Where have I been? Well, the answer is quite simple. I’ve been working. A lot.

I have many passions in life. Some of you know I love to create in the kitchen, eat, and share those recipes with you. I’m passionate about my family and friends and the little dogs. And, I’m pretty passionate about work.

For a few years I worked part time and during that period I learned about my food sensitivities and started The Sensitive Pantry. 

It was a good time for me. My son was in high school and for the first time I was around when he got home from school. I started to decompress from corporate life and found that the old me—the one who was still creative, and funny, and could be calm and thoughtful about so many things—still existed.

I still worked but not as much. Fortunately for me I was able to connect with a company that was growing in a depressed economy. We started working together and one thing lead to another. I am now working within that company and I’m excited to be part of the organization that will help lead them through their continued growth.

It’s a lot of work. A lot. (Oh, yeah, I said that already.)

So, not as much time as I’d like to let the creative juices flow in the kitchen and then onto the blog. I’ve tried but my cooking mojo is just not up to par. And, I promised myself I would not stress about it. 

The plan is this. If I can I will cook up a storm and share it. If not, then I won’t. That simple. No pressure.

So, expect a new recipe from me now and again. 

My love to all of you. I have had so much fun playing in the kitchen and online with you for these past few years. I will come and play with you again when I can!

While I haven’t been here—at The Sensitive Pantry—so often lately I have been out and about with friends and family. In between we’ve been dodging (or not) hurricanes and freak October snowstorms that have left us on two occasions without power for more than 5 days each time.

Yes, life has been clipping along at a fast pace. Even so, the individual events—in snapshot form—hold good memories. Lovely images of friends walking together on the beach, meeting up at the farmers’ market with someone who gets as excited as I do about organic vegetables, and the sounds of generators humming throughout the neighborhood while we chat lazily with the folks next door.

One of the highlights of my fall weekends is coming to a close and I’m feeling blue about it. Most Sunday mornings I grab my shopping bags and head out to one of two local farmers’ markets. Most times I meet up with Stephanie from Gluten-free by Nature (and on occasion Amber from Bluebonnets and Brownies) to stroll about in the perfect weather, gushing over organic broccoli raab and San Marzano tomatoes (sigh), delighting over the fresh fish, checking out the adorable alpaca and catching up on all that’s going on in our separate worlds.

It’s pretty simple—it makes me really happy to spend a few hours this way every week. Really happy. So easy to do. So simple. So nourishing—in so many ways.

Come to find out there’s a winter market about twenty minutes away. Bazinga!

Up next—homemade roasted tomato ketchup from organic San Marzanos!

Red & Blue Herbed Potatoes

One of the organic farmers offers a great selection of potatoes. The red and blue varieties are boldly colored throughout. This quick recipe is as simple as it is beautiful.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you have a convection oven use the Convect Roast setting.

Scrub and dry:

About 8-10 small to medium organic red and blue potatoes

Cut them into equal sized pieces. I cut mine in half long-ways and then in about 3/8 inch strips (again cutting along the long side).

Rinse the potatoes in cold water and dry thoroughly.

(I used a ziploc bag for the next two steps.)

Toss with:

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

Sprinkle and toss to coat with:

2 teaspoons almond flour
2 teaspoons grated pecorino romano cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons mixed dried herbs: thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano
salt and pepper

Place the potatoes in a cast iron frying pan and roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until fork tender.

Makes about 4 servings.

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Link up your farmers’ market recipes!

Stephanie and Amber created some really wonderful dishes from their farmers’ market purchases—a lovely Pumpkin Sage Cake (gluten-free and vegan) from Steph and mouth-watering Kielbasa, Apple and Kale Hash from Amber (naturally gluten-free).

Have any favorites you’d like to share?

Recipes are not restricted to allergen-free recipes. Link sharing available through December 15, 2011.

My new favorite breakfast. And, it’s packed with lots of great stuff.

Three kinds of fruit—blueberries, peaches and pears—quinoa, oats, coconut yogurt or applesauce, almond flour and almond milk. Mix them all together and you’ve got a great hot breakfast boasting a complete protein and lots of fiber, magnesium, and iron.

