Raspberry Pecan Thumbprint Cookies

I have modified this recipe from one originally published in Elana’s Pantry – a site a highly recommend.

Serves:20

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. In a food processor combine almond flour, salt and baking soda
  2. Pulse in coconut oil and honey until dough forms
  3. Form 1 tablespoon of batter into balls
  4. Roll balls into whipped egg white
  5. Roll each ball in chopped pecans
  6. Put the nut covered balls on parchment lined cookie sheet and flatten slightly
  7. Press your thumb into the center of each cookie to make an indentation
  8. Place ½ teaspoon of jam in the center of each cookie
  9. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes until golden brown (I do 14 minutes -7 min/turn/7 more minutes.
  10. Mix confectioner’s sugar, almond extract and milk
  11. Drizzle icing over cookies
  12. Let cool on the baking sheet

Grain-Free Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe modified from a recipe by Danielle Walker.

Dough

3 3/4 cups blanched almond flour

1/2 cup plus 2 TBS arrowroot powder

1/4 cup plus 2 TBS coconut flour

3 egg

3TBS coconut sugar

1 TBS grain free baking powder

3TBS cold water

1/4 cup shortening or softened butter

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Filling

2 TBS melted butter

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/3 cup light colored raw honey

1 TBS ground cinnamon

3 TBS chopped raisins

Icing

3/4 cups confectioners sugar

3/4 tsp almond extract

A few teaspoons milk or cream or almond milk

Directions for the dough

  1. Measure almond flour, arrowroot, and coconut flour into a food processor and pulse for 10-15 seconds
  2. Add eggs, coconut sugar, water and baking powder and pulse for a few seconds. Add shortening or butter and vinegar and process till the dough sticks together.
  3. Roll dough into a ball and flatten into a disk.
  4. Wrap dough tightly and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Filling directions

Mix all filling ingredients in a small bowl

Directions to form rolls

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease a 9 inch pie plate
  3. Place chilled dough in between two pieces of parchment paper
  4. Roll dough into 1/2 inch thick oval
  5. Spread the filling evenly over the dough leaving a half inch or so border around the edges
  6. Roll up the dough tightly like a jelly roll
  7. Seal the seam with your fingers
  8. Slice the roll into 12 pieces with a serrated knife
  9. Shape the rolls with your hands into round flat rolls
  10. Place close together into greased pie pan cut side up
  11. Bake for 35 minutes until the cinnamon rolls are a golden color
  12. Cool
  13. Mix all icing ingredients till smooth and spreadable
  14. Spread icing on each cinnamon roll
  15. Serve warm

Almond Flour Biscuits

Paleo recipes are very good for anyone with a grain or wheat allergy.  Most Paleo recipes do not allow the use of any dairy products.  Since I am NOT allergic to dairy, I use milk products.  If you are sensitive to dairy, you can substitute almond or coconut milk in this recipe.

I use these biscuits all the time.  They taste great with butter and honey or jam.  They are also good with peanut butter or any kind of nut butter.

EASY PALEO ALMOND FLOUR BISCUITS

 

Modified from Cook Eat Paleo

Serves: 8-10 biscuits

Preheat to 325

INGREDIENTS

3 cups almond flour.  USE FINELY GROUND flour made from BLANCHED almonds.  The regular kind is OK – but the blanched kind seem to come out a bit lighter.

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon sea salt

2 eggs

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 TBS milk or half and half or cream (not paleo, but i am not strict)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Make a well in center and add wet ingredients. Stir wet ingredients in center, then stir into almond flour mixture until dough is formed.

Drop by large scoop onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten to 1-1/2 inches using a small piece of parchment paper.

Bake until lightly browned and cooked through, about 13-17 minutes.

Detox Tips

To understand what led me to do this detox, please read My Health Story.

Lots of folks have been asking questions about the detox. The detox is officially ten days and means no grains, no starchy veggies, no legumes, no dairy, no caffeine, and no processed (packaged foods). Here are some tips from someone in the trenches.

1. You can find info online by searching Dr. Mark Hyman. He has some books that you can purchase or borrow from a library or download as an ebook. “The Blood Sugar Solution” and “The Blood Sugar Solution Cookbook”.

2. I would recommend taking a week before starting full-on to ease out of grains, sugar and dairy. Cut it back a little each day. It is tough! Remember – it is NO grains, not even oats or gluten-free.

3. NO PACKAGED FOODS. Most have added sugar and wheat or other grains.

4. Make large batches of soup to keep in the fridge and the freezer. It is HARD to eat enough to keep you going on this diet. I have not been able to physically get down more than 700 calories per day. Soup has been my salvation. We cooked up a bunch of clams for dinner and made a clear broth with veggies. I then made a hearty vegetable soup, and combined the left over clams and broth with it – as well as keeping some plain. That gets me through the evenings when I am hungry. Chicken soup is up next.

5. Here is a very weird tip. Peanut butter is not allowed on the diet because peanuts are not nuts – they are legumes. Cashew butter and almond butter ARE allowed. But what do you spread it on? No crackers or bread. In desperation, I discovered that it tastes very good on slices of zucchini or yellow summer squash. Really!

6. Also having trouble with no coffee or tea. I tried herbal tea. Not for me. Water is so boring. Solution? I cut up a strawberry and put it in with my water.

7. Stock up on blueberries and raspberries. And kiwi fruit is good.

8 Paleo recipes work very well if you decide to remain either/or grain/dairy free AFTER you end the detox. Also after the detox honey makes a great sub for sugar. Also there are many good Paleo dessert recipes that use coconut flour, almond flour and tapioca flour. Potato flour makes a good thickener for gravies. Tapioca flour works well to thicken puddings.

NOTE: everything in #8 is for AFTER the detox and depends on if you have determined whether the culprit for you is grains or dairy or both.

Web resources

http://www.smartandsavvymom.com/2014/06/11/thinking-about-a-detox/

My Health Story

I have been neglecting this blog.  My life has changed because of retirement and I am using my librarian superpowers for different purposes these days.

Fairly recently I have done posts about the scariness of our toddler president.  But what has kept me occupied since almost the day of my retirement has been, unfortnately,  health issues.  I have joined many supportive FB pages and online forums to help me with my journey.  I have found great success once I discovered a previously hidden allergy to grains which has caused Bronchiectasis.  I find myself writing the same info over and over to answer questions on my health oriented groups.  So – I think I will use this blog as a way of sharing.  People may stumble across the information when web surfing – but at the very least, I can easily share  information more easily on my health groups.  Anyway – here is the background.

My Health Story