Orange Sweet Rolls: Pillsbury Style

These are one of my favorite things ever! Easy to make in advance, then pop in the oven for a special brunch. I slightly improved the dough from my cinnamon rolls, and topped with a delicious fresh orange glaze.

THE RECIPE:

The Dough:


½ c tapioca flour
½ c potato starch
¾ c arrowroot powder
¼ cup brown rice flour
1/4 c millet flour
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp guar gum
2 tsp baking powder            
1 tiny stevia-scoop stevia

3 tbs coconut oil (melted)
2 ½ tbs agave
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs                           --> combine wet ingredients; whisk in egg; add wet to dry


1/4 c almond milk    -->  add milk slowly, until it is dough consistency (a little sticky is ok.)

If dough is too sticky, dust with brown rice flour until it does not stick to your hand/spatula when touched.

--> Tape a sheet of waxed paper down onto a counter/table. Dust with brown rice flour. Place dough in the center, and use a (floured) rolling pin to roll out to ~¼ (or thinner) inch thick rectangle.


Filling:
2 tbs coconut oil (softened)
4 tbs coconut sugar
2 tbs cinnamon
2 tbs agave                        
                   ....or basically any combination of the above ingredients (leaving out the oil works fine too!)

--> Wisk together all ingredients until combined. Use a rubber spatula to spread filling over entire rectangle of dough.

Untape the waxed paper under the sheet of dough. Begin rolling dough “hot-dog style” (AKA, roll the long side, to make a thin, long roll) by lifting the waxed paper and gently coaxing the dough into a tight roll. Since the part of the roll is the tightest, starting it is the trickiest, and after that you can just left the waxed paper and let the log of dough roll on its own.

If making the dough in advance, tape the waxed paper around the log of dough, put plastic wrap around the open ends, and place in the fridge overnight. When ready to bake them, place the roll on a cutting board, and slice into ~1-inch thick rounds. Arrange them evenly spaced in an 8-inch round cake pan. Dough will expand as it cooks, so it's fine if there's extra space in the pan.

Heat oven to 350, and bake for ~30 minutes. Dough will still be soft when it comes out (don't bake until it's hard! 30 minutes max should do it). After removing from the oven, let cool in pan for ~5 minutes (ie, while you make the glaze!).

Glaze:

1 orange
1 tbs agave (preferably "light" agave)
1 tsp ghee, softened
1 tsp chia seeds (to help thicken it)
orange zest (from the rind) to taste (~1/8 tsp)
dash salt (if needed)               ----> puree in blender/food processor (Magic Bullet!)

Let glaze sit for a couple minutes to let the chia seeds work their thickening magic. Then, spread over all rolls in the pan.

Dig in and enjoy the anti-pillsbury deliciousness! (no disrespect to my guy the Doughboy)






 


          <

It's.... INTERNATIONAL WAFFLE DAY!!! (March 24)

 
and it's time to celebrate!  (I'm posting this a bit in advance, to give ample inspiration for waffley breakfasts tomorrow.)

What a wonderful week. A supermoon, the first day of spring, warm weather, two best friends' birthdays, and International Waffle Day on March 24.

Not gonna lie, I've been waffling all week in anticipation. Monday night I made cinniteff waffle sandwiches with pizza sauce, cheeze, and mixed greens on them. I also came to the discovery that (at least in my belgian waffle maker, with cinniteff waffles) thinner batter makes soft, flexible, moister and lighter waffles, whereas thicker batter (which is what I usually do for breakfasts) makes crispy belgian-style waffles. I liked the lighter option for dinner, when I want proportionally more protein and less carbs. So keep that in mind!

Also, I ran out of teff flour Monday. Which led me to create the above-pictured Goldi-squares Stairway to Waffleheaven #Winning Waffles. We'll just call them #WinningWaffles for short..... (TIGERBLOOD!!!!)

They pretty much are amazing. Light, faintly sweet but still neutral flavor allows for unlimited possibilities. Such as:

PIZZA WAFFLE!!!! huge success. I used Bridgford Turkey Pepperoni, and Prego VeggieSmart sauce. yum.

