Category Archives: low glycemic

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Raw Pepperminty Nutty-Roons

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I shared this recipe last month with Ricki on her blog: Ricki Heller.  I found Ricki’s blog shorty after I started blogging (about 2 1/2 years ago). I distinctly remember visiting Wellness Weekend for the first time to share a recipe and instantly fell in love with Ricki, her writing style, and (of course) her recipes (of which I’ve made many)! Personally, I suffer from candida, so her blog is of great interest and value to me. I reference it constantly and refer friends and family to her site. Ricki’s cookbook Naturally Sweet and Gluten Free is one of my favorite cookbooks with so many healthy treats for my family.  For the guest post I wanted to share a recipe for Ricki’s readers reminiscent of her cooking style with common ingredients used by Ricki herself.  I call these “Nutty-Roons” because they are like a macaroon, but with a nice nutty bite to them.  Made with only a few simple ingredients, these raw little bites of coconut bliss are sure to please.  I made about 10 batches of these as Holidays gifts last year (I kid you not) and they were well received by all.  I hope you enjoy them too.  You can view my guest post here.

Nutty-Roons

Raw Pepperminty Nutty-Roons
 
Author:
Recipe type: Raw, Paleo, Grain Free
Ingredients
  • 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
  • ⅔ cup raw walnuts
  • ⅓ cup raw cashews
  • 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup, honey, or coconut nectar
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoons peppermint flavor (or more to your preference)
  • 5 drops liquid stevia (plain or flavored)
Instructions
  1. In a food processor fitted with the S blade, add in the walnuts and cashews and blend for 20 seconds.
  2. Next add in the shredded coconut and blend with the nuts for another 20 seconds.
  3. In a small cup, mix together the maple syrup, stevia, vanilla extract, and peppermint oil.
  4. With the food processor running, pour in the coconut oil and the maple syrup mixture.
  5. Blend for 10 seconds.
  6. Scoop out mounds of the mixture and create little macaroon shapes (I use a small ice cream scooper).
  7. The mixture makes about 15 nutty-roons. Place them in freezer for ½ hour.
  8. While the nutty-roons are in the freezer, melt some chocolate*. I like to use a 1 cup glass Pyrex, placed in a pot of boiling water. This keeps the chocolate raw and melts nicely.
  9. Remove the nutty-roons from the freezer and dip each into the chocolate.
  10. Store the nutty-roons in the fridge. They hold up well at room temperature too, but I like how they taste cold.
Notes
1. You can replace maple syrup with coconut nectar (or honey if not vegan).
2. You could also make your own chocolate (see recipe below).

Raw Chocolate Recipe
 
Author:
Recipe type: Raw, Paleo
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 2 tablespoons coconut nectar, honey, or maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon raw ground cacao
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract -Optional: a few drops of stevia
Instructions
  1. Place the above ingredients into a 1 cup glass Pyrex.
  2. Place the glass Pyrex into a pan of very hot water and mix around until everything is melted. Do not heat over 110 degree

Nutty-Roons-closeup

Nutty-Roons-packaged

This recipe was shared on:  Allergy-Free Wednesdays, Raw Foods Thursday, Plant Based Potluck Party, Savoring Saturdays

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Posted by Amber at

Labels: chocolate, dessert, grain free desserts, guest post, low glycemic, Paleo, raw.

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Friday, May 25, 2012

Lemon Ginger Cookie Chews with Lemon Cream Icing (grain free, low glycemic, vegan)

Something about the combination of ginger and lemon is incredibly pleasing to me.  I use it together in many recipes (especially soups, and my mint ginger lemonade, that I look forward to sharing with you next month).  And when it comes to cookies, I just can’t think of a better combination.  I simply adore ginger snap cookies, but I must admit, I love a soft, chewy cookie.  I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as we do!

Ingredients 
-100 grams almond flour* (1 cup)
-15 to 30 grams coconut flour (2 to 4 tablespoons) 
-15 grams arrowroot powder (2 tablespoons) 
-2 teaspoons ground ginger 
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1 tablespoon ground chia + 3 tablespoons water
-20 grams coconut sugar (2 tablespoons)
-1 teaspoon vanilla 
-1/4 cup oil (I use grapeseed) 
-1/4 cup yacon syrup
-1 teaspoon lemon zest + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
-1/4 teaspoon lemon flavor (optional) 

How To:
Preheat oven to 350
1.  In a bowl add chia and water, mix until incorporated.  Let rest for a few minutes.  
2.  To chia add coconut sugar and mix until incorporated.  Then add vanilla, oil, yacon, lemon zest and juice (and optional lemon flavor).  Mix.
3.  In a separate bowl, mix together almond flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, and arrowroot.
4.  Add dry ingredients to wet, mix.
5.  Start adding in the coconut flour until a thick, sticky batter develops.  For homemade almond flour, I use 4 tablespoon.  
6.  This is a thick, sticky batter (and needs to be so to create these soft, chewy cookies).  So oil your hands well, and make little balls, then press slightly into cookies.  Don’t be afraid of this batter, they will turn out, I promise.
7.  Bake for 12-13 minutes on non-stick surface (I keep mine in for exactly 13 minutes).  

