Moist Zucchini Bread, Gluten and Dairy Free

After a lifetime of being heavy and trying different diets, I think, I hope, I have my fingers crossed I think I found one that works for my body type. Everybody is different, but I have been eating a paleo diet for a little over a month, with an emphasis on local organic vegetables, and I feel great. I haven't lost a ton of weight, only seven pounds, but I feel amazing. My runs are the best they have ever been, my energy level is way high, and I sleep without sleeping pills. It is kind of mind blowing, #mindblown. So, I haven't really been blogging because to be honest, I am still getting the hang of this new way of cooking. But I tried this zucchini bread, and it is pretty awesome. So, here you go... 

What you need: 

1/2 cup coconut flour 
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon  salt
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
4 eggs 
3 Tablespoon maple syrup
1 small to medium zucchini, shredded finely
1 ripe banana, smashed
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 cup pecans or hazelnuts

What you do: 

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees 

2. Grease a loaf pan with coconut oil

3. Mix together all the dry ingredients, and set aside

4. In a standing mixer or another bowl mix together all the wet ingredients including the shredded zucchini and banana. 

5. Mix the dry into the wet ingredients, and stir to combine. 

6. Fold in the nuts

7. Pour into your prepared loaf pan

8. Bake for about 45 minutes, but test it with a toothpick

9. Let cool 

10. Enjoy with outside with coffee for breakfast taking in the last few inhales of sweet Indian Summer 

As always, much love, many blessings, and happy baking!

Downton Abbey Tea Shortbread

My husband loves Downton Abbey, we both do. For his birthday party we had all of our friends dress up and enjoy a party "Downton" style. I loved it. And of course we had to have tea. Twinnings English Breakfast is my favorite but to make tea a little more special I added a heart shaped cookie perched on every tea cup. I decorated them with white chocolate and edible pearls and edible gold dust, but truth be told you could make this shortbread for anything, it cuts and bakes beautifully.

Here is what you need:
2 1/2 cups of flour
3/4 cup of sugar
1 cup of butter (softened to a cool room temperature)
2 teaspoons of vanilla
2 Tablespoons of cream cheese  (softened to a cool room temperature)

Here is what you do:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
2. Using a standing mixer add all of the ingredients
3. Squich all the dough into two fat patties, wrap in plastic cling wrap and place in the fridge.
4. One at a time roll out the dough to about 1/3 to 1/4 of an inch thick and cut with cookie cutters.
5. Place on parchment paper and bake for 10 minutes. Or until the edges turn a slight golden color. They shouldn't get brown.
6. Cool completely before decorating, adorn as desired.

As always, much love, many blessings, and happy Downton.

Funfetti Cupcakes and Sea Decorations

I love to cook for my son, actually, making cute food has become a near obsession. Clearly I have not taken it to a Japanese level obsession... seriously, google "bento" and you will understand. Nonetheless, I made (yes, out of a box) Funfetti cupcakes. Which I will not give you the recipe for 1) because it is on the back of the box and 2) because I do not enjoy being sued. But I will share some of our cupcake-adventures. I'm doing a little his and hers. His being my two year-old and hers being me. It is a little unfair as I have a pastry license, but that's life. You need to learn that early.

Sun Cupcakes with Candy Corn

What you need:
2 cupcakes
1/2 cup of prepared icing
yellow food dye
15 candy corns, extra to eat as this is inevitable cooking with me and any member of my family
black and red food gel writers

What you do:
1. Mix the yellow dye and with the frosting. One small drop will do.
2. Frost the cupcakes no special piping bags here... we are on vacation, dagnabit.
3. Add candy corns around the perimeter of the cupcake... I don't know why I used the word perimeter. I feel like that word needs to be reserved for 9th grade geometry or the dirty dozen trying to escape a nazi camp.  But you get the idea, make a circle on the cupcake close the edge.
4. Add the sunglasses and smiles.
5. Enjoy while looking at the beach.

Octopus Cupcakes with Gummy Worms

What you need:
2 cupcakes
1/2 cup of prepared icing
blue food dye
8 gummi worms (and extra to eat... yada yada)
black and red food gel writers


What you do:
1. Mix the blue dye and with the frosting. One small drop will do.
2. Frost the cupcakes as best you can, fingers, butter knife what ever. But you do need a lot of frosting so the gummi worms, I mean octopus arms stick.
3. Perform some gummi worm surgery cutting them in half. Add 8 gummi worm halfs to the octopus.
4. Add the little eyes and smiles.
5. Enjoy


Alas, well I hope you have enjoyed this installment of cooking on the cape... as always, much love, many blessings, and happy baking... cupcake decorating.