OMG  it's a WAFFLEDONUT. okay not really, but that's what it tastes like. Just sprinkle on top: Organic cocoa powder, coconut sugar, and shredded coconut. And it tastes like a chocolate powdered sugar donut! Slash some kind of intensely amazing pastry delicacy.


So, for the substrate behind all this madness:

THE RECIPE:

1 egg
1 tbs extra light olive oil  ---> whip together until a bit frothy
up to 3/4 c almond milk
1 tsp vanilla
5 drops stevia
1.5 tbs millet flour
1.5 tbs garbanzo bean flour
1 tbs Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose GF Flour
1 tbs coconut powder (ie, finely shredded coconut/coconut flakes)
scant 1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda     ----> mix all together, pour into [belgian] waffle iron and WAFFLE IT UP!

Ghee (or coconut oil) it after it's off the iron.


#WINNING

"Little Debbie" Be My Valentine Snack Cakes: Sugar-Free. Gluten-Free. Dairy-Free.

Little Debbie snack cakes.....  I had forgotten about these little devils! And then someone brought a box to work.

And, suddenly I was flooded with memories of mind-blowing sweetness! Litte Debbie Vanilla Be My Valentine Snack Cakes... even when I last ate these circa age 6, I could tell that these were far too sweet and artificial to really even be considered food.

And, of course, I knew I needed to whip up some of my own.

Out of curiosity, I checked the ingredients on the real things before I started. Do you really want to see it? Probably not if you are planning to eat one of these in the near future. Or, you can do what I did: read the ingredients and then run to make the ACD healthier version!

Little Debbie "Be My Valentine" Cakes: Vanilla --- the real deal:

INGREDIENTS (for diabetes):

Sugar, Vegetable(s) Shortening (,, Soybean(s) Oil Partially Hydrogenated, Cottonseed Oil Partially Hydrogenated ),, Corn Syrup, Water, Flour Enriched Bleached (,, Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron Reduced, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid (Vitamin aB) ),, Dextrose, Egg(s) Whites, Color(s) (,, Caramel Color, Red 40 ),, Whey from Milk, Leavening (,, Baking Soda, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate ),, Salt, Emulsifier(s) (,, Sorbitan Monostearate, Polysorbate 60, Mono and Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Propylene Glycol Monostearate ),, Corn Starch, Sorbic Acid To Retain Freshness,, Egg(s), Soy Lecithin, Flavor(s) Natural & Artificial

 I bolded the ingredients that I deem acceptable on my diet. Water, egg whites, and baking soda-- now that's a tasty combination (blergh!!) Also note that foodfacts.com (from which I got this list) gives them a health score of 32/100, and marks it with "AVOID" and "CONTROVERSIAL INGREDIENTS." Yep, I thought so.

Now let's take a look at what my packaging label might look like:

INGREDIENTS (for awesomness):

White beans, eggs, coconut oil, agave nectar, erythritol, coconut flour, strawberries, ghee, tapioca flour, almond milk, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, lemon juice, liquid stevia, salt, liquid chocolate raspberry stevia

 Looks a whole lot prettier, huh? Shorter, more natural, more healthy. 

THE RECIPE:

1 cup white beans  ---> puree in high power blender (Vitamix)
1/8 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla
24 drops stevia
2 1/2 tbs agave -----> add, puree well
3 eggs***

1 1/2 tbs coconut flour
1 tbs tapioca flour
1/8 tsp sea salt
3/8 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda  ----> mix all dry ingredients well, then add to wet and puree again

*** There are two ways to do this to vary cake consistency. For a dense (pound cake-y) cake, blend eggs with wet ingredients. For a lighter, fluffier cake, separate egg yolks and whites. Add yolks to wet mixture, but beat eggs separately in a bowl, until stiff peaks form. After adding dry ingredients to the wet mix in the Vitamix, fold the batter into the egg whites. This will also yield a higher volume of batter, which will end up making more mini cakes.

I used heart shaped silicone cupcake molds to make these. Fill each one halfway, and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the middle of the largest one comes out clean.