Plus it’s a cinch to pull together on a busy morning and makes enough for a few day’s worth of warm yummy breakfasts for a couple or a complete breakfast for a growing family.

Imagine this yumminess warm from the oven and topped with a great big dollop of coconut yogurt. Yep, that’s exactly how I like it.

Baked Quinoa Oatmeal

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix in a large bowl:

1 cup quinoa flakes
1 cup almond flour
½ cup gluten-free rolled oats*
½ cup flaked coconut (unsweetened)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of allspice
½ teaspoon salt

Mix in a separate bowl or measuring cup:

¾ cup almond milk
¼ cup coconut yogurt or applesauce
¼ cup maple syrup

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Set aside.

In a deep dish pie plate or 8” square glass baking dish sprinkle:

1 cup blueberries
1 pear, diced into about 1/2 inch cubes
1 peach, diced into about 1/2 inch cubes

Spoon the quinoa mixture over the fruit.  Sprinkle top with about a tablespoon or two of each: quinoa flakes, oatmeal and flaked coconut.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. The top should be golden brown and fruit bubbly. Serve warm topped with coconut yogurt.

Makes about 6-8 servings.

*If you prefer not to use gluten-free oats you can substitute with an equal amount of quinoa flakes.

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Each year, when the weather turns cool, it’s time to keep a lookout for the bright yellow boxes of Mallomars adorning the end of the aisle at your local grocery store. Boxes and boxes of delightful chocolate covered marshmallowy goodness.

And then they’re gone.

That’s because Mallomars are, according to the NY Times, “The Cookie That Comes Out in the Cold”—a seasonal treat popular mostly in the northeastern part of the US. Well, even more specifically the NY metropolitan area.

For three years now I’ve looked longingly at those yellow boxes. And today, folks, I satisfied my desire. Made my own Mallomars. Or, Whippets (Canada) or Schokokuss (Germany). So there.

There’s one thing—besides being gluten-free—that makes these different from their commercial inspiration—the marshmallow has been jazzed up a bit. (Probably should play this up more because it’s kind of unique.) It’s made with a boiled white wine syrup. While it doesn’t lend a bold flavor to the cookie you will pick up a hint of white grape. Subtle but there—and it makes them a bit more special.

As if they needed anything more to make them special.

Mallomars

Graham Cracker Base

Make one batch of gluten-free Grahams—found here. You will want to keep these cookies plain (not fancy—coated with chocolate).

I rolled the cookies out to about 3/16 inches and cut them with a 1 3/4 inch biscuit cutter that had a nice scalloped edge to it. Just a note: the dough is on the soft side so split into thirds and refrigerate it (at least 60 minutes or even overnight). Take out a third at a time to roll out between two pieces of parchment—leave the remaining dough in the fridge. Be sure to flour the bottom layer of parchment before you roll the dough out. Cut your cookies and remove them to a parchment lined cookie sheet with a flour coated metal spatula. Watch your baking time—these might take a little less time since they’re smaller than the original recipe. I would check at 10 minutes. Also, cookies continue to bake when they come out of the oven. You want these just lightly browned. Cool the cookies completely. You do not want them even slightly warm when you pipe the marshmallow onto them.

White Wine Marshmallow

First of all, if you’re not into the whole white wine marshmallow thing no problem. Here’s a very nice recipe for marshmallow made from either maple syrup or agave that will probably work just fine. Also, I bet you could make this with red wine (an inexpensive sweet wine, like Riunite Lambrusco). I will be trying that for sure!

Make a syrup from the wine. Mix together in a medium saucepan:

750 ML bottle of Riunite Bianco*
1/4 cup sugar

The wine will foam when you add the sugar. Be sure you have a big enough saucepan—the wine should only fill it to the halfway point.

Bring the wine to a boil and immediately lower to a simmer. Continue to simmer until reduced to 1/3 original volume. Remove from the heat and cool until just warm.

