I’ve been making Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies since 1987. This is the first year, however, I’ve made a gluten free version! I’m so happy that it worked out, because these cookies have become part of our family’s holiday traditions.
I invented the original recipe based on a cookie purchased at Smith’s grocery store. (I don’t even know if the store still exists!) The original cookie was a pumpkin “cake” cookie with the chocolate chips. It was good, but not great. It had a lot of salt and baking soda in it. Because DH and I liked them so much, I experimented until I had a healthier, yummier version. The wheat version of these has been extremely popular with family and friends.
Traditional Black Forest Cake is made in layers of chocolate cake with whipped cream and cherries between each layer. While this version certainly isn’t traditional, it does pay tribute to the basic concept. It also contains much healthier ingredients.
I was originally going to add just beet pulp. I juiced 3 medium beets, which was all I had on hand, and it didn’t make enough pulp, so I added in the carrot pulp to get a full cup. I’m glad I did because the beet pulp had a very earthy flavor. I think a full cup would have been too much.
I’m working on raw treats right now!
In particular, I’m looking at various cake ideas. I found a recipe for Hummingbird Cake on the internet. Although my version deviated from the original, it’s still based in the tropical flavors, and it’s really yummy!
It uses the same concepts as my Raw Carrot Cake, the mix is made, then it’s pressed into a mold to make “squares”. I used my favorite mold for this type of treat, the Wilton silicone brownie mold. It works great for me, and makes bite size treats that are great for dessert, box lunches and snacks.
Last Saturday, DH had his first raw chocolate adventure. He made this:
I call it Raw Chocolate Bliss, because when I eat it, it makes me feel so HAPPY! It is a combination of raw cacao paste, raw cacao butter, vanilla powder, pure maple syrup, coconut nectar, walnuts and hemp seeds.
Many commercial chocolates give me a residual head ache. They also make me feel over-caffinated. Raw chocolate doesn’t have this effect, and it’s actually healthy!
Along with the waffles, which I posted the recipe for yesterday, we had an Orange-Blueberry Sauce which I made the night before.
This is a great sauce to serve on waffles and pancakes. It also works well on top of raw cheesecake and ice cream!
It’s not difficult to make, you just have to be patient enough to allow the liquid to reduce and thicken.
Conclusion This is yummy stuff! I had some left over, so I’ll probably make ice cream in the near future!
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. A while back, I got this cookie cutter.
It’s the Fred and Friends Gingerdead Men Cookie Cutter/Stamps , and it’s under 7 bucks on Amazon! F&F has all kinds of fun and funny gadgets that will make you smile, some for the kitchen, some for entertaining, and many for around the house.
I knew I wanted to make a chocolate pumpkin cookie dough for these. I figured it would be nice and dark, showing off the frosting well.
Note: Starting today, I’m trying out a new recipe format. I hope that you find this new method useful. It should allow you to use various programs and apps, such as Paprika, to capture the recipes without having to cut and paste. Let me know on the ScrapDeli Facebook page if you like it, or would prefer the old method!_
Pumpkin combined with a bit of chocolate is one of my favorite flavor combinations. Add in a little maple syrup and some chopped pecans and I’m doing the happy dance. Turn it all into ice cream and I’m headed over the moon!
You don’t have to make just savory tamales… You can also make sweet, dessert versions! The masa can be corn, chick pea, or whatever else you can dream up and stuffed with all kinds of fresh or dried fruits and nuts.
When I was in Santa Fe during Christmas Week one year, someone told me about their particular family’s tradition of adding some brown sugar and cinnamon to the corn masa and stuffing them with a mixture of Granny Smith apples, raisins, butter and more brown sugar. I could see by the dreamy look in her eyes that these were a strong happy memory of the holiday season for her.
On Tuesday, MIL came over for dinner. She is a dessert-a-holic, so I always try to make something special for after the meal when she is here.
On the other hand, dinner was running late due to unforeseen circumstances, so I didn’t have time to make this as an ice cream. Instead I simplified the recipe, and turned the concept into a milk shake!
Happily for everyone, it turned out great!
I’m sorry, there really aren’t any measurements. I was so excited to try out the new Vitamix that I didn’t write anything down.
Banana Pear Smoothie Servings
2
Equipment Required Vitamix Ingredients 2 bananas, frozen 1 Asian pear, cut in quarters, stem and seeds removed ice water Ocean Spray 100% Juice Cranberry Raspberry
Note: The subtitle for this one should be “Why I need a Vitamix! ”
The combination of chocolate and raspberry is one of my all-time favorites. I love the sweet, tartness raspberries add to the chocolate. This is a dark, rich chocolate ganache, combined with a cranberry/raspberry juice, done vegan. Instead of the dairy cream used in a traditional ganache, we’re using cashew creme.
The crust is the Basic Nut Crust recipe that I published yesterday.
This is a basic, no bake, nut and grain crust for no bake pies. It’s easy to make, and easy to alter depending on the flavors you like and any allergies you may have.
Here’s the setup for the one I’m making today.
Equipment Food Processor
9-inch pie plate
Ingredients See the recipe below for the ingredients.
Method Put the dates and the almonds in the food processor.
Pulse a couple of times to begin chopping them up.
Note: This is a long, image heavy post. Since it is the first ice cream recipe I’ve posted, I wanted to make sure you have step-by-step images of the whole process.
I love ice cream! Before I changed my eating habits, my favorite was Bryer’s All Natural Mint Chip. Now that I no longer eat dairy products, I wanted to make an ice cream that had the same texture and flavor, but it had to be healthy. Here is what works for me, along with notes on how to adjust your version to suit your taste.
I love carrot cake! I used to always ask for it on my birthday and special occasions. I wanted to capture the same flavors, but in a healthier version. This is a vegan, raw carrot cake.
You will be starting with the cake bites in the mold.
Place a silicone cutting board over the mold. Turn everything over and tap on counter a couple of times. Squares should fall out of the mold. Lift up the mold carefully. These are delicate. If they come apart, you can use a couple of small spatulas to reform them.
Carrot Cake Frosting Ingredients 1-1⁄2 c cashews, raw 1⁄2 c water, as needed 1 teaspoon baker's stevia (measures like sugar) 2 tablespoons lemon juice (about how much you should get out of one lemon) 1 tablespoon coconut nectar (or agave syrup) 1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla
This cheese cake was a total “invention” from start to finish… and it was a total success! I wanted to make a no-bake cheesecake, and use chia to thicken it. I made it in a mini pie pan (in case it was a disaster) and it’s a good thing I didn’t make it bigger… we probably would have eaten the whole thing. It was THAT good!
Cheesecake Ingredients 1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh squeezed
A basic graham cracker pie crust.
Graham Cracker Crust Ingredients 1⁄4 cup graham cracker crumbs (gluten free) 1⁄2 teaspoon golden flax meal 1⁄8 cup almond meal 1 pinch cinnamon 2 teaspoons macadamia nut oil Directions Put the dry ingredients in a mini food processor. Pulse a few times to make coarse crumbs. Then add the first teaspoon of oil. Pulse some more to mix, then test. If the mixture will hold together when you press it with a spoon, it’s done. If it won’t form up, add another teaspoon of oil.