WHITE FROSTING:

1/2 c powdered erythritol* or, soy milk powder to desired consistency, plus extra stevia to sweeten
1 tbs ghee, sort
1 tbs coconut oil, soft
1/2 tsp vanilla (will slightly brown the color)
1 tbs almond milk (add slowly to make it the right consistency)

* Make your own powdered erythritol! Put ~1/2 c granular erythritol into the Magic Bullet small cup, and pulse for about 20 seconds with the crossblade. BAM-- powder!

To make frosting, blend all ingredients in the magic bullet. Add almond milk as necessary to make it a nice whipped consistency.

PINK FROSTING:

1/4 c coconut oil
1 tbs agave
1 tbs strawberry puree (I magic bullet-ed this first)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
dash of salt
8 drops chocolate raspberry stevia
1 tsp powdered erythritol (optional-- thickens consistency)

Blend all ingredients in the Magic Bullet. This should be a thin consistency which will harden in the fridge.

ASSEMBLY:

Middle frosting layer.

Slice a heart mini-cake in half, and spread white frosting between the two layers- then re-assemble them. Next, coat all visible sides of cake in pink frosting. Finally, pipe white frosting on top in a spider-webby pattern. (I was lazy and used a ziploc bag with a tiny hole cut in one corner, instead of a real piping tip.)

Result? Something delicious, and just about as (sickeningly) sweet as the real deal. But, it's low GI, (sucrose) sugar-free, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, aaand pretty much awesome!!

Now, I'm not saying that I should (or could) eat these every day (there's a reason I only made six!) But, they certainly are perfect for a rare (non)sugar fix.  Happy (belated) Valentine's Day!

~~

Also-- what's the deal with hating Valentine's Day? It's an excuse to eat chocolate and celebrate love of any sort- whether it's for yourself, a lover, a pet-- who cares? Just enjoy the day!

~~

Also: check out February's SOS Challenge at Diet, Dessert, and Dogs, with challenge ingredient stevia!

I got off to a rocky start with stevia, back in the day. When I started exploring the world of ACD baking, the only stevia we had around the house was a powdered form left from my mother's dabbling in vegetarian healthfood... which was probably in the 60s. Or 70s. Or sometime when they made pretty poor quality stevia, SLASH it had just gone bad by this current millenium. At any rate, everything we baked using that stuff had a sickening taste... soapy, if you will. Not quite to the "bitter" realm, but just all too "stevia-ish". I could taste a grain of that stuff anywhere... in anything. It haunted me. And ruined many a baked good.

I avoided all baked goods cooked with stevia, subbing in anything from vegetable glycerine, to agave nectar (when I got to the point I could handle it). But as I did my research, I raid many accounts claiming that with the right quality stevia, the disgusting taste problem really wasn't a problem at all.

So, I decided to give stevia another shot. I would buy a new batch. This time, I opted for the liquid form, and purchased a bottle of SweetLeaf SteviaClear (from good old vitacost.com). And it worked wonders! Gone were the days of ruined baked goods.

Stevia still can be a finicky sweetener when used carelessly, and certainly isn't for those with a heavy hand when it comes to measuring. Basically, its sweetening curve looks something like this:

 

Yeah-- tough. But as long as care is taken while sweetening, stevia can work wonders. I especially like it to sweeten beverages-- like when making chocolate almond milk!

So, in summary, I am a stevia convert. I still use it primarily in conjunction with other stronger sweeteners, but stevia does have its place in my baking arsenal. 

And who knows? I just might grow it in my garden this year. 

Happy National Waffle Day!!!

That's right, it's August 24! Time to celebrate those delicious squares of goodness. Today marks the anniversary that the U.S. patent was issued for the first waffle iron.

Oh, the waffle. In the bread-free world in which I roam, the waffle is a beacon of starchy hope. In addition to providing a "normal" breakfast food, it is a versatile substrate for infinite taste creations.

So many different sauces can be spread upon it.
So many different flours can make up its base.

Use it as bread for a sandwich! Use it as crust for a pizza! Use it as a "cone" for a sundae!
Best of all, waffle batter is a 3-minute miracle, as it is super fast to whip up, and slight variations never seem to harm the final product.

With a waffle in your stomach, the world is just a better place!

