Chocolate Roasted Almonds

I love this recipe for several reasons.  The almonds are soaked & then roasted or dehydrated, which reduces the phytic acid (see my tab "why soak").  There is no refined sugar in it, only maple syrup or honey.  And the best reason to like it is that I can reach for them when I'm having a chocolate craving, but it gives me protein also.  These would also be a unique & yummy "no clutter" gift to give to someone.

Chocolate Roasted (or Dehydrated) Almonds
2 cups almonds
1 1/2 tsp. salt

Place almonds in a bowl or container and cover with water.  Add salt & swirl around to mix.  Cover and allow to soak for at least 8 hours or overnight.  After soaking, drain and allow to air dry for 2 hours.

1 Tbsp. oil (olive or coconut oil)
2 Tbsp. maple syrup or honey (I used honey)
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl and add almonds.  Stir to coat completely.  Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  To roast, bake at 250 for one hour or until nuts are crunchy, not soft.  Or alternately, you can dehydrate these at lower temperatures for longer periods of time.  Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

I dehydrated these using the lowest temperature setting on my oven for several hours during the day, then I turned off the oven and allowed the nuts to stay in the warm oven for several more hours.

Enjoy!
Lisa

this post is a part of Tuesday Twister

Sourdough Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Bread

A few weeks ago I decided I should start baking some pumpkin recipes to try to get myself into the "season" more.  You see although I come from Washington state, where winter has been in full swing, in Rwanda everyday is pretty much the same weather: 70 to 80 degrees and sunny except when the rainstorms come in.  It's been hard for me to convince myself that the holiday season is fully here, because my surroundings keep telling me it's summer!

I found out they do grow pumpkin here, so I decided to make my own puree to bake with.  Of course nothing is exactly the same as what we're used to: the pumpkins are green (other things that are green even when ripe here: mandarins, lemons, apples, and starchy bananas called matoke).  The flesh of the pumpkin was very pale & did not have as strong of a flavor as what we get from our pumpkins in the US, but it still worked.  One of the recipes I tried with my puree was this Sourdough Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls recipe from the Coconut Mama blog. 

Instead of the cinnamon & pumpkin pie spices recommended in the recipe I used something that's sold in every store here: it's called tea masala.  It's a spice blend they use to make African tea (a spiced milk tea that we would call Chai).  The tea masala ingredients are: ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, black pepper, and nutmeg.  I love it & it worked great in this recipe! 

Sourdough Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Bread
3/4 cup sourdough starter
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3 3/4 - 4 cup flour
5 Tablespoons coconut oil or butter, softened
3 Tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
filling:
2 Tablespoons coconut oil or butter, softened
2 Tablespoons raw sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice or chai spices* or a combination!


Combine flour, salt, and spices in a large bowl.  Add 5 Tablespoons coconut oil or butter, honey, pumpkin and sourdough starter and mix well.  Knead dough for 10 minutes (add more flour as needed to make a smooth dough).  Cover bowl and let dough rest for 6 to 8 hours. 

Knead dough for 5 minutes then roll out into a rectangle shape of about 1/2" thickness (thinner for more rolls, thicker for less).  Spread with 2 Tablespoons coconut oil or butter.  Mix together sugar & spices and sprinkle on top. 

Starting at one of the short ends of the rectangle, roll the dough up with the spices inside.  Using a sharp knife or plain dental floss*, cut through the dough about every 1 to 2 ".  Place in an oiled or buttered pan (I used two bread pans to make cinnamon roll pull-apart bread).  Rolls should be just gently touching each other.  Cover and allow to rise for another 2 or 3 hours.

After the dough is done rising preheat the oven to 375.  Bake for about 20 minutes.

My family enjoyed just pulling off a roll when we wanted a snack.  Because it was a snack food & not a sweet dessert I didn't feel the need to add any frosting.  If you want frosting, The Coconut Mama recommends 8 ounces of soft cream cheese mixed with 4 Tablespoons of honey.

*Did you know dental floss works great for cutting rolls?  Just take a piece about 8 inches long, slide it under the log of dough, pull the ends across to the opposite side like you're going to tie it, and pull until the floss cuts all the way through.  I always make sure I use unflavored floss though!

