Healthy Chocolate Cookies

So I have been somewhat obsessed with baking more "healthy" cookies. I started with the Paleo cookie, which is much more of a breakfast cookie or mid-day snack. This cookie, however, will satisfy the need for a sweet, dessert cookie. It's flour-less, egg-less, sugar-less, and butter-less. And somehow it's AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS! I promise!

The recipe comes from 101 Cookbooks. It's a great blog that features tons of delicious recipes, including many gluten-free and dairy-free baking recipes. The almond meal in the recipe is just ground almonds; you can buy it or grind your own using a food processor. I recommend buying your own. Even with the holy of holies Cuisinart Food Processor I've not been able to get almonds into a fine meal texture.

If you're dedicated to baking with healthy oils, I also recommend splurging on a jar of coconut oil. It's what makes this a "healthy" cookie. And it's light flavor works better than olive oil. Since it's solid at room temperature, warm it in the mircowave for a few seconds until it liquefies.

Ingredients

• 3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or alternately, olive oil)
• 2 cups rolled quick oats
• 2/3 cup almond meal
  
• 1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the top third.

In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips.The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough, don't worry about it. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto a parchment (or Silpat) lined baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes. I baked these as long as possible without burning the bottoms and they were perfect - just shy of 20 minutes seems to be about right in my oven.

Makes about 3 dozen bite-sized cookies.

Paleo Friendly Blueberry & Banana Muffins

Since perfecting my Paleo Cookie I've been looking for more baking recipes to satisfy that craving for bread. These muffins definitely hit the spot! I found the original recipe here. In the recipe for Paleo cookies you can create your own almond flour but pusling the almonds in a food processor - but not here! You'll need to buy professionally ground almond flour that has a similar texture to white flour. I bought Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour, found here, or at most grocery stores. At about $8/lb it's not cheap, but well worth it to make these muffins!

Ingredients

• 3 cups blanched almond flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 3 large organic eggs
• 2 tbsp oil -organic olive or organic coconut*
• 2 cups mashed bananas (4-5 bananas)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

*The light flavor of coconut oil works best for baked goods, but olive oil will do

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, mix eggs and oil in another. Mix wet and dry ingredients together until blended. Stir bananas in the batter, then fold in blueberries. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.

Roasted Carrot Soup

The veggies in this soup are roasted prior to adding them to the stockpot. This ensures a caramelization process that adds depth and just a touch of sweetness. And the best part is that because it's soup, there's no need to measure...anything!

Ingredients:

• One bunch of large carrots
• One large sweet onion
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt & ground pepper
• One shallot, minced
  
• One box or two cans low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup sour cream (optional)
  

Chop one bunch of large carrots into 1" pieces and roughly slice one sweet onion. Toss on a baking sheet with olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees until onions brown and carrots are tender, about 40 minutes.

Carrots should be easily pierced with a fork and onions should be caramelized

Add a Tablespoon of olive oil into an empty stockpot and heat over medium-high heat. Once pan is hot throw in shallots and saute until soft, about 3 minutes.

Throw carrots & onions in a large stockpot and cover with low-sodium chicken broth. Add a couple of bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat (with the lid on) for 15-20 minutes.

Discard the bay leaves. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until smooth. If you don't own one of these nifty gadgets, use a blender and blend two cups at a time.
For extra creaminess add 1/4 cup of sour cream and stir until melted.

Cioppino (Fish Stew)

Here's a 100% Paleo recipe for all my Crossfit friends. This is a Rachel Ray recipe (don't judge!). It's easy, fast, healthy and very delicious!

Find the recipe here. Throw in whatever fish you have. I substituted the cod for tilapia. And left out the mussels and scallops for salmon. Also, don't forget to use low-sodium chicken broth.

Costco and Trader Joe's carry frozen tilapia for a good price.

I used frozen shrimp from Costco. Don't forget to thaw it before adding to stew.

Honey & Walnut Pumpkin Bread

This loaf is the perfect blend of spices to welcome Fall into the kitchen. I used a can of organic pumpkin puree (with no sugar or spices added). If you have extra time, make you're own puree by roasting slices of a sugar pumpkin until soft and puree until smooth.

Canola oil cooking spray
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup oat bran or wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice**
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup milk
1 1/4 cups fresh or canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts

**Make your own pumpkin pie spice. For a total of 2 teaspoons mix the following: 1 t. cinnamon, 1/2 t. ginger, 1/4 t. ginger, 1/4 t. allspice

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch loaf pan with canola oil cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, oat bran, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda. In a second large bowl, combine sugar, oil, honey, milk, pumpkin, egg and vanilla then add to flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in walnuts.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake until cooked through and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack then remove from pan and set aside to let cool completely.

Roasted Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Browned Butter Sauce

Every cooking session begins with a good bottle of wine...

...and some great appetizers, like caper berries...

....and caprese salad with homegrown tomatoes.

Now here's the recipe I used. No need to be exact with the ingredients. The pasta is a simple egg pasta: 2 cups flour and 3 eggs, pulse in a food processor until it resembles coarse meal, then knead for 1-2 minutes until smooth and elastic. Remember to let the pasta rest for 30 mins - 1 hour.

Cut the pasta in 8 pieces before rolling out. I use the Kitchen Aid attachement (totally worth the money and much easier then the countertop-rolling-machine-thing)

Each ravioli piece has a heaping teaspoon of filling so there's no need to make a lot of filling.

I'm missing my ravioli cutter so I just used a round cookie cutter.

These pieces can be cut, sealed and then frozen to make for later.

Plum Galette

Ingredients
Serves 8
Recipe from www.marthastewart.com

* 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
* Pate Brisee
* 1/2 cup finely ground toasted hazelnuts
* 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 pounds (about 5) plums, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick wedges
* 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
* 1 large egg, lightly beaten
* 1/2 cup plum or red-currant jam

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees with rack in lower third. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out pate brisee to 1/8 inch thick. Trim edges to form an 18-by-16-inch rectangle, and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine flour, hazelnuts, brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt; spread to cover middle of dough, leaving a 3-inch border all around.

2. Arrange plums in rows on top, slightly overlapping the slices and alternating direction of each row. Sprinkle plums with granulated sugar. Fold dough to enclose edges; brush dough with egg wash. Chill 30 minutes in refrigerator.

3. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 400 degrees; bake until pastry is golden brown and plums are softened, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool to room temperature. Heat jam in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until melted. Let cool a few minutes; brush evenly over plum slices and serve.