Tag Archives: dairy-free

Happy National Doughnut Day

So today is National Doughnut (Donut?) Day.  Even though I am dairy and gluten free, there is never a time a will say a don’t want a doughnut (or pizza, for that matter). Since I’m on summer vacation and had no plans, I thought it would be the perfect day to experiment.  After much perusing Pinterest, I can across this recipe from Delightful Adventures.  

Click on over for the recipe. I followed advice and used Bob’s Red Mill GF Baking Flour since my dietary restrictions are lighter.

Also, I added two Tablespoons of brewed coffee and one extra Tablespoon of flour to enhance the chocolate flavor.

These were baked with Almond Milk.

I also did not have a doughnut pan, so I piped the batter into a muffin pan, which worked pretty well.  I imagine a muffin pan for over-sized muffins would leave a small hole in the doughnuts.

Seriously, these doughnuts are g.r.e.a.t. I saved some plain, sprinkled a few with powdered sugar (which was perfect), and glazed the rest. I think I made my glaze too thin (I struggle with that sometimes), so I ended up glazing the doughnuts 2-3 times, letting the glaze harden between each one.

While you are enjoying the doughnuts, check out the history behind National Doughnut Day. Happy Eating!

 





 

(Not Another) Pancake Post

Yesterday, I tweaked my recipe for dairy-gluten-egg-soy free pancakes. I’ve had trouble with egg-free pancakes.  They taste fine, but it’s hard to add nuts and fruit to them, they crumble easily, are held together by coconut oil and a prayer, and have a wet texture, even when fully cooked.  Well… yesterday’s tweaking gave me the best pancakes yet, so I wanted to add the updated recipe here. The biggest change is in the flour choice, no applesauce… and I forgot to add oil.  (Note: for my other “free” pancakes, click here and here (with eggs))

Ingredients:

2 cups Brown Rice Flour

1 cup Bob’s Mill general purpose gluten-free flour

4 Tablespoons honey

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoons-ish salt (I use my hand, what can I say?)

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla

3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

about 3 Tablespoons reconstituted milled flax seed

2 1/2 cups almond milk

To cook, melt coconut oil in a skillet on medium heat. Cooked covered with a lid.  This will help them rise, and make deliciously cakey and crispy pancakes. If they are not covered, they will not rise as well.

Note: the batter is very thick, it should glop and not run. I make the pancakes about 5 inches in diameter. This recipe will make 15-18 5 inch pancakes.

Note 2: to make these nut-free, you can use coconut milk, they just won’t rise as well.

 

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Pumpkin Cake

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One of the hardest things about eating GF (gluten-free) is finding a dessert recipe that tastes good and doesn’t have a weird consistency. Pinterest has been a great help in finding recipes, and I’m thankful for all the chefs experimenting in their kitchens and posting food blogs.

This recipe is the Paleo Pumpkin Coffee Cake from jaysbakingmecrazy.com.  I haven’t made the recipe strictly per instructions, although I think it looks fantastic.  Since I can’t have eggs, and I was missing a couple ingredients, I had to change a few things. So, if you aren’t limited like I am, use the recipe as is.  However, if you find yourself missing pumpkin pie spice and unable to digest eggs well, then here is the modified recipe:

    • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
    • 1/4 cup honey
    • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
    • 1 cup canned pumpkin
    • 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free General Purpose Flour
    • 1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
    • 1/4 cup coconut flour
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
    • 1/2 teapoon ground cloves
    • 1-ish teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 2-3 Tablespoons reconstituted milled flax seed (in  water about 5 minutes, to be honest, I didn’t measure…)
    • 1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
CRUMB TOPPING
  • 1/4 cup coconut flour
  • 1/2 cup brown rice flour
  • 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • crushed walnuts (add a bit more oil and honey if you do this, or it will be crumbly; to keep recipe nut-free, omit walnuts)

I then followed the recipe’s instructions for adding ingredients and baking:

Instructions [from the blog]:

  1. Preheat oven to 325° and line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper.
  2. Make the crumb topping first: in a small bowl, combine coconut flour, [brown rice] flour, coconut sugar, cinnamon, honey, walnuts, and coconut oil. Mix well- it should resemble wet sand. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, combine coconut oil, honey, coconut sugar, and pumpkin. Mix well.
  4. Add in the brown rice flour, GF general purpose flour, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. [here add the ACV and flax seed] Mix until no dry pockets remain. Pour into prepared pan and top with crumb topping.
  5. Bake for 45-50 minutes.
  6. Store in fridge after the first day.

I let the dessert cool in the pan to help it stick together and it did not fall apart when I cut it and served it.  I’ve been told this also tastes good with vanilla ice cream or cool whip.

