Mini Pumpkin Muffins

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With little ones around, mini-muffin tins are a kitchen must-have.

Here is a recipe for pumpkin donut holes. Thank-you to the ‘baking Beauties’ for coming up with such a yummy way to enjoy pumpkin 🙂

The modifications made for an egg-free and dairy-free version include:

  • using applesauce instead of oilIMG_4204
  • substituting melted coconut oil for melted butter
  • egg replacer in lieu of egg

Happy Baking!

Dr. Whitney Young ND & Dr. Kerri Fullerton ND

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Chewy Granola Bar Recipe

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We are always trying new granola bar recipes as the store bought ones are always loaded up with so much sugar.

2015-01-17 11.42.32_resizedIngredients:

  • 1 cup pitted dates
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin seed butter (or nut butter if you prefer)
  • 1/4 cup each: pumpkin seeds, raisins, hemp hearts, chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 cups rolled oats (gluten free if you need)

*you can use anything to fill these up with goodness as long as the dry ingredients all measure up to the same quantity – use crispy rice cereal, different seeds, nuts, dried fruits…

What to do:

  1. Prepare an 8×8 pan by lining it with parchment paper.
  2. Cook the dates into a jam – in a small pot over low heat, add 1-2Tbsp water to the dates and cook until they fall apart. For raw – place the dates in a food processor or blender.
  3. Place all dry ingredients in a bowl and stir.
  4. In a small pot, melt the seed butter with the maple syrup or honey, stir until smooth.
  5. Pour the hot mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until blended.
  6. Dump the combined mixture into the prepared pan and press down until uniform. Cover with another bit of parchment paper. Cool in freezer for 30 minutes or until hard.
  7. Remove from pan, chop into bars (I did 9 bars).

These have kept really well in the air tight container in the freezer for a couple of weeks. Fabulous little snack or breakfast before the gym.

Enjoy!

Yours in Health,

Kerri and Whitney

 

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Gluten free, vegan (yet delicious) Zucchini cookies

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With zucchini in abundance this time of year, here is another recipe to try out.

Chewy and delicious!
Chewy and delicious!

This makes A LOT of cookies because when there is too much zucchini you need recipes that call for a lot of zucchini.  They are chewy, moist, and filling.  I have served them to many gluten-eating people (including children) and they ask for another.  That says they are GOOOOD

Zuc cookie ingredients
Oats, zucchini, buckwheat flour, oh yeah!
Zuc cookie batter
It’s a thick batter

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups each: sorghum flour and starch of choice (arrowroot, tapioca, potato)
  • 1 cup buckwheat flour (light or dark)
  • 2 tsp each: xanthum gum and baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 4 cups rolled oats
  • 2 cups quick cook oats (helps with the chewy factor)
  • 1 cup olive oil (you could do coconut oil if you prefer or butter for non vegans)
  • 4 tsp egg replacer whisked into 8 Tbsp warm water (or 4 eggs)
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla
  • 3 cups shredded zucchini (I leave peel on and I squeeze the liquid out through a tea towel or cheese cloth)
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup raisins

What to do:

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F
  • Line 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, starches, xanthum gum, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
  • Stir in the oats
  • In a separate bowl, whisk the egg replacer and water.  Add the olive oil, vanilla, and sugar.  Mix in the zucchini.
  • Add wet ingredients to the dry and combine.
  • Mix in the chips and raisins.
  • Using a tablespoon, drop batter onto parchment paper.  These cookies don’t spread a whole lot so you can fit quite a few on one sheet.
  • Bake in the centre of a hot oven for about 15 minutes (the bottoms and edges will start to brown)
  • This makes 5-6 dozen cookies. They freeze very well for future enjoyment.

 

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Apricot Breakfast Bars

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Delicious gluten-free and dairy-free protein packed bar.
Delicious gluten-free and dairy-free protein packed bar.

 

Steve has been off on paternity leave since June taking care of our little Jillian but he’s heading back to work this week. This is going to make my life a little more chaotic especially for mornings. I needed a quick breakfast to eat because I won’t have him with me helping to get myself and her out the door on time.

