Honey-Sweetened Rhubarb Coffee Cake

 

Honey-Sweetened Rhubarb Coffee Cake

2 1/2 cups of flour (I used 1 1/2 cups of millet and 1 cup of tapioca flour plus 1 tsp of xanthan gum)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup of honey

1 egg (or flax-egg)

2/3 cup oil (I used olive)

1 cup sour milk (1 Tbsp vinegar and the rest milk)

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups finely diced rhubarb

Topping (optional--the last few times I've just sprinkled cinnamon on top and it's been perfectly fine and yummy):

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1 Tbsp butter

1 tsp cinnamon

Cut butter into cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on top.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325. Mix ingredients together and pour into 9" x 13" dish. Top with cinnamon or sugar topping. Bake for 50 minutes.

Blueberry-Lemon Tea Bread

Growing up, my mom used to make a delicious blueberry lemon bread called "Blueberry-Lemon Tea Bread".  I LOVED. that. bread! It was another of those recipes that got put in the back of my recipe folder since it no longer measured up to our new, healthy standards.  Recently, I have been SERIOUSLY craving this bread, so I decided to hop on the internet and see if I could find a good base for my version.  I am so pleased to pass this bread on to you! It is just as good and maybe better than the original (Tim says it is!).  We were especially surprised at the texture of the bread! Brown rice flour is known for being a bit crumbly and grainy, but THIS was NOT!

So without further ado:

Blueberry-Lemon Tea Bread

2 cups flour (I used brown rice flour)
2 tsp xanthan gum (optional)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Scant 1/2 cup of honey
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup milk
1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 9"x5" loaf pan.

In medium bowl combine dry ingredients.

In large bowl, beat honey and butter together.  Add eggs and beat.

Add flour and milk.  Mix and add lemon juice.  Mix until all is well combined.  Fold in blueberries and put in greased pan.

Bake for 50-60 minutes--until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool for 5 minutes in pan (make glaze while it's cooling) and put out on a cutting board or plate.

Lemon-Honey glaze:
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup honey (warm and runny--I put my jar on the back of the stove when I put the bread in and that was sufficiently warm)

Mix in a liquid measuring cup or small bowl until honey is incorporated into lemon juice.  Poke top and sides of bread all over with a toothpick.  Brush on the glaze--I know it looks like a lot of juice, but just trust me on this! Before you know it, the glaze will have disappeared into the bread!

Honey Sweetened Peanut Butter Fudge

I have had a hankering for peanut butter fudge for a long time.  I searched high and low for a legal recipe--on the internet, in my sugar-free cookbooks, etc to no avail! The one that came the closest was a maple syrup recipe that I wasn't that thrilled with.  So last night, I decided to just make up my own see what I could come up with! I obviously wanted a recipe that would be legal and tasty.  I have succeeded and am now sharing just to prove that sugar-free living can be healthy AND tasty, too!! ;)


Peanut Butter Fudge
1 cup of honey
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla

Heat honey and butter to boiling.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until butter is melted.  When butter is melted simmer/boil for 5 minutes.  Stir in peanut butter and cook for a few more minutes, mostly until the PB is melted and thoroughly incorporated.  Remove from heat, add vanilla and stir.  Butter an 8"x8" dish and pour mix in.  Refrigerate for several hours.  Cut into 1" squares and ENJOY! :)

Gluten-Free Christmas "Sugar" Cookies

Ever since we started the sugar-free and gluten-free way if eating, I have missed the tradition of rolling out sugar cookies and cutting them out in Christmas-y shapes.  Last year I came across The Food Lovers' Primal Palates' Grain-free Gingerbread Cookie recipe and somewhat satisfied my desire for cut-out cookies.  This year with the discovery of gluten-free pie crust I came to the realization that it just MIGHT be possible to make cookies very similar to what I grew up with.  So I pulled out the old sugar cookie recipe out and looked it over, and came up with this recipe! It's fantastic! I can't wait to eat more of them! :D

What you will need:

3/4 cup of butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
1/2 cup (4 oz) of cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup of honey
1 tsp vanilla

4 cups of Pastry Flour Blend, divided
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tarter


Making the Dough:

Cream together butter and cream cheese together.  Add egg, honey and vanilla.  Cream.

In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients together.

