so good that I keep taking a break from writing to take another bite. Everybody at my son's birthday party today were amazed that they were so rich, moist, and generally tasty.

I've been using this particular flour blend for several months now, and it has worked amazingly. I'll put it down here so you can see it for yourself. I read this recipe for gluten-free bread and it was AWESOME. Here's the blend that has become my GF happy place:

1 part fine rice flour (brown or white, doesn't seem to make a difference)
1 part tapioca starch
1 part corn starch (I have heard that potato starch will work perfectly well as a replacement, but haven't tried it out yet)

To that combination, I add 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum per volumetric cup of flour blend. I have made bread, muffins, cookies and a couple of different kinds of cupcakes with it. All have turned out wonderfully.

I wanted to make some chocolate cupcakes for my son's birthday party, but I had two attendees who cannot have gluten. I also have this fantastic chocolate cake recipe that belonged to my husband's great-grandmother. I have made this cake many times, and everyone has always loved it. I decided to adapt this recipe to work for my party.

This recipe does not work the way most cake recipes do. You heat up some portion on the stove, and mix it together in three stages. Start by preheating the oven to 400, and grease your cupcake cups. Put the dry mix–fine rice flour, corn starch, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, 2-3 tbsp of cocoa powder and sugar–together in a large mixing bowl.

Then you get the hot mix–water, butter and cocoa powder–together and on the stove. You'll want to whisk it regularly until it just about reaches boiling. While it is melting, put together the egg mix–buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and vanilla–in a bowl. Once the hot mix boils, remove it from the heat and whisk it in with the dry mix. Once those two are mostly incorporated, add the egg mix and whisk until completely incorporated.




The batter should be fairly thin, thinner than you might expect for a cake batter. Scoop the batter into your cupcake cups and put it in the oven. They bake quickly, in only about 15 minutes. If you wanted to make a bigger cake, you might need 22-25 minutes or so. Just keep a close eye on the batter, as this recipe can overbake pretty quickly.

And that's it! You can frost it with whatever frosting or icing you choose. I made a simple buttercream with butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla and whipping cream. The result is delightfully simple with a perfect crumb.

Great-Grandma's Chocolate Cupcakes (GF)

Dry Mix:
2/3 cup fine white rice flour
2/3 cup corn starch
2/3 cup tapioca starch
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
2-3 tbsp cocoa powder
2 cups sugar (I used coconut sugar)

Hot Mix:
1 1/4 cup water
1 cup butter
3/8 cup cocoa powder

Egg Mix:
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Set oven to 400 degrees F. Put dry mix together into mixing bowl. Bring hot mix to a boil in a small saucepan. Whisk hot mix into dry mix. Add egg mix and whisk until completely incorporated. Bake for 15 minutes.

Chocolate Custard For Complicated Elim (DF, SF, EF, NF, RSF)

This was an adaptation of my existing recipe for Brownie Batter Ice Cream. Someone asked me to create a recipe for chocolate ice cream that did not have dairy, soy, eggs, nuts or coconut. Since I am currently eschewing refined sugar, I had to make something I could eat, too. And as a result, this decadent chocolate custard was born.

But, it was supposed to be ice cream. I think I did not add enough oat milk, or perhaps I added too much cocoa powder. That's really OK, because sometimes it's the little mistakes in life that turn you onto really interesting things. So, if you want a chocolate custard that NO ONE will know has no dairy or eggs, this is the recipe for you. Like, if you had a pie crust and you wanted an awesome chocolate pudding for a chocolate cream pie, this would work great. And, once you have the ingredients in your hands, it is quite simple to make.

Oh, and just between you and me, cocoa butter is my new favorite fat. Seriously, this chocolate custard is so awesome, and I thank the cocoa butter for that.

1.5 cups oat milk

4 tbsp (48 mL) palm oil shortening

7 tbsp (98 mL) cocoa butter

5/6 cup cocoa powder

5/6 cup maple syrup

No, really, that's all that's in it. Make my oat milk. Be sure to give yourself overnight to soak the oats first, although the rest does not take very long.

