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Holiday Snickerdoodles – Grain Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free

Holiday Snickerdoodles – Grain Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free

Dec 23, 2021 | Uncategorized

Cookies like Ginger Snaps or Snickerdoodles are a holiday tradition! This version lets anyone enjoy and participate with replacements for gluten, dairy products, and processed sugar. Choose soft and chewy with a shorter bake time, or make these more like a crisp ginger snap with a longer bake time.

I chose a flour blend in this case for a young client who was moving out of a food sensitivity for almond. We were slowly reintroducing almond sources while restoring gut biome and health. The blend of grain free flours with some almond flour helped make it a success, and the texture was perfect! You can also make this recipe using only almond flour for the full amount as shown here, if you want strict SCD, GAPS or Paleo compliance. And if almond butter doesn’t work, try sunflower butter or any other safe nut or seed butter. Sunflower butter is quite bitter when unsweetened, so consider adding a dash of stevia (either in glycerite drops or powder) if you would like to improve the flavor without affecting texture.

Holiday Snickerdoodles - Grain Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free
Print Recipe
A perfectly spiced holiday cookie that works for most any elimination diet or food sensitivity. For SCD, GAPS or Paleo compliance, use only almond flour for the full 1 and 1/4 cups. Option to add colorful sprinkles to cookies just prior to bake, or stir in chocolate chips or chopped nuts too!
Servings Prep Time
20 cookies 15 minutes
Passive Time
8-12 minutes
Servings Prep Time
20 cookies 15 minutes
Passive Time
8-12 minutes
Holiday Snickerdoodles - Grain Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free
Print Recipe
A perfectly spiced holiday cookie that works for most any elimination diet or food sensitivity. For SCD, GAPS or Paleo compliance, use only almond flour for the full 1 and 1/4 cups. Option to add colorful sprinkles to cookies just prior to bake, or stir in chocolate chips or chopped nuts too!
Servings Prep Time
20 cookies 15 minutes
Passive Time
8-12 minutes
Servings Prep Time
20 cookies 15 minutes
Passive Time
8-12 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: cookies
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease two medium or one large baking sheets, line with parchment paper, and set aside.
  2. Combine flours, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium sized mixing bowl.
  3. In a smaller bowl, use a sturdy wooden spoon to stir almond butter, honey, and vanilla extract. It will be stiff. Add almond milk as needed to make this whip smoothly into an even, thick liquid texture.
  4. Mix wet ingredients into the dry and stir thoroughly to evenly combine. The dough will be very sticky.
  5. Grease your palms with a small amount of coconut oil. Scoop spoonfuls of batter into your palms to make ~1" size balls. Place these about 2" apart on the cookie sheet. The coconut oil on your palms makes this task go more smoothly and gives the cookies a nice texture, add more to your palms as needed.
  6. Bake time varies. For a soft chewy cookie, try an 8-10 minute bake time. For a crisp snap cookie, bake 12-15 minutes. Either way, bake until cookies begin to firm up on the outside.
  7. Allow to cool for a few minutes on baking sheet before moving to a wire rack or serving plate. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes

For SCD, GAPS or Paleo compliance, use only almond flour for the full 1 and 1/4 cups. Option to add colorful sprinkles to cookies just prior to bake, or stir in chocolate chips or chopped nuts too!

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Honey Buttercream Frosting

Honey Buttercream Frosting

Nov 21, 2017 | Uncategorized

When I was little, I hated cake. I only ate the frosting.

My mom always made her own frosting. The canned stuff wasn’t around yet, and when it was, she was too thrifty to buy it. You could say I’m sort of a frosting snob. It should be really good, as good as the cake (which I now like, a lot); it has to make or enhance the cake. Cheap store bought frostings and cakes have a lot of weird fat in them, along with GMO corn syrup, or other odd ingredients (propylene glycol, GMO canola or corn oil, fake colors, preservatives) that make it taste as artificial as it is.

Real frosting is basically good butter (organic grass fed) and powdered sugar (made with organic non GMO tapioca starch), with smatterings of flavorings or liquid (cream, coffee, brandy, coconut milk, almond milk, etc). There is so much powdered sugar in it that when you make it, the butter absorbs tons of it somehow and you end up with a smaller amount of frosting than total ingredients that you began with. So when I was needing to make a birthday cake recently with zero sugar in it, that was also gluten and dairy free, I was a little lost.

This cake could have no cane sugar in it at all. For kids with SIFO or SIBO, who struggle to manage any sweet carbs at all, you may be able to get away with a small amount of coconut sugar at birthday time. Coconut sugar works well enough in the cake itself as a cup for cup substitution, if you don’t mind a more brown-sugar or caramel slant on the flavor. But that wouldn’t fly for the frosting, because coconut sugar is grainy, just like regular granulated sugar.

The only recipes I could find for “sugar free frosting” were just frosting made with artificial sweeteners. No thanks.

So I worked up this compromise using honey from our own hive, and much less powdered sugar than frosting recipes usually call for: One quarter cup, versus 2 cups, in most recipes. Unflavored grass fed collagen and tapioca flour stand in to give the frosting structure and spreadability. It worked and was delicious.

I have also made a lemon version of this frosting. In that case, grate fresh lemon zest, and add about a Tablespoon to the butter when creaming it. Use lemon extract instead of vanilla, and add 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice also. Hoping to work out the chocolate version soon too! Flavored stevia drops can also let you vary this. Let me know what you think!

