Tag Archives: Easy Recipes

Grain Free Apple Cobbler Cake

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I wasn’t sure what to call this dessert. My intent was to make a healthified apple cobbler. It came out more like a cake – but yet not really like a cake. So it’s an apple dessert. A grain free, maple sweetened apple dessert. This recipe uses minimal, whole ingredients. It uses: almond flour, eggs, pure maple syrup, coconut oil, some salt, vanilla extract, lemon juice, baking powder, and apples. That’s it. It’s simple to put together and we have been loving it as a weeknight dessert or snack.

This apple cobbler cake has an incredibly moist and dense crumb. It is perfectly sweetened and the touch of lemon juice comes through pleasantly. The apples soften just right – they’re soft and pillowy yet still hold some crunch. You can eat this while it’s still warm, but I wouldn’t recommend it – it falls apart a bit when it’s still warm. It’s texture becomes amazing once completely cooled and that is how we’ve preferred to enjoy it.

Something to note. I absolutely love this dessert. It’s delicious and it makes you feel good + nourished after eating it. That being said, if you’re looking for a decadent, indulgent fall dessert, this is not what you’re looking for. This is for anyone who wants a dessert that’s grain free and naturally sweetened. We haven’t always eaten grain free and I don’t know that we always will, but right now that’s what we’re going with. As far as sugar, I’m doing all of my baking these days with either pure maple syrup, honey or dates. I love classic homemade desserts using all out sugar and flour, but this just isn’t that. This is whole food nourishment that tastes like dessert and I am loving it :).




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Grain Free Apple Cobbler Cake

Ingredients

  • 2 medium apples, sliced
  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8 or 9 inch baking dish by rubbing it with a bit of coconut oil.

  2. Layer most of the sliced apples on the bottom of the baking dish, saving a few apple slices for the top, if desired. Set aside.

  3. In a small bowl, mix together almond flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut oil and maple syrup. Add the eggs, vanilla extract and lemon juice and whisk until well combined.

  5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Pour batter into baking dish, covering the sliced apples. Top with remaining sliced apples.

  6. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting and eating.

 

Clam Chowder

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This clam chowder was inspired by two things: my desire to make something that I normally don’t, and my parent’s recent trip exploring New England. While I would love to be tasting my way through New England and Canada like they are, I am not retired like they are, so clam chowder at home it was. We made this soup on a dreary, end-of-summer day at home, and everything about it was just so right. Let’s talk about it.

Clams
I was able to buy wild, USA caught cherrystone clams at my grocery store for this. You could use a variety of types of clams for this soup, but as I feel about all seafood – try to use wild, USA caught.

Veggies
If you are a fan of clam chowder, you know that this can really vary between versions. Some have very few or no veggies; some have potatoes and some don’t. This one is full of veggies – onions, carrots, garlic and celery – and lots of potatoes. This is my preference, but feel free to customize types and amounts of veggies in this to your liking.

Broth
The broth for this soup is made from boiling the clams. To prepare the broth, you add the clams to a pot, top them with water, bring to a boil and then boil until the clams open. You then remove the clams and strain the liquid – that’s your broth. I recommend straining several times because the broth can tend to be a bit sandy from the clams. I love that the broth for this soup is made from just water + clams. Also, this is a brothy clam chowder. There is no thickener in it, so it’s a thin and extremely flavorful broth – just how I like my clam chowder.

Flavors
This soup uses: clams, bacon, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, potatoes, fresh thyme, white wine, a touch of milk, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. That’s it. If those flavors sound amazing to you, make this soup ASAP! 

This recipe is the epitome of end of summer, beginning of fall cooking and eating for me. Clam chowder always reminds me of summer vacation days, but is warm and comforting like fall. Since I can’t be wandering around New England right now, this was my best attempt at bringing end of summer, beginning of fall New England vibes to my home, and it worked just perfectly :).






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Clam Chowder

Ingredients

  • 24 medium to large clams (I used cherrystone)
  • 1/2 pound bacon
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 6 carrots, chopped
  • 6 celery stalks, chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 12 baby potatoes, quartered
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 bunch fresh thyme
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Instructions

  1. Scrub clams well and place in a large pot. Cover the clams with water. Place pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Boil 5-10 minutes, or until all clams have opened.

  2. Strain clam stock into a bowl and set aside (if the stock is sandy, you may want to re-strain). Remove clams from shells, roughly chop and set aside.

  3. Wipe out pot and add bacon, cooking over medium heat until done. Remove bacon from pot, crumble and set aside.

  4. Keeping pot over medium heat, add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, potatoes, wine and a few sprigs of fresh thyme to the bacon fat. Cook 5-10 minutes, until wine is almost evaporated.

  5. Add strained clam stock and a few more sprigs of fresh thyme to pot and simmer until vegetables are tender, 20-25 minutes.

  6. Turn off heat but keep pot on burner and add milk, bacon and clams to the pot and stir well. Remove thyme stems. Season with salt and pepper to taste. We used 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. 

  7. Serve in bowls garnished with fresh thyme if desired and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Grain Free Peach Crisp Bars

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These peach crisp bars were created out of my desire to have a dessert/snack using end-of-summer peaches, and that were free of white sugar and flour. This recipe is for all of you like me, who want dessert, but also want to be healthy. These peach crisp bars:
-are grain free
-have no added sugar (they’re naturally sweetened with dates)
-utilize delicious end of summer peaches
-are tasty and filling
Let’s talk about what makes them so excellent.

