Self-Layering Pecan Pie Cake

 Okay, I'm going to be honest with you... this actually was not at all what I intended on getting when I made this recipe, it truly was supposed to be Pecan Pie. - However, the result I got is quite lovely and some of best discoveries are made by accident. This is a truly UNIQUE dessert, I have never had anything like it. It's super crispy on the outside with a really heavy moist layer and really light and fluffy layer. To tell you the truth, everything separated into layers on it's own. That is why I call it "Self-Layering" - Pecan Pie Cake.

This is a great image of the layers on the left. The top layer is a crispy nut layer, the layer just below that is a cakey, maple flavored layer, the layer just below that is a heavy, moist, eggy, maple flavored layer and the layer just below that, the bottom layer, is like lightly sweetened pie crust. - I just stumbled on this tonight as I attempted to invent my own Pecan Pie recipe, it turned into this. I have indeed sampled it myself, as well as a few other people and thus far, two thumbs up! It's an incredibly unique, dessert eating experience with the different textured layers and flavors.

Self Layering Pecan Pie Cake:
CRUST:
1 and 1/3 Cups Almond Flour or Meal
2 Tablespoons Melted Butter OR Oil
2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup or Liquid Sweetener

PECAN PIE CAKE:
1/4 Cup Melted Butter OR Oil
2/3 Cup Maple Syrup or Syrup of some kind
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
3 Large Eggs
1 and 1/2 Cups Chopped or Ground Pecans/Nuts

Preparation: Begin by heating your over to 350 degrees, Butter or Oil/Grease your Pie Plate. Mix Almond Flour, Butter and Syrup crust mixture and press it into JUST the bottom of the Pie Plate. Bake for 10-12 minutes. (I did 12 minutes)  Then start preparing the filling, in a medium sauce pan, melt 1/4 Cup Butter over Medium-Low heat. Add Syrup and Salt once Butter is melted. In a separate bowl, whisk the 3 Eggs until thoroughly mixed. Pour the Egg mixture into the sauce pan, stirring until well combined. Mix in the nuts and continue to heat for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and once your Pie Crust is done baking, pour the filling mixture into the Pie Plate and bake for another 35-45 minutes until it is fully set and no longer jiggles. (I did 40 minutes) A butter knife inserted in the center should come out clean. Allow to cool slightly, then cut, serve and enjoy!

I am particularly curious about everyones thoughts and comments on this recipe. Does this sound interesting? Does this sound good? (It is good, even if it doesn't sound good) Would you like to try this recipe? Have you tried it and got something to say about it? I'd love to hear from you, just leave your message in the comments below.

- Until next time, I wish you Peace, Health and Happiness!
This Post has been linked to Healthy 2Day Wednesday!

Something Cookies and Cereal!

Yeah, that is kind of strange title for Cookies and Cereal isn't it? I'll tell you why I chose that name. Right after I made these cookie for the first time, I thought to myself... "Wow, that tastes just like something I used to eat before I changed to a real food diet!" - They are of course very addicting because they remind me so much of something I once loved but what was that something? I never figured it out. Even more interesting is how everyone who tasted them said a similar thing. They all said "Man, this tastes like something! but what?..."  - some had ideas or eventually figured it out but they were all different. One person said "It tastes just like a waffle cone!" and another replied "No, it tastes exactly like Cowtails!" (Those cylindrical carmel, cream filled chewy, candy sticks. Not an actual cow tail, lol.)

These cookies are super addictive and I usually end up eating half of them before I am even done baking them all. They are a thin cookie but they have a nice slightly crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside texture. I always bake these on parchment paper though because stick pretty bad, especially if you prefer to make them chewier, rather than crispier because they come off quite easily when cooked crisp but half of them tends to stay on the pan if you go for chewy. Or maybe that is just because I am always pulling them off while still warm and eating them long before they are ready, lol I am not sure. Either way, these taste great and are simply amazing and who here that has gone grain free doesn't miss cereal? ACTUAL cereal with a nice crisp texture that you toss into milk or milk substitute and eat freely? I know I have missed cereal desperately.

But now that I have experimented with my Something Cookies recipe, I have also discovered Something Cereal and it is fabulous in a bowl of Almond Milk. It's crispy, it's satisfying, it's sweet but nourishing, it's the perfect balance. I just make up a batch of Something Cereal, bake it and store in an air-tight container. Then for the next few days I can eat cereal and Almond Milk and be happy as a clam for breakfast. Well I suppose I should get to sharing the recipe, now shouldn't I?