Then, pour 1.5 cups of oat milk into your blender. Melt the palm oil shortening and pour it in there, too. Blend on high for 2-3 minutes, until it looks like the oil has completely mixed into the oat milk. Put the cocoa butter in a small pot to melt on medium. Once it has mostly melted, add the oat milk/palm oil mixture to the pot. Once you've incorporated that, add the maple syrup. Then, add the cocoa powder a little at a time, whisking constantly. Once everything is mixed together, you can turn off the heat. Return it to the blender and blend on high until all lumps are gone. Pour into a container and refrigerate until thick. Enjoy!

Cashew Yogurt: Tart, Tangy, Tasty

I know what you're thinking. You can replace all the milk you want, but some dairy products are a whole lot harder. Cheese is one, and it stumps a lot of people. But, yogurt made from alternative milks is not exceptionally difficult. And, it creates a lot of options that you would not otherwise have, when you need sour cream, yogurt or even buttermilk.

The fact is, when you want a nice, yogurt parfait, alternative milk just is not going to cut it. Well, wait no longer, for I have a pretty simple cashew yogurt recipe you may be able to recreate in your home tomorrow.

Why cashews? I like cashews for a lot of desserts and alternate dairy products because the cashews blend smooth. There's no straining when you make cashew milk and cream. Not only does this eliminate some hassle and cleaning for you, it also gives you better control over the final product. You may not know the final nutritional content of your almond, coconut, oat or rice milk. That's because you do not strain out the same amount every time. Cashews eliminate this guesswork.

Let's get started. You're going to be making something that is somewhere between cashew cream and cashew milk. I found it was easier to make the milk a little thicker, since the yogurt doesn't thicken or separate in the same way that animal milk does. Follow my instructions for cashew milk. But, instead of adding four cups of water, add two. Once it is blended smooth, you are ready for the next step.

Now, you are going to take a saucepan and heat up your cashew milk to the right temperature. If you were using regular animal milk, you might heat it up to 200 degrees to eliminate some of the bad bacteria growing in the milk. With cashews, it's obviously not the same thing. But, to try to replicate the yogurt most effectively, I found heating it up and cooling it first worked best.

The mixture is thick, so it will heat up very quickly. Once you get to 180 or so, feel free to remove it from the heat. I like to sit the pan in my sink with a couple of inches of ice water to cool it quickly. If you whisk it frequently and add cool water to the sink (do not pour it in the pot by accident), you will get to the right temperature quickly. You want all your temp readings less than 110 degrees Fahrenheit, but around 105 degrees is ideal.

At this point, you can whisk in your probiotics. For three cups of cashew milk, I added the contents of four probiotic capsules. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that you let the mix cool enough before you put the probiotics in. If the cashew milk is too hot, it will kill your probiotics and you will end up with cashew milk, nothing more. After the probiotics are in, I divide the cashew milk into two quart-size jars and cover them with lids and screw bands.

You are about to discover the many intricacies of making yogurt. Everybody has a different approach. I like to make mine in a water bath in the crock pot. Some people set their oven to 100 degrees and leave the jars in there for hours. Since I have a gas oven and do not want natural gas flowing through my house for hours, I use the crock pot.

If you want to follow my method, put a couple inches of water in your crock pot and set the dial to warm. Place your jars in the crock. I put the crock pot lid on top of the jars, even though it sits a couple inches above the top of the crock. I found this works very well to keep the temperature around 105 degrees, which is really your aim.

Then, you just let it sit. Yogurt takes a long time, so apart from periodically checking to make sure the temperature isn't rising or dropping too much, just give it a break. That said, yogurt gets more sour the longer you leave it. I found that cashew yogurt tastes more like real yogurt if you leave it longer. So, where I might leave dairy yogurt to sit for nine hours, I was happier if I left the cashew yogurt for 12.

And, that's it! I haven't found a particularly meaningful way to strain the yogurt, so you might as well make the milk thicker if you want thicker yogurt. Otherwise, this will be nice and tart for all your yogurt purposes.

Cashew Yogurt
1 cup raw cashews
2 cups water
4 capsules probiotic powder
Soak raw cashews overnight. Drain and rinse. Blend with two cups water until smooth. In a saucepan, heat cashew milk until temperature reaches 180-200 degrees. Remove from heat, and cool until temperature is less than 110 degrees. Add the contents of four probiotic capsules and whisk until incorporated. Pour into two quart jars. Place in crock pot with a two-inch water bath. Leave crock pot on warm for 12 hours, or until desired flavor is reached. Refrigerate.

