Coconut oil

Quick and simple vegan cream cheese made with 3 ingredients: raw cashews, coconut oil and lemon juice. Use it as a spread, or in no-bake recipes that call for traditional cream cheese! I have a go-to recipe to share today, one that will make the holidays especially easy and delicious. Who doesn’t want that? It’s …

Healthy, scrumptious, vegan oat and coconut flour biscuits ! They are gluten-free, nut-free, and can be varied multiple ways. Vegan Oat Biscuits with Coconut Flour I have been a carb-loading machine of late, in large part due to an uptick in my running miles. It explains why, between me, my scone-loving husband, and our growing-by-the-minute …

Perfect oat and coconut flour scones made with only 5 ingredients! They are vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, easy-to-make, and healthy, plus they can be varied in endless ways. Perfect Gluten-Free Vegan Scones My husband is remarkably tolerant of my petty food complaints (it may also be selective deafness). Chief among my grievances is coffee shop scones. …

Coconut lime chickpea flour shortbread, spiced with a hint of cardamom. The cookies are grain-free, vegan, gluten-free & easy to make. Good morning, everyone! In my previous post, I introduced my 4-Ingredient Grain-Free, Vegan Shortbread, along with a promise: that I would share my favorite variation in a subsequent post. So without further delay, allow …

Utterly delectable, super-easy, 4-ingredient chickpea flour shortbread cookies that are grain-free, vegan, and can be varied in countless ways! The primary ingredients are chickpea flour and coconut oil. Easy Grain-Free Vegan Shortbread I love shortbread. LOVE. The simplicity, the delicate yet substantial texture, and the subtle sweetness. I also have a mindset that the world …

Celebrate anytime with decedent vegan chocolate Bundt cake! It is a breeze to prepare and so delicious, you will want to make one asap. Good Monday morning, readers! I hope that your weekend was a restorative one. It was at our house. The decorations are up, some initial holiday baking took place, and, best of …

No one will guess that this tender, golden, delicious pie crust is made with chickpea flour. Equally incredible: it is a one-bowl, so-easy, no-roll chickpea flour pie crust! Happy Thanksgiving Eve, everybody! I hope that any stress is being dialed down, and the fun, relaxation, and good eats are amping up. I am spending the …

Pie crust perfection, thanks to tiger nut flour! This one-bowl, mix-press-bake tiger nut flour pie crust is naturally sweet, crisp, tender and all around amazing. It also happens to be grain-free, gluten-free, vegan & paleo. Happy Friday, everyone! As promised in yesterday’s post, I have another super-simple, grain-free crust recipe for you, just in time …

Healthy, yummy, crunchy nuts & seeds breakfast cookies made with 5 ingredients! They are grain-free, oil-free, vegan, and simple to make in a muffin tin! 5-Ingredient Vegan, Grain-Free Breakfast Cookies I am ambivalent about sharing this recipe. Why? Because, based on my own experience, making and eating the results can (swiftly) develop into an obsession. Then …

Grain-Free vegan crumb coffee cakes ! Made with chickpea flour and coconut flour, they are delicious, satisfying, and super-simple to prepare in a muffin tin. I love coffee and I love to feed people delicious food, so early morning events–volunteering, post-run or post-race get-togethers, weekend little league games– are right up my alley. Show up …

Healthy zucchini oat breakfast cookies! Baked in a muffin tin, they are vegan, gluten-free, and only 62 calories per big cookie. Turn Your Zucchini Into Healthy Breakfast Cookies Zucchini are already appearing at the farmers’ market–hurrah! They are so versatile and tasty in salads and on the grill all summer long. My nostalgic favorite is …

Super simple and easy-to-make protein bars with all of the great flavor of an Almond Joy candy bar! They are no-bake, vegan, gluten-free, and only 123 calories each.

Jumbo chocolate-covered raisin breakfast cookies! They are nutritious, vegan, grain-free and only 114 calories per big cookie. Made in a muffin tin, they easy to make and bake.

Incredibly delicious, and healthy, coffee protein bars, made with ease in a muffin tin! They are vegan, gluten-free, and have 11 calories and 9 grams of protein each.

Healthy no-bake buckwheat granola bars made with ease! They are vegan, gluten-free and pressed into a muffin tin (no cutting required!). No-Bake & No-Cut Buckwheat Granola Bars Homemade granola bars can be easy to make. Slicing granola bars into neat, perfectly-portioned bars? Not so much. Without the magic of industrial machinery, it can be pretty …

Hemp protein powder delivers fiber, omega fatty acids and plant protein in these easy, delicious granola bars. The bars are vegan, gluten-free and super satisfying!