Add dry ingredients mixture to the butter mixture and mix together, kneading at the end.  Divide into 4 balls or discs and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Baking:
Preheat oven to 350.

Roll out dough to desired thickness (I like between 1/8"-1/4").  Cut with cutter[s] of your choice, place on baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes.  These bake fast, so keep an eye on the first batch ;)

If you want, you can also frost these.  We like these best cold, so we keep them in the fridge.

Frosting:
1 stick of butter, softened
2 Tablespoons of maple syrup
1/4 cup raw honey
Pinch of salt
Splash of vanilla

Cream ingredients together and spread on cookies.

Peppermint Frosting variation:
Add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon (depending on taste) peppermint extract (you may want to add a bit more honey if you use the full 1/2 tsp).

ENJOY!! :)

Gluten-Free Naturally Sweetened Apple Crisp

With fall comes real apples! I'm not talking the waxed and polished things you can get in the grocery store all year round (of course you can make this with those, too--it just won't be as tasty)! We go to a local farm that sells fresh produce to get our apples and you just can not even compare them to the grocery store apples! 

Gluten-Free Naturally Sweetened Apple Crisp

What you'll need:

About 10 medium size apples

3/4 cup of butter (1 stick and a half)

1 cup of brown rice flour (or other flour of your choice)

1 Tblsp cinnamon plus extra for sprinkling on the apples

1 1/2 cups oatmeal

1/3 cup of honey

Apples:

Preheat oven to 350.  Wash, peel, core and slice your apples into a casserole or baking dish (I use a glass 13"x9").  Grease your pan with butter.  Layer the apples in and as you get one layer in, give a nice sprinkling of cinnamon on each layer.

Topping:

Melt the butter.  Mix dry ingredients.  Add honey and melted butter.  Mix well and spread/drop on cinnamon sprinkled apples.  Bake for 45-60 minutes.  Top with whipped cream or just eat and ENJOY!

Chocolate Bean Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

This recipe started out as Healthy Indulgence's recipe, but I've tweaked it enough to our needs and tastes that I think that I can safely call it my own version. 

My recipe makes a very thin 4 layer cake.  The layers are wafer-like and rather "fudgey" when refrigerated! It is DELICIOUS! People will never believe when you tell them what it is--unless of course you're weird like me--then people really WILL believe you that you made a cake out of black BEANS! ;)

What you'll need:
2 - 15 ounce cans of plain black beans or (3 cups cooked beans)
1 1/4 cups of Passionate Homemaking's Flaxseed Egg Substitute (you'll need to double her recipe, at least--see below note on using eggs)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup butter (12T)

2/3 cup honey

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda


Preheat oven to 325.  Drain and rinse your beans off.  Put your beans, egg substitute, vanilla and salt in blender or food processor.  Mix very well, stopping to scrape the sides--remember you want the beans to be completely non-bean-like ;)!



In small bowl: mix cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder.
In large bowl: Cream butter and honey together.

Add bean mixture to butter mix and combine.  Add cocoa mixture and mix well.




Grease a 9" round cake pan (or heart shaped pan, like I use :)).  Dust it with cocoa powder.  Place parchment paper in the bottom.  Divide the batter between your pans and bake for 35-45 minutes--it's going to depend on your pan and oven.  A toothpick is not going to come out "clean" from this, but it will not be really-really gooey. 



Note on using eggs: if you wish to use 10 eggs instead of the flaxseed binder, you can, BUT it is going to be much puffier so you'll probably want to halve the recipe and do a 2 layer

 Peanut Butter Frosting
1 cup butter (softened)
1 cup honey
1 cup peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon salt

Whip ingredients together and spread on completely cooled cake (works best to refrigerate the layers).

After you have frosted the cake, refrigerate it for at least 12 hours (overnight or a couple days is best).  You CAN eat it right away, but it is beyond compare when it is refrigerated!! This is very RICH so ENJOY it with a glass of milk or cup of coffee! ;) You can also easily halve the recipe for a 2 layer cake.

Honey-Sweetened Whipped Cream

I thought that I would give my whipped cream recipe it's own post so that it would be easier to find.


Whipped Cream
1 pint heavy whipping cream (organic and raw is best)
1 tablespoon honey (raw is best)
pinch of salt
splash of vanilla

Whip cream and rest of ingredients together until desired consistency.  Eat straight or top a tasty dessert with it! ;) ENJOY!