This month I was assigned to Cairns Manor, a blog filled with beautiful photography and penned by a lovely woman named Jo. As usual, Jo doesn’t share all my food intolerances or preferences. But, I was still able to find a recipe or two that intrigued me. Like this one for chocolate pumpkin cheesecake bars. Does that not sound fabulous? Sadly, major recipe reconstruction would be required to make that safe for me. Or croissants? I dream of making those gluten and dairy free.

It wasn’t all about pressing my nose to the glass of the forbidden candy store, though. I love the idea of using orange in this broccoli stir fry. I always forget about incorporating orange into my savory dishes.

But, the one dish that intrigued me the most, and required the least modifications for my wacky diet, was her chocolate bananas foster ice cream. Banana soft serve is a ritual in my house. The kiddo preaches the gospel of banana soft serve to all his friends, and has created quite a few converts. So, a twist on banana soft serve? Yes, please.

The kiddo and I whipped this up last weekend. We made only 3 minor modifications – we used almond milk instead of regular milk, palm sugar instead of white sugar, and dumped the lemon juice for a splash of rum. The result? A creamy, caramely, not too sweet twist on a classic. I don’t think it will ever replace straight up banana soft serve in our hearts, but it’s a great one to add to the repertoire. And the kiddo says next time we have to try it with peanut butter instead of chocolate.

I like the way the kiddo thinks.

Be sure to check out Jo’s step-by-step photos.

Isn't all ice cream better topped with hot fudge and chocolate chips?

Chocolate Bananas Foster Ice Cream

Adapted from Cairns Manor to be dairy-free, grain-free, & vegan.

3 medium bananas, peeled
3 tablespoons palm sugar
1 1/2 cups almond milk
2 tablespoons  cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 T. rum
1/4 tsp sea salt

Break up bananas into 1/2″ pieces. Toss in a bowl with the palm sugar until the sugar starts to melt and fully coats the banana Place on a lightly greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Bake 400° F for 30-40 minutes, stirring once, until bananas are browned and cooked through.

Remove from oven, and combine in your blender with remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth, then cool for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Once the base is cool, pour into ice cream machine and process according to machine’s instructions.

Once frozen, you can either eat the ice cream soft serve or remove ice cream into a freezer-safe container and freeze for a few hours before serving.

Check out all the rest of the Secret Recipe Club recipes for February’s Group C:

Sadly, the bars are not available locally. But, Attune Foods was nice enough to send me a box to sample.

Straight out of the box, they got a universal thumbs up in my household. They’re dark, but not bitter. Sweet, but not cloying. And, they’re chock full of probiotics. Probiotics are those wonderful little living organisms that our bodies need for good digestion and health, and they are most often found in fermented or cultured foods, like yogurt, sauerkraut & kombucha.

Have I mentioned that I really, really wish I liked fermented foods more than I do? Because probiotics are great for you. Really. But, I’m really not a huge fan of most fermented foods.

But, I can get behind chocolate probiotics. Oh yes, I can.

I rarely eat chocolate straight up, though. Nope, I’m a chop it up and put it in stuff gal.

But, if you bake probiotics, you kill them. All 6.1 billion of them per bar. Murderer. No one wants to be a murderer, right?

Enter the unbaked coco-nut pro bars: mostly raw, full of good fats, only slightly sweet, and the perfect carrier for all those lovely little beasties in the probiotic bar.

Semi-raw Vegan Coco Nut Probiotic Bars

Coco Nut Pro Bars

1/2 packed cup (77 g) dates
20 g (about 7) Brazil nuts
1/2 cup (55 g) sifted coconut flour
1 t. vanilla
1/4 t. salt
3/4 cup (90 g) almond meal
3-5 T. unsweetened almond milk
2 T. (28 g) melted coconut oil
1/2 cup (42 g) unsweetened coconut
2 bars (280 g) Attune Dark Chocolate Probiotic Bars, chopped

Line an 8″ x 8″ pan with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a food processor, process the dates and Brazil nuts until finely chopped. Add everything else except the chocolate, and process until you have a finely ground, crumbly mixture that holds together when squeezed into a ball. The amount of almond milk you need will vary depending on the moistness of your dates. Start with the smaller amount and if the mixture doesn’t hold together, add the additional milk. Add the chocolate chunks and pulse just enough to mix. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and press down firmly. Really press – if you don’t smash it down, it won’t hold together. Place pan in fridge to set. When set, remove by lifting up the parchment paper and cut into bars. Wrap tightly and store in the fridge.

