Paleo Carrot Cake Muffins

 Mmm...I came across this blog and recipe in my obsession on Pinterest. Over the last month, I have been wanting to be more adventurous with my baking Paleo treats. Although this recipe doesn't call for coconut flour, I experimented with making my own coconut flour by grinding coconut flakes into a powder (I made coconut shrimp from Everyday Paleo....delish). Anyways back to the carrot muffins. I love it when I have all of the ingredients on hand and I needed to use my carrots and an extra ripe banana so this recipe was great for me. The recipe only makes between 12 and 15 muffins and they disappeared rather quickly. I got suggestions that raisins would be a great addition to the muffins. I am excited to try out more Paleo baking treats :)

Ingredients: 
1 1/2 cups almond flour1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon/pumpkin pie spice
3 eggs
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 ripe banana, mashed
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups carrots, grated
1/2 cup pecans, chopped


Directions:
1. Combine dry ingredients (almond flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda ) In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients (eggs, banana, oil, and honey).

2. Add the carrots to the wet ingredients and be sure that everything is thoroughly mixed.

3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix all ingredients with a mixer (Oh how I LOVE my Kitchen Aid)

4. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup,  scoop batter into lined cupcake pan and sprinkle with cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (my absolute favorite ingredient)

5. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes.

Enjoy :)

No Bake Paleo Cookies

 Surprise! Surprise! I was browsing around on Pinterest and found these delicious looking cookies!!  It looked easy enough and the ingredients seemed tasty.  I finally had the chance to try them out today and they are definitely just as good as they look! It was nice that they were "no-bake" because it has still been pretty darn hot lately and the last thing I wanted was to have my oven on in the middle of the afternoon. I was a little unsure about the olive oil in the cookies but I went ahead with following the recipe as it was the first time. Later I did read some of the comments on the original recipe that also suggested using half olive oil and half coconut oil and using other types of nuts, so maybe next time I will experiment with the ingredients a little more.

No Bake Paleo Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:



1. Heat chocolate chips, oil, honey, and almond butter in a sauce pan on medium heat. Melt the chocolate chips until they are a smooth consistency.  

 

2. Turn off the heat and add cinnamon, nuts and coconut. Be sure to coat everything in the chocolate.

3. Drop a spoonful on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until hardened.

Enjoy :)

Paleo Chocolate Chip Orange Scones

I have been spending way too much time on Pinterest. It is an easy way to distract myself from all of the other work that I should be doing. It has been a stressful start to the new school year. However, I have been thoroughly enjoying the weekends to experiment with different arts and crafts projects and recipe adventures I have found from Pinterest. This weekend I made two delicious recipes from Elana's Pantry. If you haven't checked her out, she has some amazing gluten free recipes. I stumbled upon her blog earlier this summer, but didn't make anything until this weekend. I don't know why it took me so long because both recipes I made this weekend were super easy and amazing, I even had all of the ingredients at home already. I made the Paleo Bread yesterday (I will be experimenting on different variations soon and most likely sharing those later) and this morning I made these scones.

Paleo Orange Chocolate Chip Scones

from Elana's Pantry

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almond flour/meal (the recipe called for blanched almond flour, however I mixed  it half and half with regular almond meal and blanched almond flour)
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup dark chocolate chips 
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons agave nectar

Directions:
1. Mix dry ingredients (almond flour,  baking soda, chocolate chips, orange zest) in large bowl.
2. Mix egg and agave together and combine with dry ingredients.
3. Knead the dough with your hands to create a ball (My dough was very sticky). Flatten the dough to about ½ inch thick circle.
4. Cut the dough into mini pizza slices and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Step 3

Step 4

Enjoy :)

Chocalate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Do you love chocolate and peanut butter? If so...these cupcakes are amazing and I can almost guarantee that you will love this "sweet treat"! I found this recipe on Pinterest and knew that I needed to try them out ASAP. Of course when my sisters birthday came around, I jumped on the chance to make them. I love being able to use a packaged cake mix and doctor it to make it better. I was rushed to make the cupcakes that I didn't have a chance to take my step by step tutorials. I also hope I can start making more time to share all of my craft adventures :)

Cupcakes

1 package devil’s food cake mix
1 (3.4 oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix
3/4 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Reese’s Miniatures peanut butter cups, frozen (you will need one for each cupcake)

Peanut Butter Buttercream Icing
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 lbs powdered sugar
3-4 Tbsp milk (I used Almond Milk because that is what I had on hand but you can use regular milk too)
Reese's peanut butter cups miniatures
 

Directions:

Cupcakes

Fresh out of the oven :)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pan with liners and set aside.
2. Mix all ingredients except for peanut butter cups until well mixed.
3. Spoon 3 to 4 tablespoons batter in the cupcakes liners Place a frozen peanut butter cup in the batter.
4. Bake for 18-22 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. 
5. Allow to cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.  

Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting
1. Mix butter and peanut butter in a stand mixer.
2. Add the powdered sugar carefully (in small amounts) until well mixed. 
3. Add the milk and vanilla. Be sure that all of the frosting is being mixed. Keep mixing for 5 to 7 minutes until desired frosting consistency. 
4. Use a round tip or star tip in a decorator bag to pip frosting onto cooled cupcakes. Top each cupcake with a mini peanut butter cup. 


Enjoy :)

MIA

So yeah....I've been super busy these last couple weeks with school starting so my extra time has been occupied by sleeping, planning, reading, and Pinteresting :) I am hopefully going to be able to relax a little once I get into the groove of school! So needless to see there really hasn't been much cooking around here or crafting....that is until tonight! Tomorrow is my sisters birthday (WOOT WOOT) and I was given the task of making SWEET TREATS! I have been looking on Pinterest all week trying to figure out what kind of cupcakes to make! I will give you a little sneak peak and share more about them tomorrow when they are finished. I have also been working on a few crafts that I will share as well :)

Homemade Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

As I have said before...ice cream is my weakness! I love it! One of my favorite flavors has to be Mint Chocolate Chip (especially the Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip...mmm)! When I discovered the super easy homemade-no machine ice cream recipe last month, I knew that I absolutely needed to make a mint ice cream. I knew that if I made it on my own, I would most likely end up eating the entire batch by myself! I had the perfect excuse to make it for a little get together last weekend! I also made another batch of my Chocolate, Coffee, Toffee Ice Cream too! I just love how simple the ingredients are and that you don't need any fancy machines!

Homemade Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Whip up Pint of Heavy Cream until stiff peaks. Mix 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract with the can of Sweetened Condensed Milk. Combine the whipped heavy cream and milk mixture together. Add 1 cup mini chocolate chips to the ice cream (you can use more or less chocolate chips/mint depending on how minty or chippy you want your ice cream). Pour the ice cream into a freezer safe bowl and freeze for at least 4 hours or until hardened. 

Enjoy every bite of this delicious ice cream!!!!

Homemade Strawberry (Dairy-Free/No Machine) Ice Cream

I made another dairy free ice cream over the weekend that I thought I would share (share the recipe that is...since I pretty much ate all of it by myself:) ) Like I mentioned before, it is great to keep frozen sliced bananas in the freezer because making this ice cream is a nice treat to have, especially when it has been sooo hot lately!  I am so glad that I stumbled upon this easy way to make dairy free, no machine ice cream. I am loving all of the possible flavor combinations you can make! Hope you enjoy :)

Strawberry (Dairy-Free/No Machine) Ice Cream

I used 3 frozen Bananas and mixed in about 2-3 Tablespoons Pecans, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, 1 teaspoon Cinnamon, and 1/4 cup Coconut Milk in the food processor. After it was a smooth consistency, I transferred the ice cream to a large bowl and add in 4-5 chopped frozen strawberries. I put mine in the freezer for a little bit to harden.  I used coconut flakes as a garnish :)

...We all scream for ICE CREAM

This is round 2 of my ice cream experimentation. After making my super easy creamy ice cream, I wanted to find a Paleo ice cream that was just as easy to make, dairy free, low sugar, and that didn't need a machine. I found a couple of sites with different variations, but these recipes seemed to be the best. The result definitely isn't as rich and creamy as the first ice cream, but it is very refreshing.  Again, there are many "add-ins" and flavors you can experiment with. The frozen bananas are what give it the ice cream consistency. So now I want to start keeping frozen, sliced bananas in the freezer for when I am craving ice cream.  I made a chocolate, almond butter, and toffee ice cream that was delicious! Hope you are enjoying National Ice Cream Month :)

Ingredients: 

 Directions:

I Scream, You Scream.....