Notes:
*To make the almond flour, I add 1/2 cup cold (refrigerated) almonds to my Vitamix.  I blend on high for exactly 20 seconds, then turn off and scrape around the blades with a knife, then another blend on high for 10 seconds.  The flour made in a high speed blender is much finer than the food processor.  I was using a coffee grinder to make flour too, but it took forever, and left huge chunks of almonds.  So, I like the Vitamix.  I can’t guarantee recipe results with any other flour, that’s why I have a varied amount of coconut flour.  P
lease let me know if you experiment with other almond flours.  If you’re a seasoned grain-free baker, then you will know what the batter is supposed to feel like when it’s just right.  
*The coconut cream is totally optional.  These cookies are amazing all on their own! 
*For coconut cream icing, add the coconut cream from 1can of full fat coconut milk (keep in fridge for several days).  To the cream, add 2 tablespoons of honey, agave or maple syrup; 1/2 teaspoon lemon flavor, 2 teaspoons vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum if it needs thickening.  Blend with hand mixer.   

*If you don’t want coconut cream, you can make a cashew cream icing. Soak 2/3 cup cashews for 6-8 hours.  In a small blender, add drained cashews, 2 tablespoons sweetener, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon lemon flavor, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 2 tablespoons oil, and water until desired consistency. 

Shared on: Just Another Meatless Monday, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Monday Mania, Ruth’s Real Food 101 (Mondays), Made From Scratch Monday  Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays,  Traditional Tuesdays Fat Tuesdays, Allergy-Free WednesdaysReal Food Wednesdays, Gluten Free Wednesdays Whole Food Wednesdays Make it Gluten Free Tuesdays, Wellness Weekend, Tastetastic Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Friday Food, Potluck Party Back to School Recipes 

Posted by Amber at

Labels: allergy-friendly, cane sugar free, cookies, dairy free, dessert, gluten free, grain free, low glycemic.

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Friday, May 18, 2012

Chocolate Caramel Chews (vegan, grain free, low glycemic)

Here’s another chocolate recipe, inspired by Ricki.  I’m no chocolate making expert – this is all new to me.  But can I tell you, I’m having a BLAST experimenting.  I’m sure this recipe, like all things, will evolve over time.  This latest creation is chocolate stuffed full of ooey gooey caramel.  Reminds me of a Caramello (anyone remember those)?  I just can’t eat traditionally made caramel (my stomach hurts just looking at those ingredients).  But I can tell you in all honesty, this is a very, very tasty alternative.  And I feel really good about the ingredients.  I just know Scott is going to go crazy over these when he gets home.  Can you tell I love surprising my husband with chocolate.  I’m working on a few other homemade chocolate recipes: ginger chocolates and bacon chocolates (yes, bacon- I know, crazy, but I hear it’s all the rage). I hope you enjoy these in the meantime.  And you can visit here for my chocolate covered strawberries (sweetened with stevia). 

Ingredients
Chocolate
-2 ounces cocoa butter, shaved 
-1/4 cup cashew butter *
-3 tablespoons raw cacao powder 
-1 to 2 tablespoons raw agave (more or less to your sweetness taste, I went with 2)
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla 
-Pinch of salt 

Caramel
-3 tablespoons yacon syrup
-2 tablespoons coconut sugar
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
-Pinch of salt


How To:

1.  In a small non-stick pan add chocolate ingredients and melt – taking care to not burn.  I recommend stirring the entire time.  Remove from heat once in a while, continue stirring.  Stir to break down the cashew butter.  When the mixture looks smooth with no cashew butter chunks, transfer to 1 cup glass Pyrex (with pour spout).
2.  Fill each miniature silicone baking cup 1/3 of the way with chocolate. 
3.  Place in fridge or freezer to set up.  (The chocolate will only take a few minutes to set up in the freezer).
4.  While the chocolate is setting up, make the caramel.  In a small non-stick pan, add the caramel ingredients.  Heat ingredients on med/low, and stir the entire time.  You want to heat this slowly and dissolve the coconut sugar.  Remove from heat when the mixture starts to thicken and stir rapidly, then transfer to a small bowl.  
5.  Remove chocolate from fridge for freezer.  They should be completely solid.
6.  Add an equal amount of caramel to each cup, filling to the halfway mark.  I use a slightly oiled spoon to get the caramel out of the bowl.  It will thicken and get very sticky as it cools.  So work quickly.  After you’ve filled each cup, the caramel should be firm inside the cups from the cold chocolate.
7.  At this point, simply fill the cups with the remaining chocolate and place back in the fridge or freezer.  I utilize the freezer.

Notes:
*Because these are made with agave instead of stevia, they melt much quicker at room temperature (and from fingers).  They are best out at room temp for no more than 10 minutes.  It goes without saying, it’s best to store these in the fridge.  The caramel stays ooey and gooey in there too!
*To make cashew butter, add 1 – 2 cups raw cashews to food processor.  Turn on and blend until creamy.  It will get creamy right after the ball of nut butter forms.

*
Melting the chocolate: 
Caramel Sauce: 
Middle layer of caramel:
Sliced open: 
 The caramel stays nice and chewy in the fridge 
Shared on: Just Another Meatless Monday, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Monday Mania  Ruth’s Real Food 101 (Mondays), Fat Tuesdays, Traditional Tuesdays, Allergy-Free Wednesdays, Whole Food Wednesdays, Gluten Free Wednesdays,  Real Food Wednesdays, Wellness Weekend, Fresh Bites FridayFreaky FridayFight Back Friday, Friday Food, Lunchbox Love Friday, Feed Your Soul Friday, Potluck Party Friday, Super Food Sundays, Sugar Free Sundays, Allergy-Friendly Fridays  
Posted by Amber at

Labels: allergy-friendly, cane sugar free, dairy free, dessert, grain free, low glycemic, vegan.

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