Gluten Free Ginger Bread

About 20 years ago, I was a practicing Naturopathic doctor in Manhattan. The philosophy of naturopathy, is to feed the body the nutrients it needs to heal itself. By and part, this also means avoiding certain foods that may trigger the body to attack itself. I entered the field of natural medicine as a consequence of a debilitating ulcer. After seeing many gastroenterologists, who medicated meds that were not helping me feel any better,  I went to see a holistic practitioner.  Dr. Michael Wald- who now practices in Westchester guided me to avoid all wheat and dairy. After a couple of months on an elimination diet, I was on my way to healing my ulcer. I was fascinated by the outcome, and spent many hours in the NY Academy of Medicine researching medical documentation on how to cure an ulcer naturally.


In any event, and not to digress too much, that was the turning point in my life that led me to study naturopathy. Although, I was told by my MD's to avoid spices, ginger was my ally. Ginger has been a popular culinary spice and medicinal herb around the world for centuries, especially in Asia, India and the Middle East. It is used regularly to treat indigestion, gas and bloating, nausea, diarrhea, and irritable bowel syndrome. In fact, early references to ginger bread to treat an upset stomach has been documented from the 15th century in Sweden. Thereby this recipe....

At one time gingerbread was made with breadcrumbs and sweetened with honey, but as it made its way throughout the world it was adapted to meet the tastes of different cultures. And of course, I always love to morph a recipe to suit my culinary taste. That is why if you sample gingerbread in a country other than your own it may not look or taste as you expected. It can be a bread or a spicy sweet cake in a molded shaped. My version is gluten free- and now that you know a little about my history, you can undertand why all the recipes on this blog are gluten free. 

Akin to the original Middle Eastern recipes, English gingerbread is a dense, molasses-based, spice cake- which is the way I like it too. Some recipes add mustard, pepper, raisins, nuts, apple, and other spices to the batter. If you want to sprinkle any of these into your version, I strongly encourage that you mix in the flavors you fancy.

This recipes utilizes the classic method for making gingerbread, which requires melting the butter in with the molasses, and sugar before adding the dry ingredients - in this case they are gluten free. To give it some extra kick I used two forms of ginger: ground, and candied to ensure a pronounced ginger flavor. A heavy dose of other classic gingerbread spices give the cake some more dimension. These methods and ingredients together create a gingerbread that is dark, dense, a little bit sticky, and outrageously flavorful.

Serves 10

Ingredients


1/2 cup light brown sugar
6 tablespoons vegan butter (Earth Balance)
1/2 cup molasses
7 tablespoons coconut milk
1 egg, beaten
1 cup Gluten Free oat flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup crystallized ginger (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Lightly grease and line a 13 x 4 x 4 inch loaf pan. Place the sugar, butter, and molasses in a sauce pan and heat gently until melted and blended, stirring occasionally. 
2. Remove the pan from the heat, let cool slightly, then mix in the coconut milk and egg.
3. Mix the flours, salt, spices and baking powder in a large bowl.
4. Make a well in the center, pour in the liquid mixture and beat well.
5. Add crystalized ginger and mix into the batter, if you desire a more pronounced ginger taste.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until firm to the touch and lightly browned.
7. Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container or wrap in foil.

Gluten Free Spiced Banana Nut Cookies

The true origin of Bananas is found in the region of Malaysia. By way of curious travelers, it ended up in India.  Alexander the Great relished his first taste of the banana, and is credited with bringing the banana from India to the Western world. In the late part of the 1800's is when Americans tasted the first bananas to arrive in their country. 

Ever since then, bananas have been used as a sweetener in many desserts. These moist banana morsels are an ode to the past, and yet modernized with rolled oats which adds just the right amount of crunch and fiber. Oats contain a healthy dose of soluble and insoluble fiber. The fiber in oats is slow to be digested, making you fuller longer. The fiber in oats is also beneficial to the digestive tract in keeping the bowels functioning regularly.

Mashed ripe bananas and dates adds sweetness and flavor - a delicious way to use up your overripe bananas, and add even more of a nutritional value to these cookies.Forget about buying all those power bars with complicated ingredients, instead bake these amazingly simple, gluten free and vegan nuggets and enjoy it on the go.


