dairy free Archives - Page 9 of 10

Grain-free Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream

September 9, 2013 By Becky 9 Comments

Treat yourself to small batch of paleo-friendly, grain-free vanilla bean cupcakes with mocha buttercream! They’re made with coconut flour, so they’re also nut free.

I’ve really been craving a classic vanilla cupcake recently, and wanted to try my hand at making grain-free vanilla bean cupcakes. To me, vanilla beans are the epitome of classic elegance in dessert flavor form. I ordered half a pound of vanilla beans online months ago, used half of them to make a bunch of little bottles of homemade vanilla extract (find out how to do that yourself here!), and still have a bunch left. I highly recommend ordering beans online in bulk, since it’s much more economical and they’re likely to be much fresher than overpriced grocery store beans.

These cupcakes are light and fluffy, because they’re made with coconut flour instead of almond flour. Of all the paleo & gluten-free treats I’ve made, these may be the closest in taste and texture to their gluten-laden cousins. I highly recommend them! They’re also perfect for people with nut allergies or for bringing to birthday celebrations in nut-free classrooms. This recipe makes a very small batch (good for people like me with no restraint), but can easily be doubled.

Spiced Honey & Corn Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream (Gluten free, Paleo)

September 7, 2013 By Becky 4 Comments

I wanted to make a fabulous end-of-summer, beginning-of-fall cupcake, and here it is! These have corn kernels baked right in, and a batter laced with fall spices. The frosting is my favorite part: butter and coconut cream are delicious together, with a little honey and maple sugar for sweetness. I tested the frosting with and without butter, and it’s great both ways.

Some people don’t include corn in their paleo diet, so feel free to leave it out. If you wanted to substitute something else, I bet these would also be delicious with little chunks of apple instead. Let me know if you try it!

Oh, and do you love these parchment cupcake cups as much as I do? I got the idea from this post on Alexandra’s Kitchen. They take a few minutes to make, but I love their rustic look. The BEST part is that NONE of the cake crumbs stick to the paper! And, the cup unfolds into a nice little placemat to put your cupcake on between bites. You can also use parchment to line a loaf pan if you are making banana bread or something like that, and you don’t even need to grease it.

Cherry Blondies & Homemade Almond Butter (Paleo, Gluten free)

August 29, 2013 By Becky 7 Comments

These are so good! Elana of Elana’s Pantry is a total genius, because she figured out that almond butter, eggs, and honey will magically bake up into BLONDIES. Yes! Fudgy, delicious blondies. When you read the recipe, you’ll think there must be a mistake. I am here to tell you there isn’t! Almonds prove themselves here once again as a miracle food. I promise you will love these. You don’t even have to add cherries; you can just make them without for regular blondies. And don’t worry about the almond extract. I was trying to play up the almond flavor a little, but it didn’t really come through. So you could leave it out, leave it in, or even try a full teaspoon if you want that little hint of marzipan flavor.

Brownie Batter Truffles (Gluten free, Paleo)

August 25, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

Yesterday I wanted brownies, but the thought of waiting for them to bake and then cool was disagreeable. I thought about making brownie batter truffles instead. Since there’s no egg in this recipe, you can taste as you’re making it and adjust the sweetness as desired. If you’re in a really big hurry, you can skip melting the chocolate and roll these in cocoa powder or shredded coconut. You can get your brownie fix on pretty fast.

Crepes with Cherry Orange Syrup (Paleo, Gluten free)

August 24, 2013 By Becky 4 Comments

On weekend mornings, I like to start the day with something a little bit special. Eggs are great, but what I really want on a lazy Saturday morning is something sweet. As you may have noticed, I have already made lots of paleo and gluten free pancakes. So, I decided to give gluten free crepes a try.

Orange Ginger Chicken Thighs & Yu Hsiang Eggplant

August 22, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

Chicken thighs are my new favorite dinner. They are easy to make, not very expensive, and very hard to overcook. Since I’m paranoid about undercooking chicken, I like a cut that can stand up to my tendency to cook things a little bit too long. Chicken thighs are also delicious, and the perfect size–not huge and dry like chicken breasts often are.

