cashew butter cookies (gluten free & vegan)

I'm going over to my neighbor's home (Luke and Natalie's) for dinner tonight - and all I have to prepare is dessert! It's so lovely.. if felt like I had all this time to just relax and make dessert.. but now of course, I'm blogging and with only 30 minutes before I have to leave - I haven't even showered. Yes. It's dinner time and I still haven't showered.

This recipe was inspired by Cupcake Punk's cookies.. I didn't have to go buy any ingredients for these.. I just happened to have everything already.. so - don't be afraid to substitute ingredients for things you already have!

Oven! 350.
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (a short tsp)
1 tbsp apple sauce
5 BIG dates, pitted (or a couple more if they're a normal size)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup cashew butter
3 tbsp nut milk (I used hemp)
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
nuts for garnish (I used walnuts)

1. In a big bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a food processor, blend the rest of the ingredients until thoroughly combined.
3. Then add the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and mix again.
4. On a non-stick baking sheet, or on parchment paper place 1 1/2 inch balls of dough.
5. In the middle of each one, push in the (insert favorite nut here), and bake for 12-15 minutes depending on the oven.
6. Remove and LET COOL.. otherwise they'll fall apart. Basically, you're waiting for the coconut oil to harden back up.. because there is no gluten in these cookies.. they're pretty fragile until they've cooled for a little bit. I'm not talking hours - but if you can wait 20-30 minutes you'll be much happier.

Makes about 15 cookies.

Oh! And I forgot to mention.. these cookies taste freaking awesome.

everything biscuits

I had a long list of things to do.. as usual, but wasn't inspired to do any of them. Maybe because it's a single digit outside. It's warmer in my freezer. I felt antsy to eat something new.. and all I have in my fridge is chicken broth, zucchini, parsley (that I always forget to add to the chicken broth), and friend's leftover booze from New Years Eve. So... the time for experimentation was upon me - and I got started.

Makes 2 dozen biscuits.

Oven! 325.
Ingredients:
2 cups gf flour
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 big onion, diced
4 big pinches of dried dill (add whatever herbs are your favorite! And don't be shy with the amount!)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/3 cup + 3 tbsp grape seed oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt (I think they need more salt... I'd add another 1/2 tsp)

Step 1. Mix flour, seeds, onion, spices.
Step 2. Then add oil, mix. Then lemon juice and water, mix. At this point it will be a sticky mess.
Step 3. Once combined, add the baking soda, baking powder, and salt and fold over and over until one big ball of dough. Add more flour if you just can't stand how sticky it is.
Step 4. Put some extra flour on a side dish.. this is for your hands, so you can handle the dough.
Make balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.. then flatten the balls on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet, with your floured fingers. They should be between 2 and 3 inches across.
Step 5. Bake at 325 for 35 minutes. Everyone's oven is different.. unless you have an oven thermometer, so check them and put them back, close to the heat if you want them to be darker, crispier biscuits.
Step 6. Enjoy your vegan, gluten free biscuits!

Leave 'em in 5 more minutes, or move them to the rack closer to the heat source for a crispier outside.

ÄNABAR

I recently had my first LÄRABAR. I'm not sure why it took so long for me to eat one.. they are a great healthy treat, even for me, in the granola bar section of any grocery store. Not even too too expensive. Anyway, after reading the super short list of ingredients on each flavor of LÄRABAR I thought I should make my own.

All you need for this is a food processor or blender and:
5 dates
3 handfuls of almonds
1 cup of shredded coconut
1 handful of raisins
1 ripe banana
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie blend
1/4 tsp almond extract

Blend until it sticks into one fully blended ball. oh yeah.. Oven! 200. (or 118 if you want it raw)
Put a sheet of parchment paper over a baking sheet, so the bottom doesn't cook too fast.
Spread the mixture over the parchment. I used a wet spatula to get an even 1/2" thick slab.
Bake for about 30 minutes, then cool and cut into squares.
These are great for a healthy little dessert, or for a boost-of-energy snack.

You can go to the LÄRABAR website and try to recreate their different bars.. or mix and match and make a new flavor of your own! Other ingredients they use a lot, that you can experiment with are:
walnuts
cashews
cinnamon
peanuts
orange peel/juice concentrate
coconut oil
cherries
cocoa powder
chili
lemon or lime juice concentrate
apples
pistachios
ginger

quinoa stuffed acorn squash

So many posts in one day! And there's more to come! I served quinoa stuffed acorn squash for dinner tonight. A friend was on her way out of town, and neither of us felt like we had ingredients worthy of a dinner party nor did we want to shop for any - but we pulled it off. With her squash and quinoa, and my onion, spices, and broccoli.. we enjoyed a delicious dinner for 4.