Something Cereal before being baked.

"Something" Cookies:

We call these "Something" Cookies because everytime someone take a bite of one of these cookies for the first time they always say "This tastes just like something!" and my family has been back and forth about what they may or may not taste like but one thing is for sure, they taste absolutely amazing! and they remind

everyone of "Something"

1 cup Almond Flour

1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt

1/2 cup Maple Syrup

1 Egg OR Flax/Chia Gel if you are allergic to Eggs, though I haven't tried this, it should work.

Just throw all these ingredients into a single bowl and mix with a wooden spoon, couldn't be simpler. After it is all stirred together, you will see this is an incredibly runny cookie dough. That's okay, because you can just take a spoon or measuring spoon and spoon some out onto parchment paper lined baking pans. You may or may not want to butter or grease the parchment paper, I never do but it can stick if you don't. Smaller amounts are better because this will spread. I usually do about 1/4 of a tablespoon size cookies. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. I know that is quite a discrepancy but it depends on how crisp you want them. I usually do 12 minutes for my cookies.

***NOTES:  The longer you bake, the more crisp they will be. The less time you bake them, the harder they will be to remove from the parchment paper. Always allow to cool for several minutes before trying to remove them. The center of cookies that are baked less will be almost caramel like. The less you bake them, the chewier they will be when they are cooled. The longer you bake them, the crispier they will be when cooled and the easier they will be to remove from the pan after cooling. These cookies come out quite thin but they make up for it in flavor.

****TIPS: These would make great sandwich cookies if you put frosting in the middle OR they would be excellent Grain Free/Gluten Free ice cream sandwich cookies. 

*    "Something" Cereal:

Follow the same recipe as above only put tiny drops of batter, the size you desire. I aimed for about Pea sized drops and after baking they became Dime/Nickel sized cookie bites. Bake at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes depending on taste, you really do want these crisp, so try to let them bake until thoroughly cooked crisp. When cooked crisp they slide right off the parchment paper, even without buttering or greasing the

paper. Then store in a ziplock bag or air tight container and use as cereal, in a bowl of whatever milk or milk alternative that you want. Or you could use them as bite size cookies, snacks, trail mix addition or put them on top of ice creams, custards, etc. These are great in Almond Milk!

Until next time, Happy, Healthy baking to all!

Anyone tried making these? How did they turn out? Any suggestions for what else could be done with these? Or do you have a Grain Free Cereal recipe? Feel free to share in the comments below.

I participated in the Healthy 2Day Wednesday Link-Up! and the Monday Mania Blog Carnival!

Apple Cinna-Mini Muffins

Don't let the picture fool you, these are absolutely delicious! Even my junk food junkie, conventional food eating friends like them. A.K.A. People who eat wheat, grains, gluten, refined sugar and junk food in general. Now that is saying something. I just created this recipe tonight and after eating four of them, I decided it was definitely time to post these little babies. There isn't much rise to the batter so you can feel free to fill to the top of the muffin pans but aside from that, they are simply scrumptious! Very easy to throw together, as I mentioned earlier, I didn't even use a recipe, I just wrote everything down as I added it to the bowl. They have a very lovely, lightly crispy exterior and a soft, moist interior. Wonderful flavor and great for fixing a sweet craving. I could see these being a fabulous breakfast, snack or dessert. They might be muffins but they are not your typical bland and somewhat flavorless muffins, they almost count as cupcakes considering how tasty and satisfying they are.

Apple Cinna-Mini Muffins

1/4 Cup Tapioca Flour - (I REALLY love this stuff!)
2/3 Cup Almond Meal (You could use Almond Flour here too if it's all you've got.)
4 Tablespoons Almond Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1/8 Cup Maple Sugar OR other Granulated Sweetener Equivalent
4 Tablespoons Applesauce
1/4 Cup Maple Syrup OR Honey, Agave or Other Similar Liquid/Syrup Sweetener.
2 Tablespoons Melted Butter - Or Oil if you are doing Dairy Free.
1/2 Teaspoon Molasses
2 Eggs OR - Flax or Chia Eggs if doing Egg Free, I have not tested how well this works though.
1 Apple, Peeled, Cored and Finely Diced

Place Tapioca Flour, Almond Meal, Almond Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Maple Sugar in a bowl, mixing well. Add Applesauce, Maple Syrup, Melted Butter, Molasses and Eggs, stirring until well combined. Mix in Finely Diced Apple and spoon into a Mini Muffin Pan. I did not grease, oil or butter my pans and they did not stick bad at all but you may still want to grease, oil or butter your pans for easy release. Bake at 325 degrees for 18-23 minutes. Mine took exactly 20 minutes to perfection but every oven is different. You could probably do these as full size muffins or even bread but I do not have the baking times or temps for those. Makes approximately 2-1/2 to 3 dozen Mini Muffins.

