Almond Flour Pancakes

I finally bought a bunch of almond flour and have been getting great results with it!  Since we have a somewhat large family and are trying to get everyone off grain (slowly but making progress!) I bought in bulk here and was very happy with Honeyville brand.  I got my base recipe from a neat blog my cousin told me about (thanks, Cara!) : www.wellnessmama.com.  Then I added in my own "stuff":  I added a teaspoon of vanilla, pinch of salt, teaspoon of cinnamon - and I had some ginger laying around (we've been sick and it's one thing that is supposed to help but I've never used it before so I'm sneaking it into anything I can think of) - grated finely just a bit.  I also reduced the milk/water in the recipe and added in some yogurt (note: not sure if all the good bacteria get killed in the cooking process but thought I'd try).  Added a 1/2 cup frozen blueberries (because I couldn't find our fresh blueberries - I suspect some little sneaking children devoured them in secret) and then pretty much "ruined" the entire thing (health-wise) with some semi-sweet chocolate chips (feel free to omit these if you're trying for health) - but if you have a picky little eater it may be worth it to add the chips in and get them used to the pancakes, huh?  Well, there you have it!  Just my own variation of the "wellness mama" almond flour pancake recipe (visit her blog to see her basic version -she deserves the credit). 

Gluten-free pumpkin cake!

I could not find any gluten-free recipes that used non-canned pumpkin puree! So I experimented and it turned out GREAT! I took a recipe I found online and changed a whole bunch of stuff to fit our needs as well as what I happened to have in my kitchen:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup (340g/12 ounces) granulated sugar (I used brown sugar)
½ cup (100g/3.5 ounce) brown sugar (I used coconut sugar)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
1-teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon freshly graded ginger (okay - ya right - I used 2 tablespoons of "pumpkin spice" from Trader Joes grocery store instead of all the spices seperately)
4 large eggs, room temperature (nope - mine were cold from fridge)
1-cup (8 ounce/237 mL) oil (I used 3/4 grape seed oil and 1/4 applesauce)
1 and 1/3 cup pumpkin puree (yes, real fresh pumpkin puree!)
2 cups (240g) gluten-free flour (I used 1 & 3/4 cups Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose Gluten-Free flour and 1/4 cup coconut flour)

Preheat the oven to 350F
sprayed olive oil in pan. I just used a rectangle glass pan but you can get "fancy" and us a bunt cake pan instead if you want!
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix wet ingredients in different bowl. Mix in dry ingredients slowly into wet ingredients. Pour all of it into the pan.
Bake for 60-70 minutes in a conventional and 50-60 minutes in a convection oven or until a cake tester (I used a toothpick) comes out clean
Let the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes (then turn it out if you used a bunt).

Icing: Mix some maple syrup with some powdered sugar and softened/melted coconut oil and pour over top of cake. I also added melted butter to the mix but that makes it have casein. I just make it to taste. Some people like a little and some people drench their cake in icing.

Gluten-free baked pumpkin-apple oatmeal (from scratch)

I thought it would be fun to let the kids scoop out and carve pumpkins. Eh - wrong. They were all grossed out and didn't want to get the "yucky" stuff out. So I did. And I cut the pumpkin in half and baked the halves upside down on a cookie sheet then scooped out the fragrantly soft flesh and pureed it and then it sat in my fridge waiting for me to figure out what to do with it.

Last night I made a very delicious gluten-free pumpkin cake (that one is coming next, promise!). But I still had plenty of left-over pumpkin puree AND two more pumpkins to cut, bake and make more puree with! I had to think fast as to what I can put this pumpkin puree into! Then it hit me - I had planned to make yummy gluten-free oatmeal for breakfast - why not add pumpkin to it? So - here you go!...

Get a glass loaf pan (I used the loaf pan to make regular oatmeal and used a smaller glass bowl to make my son his gluten-free oatmeal in simultaneously). Fill it at least 3/4 full of gluten-free oats (I used Trader Joes GF oats for my son's bowl and Trader Joes organic oats for the loaf pan).