Yields 36 cookies


Ingredients


3 overripe bananas
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup dates, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup crushed walnuts
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom




Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Stir in the oats, dates, oil, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and ground cardamom. Mix well and allow to sit for 15 minutes.
3. Grease a cookie sheet and then drop teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly golden.

Indian Carrot Pudding ~ Gajar Halvah

A very popular and traditional Indian dessert that is served on festivals- Halvah, which means sweet in arabic. Gajar halva is typically made with sautéing fresh carrots in ghee and cream, however this dessert is made with vegan butter and coconut milk, reducing the calories and making it dairy free. Carrots are naturally sweet and have been used for thousands of years along the Silk Route, as a sweetener is desserts in lieu of sugar. This halva is adorned with chopped pistachios and jeweled raisins with just a hint of cardamom. A little of this densely decadent pudding goes a long way, since it is so rich and flavorful. Can be served warm or cold with a dollop of ice cream after a spicy meal.

Serves 6

Ingredients

¼ cup vegan butter

6 medium carrots, shredded

2 cups coconut milk

¼ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup golden raisins

4 cardamom pods, bruised

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup unsalted pistachios, crushed (garnish)

Instructions

                      1      Melt butter in a skillet and then add carrots. Reduce heat to medium low and coat carrots in butter.

                      2      Stir in the coconut milk and simmer uncovered on low heat for 45 minutes; stirring occasionally.

                      3      Stir in the brown sugar, raisins, cardamom, and salt. Stir constantly until all the sugar is dissolved into a pudding like consistency; about 15 minutes.

                     4      Wait until slightly cool to transfer to small dessert bowls. Store in the fridge and when ready to serve, invert onto a dessert plate and garnish with pistachios.

Banana Coconut 5 Spice Muffins

With winter upon us, it's easy to picture oneself on a tropical island, under the shade of a coconut palm. But even if the mercury does eventually head north, a taste of the tropics remains as close as these bite size banana coconut muffins laced with Chinese 5 Spice. Quick to throw together and under 30 minutes to bake, these individually sized muffins will dreamily take you to the sunny isles.


It might seem like an odd combination, but actually- banana, coconut and Chinese 5 Spice all originate from the Southeastern part of Asia. Marrying them together into these intoxicatingly sweet and nutty morsels made sense.


In Sanskrit (ancient Hindu language), the coconut is viewed as the kalpa vriksha ("the tree which provides all the necessities of life"). Virtually every part of the coconut palm can be utilized in some manner. Such is the case with these muffins- the coconut milk is used in place of regular milk;  coconut oil for baking;  and the white coconut meat is used as a confection. It's wonderful when you can create something that utilizes all parts of a plant, and nothing goes to waste.


Chinese 5 Spice was originally used to make perfumes, but now is used in avant garde savory desserts. The formula is based on the Chinese philosophy of balancing the yin and yang in foods. The most common combination in 5 Spice is bajiao (star anise), cloves, cinnamon, huajiao (Sichuan pepper) and ground fennel seeds.


To finish off the muffins I sprinkled them with coconut flakes, because I love the crunchy texture it gives to baked goods.  The coconut flavor permeated the entire muffin and gave a subtle sweet note that you don't normally find in a banana muffin, while the 5 spice gave them a warmth, and the bananas themselves allowed the muffins to be nice and moist. 

Makes 14

Ingredients

2/3 cup organic coconut milk 

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 

2 1/2 All Purpose Gluten Free Flour 

1/2 cup toasted unsweetened finely shredded coconut

1 teaspoon 5 spice Asian powder 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

3/4 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed slightly so liquified 

2/3 cup packed brown sugar 

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 

2 large organic eggs 

3 very ripe medium bananas, mashed well 


Instructions

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Line 14 muffin tins with paper liners.
3. Whisk together flour, shredded coconut, spices, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a bowl.
4. Whisk together coconut oil and sugar until well combined, then whisk in vanilla, eggs and then bananas until well blended.
5. Whisk in coconut milk and lime juice, then the flour until just combined.
6. Drop batter into prepared muffin pan until each has an equal amount, and sprinkle with coconut flakes. Bake muffins until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, and they are lightly brown about 20-25 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Peach and Raspberry Crumble

Call back the summer with an old fashioned summer dessert that relies on seasonal fruits for most of its flavors. While peach and raspberry are not in season now, I actually froze them during the summer when I had an overflow of these juicy fruits.

