Carrot Cupcakes

Cute carrot cupcakes ready to eat!

I have tried out several carrot cake and carrot muffin recipes and I think I’ve finally come up with the perfect combination the natural sweetness of the carrots and coconut make for a moist cupcake you can eat for breakfast, snack time or yes, desert!  If you have a Cuisinart, shredding the carrots will take no time at all.

Ingredients:

Dry-

1 cup almond flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

dash of allspice

2 teaspoons lemon zest

Wet-

3 large eggs

1 Tablespoon mayo

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-4 dropperfuls liquid stevia, to taste

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup milk- almond, coconut, soy or cow’s milk

Mix in last-

2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

 

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 and grease a  muffin tin for 12 with coconut oil or butter.

Grate 2 cups of carrots and set aside.

Combine all the dry ingredients, work out any lumps and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and mayo together on high speed for about 3 minutes til nice and frothy.

Add the stevia, vanilla (or use vanilla stevia!), cooled, melted coconut oil and the milk and whip together to combine.

Add the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.

Taste test for sweetness, add more stevia if needed.

Fold in the carrot and coconut.  Add up to 1/4 cup more milk if need, the batter should be thick but moist.

Scoop into the prepared muffin tin.  I like to use a small ice cream scoop to get evenly sized muffins with round tops!

Bake at 350 for 22-26 minutes, til cooked though and lightly browned.

Store muffins an air tight container in the fridge.

Makes 12 muffins each one is about 190 calories, 15 grams of healthy, filling fats, 4 grams fiber, 4 grams net carbs and 5.5 grams of protein.  These are an excellent snack, breakfast or dessert and a great way to get your kids to eat an extra serving of veggies while making them think they are eating a cupcake!

 

 

Pudding? Frosting? Pie filling? Yes!

Our friends Megan (massage therapist extraordinaire) and James (one half of Red Apple Butchers) came up with a snack idea that I thought would make an awesome pie filling or frosting.  Or, yes, you can just mix it up and eat it with a spoon.  Let’s start with the star of the show, the cultured dairy pudding:

Ingredients:

This will make enough to fill a 9 in pie crust, frost a one layer 8 in cake or just mix it up and store it in the fridge for the next time you want a serving or two of pudding!

• 2 cups creme fraiche or whole milk, unsweetened Greek style yogurt or use a little of each.  The creme fraiche is easy to make yourself and adds a nice tangy flavor.  The cream also whips up nicely for added lightness to this rich food.
•  1 cup smooth nut butter, any one of these are delicious: almond, hazelnut or peanut butter
• 3-4 dropperfuls of Whole Foods brand vanilla stevia
• 2-3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Creme fraiche and cocoa powder are so good together!

Method:

Add all the ingredients to a big bowl and use a mixer to whip them together into a smooth, fluffy bowl of deliciousness.   Taste and add more stevia or cocoa powder to your liking.  The mixture will be like pudding, you can make it thicker by adding more nut butter or thinner by adding plain heavy cream or more creme fraiche.

Now you have a cultured dairy pudding snack.  Which you can eat right now or use to frost a cake or cookies!

But, wait, what about making a cream pie?  Chill your pudding in the fridge while you get to baking.

Set your oven to 350

Chocolate Hazelnut Pudding Pie

 Pie Crust Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Blanched Almond Flour- I always use Bob’s Red Mill Brand
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted pasture butter
• 1 large organic farm egg
• a pinch of salt

Method:

Blend all of the ingredients together in a food processor.

Press the dough evenly into a 9 in pie plate and bake at 350 for 10-14 min, until firm and starting to brown.

Cool the crust completely and then add  the above pie filling.

Refrigerate the pie for at least an hour before serving.

When it’s time for pie, whip up 6-8 ounces of fresh cream.

Cover the top of the pie completely with the whipped cream and top with chopped roasted nuts and maybe even some chopped dark chocolate.  Sugar free has never tasted this good!

Yes please!