Mix together in a glass measuring cup or ceramic bowl:

¾ cup wine syrup
¼ cup agave

Sprinkle with

3 one ounce packages unflavored gelatine

Microwave 30 seconds.

Pour the wine mixture into stand mixer with whisk attachment.

Start on low speed to mix and add:

¼ teaspoon salt

Increase the speed to high (you can tent the mixer to avoid spray).

Mix 10-12 minutes until at least double in volume and holding a peak.

Fill a cake decorating bag equipped with a large tip (I actually just used the coupler) with the marshmallow. (If you don’t have a decorating bag you can use a ziploc bag.) Pipe the marshmallow onto each cookie.

*Go with an inexpensive sweet wine like Riunite—my guess is a dry wine isn’t going to be as successful. But, you might try it and prove me wrong.

Chocolate Coating

Melt (using one of these methods):

One 10 ounce bag Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Mix in:

3 tablespoons of melted shortening (measure before you melt)

Assemble

Gently pick up each marshallowy cookie and dip—marshmallow down—into the chocolate up to the cookie. Use a fork to help pull the cookie out of the marshmallow and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Allow to cool. I actually placed the cookies in the freezer for about 15 minutes to set the chocolate better. The chocolate never got quite as hard as a commercial Mallomar.

Makes about two dozen cookies.

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Remember those blueberries my husband and I picked this summer? Well, he had this brainstorm that they’d make a kickin’ hot sauce.

Ya know what? He was right!

I have to hand it to him…I never would have put blueberries and hot peppers together. It totally impressed me.

This recipe came together very quickly—the color is magnificent and the sauce is hot! And my husband uses it on everything. It’s amazing what a hot sauce lover will put the spicy stuff on—sandwiches, potatoes, veggies, you name it.

Me, I’m a lightweight when it comes to the hot stuff.  I’ve tried this one and it’s good. I just don’t think I’ll be putting in on my veggies.

Isn’t the color magnificent?

Blueberry Hot Sauce

Combine in a small pot over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer:

1 cup hot chili peppers*, stem and seeds removed and coarsely chopped
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ cup onions, diced
1 plum tomato, skin removed and diced
8 whole cloves
3/4 cup distilled white vinegar
½ teaspoon kosher salt.
4 teaspoons sugar

Once the mixture begins to bubble, reduce heat to low, cover and continue to simmer until peppers are tender—about 10 minutes.

Take the sauce off the heat and let it cool until it’s at a safe temperature for handling. Pour into a blender and purée.

Pour the sauce into a 2-cup size glass or ceramic bowl and let it sit (with loose paper towel on top) until cool.

The sauce may be used as a thick puree OR strain through a fine sieve or food mill if you prefer it more of a liquid hot sauce.

Keep refrigerated in a sealed jar. Will last up to three months. Makes about 1 ½ cups.

*The heat depends on the heat of the chilies you use. You can always replace some of the chilies with sweet red peppers if you’d like to tone down the heat.

To learn more about the variety and heat of chili peppers visit The Cook’s Thesaurus: Fresh Chile Peppers.

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It’s Labor Day Weekend. The official (but not really) end of summer.

A summer filled with memorable moments—some heartbreaking and some heartwarming.

Earthquakes, hurricanes, 5-day power outages, and monumental personal loss for many of my food blogger friends. Foodbloggers uniting in a way that helped bolster my faith in the goodness and charity of people. Many, many 8-second hugs.

There were many moments to cherish. The kid turned 21 and the beach house was filled with his twenty-something friends enjoying the surf, perfect weather and social scene. My husband and I spent time riding bikes, walking the beach, enjoying the sun and shore breezes.

Local travel took me to the Big Summer Potluck in rural Pennsylvania to spend a very cleansing weekend with friends—now more than just Twitter acquaintances—from across the country. I met up with some GF friends in Virginia and reacquainted myself with college buddies another weekend.

Doing all that and submerging myself in my day job consumed most of my waking minutes. So, needless to say, I neglected this blog and didn’t experiment as much as usual with cooking and baking. Some of the dishes I did come up with never made it here. No time for photos and writing up recipes and thinking about what I might write.