*To make your own Chai (tea masala) spice mix, combine:
1/2 teaspoon cardamom (ground)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (ground)
1/2 teaspoon ginger (ground)
1/4 teaspoon allspice (ground) and/or nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves (ground)
pinch black pepper (ground)

Mix well & store in an airtight container.  Besides adding to your tea or coffee, try using it in baking wherever you would use cinnamon, and even in your oatmeal!
Enjoy--
Lisa

This post is a part of Monday Mania.

Chocolate Coconut Sourdough Cake

I almost called this Chocolate Coconut Sourdough Snack Cake, because it is a cake which doesn't require frosting (although you are certainly welcome to add it), and if it doesn't have frosting you can snack on it anytime of day, right?   Well, maybe!  I shared with you in my last post how I have been using sourdough as my primary source for bread, pancakes, and other things, and briefly why.  You may not think that sourdough & a sweet dessert cake are possible to have together, but you must try this!  It is moist, tender, and really does not have that much sugar for a dessert.

You will notice the directions indicate you can use between 1 and 1 1/2 cups of sugar.  The amount you use is going to depend on how long you let your batter "sour" and your personal preference.  I accidentally forgot about my batter and let it sit for too long.  I first added 1 cup of sugar, but when I sampled the batter I knew it needed the additional 1/2 cup.  I also wanted to help it out more by adding in 1/2 cup of shredded coconut.

This is only a slightly  modified version of the Chocolate Sourdough Cake from The Nourishing Gourmet.  If you would like to add frosting to your cake, you can check out GNOWFGLINS where she shares her version of the recipe (with spelt flour) and a coconut cream frosting - - which would be divine on this cake!

Chocolate Coconut Sourdough Cake
1 cup recently fed sourdough starter
1 cup of raw milk, diluted coconut milk, or water
2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (mine was regular whole wheat flour)
1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar (raw sugar, maple sugar, or palm sugar)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup melted coconut oil*
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/.4 cup cocoa powder**
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional- I used Pero, Teeccino also works)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup shredded coconut

1.  6 to 18 hours ahead of time you will make the sourdough mixture.  Combine the starter, milk, and flour in a large bowl.  Allow to rest at room temperature.

2.  Preheat oven to 350 and rub a 9x13 pan with oil.

3.  In a medium bowl cream together the sugar, oil, vanilla, salt, baking soda, cocoa powder, and optional espresso powder (mixture will be grainy).  Then beat in one egg at a time.  Add all of this to the sourdough mixture, as well as shredded coconut.  Gently stir until well combined.

4.  Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely.

I let my cake cook a little too long and the top seemed burnt, but when I went to cut the burnt part off I tried it & it actually still tasted good- bonus points for that!  *This cake would be best with coconut oil (unrefined for the coconut flavor) but if you don't have any, like me, then you can use olive oil or melted butter.  **The original directions say to not use Dutch processed cocoa, because it is not acidic enough to react with the baking soda.  In other words, using Dutch cocoa could cause the cake not to rise as much.

Enjoy!
Lisa

This post is a part of Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and Real Food Wednesday.

Sweet on Sourdough

I've been working a lot with sourdough since we arrived in Rwanda.  I prefer to use sourdough in my bread and baked goods because it breaks down some of the gluten in the flour, making it easier to digest, as well as reducing the phytic acid so minerals are more easily absorbed.  

Before we left for Rwanda I decided to dehydrate the starter I had been keeping on in my kitchen.  Since I don't have a dehydrator I came up with a different solution that worked for me.  I poured out a thin layer of starter on a piece of parchment paper.  It was August and we were having 100+ degree days, so I put the parchment paper inside our barbecue (with it turned off) in the morning.  The closed lid kept the bugs off, while being inside the metal of the barbecue magnified the heat and dehydrated my starter for me.

I also brought along a small amount of Oregon Trail Sourdough starter I got from "Carl's Friends".  Once we got here I mixed the two and rehydrated by mixing with a little bit of water, and then adding small amounts of flour and water each day.  I started out with a white flour starter (that's all you can find in the stores here) and then ended up switching it over to spelt flour (after some friends brought me a supply of spelt flour).  I've been trying all kinds of recipes made with sourdough starter: pancakes, crackers, cinnamon rolls, rolls, pizza crust and even chocolate cake!  Here in the next few weeks I hope to share several of these recipes with you.