Warning:
Be warned though, if you make these... they go really quickly.  Yum!
- Also on a side note, if you don't care for fairly sweet things, you may want to cut back on the sweetener in this recipe. I really wanted something sweet since I spent over an hour staring at bakery, snack cakes and sweets in the grocery store, so I made them nice and sweet. However if you opt for a less sweet version, just cut the Maple Sugar/Granulated Sweetener out, it wont change the consistency at all. If you want it even less sweet than that, replace some of the Maple Syrup with equal amounts Applesauce to keep the moisture ratio and consistency the same.

This picture seriously doesn't do it justice, they are much cuter in person. My apologies, I have to learn how to use Macro on my Digital Camera so I can get clearer, up-close shots. Bear with me folks.

Until then, have fun and - Happy, Healthy Baking!

Baked anything delicious lately? Comment and share with us! 

Have you tried baking these? Did you alter the recipe or bake them exactly? How did they turn out?

Feel free to comment and let us know!

This blog entry is linked to Traditional Tuesdays,  Slightly Indulgent Tuesday,
Fat Tuesdays,   Melt In Your Mouth Mondays,   Real Food 101,  Make Your Own Mondays,
Real Food Wednesdays!  And The Healthy 2Day Wednesday Link-Up.

Fruit Roll Cookie Fun

This is perhaps one of my favorites and the most exciting by far. GIANT Newton Cookies? How could that be anything but awesome. They are delicious and versatile, I bet they could be made a million ways. I just discovered this wonderful cookie dough last night through experimentation and I love it. I am going to call the cookie dough "Anything And Everything Cookies" because so many things can be done with this dough. Just in this single batch, I made these Giant Fruit Filled Roll Cookies and a batch of Over-Stuffed Thumb-Print Cookies. I had no problems rolling this dough out, no problems with this dough sticking and that is usually one of the biggest pitfalls of wheat/grain/gluten free baking.

Not only that but they have got a great texture once baked. Let me try to describe it, in the Fruit Filled Roll Cookies the texture is soft, very, very similar to a newton cookie. It holds up well as long as you aren't squishing or being otherwise rough with the Fruit Filled Roll Cookies, in other words, a toddler might have this squished all over them but an older child or adult could easily and fairly mess free, hold these in their hands and enjoy bite after bite of their deliciousness. The texture of the same dough baked into Thumb-Print Cookies is sturdy yet soft, it melts in your mouth and both versions offer a very satisfying bite. At the end of this I will include a picture of the Thumb-Print Version as well as some notes, ideas and suggestions for anyone interested in trying to make these. Now... what you've all been waiting for.... the recipe!

Fruit Filled Roll Cookies:
Prepare dough and filling or filling of choice.

Anything And Everything Cookie Dough:
3/4 Cup Tapioca Flour
1/2 Cup Coconut Flour
1/4 Cup Almond Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup OR Honey, Agave OR other similar Syrup of choice.
1/8 Teaspoon Molasses
1/4 Cup Melted Butter OR Butter Substitute OR Oil of choice if doing Dairy Free.
2 Eggs OR Flax/Chia Eggs if doing Egg Free

In a medium to large bowl, add Tapioca Flour, sift in the Coconut Flour and Baking Soda. Add Almond Flour, Sea Salt and mix dry ingredients thoroughly. In a medium bowl whisk the Syrup, Molasses, Butter and Eggs until well combined and almost completely uniform in color. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together with a wooden spoon. The dough should begin to form a ball, mix well and fold dough into itself a couple times. Refrigerate the dough for 2 to 24, I left mine in the fridge for about 12 hours before I began making my cookies.

Raisin Date Filling:
1/2 Cup Raisins
4-8 Dates, Pitted
1-3 Tablespoons Water

Place Raisins and Dates in the food processor, process until chunky. Add Water, 1 Tablespoon at a time, pureeing and checking consistency in between each addition because you want it to be somewhat paste-like or jam-like.

