Paleo Strawberry Muffins: Success or Fail?

Baking gluten free, dairy free, and egg free is always a challenge. I have an AA in Pastry Arts and I still struggle to cook and bake this way. I recently started following this wonderful blogger Paleo Gluten Free Eats on Instagram and she has inspired me to start baking and cooking more. Her posts are beautifully photographed and she is always making something interesting and new. Watching her videos and reading her blog made me start searching even further for more recipes that fit in my dietary category. For the most part, her recipes do that, but I also need egg free. It's extremely difficult to find something Paleo AND egg free.

I recently headed the Paleo route only because that diet does eliminate dairy and gluten already. The added bonus is no refined sugar, which I have also been working on cutting down. The only problem with Paleo and my dietary restrictions is that it does include eggs, and usually a lot of them. (In regular cooking, it also usually includes a lot of meat which my body isn't used to. I have also recently eliminated chicken as an experiment). So, with that in mind, I went to Pinterest. I have (as many do) a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. It's mostly that I hate that I love it. As many of us know, though, it's a great resource for recipes, especially for special diets. I found a few recipes I wanted to try but was craving something I could take as a snack for work that also felt summery. I came across a recipe for Paleo Strawberry Muffins. No gluten, no dairy, no refined sugar...but 3 eggs. Going back to my baking training, I remembered that I could substitute a flax or chia "egg" instead of using a powdered egg replacer (which never works as well and smells like chemicals). So, I went on a run to the store to find chia.

The store only had whole chia seeds which I determined would be fine and I could just grind them in the tiny food processor we have. NOPE. This was the one big fail. 20 min of grinding in the food processor and they barely broke down. I tried mashing them in the mortar and pestle we have (that a quick search on Google said would also be an option) and NOPE. Nothing. So, I went forward with the recipe anyway. This was the major flaw in my plan. When the chia isn't broken down into powder it becomes EXTRA gelatinous and way too thick to be an egg replacement. I ended up baking it longer than necessary and it was still a bit gummy. The taste was great but I had to toss the remaining muffins after a few days because they got soggier. I have already ordered a spice grinder so I can try this recipe again!

Try it yourself and let me know how it goes. I have included the regular egg and the chia/flax egg information. The strawberries can be swapped out for raspberries, blueberries or I would think even apples (with a dash of cinnamon...yum). Find the original recipe here.

Servings: 9 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups almond flour        
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs (flax or chia substitute: 1 Tbsp. ground flax or chia to 3 Tbsp. water per egg)  
• 1/4 cup honey (preferably organic and raw; sub maple syrup for vegan)
• 2 tablespoon coconut oil melted (can also substitute ghee for all or half of oil)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped fresh strawberries     

  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease or line muffin tin (or use silicone baking cups).
2. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl with a large whisk. Combine wet ingredients in medium bowl. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients and gently fold in strawberries.
3. Use a large ice cream or cookie scoop to fill muffin cups 3/4 full.
4. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

I will be trying this recipe again as soon as my grinder arrives. I will post an update to my trial. So, the verdict is that it was a successful fail. Not a complete fail, but not a complete success. A second trial awaits!

Pumpkin: It's That Time of Year!

Pumpkin: pro or con? I think I might be both. I love this time of year because you can find pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING. But I agree with many people that it can get a little ridiculous and overwhelming. There are some pretty random things that they make that are pumpkin flavored. Here are just a few odd ones that I have come across: Pumpkin Spice Kale Chips, Pumpkin Pie Kettle Chips, Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Bark, and Hershey's Kisses Pumpkin Spice. Personally, I like to stick to the classics...bread, pie, cupcakes, cheesecake, and cookies. I will taste some of these other odd creations unless they sound TOO weird (I'm talking to you Pumpkin Spice Kale Chips). 

Last weekend I had planned on making a new recipe of raw vegan pumpkin no bake cheesecake bars for my friends Jenn and Elijah. How yummy does that sound? Unfortunately, the day I was to visit them, I forgot to soak the cashews so no cheesecake for them. (Sorry Elijah!) The next day I woke up with two cans of pumpkin in my cupboard calling my name. So I went to the Internet for an easy gluten free, dairy free, egg free pumpkin bread. I found the perfect recipe! (original recipe here courtesy of dontmesswithmama.com)

Per usual, I made some modifications to make it perfect for me. 

Ingredients

• 1 and 3/4 cups of all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp organic coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• Egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs (I use Ener-G)
• 1 cup baking sugar (you can use coconut sugar or raw organic sugar)
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup organic coconut oil
• 1/3 cup filtered water
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

-Mix all dry ingredients together with a whisk in large bowl.  