Step 1. the bowl.
Oven! 350.
2 acorn squash (or 1/2 per person)

Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, put face down in a baking pan, poke with a fork, cover with foil, and bake for 45 minutes.

Step 2. the stuffing.
1 cup quinoa, rinsed (pre-soaked is best)
2 tbsp olive oil (may need more)
1 med size red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 cups water
1/2 cup broccoli florets
salt to taste

Use fine mesh filter to rinse the quinoa with cold water. (Quinoa is coated with a natural substance called saponin that protects the grain by repelling insects and birds. Rinsing the quinoa is important to avoid a raw or bitter taste. You can tell if there is saponin by the production of a soapy looking "suds" when the seeds are swished in water.)

Heat oil in a heavy saucepan. Saute the onions and garlic for four to five minutes.
Next add the grated ginger and quinoa. Cook for one minute stirring constantly until a fine, white spiral appears around each seed. Then stir in the turmeric, coriander, and cinnamon and cook for another minute. You can add the salt here, or at the end.. or not at all, and allow people to add their own amounts at the table.
Finally, add the water, bring it to a boil, then add the broccoli, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Scoop the quinoa into the acorn squash bowl and enjoy!

chicken soup and hanukkah gifts

Thank you Emily for the awesome engraved cutting board, which you will be seeing over and over in posts from now on.. and thank you to my aunt Allie for the cute new soup bowl :) They knew just what I wanted!

Lately, I've been eating A LOT of chicken soup.. but there are so many different versions; I can never get tired of it - and certainly neither does my digestive system. Today's version consisted of:

2 cloves of garlic
1 shallot
1/2 a red bell pepper

In a big iron pan, I sauteed the veggies while thawing out one serving of chicken broth from the freezer. After 8 minutes or so, once the veggies were giving off the right aroma, I added the chicken broth and let it simmer together for a few more minutes.

Done. The most nourishing meal in 10 minutes. I'll remember that next time I complain about picking bones out of an 18 hour chicken broth.

"crookies".. my new mistake/invention

Sorry for abandoning you for the last couple weeks.. I've been on winter vacation, and you'd think I'd be posting more - but I've been travelling and pretty much just remaking and enjoying recipes I've already posted.

Anyway, I thought it would be better to call this cookie and cracker combo "crookies" rather than "crackies." But if you prefer the later, please call them by whatever you wish. :)

"Crookies" are basically semi-sweet cookies.. so they can be used like crackers. I used less sweetener than the recipe said - and now it is a multifunctional treat! I just ate half of the batch by spreading either honey, jam, or sliced bananas on top.. I guess you can turn any cookie into a "crookie" this way.

This particular "crookie" was inspired by a recipe from Can Eat!'s sesame and ginger cookies.
Follow that recipe if cookies are what you want. Or follow this one for your very first "crookie."

Oven! 350.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups hazelnut meal (or almond flour)
1/4 cup honey (add more if desired)
1/3 cup tahini
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger
4 tbsp water

Mix the nut meal, ginger, and baking powder, then add the honey and tahini, and lastly add the water. Scoop out onto a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes depending on the size of your oven. I just realized that my oven is really small.. so it probably takes less time for me.

Makes 12-14 "crookies"
Serve with any jam, honey, fruit topping, or dip them in tea.. or for you who can handle dairy.. I'm sure a fruit mixed into creamed cheese would be delightful.

"anna's gf organic crackers" - my new business

Apparently, my friends this I should drop what I'm doing and go into the cracker and olive tapenade business. I was pretty flattered, so I thought i should share more crackers and different olive dip recipes with you..

These are the same crackers as these Hanukkah ones, but I didn't roll the dough out as thin, and they turned out so much better! They are also super small.. I decided to go OCD with the smallest heart shaped cookie cutter I own. They had the perfect crunch and just the right amount of air inside.

The new olive tapenade is just like the last one with the addition of roasted red bell peppers and capers. I doubled this recipe, because I had a lot of people over to play an intense game of Cranium.. and I knew we would need the extra olive brain power.

Here's the base:
1 can of black olives, no juice.
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil (or EVOO as the cool kids say)
some fresh oregano
3 cloves of garlic

There are so many different things you can add to this!
Here's a list to get your creativity flowing..
-capers and roasted red pepper
-anchovies and kalamata olives
-rosemary, thyme, and lemon zest
-artichoke hearts, basil capers, and orange zest
-avocado, seeded tomato, and cilantro

Basically, you can't go wrong. Let me know what you add.. and we can go into the business together :)