Preparing Fruit Filled Roll Cookies:
After dough is chilled thoroughly, remove from fridge and place between two sheets of parchment paper. With a rolling pin, roll dough out to about 1/8th inch thick and remove top layer of parchment paper. Cut trim edges to make a oblong rectangle of whatever size you wish. Also, just because mine were giant doesn't mean you couldn't divide the dough in half to make ones more newton size if you wish. Whatever size you decide, just have it rolled out about 1/8th inch thick, trim the edges but make it twice as wide as you want your cookie. Spread the filling or whatever filling you use on half of the sheet of cookie dough, leaving about a 1/4-1/2 inch naked edge to seal them shut with. Once filling is spread, using the parchment paper to help you, fold one half over the other, I suggest folding the empty half over the side with the filling. Seal all edges, including ends shut to help prevent filling from spilling out during baking. Just seal the edges by pressing them together and smoothing out the seam, nothing special, no egg white or any stickiness needed.

Baking Instructions:
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Bake Fruit Filled Roll Cookies in whole roll form for 12-14 minutes, mine baked 13 minutes exactly but all oven temperatures and times vary. Slice Fruit Filled Roll Cookies to any desired size after baking and cooling slightly. Mine were not hot but still warm when I sliced them. If you chose to just roll the chilled dough into 1-inch balls for Thumb-Print Cookies. I rolled mine, slightly flattened and then made a depression in the center. I filled them with a dollop of the Raisin Date Filling and baked them at 350 degrees for 9 minutes. So the baking time on them would be about 7-11 minutes at 350 degrees.

Notes And Suggestions:
You could fill either of these cookie types with 100% Pure Fruit Preserves, Jam, Jelly or Spread OR Nut or Seed Butters of any kind. The Thumb-Print Cookies might be good with Chocolate or Carob in the depressions. I bet you could fill both cookies with just about anything. Be creative! If you are going to fill them with a nut or seed butters, you may want to do this after baking. You could also just make the dough into plain cookies if you roll them out and flatten them with a fork or spoon. You could then Chocolate or Carob dip half the cookie and lay them out on parchment paper to firm OR drizzle with Chocolate or Carob. You could also bake them plain and spread them with whatever you'd like to personalize each cookie after baking. There's Frostings, Butter, Coconut Butter, Nut or Seed Butters, Jams or Fruit Spreads, etc. OR maybe put a small scoop of ice cream between two cookies and try it like an ice cream sandwich. Another thing you could consider is adding items to the dough and baking them that way, for instance Chocolate or Carob chip, raisins, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, etc. Or you could also possibly try rolling them out on parchment paper and using cookie cutters to make shaped cookies, the dough held up so well, I think it could probably handle it. The possibilities are endless, let your imaginations run wild, explore, have fun!

Happy, healthy baking to one and all!

Update: (2-12-2012) I made these again and used Apple-Pear filling this time, I simply simmered Apples and Pears, pureed and sweetened them and then thickened it with some Tapioca Starch. It was a bit thinner than my first filling but still delicious! I'll add more photos for reference.

This is me rolling out my dough, cutting the edges smooth, on the left and then on the right I re-rolled the dough slightly and added my Apple-Pear Filling.
This is just prior to rolling over and sealing the edges to form the cookie roll.
------------ ~ * ~ * ~ -----------
On the left is already baked and sliced roll cookies and on the right are the Apple-Pear Thumb-Print Cookies that I make with the left over dough from this. You could do more rolls but my Mother is particularly fond of the thumb-prints so I make plenty of those as well.

I participated in the Nutritious and Delicious Blog Hop!
Linked to Make Your Own! Monday.

That Really Takes The Cake!

Everyone will always run into an occasion where they cake and a good cake is not always easy to find. This cake is already fairly allergy friendly and can be made to be even more allergy friendly and tailored to special dietary needs. When holidays, special occasions and birthdays roll around, people typically think of cake as being part of the package. I know that at least my opinion, no special occasion is complete without a special dessert to help celebrate the moment. This cake is not only very healthy for being a cake, it is also easily altered to fit any diet and be allergy free. Might I say, it is also incredibly delicious! Light, fluffy and entirely satisfying. The Chocolate Cake, combined with the two types of frosting make this cake nearly gourmet, each bite an adventure as though every bite cleanses the palate before descending into the depths of yet another flavor. Okay... on to the cake!