Easy granola bars made in a muffin tin! They are nutritious, vegan, gluten-free, and low in sugar, too.

Easy, no-bake chocolate chip cookie dough bars, made in a muffin tin! They are also gluten-free.

Vegan protein bars (in the round) that taste like chocolate frosting! Call it chocolate protein fudge 🙂 They have 8.2 grams of protein and 119 calories apiece. Yum!

Decadent, yet nutritious, vegan brownies, made with black beans and oats! They are  gluten-free, and extra-easy to make in a muffin pan (no cutting required!). Make Fitness Food with Real Ingredients The market for fitness “food” is swamped with a catchall of powders, goops, bars, and countless other processed, packaged wonder-eats, all promising ultimate performance for everyone …

Flourless apple millet muffins are a delicious alternative to baked oatmeal! They are naturally vegan, gluten-free, and fruit-sweetened. Confession: I eat an average of three breakfasts. Every day. For years, I thought there was something terribly wrong with me. I’d get up, eat a healthy breakfast–for example, oatmeal, yogurt, whole grain toast with peanut butter, …

Individual vegan baked oatmeal cups, made portable by baking in a muffin tin! The oatmeal cups are are vegan, gluten-free and oil-free. In an age of ever-changing “it” ingredients, I give thanks for oats. Cheap, nutritious, easy-to-find, filling, satisfying, versatile, and loved by children and adults alike, oats are tried and true. Portable oat packets, and, more …

I’m pretty sure I don’t need to convince you to eat these cinnamon-sugar donut bites. Tender, cakey, with just the right amount of sweet spice, it’s hard to stop at just one. Or two. Or eleven. But you’ll want to sprint to the kitchen to make these blissful bites when you read on about what …

You can’t pack a bowl of oatmeal to go, so grab a few of my healthy, 100% oat biscotti instead! They are vegan, flourless, gluten-free, nut-free, and 100% delicious! A Portable Bowl of Oatmeal I’ve figured out out many things throughout the years. Eating a bowl of oatmeal while running is not one of them. It’s …

Chocolate lovers, you have a new favorite cookie recipe: Double Chocolate Chickpea Flour Cookies! They are vegan, grain-free, gluten-free, and a cinch to make. It’s day 7 of the 7 days of Chickpea Flour Cookies! Chickpeas in chocolate cookies? Oh yes! What better way to top off a week of chickpea cookie ideas than with …

It’s day 4 of the 7 days of Chickpea Flour Cookies! Snickerdoodles contain so many of my first independent baking adventures in my childhood home in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is one of the reasons I love them so much. The recipe I used was from the New Fannie Farmer Baking Book by …

It’s day 2 of the 7 days of Chickpea Flour Cookies! Let’s face it: we all need plenty of energy this month. Visits from and with family and friends, wrapping gifts, decorating the house, baking, cooking, cleaning and celebrating, oh my! Add to that, it’s chilly in most parts of the country, including right here in …

Forget about grains and make a batch of my blueberry chickpea flour no-cornbread instead! It is vegan, grain-free, and gluten-free! Eek! Ack! I have no idea how it is the Monday before Thanksgiving, and yet the calendar insists it is so. I have a terrible habit of posting holiday-themed recipes AFTER the holiday, but not …

Decadent–yet healthy!–gingerbread blondies, made with coconut flour and chickpea flour! They are naturally vegan, grain-free, nut-free, and gluten-free.

Welcome fall with a bowl of fresh apple pie granola, made with chopped fresh apples baked right in! It is healthy, vegan, and gluten-free. The Perfect Autumn Cereal: Fresh Apple Pie Granola If I became a superhero, I would be The Muncher. I would defeat crime and keep citizens safe from evil by munching my …

Happy Tuesday, everyone! It’s finally rain-free so it took less will-power than usual to get out the door and onto the road for a long run. Still, there’s nothing wrong with some added incentive to (quite literally) go the extra mile. For example, chocolate. I’m not kidding about these muffins providing extra stamina. Teff, an …

It’s a cold, wet and grey in my neck of the woods, so I have had plenty of incentive to head to the kitchen and bake. Yes, I love the results of what I prepare, but the sweetest moment is standing in front of the open oven door at the end of every baking session. …

The best vegan cashew cheesecake is also one of the easiest desserts you can make! No cooking required, it is grain-free, gluten-free, & Paleo, too. Cheesecake, Made with Neither Eggs nor Dairy Cheesecake. Vegan. These two things do not go together. Unless, that is, you blow up the rules for what a cheesecake should be. …

