Mini Raw Apple Tarts

 I went apple picking with a friend recently, and came home with 6 lbs of little organic Fuji apples.  For some reason, apple picking has always felt like the "welcome to autumn" activity, and now it officially feels like fall.  (Especially when I am currently living somewhere that is hot for this time of year).  I miss Oregon fall season--the cool weather, rain and falling leaves this time of year.  I also had three apple trees in our backyard growing up, and though they were small, misshapen tart little ones, they produced a great applesauce or apple pie.

Though the apples I picked are good plain, they honestly aren't amazing; I'm an apple snob and Fujis are not usually my variety of choice.  I also learned the hard way they do not produce the tastiest dried apples.  They do however, cook well and I was curious to see how the perform in a raw dessert with other flavors enhancing the fresh apple taste.  The verdict?  Amazing!  My husband even exclaimed it tastes like apple pie, and with the "crumb" topping, it is similar to a crumb-topped apple pie.  I made four little mini tarts in this super convenient Chicago Metallic 4 Cavity Tartlett Pan, 10.60 by 9.90 by 1.30-Inch (the removable bottoms make it so easy to get the tarts/pies out), but you can use a regular sized pie pan to make one large one as well.

*to make them truly raw, you can use dried vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract and ground sunflower seeds instead of oats unless you have access to raw rolled oats, and raw honey instead of maple.  See bottom of page for additional substitutions!

Mini Apple Tarts
yields 4

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 cup dried mulberries
1/2 cup dates
1/2 cup almonds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
dash sea salt
1-2 tablespoons filtered water as needed

Filling:
2-1/2 to 3 small apples
1/4 cup dates
2 teaspoons ground chia seeds
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice

Topping:
1/2 cup roughly ground sunflower seeds or oats
1/2 cup almonds
2 teaspoons pue maple syrup
1 teaspoon melted coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1.  Spritz or rub a mini tart or regular pie or tart pan with oil of choice.  I used a Misto Brushed Aluminum Olive Oil Sprayer with olive oil for convenience, but rubbing coconut oil in the pan works perfectly too.  Set aside.

2.  Pulse the seeds or oats with the almonds in a food processor or chop with a knife until they are crumbly and coarse.  Stir in the remaining topping ingredients until it looks like a yummy granola.  Set aside.

pulse oats and almonds together until crumbly, not fine

Mix all topping ingredients together

Stir until mixed well and resembles granola

3.  In a food processor or similar device, mix the mulberries, dates and almonds, vanilla, cinnamon and sea salt until it comes together like raw cookie dough.  Add a little water if necessary for dough to stick together.  Press this mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the dish you are using.

either white or purple-black mulberries will do!

4.  Peel and very thinly slice the apples.  I did this by hand; some food processors have an attachment to create very thinly sliced items, but I didn't mind if they weren't perfect; some pieces were thicker and I liked the varying texture.  Set aside.
5.  Puree the dates, cinnamon, allspice, ground chia all together with 1 to 1-1/2 of the apples.  It should be like a chunky applesauce.  Scrape down the sides as needed to get it as combined and smooth as possible.

6.  Mix the filling mixture with the remaining sliced apples, coating it well.

7.  Divide the filling/apples amongst the mini pans or place it all into your one large pan.  Top with the topping.  Freeze for 20 minutes to set, and store frozen.  Let thaw in the fridge or at room temperature just until the apples unfreeze but it is still chilled and set.  Also, you can freeze them and zap it in the microwave for a few seconds until the apples defrost if you're in a hurry.  We only have one left so I can tell you they keep for three days at least; they very well may keep longer and I'll update this with the exact maximum storage time if we can keep them around longer than a few days!

Alternate ingredients:
-Raw honey can be used instead of maple syrup
-I used gluten-free oats in the topping, but other seeds or regular oats work well too
-Almonds may be replaced with sunflower or pumpkin seeds for a nut-free option
-The chia seeds may be omitted in the filling though it may seem a little thinner (and with less protein!)
-Raisins or cranberries may be used in place of mulberries; I had just recently purchased an overpriced bag of organic dried mulberries from Whole Foods, so that's the only reason I didn't use another dried fruit.