Truth be told I needed to focus on some other things so no regrets. But, I did miss the community that having a blog can bring so I hope to return to sharing recipes—and life—with all of you more regularly now that things are calming down.

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Muffins

I’m enjoying my third season as a Community Supported Garden member. We get bags of freshly harvested organic vegetables every two weeks. It all comes from a spectacular little farm in western New Jersey.

We’ve been getting lots of beets—they’re a little on the small side. This week while the power was out as a result of Hurricane Irene I roasted the little babies on the grill. Scrubbed, wrapped in parchment, and then in foil they were roasted on the side with no flame with the grill cover closed. It took about as long as it takes in the oven—maybe 45-60 minutes. They were sweet and perfect. Some adorned my salad but I used a few for this recipe and was very pleased with how they turned out.

Now for the recipe…

Set the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare the muffin pan with liners. Makes about 12 cupcake-sized muffins.

Make a faux egg (flax gel) by whisking together:

1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
3 tablespoons warm water

In a large mixing bowl whisk together:

1 cup GF multi-blend flour (I tried out King Arthur’s GF Flour Blend)
1 cup blanched almond flour (Honeyville)
1/2 cups organic coconut or cane sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1½  teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules (like Starbucks Via) - optional

In a 2-cup measuring cup whisk together:

½ cup milk (unsweetened almond, hemp or other non-dairy alternative)
¾ cups beet/applesauce puree*
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Faux flax egg prepared earlier
1/3 cup grapeseed or other vegetable oil

Pour about half the wet mixture into the mixed dry ingredients and give it a few turns with a spoon or silicone spatula. Add the rest of the liquid and stir until combined.

Add to the batter and mix in:

½ cup Enjoy Life chocolate mini chips

Spoon into the paper liners filling them about ¾ full. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and enjoy.

*I pureed three smallish roasted beets for this recipe. It did not quite come to ¾ cups of puree so I made up the difference with applesauce. You will probably need 3 or 4 medium sized beets to get ¾ cup of puree.

And, if you want to check out some other beet or muffin recipes try these:

 

Ruby Red Beet Cupcakes from Melissa at Gluten-Free for Good (GF and CF)

Apple Banana Carrot (ABC) Muffins from Shirley at Gluten-Free Easily (GF)

Hearty Maple Cinnamon Muffins from Alisa at Alisa Cooks (GF, CF, EF, and Vegan)

Pink Breakfast Bowl from Ricki at Diet, Dessert and Dogs (GF, CF, EF, Vegan and Sugar-Free)

Carrot Mini Muffins from Lillian at Lillian’s Test Kitchen (GF and CF)

Beet and Orange Salad with Basil Vinaigrette from Alat at Tasty Eats at Home (GF, CF, EF, and Vegan)

Golden Beet, Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad from Tia at Glugle Gluten Free (GF, EF, and CF)

And a recipe that’s not GF yet very interesting and begging for someone to make it GF!:

Asparagus Muffins with Cashew Cream from Cara at Cara’s Cravings (CF, EF, Vegan and Sugar-Free)

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Blueberries! They’re in season from June through August. They’re delicious—succulent blue gems eaten fresh off the bush or incorporated into sweet things like blueberry pancakes, blueberry muffins or blueberry pie. They’re good for you—high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatories (which don’t diminish with freezing). These nutrients translate to improved cognition and cardiovascular health for those of us who love to eat blueberries. My freezer is now full with these little beauties!

This year’s summer vacation was one of those stay-at-home types. You know the kind—lounging, day trips, walking on the beach, spending time with each other and the kid, playing with the dogs. Somewhere mid-week my food meanderings landed me on a journey for local organic blueberries. It didn’t take long to locate Emery’s Organic Blueberry Farm in central New Jersey and convince my husband we needed to find this sweet little place. Right. Now.

My intention was not to drag the hubs out into the blueberry fields—I thought we’d just buy a flat of organic blueberries for me and maybe a pie for him. Once there the head lady in charge of the little market brought us outside and declared it was the best day of the year to pick. Other incoming blueberry pickers echoed her  sentiments and before we knew it we were riding in the back of a tractor on the road to harvesting fresh organic blueberries.