Good morning everyone! Today’s post is a special request from a reader who loved the coconut flour cupcakes post. She wanted to know if I might have a banana bread recipe made with coconut flour, too. I didn’t so I bought two extra-large bunches of bananas and left them to brown in order to begin …

5-ingredient toasted millet apricot energy bars will power you through any endeavor. They are naturally vegan and gluten-free. Millet as an Alternative to Nuts If you are need to avoid, are have an allergy to nuts, then you need to gain the acquaintance of toasted millet. Millet is humble seed, more likely found in your …

Today is a very exciting day, the explanation of which can be summed up in one word: SUNSHINE! After hiding behind gray clouds for weeks, the sun is bathing our fair city in golden rays, and, with apologies to my friends in Northern climes, it is a blissful 50 degrees here in the Piney Woods …

  Happy New Year, everyone! Whether you have made resolutions to eat a healthier diet, have set weight loss goals, or are simply  in the mood to get back on track after the past few weeks of delicious indulgence, I have a simple recipe that you will want to make asap. If you are anything …

  Good morning, everyone! I hope that all of you had a happy Thanksgiving, replete with great food and fun with family and friends. I had a glorious time in bed with the flu. I know, boo hoo. But at least my husband and son escaped to visit my in-laws before I could pass it …

Easy, amazing, vegan coconut flour chocolate cake made with coconut flour, coconut oil, and chickpea flour eggs (in place of regular eggs; a Paleo version with real eggs is also included). The cake is grain-free and gluten-free, too. Coconut Flour Cake without Eggs Coconut flour is such a delicious and versatile flour to bake with …

Scrumptious vegan coconut flour cupcakes are just what your next celebration needs! They are grain-free, nut-free, and gluten-free, too. By George, I’ve finally done it. A perfect vanilla cupcake that is grain-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, and gluten-free. And it only took me 5 dozen attempts to get them right! I’m calling them Freedom Cupcakes. Nick …

Crisp-tender, delicious and easy maple almond flour cut-out cookies that are also Paleo, grain-free, gluten-free, and refined sugar free! It’s finally time for cookies! We decorated the house last night so I’m in full-Christmas mode. Hence, I decided to experiment and make maple-sweetened almond flour cut-out cookies. I was nervous about whether these cookies would …

Have you baked with coconut flour? It took me a long time to give it a go. I’m comfortable using all varieties of gluten-free flours—brown rice blends, teff flour, sorghum flour, oat flour, quinoa flour—but for years, coconut flour recipes frightened me. Most gluten-free baking requires adjustments to traditional baking ratios (e.g., liquids, flours, leaveners, …

Shake up your breakfast cereal routine with grain-free red lentil granola! It is high in protein & fiber, & frugal too! Make Healthy Grain-Free Granola with Lentils I love a challenge, especially a recipe challenge. Depending on the complexity of the task (e.g., alternative baking), it is often equal parts logic problem and scientific experiment. …

I have a terrible habit of posting recipes for special holidays and events after said holidays or events have come and gone. For example, I offer here a perfect holiday cookie…in January. Sigh. Lucky me, my birthday is in January. In sweet treat translation, that means I save any New Year’s resolutions until Lent and …

Greetings, all! My posts have been sporadic these past months, to say the least. Mea culpa, friends. I’ve been in  masochistic recipe development- and cookbook writing- mode, replete with piggy-backing deadlines, manic hair-pulling, and incessant teeth gnashing. Whee! The only way to survive has been to let a few things go, such as regular blog …

Shhh. This banana bread is made with quinoa flour. I’m happy to let you in on the secret, but it is hush-hush at our household. My lovely husband Kevin is all for whole wheat flour (in moderation) and quinoa (as a side dish), but he is wary of what some would call “alternative” flours (he …

Healthy yet indulgent-tasting coconut oil chocolate bark, made with 4 ingredients! It is vegan, paleo, gluten-free, grain-free, and includes a keto option, too! An Easy, Healthy, Delicious Chocolate Bark Recipe Valentines Day is almost here, and I have a perfect recipe for gifting and celebrating. It is go-soft-in-the-knees delicious, super-simple to make, and relatively frugal, …

Merry Christmas everyone! To commemorate the day in delicious style, I offer you my latest cookie creation, an Indian-inspired thumbprint cookie. I developed this cookie for a recipe contest, but despite being utterly fabulous (all humility aside), it did not capture a prize. But all the better, because the recipe remains my own and I …

