Thanksgiving Treats Recipe Roundup

It’s almost Thanksgiving! Can you believe it? It seems like Halloween was just yesterday! Now, comes the holiday of family, joy, and best of all,  food :) Here, I've compiled all of the holiday-themed recipes for my blog into one giant post!

All the recipes here are easy, for a low-stress Thanksgiving. Even if no one at your gathering is gluten-free or Paleo, they will surely enjoyed these treats and be begging you for more! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Enjoy! 
Pumpkin Pie with a Walnut Crust, Caramelized Apples, and Maple-Balsamic Drizzle

Grain-Free Apple Pie

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Grain-Free Chocolate Cake

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Biscotti

 Dairy-Free Pumpkin Ice Cream

Pumpkin Spice Latte Power Balls  

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

The weather in L.A. is finally cooling off! The air is crisp; the wind is strong; leaves are fluttering to the ground; the days are growing shorter; my mom even put a down blanket on my bed! This could only mean one thing: you must go make these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars!

 

These bars, fresh out of the oven, are like an ooey-gooey chocolate-pumpkin bread! So satisfying, and perfect for these cold November nights we’ve been getting. The ingredients to make the bars are very simple, and the process is so easy! And just in case you were wondering, these are grain-, gluten-, dairy-, and refined sugar-free ;)

Makes 8-16 bars (depending on how large you cut them).

Ingredients:

1½ cups blanched almond flour

¾ cup arrowroot starch

1 Tbs coconut flour

2½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

½ tsp baking soda

1 pinch sea salt

2 organic eggs

1 cup organic pumpkin purée

1/3 cup maple syrup

¼ cup melted ghee, butter, or coconut oil

½ cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1.     Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and set an oven rack to the second-to-top position.

2.     Grease an 11x7 inch glass baking dish, and line with parchment paper.*

3.     In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredient except for the chocolate chips.

4.     In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Gently stir the wet ingredients into dry, just until combined.

5.     Fold in the chocolate chips. Scoop the thick batter into your prepared baking dish.

6.     Bake for 35 minutes, then let cool for 10 minutes. Cut into squares, and devour!

*If you don’t have an 11x7 inch baking dish, feel free to use a different size. Just keep in mind that the larger your pan, the less baking time needed!

Pumpkin Pie with a Walnut Crust, Caramelized Apples, and Maple-Balsamic Drizzle

Autumn… seasons are changing...  leaves are falling... and pumpkins are being turned into pumpkin pie! Healthy, hearty, actually-good-for-you pumpkin pie. 

But with a twist! Are you ready for this? Okay, here we go:

The no-bake pumpkin pie is encased with a walnut crust, covered with nutty, caramelized apples, and a maple-balsamic drizzle.

Whaaaa???

Yeah, you heard me! This pumpkin pie is so creamy, nutty, and fruity, with a stunning accent of pumpkin pie spice! It is sure to wow everybody, even your gluten and grain-eating friends.

Trust me, you’ll definitely want to make this recipe for yourself!

Plus, I made it dairy-free, egg-free, and almond-free. And the pie part is raw, so there’s none of that “will it bake right?” stress, or hot ovens heating up your house all day long.

Enjoy!

Serves 8 people.

Ingredients:

Walnut Crust:

2 cups walnuts (shelled)

2 Tbs maple syrup

1 Tbs melted or softened coconut oil or butter

Pumpkin Pie Filling:

1 cup raw cashews, soaked in 2 cups of water for at least two hours, if not overnight.

Then drain out the old water, and rinse the cashews.

The meat of 1 young Thai coconut

2 Tbs fresh coconut water

½ a 15 oz can organic pumpkin purée (about a heaping ¾ cup pumpkin)

1 1/2 Tbs pumpkin pie spice

2 1/2 Tbs maple syrup

Caramelized Apples:

2 Honey Crisp apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

1 Tbs coconut oil

1 ½ Tbs coconut sugar

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Maple-balsamic Drizzle:

1 Tbs Maple syrup

1 Tbs + ¼ tsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp water

Directions:

For the Crust:

1. In your food processor, pulse the walnuts until they resemble coarse crumbs. Pulse in the maple syrup, coconut oil, until your dough forms. Do not let it blend for too long, or it will turn into walnut butter.
2. Grease a 9 inch removable-bottom tart pan with coconut oil. Press the walnut dough into the tart pan, and freeze for at least 30 minutes, or until the pumpkin filling is done.

For the Pumpkin Pie Filling:

1. In your food processor, pulse the cashews, coconut meat and coconut water, until it forms a wet, dough-like consistency. Blend in all the other ingredients. Pulse on and off until the mixture is very very smooth and there are no big chunks of cashews. This may take up to half an hour.
2. Remove the crust from freezer, and scoop the filling into the crust. Spread it until it's smooth on the top. Place the pie back in the freezer for 2 hours, or until the top is very firm.