It was a spectacular day…sunny, breezy, warm. In no time we’d wandered well into the fields of bushes laden with berries in shades of muted lime green, light blue and that bruised dark purple color that signifies a ripe sweet blueberry. A gentle shake of each clump and ripe berries just fell into our buckets.

Voices of parents locating kids, women discussing the sizes and colors of the berries, and a mom expertly teaching her daughter how to pick the best berries wafted around us as we picked.

While we enjoyed the earthiness of the day we most definitely let our Type A personalities shine through. Everyone else jumped onto the tractor with a few quarts of blueberries. Not us—we had 20 pounds of the little beauties spilling over the tops of our buckets! OK by me. We’ll have organic blueberries tucked away in the freezer for use all fall and winter long.

So, on to blueberry pie. This is the first pie I’ve made since becoming gluten-free. Never really much of a piecrust maker in my previous life the blueberries demanded I try my hand at it—blueberry pie was begging to be  part of my kitchen this weekend. While the piecrust was not the stunning success I’d hoped for—the dough was very tender and wound up being more of a pressed-in affair than a tradtional rolled out crust—the pie turned out spectacular. Cutting the dough into star shapes for the top prettied it up a bit but the winning success was the taste and texture—bursts of sweet berry and a hint of delicate lemon thyme crust. Yep. That’s what I’m talking about.

Fresh Blueberry Pie with Lemon Thyme Crust

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Crust

In a medium bowl whisk together:

1 ¼ cups Authentic Foods Multi Blend gluten free flour
1 cup Honeyville blanched almond flour
1 tablespoon organic cane sugar
½ teaspoon salt

Mix in:

1 teaspoon minced lemon thyme
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Cut into small chunks and mix in with a pastry knife (or two forks) until largest pieces are a bit smaller than a pea:

8 tablespoons (one stick) Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks

Add in the liquids, one tablespoon at a time, mixing between each until all dry ingredients are incorporated and the dough can be gathered into a ball:

1 tablespoon cold lemon juice
5-6 tablespoons cold water (use only as much as is needed to form the dough)

Divide into two balls (one a little larger than the other), place back in the bowl and refrigerate for a least an hour.

Now for the tricky part—managing the dough. Because the dough is tender it’s not hard to roll out but getting it into the pie plate without crumbling is another story. (Next time I may choose to skip the rolling out the dough and instead press it evenly into the pie plate.)

Cut two pieces of parchment paper each about 16 to 18 inches long. Place one down, flour it lightly and place the larger of the two dough balls on top. Sprinkle the dough ball with more flour, lightly coating the entire piece, and place the second sheet of parchment on top.

Working quickly, gently roll out the dough between the two pieces of parchment until it’s about an 1/8 inch thick.  Remove the top piece of parchment, lightly flour the dough and gently spread it across the entire surface with your hands. Gently fold the crust in half using the end of the parchment paper to lift the dough over on itself. Repeat to fold into quarters. Lift the parchment up with the quartered dough and invert it over onto the pie plate with the point in the center of the plate. Remove the parchment and unfold the dough. If the dough breaks don’t be concerned…it presses together nicely with a little pressure.

Place the piecrust in the preheated oven for about 6-8 minutes—it will not be browned.

Roll out the second ball using the parchment method and cut out shapes using small decorative cookie cutters. These will be used to top the cake. (Place these back in the fridge until you’re ready to use.)

Filling

Clean, rinse and place in a large bowl:

6 cups fresh or frozen organic blueberries

Mix together in a separate bowl:

2/3 cup organic cane sugar
6 tablespoons tapioca flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Gently toss the blueberries with the sugar mixture until well combined.

Place the blueberries is the partially cooked piecrust, top with the decorative piecrust shapes you cut out earlier, and sprinkle with a tablespoon of organic cane sugar.

Cover just the edges of the pie crust with strips of foil to avoid overbrowning of that area. Pop in the oven for 35-40 minutes until the berries are tender. Check halfway through to make sure the decorative pieces aren’t overbrowning—if they are you can tent the pie with a piece of foil.

