Pumpkin Madness!

Pumpkin snickerdoodles!

A new post? Shocking, right-- seeing as I've been completely AWOL for a very long time.... sorry about that. This week I got caught up in the fall pumpkin-everything craze!  It started with pumpkin snickerdoodles and then progressed to pumpkin-sauce pasta. I still have some pumpkin left in the can... so there may be some pumpkin pancakes in store for tomorrow morning.

I still have been being food-lazy, so I mainly used other peoples' recipes for these creations.  I made the pumpkin snickerdoodles using the awesome recipe on The Nourishing Gourmet.  They are definitely some of my favorite cookies ever!! The pumpkin gives them a delightfully fluffy texture.

In the recipe, I used coconut sugar for the sweetener.  For gluten-free flour, I used 1 cup millet flour, and 1 cup of mixed garbanzo flour and brown rice flower.  I also threw in about 1/4 or 1/2 tsp guar gum for good measure.  I also added Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips to half of the batter...... but those do have cane sugar in them. (I was feeling adventurous!)  I love the combination of pumpkin and chocolate, but these cookies were so good they barely needed the addition.

Pumpkin (sauce) pasta

Now, for the pasta, I cooked up some gluten-free brown rice penne and twisty things (don't know the proper pasta-name!) and whipped up some pumpkin sauce with the left-over canned pumpkin.

I really just made the sauce by taste, and followed the basic seasonings listed here. The base was pumpkin, olive oil, almond milk, and pasta water.  The seasonings were salt, pepper, sage, onion powder, garlic powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  It ended up having a great blend of savory taste, plus the implied sweetness of the touch of cinnamon.  Definitely also a winning creation.

Happy fall! Now the big question.... what are you being for Halloween???

Maple Walnut Pie

One again... ate 90% of it before a photo could be taken..... :)

Happy Thanksgiving! This is a festive pie that I actually made for a pre-Halloween pumpkin carving party.  It was delicious, and I liked that it was less traditional than your typical pecan pie. (and also... walnuts are cheaper than pecans! :) )

Crust:

1/2 c + 3 tbs millet flour
1/2 c garbanzo bean flour
1 tbs potato starch
1/8+ tsp salt           ---> combine dry ingredients
3 tbs ghee              ---> mix into dry ingredients to make velevety consisitency
3 tbs ghee              ---> mix coarsely to form pea sized balls
~1 tbs ice-cold water   ---> drizzle in, gently mixing until dough forms into a ball

Roll out for a 8.5" pie pan (8 or 9" would work too) on waxed paper. Place the pie pan upside-down on the rolled dough, and use the waxed paper to flip the crust into the pan. Repair any cracks that may form, then crimp edges
Prick bottom and sides of pastry with fork. Line edges of crust with double thickness of foil. Bake 8 minutes at 450 F.. Remove foil, them bake 5 minutes more or until crust is lightly browned cool. Reduce oven to 350 F.


Filling:


1.5 c maple flavored agave (or maple syrup, if you can eat it)
3 eggs
4 tbs ghee
2 tbs coconut oil
1/3 c coconut sugar
1/4 c erythritol (or more coconut sugar)
2 c chopped walnuts, toasted
1 tbs vanilla
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp tapioca flour


Beat eggs until thick and lemon colored, ~5 minutes. Add ghee/coconut oil (softened), beat in. Add all other ingrdients and mix, then fold in walnuts. Pour into crust. Bake on baking sheet for ~45 minutes, or until middle just begins to set but edges are not burned. If edges seem to be cooking too quickly (browning) before middle begins to set, turn temeprature down slightly.  Cool before serving.


Tastes like a cross between a pecan pie and maple stick donuts. :)

Apple Cider Donuts with Apple Cider Syrup

MmmMMmm... pre glazed.

Perfect for the fall.  TRUTH: I ate 48 mini donuts in 3 days.  Pretty easy to make, and the result has a true cake donut crumbly-but-melt-in-your-mouth consistency.  Top them with cinnamon coconut-sugar, or drizzle with home made apple cider syrup.... or both!


 THE RECIPE:

1/3 c brown rice
1/3 c teff flour
1/3 c tapioca Flour
1 c millet flour            (totals 2c GF flour)

1 tsp guar gum
1 tbs baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg (or more to taste)
½ tsp cinnamon (or more to taste)

2 tbs applesauce
¾ c apple juice
5 (/7, or scant ¼ tsp) drops apple cider vinegar
3/4 c coconut sugar          
2 tbs agave
2 tbs coconut oil, melted
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 egg

Combine dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients. Make sure coconut oil is melted—place in hot water bath/heat gently on stove if not. Mix wet into dry.

Preheat donut maker; fill donut wells—DO NOT overfill, these WILL rise well. To top, spray with sprayable coconut oil, then sprinkle with cinnamon+coconut sugar. For a sweeter taste, drizzle with apple cider syrup (and cinnamon-coconut sugar, if desired). The syrup does take away a bit from the delicate donut taste, though - so take your pick!

Apple Cider Syrup:

1 gallon apple cider

First, measure 2.5 cups cider into a large (at least a gallon) pan, and note the liquid level. Add the rest of the cider. Boil for approximately 5 hours, stirring frequently (especially at the end as it thickens), until volume is reduced to 2.5 cups. Pour into sterile (boiled) glass jars for storage. Keep refrigerated. Syrup will thicken as it cools.

Boil it down!

As it begins to thicken (~5 hrs) it will begin to froth! Exciting!

