recipe Archives - Page 27 of 33 - A Calculated Whisk

Maple Brown Butter Muffins (Paleo, Gluten-free)

October 6, 2013 By Becky 1 Comment

I’ve been having a lot of brownies for breakfast lately. First salted caramel brownies, and then some pumpkin cheesecake brownies that I’m still working on. I’m even willing to admit that one day, I had a salted caramel brownie sundae for breakfast. I’m not sorry–it was a fabulous day!

But, after a while, I started wanting something a little more appropriate in the morning. Something more like muffins. Because, even though we all know that muffins are really just naked cupcakes, they are totally a legit breakfast food.

I like these muffins because they are simple, easy, and delicious. There’s not even any streusel topping to worry about. The most complicated part is browning the butter, which adds a great richness to the muffins. However, you can use regular butter or coconut oil and still end up with scrumptious results. The best part is that these muffins are gluten-free, paleo, nut-free, and lactose-free if you use ghee, so hopefully most of your friends and family can eat them! Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Brownies (Gluten-free)

September 29, 2013 By Becky 4 Comments

In case you missed it, you can make brownies (or blondies) from almond butter! It’s amazing–with just almond butter, honey, eggs, baking powder, and a few flavorings, you get a batter that actually bakes up into classic, fudgy, and delicious brownies. I have Elana at Elana’s Pantry to thank for that genius discovery.

And, as you may already know, every dessert gets better when you add salted caramel. I’ve already made several salted caramel treats (the sauce, cupcakes, skillet brownies, and peach bars), and thought it was time for a gluten-free salted caramel brownie. If you’d like to make this recipe paleo, you can make it with salted maple caramel instead of the regular salted caramel sauce. Either way, these brownies will be amazing.

We had friends over for dinner last night, and used these brownies as a base for brownie sundaes (the ultimate dessert, in my opinion). We started with the brownies, followed by a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a generous drizzle of warm salted caramel sauce, whipped cream, and a sprinkling of chocolate chips. The sundaes were so distractingly good that no pictures were taken, so you’ll just have to trust me and make some yourself!

Roasted Vegetable Soup

September 22, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

I know what you’re thinking, but there is no pumpkin in this soup.

Parsnips, turnips, and sweet potatoes, yes, but no pumpkin. See? I’m branching out into other fall flavors.

This soup is sweet, creamy, and comforting. Roasting the vegetables with thyme and olive oil gives them great flavor (as does a generous splash of wine). In my opinion, though, serving the soup with a dollop of tangy creme fraiche and drops of rich olive oil is what really makes it so fabulous.

Here, olive oil is used for roasting the vegetables, sauteing the onion to make the base, and for finishing the soup. I love this olive oil as a finish because you can really taste the earthy goodness of it, which is a great counterpoint to the sweet roasted veggies. I hope you love this soup as much as I do!

P.S. Did you know there’s a lot of fraudulent olive oil being imported and sold in our country? Sometimes olive oil labeled as “extra-virgin” has lower-quality olive oils mixed in, or even other oils altogether (like canola). Tom Mueller has written a whole book about it called Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil. You can also read a blog post about it here.

Pumpkin Cake with Molasses Cream (Paleo, Gluten-free)

September 21, 2013 By Becky 7 Comments

It is only September 21st, and I may already be tired of pumpkin.

I mean, “tired” is a little extreme–I probably just need one week off, and then I’ll be ready to get back on the pumpkin train.

The reason is that I had to make this pumpkin cake four or five times. The first time, I tried to make a vegan version using flax eggs. I baked the cake for a long, long time, but it still did not set completely. It had a fabulous flavor, but it was like a pudding-cake. After cutting off a few slices, the rest of the loaf couldn’t even hold itself together, and slumped into the delicious pumpkin version of an old, dilapidated house.

The next time I made it, it ended up staying in the oven for over three hours (not on purpose). You can see it here (and I’d be thrilled if you followed me on Instagram!). The third time, I substituted molasses for the honey, and the cake was so dark that it looked burnt even though it wasn’t. I wanted a nice orange color, at least on the inside of the cake, so I tried a fourth time. I loved the molasses flavor, so I used it in the glaze, along with some creme fraiche (my new favorite thing). Finally, I got a cake I loved! It’s still very moist, but it hasn’t fallen apart yet. The molasses cream and pecans really take it over the top. If you’re not a nut person, you could try adding a similar amount of chocolate chunks. I added them to the first batch and it was fabulous.

So, hopefully you’re not tired of pumpkin! I promise to feature a different main ingredient in my next recipe.

Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream (Vegan, Paleo, Gluten-free)

September 17, 2013 By Becky 20 Comments

Did you know there was once a molasses flood in Boston? A five-story high molasses tank exploded on an unusually hot day in 1919 and surged through the North End, destroying a fire station and leaving a path of sticky destruction in its wake. Some say that when the weather is really warm, you can still smell the molasses on the city streets almost 100 years later.

I was fascinated by the molasses flood as a kid and did a report on it in elementary school. I think that was the last time I thought about molasses, though, because I almost never cook with it. But, while making a failed batch of pumpkin bread over the weekend, I ran out of honey and needed another sweetener. The molasses in the back of my cupboard seemed like just the thing, and it was (the pumpkin bread only failed because I asked Ben to watch it for me, and it ended up baking for almost three hours). Molasses has a spicy flavor that goes really well with pumpkin, and contributes to this ice cream’s rich orange color. I did a little research and there seems to be some debate as to whether molasses is truly paleo, but I’m sure that this ice cream would still be delicious if you added more honey instead, or even tried maple syrup.