The crisp
The crisp part of this dessert is made simply out of five main ingredients: whole pecans, almond flour, (unsweetened) coconut, coconut oil (you can use butter, too) and dates. There’s also a bit of salt and vanilla in there. It’s extremely easy to prepare – all of the ingredients are added to a food processor and mixed until crumbly.
A note on the dates – here are the dates that I use and highly recommend. These dates are perfectly textured and the pits are easy to remove. They blend up into a perfect date paste which is what I use in this dessert. To make the date paste, you simply place the dates in your food processor and process until they come together to form a ball of paste. That is the only sweetener used in this recipe.

The peaches
I kept the peaches super simple for this – they are diced and then mixed with just a bit of arrowroot starch, in order for the peach layer to thicken while baking. I use arrowroot starch but you could just as easily use another starch, like corn starch. You don’t have to do this, but I like smashing the peaches up a bit with the back of my spoon while mixing together the peaches and arrowroot. 

I love this dessert because it’s wholesome, it’s healthy and I can eat it without consuming lots of sugar. It’s a great dessert but would also make a wonderful snack, or even breakfast!










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Grain Free Peach Crisp Bars

Ingredients

Peaches

  • 4 cups peaches, diced
  • 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch

Crust/Crisp

  • 6-8 dates, depending on your preferred sweetness
  • 1 cup pecans
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 6 tablespoons coconut oil, or butter

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8x8 baking dish by lining with parchment paper or greasing well. Set aside.

  2. Add the diced peaches to a bowl and sprinkle the arrowroot starch on top. Mix well, even smashing some of the peaches with the back of your spoon. Set aside.

  3. Add dates to a food processor and process until they form a ball of paste. Remove and set aside.

  4. Add pecans, almond flour and coconut to the food processor. Pulse a few times. Add the salt, vanilla extract, coconut oil and date paste and process until mixture is well combined and crumbly.

  5. Add about 2/3 of the crisp mixture to the bottom of prepared baking dish. With a spoon, smooth out the crust evenly. Top the crust with the peaches. Crumble remaining crisp mixture over peaches.

  6. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until peach layer is bubbling and the top is slightly browned. I recommend letting it cool completely before serving.

Five End of Summer Recipes

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I’m trying my best to make the most of the end of my favorite season. For me that looks like spending as much time outside as possible, taking extra moments to be grateful for warm weather, and cooking with as much fresh produce as I can. In case you’re looking for a bit of end of summer cooking inspiration, here are five recipes from my site that are perfect for this time of year!

This peach + cucumber fresh lemonade. I haven’t made this lemonade in years, but looking back on the post has me craving it like crazy. This combination of peach, cucumber and lemon is so, so delicious and refreshing.

This peach + blueberry pico de gallo. This is an awesome appetizer, is so easy to make and would be so good right now with end of summer produce. Use this as a dip with tortilla chips or top your favorite tacos with it!

This late summer pasta: homemade noodles with pesto + tomatoes. This would be the perfect dish to cook on a summer day when all that you want to do is stay at home and cook a wonderful meal. There is something so special about making noodles from scratch and then adding fresh, seasonal produce to them. This is definitely on my end of summer cooking bucket list.

These herbed zucchini noodles with grilled shrimp and tomatoes. We’ve got lots of tomatoes right now in south central Pennsylvania, and they would be perfect in this light and summery dish. We are also trying to grill as much as possible right now, and this light and healthy dish is cooked completely on the grill.

This blueberry crisp. This recipe is not mine – it is from Shauna Niequist’s book Bread and Wine. I love this recipe so much that I shared it a few years ago on my blog, and I still love it the same. This crisp is made with olive oil, almond flour and nuts and makes a perfect snack, dessert or even breakfast. It’s wonderful with summertime blueberries – either fresh or frozen.

Happy end of summer cooking and eating!

Mustard Potato Salad

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I know that potato salad does not sound overly exciting, but to me, this recipe makes it exciting. I love the idea of potato salad, but I’m just not in love with traditional mayo-based versions. This one is everything I’d want in a potato salad and satisfies that craving – it’s full of tangy, mustardy flavor and is still creamy but with no mayo. Here’s what makes it so great:

The potatoes
The potatoes are roasted for this dish rather than boiled like a lot of other potato salads. Roasted potatoes are sturdy and slightly crispy so they make a great base, and they just take potato salad to a whole new level. To add even more flavor to this dish, the potatoes are tossed with a bit of oil, salt, pepper and fresh rosemary before roasting. I used a combination of mini purple and gold potatoes for this, but you could really use any potatoes that you would like.

The dressing
The dressing is a simple but flavorful mixture of grainy Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, lemon and a bit of salt, pepper and oil. Everything is added to a jar and shaken until well combined. I used this mustard and think it worked just perfectly.

The extras
We decided to add hard boiled eggs and thinly sliced red onions to our potato salad and could not have been happier with that combination. The eggs add great flavor and almost a creaminess to the potato salad once everything is mixed together. The red onions – if sliced thin enough – add amazing flavor and just a bit of crunch. 






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Mustard Potato Salad

Ingredients

Potatoes

  • 2 pounds potatoes, diced
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil, or oil of your choice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 4-5 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped

Dressing

  • 1/4 cup avocado oil, or oil of your choice
  • 2 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

For the salad

  • 5 hard boiled eggs, chopped
  • 1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

  2. Toss potatoes with avocado oil, salt, pepper and fresh rosemary.

  3. Arrange potatoes on baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes, or until soft on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside.

  4. For the dressing, combine avocado oil, mustard, lemon, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper in a jar and shake until well combined.

  5. Once potatoes are roasted, let cool slightly. Toss potatoes with chopped hard boiled eggs, sliced red onion and dressing.

  6. Enjoy warm, at room temperature or cold.