Looking for more slightly indulgent recipes? Be sure to check out Amy’s weekly round-up, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays. Want more foods that promote wellness? Check out Wellness Weekends. And, for a plethora of allergy friendly recipes, visit Allergy-Free Wednesdays. For more lunch box friendly options, check out Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love.

Never one to take the easy route, I decided that these particular snickerdoodles should be grain-free & vegan, too. Oh, and it’d be great if they could be refined sugar free, right?

Well, after 5 batches of cookies, I’ve learned a thing or two.

Number one: a snickerdoodle without white sugar is not a snickerdoodle.

That doesn’t mean that it’s not a good cookie. But, come on. A snickerdoodle is all about tasting the cream of tarter and the cinnamon. Make it with palm sugar and you taste, well, the caramel flavor of the palm sugar. Harumph.

Number two: Honeyville blanched almond flour really does make a difference. I knew this already. But, generally speaking, I prefer the skin-on almond meal. It has more flavor. But, in a snickerdoodle, you’re not going for nutty flavor. You’re going for snickerdoodle flavor. Skip the skins. Go for blanched.

Number three: Earth Balance soy-free spread yields a softer, chewier, flatter cookie than organic palm shortening. I’m partial to the soft & chewy cookie, but I know that others prefer the crisp, fat cookie. Your call.

So, today, you get a three-fer, just by changing up a few ingredients: a traditional soft & chewy snickerdoodle, a traditional crisp and puffy snickerdoodle, or a natural, nutty, not so snickerdoodle.

Traditional crisp snickerdoodle on the left, natural nutty chewy cinnamon cookie on the right

Snickerdoodles & Cinnamon Stackers

grain-free, vegan, refined sugar-free option

1 t. psyllium powder
3 T. unsweetened cold almond milk
1/4 cup (48 g) organic palm shortening + 1/2 cup (56 g) Earth Balance soy-free spread * OR 1/2 cup (96 g) organic palm shortening
2/3 cup white sugar * OR 2/3 cup palm sugar
2 cups (200 g) Honeyville blanched almond flour * or 2 cups (200 g) almond meal
1/4 cup (28 g) arrowroot starch
1 t. cream of tarter
1/2 t. baking soda
1/8 t. salt

1 T. cinnamon
2 T. sugar

Preheat oven to 400°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small cup, mix the psyllium powder with the almond milk. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the fat(s) until light and fluffy. Add the sugar. Beat until creamy. Add the psyllium & almond milk mixture. Beat well. Add the almond flour, arrowroot starch, cream of tarter, salt and baking soda. Mix well. Dough will be somewhat soft.

Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Scoop out chunks of dough. Roll into balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon and sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies flatten somewhat and cinnamon coating is cracked. Cool completely.

* Note: I’ve starred the combinations that I like best. All of the combinations work. Feel free to experiment and try it yourself. I have NOT tried with all Earth Balance. Nor have I tried with white sugar and almond meal. I would imagine that with all Earth Balance, you’d need more flour or less fat. With white sugar and almond meal, the proportions above should work.

Let’s just skip all the talk about the cute new kitten in my life (Stripus Maximus) and the week in Arizona (heaven) and the weekend of cross country skiing (also heaven). Forget I mentioned that. Let’s just skip right to the good stuff.

Dessert.

Because after 4 weeks of no sugar, dessert is back in my life. On a limited basis anyway.  It’s all about balance.

Peanut butter fudge was one of my favorite confections growing up. It always seemed less tooth-achingly sweet than the chocolate kind. More earthy. Even, dare I say it, a wee bit healthier.

I’m sure it wasn’t.

But, these peanut butter fudge cookies take the best of peanut butter fudge – that gooey, dense deliciousness – and bring it to a cookie.

Best of all, they’re date-sweetened. Yep. No refined sugar.

The chocolate chips are just a bonus. Let’s not quibble about those.

Date-sweetened Peanut Butter Fudge Cookies

Date-Sweetened Peanut Butter Fudge Cookies

(grain-free, gluten-free, vegan, refined-sugar free option)

1 cup (135 g.) dates
1/2 cup (128 g.) natural peanut butter
2 T. ground flax seed
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. baking soda
1 cup (100 g.) blanched almond flour
1/3 – 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (optional – for refined sugar-free, use 2 T. cacao nibs instead)

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the dates until they are finely chopped. Add the peanut butter, flax seed, almond milk and vanilla. Process until creamy, scraping the sides occasionally. Add the baking soda and almond flour. Pulse until mixture forms a ball. The dough will be very sticky.