Better Than Butterfingers

Here is a little update to the Raw Bars  recipe I put up almost 2 years ago.  I can’t believe how long it’s been since I started this blog.  I have collected so many recipes and am really looking forward to finishing my cookbook called, of course, The Candida Diaries- A Holistic Cookbook.  I have made it to the final editing stages after I put my foot down, no more new recipes!  Those are going into a separate, as yet unnamed, cookbook file.  Along with this one, which I think will become one of your favorites.  My friend Bobbie taste tested these for me, she says they are just like the Butterfingers candy but better, and healthier too!

Ingredients:

1 cup roasted, salted peanuts

1/2 cup ground flax seeds

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1/2 cup peanut butter- I used chunky

1/4 cup coconut oil- very soft to liquid

1 and 1/2 dropperfuls of vanilla stevia- I used Whole Foods brand liquid Stevia with vanilla

Method:

Add all the ingredients to a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse to combine.

Taste and adjust the sweetness and vanilla.

Press into an 8×8 glass pan.  Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

When the bars are set you can cut them up into squares.

Eat them cold, they get very soft at room temperature!

Alternatively, crumble cold bars over thick, tart yogurt for breakfast or dessert.

Coconut Popsicles

Well since I’m on a coconut theme lately, let’s keep it going with some refreshing, healthy, candida fighting Coconut Popsicles!

I’m sure you have heard of the many health benefits attributed to the versatile coconut but here are two more to remind you:

Vitamin Rich: coconut milk contains an abundance of vitamins C, E and B which boost your immune system and contribute to glowing, elastic, healthy skin!  Coconut oil is a great way to keep your skin healthy, especially with the extra sun exposure we get in the summer time.

Lauric Acid: “Coconut milk is rich in lauric acid, a medium-chain fatty acid that is abundant in mother’s milk. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, lauric acid has many germ-fighting, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties that are very effective at ridding the body of viruses, bacteria and countless illnesses. Lauric acid may also reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels, which lowers heart disease and stroke risks.”  Quoted from The Health Benefits of Coconut Milk by Tanya Brown, Demand Media

Full of good for you fats, fiber, vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants, coconut milk, meat and oil are all excellent additions to your healthy diet and skin care routine.  And these popsicles are a delicious way to get those health benefits!

This one is super easy, all you need is a Popsicle mold, like the ones in this post.

Tovolo brand popsicle molds.

Once you have your popsicle mold, figure out how much mix it will hold, mine has 4 molds and will hold a shy 1/3 cup in each so I make up about 1 1/4 cup of mix.

I use canned coconut milk as the base or use my previous post and make your own!  Then I add a few drops of stevia, some vanilla extract and about 1 Tablespoon dutch cocoa powder.  Whisk to combine, pour into the molds and wait!

I have also combined coconut milk with cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla with a touch of stevia for a chai flavor. Awesome!

Coconut milk with lime juice is also yummy.

How about fresh mint with or without dutch cocoa powder for a refreshing treat?

And, for a cool pick-me-up try mixing some espresso (powder will work too) into the coconut milk with stevia and your favorite extract: vanilla, almond, coconut…?!

I’m sure you can come up with more Candida diet friendly frozen treats using flavorful, healthy coconut milk as the base.  Stay cool and enjoy!

Cha Cha Cha Chia Seed Pudding!

I love pudding but my days of instant Jello mixes are far behind me.  So, obviously, I was stoked to find these two variations on Chia seed based pudding from the site Deliciously Organic.  Chia seeds are high in omega-3 fatty acids and contain alpha-linoleic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA), ladies, these all come in really handy if you experience PMS.  Yes, this chia based chocolate pudding is medicinal! Chia seeds also contain protein, fiber and some antioxidants. Chia seeds don’t need to be ground up like flax seeds in order for the body to absorb their nutrients.

Some really good lookin’ nutrition information!

