As usual, I have some food pics for you as well as a couple sweet recipes I experimented with yesterday. Whenever I do experimental baking, I feel like it NEVER turns out perfect (as least not first time!) It usually either looks perfect but has some flaw, like it's too dry or too crumbly. Or, it looks like a mess but tastes perfect! I usually post the recipe either way. What can I say? I'm not a perfect blogger! I like to keep it real. And whenever I do post a recipe that might need some tweaking to make it just right, I always say so.
Before we get to those recipes, here are some recent meals of mine.
Chocolate Chip Breakfast Pizza inspired by Katie.
I used coconut flour and Pamela's Gluten-Free Baking Mix. I added banana, coconut oil, coconut butter, coconut milk and chocolate chips to make it super tasty. I thought it looked beautiful and perfect in the pan but when I cut it up and put it on my plate, I found that it was super mushy and fell apart. I think this has happened to me before!
Regardless of the shloppy mess, it tasted amazing, especially with almond butter and a little drizzle of maple syrup.
More food:
I borrowed this recipe from Sabine. It is her post workout recovery pudding which is SO delicious and filling. I basically followed the recipe but cut it in half. And I had to add a little water to get it to blend well.
Huge salads are always a big part of my day :-) This next salad has a new element in it that has never been seen before on my blog. I don't want to freak anyone out or offend any vegetarians or vegans, but I got down on some meat the other night! I typically avoid meat with the exception of fish (I LOVE sushi!) but every once in a while, I get a craving for meat that comes out of nowhere and has no explanation. Instead of judging myself or making up excuses, I give in to my body's request. Like I said, I like to keep it real! I just always make sure I'm eating the best quality meat I can find! (Local, organic, grass-fed, etc.) And I send a little prayer of gratitude to the animal who has become part of my nourishment. Woody picked up some sun-dried tomato chicken sausages the other day. And for some reason, I WANTED one. So I put it on my salad :-)
I'm not gonna lie. It was really delicious. My body must have really needed it! Now I probably won't eat meat again for another year. That's just what happens!
Ok, now onto the experimental baking pics and recipes! This first recipe comes from La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer. I want to post the original recipe because that's what I recommend following if you make these. I am never able to just follow a recipe straight up. I always find myself tweaking something here or substituting something there, which is probably why my recipes never come out perfect!
Here is the original recipe:
Cinnamon Doughnut Holes
Doughnuts:
- 1 1/3 cups flour
- 1 cup crispy brown rice cereal, coarsely crushed.
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
- 1/2 cup "milk"
Coating:
- 1/4 cup vegan margarine, melted
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. For the coating, melt the margarine in a small saucepan. Once melted, pour into a small bowl and set aside. Then, stir together the cinnamon and sugar in a separate bowl and set aside. For the doughnuts, whisk together the flour, cereal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in "milk" until well blended and start rolling the dough into 1-inch balls. Dip each ball in the melted margarine and then coat with the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Place them in a lightly oiled 8x8-inch baking pan so the balls are touching once another and bake for 16-18 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool before removing from pan. Makes 20-24 doughnut holes.
I have no idea how these are supposed to come out looking but mine looked like this.
This is the adapted version that I made:
Doughnuts:
- 1 1/3 cups crispy brown rice cereal (gluten-free)
- 1 cup Pamela's Gluten-Free Baking Mix
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
Coating:
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cup maple syup
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Melt the coconut oil for the coating and set aside. For the doughnuts, whisk together the cereal, flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the coconut oil and mix together until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Then pour in the milk and maple syrup and mix until well blended. For the coating, pour the melted coconut oil into a blender with the maple syrup and and cinnamon. Blend until well combined and then pour into a small dish. Start rolling the dough into bite sized balls and then completely coat with the coconut, maple, cinnamon topping. Place the balls in a lightly oiled pan so that they are touching. I baked them for 15 minutes and ended up with 19 doughnut holes.
I'm sure the original recipe comes out looking much prettier than mine did, but they are seriously SO SO good. So light and full of flavor. I had a few friends over last night and everyone who tried these got all wide eyed and was like, WOAH! :-)
The next recipe I have for you is for Chocolate Covered Cookie Dough Balls. I found the recipe here. But I changed quite a few things. Here is the adapted recipe.
- 1 cup Pamela's Gluten-Free Baking Mix
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips + extra for covering the dough balls.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the baking mix and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the coconut milk, coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and mix well. Fold in the chocolate chips. Then place the dough in the refrigerator for an hour to chill. After that, you can take the dough out and form it into bite sized dough balls. Then place the balls back in the refrigerator to chill for two more hours. Once the two hours are up, you are ready to cover your dough balls in chocolate. Melt about a cup of chocolate chips in a double boiler on the stove. Completely cover each dough ball with the melted chocolate and then place in the refrigerator for another hour to chill. I actually found that my dough was a little too soft and did better in the freezer. Which turned out awesome, actually because as my friend put it, "MMMM, it's kind of like coconut bliss but, cookie dough!" Coconut bliss cookie dough??? Yummmm.
So, here they are. Another sloppy looking recipe that tastes amazing!
Ok, I think that about covers it for now! I hope you all are smiling warmly in your hearts, feeling joy and gratitude and that you have a beautiful, blessed Sunday! Much love and light <3
