Nutrient Rich Brownies

Gluten, Dairy & Cane Sugar-Free Brownies

As always, try to use organic and raw ingredients when possible.  This recipe uses low glycemic coconut palm sugar and raw cacao powder which are naturally nutrient rich.  Palm sugar contains magnesium, zinc, potassium, calcium and 16 vital amino acids.  Raw cacao powder contains magnesium, flavanols and polyphenols.  Pack it in where you can!

1 can of black beans, rinsed
3 eggs
1/2 C coconut oil
1/4 C cacao powder (raw, if you can find it)
1 TBS pure maple syrup
2 tsp ground vanilla
1 C coconut palm sugar (unrefined, if you can find it)
1/2 C crushed walnuts

*If you can tolerate some cane sugar you can also use 1/2 C chocolate chips that are dairy, soy & wheat free.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In food processor combine beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, ground vanilla and palm sugar until smooth.

Grease 8x8 pan and pour batter into pan.  Sprinkle with crushed walnuts (and chocolate chips - if using).

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.  Cool and chill before serving.

Photography & recipe by Nicole Hoines.

Free (of most things) "Sugar" Cookies

Drop Sugar Cookies
1 C Oat (or other flour)
1 C Brown Rice Flour
3/4 C Tapioca Flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
8 TBS Palm Shortening (or butter)
1 ½ C palm Sugar
1 TBS ground flax seeds with 2 TBS hot water (let sit for 1-2 mins) (or 1 egg)
1 tsp Vanilla

Shape into balls and squash on to pan.
375 for 8-10 mins.

Sugar Cookies for Cutting
½ C Oat (sub any of these flours)
½ C Tapioca Flour
½ C Brown Rice Flour
½ C Millet Flour
½ C Amaranth Flour or Sorghum
1 tsp xanthum gum
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
8 TBS Palm Shortening (or butter)
½ C Palm Sugar
2 TBS flax mixed with 4 TBS hot water (or 2 eggs)
2 tsp vanilla
Pinch of nutmeg

Refrigerate dough for 24 hours. Roll, cut and bake at 375 for 10-15 mins.

Frosting
Mix palm shortening with Viv Agave (Organic Blue Agave Inulin available at Whole Foods) and a drop of vanilla. Makes a truly white frosting for coloring.

Crazy Cake

A new friend was looking for an eggless cake to celebrate her birthday. My family has a very old recipe that was typically used, not for food sensitivities, but for lack of eggs! Maybe depression era recipes are an untapped resource for living without! Who would have thought? My food sensitive subs are in parenthesis.

3 c flour (3 c gf-flour+2 tbs baking powder)
2c sugar (2 c agave nectar)
2tsp soda
1/2 c cocoa
1tsp salt
1tsp vanilla
2 tsp vinegar (balsamic tastes really good with chocolate, but you can use any)
3/4 c cooking oil
2 c water

Sift first 5 ingredients directly into 9X13 inch pan. Make 3 holes in dry ingredients, put vanilla into 1 hole, vinegar in another, cooking oil in the third. Pour cold water over entire mixture. Blend with fork. Do not beat. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes in the pan you mixed it in.

Pumpkin Seed Butter Cookies

1/2 c pumpkin seed butter
1/4 c ground flax
1/4 c 100% pure maple syrup (or less)
2tsp vanilla
1/2 c brown rice flour
1/4 tsp sea salt

Mix wet then dry ingerdients. Tsp sized drops pressed with palm on cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 mins at 350.

These cookies are safe for just about anyone. Ideally all sugar should be avoided if you have food sensitivities, but maple syrup is used here - it's at least better than cane sugar. These yummy cookies are also nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, corn-free, egg-free and kid-friendly.

Darth Vader Dip

With trepidation I tried to plan ahead this week for lunches for the 2010 school year. Inspired by Gillian McKeith's lunch ideas, and my kids' love for hummus and dips in general, I've created some dips that are safe for nut-free schools, and should work for most food sensitive kids.

Thinly slice 2 types of raw vegtables your kids like (french fry shape is good).

Some options are:
-carrots
-red peppers
-yellow peppers
-orange peppers
-cucumber
-cherry tomatoes
-celery

Darth Vader (or Witch, or Bat Man) Dip
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/8-1/4 cup water
1 can black beans
freshly squeezed juice from 1/2 lime
dash of salt

Raw Seed Dip - General
3/4 cup of seeds (examples: sunflower, pumpkin, sesame).
1/8-1/4 cup of water
1 can beans (examples: white beans, black beans, chickpeas)
juice of 1/2 lemon or lime
dash of salt

In food processor make paste of seeds and water, then add beans and citrus. Then salt to taste. You can add garlic if they like or can tolerate it. Skip the lemon or lime juice if it's not tolerable. Herbs are a nice thing to add too - but I have to be careful not to put too many adult-like flavors in there - my kids like it bland.

USE RAW SEEDS because they are far more nutritious than roasted.

In addition to creating fun names for your dips, get an interesting container. I found some great ceramic containers with plastic lids at my Asian market, but you can make something cool out of small Pyrex containers with special paint pens from an art store. Let the kids decorate their own or make that Darth Vader Pyrex yourself and surprise them!

Nightshade-Free Chili

Since tomatoes and peppers rank high on my list of foods to avoid, I created a nightshade-free chili that my whole family will eat. In fact, given a choice my daughter chooses 'orange chili' over red. I call it curried chili. If you know anyone that suffers from arthritis, this is a good solution - as nightshades are known to aggravate joints.

1 butternut squash, peeled, cubed, steamed
1 yellow onion, diced and sautéed in oil until translucent
15 oz of beans
1 lb ground turkey, cooked separately
1 tbs turmeric
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp salt (optional)
1 tsp ginger

Put the steamed squash and sautéed yellow onion into a food processor and mix until it has a sauce-like texture. You may want to add a small amount of water from the steamed squash. Combine sauce with cooked turkey, beans and spices. Simmer for 5 minutes and taste.

You can use any bean that suits you. It's best to soak your own beans over night, but a can will do nicely.

For a vegetarian option, just omit the turkey and add more beans. Try different types of beans.

The Cupcake Conundrum

Today someone brought in cupcakes for their daughter's birthday at my kids' summer camp. Usually, if I'm aware of a birthday, I send along super-fab cupcakes that make my kids feel good and everyone wins. In this case I didn't have notice so instead they ate from my stash when we got home. I make these up ahead of time and freeze them for situations just like this one. It's suitable for just about anyone with food intolerances.

1 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup unsweetened chocolate powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. Add a small amount of oil to each muffin tin and place in the oven while it's preheating for a few minutes. Mix dry ingredients first, then add the wet and mix until just mixed. Bake for 10 minutes (baking times may vary depending on your oven). The batter will puff up then collapse near the end or after removed. Do not over bake. The toothpick test will come out wet, but don't worry. These are moist and chewy.

For icing, just mix together palm shortening with unsweetened chocolate powder and some agave nectar. Wait for the cupcakes to completely cool before icing.

You can substitute just about any ingredient. Amaranth also works well in place of buckwheat. Corn or arrowroot will work in place of tapioca flour. If anyone is allergic to chocolate, try carob powder. Also the nectar can be substituted with thawed apple juice concentrate, maple syrup or brown rice syrup.

I created this recipe after being inspired by a carob brownie recipe I found in "allergy and celiac diets with ease" by Nicolette M. Dumke