And I’ve always been a fool for nuts with cinnamon and sugar.  So I’ve played around with a few variations, and really adore these gluten-and sugar-free vegan beauties, because I wanted to make them using coconut palm. I just adore the flavor! And, of course, part of the fun is getting the piece that’s got the caramelized sugar clump–I’m sure you understand.  The only hard part is not eating too many…

I’ve made a small batch because it’s key to have a skillet that conducts heat well, and my All-Clad is pretty small.  So funny how I revere certain pieces of kitchenware–ya know, the Vitamix, my All Clad skillet, a lot of my mini-bake pans…the older I get, the more expensive my toys, it seems!  But I digress.

These are delicious, so give them a try.  And here are a few other glazed or sugary nut recipes I’ve enjoyed in the past:
Elana’s Cinnamon Pecan Brittle
Amy’s Spicy Roasted Cashews
Spicy Candied Walnuts

1.5 cups walnut halves (I’m sure you could use another nut)
1/4 cup coconut palm sugar
2 TBSP water
1 TBSP agave
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp coarse sea salt

Toast walnut halves over medium/high heat until they start smelling yummy. Remove from pan. Sprinkle coconut sugar into the pan, which should start to ‘melt’ instantly. Stir, add water. Add back the toasted walnuts, add in the agave, cinnamon and salt and stir until well combined. Pour onto parchment paper.

Allow to cool, if that’s your thing. These can be frozen.

Hopefully I remember to add this to Amy of Gluten and Sugar Free’s Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays. This week’s edition is here.

©2012 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

After missing last month’s DB challenge, I’m back with two!

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies

I’ve never made Panna Cotta or Florentine cookies, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. And I thought that out of two recipes, at least I should be able to eat one. Only fair, right?

I ended up making a sunshine Panna Cotta, using very rich cashew milk and agave rather than the traditional milk and cream and sugar. I went hunting for some fresh fruit that would work, although winter is just not a great time for that and I was burnt out on raspberries because of this chocolate raspberry pie. So I settled on nectarines, which were decent but not great. (hey, it’s Feb, what do we expect???)

Since I was off to a family get together, I figured a large one would work infinitely better than a tiny one, and I was right! And since one of my cousins was going Paleo, it worked well because there was something she could eat (not sure about the agave, but most of it fit)

The recipe was along these lines:

2.5 cups water, divided
1 2/3 cups of cashews, soaked overnight
1/2 cup agave
1/2 tsp vanilla
packet unflavored gelatin (about 2.5 tsp)

4 ripe nectarines or whatever fruit strikes your fancy.

Soak cashews in water overnight and drain. Blend cashews and 2 cups of water in a vitamix until absolutely smooth.
Heat the remaining 1/2 cup of water until simmering, add in gelatin, remove from heat and whisk very well. Let sit for a few minutes. Add in the blended cashew milk, return to heat and whisk for 3-4 minutes until much thicker.

Put cut up fruit in an 8X8 or glasses, add creamy mix and chill 4-5 hours.

I made the Florentine cookies per the recipe, just with GF all purpose flour, and they came out perfectly. Crispy, crunchy, just the right amount of sweet, and the topping worked beautifully.

I set them on our freezer to cool, left the room and when I returned, a few were covered in cat hair and the cat was sitting and ignoring me completely. Couldn’t have been him, right?

All in all, what a fun DB experience. Please do see the Daring Baker Blogroll for other adventures!

©2012 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

Q: What’s better than a beautiful organic raspberry?

A: A beautiful organic raspberry from your very own garden.

It’s not growing now, of course, since we’re smack in the midst of winter, but I have a frozen stash to remind me of the tastes of summer.  And nothing quite pairs with raspberry like chocolate, and this is a heavenly marriage of the two.

This pie is absolutely decadent, luscious, super yummy vegan, grain free, sugar free masterpiece of yum-ness.  And it’s a great make-ahead pie as an added bonus.  I’m not even going to mention the fact that, especially due to the secret ingredient, it’s pretty darn good for you.

I’ve been making this pie for a while, and lost the recipe.  I tried to re-create it, and I got a delicious pile of mush.  So I gave it a roll again, and was delighted–I think this was better than the original versions.