For the Caramelized Apples:

1. Place the coconut oil in a medium-sized saucepan, over medium heat. Once the coconut oil is melted, gently add the apples. to make sure that each apple slice gets coated on both sides with the coconut oil, you can flip them once they start soaking up the oil.
2. Add the coconut sugar, sprinkling it on evenly. Add the spice, sprinkling it on each side of the apples.
3. Let the apples cook until they begin shrinking, get more soft and tender, and the apples have soaked up most of the coconut oil. This might take about seven minutes. Remove the apples from heat and let them cool.

For the Maple-Balsamic Drizzle:

1. To make the balsamic drizzle, add your 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar and maple syrup to a small saucepan on medium-high heat.
2. Stir about every few seconds, for about 2 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the 1/2 tsp water, and 1/4 tsp balsamic. Stir until the mixture is smooth.
3. Let it cool before drizzling on the pie. If it starts hardening too much, you can stir in another ¼ tsp water, too thin it out.

To Assemble:

1. Take your pie out of the freezer, and gently remove the sides of the tart pan.
2. Assemble the cooled apples on top, in a pretty design. Now, I'd recommend letting the pie sit at room temp for about fifteen minutes. Drizzle the maple-balsamic on top, and serve the pie immediately. Enjoy!

Note: If you wait too long before serving the pie, the filling and crust will get too soft. But you don't want it to be too frozen, or the drizzle will turn to brittle.

Nut-Free Waffles with Blueberry Compote

So, I’ve been on this quest for a long, long, long time… it was a quest filled with trails; a quest filled with errors; a quest full of gooeyness; a quest full of sogginess; and then—a quest of joy!! Yes, my friends: It was a quest for waffles.

Grain-free waffles that were crispy. And eeeeaaaasy to make. I mean, who wants to spend their entire weekend morning stuck in the kitchen, spending hours just to make some healthy waffles?!! Surely not me! I finally concocted the perfect recipe for waffles, and you’re gonna freak out over it. Are you ready for this?

Grain-, gluten-, dairy-, nut-free waffles. Super soft on the inside, and really crispy on the outside. Take only 15 minutes to make. Drenched in blueberry compote. Oh my goodness I’m drooling just writing this.

 I urge you aaaaaalllll to make these… and if you do, please leave a comment in the ‘comment’ section below, telling me how they turned out!!

Happy Saturday!

Makes 3 large waffles, or 12 small.

Ingredients for the Waffles:

1 ½ cups Otto’s Cassava Flour, sifted

¼ tsp salt

2 ¼ tsp baking powder

2 tsp maple sugar, or coconut sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 cups full-fat coconut milk, (or almond milk, if you’re not dairy-free)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1.     Preheat your waffle iron, and lightly grease it with ghee, or coconut oil.

2.     Mix together all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then stir in the wet, and let the batter sit for five minutes.

3.     Pour the batter into your waffle iron, (I used about one-third of the batter and did three rounds of waffles) and cook per manufacturer’s instructions.

4.     While the first batch of waffles are being made, whip up this compote!!

Ingredients for the Blueberry Compote:

1 Tbs coconut oil, ghee, or butter

1 ½ cups blueberries, frozen or fresh (or any type of berry you prefer)

1 tsp honey

½ tsp arrowroot starch

½ tsp cold water

Directions:

1.     Melt the oil/butter on medium heat, in a medium saucepan. Stir in the berries and honey, and bring to a boil.

2.     In a small dish, stir together the ½ tsp water, and ½ tsp arrowroot. After five minutes of boiling, stir in the arrowroot mixture to the berry compote.

3.     Keep stirring the mixture until it begins thickening slightly, then remove from heat. Continue making the rest of the waffles, and serve them with the compote poured on top! Enjoy :)

Book Review: Paleo Mug Muffins by Heather Resler & A Free Chocolate Cake Recipe!

Today, I am doing my very first book review! And what a better first book to review than one by my new friend, Heather Resler, of Cook It Up Paleo?!!

On September first, 2015, she is releasing her new ebook, Paleo Mug Muffins!!! You guys are gonna love it! Each recipe makes a personal-size muffin that's made of one hundred percent real food ingredients; all gluten-, grain-, and dairy-free. And, many of the muffin recipes are nut-free! She really poured tons of creativity into this book. 

I mean, a whole book dedicated solely to mug muffins? 

Yes, please!

