Peanut Butter Teff Cookies

It's getting close to Christmas which means it's definitely cookie time.  This is an easy and fairly healthy cookie.  And my little one LOVES these, and so do I.  :) The peanut butter I used was slightly chunky (self ground, so I didn't make it perfectly smooth), but you could use either smooth or chunky. Teff is an excellent source of minerals (it has the most calcium per cup of any grain, and is also high in iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, and manganese) and your B vitamins.  It is a dark grain, so it gives these cookies a darker color than what you would typically see in a peanut butter cookie, but that hasn't stopped my kids from eating them.

This post was shared on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays and Whole Food Fridays.

Peanut Butter Teff Cookies
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
1 cup natural peanut butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
 1 1/2 cups teff flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Mix wet ingredients together in a food processor or stand mixer.

Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to the wet ingredients and mix until it comes together, make sure the honey is fully mixed in (it likes to sit at the bottom).

Roll into 1 inch balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Press down with a fork in a cross pattern and cook for ~10 minutes.

Happy Mother's Day, and a post to honor my Grandmas

Happy Mother's Day everyone!  I hope it's been a wonderful day.  Flip Cookbook is hosting this month's 'Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free' event and the theme is: From Mom's Recipe Box.  I decided to modify it and do recipes from my grandmas' recipe boxes and honor them.

I've been reminiscing a lot lately on childhood memories with my two wonderful Grandmas.  With each of these memories, comes memories of the food they would make us.  Every, or at least nearly every Sunday we went to my Dad's parents' house.  And pretty much everytime we went, my grandparents had homemade treats for us.  My grandpa always got credit for giving us rootbeer floats (even though, technically Grandma did all the work), but all credit goes to Grandma for the rest of the treats.
 

My grandpa was and still is a beekeeper.  And that hobby yield some very delicious honey, even now when I smell honey or anything with honey in it, I think of them.  My very favorite treat that my grandma made was her honey popcorn balls, she never used a recipe, so they always seemed a little different each time.  But the honey was always the star and it was pure comfort food.  So, this first recipe is for my Grandma Nay, because I always think of you when there's honey involved. <3

Peanut Butter and Honey Popcorn Balls
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
4-5 qts popped popcorn

Directions
In a heavy saucepan mix together the honey, peanut butter and salt.  Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil and continue to cook for 30-60 seconds while stirring constantly. (Watch very closely because it can burn very quickly). Remove from heat and pour over the popcorn, toss to evenly cover the popcorn and let it cool for a couple of minutes then form into balls.

This recipe is featured on Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.

My Mom's mom was a fiery red-head with the biggest heart I know.  She spoiled us grandkids rotten, just like a grandma should. She made these cheesy potatoes that I'm sure the rest of Utah would know as Funeral Potatoes, but we called Grandma Potatoes.  They were always the best when she made them and she made them for every family gathering.  She past away a couple of years ago and I miss her fiercely, but I can recall all of the happy memories as these modified Grandma Potatoes bake in my house filling my home with the familar smells of my Grandma house. I love you, Grandma Davidson, and this one is for you! <3

Grandma Potatoes
(or Funeral Potatoes or Cheesy Potato Casserole...depending on where you live)
adapted from here
8-10 medium russet potatoes
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup millet flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (I use Imagine brand low-sodium)
1 cup So Delicious Coconut Milk
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon poulty seasoning
2 cups Daiya cheddar style shreds
1/2 cup dairy-free yogurt cheese
1/2 teaspoon vinegar

Topping:
2 cups Corn Chex, crushed
2 tablespoons dairy-free margarine, melted

Directions:

Boil the potatoes in a large pot, until fork tender.  Allow them to cool, then peel and grate the potatoes. 

In a large saucepan, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and cook until the onion is softened, about 5-6 minutes.  Stir in the millet flour and cook, stirring constantly, for another 30-60 seconds.

Combine the chicken broth and the coconut milk and slowly whisk it into the flour mixture.  Add the salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture has thickened slightly.  It should take about 5 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the Daiya cheese until smooth. Fold in the potatoes, until the mixture is well combined.  Add the vinegar to the yogurt cheese and stir that into the potato mixture.

