Hearty Spice and Flax Cookies - grain and milk free

I've found the trick to getting coconut flour products to be fluffy and light - flax meal, baking soda and vinegar. Having just pulled some of these gorgeous plump, brown cookies, steaming with spicy aroma out of the oven, here's an attempt at remembering what I put into them:

In a blender, grind: 

1/4 cup flax seed

Add to blending flax seed and continue to process until creamy-looking:

1/2 cup water

Add and continue to process after each addition:

1 large yellow plantain, peeled and cut into chunks

1/3 cup oil or butter, soft or melted

2 eggs

1-2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger root

1-2 tsp grated fresh turmeric root (optional)

1 Tbsp blackstrap molasses

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Sift into a small mixing bowl:

2/3 cup coconut flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a large baking sheet. 

Add wet ingredients from blender to flour mixture in bowl. Add an additional 1/2 cup of water to blender jar and whirl briefly to rinse out and collect remaining batter before adding to mixing bowl. Stir with a spoon or heavy whisk until mixture becomes a stiff batter or soft dough. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto baking sheet, about 3/4 inch apart. Bake at 350 for 15ish minutes or till puffy and golden brown. Remove immediately to plate or rack and enjoy warm or cold.

Lemon Fenugreek Waffles

Fenugreek is a unique pungent spice that has both culinary and medicinal properties. Most people have eaten it ground up as one of the many spices in curry powder, but it is also a frequent ingredient in herbal tea for lactating mothers. I was attempting to make fenugreek sprouts, which can be a tasty addition to stir fries, but had to travel before I could wait for them to sprout, so I stuck them in the fridge. Unsure if they would still sprout after their sojourn in the cold regions, I decided to put them into a waffle recipe, and the result was quite tasty.

Grain-Free Lemon Fenugreek Waffles

Puree in blender until smooth:
2 T fenugreek seeds, soaked 24 hrs in water, drained (about 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup almond butter
1/2 lemon - juice and pulp
2 eggs
1 cup water or milk
1/2 c oil
1 T honey

Sift together into medium mixing bowl:
1 cup garbanzo bean flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat waffle iron. Add blended ingredients to flour ingredients in bowl and stir. Add additional 1/4 cup water to blender, whirl briefly to rinse and add to bowl also. Stir together with large spoon or whisk till well blended. Cook waffles according to regular procedure for your waffle iron.

Carrot Gingerbread Bars

2 T flax seed

1/2 cup water*

1 cup water, divided in half

1 large carrot, chopped roughly

1 inch ginger root, peeled

1 T blackstrap molasses

1 egg

1/2 cup butter or coconut oil

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 T grated orange peel, optional

8 drops liquid stevia extract, optional

3/4 cup chickpea flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Ground cinnamon

In blender, whirl flax seeds until beginning to be powdery. Add 1/2 cup water and blend until well combined - about 30 seconds. Allow to sit while you prepare remaining ingredients (or for 5 minutes). Add remaining wet ingredients to blender, one or two at at time and blend until smooth, about 5 minutes, reserving second half of the 1 cup of water for rinsing out the blender.

In large mixing bowl, sift together flours, soda and salt. Add blended wet ingredients, then add 1/2 cup water to blender, whirl briefly and add also. Stir together thoroughly. Should be the consistency of thick cake batter - very soft, but not at all runny. Add more water as needed to achieve the consistency.

Spread on to greased cookie sheet or large cake pan and spread to about 3/4 inch thickness. The batter does not need to reach the edges of the pan - it is easier to slice and remove that way. Sprinkle top liberally with cinnamon. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or till edges are lightly browned and center is springy. 

Cool on baking pan before slicing into 2-inch squares and removing to covered container.

*The flax seed and water can be substituted with 2 eggs, and likewise the 1 egg may be substituted with an additional 1 T flax seed and 1/4 cup water.

Grain-Free Banana Ginger Snack Cake

This is a very slightly sweet snack cake. Sugar or honey could be added to make it sweeter to taste.

Puree in blender:
1 ripe banana
1 chunk (2-inch, appx.) fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
2 large eggs
1 c. coconut oil, softened butter, or palm shortening
3/4 c. almond or coconut milk
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine in large mixing bowl:
1 1/4 c. chick pea flour 
1/2 c tapioca flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

Add blended wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until mixed well.

Combine in small mixing bowl:
1/3 c cocoa powder
8 drops stevia or 2 T honey

Pour 3/4 c batter into cocoa powder mixture and stir together. Pour remaining batter into greased 9x11 or 9x9 cake pan (depending on thickness desired). Drop spoonfuls of cocoa batter on top and swirl through with a knife. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes - till lightly golden brown on edges and springy in center.

Macobella

To eat Nutella with a spoon is one of the special pleasures of women in the free West - unless one happens to be allergic to chocolate and sugar, in which case she only imagines that it must be scrumptious to do so. Eating almond butter with a spoon is a pleasure less exquisite and can even tend to make one morose and non-conversant.

Enter maca-laced carob-infused almond butter, aka "Macobella". This buttery dark brown treat is not only free of sugar (and chocolate and peanuts and other troublesome things) but it is tremendously satisfying and energizing, full of protein and healthy fat. I would encourage anyone who does not usually like carob to give this a try, because the rich, buttery texture brings out the best of the carob flavor (more than many recipes in which carob is substituted for cocoa and ends up tasting like mildly sweetened dirt). The carob is used mostly for the natural sweetness it contributes.

This recipe is for one or two servings, because for some reason it seems more appetizing freshly made than if it were made in a big batch and dipped from a jar. It's a great healthy snack for those cravey times of the month, and an out-of-this-world dessert topped with frozen berries and coconut milk. I would post a picture, but that I just ate the photo subject again and am composing this post in the energy of it. 

Macobella

1 tablespoon almond butter

1 tablespoon sesame butter (or another of almond butter if you don't have sesame butter)

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 heaping teaspoon carob powder

1 heaping teaspoon maca powder 

Optional additions:

1 heaping teaspoon flaked coconut

1 teaspoon flax meal

Dash of coconut milk if your mixture is too dry.

Mix everything in a small glass dish until smooth and dough-like. Eat now or later. A handful of frozen blackberries or raspberries and coconut cream poured over top are a recommended indulgence.