All of the pictures in this ebook are beautiful, each recipe mouth-watering, just waiting to be devoured. And, the greatest part of the whole book? Each recipe takes only a few minutes of prepping, and only one or two minutes of cooking time! All the muffins are baked in the microwave, which makes it soooo easy!

Not only are there many sweet muffins, but many savory ones, too! I can't wait to make the Avocado Bread, and the Bacon-Cheddar Muffin. Really, all of the recipes look amazing.

To download the ebook when it comes out, just click on the link right here!

Now, since I know you can't wait until the book releases, I am sharing one of my favorite recipes from it, today!! It was so fun to make this mug muffin after school today, photograph it, and then wolf it down! This recipe is for a Dark Chocolate Cake mug muffin. It tasted really rich and chocolate-y, and it was like a mild chocolate soufflé. I enjoyed mine with a dollop of whipped coconut cream. Divine! So, enjoy this recipe, and make sure to download her ebook here!

Double Chocolate Cake Mug Muffin:

1 egg

1 egg white

2 squares dark chocolate (about 1-1/2 tablespoons chopped), melted

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons coconut flour

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

Pinch baking soda

1. Whisk the egg with the egg white in a small bowl. Whisk in the dark chocolate. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

2. Scoop into a large coffee cup or small ramekin and microwave on HIGH (100 percent power) for 90 seconds, or until cooked through.

• Nut Free • Indulgent but delicious!

Skillet Peach Crumble (Paleo, AIP, Vegan)

Have you ever made a dessert, and thought, “Man, I wish this recipe could be nut-free, low sugar, grain-free, refined sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and AIP!” I sure have! And that’s why I created this recipe for you.

This peach crumble is so easy to make, and free of sooooo many allergens! Lately, the fruit basket in my kitchen has been overflowing with ripe, beautiful peaches, so I knew I had to make something with them!

The crumble was perfect. It tasted so tangy and sweet, and the top was so crispy and warm. The ideal summer treat! I hope you all enjoy this crumble as much as my family and I did! Have a great day : )

Serves 4 people

Ingredients:

5 large peaches, pealed, cored, and sliced

For the crumble:

4 Tbs Otto’s Cassava Flour

1 cup coconut flakes

4 Tbs coconut sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbs coconut flour

4 Tbs cold fat of choice: ghee, coconut oil, palm shortening, or butter

Directions:

1.     Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

2.     In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together all the crumble ingredients except for the fat. Then distribute the (very cold) fat of choice evenly, throughout the dry ingredients, into little chunks. I did this using an electric mixer.

3.     Place all the peaches in a 10-inch cast iron skillet.

4.     Sprinkle the crumble, evenly, on top.

5.     Bake your skillet peach crumble in the oven for 40 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbly, and the crumble is golden brown. Scoop into bowls, and serve!

Salted Caramel-Toffee Ice Cream (Dairy-Free)

I’m so sorry about the lack of recipes in these past weeks!! I’ve been extremely busy this summer (more so than I actually am during the school year) and I haven’t had much time to bake. Now, the business has eased up a bit, and I have some time to create recipes!

The recipe that I am sharing with you all today is very special and decadent.

This ice cream is completely dairy-free, refined sugar-free, and can be made nut-free by replacing the almond milk with hemp milk, or just some more coconut milk.

The toffee sort of turns into caramel when it gets stirred into the ice cream, creating a beautiful swirl, and a symphony of sweet.

Go make this, now!

Serves 6-10

Ingredients for the Ice Cream:

1 (13.5 oz) can full-fat coconut milk

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 Tbs raw honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for the Caramel-Toffee:

4 Tbs full-fat coconut milk

5 Tbs coconut sugar

1 Tbs palm shortening (or butter, or ghee)

¼ tsp real sea salt

 

Directions:

1.     In a blender, combine all the ice cream ingredients. Blend on high, until fully combined. Pour into a glass dish (I used a loaf  pan) and freeze until very cold.

2.     Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker, and process, per manufacturer’s instructions.

3.     Scoop the (now soft-serve-like) ice cream back into the loaf pan, cover with aluminum foil, and place in the freezer. Now, we’ll make the caramel-toffee.

4.     Place all the caramel-toffee ingredients in a small saucepan, over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil.

5.     Let it boil for about five minutes, or until it reaches 230 degrees F. (I used a candy thermometer for this.)

6.     Remove from heat, and let it cool for about a minute. Stir into the ice cream. The caramel will be very sticky. When it touches the ice cream, it will harden into toffee.

7.     Break up the little bits of toffee with your hands, and stir until it is fully incorporated with the ice cream.

8.     Place the dish back in the freezer, until the ice cream is hardened, about a few hours. When it is ready to be served, let it thaw on the counter, until scoopable. Scoop into pretty dishes, and serve!!