And thus I present, my hearty breakfast-of-choice, the UNIVERSAL CINNI-TEFF WAFFLE!!!!!

THE RECIPE:  (makes 4 belgian waffles- 4x5 square-size)

1 egg
~1 tbs extra light olive oil
~1/2 c  almond milk / rice milk / etc
1 tsp vanilla extract (sugar & alcohol free)
~ 2/3 cup teff flour
~ 1/3 cup cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 dash salt

Mix ingredients in a 2-cup measuring cup. First, beat together egg and oil. Next, add milk to make the total liquid level in the cup be a little more than 1c (this is the only step that I actually measure!). Add 1 tsp vanilla, and mix.

Add dry ingredients: Dump in ~1/2c teff, and add as much cinnamon as desired- I recommend lots! Add baking soda and baking powder, and stir mixture into batter. Continue adding more teff until batter is the consistency of very thick pancake batter.

Pour into pre-heated, ready-to-go waffle iron (waffle iron is hot-to-go, h-o-t-t-o-g-o !!!). These will rise much less than regular glutenous waffles, so it's okay to make the iron pretty full.

Enjoy your delicious little waffle!! Butter with coconut oil, and top as desired.
If you need inspiration, see the following:

1. 
Cinni-teff waffle with rhubarb sauce, blueberries, and vanilla coconut-dream ice cream, shown at the top of the page.

--> (WHITE PEACH RASPBERRY) RHUBARB SAUCE:
rhubarb
white peach
a few raspberries
dash salt
stevia to taste, if desired

---> throw everything into a pot with a small amount of water in the bottom. Simmer until all fruits are very mushy. Mush them, then simmer on low heat for a long time, until concoction has been reduced down to spreadable consistency.

White peaches provide enough sweetness that stevia may not be necessary, depending on how tangy you like your rhubarb sauce! Additional flavorings like cinnamon and nutmeg can be added as desired too.



2.
The French Gopher!

Yeah, that's right.

It's a GOPHER!!!!

Orr, a gaufre.

Coming to you from the lovely land of France!


On the streets of Paris, there are vendors selling this genuine Parisian delicacy. Smeared with nutella and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream: THAT is a true French Gopher.

(okay I call them gophers because (a) it's funny, and (b) i can't pronounce french.)

Anyway, recreate this masterpeice with cinni-teff waffle + almond butter + vanilla ice kream on top. MmmMmm.

I think the best combo is using Trader Joe's Roasted Creamy almond butter. Buuut some days I feel like the hearty TJ's almond butter with flax seeds, and other days I prefer the milder TJ's Raw almond butter. And I have to admit, I rarely put ice cream on top. (!)

I must say, though, that the nuttiness of this concoction really is a perfect complement to the Teff. I think it is a much better combination than some of the fruity variations that I have tried.


3.  
FLOUR VARIATIONS

You can use the same recipe as cinni-teff, substituting the cinni and the teff for nearly any GF flour, and still obtain delicious results. Three that I have tried are:

Coconut flour! Now add some fruit...

-Garbanzo bean flour waffle.  I add rosemary, extra salt, and use extra virgin olive oil instead of extra light. Makes a great lunch waffle, or a sandwich substrate! (though may be a bit dry- be careful!)

- Coconut flour waffle. Be careful- coconut flour's high fiber content makes it necessary to slightly alter the proportions here- otherwise your waffle will crumble and/or stick to the iron. As a guideline, use twice the egg and half the flour. This waffle is great with fruit on top! (or that rhubarb sauce...) It will have a nice flaky consistency, too.

- Millet + Garbanzo Combo waffle. Not gonna lie, I got this idea from my popover batter- and it turned out great! I used ordinary (cinni-teff) proportions, though it probably could have used a bit more oil. Taste was mild and pleasant- would be perfect to use as a sandwich bread.


4. 
WAFFLES FROM OUTER SPACE

Because some waffles are just too cool to have been born on earth.

First, there is the Green Giant Waffle (or, Little Green Sprout Waffle, if you prefer). To assemble, YOU WILL NEED:
1 waffle
some spinach
some sprouts
some avocado
and/or anything green you can find
also maybe some cheese.