Ingredients:

• 1  3/4 cups or one can coconut milk (Deliciously Organic recommends organic canned coconut milk from Native Forest. The can isn’t lined with BPA and it’s a nice thick milk)
• 1  3/4 cups almond milk (just refill the empty coconut milk can no need to use a measuring cup!)
• a few drops of stevia (or for non Candida diets: 4 tablespoons maple syrup or honey)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional but recommended!)
• 1/3 cup chia seeds

Procedure:

In a wide mouth quart mason jar add the coconut milk and almond milk, extracts and stevia.  If the coconut milk is cold you will need to use a whisk to work out any lumps.  Or, put the lid on and shake vigorously!  Then add the chia seeds, put the lid on and shake well to combine.  Let it sit at room temperature for a few hours until the chia seeds are fully expanded.

If you’d like to make the pudding ahead of time, shake well and then keep it in the refrigerator until you want a health snack or dessert.

This recipe makes an excellent take along snack or addition to your picnic.  You can easily make 1/2 a recipe in a smaller mason jar if you prefer.  For a thicker pudding, add another tablespoon or two of chia seeds, for a thinner drink, similar to tapioca bubble tea, use a tablespoon or 2 fewer chia seeds.

Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

As above, just whisk 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder in with the coconut milk.

Top with a sprinkling of cacao nibs if you like.

A Very Berry Crumble

On Friday night Dana and I joined our friends Mike and Becca for dessert: a berry crumble.  This is Becca’s recipe, I’m not sure what the original one looked like, I know she definitely reduced the amount of refined white sugar and switched to maple syrup instead.  I have included my suggestions for eliminating most of the sugar for those who don’t tolerate it.  I have found that my body can definitely tell the difference between say, corn syrup and berries or honey.  Honey and berries both have plenty of medicinal properties, from immune support and allergy relief to anti oxidants and vitamins- these sweet foods have much more to offer than just taste.  Corn syrup and refined sugars offer empty calories, with no nutritional or health benefits at all.  As one of my health coaching clients told me, “Sugar is like rust in your body.  I will never eat that stuff again!” Too true.   This dessert is a great way to enjoy the natural sweetness of this season’s berries and get some nutrition too.  Enjoy this for dessert or for breakfast with a side of tart yogurt.

I love the crumble part in this dish; it’s moist, with great texture and gets nice and crunchy on the outside.  Almond and cashew flour can be easily made by using a spice grinder or Quisinart to finely chop the whole nuts.   Raw nut flours are best in this recipe since they will bake for over an hour.   Depending on what kind of berries you choose to mix together- blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, black berries, mulberries, cherries- will determine the amount of overall sweetness.  I used mostly raspberries since I made this for family dinner and like to keep things very low sugar as does my dad who is diabetic.  We enjoyed this healthy dessert topped with fresh whipped cream, I bet ice cream or frozen yogurt would also be delicious!

This photos is from Simply Recipes dot com. Our berry crumble got all eaten up before anyone thought to take a picture!

Ingredients:

About 6 cups of your choice of berries, Mike and Becca’s version included blueberries, black raspberries and cherries.  For the lowest carbohydrate/sugar count use raspberries and blackberries.

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Splash of vanilla

For the topping:

2 ½ cups almond and/or cashew flour- I used all almond flour which is lower in carbohydrates, a mix of the two is really nice if you have both.

1/3 cup maple syrup or honey- I used 1 tablespoon of honey plus stevia to taste for the crumble and added 1 tablespoon of honey plus a touch of stevia to the raspberries picked from my dad’s garden since they were a bit tart.

1/3 cup cold butter or coconut oil

1 teaspoon  tapioca

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon each: ground ginger, allspice and salt

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 350*

Mix together berries, lemon juice and vanilla and place in a 12×12 pan.

Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Cube the butter, add it to the dry ingredients and mix with your hands or a pastry cutter.

Gently mix in your sweetener of choice.

Spread the crumble topping over the berries and bake for an hour and 15 minutes.

Biscuits!

Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Coconut Flour Biscuits

Hot from the oven!

Makes about 8-10 biscuits depending on size.

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment.

 Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 shy cup almond milk
• 6 Tbsp organic coconut oil or butter
• 2 Tbsp  finely ground flax seeds
• 1/2 tsp  baking powder (non-alumininum)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 2 Tbsp almond flour/finely ground almonds

1. Combine the dry ingredients (all but the first 4 ingredients) breaking up any lumps of coconut flour.  Cut the 6 tablespoons of coconut oil or butter into the dry ingredients until it’s an even mix of crumbly small pieces.