Remove from food processor and stir in chocolate chips (if using).

Drop by tablespoons onto prepared pans. Dipping a fork in water, press criss-cross markings into top of each cookie.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes, until beginning to brown on edges.

These cookies will not be crisp. They hold together nicely and have a soft, fudge-like texture.

For more slightly indulgent options, try Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

On the plus side, I lost a few pounds and I developed a love of green smoothies. Okay, a like. Okay, I kind of crave them (sometimes) but only when they’re full of banana and nut butter and other good stuff.

On the downside, in terms of balance, I felt a little like this guy, most of the time

Original photo credit to The Rachel Maddow Show

High raw in the winter in Wisconsin? Not the right trail for me.

But that’s okay, because as my wonderful friend, Monya, says, “I am an experiment of one.” And from every failed experiment, we learn something new. I’m still a work in progress. And, it’s important to me to be open to different ideas and approaches to finding balance in my eating and in my life.

If you are still a work in progress, there’s a great new site for you – The Balanced Platter (TBP). TBP is a one-stop shop for balanced, healthy gluten-free living. They’ll have different perspectives about living well on a gluten-free diet from top bloggers in the gluten-free arena – encompassing recipes, tips, how-to’s, and product reviews.

The site was founded by Amy Green of Simply Sugar and Gluten-free and Maggie Savage of She Let Them Eat Cake. And you may even see me guest-posting once in a while. Thanks, Amy and Maggie! What a great resource for all of us in our quest to find balance.

But that’s not all. Throughout the month of January, gluten-free bloggers will be posting about balance and offering up healthy recipes to start your year out right. You can get all the updates at The Balanced Platter, or by liking TBP on Facebook or by following @balancedplatter on Twitter. And, then on February 1st, TBP will be hosting a baking gift pack giveaway!

For me, I’ve found that cooked food is definitely needed to keep me in balance. But raw food? Well, it rawks, too. So, in celebration of the launch of The Balanced Platter, I’m offering up 2 takes on Broccoli Slaw – one raw, and one cooked. Both are naturally gluten-free and dairy-free, and can be nut-free. They’re also both extremely quick and very healthy – perfect for January, when we are all just a bit sick of spending lots of time in the kitchen.

For me, I eat the raw one all summer long. But, in the winter, I eat the cooked version. Which one balances you?

Cooked Asian Broccoli Slaw - vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, grain-free

Asian Broccoli Slaw 2 Ways

1 onion (omit for raw version)
1 small clove garlic (minced for cooked version, mashed for raw)
1 T. sesame oil
1 T. low-sodium GF Tamari Sauce (for paleo or soy-free, use coconut aminos)
1 t. grated ginger or 1/2 t. dried ginger (dried ginger is considered more warming, if you need to build warmth)
6 ounces (1/2 package) packaged broccoli slaw (available at Trader Joe’s or at most large grocery stores)
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/3 cup nuts (I typically use peanuts in the cooked version and raw cashews in the raw. For a nut-free version, use sesame or pumpkin seeds.)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional)

Raw Version

Stir together garlic, ginger, sesame oil, tamari and lime juice. Pour over slaw. Let rest for 30 minutes. Top with nuts and cilantro.

Cooked Version

Warm the sesame oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until onions are soft. Add garlic and ginger. Cook for 30 more seconds. Add the slaw and the tamari. (The slaw will release liquid, but if it’s too dry as you’re starting, add 1 T. water to help it get started.) Cook, stirring constantly, until slaw softens. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice. Top with nuts and cilantro.

I know. Me! The cookie monster!

And not just sugar – that’s not that unusual – but also dried fruit, maple syrup, agave, honey, stevia, concentrated fruit juice…. You get the idea. It’s all out for 30 days while I let my tastebuds do a reset.

So that stuff I’ve been posting? Those cookies? Those truffles? That nutella? I did all that before I quit, and haven’t touched a bite since.

Did I mention it’s been 18 days?

The truffles and cookies are long-gone. But, that nutella? There’s still some in the jar in my fridge and every time I open the fridge, there it is. Staring at me.

No fair.

Last night, I’d had enough. And, with my already re-calibrating tastebuds, I determined to make my own version of nutella.

Except without the hazelnuts. Or chocolate.

It IS dark and creamy and goes really, really well on apples. Or bananas. And probably on pancakes. But, I’m not really eating those either….

