If you're like me, you love coconut in pretty much anything. From coconut milk in Indian dishes to southern coconut cake, I am coo coo for coconut! A craving hit me quite suddenly tonight, so I was motivated to make coconut cookies. Gluten free baking can be a challenge, and I am still learning the different personalities of the various flours out there, but I think these treats are pretty tasty.
Soft Coconut Cookies (makes: about 27 cookies)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder (optional, but it does make the cookies fabulously tender)
1/2 cup butter (room temp)
1/3-1/2 cup xylitol (or regular sugar), see notes below
pinch of salt
3 eggs
1 t vanilla
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 and line a cookie sheet with parchment.
1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Add vanilla.
2. Combine flour, coconut, baking soda, powder and salt in medium bowl.
3. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir (by hand) until well combined.
4. Using a teaspoon or small scooper, place the dough balls onto the cookie sheet in a 3x4 grid.
5. flatten balls slightly with the heel of your hand or a spoon.
6. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!
NOTES: If you use sweetened coconut, I would suggest using 1/3 cup of sugar to limit the sugar exposure. If you use unsweetened or want sweeter cookies, use the 1/2 cup. This is one case where I wouldn't use a liquid sweetener. If you do, please leave a comment and let me know how it goes.
If you want somewhat chewier cookies, leave out the baking powder.
Showing posts with label coconut. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coconut. Show all posts
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Allergic to living
Has anyone noticed how allergies are now quite fashionable? It's the new, hip thing to be allergic to almost everything so that people can ask you "well what on earth do you eat?", and you can go on and on about this special flour that you have to order from some hut in Africa. Seems we're ordering more and more foods from other countries, because we're suddenly allergic to everything we make here in America.
Back in the day, decades, even centries ago, the only food you could get was local food. There was no ordering something from some third world country, from the bowels of the rainforest. You either ate what you or someone in your community grew, or you didn't eat at all. That was it. Period. There was none of this Gluten, grain, lactose, peanut, tree nut, soy-free craziness. Let's look at soy, for example. About 10 to 15 years or so ago, soy products became fashionable. Soy milk was the new "it" thing. Everyone felt so special ordering soy lattes and bragging in the dairy aisle about how they ONLY get soy. They would say this so smuggly even if they'd only started buying soy milk two weeks ago. Now, in the past year or so, everyone has become allergic to soy. The new "it" thing is now coconut or almond milk. Hemp milk is moving up in the ranks as well. Now the various milk cartons boast labels such as "soy free" "Lactose free" "gluten free", and "all natural". The almond has now replaced the soy bean, and coconut is now king. You can easily get almond and coconut flour in addition to the milks. Almond butter is taking a serious swing at peanut butter. Coconut butter/spread is giving traditional cows-milk based butter a run for it's money.
The yogurt aisle is getting ridiculous as well. Companies are now trying to cater to every audience possible. While there are some tasty products that have come from this, it is getting to be a bit much. We have Greek, Turkish, Scandinavian, Hungarian, French and several other styles of yogurt. Honestly, most of them taste the same. We've also got the various "milk" mediums to go with all of these styles. I'd imagine serious shoppers can get Hungarian Hemp-milk yogurt flavored with rose water if they really wanted it.
All of these alternatives came from the idea that people are suddenly allergic to everything around them. That magically nearly everything is bad for you. Seems the only food everyone agrees on is kale. I think our society is finally coming to a point where we've realized, our constant demand for quick-cooking, attractive, perfectly sized foods has led scientists to frantically create foods that make us ill. Gone, are the days of testing foods to make sure they are safe. Instead, consumer demand now drives corporations to get things onto the shelves and into our greedy gullets ASAP. It started with some light genetic modification, and has spread to total reconstruction. Our food today, looks absolutely nothing like it did years ago. We are no longer eating food, we're eating science experiments. Our planet has become one, big science fair.
I am so thankful for the movement to go back to a naural diet. To stop the purchase of hormone riddled, genetically modified foolishness. Let's take the time to choose our foods wisely. What we put into our bodies is what we get out. It's not "cool" to have a yard-long list of allergies, and have special dietary needs. Our greetings to each other should not include new foods we're cutting out of our diet. Let's do away with this endless allergy search. Doctors get on TV, and list off very generic symptoms such as tiredness, drowsiness, muscle ache, bloating, gas, and the list goes on and on; then they toss out a random food or food group like...grains, and say that your consumption of grains is making you feel this way. We are to immediately purge this horrid toxin from our diet, and after the "withdrawal" we will feel a million times better. I believe for many people, the reason why they feel better is a.) they believe they're supposed to or b.) cutting out one food group forced them to consumer another...usually veggies, so they're getting more fiber, and thus, they poop more...so they feel better. So much of this witch hunt is just smoke and mirrors. Let's undergo a paradigm shift and go back to the basics. Let's get real food, and stop anticipating being sick afterwards (or suddenly feeling so much "better"). America, let's eat!