Here’s a great pie crust making tutorial to check out if you’ve never made one before: All Recipes’ Making a Pie Crust, Step by Step.

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Feast your eyes on some other delicious blueberry recipes:

 

Roasted Beets with Blueberry Almond Reduction from AndreAnna at Life as a Plate

Rhubarb Blueberry Sherbet from Melissa at Gluten-Free for Good

Lemon Blueberry Muffins from Sea at Book of Yum

Blueberry Banana Buckle from Shirley at GFE

Summertime. It’s all about relaxing, having fun, sipping cold drinks. It’s also about quick and simple. You can have all that in one glass of thick and fruity smoothie perfection. OK, maybe two glasses.

While sipping a peach blueberry coconut water smoothie I wondered about the history of smoothies. A few Google searches later and visions of long haired, bell bottomed macrobiotic vegetarians sipping fruity drinks back in the 60s surfaced. Going back a bit further…smoothies appear in the 20s when a man by the name of Julius whipped up an orange milkshake called the Orange Julius. Remember those?

Smoothies are no passing fad. They’re here to stay in all colors and flavors. Anybody want to join me in a resounding Woohoo!

This summer I’ve simplified my smoothie making. It’s a matter of necessity since it’s an on-the-go kind of time for me. Here’s a simple formula that seems to be working just fine.

Simple Summer Smoothies

To make one smoothie mix up these ingredients using a stick or regular blender or one of these cool compact smoothie blenders:

3/4 to 1 cup of liquid: coconut water, almond milk, hemp milk, or orange juice
1/2 cup each of two other kinds of fruit: berries, mangos, cherries or peaches (preferably frozen)
1/2 banana

That’s it.

Unless you want to get just a little creative. Then just add some of these:

Yogurt
Hemp protein
Flax
Cocoa powder
Kale
Ice cubes

Just keeping it simple. And cool.

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I’m always interested in the health benefits of food. Having no formal education in nutrition I’m reliant upon online resources for information about whether ingredients are part of the “good” list—or the “bad” list.

But, wow, the information can be so confusing! Good fats. Bad fats. How foods are processed. What’s added to them. How much does the processing of any food diminish it’s nutritional value? When are the nutrients good for you and when aren’t they—is it possible you can consume too much of a good thing? And, then does it become a bad thing?

You know what I mean.

Yeah, you guessed it. I love coconut and wanted to understand and share its health benefits with you. In reading a little here and a little there I learned coconut milk, coconut meat, and coconut water vary in their nutrition profiles. Even more so when they are fresh vs. processed (as is usually true).

• Coconut contains lauric acid, which is anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-microbial and anti-fungal. Good!
• It provides essential minerals like magnesium, selenium, phosphorus, and potassium which helps to relax muscles, minimize inflammation, strengthen bones and lower blood pressure. Good!
• It’s high in Vitamin C. Good!
• Coconut is high in fiber. Good!
• Coconut milk in it’s fresh form is much more nutritious than canned coconut milk. And, fresh coconut water seems to be the best of the best. Hmmm. Good, but only if you get fresh coconuts to extract your own water and milk. Canned coconut milk still has many of the vitamins and minerals of fresh coconut milk but at a fraction of it’s fresh sibling.
• Coconut products are high in saturated fats which is cause for concern because of its effect on heart health. However, there are mixed camps on this since some data suggests because the fat in coconut is a medium-chain fatty acid it’s metabolized differently and doesn’t have the same harmful effects on our bodies as foods with long-chain fatty acids (found in meats and dairy products). Good or bad?

Many sites will sing the praises of coconut—from it’s ability to make your hair shine to improving your immune system. Certainly some of this must be accurate and true.

For certain I know this is true—I love coconut. Always have. Always will. And, thank goodness because it makes great non-dairy ice cream!

The coconutty flavor in Mounds of Coconut Ice Cream is boosted by the inclusion of organic creamed coconut and unsweetened shredded coconut which creates a creamy and chewy texture. This ice cream would be absolutely perfect frozen into bars. That’s what I’m going to do next time I make it.