(They’re just not worth it without maple syrup.)

Creamy, delicious and sugar-free carob cashew coconut butter

Cashew Carob Coconut Butter (vegan, high-raw, grain-free, sugar-free)

1 cup (58 g) unsweetened shredded dried coconut
1/4 cup (26 g) carob powder *
1 1/2 cups (240 g) raw cashews
1/4 t. sea salt
1/2 t. vanilla extract *

Place coconut in the bowl of a food processor. Process until coconut breaks down enough to stick to the sides of the bowl. Add carob powder and continue to process until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the rest of the ingredients. Process until very smooth. This takes quite a while. Note that it will clump up into a ball and roll around. Don’t fret! Just stop, break it up, and continue to process. You’re almost there. When it’s done, you should have a very smooth and creamy spreadable butter – like commercial natural peanut butter. Transfer to a jar with a lid.

If you use stevia, I’m fairly sure this would be awesome with some NuNaturals Chocolate Stevia extract.

* Note: My carob powder is probably the roasted variety. If you want to be totally raw, look for raw carob powder and raw vanilla extract, or use a small piece (1/2 inch) of vanilla bean and process that with a coffee grinder first.

For more wonderfully healthy recipes, visit Wellness Weekends at Diet, Dessert and Dogs.

For the first go-round with Heather’s recipe index, I tasked the kiddo with coming up with his pick. He choose her Chunky Blonde Blondies. Of course, Heather is not gluten-free or dairy-free. So much swapping took place. And the kiddo made all the decisions, and he wanted to go whole hog – and make them not only gluten-free, but also grain-free. Consequently, we ended up with some delicious bars, but I didn’t really feel like they were close enough to the original recipe to be called just an adaptation.

Back to the recipe index we went.

This time I got to choose. And, because I’ve been eating far too many sweets, I choose something that I can’t eat. Something chock full of oats. See how I’m all sneaky that way?

Of course, making this recipe DID require coming up with a vegan version of nutella.

There’s no grain in that.

Mmmmm…..must stop eating it.

The cookies, as the report goes, are delicious, though a bit crumbly. Next time I might up the flax seed a bit, and go with more nutella and less peanut butter. But, I was trying to stick as close to the original as possible.

Thanks, Heather for providing oodles of recipe inspiration!

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies - the gluten-free, vegan version

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

Adapted from Sweet and Savory Life.

1 cup gluten-free oat flour
1 cup old-fashioned gluten-free oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Earth Balance Soy-Free, softened
3/4 cup palm sugar
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (crunchy preferred)
1 flax egg (1 T. ground flax seed + 3 T. hot water, mixed until thick)
1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup Vegan Nutella

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. Mix Earth Balance, sugars and peanut butter. Add flax egg and vanilla and mix well. Add flour mixture into wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Slowly stir Nutella into the mixture. Place batter in spoonfuls onto baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

To see all the Secret Recipe Club assignments, please visit our blog hop:

If you’re looking for more gluten-free recipes (especially chocolate ones) check out Gluten-Free HomeMaker’s Gluten-Free Wednesdays.

Today, the kiddo put a spoonful of it in hot almond milk.

Instant nutella hot chocolate.

That kid is a genius, I tell ya.

Meanwhile, I was scooping #70 cookie dough scoops of it into my hand, rolling it in balls, and rolling it in cocoa.

Or ground nuts.

Or coconut.

You get the idea.

Are we having fun yet?

(Just don’t leave these truffles out at room temp. They’ll get too soft.)

Nutella Truffles

We had to make a special effort to buy it. And, we’d get it for her for Christmas. And she loved us for it.

Now, nutella is easy to find. But, sadly, I can’t eat it. See, it’s full of dairy, which is definitely out for me. It’s also full of sugar, which isn’t so spectacular for me, either.

My version is not sugar-free. But, it is dairy-free. And, it’s as simple as it gets – just three ingredients. Even better, it’s a ratio recipe – meaning you can make as much or as little as you like, as long as you measure by weight.

The kiddo suggested eating it on apples. There’s my health-conscious kiddo for ya. I said, “Um, how about on these leftover banana pancakes instead?” He didn’t argue.