In a medium bowl combine the corn chex and the melted margarine until evenly combined.  Spoon the potato mixture into a 9x13 baking pan, smoothing the top.  Top with the buttered corn chex.  Bake at 350F for 35-45 minutes (45 minutes, if you prepped beforehand and stored the potatoes in the fridge before baking them).

This recipe is featured on Make it Gluten Free Tuesdays.

Walnut Bread, made in honor of my family :)

Growing up there were a few foods that we had in abundance, mainly because we grew them or my grandparents did.  Some of those foods were grapes, plums, peaches, walnuts, apricots, and of course eggs from my grandpa's chickens and honey from his bees. (And that's just a few of them) :)

When I was small we had 3 walnut trees in our front yard, one is left, but that one produces more than enough walnuts.  So, every fall my parents are kind enough to share.  I love walnuts, I guess it's just comfort food that reminds me of home...and all the hours spent cracking walnuts. :)  The one problem with walnuts is the bitter aftertaste caused by tannins or tannic acid.  This is also why they turn black when cooked in dough or batter that has baking soda.  But this whole diet change has opened my eyes to blanching nuts, and I have discovered that by blanching walnuts it removes the bitterness, and if you are willing to skin them after the blanching (I know it's a lot of work, but it's not that bad) it'll help remove even more, and some of the blackness that occurs with cooking.

Because walnuts are so cheap in our family, I thought I would try to make a bread that would incorporate them.  I didn't want a sweet bread, because there are plenty of those, I wanted a sandwich bread, an every day bread.  So, I looked at Elana's Pantry since she cooks with almond flour, I figured I could adapt her recipe and at least have a start...and it worked!

This recipe is also awesome because it incorporates my grandpa's eggs and honey into it, too.  So, this is for my parents and grandparents...a bread in honor of all the memories created by home grown food. :) Just a warning, though, this bread is very filling, so slice it thin and plan on a small sandwich, because that's all that you will be able to eat.

Walnut Sandwich Bread
1 3/4 cups blanched walnut meal
¾ cup tapioca starch
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
4 eggs
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine walnut meal, tapioca starch, salt and baking soda
2. In a larger bowl, blend eggs 3-5 minutes until frothy
3. Stir honey and vinegar into eggs
4. Mix dry ingredients into wet
5. Pour batter into a well greased 7.5" x 3.5" loaf pan (if you use larger, they will be short pieces of bread like what I have pictured) 
6. Bake at 350º for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean
7. Cool and serve

Yes, the bread is still pretty dark...but at least it's not black.  I had left the skin on these walnuts, and I noticed that it was the skin turning black, hence skinning them in the future.  Below is the method of blanching, skinning, and creating a meal:

To blanch walnuts, bring water to a boil in a large saucepan.  Add walnuts and remove from heat.  Let stand for 2 minutes then pour off water.  The skins can easily be peeled off after they have been blanched.  Once they have been blanched, skin, and dried off, they can be ground up into a meal.  I used my blender, but I would use a food processor if I had one.  Just take a few at a time and pulse them to grind them up, don't do too much or you'll make a butter out of them.

Honey Coconut Muffins with Blueberries

I had some leftover coconut milk from my butternut squash soup and hate to see things go to waste, so I made some muffins.  This was my first attempt at converting a regular muffin recipe to gluten-free and it worked! If you are not a fan of honey (I know there are some of you out there), add 1/2 C+2 T white sugar and 2T more of coconut milk in its place. I have this post linked on Cybele Pascal's Allegry-Free Cuisine blog for 4/1/11, you can see it and other great allergy friendly recipes here.

Honey Coconut Muffins with Blueberries

1/2 C coconut milk
1 egg
1/2 C honey (or 1/2C+2 T white sugar and 2 T additional coconut milk)
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 C brown rice flour
3 1/2 T potato starch
1 T + 2 1/2 tsp tapioca starch
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 C sweetened flaked coconut
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 C fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 400F.  Combine coconut milk, egg, honey, and vanilla in a bowl and mix thoroughly.  In a separate bowl mix together dry ingredients.  Add dry ingredients to the wet, mixing just intil moistened.  Fold in blueberries.  Pour into lined or greased muffin tins. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Makes 1 dozen muffins.