Mounds of Coconut Ice Cream

Mix together in a large glass measuring cup (4 cup size or bigger) or ceramic bowl:

1 package (7 oz.) Let’s Do Organic Creamed Coconut, broken into pieces
1 cup hot water

Cover and let the coconut and water sit for about 15 minutes until the coconut begins to dissolve.

Add in and mix together with a stick blender:

Cream from the top of one can of coconut milk (use full fat coconut milk; do not shake the can; retain the coconut water on the bottom of the can for another use)
4 tablespoons agave nectar (more or less to your preference)
¼ teaspoon sea salt

Place in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight until really cold – I actually placed the mixture into the freezer for about an hour and a half. Worked perfectly.

Mix in with the stick blender until the coconut mixture is just a little chunky:

2 cups flaked unsweetened coconut

Freeze according to your ice cream maker instructions.

While your ice cream is freezing it’s time to melt the chocolate.

Place in a microwavable bowl and heat in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until melted (total time about a minute; if more time is needed reduce the time of the intervals making sure to stir between each):

½ cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Scoop half the coconut ice cream into a container and then drizzle half the melted chocolate over top. Repeat. Store in the freezer.

Coconut milk ice cream usually needs to thaw a bit before it can be scooped out easily.

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Prior to making this Raw Rustic Nutella I wasn’t much of a nutella fan. I know. I know. The world is having a love affair with nutella and I’ve been on the outside looking in. I just didn’t get it….at first.

Then my foray into the raw foods world ignited a desire to experiment. Even if going raw is not for you it does makes sense to add more raw foods to your diets where possible. Raw foods are just that much more packed with nutrients.

So, experimentation commenced and raw nutella was born. Why Raw Rustic Nutella? Well, it isn’t the super creamy version. It’s almost fudge-like at room temperature. Not to worry…it’s flavor is superb.

This recipe is ridiculously simple and quick. Smear it on toasted GF bread, or to keep it really raw, an apple or celery. Eat it by the spoonful if you want!

Raw Rustic Nutella

Place in the bowl of a food processor (or a high speed blender such as a Vitamix or Blendtec):

1 ½ cups raw hazelnuts

Process until the nuts are ground into fine flour. The finer the flour at this stage the smoother the nut butter will be. My food processor did not get the flour as fine as I would have liked but it didn’t seem to hamper the result.

Add and mix in thoroughly, taking the top off the processor and scraping the sides from time to time:

½ teaspoon cinnamon
a pinch each of nutmeg, allspice and cloves
¼ cup raw cacao powder

Replace the top and turn on the food processor mixing until all the ingredients are combined and cacao butter is pulverized.

Scrape down the sides, replace the lid and while the processor is running add the following until the nut butter is formed:

4 tablespoons raw cacao butter (melted)*
2 tablespoons raw coconut oil (melted)*
3 tablespoons raw honey or agave

Place in an airtight glass container and store in the fridge for future use.

Best when served at room temperature.

Substitutes

If you don’t have some of the raw ingredients called for you can use more available ingredients.

Instead of …

…raw nuts use blanched or lightly roasted (unsalted) nuts.

…raw cacao powder use cacao nibs or dutched cocoa powder.

…raw cacao butter use coconut oil. (Based on a comment below add less & add slowly until it reaches the desired consistency.)

…raw honey use agave nectar.

…raw hazelnuts try raw cashews (or a mix of both kinds of nuts) for a different spin on an old favorite.

*How to “melt” raw coconut oil—or raw cacao butter.

Place the amount of coconut oil (or cacao butter) you wish to “melt” in a small glass bowl.

(If you’re melting cacao butter grate or finely chop it. I used a standard cheese grater for this purpose.)

Pour hot tap water (about 100-105 degrees) into a shallow pan and place the bowl holding coconut oil—or grated cacao butter—in it being careful not to allow the water to spill into the bowl holding the coconut oil. Gently stir the coconut oil until it has become liquid.

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