If you don’t have a Vita mix, a) I’m sorry and b) no worries, the raspberries just won’t be as smooth.

1 cap raspberries (frozen is perfect)
3/4 cup agave nectar

1/3 cup of stirred cashew butter (generous)
1 can well-rinsed, well drained Canelli beans
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoon stevia powder concentrate
3 oz melted good quality unsweetened chocolate. Scharfenberger is my favorite
2/3 cup cocoa powder

Prepare a crust in an 8-inch pie crust. I used a simple almond crust, and didn’t write down anything. Whoops!
Blend raspberries and agave very well. I use a Vitamix, and wait until they are quite smooth. Transfer to a food processor, add beans and thoroughly blend for 3 min or more. Add in the rest of the ingredients, blend well.

Put chocolate filling into prepared crust, refrigerate a few hours until firm. Decorate with raspberries.

DH and I will be savoring the last piece of this pie for V-day…

I plan to submit this to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free. This week’s roundup is found here.

©2012 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon, and as usual, I was procrastinating, so I asked my sweetie if he wanted a treat.  “Yes–something good, something chocolate”.  Smart guy.  We did the kitchen survey–a few over-ripe bananas, some eggs leftover from T-day, and some yogurt about to expire.  So the obvious answer was banana bread, and his chocolate preference led this to be my first ever–but definitely not last– chocolate banana bread.

Banana bread is really a gluten free wonder.  It’s easy to convert, reasonably healthy, and above all, tastes great!  This was one of DH’s favorite recipes, and I know this because I hid the leftovers to take to work, and he dug them out and found them. Most of my recipes are a hit (sooner or later) but this one was a huge winner right off the bat. So definitely make this gluten-dairy-sugar free treat.  It’s decadent enough to feel like quite a treat, but healthy enough that it passes my nutritionist-test.

And for my vegan/egg allergic friends, make my Nana Skillet Bread instead.  No, it’s not chocolate, but boy it is one of my all-time favorites.

2 medium sized bananas, put in a baggie and well squished.
1/3 cup walnut oil
2 eggs
1 cup coconut/palm sugar (regular sugar is fine)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
splash of coffee extract
1/2 cup yogurt, drained (non-dairy works, too)*

1/2 cup teff flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup arrowroot powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp stevia powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

*note:  I’ve never done it with Greek yogurt.  If you do, let me know!

Preheat oven to 350.
Squish the bananas in a plastic zip lock–it’s fun, kids love to do it too. When done, cut the baggie open and dump in to a bowl. Add in the rest of the wet ingredients and stir together well. Mix dry ingredients together, then combine wet and dry and mix until combined. Stir in walnuts if using.

Pour into a 9X5 lined with parchment. Or, if you’re not lazy, oil and dust a 9X5 with cocoa powder. Add batter and bake about 60 min or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I’m submitting this to Simply Sugar and Gluten Free‘s Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, because this is the perfect blend of healthy and indulgent yum.
Also, she links to Share our Strength’s No Child Hungry Pledge, which is a great cause. And, one might argue, the purpose of the season, although my cats firmly believe that December is the holiday of empty boxes, ribbons and fun packing materials. To each their own, I say!

©2012 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

Apples are one of my favorite foods.  Maybe it’s because I grew up in New York?  Either way, I’ve been an apple snob since I was a little kid.  Store bought apples can’t compare to Farmer’s Markets. Mac Intosh were my favorite for pies and eating.  But here in VA, they’re not that good.  Fortunately we still have Goldrush, Jonamacs, Liberty and more, even though they’re from states a little further out.

My favorite way to enjoy apples is…to just eat them.  But a very close second is an apple crisp. I’ve got a lot of recipes posted like this one and this is my current favorite version–gluten-free, sugar free and vegan.  And super delicious.  The pairing of the sweetness of apples and the tartness of cranberries is fantastic.

And you can substitute white or brown sugar if you prefer. Yummy one way or another.