This is the Misto I use to have a non-aerosol way of spritzing my pans with avocado or olive oil.
I love it!  Also, Amazon sells organic mulberries too if your local store does not.  Use the links below if you're interested to help me out and enable me to continue with my free recipes and sites!

This is 2-day old still delicious raw apple tart--perfect with chai tea!

Fresh apple tarts: gluten-free, vegan and raw!

Walnut Honey "Shortbread"

These little bites are slightly sweet and have a hint of the light melt-in-your-mouth quality that shortbread embodies.  They are a breeze to make, and taste best chilled or frozen but can also be eaten seconds after making.  When frozen I think they resemble shortbread even more in terms of consistency.

If you're sensitive to nuts, you can use all seeds or whatever ratio of nuts work for you.  For me, I use 1/2 cup walnuts and 1/2 cup sunflower seeds as the first ingredient, or even 1/4 cup walnuts and 3/4 cup seeds.  On a hot day, especially after a run/walk/swim/what-have-you, it is pretty amazing to have a couple straight from the freezer.  They will stay soft yet be delightfully chill, making them a perfect summer treat.

Today after a lap swimming workout, I enjoyed a couple for a post workout treat and I must say they are one of my new favorites!  Speaking of lap swimming, I aim for 30-45 minutes per session and recently discovered the joy of creating a plan to make the swim time fly by.  A sample workout would be to do the following, repeating it if you'd like!

1.  Warm up 4 leisurely laps either freestyle or breaststroke
2.  Swim 4 laps at a higher exertion with a kickboard fluttering your legs keeping your head in the water and taking breaths as you would in freestyle.
3.  Swim 5 laps at a medium intensity.
4.  Leisurely swim 2 laps backstroke or sidestroke.
5.  With a float between your thighs, swim 2-4 laps using just the upper body.  Squeeze the float as much as you can with your thighs, even making little pulses.
6.  Swim 4 to 8 laps at a medium to higher intensity/speed.
7.  Cool down, 2-3 laps super easy.

Note: though I was forced to be on the swim team for years as a child, I'm no coach: I just took an online workout and tweaked it to my enjoyment/capability.  Use it as a loose guide and enjoy!  Now that I'm pregnant with my giant twin belly, the pool feels amazing and I can always count on swimming as a good way to exercise with no pressure on my joints.

Walnut Honey Shortbread
yields 16 cookies or so

Ingredients:

1 cup walnuts
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup gluten-free oats
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 to 2-1/2 tablespoons raw honey or maple syrup
(my lovely friend makes a similar cookie using stevia; use stevia to taste and omit the sweetener for a sugar-free version)
1 tablespoon coconut oil (soft, not melted)
1 to 2 tablespoons water

Directions:

1.  Food-process the nuts (or seeds if substituting), and coconut.  Once it is pretty mixed and mealy, add in the rest of the ingredients.  Start with 1 tablespoon of water, adding more only as necessary for dough to stick together.
2.  Roll into 1 or 2 tablespoon-sized balls or discs and chill.  Store in an airtight container in the freezer.
3.  Enjoy!

Cinnamon Spice Zucchini Cake

This is a great, easy "cake" that can easily be a breakfast, snack, or dessert option.  It's also a good way to sneak in zucchini (especially if you have zucchini growing in your garden like crazy still) and also obtain a bit of that fall-is-coming spicy cinnamon aroma wafting through your house.

To be honest, I'm pretty excited about autumn and was planning on baking something with pumpkin and cinnamon, but since I didn't have any pumpkin in the house, I figured using up extra zucchini would be more productive and useful anyways.  This is also a really fast recipe; stir it up and bake 30-35 minutes and done!  (A little extra time maybe for the optional glaze, but really, it's a snap).

I ate two pieces and then the hubby and I walked the dogs along Asilomar Beach--today there was a triathlon taking place on the road near our walk, so I felt extra lazy stuffed full of breakfast cake walking while cyclists huffed and sweated as they streaked past us.  But hey, what else are Sundays for?? (Pregnancy has its perks, like when I eat two pieces of healthy-ish cake for breakfast and don't really care).  Or hey if you're not pregnant, and just want a great morning--I say dig in!