Pumpkin Scones

More in the Halloween Spirit-- this recipe was taken directly from Daring to Thrive.

These were the sconiest scones ever.

In college, my eating club Cloister Inn had the BEST chocolate chip and cinnamon-sugar scones-- and I would all-too-often binge eat three of them at a time. I had never really experienced scones before Cloister, but these were fantastic. They were still warm, crumbly on the inside, but crisp on the outside... just delicious!

These pumpkin scones could give Cloister's a run for their money. Just kidding mine would win because they're HEALTHY!

THE RECIPE: (from Daring to Thrive.)

1 cup brown rice flour

1/3 cup coconut flour

1/3 cup millet flour

1/3 cup tapioca flour

½ teaspoon xanthan gum

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ cup agave nectar or honey or brown rice syrup

1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree

6 tablespoons of softened coconut oil

1/3 cup of fake milk (I used soy)

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Carob or chocolate chips, if desired

Preheat oven to 400. 

Combine 'milk' and vinegar and let sit. This = buttermilk substitute!

Combine dry ingredients.

Cut coconut oil into dry ingredients until batter consists of little pebbles of uniform size.

Combine wet ingredients.

Mix wet into dry, knead a little with your hands. Add chips if desired.

Bake on an airbake cookie sheet, or double-layered normal cookie sheets, to prevent bottoms from burning. Grease either with oil first to prevent sticking.

Shape dough in rectangles on sheet. Cut each rectangle diagonally to form two triangle-shaped scones... or shape however you want. Bake for 20 min at 400, then an additional 10 at 350.

Again, see Daring to Thrive for original instructions.

Yum!

Pumpkin Sandwich Cake

It's October, thus I am in Halloween mood.

Yep, that's delicious. Two-layer pumpkin cake, with sugar-glaze filling and chocolate frosting. (Tastes like real food!)

THE RECIPE:

 Cake:

3 eggs
15 drops stevia
4 tbs agave            [cream]
¾ c pumpkin            [add]
3/4 c flour: garbanzo+millet+tapioca+brown rice
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp guar gum

Bake in two 8 ½ inch round pans at 350 for ~15 mins (until toothpick comes out clean).
Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and let cool on cooling racks.

Middle filling “white” frosting: (agave-sugar glaze)

¾ c cocnut oil, softened
¾ c light agave [makes it REALLY sweet!! beware!]
5 tbs potato starch
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs coconut flour?
¼ tsp guar gum

Mix, chill.

Chocolate outside frosting:

1/3 carob powder
14.4 tbs / 3.8 tbs oil

12 drops stevia
1 tsp agave (/to taste)

(same as Vanilla Bean cake frosting recipe)

Assembly:

Spread white glaze frosting on top of bottom layer of cake.

Place next layer on top. Cover with chocolate frosting.

If you're feeling creative, use potato starch (or tapioca flour) to stencil on a spooooky message (aka: boo.) It's not too hard- I chopped out the letters from a rando scrap of paper and it worked jussst fine.

Also: MOLD WARNING! Refrigerate pronto to avoid this moist-baked-good disaster. Invisible rancidity is all too common with ACD baking, and this moist, gooey cake is a prime candidate. I foolishly let this cake sit out, and by day three I had to amputate 75% of the cake to save the outer (dryer) perimeter!


 Anyway, this cake is delicious, so bake it.




Also, it took me over 3 hours to invent the middle frosting layer. White frosting is maybe the HARDEST thing EVER to ACD make without (a) sugar, (b) dairy, (c) soymilk powder, or (d) chia seeds. Seriously. Oh, or (e) using the ol' whipped coconut milk trick. My first attempt turned into tortillas. Really. Shockingly pliable tortillas, too! So, if you ever want to make super foldable pita/tortilla items, use a tonnn of tapioca flour. Hooray for eating my mistakes!

Squirrel Treats: Autumn Acorn Cookies

Happy Fall!

The seasons are a-changing. Until today, I hadn't posted in about a month. This is because, I started my real job! Hello, working world. Maybe now I'll actually be able to pay for all my organic baking supplies....

Anyway, I whipped up some squirrely acorn treats to commemorate the fall-ness:

Yummo. Perfect two-bite snacks! Also, check out that sweet maple-leaf mini-dish, which I scored at a yardsale last weekend. Get this-- it's from Occupied Japan, and I got it for FIFTY CENTS!!! (/two for $1) Success.

THE RECIPE:

1/4 c each of:
-millet flour
-garbanzo bean flour
-brown rice flour
-tapioca flour (scant)
-flax seed meal
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp guar gum    ---> combine all dry ingredients
1/2 tsp vanilla
10+ drops stevia
extra light olive oil

chococlate chips / hazelnuts
almond / nut butter
almond meal
almond slivers

Add oil gradually, cutting into dry ingredients gradually. Add vanilla and stevia to oil, so that they mix in evenly. Add oil until batter is pie-crust consistency (flour is just barely not-powdery anymore).

Shape dough around a chocolate chip and/or hazelnut, molding it into an acorn shape. Next, place a dab of almond butter on top of the "acorn" to form the lid. Roll this top area into almond meal, pushing the almond butter glob around the top of the acorn. Finally, stick an almond meal sliver into the "lid" to form a stem.

 Tadaa, you just made an acorn. Feel free to use other fillings (nuts, carob chips, coconut, etc).

Bake at 350 for ~10 minutes.

Consistency was powdery, taste not all that sweet, but still yummy. Add more sweetener if desired.