Topping:
1 1/2 cups almond flour
2/3 cup chopped hazelnuts
pinch salt
1/2 cup oil
2/3 cup coconut or palm sugar (or other sugar)
1/4 cup stevia powder

4 apples, pears or a combination, peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 cup cranberries (or dried cherries)
¼ cup coconut or palm sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
a few grindings of nutmeg
1 tablespoons of cornstarch or arrowroot starch

Prepare topping by mixing all ingredients. This can be premade and refrigerated or frozen.

Peel and chop apples thinly, combine with cranberries. Toss remaining ingredients together, and then mix into apples. Pour into a 8X8 glass dish.

Bake, COVERED for 25 min or so or until the apples start getting droopy and soft. Uncover and bake until browning, maybe 10 min more.

©2012 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

My current new love happens to be this ungodly rich, creamy, smooth, luscious chocolate ganache frosting.  Which is, as usual, vegan and sugar free, but you’d absolutely never know.  I had half a can of coconut milk from a variety of recipes, including Ali and Tom’s Cupcakes for Adopt a Gluten free blogger, and before I could say “hmm, what should I do with this?” I had already grabbed a pan and started playing.

It’s got a super intense chocolate taste,  you can make it ahead and leave it in the fridge for a few days (at least in theory!) and it’s really quite the epitome of decadence.

And for a less decadent but still super chocolaty frosting, please see my Fudgy Chcolate frosting which is also sugar free and vegan, but made with white beans and is pipable.

2/3 cup coconut milk, mixed OR lite coconut milk (if using light, add in 1 teaspoon coconut flour for extra thickening power!)
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate–I recommend Sharffen Berger
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1 1/3 cup coconut or palm sugar
1/4-1/2 tsp stevia concentrate
1 tsp mesquite flour or carob flour
1/2 tsp vanilla powder or extract
pinch of salt

Heat the coconut milk until vigorously boiling. Remove from heat, add in the chocolate and cover. Allow to sit for 10 min until mostly melted. Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth. This may take 5 minutes or so. Allow to cool until desired consistency. It can be refrigerated and then reheated to frost cakes.

I am also thinking about using full coconut milk and the coconut flour for heavenly truffles…heaven.

This is part two of my Sweet Treats series–part one was a coconut/palm sugar “caramel” dip. And I also submitted this to Amy’s next round of Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Amy is finishing up her VERY book, so let’s send Amy some virtual chocolate hugs!

©2012 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

We had a party last weekend with 30 lovely guests, many gored pumpkins and a bunch of rambunctious kids.  And what went fastest?  Apple slices.  I know, who would have thought?  Granted, they were my favorites, fresh from the Farmer’s Market, and some was due to parental nudging in that direction, but a bunch was voluntary, too.

But it was the dip that really sealed the deal.  Rich caramel flavor…and completely vegan and sugar free.  You know you want some…

2/3 cup reduced fat coconut milk
1 1/3 cup coconut sugar
Pinch salt
½ tsp stevia concentrate (optional, but more caramel-like)
1 generous TBSP macadamia butter

Boil and reduce coconut milk and sugar for approx 15 min over med/low heat.  Add in other ingredients and aggressively whisk.  It will thicken as it cools for perfect dipping consistency.

I’m delighted to submit this to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays over at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free. Actually, I think it’s super indulgent, but it’s also sugar and gluten-free, and much better for your blood sugar than typical caramel. Head on over and see all the entries!

I’ve also gone the not-so-original route and added to Ricki’s GF Healthier Holiday Roundup.  I will be more original next time…

©2012 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

Note: Somehow I managed to ‘un-publish’ this recipe and I just realized it, so I’m sharing this again because it’s too good to miss!  Bon appetit!

This fudge, or a version of it, was my saving grace.  When I went gluten free, I also went dairy, soy, egg and corn free and limited sugar and couldn’t have most grains.  I used to pride myself in my baking skills, and was totally discouraged with the variety of “incredible inedibles” I was making at the time.

My first success was chocolate chestnut fudge, and I’ve been making it every year since.  Rich, chocolatey, decadent, moist, satisfying and delicious.    When I had the first piece of fudge, I had a me knew the diet thing would work, I would learn the ropes, and somehow it would all get better.  And boy, it has!

Did I mention that it’s vegan and sugar free?  yep, this is some fudge, and it’s totally easy to make.  The only hard part is letting it chill overnight.