2. Whip the flax into about 1/4 cup of the almond milk until it’s very sticky, this will help hold the biscuits together.

Add the lemon juice and the rest of the almond milk to the flax mixture (can also use soy or dairy milk) and stir to combine.

3. Fold the liquid into the fat/flour dry mix.  The coconut flour will soak up a lot of liquid so mix quickly but gently and let it set for a moment before you start to form the biscuits.

4. I used a big spoon and my hands to shape the rounds.  You can use a measuring cup as well if you want to make sure they are all equal size, a 1/3 cup measure should work well.

5. I baked mine at 425 for about 17 minutes.  They will be nicely browned on top but be careful, these are very delicate until they have cooled completely.  I let mine cool  for about 20 minutes before eating/storing them!

1. 1. 

      Biscuits with lemon curd, mmmm, breakfast!

      Serving suggestion, for dessert, breakfast or a snack, these biscuits go so perfectly with lemon curd and maybe a few wild blueberries.  Next week I’m making dinner for some friends and I think I will make a curry chicken pot pie with these biscuits as the topping.  What do you want to make with these versatile biscuits?

       

Chocolate Pecan Bark

Ingredients: chocolate, chocolate, pecans and cacao nibs.

This recipe is super easy; all you need are some chocolate chunks and your choice of nuts and seasoning. I used two-thirds Scharffen Berger semi sweet chocolate and one-third unsweetened chocolate.  I melted the chocolate in a double boiler, then mixed in a few cacao nibs and lots of pecans.  I think the next kind I’m making will be chocolate cayenne almond bark!

Make them any shape/size you like

Drop the melted chocolate and nut mixture onto parchment paper and let them cool completely.  Done and ready for gifting, sharing and eating!

Homemade chocolate!

Hot Chocolate Cookies

Some of you have been asking me if I have any new holiday cookie recipes and thanks to the Farmer’s Almanac, the answer is YES!  On page 40 of the 2012 Almanac is a recipe for ‘Dark Chocolate Chili Balls’.  I have taken the advice of my celebrity chef friend, that is, he’s my friend and he cooks for a lot of celebrities, not something I personally have the stomach for after my experience working as a nanny for certain 1%-ers, but his advice was this: refrain from using the word ‘balls’ when naming a food.  So we’ll call them cookies, you can shape them however you like and make any inappropriate jokes you deem necessary for this time of the year.  These spicy, rich chocolate cookies are mostly a mix of 85% dark chocolate and unsweetened chocolate with some walnuts and hot pepper of your choosing.  The original recipe was easy to adapt since it only called for a 1/4 of wheat flour, and I substituted with a tablespoon of coconut flour.

I made these last weekend and they were a hit at our Sunday night family dinner.  At the end of this post I’ve linked to my other cookies and sweet treats in case you want to make up a variety of holiday cookies for you and yours!

Chocolate cookies spiked with chipotle and walnuts.

Ingredients:

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped. I used Trader Joe’s brand ‘The Dark Chocolate Lover’s Bar’ which has 5 grams of fiber and only 8 grams of sugar per 40 gram serving (about 2/3 of the whole bar).

2 ounces Unsweetened chocolate, chopped

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 Tablespoon coconut flour

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 to 2 teaspoons ground chiles, I used a shy 2 teaspoons of ground chipotle peppers and the cookies were spicy!  I would use less spice next time.  If you like hot, go for it, if not, 1/2 a teaspoon will do.  You can use Ancho chiles for a more mild and smokey heat, Cayenne for a lot of heat and not much else or Chipotles for heat and smoke, yum!

2 large eggs

stevia to taste

1 Tablespoon espresso powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup of chopped walnut pieces

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Unsweetened Chocolate, butter and some 85% dark chocolate make the base of these rich cookies.