Basic Sweet Potato Soup

Basic. Three ingredients. 10 minutes.

It’s also nut, dairy, and gluten free. And organic, if you please.

It started this weekend when the stomach bug meant solid foods were not an option. I had some chicken broth and a couple sweet potatoes on hand.

I cut a small-medium sweet potato and baked it in the microwave on high for 8 minutes. Meanwhile, I poured about 1 cup chicken broth into my Ninja food processor and sprinkled in a healthy dose of ginger. I did not add salt because the broth was already providing 25% if my daily need.

I scooped out the sweet potato and blended in my processor for about 25 seconds. And it was done.

The soup is more like a bisque, depending on how much blending and the ratio of broth to sweet potato. When I got braver, I cooked a bigger potato and added chucks of potato after pureeing.

Perfect fall warmth on a cold day.

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Roasted Sweet Potatoes

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Roasted Sweet Potatoes

The sweet potato is an amazing food.  I’ve developed a new appreciation for it over the past year. (I hear they can even be made into doughnuts!) Anyway, here is my recipe for oven roasted sweet potatoes:

 

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Dice potatoes as shown

Sweet potatoes are much stouter than their russet potato cousins.  I’ve found that cutting the sweet potato across the midsection instead of lengthwise makes for a much easier time of it.

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Spices give this dish a full, savory flavor

I don’t measure my spices when I’m cooking.  I usually make 4-5 sweet potatoes at a time.  Add about 1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt for 4 potatoes.  More salt can be added after cooking according to taste.  My favorite spice mix is Mrs. Dash’s Southwest Extra Spicy (about 1 teaspoon) with 1/2 teaspoon of cumin.

However, nightshades (including cumin and peppers) have been eliminated (and I have to reluctantly admit that it has helped), so I use 1 teaspoon ginger, instead.  Ginger gives a nice, savory flavor to the potatoes.

Add 1-2 Tablespoons grapeseed oil to the potatoes and spices and mix until everything is fairly evenly coated.

 

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This is 4-5 sweet potatoes

Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degress F for 40 minutes.  I’ve found two good-sized sweet potatoes fill a glass 9×13.  If the potato cubes are more than about 2 deep in the dish, you will need to increase the cooking time.

Enjoy!

No-mato Spaghetti Sauce

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Summer vacation means extra time to try cooking new dishes.  This week’s experiment was no-mato sauce for spaghetti squash spaghetti.  I love spaghetti, but tomatoes are not on the friend list.  Just for good measure, I wanted to leave out garlic and onions, because they’re a little suspect at the moment.  I can’t say much for how the squash itself turned out — I think I need more practice on that one — but the sauce is very tasty.  Of course, this is coming from someone who hasn’t had spaghetti in 10 months. ;)

Just a word of caution, this recipe contains a beet.  Beets stain everything — including hands and face (don’t ask).  So, wear all black and don’t stir too vigorously.

Ingredients:

1 medium-size beet, peeled and diced

11 small-medium carrots, peeled and sliced (a little over 2 cups)

2 teaspoons ground oregano

2 teaspoons ground basil

1-2 cups water

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Water should cover most of the vegetables.

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Because of the staining power of beets, this color spoon is recommended.

 

Add the above in ingredients and simmer covered for 45-50 min in a small pan.  Let cool.  During the cooling process, most of the water will be absorbed by the vegetables.  Add in 1 cup diced roasted sweet potatoes.  (*Note: I almost always have roasted sweet potatoes on hand.  I cook them with ginger, salt, and grapeseed oil.  I thought it would taste good to add to the sauce — and it did — but it’s not necessary to add them.  Just put in less seasoning in the next step if you choose to omit the sweet potato.  I’ve also seen recommendations for adding canned pumpkin puree.) Blend in a food processor. I have a small processor, so I had to blend in two batches.  For each batch, I added 2 Tablespoons water.

Pour blended sauce in a bowl and stir in the following:

3/4-1 cup water (broth might also taste good here, but the water has worked great)

3 teaspoons ground basil

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon salt

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Add honey and basil

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Stir together — and it’s done!

 

And that’s it! You should have about 3 cups of sauce.  It will be thick, so it can be used for pizza or baked pasta dishes as well.

More or less seasoning can be added according to taste.  If a more oregano taste is desired, you could add some more here as well.  The dominant spice in this recipe is basil.

Let the sauce sit overnight to let all the flavors blend together. (If you tasted it at this point, you probably noticed a dominant carrot flavor.)

Tip: Add cooked ground beef before heating to serve.

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Ready to eat with spaghetti squash