Almond Milk, The Grocery-Shopper's Favorite

By this point, I have been making my own milks long enough to know what I like and what I don't. Almond milk has sparked perhaps an unnecessary amount of rage in me. This is in part due to the fact that the almond milk you buy at the store is heavily processed, full of fillers and pretty devoid of natural nutrition. Too many people think it's so natural and healthy that they give it to their babies and toddlers instead of human milk. For the longest time, I wouldn't consider making almond milk because I was sure it would be as nasty as the almond milk I've bought at the store. I don't like it. Again, it's the carageenan getting my goat (or almond, as the case may be).

As it turns out, homemade almond milk is a perfectly acceptable drink. I prefer cashew milk, because the cashews are softer and blend smoother. But, if you love almonds and you can't get cashews for whatever reason, you are fine to make almond milk. Let's get started.

There seems to be a couple of different schools of thought about making your own almond milk. Some prefer the slivered almonds because they're cut in pieces and have the skins removed. Others prefer the whole almonds because it's more natural. I chose slivered because I thought I would have to strain less out at the end.

Take your cup of raw, slivered almonds and soak them overnight. If this was a video, there would be a time-lapse and then I would magically open the fridge and the almonds would be nice and soft. You, on the other hand, will have to wait awhile. Once they're soaked, drain and rinse them. Toss them into the blender and turn it to high.

Once you are developing a nice almond paste, add some water. Start with one cup and blend on high for a minute. Then, add the remaining three cups and blend on high for another two minutes. Run it through your strainer and store the milk in an airtight container in your fridge.

After blending, I noticed something interesting. The almond milk wasn't crunchy or fiber-y, like coconut milk is if you don't strain it. And actually, the first time I strained it, it pulled very little out. But, when I drank it, the texture was gritty and not at all to my liking. I strained it a second time, more slowly, with the same strainer, and pulled out about a half-cup of byproduct. The texture was far better the second time. But, if you were really determined to use all that you produce, and you didn't mind it being a little gritty or chewy, I suppose it would be fine.

Almond Milk
1 cup raw, slivered almonds (plus 1.5 cups water for soaking)
4 cups water
Soak almonds in a bowl of water for several hours. Drain and rinse almonds. Blend in blender until softened. Add one cup of water and blend for one minute. Add remaining water and blend on high for about two more minutes. Strain to desired consistency. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.

Egg-Free, Casein-Free Brownie Batter Ice Cream

No t-shirts were harmed in the making of this dessert.

As I sit, writing this blog post, I am eating this amazing ice cream cone. Last week, while I was messing around and figuring out egg-free, Paleo brownies, I had an epiphany about brownie batter and ice cream. You see, I love ice cream made out of cake batter. But my husband, who has had food poisoning twice from undercooked eggs, does not want anything raw and eggy to cross his lips.

It dawned on me that if I could use my egg-free brownie batter to make a mixture for ice cream, it would solve the problem of raw eggs. Plus, it would give an extra recipe for those people out there who can't have eggs. As it turned out, this recipe is much easier to put together than the cashew dark chocolate ice cream I have made before. I don't think the other one is particularly difficult, of course. But when I've tried to explain it to people, they've shut down the minute I say "make a custard." You will see how simple this one is.

First thing is to get the milk ready. Put the two cups of cashew cream and the 2T coconut oil in the blender. Blend the two on high for a couple of minutes. This makes sure that the fat is fully incorporated and doesn't freeze into little pieces. It's not terrible when that happens, but the texture is slightly off-putting.

Once that's done, pour the cashew milk mixture and the ghee into a saucepan. Substitution: Of course you can use EVCO instead of ghee. That would make this recipe truly vegan. Warm over medium heat. Get the rest of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. If you want it to taste more like milk chocolate than a deep, rich chocolate, use less cocoa powder. Then, you will slowly incorporate them into the warm cashew milk and fat mixture.

