Sunday, June 25, 2017

Almond Flour Blueberry Lemon Scones - Grain Free


These are a treat any time of the day, but I love starting the day with a fresh scone.  I am learning that when baking with almond flour, things are best eaten fresh - right out of the oven.  These are literally bursting with lemon and blueberry.  The texture is a little different, but the flavor is unmistakably summer at its best!  Enjoy.


Almond Flour Blueberry Lemon Scones
adapted from The Nourishing Home

2 3/4 c. almond flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. sea salt or pink Himalayan salt
2 T. cold unsalted butter
2 eggs
2 T. full fat coconut milk
1 T.. lemon zest
2 t. fresh lemon juice
1 T. raw clover honey
1/3 c. dried blueberries

Combine the almond flour, baking soda and salt in a food processor.  Pulse in the cold butter until the butter resembles pea-sized.  Use a pastry cutter as an alternative to a food processor.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, lemon zest, lemon juice and honey until well mixed. Using a spoon, stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend until thoroughly combined.  Fold in the dried blueberries.  Place the dough in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to chill.

While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.  Sprinkle the counter or work surface with a handful of almond flour.  Melt 1 t. of butter or coconut oil to brush on top of the scones.  Set aside.

Once the dough is chilled,  shape it into a ball and place it on the floured surface.  Shape the dough into a 6" square - it should be about an inch thick.  Cut the dough in half twice to form 4 small squares.  Then cut each dough square in half diagonally to form 8 small triangles.

Carefully place each triangle (scone) onto the prepared cookie sheet.  Brush the tops of the scones with the melted butter or coconut oil.  If desired, sprinkle the tops with a little coconut or maple sugar.

Bake about 16-18 minutes or until the scones are slightly golden along the edges.  Serve warm and enjoy.



The dried blueberries plump up perfectly and add great flavor.


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Wednesday, June 21, 2017

A Special Wedding....






This past weekend, my family traveled to Fresno where my daughter and granddaughters live.  It is not my favorite place to travel as it is a long car ride on a good day (about 5 hours).  And in the summer, it is hot.  Fresno did not disappoint when it comes to summer weather..  It was in the 90s when we drove in and 102 on Saturday - ugh.  People tend to say that dry heat isn't as bad, but let's face it - HOT is HOT!!

But enough of that - once settled in, we were able to enjoy some family time. I loved having extra time with my two boys (who are really adults!), my DIL and my adorable grandson. He entertained all of  us with his dancing and chattering and toddler antics the whole time.  It was great fun.

Saturday was the day of the wedding and all went well. I don't think I have ever seen my daughter happier, and I hope that stays with her the rest of her life. Her daughters love her new husband, and his daughters love Missy.  Seems to be a beautiful blended family.  What more could I hope for - right?

Her colors were gray with purple accents, so I used that inspiration to design her wedding card.  I wanted it to be simple and elegant and think I achieved that.  I used a beautiful image from Power Poppy ( LOVE her floral designs) and foiled it in purple. The foiling is so difficult to capture, but hopefully with the different angles you can see how pretty it was. I was thrilled to see how all of the detail was enhanced by the foil.


A perfect example of how difficult it is to capture the color and shimmer
of the foil.  But also a good way to see the detail of the digi image.
It is beautiful in its simplicity.


A little better capture of the foiling.  Now you can see why I love it.
It just brought the image to life.


The sentiment is from Anna Griffin, stamped on Gina K Heat Resistant acetate 
and heat embossed.

I wish them a very HAPPY life.....




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Monday, June 12, 2017

Almond Flour Pizza Dough on the Grill!

Making grain free pizza just got easier with the Simple Mills Pizza Crust Mix.  I have several of their mixes in my pantry and this is the first one I have tried and I am so glad I did. It was excellent.






This is the dough before it is baked on the grill (or in the oven).


The box makes 2 - eight inch pizzas.  I followed the package directions and parbaked them first on the grill at about 350, then added the toppings and baked for close to 15 minutes as they were a bit heavy on the toppings (I seem to get a bit carried away when it comes to adorning my pizza!! :)

I had two sets of toppings for these 8 inch wonders.  The first was pizza sauce (just a little - I don't like a lot of sauce!), parmesan cheese, sauteed sliced red pepers, mozzarella cheese.  After baking I added a little more parmesan along with chopped fresh basil.


Roasted red pepper and cheese pizza

The second one had pizza sauce, uncured natural pepperoni slices, mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.  So simple and so delicious.


Pepperonii and cheese pizza

No "grain-free" or "gluten-free" crust is going to taste as wonderful as "regular" gluten flour bread pizza crusts, but this was actually a better than expected alternative.  The toppings were so good that the "different" crust didn't matter as much - and it was honestly tasty.

I will continue my experimentation, but it's nice to know I have something reliable to fall back on as needed when that pizza craving hits! Pin It Now!

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Blueberry Lemon Muffins - Grain Free



This is the time of year that I seem to be stuck on all things lemon, blueberry, zucchini etc - and this post will be no different.  I am chuckling to myself as I share this recipe, knowing that I currently have two pints of beautiful blueberries waiting to be baked into a new concoction. And who knows - I may just eat them as is or roast them with some fresh strawberries.  Yep - that's it!  With Memorial Day weekend around the corner, roasting the berries will be the perfect treat to spoon over homemade strawberry "coconut" ice cream.  Yum!  The ice cream is already in the freezer so the hard part is done!  Recipes to follow soon - once I get it all made and take some photos..... :)

But back to the task at hand - these delicious muffins.  And they truly are just that - DELICIOUS!

And let me just add, I love this cookbook, especially because the quantities are given in regular measurements and grams. With the different and sometimes challenging textures of almond and coconut flours, using a gram measurement makes me feel much more confident in my final result.  I will share both measurements, but I strongly suggest you use the gram measurement, especially for the dry ingredients. It is SO easy and much more accurate.  End of lecture! :)


Looks so simple and unassuming from the outside.... 
but inside it hides so much goodness!

Blueberry Lemon Muffins
adapted from Every Last Crumb by Brittany Angell

180 g.(1 1/2 c.) finely milled almond flour
132 g.(3/4 c.) sweet potato flour (can sub with potato flour, but the sweet potato contains a resistant starch that is better for the body)
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. sea salt
174 g. (about 1 1/2 c plus 1 1/2 T.) of maple or coconut sugar - I used both for added flavor so 87 g. maple sugar and 87 g. coconut sugar
60 g. (about 1/3 c.) melted coconut oil (melt first and then measure)
4 eggs
grated zest of 1 lemon (2 T.)
1 T. vanilla extract
1 t. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350.  Line a muffin pan with parchment liners.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, sweet potato flour, baking powder and salt and whisk until well blended.  Add the remaining ingredients (except the blueberries)  and stir well to combine.

Gently fold in the blueberries.

Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes clean.




Cool on a wire rack.  They will keep in a sealed container on the counter for 1-2 days, or place in the refrigerator for a few days or the freezer for longer storage.

These were a hit with all of the neighbors!



Look at that blueberry vein running through the center of the muffin - 
Blueberry Gold!


And this is just sheer blueberry overload!
Fruit indulgence is NEVER a bad thing.  So good!

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