 

Honey Buttercream Frosting - No Sugar Allowed
Print Recipe
A lightly sweet, spreadable and relatively healthful alternative for cakes and cupcakes - when cane sugar and artificial sweeteners are a non-starter. This recipe will cover a single layer cake; double the recipe for a double layer cake.
Servings Prep Time
1 single layer cake 30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 single layer cake 30 minutes
Honey Buttercream Frosting - No Sugar Allowed
Print Recipe
A lightly sweet, spreadable and relatively healthful alternative for cakes and cupcakes - when cane sugar and artificial sweeteners are a non-starter. This recipe will cover a single layer cake; double the recipe for a double layer cake.
Servings Prep Time
1 single layer cake 30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 single layer cake 30 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: single layer cake
Instructions
  1. Place cold (not warm or melted) butter in a stand mixer and beat til it is pale yellow or white. Stop the mixer from time to time to scrape butter down off sides into center, and continue beating. Depending on how hard butter is to start, this may take 10 to 15 minutes. If you are making lemon frosting with lemon zest, beat it with the butter.
  2. Add honey and beat again til smoothly combined.
  3. Blend dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add them to the butter and beat until smooth.
  4. Add vanilla (or lemon extract and lemon juice) and blend for 2 more minutes. Add coconut milk or milk substitute and blend again until smooth. Taste with your finger; if not sweet enough, add 1-4 drops stevia or more as desired.
  5. Frosting will be soft, spreadable and not very glossy without MCT oil addition. For glossy finish, blend in 2-4 drops of MCT or Brain Octane oil. Too much will make the frosting slimy.
  6. Spread on cooled cake or cupcakes. Ok out of fridge for up to two days; after that, refrigerate, or refrigerate right away.
Recipe Notes

Makes about 1 and 1/2 cups, or enough to frost an 8" cake round. You may wish to double the recipe to thickly frost a 9" cake. You can substitute any flavored liquid for vanilla extract. For a lemon variation, add 1 TBSP grated fresh lemon zest and 1-3 TBSP lemon juice instead of vanilla flavoring .

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Creamy Dairy Free Paleo Vanilla Pudding

Creamy Dairy Free Paleo Vanilla Pudding

Aug 25, 2017 | Uncategorized

If nobody ever made made scratch pudding for you when you were a kid, you’re in for a treat. This is so deliciously yummy and it’s completely dairy, gluten, and sugar free. Ghee in this recipe is important, even though there are plenty of other fats; ghee is okay for most kids in my practice with dairy allergy (I say “most” because I can’t find any I’ve worked with who couldn’t have ghee due to dairy IgE, but check with your allergist if you’re not sure in your own child’s case). This is also a great option for yogurt, sugar, and smooth-food junkies who need some more nourishing options besides sugary low fat dairy products. But most of all, it is just Really. Good. Pudding.

This recipe isn’t mine. It comes from Our Paleo Life (where you should poke around for even more recipes) – I’ve made it several times. I get perplexing results because sometimes it doesn’t set well, even though I follow the same exact steps. I’ve modified the recipe to enhance  odds for setting better. I’ve also added some stevia to even out the sweetness and removed steps to strain lumps from the pudding. I’ve had no lumps at all each time I’ve made this recipe without straining, so have left that part out. See the variations for other flavors at the recipe’s source link too – chocolate, butterscotch, and peanut butter pudding!

Creamy Dairy Free Paleo Vanilla Pudding
Print Recipe
Really. Good. Pudding. Worth the time it takes to cook and set. Enjoy.
Servings Prep Time
4-6 people 3-4 hours
Cook Time Passive Time
30 minutes 3-3.5 hours
Servings Prep Time
4-6 people 3-4 hours
Cook Time Passive Time
30 minutes 3-3.5 hours
Creamy Dairy Free Paleo Vanilla Pudding
Print Recipe
Really. Good. Pudding. Worth the time it takes to cook and set. Enjoy.
Servings Prep Time
4-6 people 3-4 hours
Cook Time Passive Time
30 minutes 3-3.5 hours
Servings Prep Time
4-6 people 3-4 hours
Cook Time Passive Time
30 minutes 3-3.5 hours
Ingredients
Servings: people
Instructions
  1. In a sauce pan, combine the tapioca starch and salt, without heat - do not turn on the stove yet. Blend these dry ingredients with a whisk til evenly mixed.
  2. Slowly add the coconut milk over low heat, and whisk in to dissolve the dry ingredients. This will take 5-10 minutes of steady whisking. Do not boil.
  3. Once the coconut milk is evenly mixed in with no lumps, whisk in the egg yolks evenly, then the honey and vanilla. Continue on medium high heat til bubbles begin to form around the edges, about 5-10 minutes, whisking constantly.
  4. Once bubbling gently, reduce heat to medium low and continue cooking and whisking. Let the pudding become thick enough to plop back into the pot when you lift the whisk, instead of being drippy or runny. This may take 10-15 minutes.
  5. Higher heat may speed this up but you will also need to whisk more quickly to keep the pudding from burning, sticking to bottom of pot, or boiling.
  6. Stir in stevia drops, ghee, and vanilla. Continue whisking til evenly mixed and pudding is thickened.
  7. Pour into individual heatproof glass or ceramic serving dishes. To prevent a skin from forming on the pudding, place plastic wrap directly on the pudding in each dish and seal. I don't mind the skin and prefer to leave the plastic wrap off. Refrigerate for about 3 hours or overnight. Or, eat right away, warm and a little less set - also delicious!
Recipe Notes

You may use arrowroot starch instead of tapioca, but I have not tried this yet; potato starch may work too. For salt, I use Himalayan salt because it has a wider mineral profile than ordinary table salt and because sea salt is now (sadly) under scrutiny for having plastic in it. If the pudding hasn't thickened enough after lengthy heating and stirring, remove 1/4 cup of pudding from the pot into a small Pyrex or ceramic bowl or cup. Stir in 1 Tablespoon of starch and blend til smooth and thick. Add this back to the pot and continue stirring with whisk til smooth and thickened.

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