I found this recipe in Elana’s Pantry and made it last night. The house smelled amazing as it was baking! It tastes like a nutty cake with apricot flavour. It’s gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo-friendly and delicious. This morning I had a pie-slice of it with half a banana and felt full until lunch.

  • 1 cup dried apricots
  • 2 cups pecans
  • 2 eggs
  • Âź teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup chocolate chips of your choice, or none whatsoever
  1. Place apricots and pecans in a food processor and pulse until the texture of coarse gravel
  2. Pulse in eggs, salt and vanilla, until mixture forms a ball
  3. Remove mixture from food processor and work in chocolate chips
  4. Place mixture in a greased 8×8 baking dish or pie plate
  5. Bake for 25 minutes at 350°
  6. Cool and serve

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Gluten free granola bar recipe

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granola bars

At last I have made a school friendly granola bar that I am happy to see my boy love.

Store bought granola bars tend to be filled with sugar and rarely don’t have wheat in them.  The gluten-free bars are often very high in sugar and mostly void of fibre.

Here is the recipe that I concocted to make some delicious ones at home.

  • 1 cup quick oats, 2/3 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup hemp hearts
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1 cup gluten free Rice Krispies
  • 1/3 cup oat flour
  • 6 Tbsp oil (olive or coconut)
  • 3 Tbsp honey
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/3 cup pumpkin seed butter, heated until smooth
  1. Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray an 8×8 pan with oil then line it with parchment paper that hangs over all edges.
  2. In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.
  3. In a smaller bowl, combine the oil, honey, vanilla and heated pumpkin seed butter.
  4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
  5. Pour the mixture into the pan.  Use an oiled spatula or oiled waxed paper to press the mixture firmly into the pan.
  6. Bake for 30-40 minutes (until the edges just start to turn brown), remove and place on cooling rack.  Do not attempt to remove the granola bars or cut them until they are well cooled.  In fact, place them into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to firm them up before cutting.
  7. These freeze really well.

Enjoy 🙂

Edit March 8/15: my son asked for granola bars that look like the Nature’s Path ones. They are not as thick as these. So I followed the recipe, but instead used a larger pan and cut the time down to 15 minutes. Worked like a charm!

 

Dr. Kerri

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Almond Flour Muffins

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I’ve been hearing so much about the Paleo diet lately and baking with almond flour that I decided to finally give it a shot. I went to the local Bulk Barn in Barrie and found ground almond flour. It was around $8 for about 3 or 4 cups. So, it’s more expensive than regular flour but really is packed with protein and delicious. Well worth it!

I found a recipe that I tried this weekend. I added chocolate chips so that makes them not purely paleo but good enough for me this time. Of the options below, I used applesauce, white vinegar, honey, coconut oil and chocolate chips.

Here’s the recipe and some pictures! Enjoy!

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  • 2-1/2 cups almond flour or almond meal
  • ž tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp fine sea salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • ⅓ cup unsweetened pumpkin puree, thawed winter squash puree, butternut squash puree, unsweetened apple sauce, or mashed very ripe banana
  • 2 tablespoons honey, agave nectar or maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil (melted) or vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar (white or cider)
  • Optional Flavorings: 1 teaspoon extract (e.g., vanilla, almond), citrus zest, dried herbs (e.g., basil, dill), or spice (e.g., cinnamon, cumin)
  • Optional Stir-Ins: 1 cup fresh fruit (e.g., blueberries, diced apple) or ½ cup dried fruit/cacao nibs/chopped nuts/seeds or
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line 10 cups in a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners.
  2. In a large bowl whisk the almond flour, baking soda and salt (whisk in any dried spices or herbs at this point, if using).
  3. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, pumpkin, honey, oil and vinegar (add any extracts or zest at this point, if using).
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring until blended. Fold in any optional stir-ins, if using.
  5. Divide batter evenly among prepared cups.
  6. Bake in preheated oven for 14 to 18 minutes until set at the centers and golden brown at the edges. Move the tin to a cooling rack and let muffins cool in the tin 30 minutes. Remove muffins from tin.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 muffin Calories: 229 Fat: 17.5 g Carbohydrates: 10.2 g Fiber: 3.2 g Protein: 8 g

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