Flourless oat banana coconut oil energy cookies, perfect for breakfasts, snacks & dessert! They are vegan, gluten-free, & have no added sugar. Flourless & Vegan Banana Oat Cookies A batch of homemade drop cookies may not sound particularly Halloween-esque. Yes, I’ve given these beauties an ample dose of fall flavor in the forms of cinnamon …

< I would like to introduce you to these chocolate chip cookies. They have no butter, eggs, gluten, dairy, or wheat flour. But that’s beside the point. What makes these crisp-tender chocolate chippers extraordinary is their sublime flavor (vanilla with subtle hints of coconut), their ease of preparation (no electric mixers required), and the incorporation …

The months of 100+ heat have finally subsided; it was reaching the point where I could no longer imagine what it felt like to step outside without it feeling like a steam sauna. Literally overnight, the weather dropped almost 40 degrees, reportedly due to a Canadian cold front. Thank you, Canada! It seemed like the …

I like to consider myself a reasonable person in most matters, but I am a bonafide snob when it comes to scones. I blame it all on my mother. She made scones–namely buttery, currant scones, from the Woman’s Day Encyclopedia of Cookery–on a regular basis, whipping them up in minutes (sans food processor or even …

Classically trained chefs can teach you to make countless masterpieces. For example, a silken hollandaise, a skillfully seared lamb chop,  or a delicate dacquoise. But they cannot guide you in the making of a perfect granola. Granola is an American invention, and is better off made with the old-fashioned American ingenuity of the home cook. In my early …

Healthy toasted millet banana muffins made in one bowl! So delicious, they are vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free. These crunch-wonderful banana muffins are made with a nutritious, inexpensive, gluten-free alternative to nuts: millet. What Makes these Millet Muffins so Healthy? As banana muffins go, these are already pretty wonderful. In taste, most definitely, but also because …

One-bowl, vegan almond flour brownies (yum!). They are fudgy, grain-free, gluten-free, & only 146 calories each. Happy Friday everyone! Let’s talk chocolate. I’m dating myself, but does anyone else remember the commercials for Betty Crocker Snackin’ Cake from the 1970s? They worked on my pee-wee brain like magic: I wanted chocolate snackin’ cake, and I …

When I was in graduate school, my California friends and acquaintances back home would invariably ask the same question with every return visit: “Remind me where it is you attend school? It’s one of the I states, isn’t it?” After years of replying “Indiana,” the abbreviated responses remained constant: in summer, “Ooh, Hot!” and in …

  Anyone who tells a lie has not a pure heart, and cannot make a good soup…Ludwig van Beethoven I’m keeping this entry short and sweet (or, more accurately, hot and sour) with a soup recipe; it’s what we had for dinner last night. . My next book (Enlightened Soups) is in process and I’m …

My posts will be more sporadic in the coming days; little Nick’s flu turned out to be viral pneumonia. He checked into the hospital yesterday. It’s been a crazy few days; he is already doing MUCH better, but send a little prayer our way. I’m back home for a few hours to rest up, but …

A bit of prose in praise of comfort food is almost as good as a bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup on a January afternoon. Almost. Fiction, food articles, and cookbooks celebrating the solace of stews, muffins and casseroles are entertaining, soothing, and full of tender morsels of memory and inspiration. But on days like …

It’s my birthday weekend, which means the oven is on and this post will be short. Just managed to get Nick down to a nap, so I’ve got to type fast; I still have to make myself-semi-presentable for dinner out tonight (whoo-hoo!). Even though I’m heading out to dinner, I’m making my own cake. When …

  I thought I was over my baking bug, but today proved me wrong. The oven’s been on most of the afternoon (as is the TV in the living room where Kevin is watching some playoff game or another—we’re both in winter bliss). But instead of Christmas cookies, I’m making some quick breads to freeze …

Who knew that frozen peas could be so ridiculously delicious and versatile? But before I develop a distinct green tinge, I’ll move on to another vegetable. Tomorrow I’ll begin anew with another option from my list of vegetable favorites (surf in to see what’s in store–no hints!). The inspiration for recipe # 3 comes from …

I’m flying home to visit my parents and siblings on the evening of Christmas day (we did this last year, too—it really was less crowded, much easier with baby in tow). Even though Nick can still technically travel for free by sitting in a lap, I gave myself an early Christmas present and bought him …

Update: I made yet another nut recipe, and it is incredible! You can use any nuts you prefer, but this time the star sweetener is maple syrup. I also added quatre epices. Quatre epices is a spice used mainly in France—it literally translates as “four spices” (it’s nice to know my high school French wasn’t …