You can help to keep your starter happy by using it a lot and feeding frequently.  I feed mine a minimum of 1/4 cup of both flour and warm water twice a day when I'm using it, and it works even better if the last feeding I give it (several hours before I use it) is 1/2 cup each (this would be different if you're keeping larger amounts of sourdough than I am- I only have a jar about the size of a mayonaisse jar).  When not using it for a few days I may feed it & put it in the fridge.  When I'm ready to use it again I pull it out at least 8 hours ahead of time & feed it.

Here is my "go to" bread recipe.  It worked well for me both back in the US as well as here.  We are at a high elevation in Rwanda (around 5 or 6 thousand feet) which I've learned causes baked goods to rise more (not as much air pressure pushing down on them).  I'm able to do a shorter rise time (6 hours first rise, 2 hours second rise) which also keeps my bread from getting too sour.  You can experiment to find out what works best for you.  Make sure you use enough flour to make a nice firm dough, because it will get very soft and sticky after souring.  Slash the tops of the loaves before baking to keep them from exploding out the sides! 

Sourdough Bread

1 cup flour (plus additional)
1 cup sourdough starter
1 cup warm (not hot) water
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup oil (melted coconut oil, or olive oil)
2 Tablespoons honey

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.  Add additional flour: 1/2 cup at a time, up to 3 or 4 cups.  Let dough rest for 10 minutes before kneading, then knead for 5 to 10 minutes and place in a greased bowl.
Let rise until doubled: about 8 hours, then punch down and form into loaves (flatten and roll up burrito style).  Let rise for an additional 2 to 4 hours.  Heat oven to 350 and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.  (If making rolls check after 20 minutes.)

Enjoy!
Lisa

P.S.  If you don't already have a sourdough starter you can make one in just 7 days.  I used the pineapple juice method when I made another one here.  Give it a try!  (Start with low rise items when your starter is young like pizza crust or crackers.)

Chocolate Banana Muffin Bites

This was my second attempt at making a “flourless” dessert. The first banana bread was a big flop (or should I say glop?). I think the cocoa powder helps here. This originally was written as a cake recipe, but since I don’t have a round cake pan I tried it in a bread pan first. That turned out pretty good, but I knew that if I made them in a cupcake pan it would be easier to get it cooked all the way in the middle (and avoid gloppy-ness). These are yummy & even those who are not trying to go wheat, grain, or gluten free will enjoy them!

Chocolate Banana Muffin Bites

3 eggs

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup honey

¼ cup oil

1 cup mashed (ripe) bananas

½ cup cocoa


Preheat oven to 350. Beat or whip the eggs for 2 minutes (I’m using my rotary mixer I brought to Rwanda with me- remember those?) Add the remaining ingredients and blend thoroughly. Grease or insert paper liners in your muffin tin (12 muffins). Evenly distribute the batter in the muffin cups (about 1 inch of batter in each one). Bake for about 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes & then remove.


Enjoy!
Lisa

This post is a part of Monday Mania, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and Real Food Wednesdays.

Healthy Peanut Butter Cups

I'm really surprised I have not blogged about these awesome little treats before- these need to be in your recipe book right after the healthy mounds/almond joys.  This recipe comes from the Oceans of Joy blog.  I made them here last week (yes, I brought my [half full] gallon of coconut oil here to Rwanda- and now I am seeing the pitiful bottom of my tub... sigh...).  After not having a good treat for a while I was so ready for these & loved having one each day- bliss!

I know these peanut butter cups look a little funky on top, that's because my chocolate mixture started to seize when I was ready to put the top layer on, so I had to just put little dollops of chocolate on each one- still tastes good though!

Healthy Peanut Butter Cups

chocolate layer:

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/8 cup honey (more if you like your chocolate sweeter)
1 tsp. vanilla

Melt the coconut oil (in a skillet or a hot water bath).  Add the rest of the ingredients and combine until smooth.  I used a regular muffin pan (12) for making these, in the past I have used a mini muffin pan also.  Line each muffin cup with a paper liner or oil thoroughly.  Evenly distribute half of your chocolate mixture into the muffin cups (start with about one tablespoon in each one).  Place in refrigerator or freezer to cool.

filling:
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup ground nuts (optional, I did not have them this time)

Melt the coconut oil again, add in honey, vanilla, and peanut butter.  When thoroughly combined stir in the ground nuts.  Evenly distribute the peanut butter filling into each muffin cup.  Top with the remaining chocolate mixture (if you need to, gently reheat it, being careful not to let the chocolate seize).  Refrigerate or freeze until firm.  Store in refrigerator and enjoy this healthy treat!

