Vegan Coconut Almond Jam Thumbprints

This Christmas I really wanted to make cookies; but not really being into sugar, excessive amounts of butter and white flour I found Christmas cookie baking to be much more of a challenge. Then I said to hell with it and decided to make jam thumbprints anyways....but with a twist...this is what you get if you mix a macaroon with Jesus!

What you need:

3/4 C. Coconut Oil (solid)

1 C. Raw Sugar

1/4 tsp. Salt

1 C. Coconut flour

1 C. Almond flour

1 1/2 C. Whole wheat flour

1/2 C. Almond Milk (divided)

1/4 C. Toasted Almonds Finely chopped

1/4 C. Unsweetened shredded Coconut flakes

Jam of your choice (I used both a spicy plum and ginger jams)

Step 0: Pre-heat oven to 350˚, toast and chop almonds place in a small shallow dish with coconut flakes; use 1/2 the Almond milk and pour in another shallow dish set both aside- you will be dipping your balls in these....

Step 1: In a mixer blend coconut oil till soft, then add in sugar and salt. Blend till fluffy and light about 5 min. 

Step 2: turn mixer to low and add coconut, almond and whole wheat flour (mixture will look like sand).

Step 3: While mixer is still on and flour has been incorporated into coconut oil start adding almond milk in small doses. Once mixture starts to form a ball and become apparently moist- add no more liquid. Think the consistancy of sugar cookie dough not pancake batter-

Step 4: Pinch 1" pieces of the dough and roll into a ball, then roll in Almond milk, followed by the Almond Coconut mixture- place on a cookie sheet.

Step 5: The Fun part!!!!! Stick your favorite finger in the middle of the cookie (careful dude don't crack it!) helpful tip: cut your thumb nail before you make these- trust me....

Step 6: Fill with your chosen Jam and pop in the oven, back for 20min. or until coconut is brown.

Step 7: Remove from oven and eat a bunch of them- remember coconut oil and flour are good sources of protein....

enjoy!

Perfect POM-Pear Almond Tart

The best part about hosting a dinner is the desert at the end. Being in San Francisco we have some of the best pastry chefs in the world here, even the most unfoodie people in San Francisco can taste a wide array of decadent deserts and not think anything of it. So since I kinda cut sugar and gluten out of my life (for the most part) I really wanted to come up with something that would tie together some of the flavors of my POM Wonderful dinner, and still be amusing to even the most snobby of palates.

Follow this recipes three parts, poaching, tart crust and finally the frangipane.

Poached Pears

what you need:

3 Pears

24 oz. POM Wonderful Juice

1/4 C. Red Wine

sprig rosemary

2 cloves

1/4 C. Honey

Zest of 1 Lemon 

Step 1: Peel, and core the pears.

Step 2: In a pot boil the remaining ingredients, let it reduce slightly and then add pears simmer for 20min.

Step 3: Remove Pears and cover with poaching liquid into a tupperware container, place in fridge overnight- rotate for even absorption.

Gluten-Free Tart Crust

what you need:

2 C. Almond Flour

1/4 C. Butter

1 egg white

1/4 tsp. salt

Step 1: Cream butter in a stand mixer and then add flour and salt, blend till smooth add egg white and blend a little bit more.

Step 2: Put mixture into an 8" tart pan and spread evenly.

Step 3: par bake at 400˚ for 10 min. remove and let cool before adding filling.

Frangipane

what you need:

1/2 C. Butter

1/2 C Raw Sugar

1 Egg

1/2 C. Finely ground Almonds

2 T. Amaretto

1 tsp. Almond Extract

1 T. AP Flour (or coconut, rice flour for GF)

Step 1: In a stand mixer cream butter and sugar until fluffy, slowly add beaten egg, ground almonds, amaretto, almond extract and flour, mix till smooth. 

::Assembling your Tart::

Step 0: Pre-heat oven to 350˚

Step 1: Dump mixture into cooled tart shell and spread evenly.