DIRECTIONS: 1. cook waffle. 2. butter it if you want. 3. PUT EVERYTHING ELSE ON TOP. 4. eat.
It's good, I promise. And all that green stuff really justifies you eating yet another waffle.


Second, there is the amazing SUPER SURPRISE PIZZA WAFFLE!!!!

Mmmm, yeah, that's right, it's pizza and waffle AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!!!

And, there's a surprise. What is the surprise, you ask?????
THERE IS CHEESE IN THE WAFFLE BATTERRRR!!!!!!!!!

Ooey, gooey, (soy) cheesey goodness!

 Yes, I added a bunch of shredded mozzarella rice cheese to my millet-garbanzo waffle batter.

Although I had pictured gooey strings of cheese dripping from the innards of the belgian squares, the cheese really just added a nice flavor. But, stay tuned for updates as I experiment a bit further.

Anyway, this was a most-delicious waffle form, and easily constructed by spreading pizza sauce on the freshly-cooked waff, and sprinkling a handful of rice cheese on top. Yummo!


~~~~~~

As this National Waffle Day winds to a close, I sincerely hope that you have gotten the chance to eat at least one sweet waffle in this 24 hours. I was lucky enough to eat THREE! (two 1/2 cinni-teffs at breakfast, and one pizza-waffle plus one garb-millet for dinner)

I also would like to thank National Waffle day for bringing my family together for a waffle-filled dinner this evening. As I wished everyone a Happy  N.W.D. about a million times during the day, my mom was well-aware of the importance of the date. Thus, when stumped for something fast to make her and my dad for dinner, she whipped up her own waffles with a buckwheat mix... plus some eggs and turkey bacon!

So, for the first time in a long time, my parents and I sat around the table happily munching our waffs. And, when my sister came over hours later, the first thing she said was "Happy Waffle Day!!!" --and grabbed a leftover waff from the plate left out on the table.

What a wonderful day!! What a wonderful waffle!! What a wonderful world!!!!
Ilovewaffles.

Celebration Cake

Guru Purnima (which was July 25, I'm posting late!) falls on the day of the first full moon of summer, and is traditionally a day to give thanks to one's spiritual leader. It is a day full of cosmic energy, and of course, awesomeness.

Also it warranted the making of a full-fledged CAKE.
Thanks to The Spunky Coconut for the basic recipe & inspiration!

O. M. G.      ...........that's right, drool away.

THE RECIPE:

Add to your handy-dandy food processor*:
2 cups cooked white beans**, room temperature
6 eggs
17 drops liquid stevia***
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup agave

Puree!

* I use my friend VITACOST THE VITAMIX... aka my mom's retro vitamix that I tend to get confused and call vitacost.
** I cooked my own, but you could also use unsalted canned beans, rinsed and drained. To boil your own, either soak overnight first, or boil for 10 mins, then turn down and simmer.
*** I use Wisdom Natural Sweetleaf. I am absurdly picky and sensitive to stevia bitterness, and I approve of this brand, when used with care.

1/4 cup coconut oil, liquified
1/3 cup coconut flour, sifted
1/2 tsp sea salt
1.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder

Puree!




Heat oven to 325. Pour batter into a small cake pan, lined with parchment/waxed paper on the bottom, and greased all around. Bake at 325 degrees for ~30 minutes- when done, top should be golden, slightly risen, and a toothpick poked into the center should come out clean.

FROSTING:

Combine in a small pan over low heat:
14.4 tbs**** cocoa powder / carob powder (I used ~1/3 carob)
4.8 tbs extra light olive oil (coconut oil would work too)
3/4 cup coconut milk
12 drops stevia
1 tsp agave / to taste

**** 16 tbs = 1 cup, so 14.4 = somewhere around a very scant cup
Mix well, and add:

2 tbsp coconut flour, sifted.


Let frosting cool. If necessary to achieve frosting-consistency, refrigerate before using.

After the cake comes out of the oven, let sit for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool completely on cooling rack before frosting.


Then enjoy! I couldn't believe how amazing this turned out.
I'm never much of a cake person to begin with, but this really is perfect. My whole family approved as well!
 

HUUGE success.