Banana Muffins
These muffins are a new favorite in our home! I typically make them plain, but have also added some homemade dark chocolate chips to them for a fun, chocolatey twist. They make a nice snack during the day or side for breakfast.
To see the recipe, see my guest post at The Nourishing Gourmet here.
Shared at Allergy-Free Wednesdays.
Coffee Cake
Coffee cake and boiled eggs were common brunch foods for me growing up. Since I’ve gone grain-free, I’ve really missed it! While my family visited over the holidays, I decided to take my mom’s recipe and try to make it grain and refined sugar-free. My family approved of the end result so now I would like to share it with you! Enjoy!
Coffee Cake
See the recipe here where I guest-posted at The Nourishing Gourmet.
Raisin Nut Crunch Cereal
Finally! A cereal-substitute we like that reminds us of cereal!! The recipe I based this one off of is from Civilized Caveman and is found here. Thanks for the great recipe, Civilized Caveman!
Raisin Nut Crunch Cereal
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
2 Tbsp. squash seeds (or more pumpkin seeds)
1/2 cup almond meal (I used dried almond pulp from making almond milk)
1 1/3 cup coconut
1 cup almonds, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. coconut oil
1/4 cup raw honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup raisins (added after cereal is baked)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine all dry ingredients (except raisins).
3. Warm coconut oil and honey slightly so they are easily incorporated. Pour oil, honey and vanilla over dry ingredients. Mix well
4. Spread cereal mixture over large baking pan (15 x 10 or bigger) and bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Take out of oven, stir mixture and bake for another 5-7 minutes.
5. Cool. Add raisins and serve with homemade coconut milk or homemade almond milk! Store in an airtight container.
Pumpkin-Apple Pie Muffins
Well, I am not sure what to call these–they are made in a muffin pan and look like muffins, yet their texture is almost more of a bar or dessert and they remind me of pumpkin pie…hence the name. The smell of fall (and pumpkin!) is in the air! And hopefully more pumpkin recipes will follow!
Pumpkin-Apple Pie Muffins
1 cup chopped apples (about 1 apple)
1 cup pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 Tbsp. vanilla
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup coconut flour, sifted
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped (sprinkle on top)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line regular-sized muffin pan with liners.
2. Combine chopped apple, pumpkin puree, eggs, applesauce, vanilla and honey. Mix well.
3. Add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.
4. Divide batter among 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle chopped walnuts on top.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
6. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
I would love to hear feedback on these–if there are things you would change, add or delete. Let me know your thoughts! Most of my recipes are a work-in-progress. 
Swedish Pancakes (Thin Pancakes)
Swedish pancakes was one of my absolute favorite breakfasts growing up. I know I requested it multiple times for my “birthday breakfast”. It was another one of those food items I had missed since going grain-free. I say had missed because now I can enjoy them again! My dad always made swedish pancakes for us on a lefse griddle. I also make swedish pancakes on a lefse griddle, but you should be able to make them in a skillet on the stove.
Swedish Pancakes
Ingredients:
8 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp. coconut flour
1/4 cup arrowroot
1/4 tsp. salt
butter or oil
Directions:
1. Preheat griddle or skillet. (I set my lefse griddle to 325 degrees.)
2. Combine all the ingredients in a blender.
3. Blend until just combined.
4. Butter or grease skillet. (I take a stick of butter and rub the end of it around the griddle.)
5. Pour a thin layer of batter on griddle or skillet. Tip griddle or skillet in a circular motion to spread it out. Cook until the bottom is lightly browned. Flip over and cook briefly until that side is lightly browned. Enjoy!
*Serve with fresh fruit, maple syrup or just eat it plain!
Coconut Flour Waffles
We love waffles. And these waffles make us pretty happy, especially considering they are paleo!
Coconut Flour Waffles
Makes: 5-6 four-inch waffles
Ingredients:
4 eggs, separated
2 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted (or other oil)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup almond milk or coconut milk
1/4 cup sifted coconut flour
1/2 Tbsp. honey
Directions:
1. Put all the egg whites in a bowl and set aside.
2. In a second mixing bowl, combine egg yolks and all the rest of the ingredients.
3. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into batter mixture and gently mix until egg whites are incorporated.
4. Pour appropriate amount unto your waffle iron and cook. (On my waffle iron, I put 1 – 1 1/2 cups of batter on it and cook for 2 1/2 -3 1/2 minutes.)
5. Serve with fruit, pure maple syrup, and/or coconut whipped cream!
*This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled and the leftovers saved for later!
Shared on Pennywise Platter on 3/29/12!