In my last post I promised you a picture of my kitchen sink, so here it is: 

Use your powers of perception carefully here- notice anything odd about it?  Hmmmm.  How about those interesting spickets for water that only pour into one side of the sink?  Yeah, sometimes the way they do things here just makes you say... "Huh?"  In order to fill the left sink for doing dishes, you have to use a cup to transfer water into that sink.  But, if I haven't said so already, I am very thankful to have a kitchen with counters and cupboards, because the last time we were here our kitchen was just a room with a refrigerator and a table that doubled as a cupboard and work area.

I am also having awesome success here with my sourdough.  I will post another time about how to dehyrdrate sourdough starter (I brought some of mine from home).  I don't know if it's the elevation (5000 ft.), the air, climate, or the flour (there is no such thing as whole wheat flour in these stores, white only) but my starter actually smells like yeast and is making the most amazing bread!  Very exciting for me when at home all I got was super-sour dense bread that no one else in the family would eat!

Hope all your kitchen adventures are successful this week.
Enjoy!
Lisa

Wheatless Sucess! Oat Flour Pasta

If you read my last post you know we are trying to eliminate wheat from our diet right now (in addition to several other things).  My first wheat-free baking attempt was not a success at all.  It was a flourless banana zucchini bread that came out of the oven, like, well, mashed bananas, zucchini, and honey- pretty much like it went in.  Not so great. 

I found at the local market here we have some interesting flours: (red) millet flour, rice flour, cassava flour (like tapioca flour I think).  The red millet flour is not original to Rwanda, but rather is for a porridge traditionally fed to children in the neighboring country of Uganda.  I made the porridge first, in spite of it's laughable vague directions: "mix flour with some cold water to make a paste, add to boiling water and cook for a while".  It was very bland, but after generous amounts of vanilla, honey, cinnamon and milk it was a nice sweet porridge.  Millet is supposed to be healthier for you than wheat, and easier to digest.  I wonder if maybe that's why only 2 hours after we ate breakfast we were hungry all over again?

The next thing I decided to try was a recipe I found for oat flour linguine noodles.  We have oats & a blender so we were able to make our own oat flour.  I didn't make quite enough so I added about a 1/4 cup of millet flour (which is why you will see it having the "whole wheat" appearance).  I was actually surprised at how easy the dough was to handle & that it turned out fine.  My kids can't wait for me to make it again!

Oat Flour Linguine Noodles

2 cups oat flour (or 1 3/4 cups plus 1/4 cup other flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons oil
2-4 Tablespoons water

Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl.  In the center make a well and put the eggs and oil in there.  Slowly whisk these together until dough is crumbly.  Add water 1 Tablespoon at a time, stirring after each one, until a nice dough forms.  Knead dough for 5 minutes (I did this both in hand and on a floured counter).  Cover & allow dough to rest.

If you have a pasta extruder - use it!  I however, rolled my dough out onto the counter as thin as I could (which still was not as thin as it should have been- but this did make it easy to transfer to the pot).  Cut into 1/4" strips.

Boil water in a large pot.  Have a timer handy and set for 6 minutes.  Once it's in full boil, transfer noodles to pot (I put mine on a plate & then carefully dropped them into the boiling water- but trying to get them in there as quickly as possible).  Cook for 6 minutes, then drain immediately and serve.

I don't have a picture of the finished product because we were hungry - it was on the table & gone!  I think one of the effects of going off of wheat is you no longer have that satiated feeling - we all feel hungry all the time it seems now!  What do you think?

You see that oatmeal can in the top picture (the oats came from the UK to be sold here).  Well, money is tight for us so I haven't bought mixing bowls, but that can worked as my mixing bowl.  I tried to use it for my rolling pin also, but it was not strong enough, so I grabbed a large plastic bottle of my son's vitamins.  That got the job done good enough!

Enjoy!
Lisa

This post is linked up to Wheatless Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, and Monday Mania.