Oatmeal Raisin cookies

Spring is finally starting to show itself here. We played outside until our hands were too cold and we had to retreat back inside, Orions choice of snack lately has been cookies. I decided instead of denying him cookies yet again, we would bake some together. I found a great recipe  on Whole Grain Gourmet  and adapted it to suit our allergies and needs. It was already dairy free, so all I had to do was adapting it to be egg free. It is refined sugar free but does contain quite a bit of honey. Next time I make it I may experiment on cutting down the amount of honey.

Here is my version:
Original recipe here at Whole Grain Gourmet


Oatmeal Cookies (with Honey)

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour (a pinch more depending on the moisture of the mix)
1 1/2 cups of old fashioned rolled oats (quick cooking is ok too- do not use instant)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Epicure selections Gingerbread spice

Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon full flavor molasses
1 flax egg (Mis 1 Tbsp ground flax with 3 tbp hot water, whisk and let sit until gooey)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract


1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup hemp hearts

1/4 cup chia seeds

Preparation:
In a medium bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.
Add the wet ingredients to seperate bowl and mix together.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. 

Add the raisins, hemp hearts and seeds. 

Cool the mix for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 335 degrees
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Cookies will not spread.

Press down with a fork to ensure even cooking.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until golden on the bottom of the cookie. (10 minutes for soft and 12 for slightly crispy around the edges)

Cool on pan for 5 minutes, remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack. 

Blueberry raspberry mini muffins

 I've got a thing for muffins, they are a delicious comfort food. After a night up with a cranky toddler I decided to make some muffins. I strongly dislike overly sugary muffins that leave you with a sugar high after eating them. With Orions allergies I have to make sure these are dairy and egg free as usual, I find it is helpful to look for vegan recipes. As usual I can never find a recipe that I like so I altered one to suit my purposes. I can't ever decide which type of berries to use, so I used them both! Mini muffins are perfect for portion control and for toddler hands. My toddler has such a short attention span, I was forever finding full size muffins with one bite taken stashed in creative places. FYI a stale month old muffin can double as a cat toy at the most inopportune moments. Enjoy these we certainly did :)

Original unaltered recipe here at egglesscooking.com





1/4 cup Ground Flaxseed

3 tbsp hemp hearts
1 and 3/4 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons  Alumininum free Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 teasspoon epicure gingerbread spice
1/4 teaspoon  salt
1 cup Coconut Milk
1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 cupVegetable Oil
1/4 cup Maple Syrup

1/4 cup Local Honey
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1  cup Blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1/2 cup raspberries


Preheat oven to 375F/190C for 15 minutes. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and grease it well with non stick cooking spray.
Mix together the  milk and vinegar; set aside.
In a large bowl combine together the ground flax seed, hemp hearts, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, gingerbread spice and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, oil, milk mixture, vanilla extract and orange zest.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients with a rubber spatula until just moistened. Fold in blueberries and raspberries

Scoop into mini muffin pan, fill each cup 2/3 full.

Bake for 12 minutes

Pumpkin Bacon Soup

I love pumpkin, I love pumpkin granola, pumpkin spice lattes (I have been making them all season long at home with real pumpkin) I love pumpkin baked goods and especially love pumpkin seeds. Surprisingly enough I have never made a pumpkin soup. I decided to branch out and create a recipe that my family would enjoy. Orion loved his pumpkin soup, I don't think he has ever met a soup he hasn't enjoyed. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did  :)

How do you like your pumpkin?






Pumpkin Bacon Soup


1 apple (I used ambrosia) (Halved and cored)

Yes, I realize that I am missing ingredients in the
picture, I made this recipe up as I went.

1 small pie pumpkin (Mine are called sugar pie) or 3 cups of puree
1 head garlic minced
1 medium onion minced
1 cup organic baby carrots


7 slices low sodium bacon, diced
4 cups chicken broth ( I use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Chicken broth)

3 tsp Epicure Gingerbread spice
1 tsp Himalayan fine ground salt
1\2 tsp pepper
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp ground thyme

1 1/2 cups Quiona Milk (Or your favourite non dairy milk)



Roast pumpkin according to pumpkin roasting directions. Meanwhile in a glass pan, place carrots and apples roast  at 400f  for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Roasted pumpkin, apple and carrots

Remove apple, pumpkin and carrots from oven. Let cool 10 min,



Process  apples and carrots through Victorio food strainer.

Pumpkin ready for the strainer

Dice pumpkin into 2 inch squares,
 Process through Victorio food strainer, (No need to peel if using the food strainer) (If you do not have a food strainer, peel pumpkin then process in a food processor)

Pumpkin processed through the Victorio

Mmm, crispy bacon!

In your soup pot fry bacon until crispy on medium heat, remove bacon, drain most of the fat leave about 2 tbsp, fry onions and garlic until translucent.

First cup of broth added

Pour 1 cup chicken broth in  pot  over medium low heat scraping the bottom of the pot to get all the bits off.











Put apple carrot mixture with bacon in pot, stir well, add spices.
Add rest of chicken broth, pumpkin and maple syrup, Stir well.
 Simmer for 20 min stirring occasionally.

Mix in Quiona Milk and bring to simmer again for 5 min. . Serve with freshly ground pepper and salt.

Yum!

Pumpkin Bacon Soup


1 apple (I used ambrosia) (Halved and cored)
1 small pie pumpkin (Mine are called sugar pie) or 3 cups of puree
1 head garlic minced
1 medium onion minced
1 cup organic baby carrots


7 slices low sodium bacon, diced
4 cups chicken broth ( I use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Chicken broth)

3 tsp Epicure Gingerbread spice
1 tsp Himalayan fine ground salt
1\2 tsp pepper
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp ground thyme

1 1/2 cups Quiona Milk (Or your favourite non dairy milk)





1) Roast pumpkin according to pumpkin roasting directions. Meanwhile in a glass pan, place carrots and apples roast  at 400f  for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

2) Remove apple, pumpkin and carrots from oven. Let cool 10 min,

Process  apples and carrots through Victorio food strainer.

 3) Dice pumpkin into 2 inch squares, Process through victorio food strainer, (No need to peel if using the food strainer) (If you do not have a food strainer, peel pumpkin then process in a food processor)

4) In your soup pot, fry bacon until crispy on medium heat, remove bacon, drain most of the fat leaving about 2 tbsp, fry onions and garlic until translucent.

 5) Pour 1 cup chicken broth in  pot  over medium low heat scraping the bottom of the pot to get all the bits off.

6) Put apple carrot mixture with bacon in pot, stir well, add spices.

7) Add rest of chicken broth, pumpkin and maple syrup, Stir well.

8) Simmer for 20 min stirring occasionally.

9) Mix in Quiona Milk and bring to simmer again for 5 min.

10) Serve with freshly ground pepper and salt.

To make Gluten free do not use Quiona milk as it contains oats, use your favourite GF milk.

The bacon in this soup does not stay crispy, if you would like in step 4 when you remove your bacon do not add it back in in step 6. Save your bacon until just before you serve and use it as a garnish.