-Mix up your egg replacer in a separate container. I prefer to use a whisk for this to get the powder completely mixed with the water.

-Mix all wet ingredients together (make sure coconut oil is in liquid form before mixing. I did not do this and it came out a little lumpy).

-Add egg replacer to wet ingredients mixing well.

-Now incorporate dry ingredients to wet ingredients without over mixing. **You want to make sure it is completely mixed, but if you over mix the batter, the bread can come out a little tough versus soft and moist.

-Scoop batter in to loaf pan that is completely greased (I used dairy free butter in a glass loaf pan and it worked extremely well).

-Place in the oven and bake for 60 min and then test with toothpick. Can be baked for up to 70 min depending on oven.

After removing from the oven, let cool completely before taking out of pan. Gorgeous!

Gluten free baking is an art. This is a fairly easy recipe if you don't over-mix the batter. It came out moist but a little crumbly. Such is gluten free baking. The only thing that the original recipe did not mention is the addition of xanthan gum which helps bind gluten free items. My gluten free flour mix did not have it already in the blend. Next time I would probably add a tad bit of xanthan gum. However, I was surprised at how well this worked without it. So if you are not a fan of gum additions, you could probably leave it out like I did and be just fine. 

So if you are looking for a gluten free, dairy free, egg free recipe for the holidays, this is a great idea! You can add chocolate chips, nuts, or dried cranberries if you so desire. This recipe can also be put in individual size loaf pans or a muffin tin. Baking time would be a lot less, so adjust accordingly.

Happy Baking! Today I made a Gingerbread Paleo Granola. Keep an eye out for that entry soon!

November: Clean Eating Begins!

The last two weeks have been fun celebrating my (yikes) 40th birthday! One weekend I had one of my best friends come down from San Jose to visit and we got to spend some time together and with other long time friends. Then this weekend another best friend took a group of us to Glen Ivy Spa for a day of lounging and pampering. It has been a fun time of celebrating with some of my favorite people. I have the best friends and family! Needless to say, I haven't been eating the best the last couple of weeks. I woke up this morning and decided it was time to get back on track. Enter Pinterest. 

Oh Pinterest I love you and loathe you. Pinterest makes me excited about everything and makes me feel inadequate in the same minute. Crafting, drawing, creating, baking, cooking...you name it, I look it up and pin it.

I am not the best cook. When you cook for one, you tend to go the easy route versus the healthy route. With the Santa Ana winds blowing through Southern California the last couple of days, coupled with trying to stay cold free when everyone likes to cough on you in public, I have been a little under the weather this weekend. I immediately thought crock pot cooking! Easy, yet can still be healthy. I have a ton of food issues, mostly food allergies. I try to stay on the healthy side when searching for recipes and I always have to modify to be gluten free, dairy free, and egg free, as well as something I actually like. The recipe I found ended up turning in to something completely different when I was done so it ended up being my own recipe. 

It was so tasty and simple, I feel like I forgot something!

What you need: 

Chicken (I went for organic, free range chicken tender strips from Trader Joe's)

Chicken stock (again, Trader Joe's. They have gluten free stock)

Sweet potatoes (I used two smaller ones)

Organic Brown Sugar (Trader Joe's)

1/2 Sweet Onion

Garlic salt or chopped garlic

Layer chicken in bottom of crock pot. Top with cubed sweet potato and sliced onions. Sprinkle approximately 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and garlic salt to taste. Fill almost all the way with chicken stock. Cook on high for approximately 5 hours (until chicken is cooked thoroughly). I cooked on high 3 hours and then turned to low for a few more.

The plan was to have it more like a chicken and potatoes meal, but it quickly turned in to a stew that smells amazing. The brown sugar is mostly for the top of the sweet potatoes, but I wanted to make sure there was enough liquid that the chicken and potatoes would cook and be tender. So, I may have gone a little overboard with the chicken stock. But I am happy! The sugar probably could have been left out since the potatoes soaked up the stock, but then the sweetness would be gone. The sweetness makes it taste amazing!

The best thing about the crock pot is you don't have to measure. You just throw it all in and turn it on. I just made a healthy chicken and sweet potato stew with minimal effort and amazing taste! Substitutes are easy. You could easily change out the sweet potatoes for pumpkin, regular potatoes, or even another type of squash or root vegetable. Want it a little spicier? Add black pepper and cayenne? It's whatever you want to make it and it's easy!

Happy healthy eating! Bring on Fall!