Add 1 tbsp of cinnamon

Add 2 tbsp of pumpkin pie spice (or add pumpkin pie spices separately - oh and I use a lot so if you want less flavor don't put as much)

In a small bowl add 3-4 tablespoons maple syrup (and since real maple is expensive I also sub a little of that with brown rice syrup - actually it's a "natural" Log Cabin brand syrup with maple, brown rice and a little, gasp, brown cane sugar in it). Since my son is sensitive to cane sugar I only used pure maple syrup in his smaller bowl.

1 tsp real vanilla extract

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/3 cup apple sauce (okay I cheated here - it was pre-made organic unsweetened apple sauce). What is REALLY wonderful is to grate an apple (with a cheese grater) and add that - yum! But I didn't have time this morning to do that so...

add 1/4 - 1/3 cup of raisins, if desired. Also optional is adding some slivered almonds or walnuts, etc...

Then I fill up almost to the brim with water (for those doing casein-free) or milk (or like this morning I used lowfat buttermilk in the big one.

I placed both glasses on a cookie sheet and put in the oven on 350 for 45 minutes. Sometimes it takes a little while to really get it fully baked up. Sometimes I'll bake it for an hour or as long as I can without burning the top. Take out and let cool a bit. Enjoy!

Squashed bananas!

Ever have one of these? A not quite "bad" but kind of mushy over-ripe banana? Wondering what do to with it? Don't toss it! It's sweet and perfect for mashing simply with a spoon!

You could....

Mix it into pancake batter! Here you see it mixed into gluten-free coconut flour pancake batter and a whole-wheat batter.

These gluten-free banana pancakes turned out so moist and sweet! My 5 year old ate SIX of them!

And use what's left for baby-food (if you have a baby) - or use it in vanilla pudding or yogurt or icecream or... you get the idea :)

Oh and wanna see what our 1 year old thought about the banana pancakes???

Apple-cinnamon muffins! (coconut flour, grain-free)

MMM - these turned out so well I HAD to share!!

I think they *might* be okay for those on GAPS diet too! Makes about 12 muffins

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1/2 cup coconut flour

4 tablespoons of butter (or if doing casein-free - use coconut oil, maybe?) or ghee (for GAPS)

4 tablespoons of coconut milk (or cow's milk if you can use dairy, preferably raw/organic)

1/3 cup honey

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

1 large apple

1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

1/4-1/2 teaspoon of baking powder (* I don't think this one is okay with GAPS)

2 tablespoons applesauce

Directions:

Mix MELTED butter, ghee or oil with honey, applesauce, vanilla & milk.

In a separate bowl mix together coconut flour with baking powder (if using), cinnamon and sea salt. Mix the contents of this bowl into the bowl with liquid ingredients.

Peel and cut into tiny squares one large apple (or two small ones). Mix them in.

Pour into muffin tin (greased with butter or oil or lined) - I filled them up to the top.

bake on 350 for 15 min - ?? - and I'm so sorry I forgot exactly how long I had them in but basically just check e'm 'til they are done.

Take them out and let them cool a bit and then enjoy! They are so moist and yummy!

GF/CF coconut chocolate chip pankcakes

I found this recipe from a "GAPS" type diet but I added my own little spin to it.

4 eggs
1/4 c. applesauce
1/4 c. coconut flour
1/3 tsp vanilla
1 tblspn honey
desired amount of gf/cf chocolate chips
I also add just a tiny bit of alluminum and gf baking soda or baking powder so it rises just a bit better.

Mix it all together and make pancakes with it - I suggest using coconut oil on the pan instead of butter ;)

My son eats these with no syrup - maybe blue or strawberries on top :)

Pumpkin - apple muffins GF/CF

2 cups gluten free flour (I used 1 cup all purpose, 1/3 amaranth, 1/3 garbanzo bean, 1/3 coconut)
1-1/3 cups sugar - I used 1/3c refined beet sugar and 1 cup coconut also called palm sugar
1 tablespoon gluten-free pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 sm can - canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) Works even better if you use fresh pumpkin but this time I used a can.
1/3 cup vegetable oil - I used coconut oil because it doesn't lose integrity in high heat
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 tsp gf vanilla
1 large apple, grated (like with a cheese grater).

I mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. I mix wet ingredients (including pumpkin) in a smaller bowl. I mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients in large bowl. I mix in grated apple (sometimes I'll grate a pear with this too). I bake muffins at 350 til "the toothpick test" proves they are done. Real technical, huh? LOL!