Step 2: Remove your pears from the poaching juice and slice thinly cored end laying flat on your cutting board. Gently press your knife on top of the sliced pears allowing them to fan out, gently scoop them up with a wide blade and set them on top of the frangipane, continue this till the circumference of the tart is covered with the fanned pears. 

Step 3: Add a few Pomegranate Arils in the center of the tart.

Step 4: Place tart in oven and bake for 45min or until the frangipane has puffed up and the crust is a golden brown, remove from oven and let cool.

::Serving your Tart::

Caramel: with the remaining poaching juice reduce about 3/4 C. on the stove and add about 1-2 T of Raw sugar, reduce till it becomes a Caramel.

POM whipped cream: whisk (or with your device of choice) whipping cream with 1 tsp. Almond extract and 1 T. POM Wonderful. 

Cut tart and serve with whipped cream and drizzle with caramel....watch your friends be amazed!

Check my full POM Wonderful dinner party here!

poached pears and frangipane recipe from: cookeatshare.com

Power Balls

aka Date Nut Balls.

When Josh and I were Leaving on the AIDS LifeCycle Ride this year, I really wanted to make a healthy good tasting snack that was also compact enough for a bike and won't spoil easily. And Then BAM! one day at the farmers market I got the most delicious honey dates, and these babies were born.

what you need:

Makes about 15 1" balls

1/2 C. Dried Dates

1/4 C. Currants

1/4 C. Dried Figs (optional)

Dried unsweetened coconut flakes

2 T. sesame seeds

1/2 C toasted walnuts

1 T. Lemon juice and 1 tsp zest

Step 1: de-seed Dates and toast all walnuts.

Step 2: Put figs, dates and currants in food processor and pulse till combined. Add the lemon (zest and juice) and half of the nuts and coconut, pulse till it is all one dark shiny lump of stuff.

Step 3: Toast remaining sesame, and coconut. Combined toasted ingredients with walnuts and chop to fine bits or use a processor.

Step 4: Wet one hand, pinch off some of the date mixture and form into a ball, then roll ball into the toasted nut mixture. 

Step 5: Enjoy! These guys taste great chilled and keep for sometime. You can use a ton of different stuff in here so have fun with them.

four ingredient pie crust

I don't bake very often, and always feel that making a pie crust is dangerous business (and it can be), but my Mom is quite the baker and sometimes I wish to channel her pies in my oven. This is my healthy rendition on a classic pie crust (thanks to good homes and garden the only cookbook that has the least amount of crust ingredients)

Pie Crust

sub. whole grain flour and use butter instead of shortening (my mom uses spectrum, but I like butter better)

Step 0: Make sure your butter and water are super cold.

Step 1: put flour, salt and butter in the bowl. Then cut in the butter with 2 knives, most recipes call for a food processor, however the efficiency, you pay in texture in the end. Remember the turtle always wins, always.

notice the criss-cross action, and awesome alligator apron by beth LaBerge

Step 2: once your butter and flour look like a bunch of white-ish peas start to add the water a tsp or so at a time, lightly stir the mixture with a fork until the mixture is lightly damp.

Step 3: place on a piece of parchment and fold into a little bag of bliss and stick in the fridge for 20min. You want to make sure that you handle it very lightly and keep your hands from touching it, the heat from you will make it tuff- so stay off!

Step 4: roll it out on a piece of lightly floured parchment or a super duper clean surface, the crust should almost look polka-dotted with butter. 

cut away crust leaving about 2" extra around you pan

Step 4: gingerly place the crust on top a your dish making sure the inner is quite cold, so it won't melt the crust when it makes contact. Crimp the extra dough on the edges with your fingers and put some slits in the center. I brushed olive oil on top once it was on, but you can use a egg wash(beaten egg white) if you want. If you are making a double crust, cook the bottom crust for 12 min at 400˚ and let cool before adding your filling. Cook the pie for an addition 20-30 min. until it's nice and golden brown. 

voila! pie! cheaper than the box and just as fast!