Cinnamon Spice Zucchini Cake
Yields 9x13" cake
12-16 pieces

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
3/4 cup nondairy yogurt OR 6 TBSP ground chia + 9 TBSP water OR 3 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup raw cane sugar
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
2 cups All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour or oat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups shredded raw zucchini

Directions:

1.  If using coconut oil, warm the applesauce and melt the coconut oil before stirring together.  Add in eggs or egg substitute, vanilla and sugars and whisk well. (If using chia seeds and water, as always, let it sit and gel at least a few minutes).  If using olive, sunflower or avocado oil, no need to heat the oil or applesauce.
2.  Whisk the dry ingredients together.  I used 2 cups Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour and 1/2 cup brown rice flour, but any flour blend might well except for coconut flour; that will make the recipe super dry.
3.  Stir in zucchini last, and pour into a greased or lined 9x13" pan.
4.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes at 350F degrees.  (Check after 30 minutes; my oven baked it perfectly at 33-34 minutes.)  Your oven may take up to 40 minutes; a good way to tell is you'll start smelling it and when a toothpick is inserted into the cake, it comes out clean.

5.  Let cool, cut and serve.  Serve plain or whisk creamed honey, organic powdered sugar, and a few drops of water to glaze.  Store leftovers in an airtight container.  I prefer not to refrigerate baked goods as it will dry them out much faster.

P.S. want pretty reusable cake pan liners?  I'm obsessed with my easy-to-wash and very presentable Ikea Drommar Cake Doilies!

For the optional glaze:

I used Trader Joe's creamed honey and organic powdered sugar (corn-free)

Stir together honey and sugar, adding a little water if necessary 

Aim for a smooth texture with little to no sugar clumps--spreadable or drizzle-able is good

Spread, drizzle or squeeze out of a plastic bag for desired look.  Enjoy!

Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Fluffy Pancakes

Happy Independence Day!  Sleeping in and pancakes seemed like the perfect start to a holiday Saturday, and so, my newest recipe was born.

I usually don't like pancakes very much; I usually pull out the waffle iron instead.  I often make the mistake of making my pancakes or waffles "too healthy" too.  I'm known for attempting little too no flour, and many times have screwed up batters by adding too much chia seeds or pumpkin and I end up with a healthy but soggy or gummy breakfast.  So basically, I do not claim to be a pancake expert beyond my simple banana and egg protein pancakes.

This morning though, I woke up craving pancakes.  I wanted the decadent, restaurant style fluffy pancakes I vaguely remember having when I was young (and didn't know yet why I felt sick all the time.  Yup, turns out no gluten or dairy for me!)  So when my husband eagerly said "yes!" when I asked if he felt like pancakes, I decided to forgo my usual habit of sneaking in as healthy ingredients as I can, and instead looking for a simply airy and fluffy pancake that we both would enjoy.

I took inspiration from this blog and tinkered it to my tastes and thus, the best. pancake. I've. ever. had.  Read below to make your own easy perfect-texture fluffy pancake.  Enjoy, and let me know what you think.  I'm pretty sure I ate twice as many as my husband and I still feel great.  And so happy.  I think the perfect pancake will do that to you.  Now for a bike ride and short run!  Happy 4th of July, friends!!

Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Fluffy Pancakes
Yields 10-12 pancakes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup coconut greek yogurt (I used So Delicious; any type of greek yogurt should be great)
3 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut or almond milk
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons oat flour*
1 tablespoon coconut flour
2 tablespoons brown rice flour
2-1/2 tablespoons granulated honey or palm sugar**
3/4 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

1.  Whisk yogurt, eggs, vanilla and milk well.
2.  Stir in remaining dry ingredients.
3.  Heat pan on stovetop on medium and spritz with avocado oil or coconut oil.
4.   Spoon about 1/4 to 1/3 cup batter for each pancake onto pan.  Cook until set and flip, about 4 minutes on the first side, 2 on the other, or until set and lightly brown.

5.  Serve plain or with additional honey or yogurt and fresh fruit if desired.

Tips:
*Grind oats until fine in a coffee bean grinder or food processor for inexpensive oat flour; be sure to use gluten-free oats for a gluten-free pancake.
**You may use regular honey or maple syrup instead of granulated honey or sugar; just reduce the nondairy milk to 2 tablespoons.
If your batter is a little thick, add a little nondairy milk until the desired consistency is reached.