In my cookbook that I am in process of editing, I write about the importance of seasonal eating, but I also write about how you can capture the bounty and freeze it into a time capsule for later use.

Freezing is one of the easiest, most convenient and least time consuming ways to store fruits of the season. The extreme cold slows down the changes that affect quality or cause spoilage. Freezing fruits is ideal when you will be using it for a dessert, because the texture changes and becomes softer- better for cooking than eating thawed fruits.

These little fruit jewels naturally contain a high amount of fiber, but a crumble topping with nuts add a sprinkling of whole grains and protein. The smattering of raspberries adds a bit of color and tartness to the peaches. If you don’t care for tart then use blueberries in lieu of raspberries. Serve with vanilla ice cream or yoghurt garnished with a spring of mint for added freshness.

Serves 6

Ingredients

¾ cup brown rice flour

4 tablespoons vegan butter

½ cup buckwheat flakes (or millet flakes)

¼ cup almond meal

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar

1-teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and cubed

1-1/3 cup raspberries

4 tablespoon orange juice

2 tablespoons tapioca starch


Instructions

  1      Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch pie dish
    2   In a medium size bowl, place the rice flour and rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the buckwheat flakes, almond meal, ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon. Mix well.
    3      In the pie dish, combine the peaches, raspberries, orange juice, 2- tablespoons sugar and tapioca starch together. Sprinkle the crumble over the top, pressing it down lightly.

    4      Bake for 40 minutes or until the crumble is lightly browned. Serve warm or cold paired with your favorite ice cream. 

Cranberry Coconut Munchies (Gluten Free)

I am in need of warmth. Winter in the Northeast has been relentlessly cold. Yes, I know I should not complain, considering world events and natural disasters that have taken place recently. In truth, I am very grateful for all that I have, and have learned to create pleasant substitutions for things that I miss. 

So what foods do you associate with warmth? If I had a magic wand, I would wave away and magically appear in the tropics, slurping away on a straw with a giant coconut in hand. Nothing like coconut to quench your thirst.

Since I am not a fairy princess- much to my dismay, I figured let me bake something that will induce the feeling of warmth. Cranberry coconut munchies, adapted from the eclectic Vegetarian cookbook by Nicola Graimes, is just that. I love recipes that combine ingredients from different regions that just work. These cookies are a mix of the traditional American cranberries with the tropical coconut. It's amazing how these two ingredients come together to form an alchemy in taste- like they were meant to be together.

These coconut cookies speckled with orange zest and cranberries have a tart-sweet crunch lending to an exotic flavor. Such a simple dessert, that is ready in no time for afternoon tea or coffee.  Can be kept in an airtight container for up to a week.

Serves 20

ingredients

2 egg whites

½ cup confectioner’s sugar

1 cup almond meal

1 cup dried unsweetened coconut

Zest of 1 small orange

1-teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

1/3 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped

1   Preheat oven to 300°F. Line 2 baking sheets with wax paper.

2   In a medium size bowl, with an electric mixer beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. This should take a few minutes.

3   With a spatula, fold the sugar, almond meal, coconut, orange zest, vanilla extract, almond extract into egg whites to form a sticky dough. Then gently fold in the cranberries.

4   Place heaped teaspoons of the mixture onto the baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown at the top.

5   Cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack until completely cool.

Cherry Almond Cookies (vegan, gluten free)

Cherry and almond are one of those made-in-heaven combinations that you can truly never go wrong with. I made sure to source some really good quality organic dried cherries (Trader Joe's) for these cookies. I tend to think that,  the quality of your dried fruit and nuts can make or break your sweet delights.

Delicious, with a tender chewy crumb. These cookies are subtly flavored with multiple layers flavors of interest– the more you eat, the more your taste buds happily discover the s

weet, sassy, nutty, and rich with love hugs and kisses cookies.

This recipe has been inspired from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar….

Yields 24 cookies

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
Zest of 1 lemon

1 cup All Purpose Gluten Free flour
1/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup dried cherries


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven 350F  degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, vanilla extract, almond extract and lemon zest.  Sift in flours, shredded coconut, baking soda, and salt and mix.  When ingredients are mostly combined, add almonds and cherries and mix until thoroughly combined.
3. Drop cookies by generous tablespoons onto baking sheets–about 2 inches apart.
4. Bake for 10 –  12  minutes until edges begin to brown.
5. Let the cookies rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely…

The Best Chocolate Cake Ever (Gluten Free)

This is not one of those multi layered frosted cakes... I don't have the patience to make a day of baking a cake. I know that when it comes to chocolate cake, many people would disagree with that since most of the fun in baking a chocolate cake is tasting and licking away the batter and frosting. That would send me into a serious sugar high. No, this cake is not a whole day affair, but the taste is like it came from a gourmet patisserie.


