As most of you babes know, I LOVE FALL! It is my favorite season because I love the colors, the weather cooling down, the flavors, Halloween…I could go on and on. I am proud to be basic and I am proud to have fallen in love with fall. There will be a ton of delicious recipes for my favorite season, and I already started with some Apple Fritters. However, my fall baking has not ended there. In fact since that post, I have created 3 new recipes that fit my dietary needs, give me the flavors I crave, and are made with all-natural ingredients. I was going to do individual posts, but I thought why not treat you all to 3-in-1!
So, I am going to organize this to the best of my ability. I will of course give my inspiration for creation for each recipe, but I am hoping to make this not too long of a read. I know I have been making some really long blog posts lately (which have felt AMAZING to post) but I know recipes are sometimes left short and…sweet (;
Just so you babes know, these recipes do not require anything too fancy. In fact, I got most of my ingredients at Trader Joe’s. I try to make my recipes lower in cost so you all can enjoy without breaking the bank. I know there are a lot of healthier recipes out there that require ingredients that are $20 each and for me, I cannot justify that! I want to be healthy, enjoy my treats, and still be able to make my student loan payment. Also, I do not know if these recipes are possible to make with regular flour, sugar, or butter because that is not how I choose to bake. I have restrictions in my diet and my blog sort of revolves around those. You are always welcome to try them out with any different ingredients and let me know how it goes! I love hearing about your experiences in the kitchen, and I always cry when I get sent pictures of you babes making my recipes (because it makes me feel like I helped some taste buds!) So, let’s get baking!
Paleo Pumpkin Spice Bread (gluten-free, dairy-free, and low-carb)
Pumpkin bread is one of my favorite fall treats. I used to always grab a piece with a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks before class in my college days. But, it’s definitely a lot more diet and budget friendly to make my own. I wanted to replicate the classic pumpkin flavor, while also making sure to include the spices that match pumpkin so well. With cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger…this bread not only tastes delicious but makes your house smell like fall without lighting a candle! It is a lot denser than typical bread, simply because of the flour used, but it is every bit as delicious and can easily be made as muffins!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup all-natural honey
- 1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- Sunflower seeds as optional topping
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F and line a bread loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine the coconut flour, almond flour, spices, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs and add the honey, vanilla, and coconut oil. Mix thoroughly.
- Add the pumpkin puree to the wet mixture and combine until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and combine until you have a smooth batter. Be sure that there are no lumps!
- Pour your batter into the lined bread loaf pan, and sprinkle sunflower seeds on top.
- Gently place in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!
“The Laura” Chai Latte Spiced Cookies (gluten-free, paleo, keto, dairy-free, vegan, and low-carb)
Okay, so this one goes out to the wonderful woman I spent all of last fall living in the mountains with…Laura Young! She and I had both changed our entire lives to take on jobs that ended up being absolutely insane. We lived in cabins with no running water or bathrooms, barely any electricity, and the closest town was about 6 miles away and as small as could be. Neither of us lasted long (she lasted longer than I did, of course) because the working conditions were just awful. However, we did experience a lot of fun fall things together, including the strangest haunted house ever and pumpkin searching in the grocery store parking lot. But one of the best memories were the times one of us would make a Starbucks run, because the closest one was about 40 minutes away, we would always bring back a drink for the other. Laura’s favorite fall order is a Venti Pumpkin Chai Latte with Soy. So, in honor of me missing my soul sister (who is now starting a new adventure in D.C.) I decided to make her favorite drink in the form of an Emilee friendly cookie. Laura, if you are reading this, I love you and you better make this. And if you aren’t Laura, then you should also make it and know that these cookies (I made 16) were gone within 2 days at my house! So delicious!
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/3 cup all-natural honey
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon cardamom
- 1 tablespoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place all of the ingredients (yes, all of them!) in a bowl and combine with an electric mixer.
- When all ingredients are combined and a dough is formed, roll into a ball and store in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
- Once cooled, you can either form 2 inch balls and then flatten them, or you can roll out the dough and use cookie cutters to create shapes. I used the first method, but also tested the second, too!
- Place cookies on lined baking sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes or until the cookies turn golden brown. I’ve found my oven to bake a bit differently than others.
- Remove from oven and allow the cookies to cool.
- Enjoy with homemade cashew milk, or your favorite fall drink!
Pumpkin Butter Thumbprint Cookies using Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter (paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and low carb)
Another one of my favorite treats for fall is Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter. It’s absolutely delicious and made out of some pretty clean ingredients. I love the depth of flavors, and that its less than $3 a jar. I’ve always loved thumbprint cookies, whether it is filled with jam or chocolate, but I haven’t tried making them since becoming gluten-free. Luckily, the cookie portion of this is very versatile and is what I consider to be a healthier shortbread. It’s soft and buttery but without actual butter! Plus the flavors in the cookies mix perfectly with the pumpkin butter on top! This is a simple recipe, and another crowd pleaser in my household. Just be sure to store any leftovers in the fridge in an air tight container so they stay edible (pumpkin butter does need to be refrigerated!)
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut four
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cup all-natural honey
- 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 jar of Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter
Directions
- In a bowl, mix together all of the ingredients except the pumpkin butter. Combine until you have a dough-like consistency and roll into a ball. Place dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 °F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a tablespoon of dough per cookie, form into small balls. I was able to make about 15. Then, make an imprint in the center of each cookie with your thumb (get it, thumbprint cookies.)
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and let cool for 1 minute. Then, repress your thumbprint down into the cookies and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Using a spoon, fill each thumbprint with pumpkin butter.