3 Ingredient Bittersweet Nutella

3 Ingredient Bittersweet Vegan Nutella

When cooking with ratios, you typically have 1 ingredient as the “base” ingredient off of which others are based. In bread, that’s the flour. In this nutella recipe, I’ve chosen the hazelnuts. I’ve listed the weights I’ve used in parenthesis after each ingredient. This batch makes enough to fill a quart pint mason jar about 3/4 full. To scale the recipe up or down, choose your weight for the hazelnuts and then do 1 and a half times more chocolate and twice as much coconut milk. Make sense?

1 part hazelnuts (100 g)
1.5 parts dairy-free chocolate, chopped fine (150 g)
2 parts full fat canned coconut milk (200 g)

Preheat oven to 350°. Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, until toasted. Pour nuts into a clean dish towel and rub vigorously. Most of the skins will fall off. You may have to pick out the ones that are skinless and repeat the rubbing several times.

Transfer nuts to a food processor. Process until they become a creamy nut butter. (This takes about 10 minutes.)

In a double boiler or metal bowl over a sauce pan, heat the chocolate and coconut milk until chocolate is completely melted. Pour into food processor and pulse until mixture is fully mixed. Transfer to jars and cool.

I keep mine in the fridge. It does harden a bit more than regular nutella in the fridge, but softens at room temp, and is still soft enough to spread on sturdy bread or apples straight from the fridge.

For more slightly indulgent goodies, check out Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Frosting faces after frosting cut-out cookies? That’s one of those traditions.

Other traditions are borrowed, adapted, chosen as an adult, or gifted to you. Kolacky is one of those traditions. I never had one until my sister started working at a law firm with an administrative assistant of Czech heritage and generous heart. And every year she would make walnut kolacky for my sister. And every year, I’d get to eat it when we went to visit for Christmas.

One year, in my pre-gluten-free days, I asked for the recipe, and she generously shared it with me. But, I’d never made them. Some things are best when made by other people.

It’s been a few years since I’ve had her kolacky, and I still had the recipe in my giant 3-ring binder of recipes I’ve yet to convert.

And then I saw Cara’s post for Jam-Filled Kolache. Kolache, kolacky – same thing, different spelling. (Check out her beautiful photos for how to fill and shape these puppies.)

And I knew, this was the year.

Christmas Kolacky or Kolache - however you spell it.

Czech Kolacky (grain-free, vegan)

6.25 oz coconut oil (softened)
1.5 cups (180 g) almond meal
1/2 cup (56 g) sifted coconut flour
1/4 t. salt
1/4 cup (28 g) arrowroot starch
1/2 cup warm almond milk
2 t. psyllium powder
2 1/2 t. yeast

The Night Before Baking:
In a measuring cup, mix together the warm almond milk, psyllium powder and yeast. Stir well and allow to sit for 5 minutes – until yeast starts to ferment and mixture (which will be very thick and gelatinous) starts to puff.

In the bowl of your food processor, pulse the coconut oil, almond meal, and coconut flour until crumbly. Add the proofed yeast mixture and process until well mixed. It will be sticky and wet. Scrape dough into a bowl. Lay plastic wrap on top of the dough and refrigerate overnight.

Walnut Filling
1/2 pound (8 ounces) walnuts
1 T. Earth Balance soy-free
2 T. almond milk
1/3 cup palm sugar
1/2 t. vanilla extract

In the bowl of your food processor, pulse walnuts until finely ground. In a small saucepan, heat Earth Balance, almond milk, and palm sugar until melted and sugar is just dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract and walnuts. Set aside until baking time.

(You don’t want to do this right before you bake, but you don’t have to do it the night before, either. You just want to make sure it’s fully cooled before filling the kolacky.)

On Baking Day
2/3 cup palm sugar – processed in a coffee mill until finely powdered

Preheat oven to 350°. Sprinkle a piece of parchment paper with powdered palm sugar. Roll out half of the dough at a time. Cut with round cookie cutters. Transfer cut dough to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Put a spoon full of walnut filling in the center of each circle, and fold two sides up to meet in the middle. You’re making a little “bowtie” kind of shape. Gently press the edges of the dough together. If the dough cracks, gently smooth over any cracks.

Repeat until all the dough is rolled, cut and filled.

Bake each sheet for approximately 12-16 minutes, or until edges are browned. Cool until you can handle the kolacky. Dust with additional powdered sugar, dumping off any excess back into the bowl.

These are best the next day.

While these are far from healthy, they do have  a plethora of health-supporting ingredients – coconut oil, walnuts, almonds. And, it IS the holiday season. So, I’m thinking I MIGHT be able to get away with adding these to Ricki’s Wellness Weekend. Right, Ricki?