Figs & Pancetta

August 18, 2013 By Becky 6 Comments

This simple appetizer is an amazing way to showcase some delicious figs. I’d been wanting to wrap figs in prosciutto for a while now, but accidentally got slices of pancetta instead. I think in my mind I’d filed them as being the same thing. I did a little research and it seems like pancetta is thicker and less pliable, and cured with more spices than prosciutto. You can use either one here–prosciutto would probably be easier to wrap around the figs, and you might not even need the toothpicks.

Banana Pecan Pancakes

August 15, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

More pancakes! In case you missed it, I’ve already made three kinds: pancakes with blueberry compote, strawberry banana pancakes, and blueberry pancakes with a secret ingredient. So, there’s been no shortage of pancakes around here–but you can never have too many pancakes, right?

Banana Blueberry Muffins

August 14, 2013 By Becky 5 Comments

I have been on a quest to make delicious paleo & gluten-free muffins, because I can’t have eggs for breakfast every single day. This is the third time I’ve tried, and I finally have what I want: a moist, sweet muffin with a beautiful domed top that is bursting with blueberries in every bite. Best of all, these muffins taste like the real thing, not a gluten-free imitation.

Indochinese Chilli Chicken with Cauliflower Fried Rice

August 13, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

I LOVE Indian food. Luckily for me, my mom’s apartment is just blocks from Singh’s Cafe, which has a fabulous lunch buffet every day of the week. I go more than anyone should go anywhere, but I just love it so much. One of the best parts of going to lunch buffet is that there is no waiting: you show up, you sit down (or not), and you go get your food! I also love it because you can try some of everything.

Make Your Own Almond Milk

August 12, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

Here’s how to make your own almond milk at home. It’s paleo, vegan, and easy to make–and the results are way more delicious than store-bought versions!

Do you drink coffee? How do you take yours? Have you ever had to switch the way you make your morning coffee?
One of the hardest parts about the whole30 for me has been adjusting what I put in my coffee. I used to put lots of 2% milk and a little agave or stevia, plus sometimes a few drops of vanilla. It wasn’t that hard eliminating the sweetener, because I love the simple synergy of milk and coffee. Since I also love coconut milk, I thought that might be a great choice for my morning cup. But coconut milk is terrible in coffee. It’s too thick. Even light coconut milk in a carton is too thick (and has icky things like carageenan added to it). Coffee shouldn’t be viscous, so coconut milk is out.

The next thing I tried was almond milk. It’s hard to find unsweetened almond milk without too many additives, but the Whole Foods brand wasn’t too bad. And when I put that almond milk in my coffee, it was fine. I had to put a lot more almond milk than regular milk, because you can pour in a lot of almond milk before your coffee stops looking (and tasting) totally black. Anyway, coffee with store-bought almond milk is okay, but I figured I could do better.

This homemade almond milk is easy, and you can add a little whole30-friendly sweetness by putting in a few dried apricots (or dates). The ingredients list is short and wholesome, and the result is much more delicious than what you find at the store. Creamy and subtly sweet, this homemade almond milk is by far the best nondairy milk I’ve found to go with my morning coffee. Of course, it’s also great on its own or blended into smoothies.

This recipe makes lightly sweetened vanilla almond milk; just omit the vanilla and dried fruit if you would like to make plain almond milk.

Ingredients (makes about 2 and 1/2 cups; adapted from Choosing Raw):

1 cup raw almonds
Water for soaking
3 cups water
Pinch of salt
2-4 dried apricots or dates, pitted and soaked in hot water (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional, omit for Whole30)

Equipment:

Cheesecloth or a nut milk bag

Soak the almonds in water to cover for at least two hours, or up to eight. Drain and rinse the almonds and discard the soaking water. Place the almonds, 3 cups of water, salt, apricots or dates, and vanilla in a blender. Blend on high speed for a minute or so until smooth.

Line a sieve with cheesecloth and place over a large bowl, or place a nut milk bag over a large jar, securing it with a rubber band. Pour the almond milk into the sieve or nut milk bag. Allow it to drain for up to an hour (or if you are impatient like me, squeeze the cheesecloth or bag to remove as much liquid as possible). Discard pulp, or save to use in smoothies. Store almond milk in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, and shake before using.

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Spicy Cocoa Chili

August 11, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

If you are going to eat paleo, you are going to need a lot of protein in your fridge. Otherwise, you will be constantly cranky.