Back in the day, decades, even centries ago, the only food you could get was local food. There was no ordering something from some third world country, from the bowels of the rainforest. You either ate what you or someone in your community grew, or you didn't eat at all. That was it. Period. There was none of this Gluten, grain, lactose, peanut, tree nut, soy-free craziness. Let's look at soy, for example. About 10 to 15 years or so ago, soy products became fashionable. Soy milk was the new "it" thing. Everyone felt so special ordering soy lattes and bragging in the dairy aisle about how they ONLY get soy. They would say this so smuggly even if they'd only started buying soy milk two weeks ago. Now, in the past year or so, everyone has become allergic to soy. The new "it" thing is now coconut or almond milk. Hemp milk is moving up in the ranks as well. Now the various milk cartons boast labels such as "soy free" "Lactose free" "gluten free", and "all natural". The almond has now replaced the soy bean, and coconut is now king. You can easily get almond and coconut flour in addition to the milks. Almond butter is taking a serious swing at peanut butter. Coconut butter/spread is giving traditional cows-milk based butter a run for it's money.
The yogurt aisle is getting ridiculous as well. Companies are now trying to cater to every audience possible. While there are some tasty products that have come from this, it is getting to be a bit much. We have Greek, Turkish, Scandinavian, Hungarian, French and several other styles of yogurt. Honestly, most of them taste the same. We've also got the various "milk" mediums to go with all of these styles. I'd imagine serious shoppers can get Hungarian Hemp-milk yogurt flavored with rose water if they really wanted it.
All of these alternatives came from the idea that people are suddenly allergic to everything around them. That magically nearly everything is bad for you. Seems the only food everyone agrees on is kale. I think our society is finally coming to a point where we've realized, our constant demand for quick-cooking, attractive, perfectly sized foods has led scientists to frantically create foods that make us ill. Gone, are the days of testing foods to make sure they are safe. Instead, consumer demand now drives corporations to get things onto the shelves and into our greedy gullets ASAP. It started with some light genetic modification, and has spread to total reconstruction. Our food today, looks absolutely nothing like it did years ago. We are no longer eating food, we're eating science experiments. Our planet has become one, big science fair.
I am so thankful for the movement to go back to a naural diet. To stop the purchase of hormone riddled, genetically modified foolishness. Let's take the time to choose our foods wisely. What we put into our bodies is what we get out. It's not "cool" to have a yard-long list of allergies, and have special dietary needs. Our greetings to each other should not include new foods we're cutting out of our diet. Let's do away with this endless allergy search. Doctors get on TV, and list off very generic symptoms such as tiredness, drowsiness, muscle ache, bloating, gas, and the list goes on and on; then they toss out a random food or food group like...grains, and say that your consumption of grains is making you feel this way. We are to immediately purge this horrid toxin from our diet, and after the "withdrawal" we will feel a million times better. I believe for many people, the reason why they feel better is a.) they believe they're supposed to or b.) cutting out one food group forced them to consumer another...usually veggies, so they're getting more fiber, and thus, they poop more...so they feel better. So much of this witch hunt is just smoke and mirrors. Let's undergo a paradigm shift and go back to the basics. Let's get real food, and stop anticipating being sick afterwards (or suddenly feeling so much "better"). America, let's eat!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Humpday Hunger Happenings
Tonight was the first night in a while that I didn't have anything scheduled, so I took advantage of the free time to make a colorful, healthy(ish), yumalicious meal.
Menu:
Roasted Red Pepper/Spinach Pizza (whole wheat crust)
Garden salad tossed with bacon bits and flax seeds (Ranch Dressing, of course)
Coconut Rice pudding
The meal may sound kinda fancy, but it's actually super simple and quick to make (40 minutes or less)
Pizza:
Preheat: 450
For the Crust:
1 tbs. dry active yeast (1 packet)
1 cup warm water (not boiling!)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tbs. vegetable oil (I use olive oil)
2 1/2 cups flour (go half whole wheat, half all purpose if you'd like)
For some reason, people feel like good homemade pizza has to be this all-day, excessively complicated undertaking. When you use this recipe, you can actually make, from scratch, a pizza more quickly than you can cook a frozen one!
1.) Dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar, salt, and oil. Whisk until will mixed.
2.) Add flour and mix until dough pulls away from sides.
3.) Dump dough onto floured surface and knead 2-4 minutes.**
4.) Grease pan, and sprinkle the bottom lightly with cornmeal. Roll out dough until it is large enough to fit your pan. Place rolled out dough into pan.