Strawberry-Zucchini Muffins (with coconut flour)
It is September and I just picked another 3 cups of fresh strawberries! I’ve tried this recipe with both fresh and frozen and it is definitely easier to use fresh (easier to cut up), but if you use frozen, slightly defrost them first and they will be easier to cut into little pieces.
Strawberry-Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients:
1 cup shredded zucchini
8 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (or oil)
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup strawberries, cut into small pieces, fresh or frozen
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine zucchini, eggs, applesauce (or oil), honey and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix well.
3. Add salt, coconut flour, and baking soda to wet ingredients. Mix until there are no coconut flour lumps.
4. Gently fold in strawberry pieces.
5. Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full (or more).
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes for regular sized muffins and 15-18 minutes for mini muffins.
*Makes 12 regular muffins and 6-10 mini muffins depending on how full you fill them.
Blueberry Banana Muffins (Coconut Flour)
I am constantly changing my blueberry muffin recipe…but thought I would post my latest one for those looking for a muffin recipe!
Blueberry Banana Muffins (with coconut flour)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 Bananas
4 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract or almond extract
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sifted coconut flour
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper muffin liners in muffin pan.
- Put bananas in large bowl and smash with a potato masher. (Otherwise, mash bananas with a fork.)
- Add eggs, applesauce, and vanilla or almond extract. Mix well.
- Add dry ingredients. Mix well using a whisk or hand mixer. Gently fold in blueberries.
- Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full. (I divided batter between 11 muffin cups.)
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. (Check by tapping on tops of muffins and if they spring back and don’t stay indented, they are done.)
- Enjoy!!!
*You could probably make these sweeter by adding a bit of honey if you would like!
Coconut Flour Pancakes
This recipe for Coconut Flour Pancakes comes from Wellness Mama. I literally don’t change ANYTHING on this one. (Shocker!) Maybe someday I will come up with my own pancake recipe, but for now I will share Wellness Mama’s recipe.
Coconut Flour Pancakes
Ingredients:
5 eggs
1 cup unsweetened applesauce or pear sauce
1/2 cup sifted coconut flour
1 tsp. baking soda
cinnamon to taste (I do a pinch)
1/4 cup butter or coconut oil, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. honey (optional)
(Optional) add-ins such as berries or dark chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Heat large skillet or pancake griddle. (I heat a griddle to 325 degrees.)
2. Mix all ingredients together except add-ins. Mix with electric mixer or immersion blender. Let batter sit for 5 minutes so that it will thicken.
3. Carefully fold in berries or chocolate chips or other add-ins.
4. Grease griddle or skillet with butter or coconut oil.
5. Use 1/4 cup measuring cup to ladle pancake batter onto hot griddle or skillet.
6. Cook 3-4 minutes per side (if set at 325) or until it bubbles and is easy to flip.
7. Flip pancakes and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
*Serve with butter, pure maple syrup and fresh fruit. Enjoy!
Homemade Almond Milk
I have made two different versions of almond milk now, and I will share both options with you. If you make it with 4 medjool dates, it costs about $1.80 a quart ($3.60 a half gallon) which is close to what I pay for it at the store. If you make it with maple syrup, it costs about $1.30-$1.50 a quart ($2.60-$3.00 a half gallon) which is cheaper than I can buy it. I buy my dates, almonds (unsalted, unroasted) and maple syrup at Costco. I actually prefer the taste with the dates, but think I will try it with 2-3 dates next time instead. I also found that straining went a lot quicker when I made it without the dates, but it still worked pretty well.
Homemade Almond Milk
Ingredients:
1 cup almonds (preferably raw)
soaking water
4 cups water
1 tsp. vanilla
sweetener of choice (1-2 Tbsp. maple syrup or 4 dates)
Directions:
1. Soak almonds in water for 8 or more hours. Rinse almonds and discard soaking water.
2. Put almonds, 4 cups water, vanilla and dates (if using) into blender.
3. Blend on high for 1 minute.
4. Strain through fine mesh strainer.
5. Strain again through nut bag or cheesecloth.
6. (If using maple syrup instead of dates, add it now.)
7. Store in the fridge for 3-5 days.
Notes:
*You can sweeten it according to your liking or leave it unsweetened as well. I’ve also seen recipes for adding cocoa to make chocolate almond milk–yum! They suggest 2 Tbsp. of cocoa added to a sweetened version of almond milk (like the above recipe). Enjoy!
*ALMOND PULP: I’ve read that you can dry out the leftover almond pulp and use it as almond flour. I dry mine out on a baking sheet with sides and cook at 300 degrees, stirring every 10 minutes or so. It takes about 25-40 minutes to dry it all out. I haven’t tried it as almond flour yet, but if it works–wow! Almond flour is so expensive and if you make milk and flour, you definitely will save money!
Let me know how you like your almond milk and if you use the dried almond pulp in any recipes!