Chocolate Cake
3/4 Cup Coconut Flour
1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
10 Eggs OR Egg Replacer OR Flax/Chia Egg  (See NOTES below, on how to do this.)
1 Cup Melted Butter OR Butter Substitute
1 Cup Maple Syrup OR other Equivalent Liquid Sweetener
1 Teaspoon Molasses

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil the sides and lay parchment circles in the bottoms of two 8″ or 9" cake pans and set aside. Mix the Maple Syrup, Cocoa Powder and Molasses in a bowl, whisk until well combined. It should look a lot like Chocolate Syrup. In another  bowl mix Coconut Flour, Sea Salt and Baking Soda. In a large bowl whisk 10 eggs, then mix in the chocolate mixture and mix chocolate/egg mixture into the dry ingredients. Pour the batter into pans and bake for approximately 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cakes cool and remove from pans.

Coconut Pecan Frosting
1 Cup Maple Syrup, Honey, Agave, Brown Rice Syrup or other Syrup or a combination to equal 1 Cup.
1/4 Cup Butter OR Butter Substitute if doing Dairy Free
1/4 Cup Ground Pecans
1-1/4 Cups Unsweetened, Shredded Coconut
2 Tablespoons Milk or Milk Substitute
2 Tablespoons Arrowroot Powder + 2 Tablespoons Milk or Milk Substitute, mixed

Mix Maple Syrup and Butter in a sauce pan over Medium to Medium-High heat, stirring constantly until melted and combined. Bring to a heavy simmer, still stirring. Stir in the Milk, Ground Pecans and Shredded Coconut and simmer 2-3 minutes. In a small dish mix the Arrowroot Powder and 2 additional Tablespoons Milk together and then add to the Coconut Pecan Frosting Mixture. Continue to cook another 1-3 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool, it will continue to thicken more as it stands.  Spread this frosting between the two layers of the cake and of course, on top of the cake. It is too runny to frost the sides, it slides right off but the double frosting duo on this cake is what adds the extra special kick to it.

Chocolate Side Icing

4 oz. (1/2 Cup) Pure Bakers Chocolate OR Dark Chocolate of choice.
1/4 Cup Coconut Oil (I don't know if you can substitute this, Palm Oil or other SOLID at room temperature Oil should work.)
3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup  OR  Honey, Agave or other Syrup of choice.
2 Tablespoons Honey  OR  Maple Syrup, Agave or other Syrup of choice.
1/8 Teaspoon Sea Salt
2 Teaspoon Maple Sugar OR other Granulated Sweetener Equivalent.

In a sauce pan over low heat, melt the chocolate and oil, stirring constantly. Mix in the Maple Syrup, Honey, Maple Sugar and Sea Salt until thoroughly mixed. Remove from heat, place in fridge for a half hour to 45 minutes. Check often to make sure it isn't getting too thick. Remove it from the fridge and with a hand mixer blend on high until light and fluffy. If it is too solid, set sauce pan over bowl of warm water and mix with hand mixer or let stand at room temperature until softened enough. If it is not solid enough it will not whip very well so you'll need to put it back in the fridge for  bit and check it again every few minutes or so. When it is the right consistency, it will beat well with a hand mixer and resemble whipped frosting. Frost the sides of the cake quickly with this because it doesn't perfect for long, it eventually takes on a fudge texture on the outside of the cake.

So... If all was done correctly, you have a beautiful, double layer, fluffy, grain free chocolate cake. With two gourmet, home made frosting blends. Chocolate Icing on the side and Coconut Pecan Frosting for the top and center. Now of course you could use any frosting of your choosing or if it is a frosting recipe you are after, one of these two might fit the bill. However be warned, the Chocolate Icing gets very stiff, almost like fudge or a truffle, as a matter of fact, we put little dollops of it into candy cups with the left overs and ate them as candy. Also be warned that Coconut Pecan Frosting is rather thin, so it is great for topping items but may not suit frosting the side of a cake well... which makes it almost ideal for cupcakes if that is what you are making. You could also easily turn this cake recipe into cups and top with either one or a combination of both frostings.  Remember...  The most important thing is to have fun with your baking... and what is more fun than a baking?

Notes

You use 1 Tablespoon Ground Flaxseed whisked into 3 Tablespoons Water and allow it to stand until thickened to replace one egg. Yes... I realize you'd have to do this ten times but if you need Egg Free, if may be worth it... There are many Egg substitutes, Chia Seeds can be used in a similar fashion to replace Eggs, I have also heard of Mashed Banana being used to replace Eggs.

Please feel free to comment and if you make this recipe, let me know how it goes. Also don't forget to stop by the Suggestions page and give me feedback or make a recipe request. I am looking for new and exciting things to try making. More information can be found on the Suggestions page.

I participated in the Healthy 2Day Wednesday Link-Up!