Yay for ICE CREAM! I absolutely love ice cream! Just like pizza is one of my weaknesses, so is ice cream. Did you know that July is National Ice Cream Month?  Today just happens to be National Ice Cream Day too (The third Sunday of July). I stumbled upon a recipe that doesn't need an ice cream machine. At first I was a little skeptical and thought that it wouldn't taste anything like "real" ice cream. Not only does it turn out creamy and delicious but it is ridiculously easy to make. The base is just Heavy Cream and Sweetened Condensed Milk and then you can pretty much have any kind of "add-in" that you want. I made a coffee, chocolate, and toffee ice cream. My inspiration came from a coffee, chocolate, sugar grinder I got from Trader Joe's last week. It has bits of coffee beans, chocolate chunks, and sugar crystals.  I've been putting in my coffee, but it would be amazing on cupcakes or ice cream too. I will definitely be trying out different variations of the base recipe. I am also in the process of making another homemade, no machine, dairy free, low sugar ice cream! Stay tuned for that recipe :)

Ingredients:

 Directions:

 1. Whip the cream to stiff peaks

2. Mix in any "add ins" to condensed milk (I used about 3 Tbls coffee, 1/2 cup Heath Bits, 1 Tbls Chocolate Syrup)

3. Combine milk and cream and pour into 2 quart container

4. Freeze until hardened (Swirl Magic Shell, Freeze, and break up shell. I repeated this process 2-3 times for lots of chocolate chunks)

5. Enjoy :)

Strawberry Popsicles

I just love the summer time! It has been ridiculously hot so I needed something to help cool me down. The answer to that was POPSICLES! These were super easy and only needed two ingredients. They are great to have in the freezer for a sweet refreshing treat during these hot summer months! I found another recipe that I am going to try later this week that is more like a fudgesicle!

Ingredients:   

Directions:

1. Remove stems of strawberries and slice in halves or quarters

2. Combine strawberries and coconut milk in blender until smooth

3. Pour mixture into popsicle molds and freeze for at least 4 hours or until frozen

Birthday Brownies

Last week was my dad's birthday and I am usually the one to make the sweet treats in the family. I had been looking for an excuse to experiment with Paleo Sweet Treats so I used my family as guinea pigs for these brownies :)

They turned out really good and extremely rich! You don't even need a big piece to get the yummy chocolatey and nutty flavor! I combined two different recipes from this website.

Brownie Ingredients 

• 16 ounces of walnut butter (take a bag of walnuts and ground in the food processor)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 cup agave nectar or honey
• 1tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 ounces chopped dark chocolate

Sauce Ingredients

• 1/3 cup agave nectar
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease a 8x8 baking pan

2. Mix together walnuts, vanilla, agave, and egg

3. Add baking soda, salt, and cocoa

4. Once the batter is incorporated completely, mix in chopped chocolate

5. Pour batter in greased pan and bake for 30-35 minutes

For the sauce, heat cocoa and agave in a sauce pan and pour over cooled brownies. I also added slivered almonds, which made a nice finishing touch!

Enjoy :)

Coconut Macaroons

I decided to make Coconut Macaroons today because they are a "Paleo Friendly" dessert. Earlier this spring, I made several dozen macaroons for our Passover Family Sedar. I didn't write down the recipe I used though. So I spent a good portion of the afternoon today looking for a recipe (more specifically the recipe!) but didn't have much luck. So...I decided to "wing it" and try to create my own. It definitely wasn't the same as the ones I made earlier this year, but they were still a sweet treat ! I will work on fine-tuning the recipe in the future.

Coconut Macaroons

• 3 cups coconut 
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• lemon zest

Coconut, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
2. Whisk together egg whites and sugar. Add vanilla and almond extract 
3. Mix in coconut and lemon zest. Be sure to coat all of the coconut with the egg mixture.
4. Use a tablespoon scoop to drop coconut mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (makes about 30 cookies)
5. Bake for about 20 minutes or until tops are toasted
6. (optional) Dip in melted chocolate and put in refrigerator to set
7. Enjoy :)

   

   Whisk together egg whites and sugar. Add vanilla and almond extract

   
   

Mix in coconut and lemon zest. Be sure to coat all of the coconut with the egg mixture.

Use a tablespoon scoop to drop coconut mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

Bake for about 20 minutes or until tops are toasted

(optional) Dip in melted chocolate and put in refrigerator to set and most importantly ENJOY :)