- Let cool in the fridge for about 10 minutes to set!
- Enjoy!
I am a huge fan of 4th of July. The sparklers, fireworks, bbq Foods, beach, sun, swimming, and desserts; all wonderful things that come even better with good company. I’ve always been a fan of spending the whole day and night celebrating and having a good time. This year however, I don’t want all the crazy added sugar. So, I decided to recreate some of my favorites with less sugar, better-for-you ingredients, and of course gluten-free ingredients. These desserts might not please every diet, so just keep that in mind! They can also be made to fit the need of other holidays by using different colors and themes! Personalization is a choice.
Again, all about honesty here, this did not turn out the way I had planned. However, it came out so delicious that I couldn’t help but share the success with you all. The original plan was to use blue berries and beets to create a swirl in the bread, but I just didn’t use enough! I could have easily used food coloring, but I wanted to make this cake as all natural as possible…and the blueberries added a little color without too much blueberry flavor which was the goal. My family has already finished the half I set aside for them!! So, how did I make a cake healthier but still moist and delicious? I used 100% pure maple syrup and a little bit of stevia. I also used gluten-free flour and coconut oil in place of butter. These simple switches can help make eating cake a little less of a guilty pleasure.
So, naturally, the moment I got home my recipe creator mind went crazy trying to think of a delicious dish I could make to satisfy my craving. When I create recipes, I like to think of a dish and write down all my favorite flavors that match with that dish. For this recipe, I started with the sauce…because that is my favorite part! I wrote down a list of flavors that I wanted to taste, some extra veggies I could throw in to add more health benefits, and how I wanted to use the ingredients. Then, I moved on to what kind of pasta I wanted to match it with, and I needed to think of a protein to add so it would be a balanced meal. Thus, I created this beauty…okay the color is a little odd, but it comes from the mix of roasted veggies…yum!
Next came thinking about a protein. I remembered how much I liked the meatballs I made a couple of months ago, and I was excited when I discovered ground turkey in the fridge that needed to be used. However, this time I wanted to do something different from the pesto flavor, so I used two of my spices from RawSpiceBar. If you have never heard of this company, I highly recommend looking into their spices. It is a quarterly subscription that sends fresh, high quality spices to your door and gives suggestions on how to use them. I love receiving the spices because they always inspire me to create things that I normally wouldn’t! I’ve cooked a variety of middle eastern and asian foods I would have never tried without these spices. I am not sponsored by them (a girl can dream) but I have been featured on their Instagram/Twitter pages and recommend them on a serious level! PS: Who can spy a hungry puppy in the bottom of this picture??
Being gluten-free isn’t easy, especially when dairy-restricted and certain-foods-cause-my-body-extreme-pain are also part of the deal. Something that I’ve had to adjust to is bringing my own food on trips, to parties, friends houses, work meetings…you name it! Lately, I’ve been trying to bring food that I create (a great excuse for recipe testing) so I can share it with others and give them the experience of eating the way I do. Whether it be a platter with specific cheeses, crackers, dips, and meats or something like brownies, I want everyone to understand that just because I do have a restricted diet does not mean what I eat is any less delicious. That’s where this recipe came in.
I was going to a party at my best friend’s house and I knew I needed to bring something to munch on. I was already going to be bringing my own gluten-free pizza, but I wanted to bring something to share as well. I was in the mood for brownies, and I figured it was the perfect time to create something new, healthy, and adapted to what I can eat. I made this based off of my love for dark chocolate and desire to eat all the peanut butter in the world. Now, I am sure this would taste amazing if you made it with almond butter or even sun butter instead, but I absolutely love peanut butter with dark chocolate.
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molasses which is then harvested and dried to deactivate the yeast. Sounds super unappealing right? I thought so too, until I found out some of the benefits. First of all, nutritional yeast is full of B vitamins, especially B6 and B12. It also helps improve digestion and contains both protein (up to 6 grams per serving) and thiamine, so yes, this can potentially aid in weight-loss. Not to mention, it has antiviral and antibacterial powers so, hello immune system booster! It is way lower calories than cheese, not to mention has no fat, sugar, or added ingredients. Nutritional yeast adds a nutty cheese flavor to all your dishes. I first tried it on some popcorn and wow, it tasted just like parmesan cheese! I am still an avid cheese consumer (it makes wine nights that much better!) but I think it is important to find ways to lessen the amount of dairy I eat, and expose that to others as well. Many stores selling nutritional yeast, but I like to buy mine at Trader Joe’s and Sprout’s.”
As most of you know, I am not vegan. However, lately my stomach has been a mess due to my adenomyosis, so I have been trying to eat really whole, natural, and healthy foods for the past couple of days. I’m gluten-free, which helps with the inflammation, but every now and then I try to be dairy and meat free to help my stomach get back on track. Last night, I was craving fettuccini Alfredo, so I brainstormed a way to make this recipe full of veggies, completely dairy free, and just as delicious as the real stuff. I must say, I was actually surprised how well this turned out!
improve digestion and contains both protein (up to 6 grams per serving) and thiamine, so yes, this can potentially aid in weight-loss. Not to mention, it has antiviral and antibacterial powers so, hello immune system booster! It is way lower calories than cheese, not to mention has no fat, sugar, or added ingredients. Nutritional yeast adds a nutty cheese flavor to all your dishes. I first tried it on some popcorn and wow, it tasted just like parmesan cheese! I am still an avid cheese consumer (it makes wine nights that much better!) but I think it is important to find ways to lessen the amount of dairy I eat, and expose that to others as well. Many stores selling nutritional yeast, but I like to buy mine at Trader Joe’s and Sprout’s.
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