Whew, the hard part is over. Wasn't that exhausting? All you have to do now is put it into a heat-safe container, cover and stick in the fridge until the temperature of the mixture reaches 40 degrees or less. Easy tip: if you are impatient, like me, you can cool the mixture pretty quickly by whisking it in the bowl while said bowl is floating in a larger bowl of ice water. Just make sure that you don't get water into the mixture, or it will be wasted.

Once it's cool enough, go ahead and put it in the ice cream maker and follow the directions. This makes a little over a quart of ice cream. If you used regular sugar (or even possibly coconut sugar) instead of maple syrup, you may have just made the first dairy-free ice cream that did not cost more to make at home. By my count, I paid about $3.25 to make this at home. That's quite a deal.

Egg-Free, Casein-Free Chocolate Ice Cream

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1/8 cup tapioca starch

5/6 cup maple syrup (or 1 cup sugar)

1/3 cup ghee

2 cups cashew cream (1 cup cashews)

2T coconut oil

Melt the coconut oil in the microwave, just enough to warm it. Mix with the cashew cream and blend on high until completely incorporated. Mix first three ingredients together, set aside. Use less cocoa powder to make it more of a milk chocolate flavor than a dark chocolate flavor. In a saucepan, melt ghee (or more coconut oil) with the cashew cream/coconut oil mix. Once they get warm (not very hot), start whisking in the dry ingredients. Once they are completely incorporated and smooth, remove from heat. Transfer to a fridge-safe container. Cover and cool until mixture reaches 40 degrees. Prepare according to ice cream maker directions. Makes about 1.25 quarts.

Egg-Free, Paleo Brownies

OK, so the brownies I was making in the winter were a big hit. But, then I had this friend who was like, "Holly, my family cannot have eggs. What can you do for us?" And, I'll admit, going egg-free has given me pause. Dairy is easy to replace, I have found. Gluten isn't even that hard. But eggs? Eggs have been the final frontier. I am finding more and more that you can't just replace eggs with some kind of egg replacer willy-nilly, and expect the recipe to be great. A lot of times, making a recipe egg-free necessitates reconsidering the whole process.

Back to the brownies. My friend has a family full of chocolate fiends, and she just found out they can't have eggs anymore. She needed brownies, stat. And, this recipe came out as a result. I am using ghee, which makes these brownies casein-free but not fully dairy-free. Unlike my other recipe, I didn't use wet coconut fiber. And this time, I added some tapioca starch. This is because I used maple syrup instead of refined sugar. That makes this recipe technically Paleo.*

The recipe is actually pretty easy to put together. The trick is that you want to incorporate some of the dry ingredients into the fat over heat, which will help emulsify the mixture and make the rise easier in the oven (since you are not using eggs). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Start with your ghee (Substitution: EVCO works just fine here) and melt it on the stove in a saucepan with the milk. I used cashew milk for this, but honestly it's up to you. While you do this, mix half of the dry ingredients into the maple syrup and set aside.

Then, you mix the other half of the dry ingredients in with the warmed milk/ghee mixture. Once it has been fully incorporated, remove from heat and whisk the two mixtures together. Add chocolate chips, as desired. Prepare the cupcake tin by oiling the cups with ghee or coconut oil. Scoop the batter into the cups. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

That's it! It is nice to have some tasty desserts that accommodate the needs of a variety of people on elimination diets. I hope to add more in time.

*I have read much in the way of discussion about the Paleo diet and chocolate chips. While I buy that cocoa powder is technically Paleo, most commercially-available chocolate chips are going to have something in it that is not Paleo-friendly. It is not my job to make you stick to your diet. So if you think you can use your Paleo chocolate chips in these brownies, fine by me. If not, these brownies are absolutely delicious, with or without them.

Egg-Free, Paleo Brownies
1 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup coconut flour

1/3 cup ghee
3/8 cup alternative milk

3/4 cup maple syrup
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
Chocolate chips to taste

Heat up the ghee and milk in a saucepan. Mix in half of the first set of dry ingredients. Once incorporated, remove from heat. Pour all remaining ingredients into mixing bowl. Mix together, then mix with warm concoction. Once totally incorporated, scoop into cupcake tin. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes. Makes 9 brownies.