Blueberry Oatmeal Bars

My little one calls blueberries, b-berries. He is a great fan of them, and he loves oatmeal as well. I know... strange kid, but my husband also like the combination so I thought these would make a fit and easy breakfast treat. Here is the recipe adapted from day dream kitchen.

What you need:
2 cups of rolled oats
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 cup of packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon of orange zest
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of cold cubed butter

3 cups of fresh blueberries
1/2 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of fresh orange juice
4 teaspoons of cornstarch

What you do:

1. Zest a large orange, and juice save the juice and zest separately. 
2. In a heavy bottomed sauce pan add the blueberries, sugar. Mix the cornstarch and orange juice to form a slurry, whisk any lumps, add to the blueberries and sugar, cook for 5 minutes or so until thick. Set aside to cool. 
3. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 
4. In your food processor pulse together the oats, flour, brown sugar, orange zest, salt, and cubed butter. 
5. Place parchment paper in a 8 inch square pan. 
6. Pour half of the oat mixture into the pan and press down with your hands. Pour over the cooled blueberry sauce. Then cover with the oat crumbles. 
7. Bake for about 45 minutes. 
8. Let cool completely, refrigerate and cut into squares. Enjoy for breakfast, snack, or dessert with whipped cream. 

They also freeze beautifully so you can keep them in the chiller and take one out when you want a semi healthy dessert, just pop it in the microwave for a minute. 

As always, much love, many blessings, happy baking. 

Apple Pie

So this is my apple pie recipe as of yesterday, it changes often and without notice, but we all really enjoyed the current incarnation. I prefer a crumb crust to a double crust, because I love the crunchy texture. I like to cook my apples ahead of time because I think it makes them taste better and less runny in the pie. I add slivered almonds because that is what I had handy but you could add any nut or even oats to the top crumble.

Here is what you need: 

A pie crust any good pie crust either homemade or store-bought

8-10 apples depending on size

1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice or your own spice blend

1/4 cup of brown sugar for the filling 

1/2 cup of water

1/2 a lemon squeezed for juice

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup of nuts or oats

1/4 cup of brown sugar for the topping

2 Tablespoons of melted butter

Here is what I did: 

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. Peel and slice your apples. I love using my mother's apple corer slicer tool. I don't know why I just do. Dump them in a heavy bottomed skillet, add the spices, sugar, water, and lemon juice, let cook for 10 minutes or so while you roll out your dough and make the pie crumble topping.  

3. Roll out your dough and lay your pie crust in your baking dish. I like a glass pie dish so you can check the bottom of the pie to make sure it is done. 

4. In a bowl mix together the flour, nuts/oats, brown sugar, and melted butter. Mix with your fingers until you have some clumps, some dust, and some rubble. This would be an excellent job if you have a little chef in the kitchen providing they have clean hands and won't eat it all. 

5. Ladle your apples into the pie crust using a slotted spoon, so that you don't bring in extra liquid. You can save that delicious juice for something else, but you don't want it in your pie because it will make your crust soggy. 

6. Put the crumble topping over the apples and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until the apples are bubbling and the crumble is toasted gold brown.

7. Let the pie cool and enjoy with coffee and ice cream or whipped cream, and good friends.

As always, lots of love, many blessings, and happy baking.

Quick Apple Cherry Scones

Scones… a baking precipice I have not yet surmounted. Nonetheless, I persevere, attempting to find the ellusive great classic recipe for scones. This recipe is not it, but it is still pretty darn tooting good, even for one less enchanted with our British cousin to the muffin. Please don’t be intimidated this entire process took less than 30 minutes.

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 sticks or (1.5 cups) of chilly butter, cut in with a food processor or a pastry cutter
1 cup buttermilk (you may need a splash more if the dough is too dry)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 large Granny Smith apple
½ cup of dried cherries (soaked in hot water or the liqueur of your choice)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle

Crank your oven to 375 degrees F.
Peel, core, chop the apples (I zipped it in food processor to make them super tiny).
Soak the dried cherries in warm water or as I did, left over sherry. Remember to drain before adding.

Mix up all of the dry ingredients, it’s done in a second if you do a quick blitz food processor or you can always do it by hand. Then cut in the butter, again easier in the food processor, but sometimes I rather enjoy the nostalgic feeling of using a pastry cutter. Add the buttermilk until just mixed. Fold in the apples and the drained cherries. Then I used an ice cream scooper and muffin tin, but feel free just to drop 2 tablespoons on a greased cookie sheet.

Then brush with heavy cream and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over top.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and your home smells of morning deliciousness. Serve warm with butter or apple butter.

Voila delicious, easy, quick scones. It had to be quick I’m working on two proposals this week. But what is a week without baking, even if it is a 78-hour work-week.

Much love and happy baking… and don’t work too hard.