This chocolate cake, is a moist, chocolaty no fuss cake that is soft, fluffy and GLUTEN FREE. You could also make it vegan with an egg replacer, but I did use two eggs for this cake. You will have to refrigerate the batter for at least 30 minutes before baking to improve its texture.


When baked, you can store this cake in the fridge, as it keeps well, however I like to warm it up before I eat into it again. As a cold cake it takes on more of a truffle texture, warming it up brings it back to a moist and bouncy cake.


Adapted from Heidi Swanson's Basic Chocolate Cake recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice flour

         1 cup sorghum flour
         1/2 cup coconut flour 

3/4 cup non-alkaline cocoa powder (I use Trader Joes)

1 tablespoon baking powder (look for non-aluminum type)
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 cup barely melted vegan butter (Earth's Balance)
1 cup real maple syrup, room temperature
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup coconut milk, room temperature
4 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate, shaved or finely chopped

1. Grease an 8x8 square cake pan.
2. Sift the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. In a separate medium bowl whisk together the melted butter and maple syrup until it looks like caramel.
3. Whisk in the eggs, vanilla, and then the coconut milk. Pour the maple syrup mixture over the flour mixture and stir until barely combined. 
4. Add the chocolate and stir until everything comes together and is no longer dusty looking - avoid over-mixing.
5. Refrigerate batter for up to 30 minutes, but no longer than 2 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 325F degrees with a rack in the middle. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake in preheated oven for 30 - 40 minutes. 
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Ginger Pear Crumble (Vegan, Gluten Free)

I make this crumble most often once when the fruits of summer give way to apples and pears in the fall. Crumbles are easier to prepare and faster to bake than pies, crisps and cobblers and are the perfect showcase for seasonal fruits.

This dessert is the simplest of all: fresh pears are covered with a ginger snap topping and baked until the crust is crispy and the filling bubbles and thickens. Gingersnap cookie crumbs is the base for this sweet, nut-filled crumble that tops this pear crisp. I used Trader Joe's Gluten Free Ginger Snap cookies, however feel free to use any other brand of your choice. Serve with light cream or a scoop of vanilla yoghurt.






Serves 8


Ingredients


4 medium pears, pared, halved and cored
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup finely crushed ginger snap cookies
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons vegan butter, melted


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Place pears, cut side up in a 9-inch pie pan. Drizzle orange juice over pears.
3. In a medium bowl, combine ginger snaps, sugar, walnuts and butter. With your hands work it until it looks something like mortar.
4. Pat ginger snap mixture over the pears. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.

Orange Almond Cake (Vegan, Gluten Free)

This is the most amazing and simple fool- proof cake that never fails. You can use lemons instead, but make sure it has the same weight as the oranges. A little note about this cake, you have to like the flavor of marmalade, since this has a tinge of bitterness to it because it's made with the pith and rind. That is why I added as an option bittersweet chocolate chips to add in the batter for more sweetness, if you prefer, however I like it the way that it is. If trying this out, please leave your comments. Especially delightful when served with vanilla ice cream, yoghurt or crème fraiche.

ingredients

3 large oranges

2 cups brown sugar

½ cup soymilk

2 cups almond meal

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (optional)

Serves 10


Directions

1 Bring a pot of water to boil, add the oranges, cover and simmer for 1 hour.

2 Strain off the water, and let the oranges cool.

3 In the meantime, food process the sugar and soymilk until dissolved and pour into large bowl.

4 When oranges are cool. Cut in half and de-seed them and put the oranges with peel and pith into the food processor until reasonably smooth.

5 Pour the pulp into the sugar and soymilk mixture. Then add the almond meal, baking powder and chocolate chips (optional) gently mix together.

6 Spray cooking spray into 9X11 baking dish. Bake at 375F for 1 hour.

7 Leave the cake to stand for 10 minutes, then turn it out on a cooling rack and allow cooling for an hour.