Double Chocolate Cookies (Paleo, Gluten-free)

September 14, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

Week one of graduate school is over! I barely made it–there was so much reading for every class, and I had lots of training to do for my part-time job as a research assessor. On Friday I only had one seminar at eleven, so I got up early and made these cookies. I hated going a whole six days without posting–I’m going to need to work out a good schedule so I can post at least three times a week most of the time.

Anyway, these cookies. They are inspired by these mocha chip cookies, but have a lot less coffee. I couldn’t really taste the coffee in the finished cookies, but it does amp up the chocolate flavor and provide tiny bits of crunch inside the cookie. To be honest, I was aiming to make a crispy-edged cookie here, and that didn’t really work out. If you have tips for crispy paleo cookies, please share! However, the finished cookies were still too yummy not to share with you. They’re soft and kind of chewy, and they make a great before-class breakfast. I enjoyed mine with some coffee milk–mix a little cool coffee with a lot of cold milk, or use this delicious coffee syrup.

Grain-free Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream

September 9, 2013 By Becky 9 Comments

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Grain-free Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream (Gluten free, Nut free) | acalculatedwhisk.com

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.

Stuffed Zucchini with Goat Cheese & Herbs

September 4, 2013 By Becky 4 Comments

Cheese is back! After finishing up my version of a Whole 30, I’ve been adding some dairy back into my diet. I’ve made some interesting discoveries. I used to think that too much coffee upset my stomach, but since switching to almond milk, I realized it was all the milk in my coffee that was causing me problems (I like a LOT of milk in my coffee). So I’m trying not to go too crazy with the dairy, but I’m fine with a little cheese.

Goat cheese is one of my favorite cheeses, and it’s one that people who are lactose intolerant can often still enjoy. Apparently this is because the fat molecules in goat’s milk are shorter than those in cow’s milk, and thus easier to digest. Whatever the reason, I’m glad I can enjoy goat cheese. It really takes these stuffed zucchini over the top.

One more note on ingredients: this was my first time cooking with ground pork. It was so good! Why is everyone still buying ground beef all the time? I mean, I’m sure this recipe would be good with beef, or even ground chicken or turkey, but the pork just has so much great flavor. Perhaps this is due to a higher fat content? What I really want to know is this: why don’t people make hamburgers out of ground pork? Any thoughts? After all, they are called HAMburgers…

On to the recipe! I’m eager to try this with other vegetables as well: maybe mushrooms instead of peppers, or shallots instead of onions. Let me know if you try this or any variations!

Caramel-Stuffed Snickerdoodles (Paleo, Gluten free)

September 2, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

Some people go crazy for snickerdoodles, but I’m not usually one of them. Snickerdoodles have a lot of cinnamon, which is nice, but they don’t have chocolate, caramel, or fruit. Usually I require one of those three things in order to truly fall in love with a dessert. Several weeks ago it occurred to me that snickerdoodles could be stuffed with caramel, and ever since I’ve been eager to try it. I’m not the first one to try stuffing caramel inside a snickerdoodle, but I think I’m the first to try a paleo and gluten free version.

I made this honey caramel yesterday to drizzle on top of an apple honey cake that I’m working on for Rosh Hashanah. The cake was delicious, but it still needs a little work. I had half of the honey caramel left (it wouldn’t all fit on top of the apple cake!) so I decided I needed to make the snickerdoodles.

These are easy to make (no creaming!) and fun to eat. Before the photo shoot, I tried two cookies, one straight from the oven and one after they’d cooled. (As a food blogger, I have to do these things. You know, for science.) Then, after I took my pictures, I had to eat all the cookies that had suffered casualties (been broken open) during the shoot. I had to drink all the milk, too, because it would have been really hard to pour it back in the carton without a funnel. The things I do for this blog! Anyway, it was a fabulous snack and I think you should make some today.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins (Gluten free, Paleo)

August 31, 2013 By Becky 28 Comments

These grain-free double chocolate zucchini muffins strike the perfect balance between healthy and indulgent eating.

It’s strange not to be getting a classroom set up this time of year. To get my classroom layout fix, I went to help my friend set up her room. She’ll be teaching kindergarten, and her space is amazing! Her classroom has its own coatroom with a full length cubby for each kid, plus a bathroom. The room has lots of windows on two sides, tons of built-in storage, and TWO sinks at the back–one kid height and one regular. On top of all that, the building is air conditioned! In six years of teaching, I definitely never had it that good.

Anyway, I wanted to bring something for me and my friend to snack on while we set up her classroom, and since I was going there mid-morning, I decided double chocolate zucchini muffins would be just the thing. I went with double chocolate muffins because what I really wanted was to make cupcakes. These are the perfect happy medium, and I snuck in a zucchini to make them extra moist and even more healthy.

A weird thing happened with these muffins. Let me know if you have any insights about this muffin mystery: when I tried a warm muffin before leaving the house, some of the muffin stuck to the paper liner. Not a ton, but a fair amount. I then wrapped some muffins in tinfoil to bring with me, but left the top of the tinfoil open since the muffins were still warm. At my friend’s school, the papers peeled off the muffins with virtually no crumbs attached–completely clean. The next morning, I expected the muffins I had left at home to do the same thing, since I assumed it was from cooling completely. But no! Crumb stuck on the liner again. So–did wrapping the bottoms of my muffins in tinfoil while they were still warm make the papers come off with no crumbs? If so, I might have to try that trick every time I make muffins or cupcakes! Any thoughts?

Anyway, on to the recipe. I hope these double chocolate zucchini muffins will help you strike the perfect breakfast balance.

If you’re looking for more amazing paleo muffins, check out the Papaya Pecan Muffins in my cookbook Paleo Planet. They’re on page 231!

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.