In a saucepan over low heat melt the two kinds of chocolate with the butter.  Add stevia to taste, a bit sweeter than you’d like and the flavor will balance out when you add in the rest of the ingredients.  After it’s melted, set it aside to cool a bit.

In a bowl mix together the coconut flour, baking powder, salt and hot pepper.

In another bowl beat the eggs, espresso powder and vanilla at high speed for 2 minutes.

Cowboy coffee for the modern foodie: whipped organic farm eggs, espresso powder and vanilla extract.

This last part should be done quickly so have your baking sheet ready and your oven up to temperature.

Add the melted chocolate to your egg mixture and beat well to blend.

Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.  Stir in the walnuts.

The chocolate will begin to solidify so immediately begin to shape spoonfuls of dough into rounds and place about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies have a shiny skin and are slightly firm.  Let them cool on the cookie sheet for several minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.  Makes 24-36 cookies depending on size!

Some of my other dessert recipes:

Nuts and Seeds Cookies

Chocolate Lavender Tart

No Bake Chocolate Cake

Pumpkin Pie and Coconut Ice Cream

Coconut Cake

Carrot Cake

5 Star Dessert

Chocolate Avocado Pudding with Cocao Nibs

One of my clients recently went to Thanksgiving dinner hosted by a chef whose day job is at a 5 star restaurant in San Francisco, lucky her!  She was worried, of course, that there would be only a few things that she would be able to eat since she is on the Candida diet.  And rightly so, it’s usually difficult to get someone who doesn’t have any idea what Candida is to understand this diet.  I recently had the pleasure of eating a meal at Eat in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.  They usually serve a small, set menu based around what’s local and fresh, my kind of place!  And the set menu on Saturday night was not looking very Amy-friendly.  The chef, surprisingly, wanted to accommodate my diet and asked me, what can I eat?  We went through a list of the usual suspects and he seemed to understand.  What came out of his kitchen was absolutely delightful, lots of greens, some smoked fish, a little cheese, more fresh green herbs in an olive oil and apple cider vinegar dressing.  I was impressed.  And so thankful that he was willing to be flexible and to listen.

I went to a restaurant with my mom yesterday for a little post holiday shopping meal.  Mom was familiar with the menu and quickly pointed out the things I could eat and probably get on the side.  And she was right!  It’s funny how something so seemingly insignificant as the minutia of what I can and can not eat means so much to me when someone else gets it, especially family.  Eating the same food, together at the same time, is so important and that’s why it’s so easy to feel lonely and left out when your diet seems drastic, mysterious and limited to those around us.  With all the holiday parties and family get togethers coming up it’s important to speak up and participate.  Bring food to share so that your friends and family can understand that your diet is full of delicious food.  Plenty of recipes to choose from here!  Ask ahead about the proposed menu and make sure that there will be plenty for you to eat that doesn’t compromise your health.  Is it really worth it to just eat what happens to be available (and end up starving) or have your health suffer for days because you ate something to be polite that you really shouldn’t eat?  Eating together is one way that we social creatures bond, so speak up and share your food, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Avocados: creamy, rich, healthy and versatile.

Back to the Thanksgiving dinner, my client had a great time because she chose to get in touch with the chef and, politely ask about his Thanksgiving menu.  The chef was very nice and had a chat with her about what she can eat.  He made plenty of friendly foods and he even made dessert!  Here’s the recipe for the rich chocolate pudding that he made.  My client loved it and, a few days later, replicated the recipe easily at home.  So we’ll call this one ‘Five Star Dessert’.  The recipe can easily be doubled.

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

Stevia, to taste

A bit of heavy cream or coconut cream, to desired consistency, about 1/4 to 1/2 cup

1 ripe avocado

Optional: vanilla extract, just a dash and cocao nibs, sprinkled on top!

Procedure:

Put everything (except the stevia) and about 1/4 cup of the coconut or dairy cream into a blender and blend.  Adjust the consistency by adding more cream and/or more cocoa powder.  Add stevia, a little at a time until it’s sweet to your liking.  Top with cocao nibs and/or shredded coconut.  Share, eat and enjoy!