Vegan, gluten free corn muffins

Based on these:

http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2008/12/ideal-lunch-for-dreary-day.html?m=1

My father spent a good portion of my childhood as a diesel mechanic. A talented mechanic. When I needed a car to get to my college internship (a dream come true to intern in the PR department of Crayola), he bought me a totaled 1984 Ford Escort. In 1996.

Someone he knew had hit a deer with it. I think he paid $50 for it. For months, he pieced that car back together with junkyard parts.

It had a bad carburator. Every time it rained he had to come clear the carburator so my car would start.

And he never brought tools. Only a screwdriver. Often a hanger and some duct tape. No matter what the problem.

He prefers to fix versus replace. He's spent more than one afternoon trying to fix my 50-year-old garage door. The tracks are bent and the pulleys keep jamming.

I've begged him to take my money and go buy new parts. But no, he hammers and bangs the old ones. Once there may have been a torch involved. 

Why the resistance?

"Because any idiot can fix it with new parts," my dad says.

Well, I don't follow recipes. I rarely make the same dish twice. Any idiot can follow someone else's recipe or even their own recipe.

I prefer experimentation.

So, the coffers are low (fuel oil drop, new washing machine, extra car maintenance and I apparently ate my seven-month old implant crown), I'm using what I have.

- 1 1/2 cups corn meal

- 1/2 cup ground cashew

- 1/2 cup flax meal

- 1/4 cup sourgum flour

- 1/2 cup coconut flour

- pinch salt

- one big tablespoon baking powder (when did I run out of baking soda????)

- 1 cup soy milk

- about 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

- less than 1/4 cup canola oil

- about 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 

- 1 can cream-style corn (the dole version is cream-style-- not creamed, no dairy)

Mix quickly, portion into muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. 

Mine took forty.

I love these. They have a bit of a baking powder aftertaste, a tad of a grit to them (but much less than other coconut flour recipe I have tried). They are very moist on the inside. Very much a success.

Summer Fruit Molasses Bites

I really need to learn to follow a recipe.

I wanted to make strawberry rhubarb muffins. I researched a few recipes online and had to work with a few substitutions since we don't have eggs or milk in the house.

I made something delicious and very dessert-like, and hearty, but because I decided to throw in some coconut flour... Well, I was concerned my dough would be too dry and as a consequence I made it too wet. Oops.

I put about one cup strawberries and two cups chopped rhubarb (and sprinkled some white sugar onto it) into the food processor and made it into something the consistency of jam, or maybe chutney. I set that aside.

Preheated the oven to 350 and smeared 30 muffin cups with a generous layer of room temperature coconut oil.

In a BIG bowl, I mixed the following dry ingredients:
- One cup unbleached white flour
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- about 1/2 cup coconut flour
- about 1/2 cup sourghum gluten free flour
- about 1/4 cup flax meal
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon

In my kitchen aid mixer:
- 1/4 cup local raw honey* (Omit for true vegan cooking)
- 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
- 1/2 cup agave nectar
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup warm coconut oil

In a mixing cup, combine:
- one cup coconut milk
- 1.5 teaspoons strawberry basil balsamic vinegar
Stir and add to mixer when it appears "curdled"
(this is my substitute for buttermilk)

Combine dry to wet ingredients, add fruit.
Poor into muffin tins. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.

I think I baked these for an hour.

They have a crisp outer coating and are gooey in the middle like a brownie.

Apple nut butter crêpes

Crêpes:
- 1 large tablespoon local raw honey
- 1 cup vanilla almond milk
- 3 tablespoons coconut flour
- 2 tablespoons ground flax
- 1/4 cup sourgum flour
- 2 eggs

Cooked in a cast iron skillet in coconut oil.

Filling:
- chopped gala apples, skin still on
- tablespoon of quince jam
- teaspoon fresh ground cinnamon
- teaspoon local raw honey
- dollop coconut oil for the bottom of the saucepan

Cook until soft but still crisp.

Spread some nut butter on each crêpe before filling with apples.

My nut butter was homemade almond-cashew butter.

Modified lemon poppyseed muffins

I don't even know what to call this crazy batter:

- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, in liquid form
- about 1/2 cup flax meal mixed with warm water
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/3 cup local raw honey
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1 cup organic white flour
- 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/4 cup poppyseeds
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 pinches salt

Scooped into muffin tins.

Baking at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

Very delightful.

We tried them plain and with a smear of local raw honey, both were awesome but the honey overshadowed the lemon flavor.

Hot breakfast

We took some coconut flour corn muffins from earlier this week out of the freezer. We served them with homemade apple butter, vegetarian sausage and sweet potatoes.

A lot of color to start today!

Culinary experiment of the day

I have a favorite corn muffin recipe from a local vegan cooking teacher Eileen Bresslin.

Today, I swapped out a ridiculous combo of ingredients.

DRY INGREDIENTS
- 1/4 cup flax meal
- about 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 1.5 cups white corn meal
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- hearty pinch salt

WET INGREDIENTS
- 1 tablespoon flax meal that has rested in 4 tablespoons warm water
- about 1/8 cup coconut oil, in liquid form
- 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
- 1/4 cup local raw honey
- 1 cup vanilla almond milk
- 1/2 cup soy milk
- 1.5 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine dry and wet ingredients in separate batches, then combine.

Stir vigorously to quickly get the lumps out of the coconut flour and get in the oven while still bubbling.