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Tapioca Waffle Recipe

I recently made a big bowl of gluten-free dairy-free tapioca when I was craving tapioca, but quickly satisfied my craving and then wondered what I'd do with the rest of it.

Side note: I'll tell you my tapioca recipe soon, but I've made three kinds lately, and the only one I liked was somewhat following the Bob's Red Mill Small Pearl Tapioca recipe on the back of the bag.  Definitely use small pearl tapioca, not instant, and I wouldn't recommend sweetening with a lot of maple syrup.  I tried that in my first batch and it was sickly sweet and terrible.  My favorite batch used soaked small pearl tapioca, coconut milk (not canned for me; I don't like that taste), eggs, splash of vanilla and a tiny dash of coconut sugar.  I prefer mine to be almost completely unsweet, but play around to find your favorite tapioca recipe, or find a pre-made one in natural food stores that suit your taste.  There are some vegan recipes without eggs as well, so check out pinterest for other recipes.

Back to the waffles.  Sunday morning is definitely a waffle morning, and I decided to see if I could someone turn my pudding into waffles.  Now this isn's the "cleanest" healthiest recipe, but it tastes great and is gluten-free, dairy-free and quite filling and tasty.  This is also a versatile recipe: you can use regular flour or any type of gluten-free flour, and you can use raisins instead of currants or omit them all together.

After a little bit of morning yoga to make breakfast, I looked over to see my recently vacated mat had been claimed by Yogi

Tapioca Waffle Recipe
makes 3 big waffles

Ingredients:

1 cup leftover tapioca pudding
1/2 cup coconut milk or almond milk
1 egg white
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP rice flour
1/2 cup oat flour (finely ground gluten-free oats)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of sea salt
1 tablespoon oil (olive, or avocado or sunflower oil)
1/4 cup currants

Directions:

1.  Whisk pudding, milk and egg white together in a medium bowl; set aside.
2.  In a small bowl sift or whisk dry ingredients.
3.  Fold dry into wet, stirring in oil then currants last.

4.  Cook on a preheated waffle iron until done; serve warm plain or topped with cinnamon applesauce.

Banana Carrot Cake

I spent yesterday making four lovely healthy gluten-free carrot cakes for a client, and the intoxicating aroma of baking carrot cake prompted me to make a version of the delectable cake for my own snacking purposes (ok, I shared some).

This recipe is easy, which I love, and quick.  But those perks aside, it's also a great fluffy texture: not dense or gummy as some traditional carrot cakes tend to be.  And no messing around with raisins or walnuts or coconut or anything else that in my opinion distracts from the true deliciousness of carrot cake.

This is a versatile recipe: any mashed fruit can replace the banana and you can even limit or omit the coconut sugar.  You can also omit the sugar and use honey or maple in place of the carrot juice.

I can also attest that this treat is quite nice after an hour long dog walk and long busy day of work.  Enjoy, and let me know what you think!  Oh, and my suggestion for the honey is to browse your local farmer's market: local raw honey may help with allergies (and let me tell you, my allergies are full force in Monterey County right now--I can use all the raw honey I can get!)

Banana Carrot Cake
Yields 11 muffins or 12 "donuts" or 1 two-layer cake

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cup gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon baking powder*
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup coconut palm sugar
1 cup carrots
1/3 cup melted coconut oil or sunflower oil
1/4 cup carrot juice
1/3 cup mashed banana (1/2 of a large banana)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Optional glaze: raw honey and honeycomb for a truly divine treat!

*This is my favorite "baking powder" as it is corn-free and aluminum-free

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tins or spritz donut pans with nonstick oil.
2.  Sift all dry ingredients together; set aside.
3.  Stir coconut oil and apple cider vinegar together and let sit to curdle.
4.  Whisk all wet ingredients together including carrots, then slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet.
5.  Divide into tins greased with coconut oil, filling 2/3 full.

5.  Bake 15-18 min or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, let cool 2 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack or surface.

6.  Enjoy warm with raw honey, or store extras once cooled in an airtight container.

By the way, most of these ingredients are found on Vitacost.com; they have tons of organic ingredients and ship in one day, which is hard to beat.  If you sign up through this link, you'll receive a $10 off coupon, and when you're order ships, I'll get a $10 coupon too--it's a win-win for both of us, and I'll have a reason to buy even more delicious organic ingredients to play with!