Toppings:
About 1 cup pasta sauce
2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 cup or so roasted red peppers, from a jar, drained and roughly chopped
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
I just use the cheapest pasta sauce I can find. Nothing fancy there, it's good and saves time. For extra kick, you can sprinkle Italian seasonings onto the crust, pre-sauce. Pour the sauce on, and spread it out. I layered the veggies and cheese, just to get everything mixed up and evenly distributed.
Bake: 10-12 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cheese is well melted. Enjoy! Notes: ** You can let the dough rise for up to 30 minutes, if you'd like. It's a good way to give yourself some time to do other things (like make a salad) since the cooking time is so short**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coconut Rice Pudding
What you need:
2 cups Arborio rice (the kind usually used for risotto...it makes for a very creamy pudding! You can use regular rice, as well)
1- 14.5 oz can coconut milk (unsweetened)
1/2 cup or so sugar (to your taste)
1 1/2 cup milk (evaporated milk works great here)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
2 egg yolks
What you do:
1.) Warm milks, water, extracts, and sugar in medium sized sauce pan until warm but not boiling.
2.) Add rice. Cook 25-35 minutes, or until the rice is done to your liking.
3.) Put egg yolks in a small bowl, and add about 1/4 cup of the rice cooking liquid to the yolks and whisk with a fork until well incorporated.
4.) Add egg mixture to rice pan and mix well. Allow to cook 5 more minutes, pudding should be somewhat set.
5.) If you have tons of liquid still in the pan, cook a bit longer and be prepared to remove the excess and cook more rice in a smaller pot with it. (Don't add more rice to the original pot or you'll end up with some crunchy rice and some gummy rice in the same spoonful).
You can serve the pudding immediately, or you can serve it chilled. If you'd like, you can also melt some chocolate or carob into the pudding for an added layer of flavor!
Menu:
Roasted Red Pepper/Spinach Pizza (whole wheat crust)
Garden salad tossed with bacon bits and flax seeds (Ranch Dressing, of course)
Coconut Rice pudding
The meal may sound kinda fancy, but it's actually super simple and quick to make (40 minutes or less)
Pizza:
Preheat: 450
For the Crust:
1 tbs. dry active yeast (1 packet)
1 cup warm water (not boiling!)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tbs. vegetable oil (I use olive oil)
2 1/2 cups flour (go half whole wheat, half all purpose if you'd like)
For some reason, people feel like good homemade pizza has to be this all-day, excessively complicated undertaking. When you use this recipe, you can actually make, from scratch, a pizza more quickly than you can cook a frozen one!
1.) Dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar, salt, and oil. Whisk until will mixed.
2.) Add flour and mix until dough pulls away from sides.
3.) Dump dough onto floured surface and knead 2-4 minutes.**
4.) Grease pan, and sprinkle the bottom lightly with cornmeal. Roll out dough until it is large enough to fit your pan. Place rolled out dough into pan.
Toppings:
About 1 cup pasta sauce
2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 cup or so roasted red peppers, from a jar, drained and roughly chopped
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
I just use the cheapest pasta sauce I can find. Nothing fancy there, it's good and saves time. For extra kick, you can sprinkle Italian seasonings onto the crust, pre-sauce. Pour the sauce on, and spread it out. I layered the veggies and cheese, just to get everything mixed up and evenly distributed.
Bake: 10-12 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cheese is well melted. Enjoy! Notes: ** You can let the dough rise for up to 30 minutes, if you'd like. It's a good way to give yourself some time to do other things (like make a salad) since the cooking time is so short**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coconut Rice Pudding
What you need:
2 cups Arborio rice (the kind usually used for risotto...it makes for a very creamy pudding! You can use regular rice, as well)
1- 14.5 oz can coconut milk (unsweetened)
1/2 cup or so sugar (to your taste)
1 1/2 cup milk (evaporated milk works great here)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
2 egg yolks
What you do:
1.) Warm milks, water, extracts, and sugar in medium sized sauce pan until warm but not boiling.
2.) Add rice. Cook 25-35 minutes, or until the rice is done to your liking.
3.) Put egg yolks in a small bowl, and add about 1/4 cup of the rice cooking liquid to the yolks and whisk with a fork until well incorporated.
4.) Add egg mixture to rice pan and mix well. Allow to cook 5 more minutes, pudding should be somewhat set.
5.) If you have tons of liquid still in the pan, cook a bit longer and be prepared to remove the excess and cook more rice in a smaller pot with it. (Don't add more rice to the original pot or you'll end up with some crunchy rice and some gummy rice in the same spoonful).
You can serve the pudding immediately, or you can serve it chilled. If you'd like, you can also melt some chocolate or carob into the pudding for an added layer of flavor!
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