I’ve submitted the recipe to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays over at Simply Gluten and Sugar Free.  Check out the roundup!

8 oz chestnuts-jarred or pouches work perfectly
2 heaping Tablespoons macadamia butter
2/3 cup agave
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of salt
2 tsp stevia concentrate
4 oz melted unsweetened 100% chocolate–preferably Scharffen berger
1/2 cup chopped  walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, etc. OR cacao nibs. (optional)
mint extract or orange zest (optional for variations)

Melt chocolate in a heat safe bowl.  The lazy/easy method is to nuke in a glass bowl for for 1 min 30 seconds.
Put chestnuts in food processor and process until it’s smooth, occasionally scraping down.  Add ingredients through stevia and blend well.  Add in melted chocolate and pulse again.  Stir in nuts and or orange or mint if desired.

Scrape into a 9X5 bread pan lined with wax paper, or double recipe and use an 8X8 square pan.  Flatten out the top.  Cover and refrigerate overnight, or you will have tasty goo.  Cut into pieces and enjoy.  Best slightly chilled.

©2012 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

But to me, the best part of it was decorating to the theme of September. September means Fall, the change of seasons, harvest, back to school…but it also is the anniversary of when I started my nutrition private practice, Harris Whole Health.

As I’ve mentioned before, I was pretty much born to be a nutritionist. I was always fascinated by food, and enamored with tastes. I wanted to be a Public Health Nutritionist and help everyone enjoy great foods and eat well. And, indeed, I did. I worked for DC WIC running the breastfeeding promotion programs. And then I got sick. Lyme’s, mold poisoning, chronic fatigue, a surgery gone wrong, food allergies, Celiac, and more. What I was doing didn’t seem as relevant, and I felt so poorly that I wasn’t really up to working full-time anymore.

An acupuncturist I was working with encouraged me to dream, to think of what I truly, deeply, wanted to do. Now this sounded completely insane. Start a business while feeling so sick? It seemed impossible And yet here I am, thanks to many people who have supported me along the way. I’ve gotten to take what I’ve learned in my travels, and use it to make other people’s journeys easier (cool stuff!) It’s been a process that’s taken years in healing physically and growing into this new direction of being, but I delight in the challenges and triumphs of working with my clients. While many of my clients have Celiac or food sensitivities, I see such a range, and it keeps to process fun.

So the theme of these cookies is the 3 year anniversary of my practice. And making the cookies was a bit of a challenge. Since mine are GF, I used the Better Batter recipe, which was just too soft to make the cookies cut well (although they were tasty.) I used the royal icing as given in the recipe, which was a fun and messy process. Since I was new to it, I can’t say it went quite as planned, especially with the drawing with the icing.  I was hoping to make a sunshine cookie, and yet this one is a dead ringer for a fried egg…

Please do check out the creations of all the other Daring Bakers…they’re always amazing eye candy.

©2012 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.

Okay, I admit, I’ve gotten carried away with Carol’s new book AND I’ve gotten a mess in the kitchen to prove it.  I’ve already made the cornbread and the Devil food cake as cupcakes, and the only reason I’ve been slowing down is that I ran out of sorghum flour!

I was so taken with the cupcakes because they looked JUST like the real thing, and the smell was just heavenly.  It’s so wonderful to be in a kitchen that smells like chocolate, isn’t it?  DH took a batch of 12 to his martial arts class, and there were 5 glutinovores present, including him.  And yet when I returned, there was just a crumb trail left and no cupcakes in sight.  I think that speaks for itself!  I did find that the recipe batter made more than 12 cupcakes, though.  I’d say it was closer to 16.

And if you do have the 1000 GF recipe books by Carol, check out the yellow cupcake recipe.  I think it was one of the quickest disappearing recipes I’ve ever made.

Cornbread overall is one of DH’s favorite foods, so I had to try it out!  I made it in cast iron skillet because I don’t have metal square pans, so that may have affected the time a bit. It was a little moister than the recipe we used to use, but we’ll be making it again soon for sure.

Stay tuned for decadent cookies and the crumb cake!  And I’ll also be giving away a bottle of Salba and picking a winner next Thursday.

©2012 Gluten Free Goodness. All Rights Reserved.