Cookies! If you hadn’t noticed, we’ve been in a bit of a baking drought since going Paleo. Initially it was because we chose to abstain from treats to better acclimate to being newly grain free. I also quickly found that Paleo baking had a learning curve that I didn’t have time for while finishing grad school. There were new flours I’d never heard of and substitutions we’d never experimented with. Needless to say, I was a little overwhelmed (and still am). My cabinet filled with bags of whole wheat flour are turning into smaller clusters of canning jars filled with various things I’m collecting as our budget allows—things like coconut flour and tapioca starch. I feel like I’m learning to bake all over again.
Thankfully I didn’t have to tap my newb skills too deeply for these cookies. They are completely grain free, and while this means they aren’t true oatmeal cookies, they’ve definitely fooled a few people.
Ingredients:
1 cup pitted dates, chopped into chunks
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons coconut oil
1/2 cup pecans
2-3 tablespoons honey
1 cup shredded coconut
2 cups almond meal
2 eggs
3/4 cup raisins
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Place dates, coconut, oil, spices and pecans in a food processor. Pulse until nuts and dates resemble large and loose crumbs.
- Transfer mix to a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix using hands.
- Form into tight hamburger-like patties and place on a greased cookie sheet
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden.
Makes 8-10 cookies.
Fair warning, make these once and you’ll be consumed by the desire to make them often. They are super healthy as well as easy to adapt for other flavors. Last night (upon Neil’s request), I added a little vanilla and cacao nibs and made chocolate chip cookies. Next, I’d like to make snickerdoodles, because my Udi’s habit is very expensive.
We never leave a vacation without a new favorite food, and the Sweet Potato and Shrimp Croquettes (Bolinhos) at Cafe Brazil were by far a new and already much-missed favorite. Inquisitive and with the excuse of having nearly all the ingredients already in the kitchen, we decided to give our own inspired variation a try. A perfect cheat snack for a relaxing Friday night!
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons coconut oil/olive oil
1/2 pound shrimp shelled and deveined
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup minced shallots, minced,
1/2 cup minced scallions, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon minced serrano pepper
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 teaspoons coconut sugar
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 egg
1 package wonton wrappers
Directions:
- Peel and de-vein shrimp, rinse thoroughly. Heat half of the coconut oil/olive oil in a medium skillet. Saute shrimp for 2-3 minutes. It is okay if they are not completely done through.
- Heat remaining coconut oil/olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add ginger, serrano pepper, sugar and sweet potato and saute for 3-5 minutes, or until soft.
- Transfer shrimp and sweet potato mixture to food processor and pulse until thoroughly blended. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Crack egg into small bowl and whisk until blended. Position a wonton wrapper with point facing toward you. Place 2 heaping teaspoons of filling in the center of wrapper. Fold bottom corner over filling; fold sides toward center over filling. Roll toward the remaining point. Moisten top corner with beaten egg; press to seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. (You can also fork the edges to seal if desired.)
- Place on baking sheets coated with cooking spray; lightly coat wontons with additional cooking spray.
- Bake at 400° for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown, turning once halfway through the time. Serve with salsa or sweet chili sauce if desired. Makes about 4 dozen.
Crunchy, salty and sweet — irresistable! We served them with some salsa Blake canned and brought by around Christmas. It’s a favorite, but man is it SPICY!
The past month has been a roller coaster of reevaluating our workouts and nearly everything in our diet (update coming soon!). Understandably, the fact that we’er now working out more means we’re also eating more, which of course leads to additional food expenses. Luckily the lack of more expensive convenience foods in our diet gives us a little extra wiggle room, but we’d still like to minimize additional expenses where we can — without going hungry. Enter fun DIY snacks!
Our favorite store-brought granola to date — luckily scored on sale recently!
As we are now hungry or eating every four or so hours, easy snacks like granola, jerky and other mixes of nuts and dried fruit are often our go-to. They particularly come in handy before and after workouts, in the morning when we’re rushing off to work, and that annoying time around 3pm where it feels like ages before dinner. Of all the snacks we’ve bought or made, our favorite seems to be granola.
There is a lot of benefits and misperceptions of granola. While it can provide a cohesively tasty blend of a lot of good-for-you nuts, fruits and light grains, modern variations seem increasingly loaded with sugar and oil. Not all granola is created equal, and if you can identify a good brand or blend you like, it can be a great snack or better yet, something you can make in your own kitchen!
This is my first attempt at granola with a base I developed based on the history of granola I plucked from books and articles and about 20 recipes with varying proportions of wet to dry mixes. Fair warning, this recipe proved not to be my “idea” of “perfect” yet; it’s a work in progress. But I wanted to share the progress of getting to my ultimate goal: A paleo-friendly granola with a perfectly light sweetness, lots of crunch and no oils or additional sugar (if possible). I think it’s cool to watch recipes transform, rather than just see the pretty picture end product don’t you?
Ingredients:
5 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw almonds
2 cups dried apples, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 teaspoons apple pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ tsp. salt
¼ cup brown sugar (working my way down)
1 ¼ cup applesauce
¼ cup maple syrup
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pepitas or sunflower seeds
Ingredients:
- Preheat the oven to 325° F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat
- In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds, dried apples, apple pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and brown sugar. Stir until thoroughly mixed.
- In a small bowl whisk in applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Continue to whisk until smooth. Pour wet ingredients into oat mixture and stir until oats are completely and evenly coated and moistened. Spread mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and slowly stir and turn oats. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the granola is golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and slowly stir in dried cranberries and pepitas. Let cool completely before transferring to an airtight container.
Enjoy as a snack, meal or a topping.
This granola has a perfect warm spice flavor, but for someone who likes crunch, I’m still craving more. I want more things to munch on and more crunch within the oats themselves. I think part of that will come from bigger, better quality oats in the next batch. Stay tuned for V.2!