Bake 20 minutes.

I have no idea what will happen with this.

Update: a tad dry but yummy

Crêpes with coconut flour

We invented these crêpes and served with berry filling:
- 1 cup vanilla almond milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup unbleached white flour
- 3 tablespoons coconut flour
- 2 tablespoons ground flax
- 1 tablespoon local raw honey

These were delicious.

Grain Free Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Ah, the beauty of food via Facebook... Just Eat Real Food posted this recipe from Edible Harmony. The original recipe is dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free.

http://www.edibleharmony.com/grain-free-pumpkin-cranberry-bread/

I thought to myself, "Gee, it's thanksgiving morning. This would be a fantastic seasonal breakfast and fun for child and I since it's simple."

And since the doctor removed her right ear tube Monday, I'm keeping her dairy free.

If you want the real recipe, go to Edible Harmony. If you want horrible misadventures in the kitchen, by all means read on.

Preface: I am finishing my last semester of college classes, after this I just need to finish my honors thesis. We're broke (like most of America). And I have a part-time job at Target which means I work full-time this week because of Black Friday. So right now this instant, I'm stressed.

And holidays tend to push my over the edge anyway.

I am an opening cashier tonight, which means I go in at 8:30 pm and cashier until 1:30 am. Then I go in tomorrow at 5 pm to close the café. To reset my body clock toward working late, I stayed up and watched a James Bond movie after punching out of work at 10:07.

My internal alarm clock woke me up at 7:15. Child was reading to herself out loud, so I got up and closed everyone's bedroom doors. Then, the cats started scratching at the door which went from annoying to amusing when one cat started attacking the cat who was scratching at the door.

So maybe baking wasn't the best course of action for a morning that started this way.

Child got the eggs. I called up the recipe on my phone. Six eggs. Left from out last trip to the farm. Exactly what we needed. And in my head I still have this reaction of "That's a LOT of eggs." I understand coconut flour requires gads of eggs but it's still a shock.

Especially when you've only had a 1/2 cup of coffee.

Child cracks all the eggs and puts them in a bowl. The recipe says to combine eggs, 12 pitted dates and 1/3 cup coconut oil in the food processor.

We dump in the eggs and the dates and child starts measuring 1/4 cup oil because I don't have a third. I let her jam the oil (coconut oil is a solid at room temp) into her cup and I fling some extra into the food processor.

When it's ready, I let her pulse forgetting that the edge of the food processor is broken and this stream of eggs and coconut oil spews onto the counter. Like the Incredible Hulk, I turn into stark raving mad lunatic mom.

What to do? I have to get those dates pulverized. Husband gets blender. With my sunny optimism, I remind him that this won't work and we're doomed.

It works for the dates. Child measures the coconut flour. I add 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce to replace the egg mixture now on my counter. We blend. Blender stops. Coconut flour jams blender.

We reassemble poor food processor. Transfer mix to food processor. Realize blade isn't all the way down. Fiddle and twist.

Add remaining ingredients. Pulse. Recipe a for 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon. I love cinnamon. And my coconut flour bake goods tend to be bland, especially since I have taste buds so attuned to refine sugar.

The only cinnamon we have is in a grinder. Child grinds for what feels like an eternity.

We pulse. I add some local raw honey. Taste buds. Need to wean off sweet. We stir in cranberries. Plop into loaf pan. Batter seems to disappear.

We sprinkle unsalted pumpkin seeds on top. We bake.



Verdict: I need to get toothpicks so I don't keep using random household objects to poke baked goods.

This is delightful!

Success!

Vegan Paleo fruit "cookies"

I'm neither vegan nor paleo when it comes to eating but I appreciate recipes focused on unprocessed foods with minimal animal products.

This recipe is very clean. No added or refined sugar. No gluten.

It's based on a recipe from Against All Grain, posted on Paleo Parents. I have adapted it to what is in my pantry.

Ingredients:
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 4 madjool dates, pitted
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil

- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- about 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 2 tablespoons each: raisins, dried cranberry and dried cantaloupe

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine first block of ingredients in food processor and combine until a fine purée like baby food
3. Add next block and pulse until just combined
4. Add dried fruit and nuts and mix just enough to incorporate
5. Place golf-ball sized cookies on cookie sheet (lined with parchment paper) and press into cookie shapes
6. Bake about twenty minutes, carefully flipping after the first 15

Mine got a tad dark, and are still very soft but so delicious. I think I need a touch more coconut flour in my mix.

But that said, I could eat the whole dozen.

Pumpkin coconut squares

Today marks my first attempt at baking with coconut flour. With my tendency to not follow directions, this could end badly.

I based my recipe on one from my coconut flour supplier, Tropical Traditions, who had a lovely buy one get one free sale on coconut flour and coconut oil with free shipping. So I got almost 4 pounds of coconut flour and two 32-ounce bottles of expeller pressed coconut oil for $44.


Preheat to 350.

Grease 8 x 12 pan with coconut oil.

Ingredients (my version, not the original):
- 1/2 cup organic coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder
(Mix those two and set aside. Then mix remaining.)
- 3 farm fresh eggs
- 15 ounces pumpkin
- 1/4 cup raw milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
- cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves

Spread in pan. Cook 45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before slicing.

I didn't stir the batter enough. I was warned this was an issue with coconut flour. They are a tad on the bland side, but not inedible so for a first attempt...