rapadura

Flour-less Peanut Butter Cookies

/ Ren

Thick, soft and chewy cookies made with organic peanut butter, pastured eggs, sea salt, freshly-ground sweet cinnamon, and much less sugar..

Flour-less Peanut Butter Cookies (makes about 2 dozen cookies, recipe adapted from Saveur Magazine)

2 cups organic peanut butter without added oil or sugar, creamy or chunky
1 cup granulated piloncillo or rapadura sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 large, pastured eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon organic, pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground Sweet Cinnamon (True Cinnamon, Ceylon Cinnamon)

Cream together peanut butter and 1 cup of the sugar in a large glass bowl.  Using a hand mixer at low speed, beat in eggs, vanilla, baking soda, salt and cinnamon until just combined.  Mixture should be slightly grainy.

Using a small cookie scoop (or your hands), form mixture into 2-inch balls and place 4 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Use the tines of a fork to flatten slightly, pressing a cross-hatch pattern into each cookie.  Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

Place the tray into an oven preheated to 350 degrees and baked until puffed and lightly browned on the edges.  Allow to to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before removing from tray.

Kept at room temperature, the cookies will remain soft for a day or two, assuming they last that long.

Wild Blueberry Biscuits with Maple Sugar and Rosemary

/ Ren

A little savory and not too sweet, these simple biscuits make a versatile side any time of day..

 

Wild Blueberry Bisquits

Wild Blueberry Biscuits with Maple Sugar and Rosemary

 

Makes about 10 3-inch biscuits (adapted from a recipe by Diana’s Kitchen)

2 1/4 cups organic, unbleached all-purpose flour, divided
1/4 cup rapadura or raw wildflower honey
1 tablespoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking soda
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/3 cup cultured butter, softened
1 pastured egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup fresh buttermilk
3/4 cup organic frozen blueberries

Topping

3 tablespoons cultured butter, melted
3 tablespoons maple sugar
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary needles, chopped

Mix 2 cups of the flour with the rapadura, baking powder, lemon peel, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture forms pea-sized lumps.

Combine egg and buttermilk, then pour into the flour mixture. Stir just to combine- mixture will be slightly lumpy. Gently fold in still-frozen blueberries.

Sprinkle remaining flour onto the counter-top, then knead the dough by hand until it holds together, about 6 or 7 turns. Pat out the dough to a uniform 1/2 inch thickness, then cut out rounds with an empty can, glass or cutter.

Brush biscuits with melted butter, then sprinkle with maple sugar and rosemary.  Place 2 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degree until golden brown, about 12 minutes.

Serve hot from the oven with cultured butter.

Hazelnut Fudge Brownies

/ Ren

I debated about whether to call these triple chocolate brownies or chocolate fudge brownies or something else, finally settling on simply Hazelnut Fudge Brownies.

Made with sprouted spelt, raw cacao and pastured butter, these brownies are insanely delicious by any name..

Hazelnut Fudge Brownies

Hazelnut Fudge Brownies

1 cup raw cacao beans
1/4 cup oz raw cacao powder
1/4 cup oz unsweetened chocolate chips
1/2 cup organic, raw hazelnuts
1/4 lb (1 stick) pastured butter, softened
1/2 cup rapadura or other non-refined sweetener
2 large pastured eggs
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
4 oz sprouted spelt flour
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1 3-fingered pinch sea salt

Place the raw cacao and hazelnuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast in a 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes.  Do not allow to burn.

When cool enough to handle, place the cacao beans in a clean kitchen towel and bash with a small skillet or meat mallet. Take the towel outside and allow the wind to blow away the papery skins.  You’ve just made your own cacao nibs.

Now do the same thing with the hazelnuts, but don’t worry too much about the skins.

Combine flour, cacao powder, salt and baking powder in a glass bowl.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla, then add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously.

Pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture, add the cacao nibs and stir to combine.

Spread the batter (it will be thick and paste-like) into a buttered 9×9 baking dish and sprinkle hazelnuts and chocolate chips over the top.

Bake in a 350 degree oven until a knife blade inserted into the middle comes out almost, but not-quite clean, about 20-25 minutes.  Do not over-bake, or the brownies will be dry.

Cover the pan with a clean towel and allow to cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes.

Serving with a glass of fresh milk if you like.

Did you know that raw cacao has 30 times the anti-oxidant power of green tea?


Bookmark and Share

Sour Cherry Scones with Vanilla Cream

/ Ren

A scone is a leavened quick-bread of Scottish origin.

Organic soaked wheat and malted barley flour, pastured butter, cacao nibs, dried cherries and raw cream..

103_2051

Soak 1 /1/2 cups of organic whole wheat flour in 1/3 cup filtered water and homemade whey overnight. Soaked flour is easier to digest, thereby increasing the bioavailability of the nutrients.

Pour fresh raw cream into a stainless steel or enameled pan.  Add a split and scraped vanilla bean and heat the cream very slowly until the surface begins to wrinkle, and then continue to heat until thickened, about 1 hour over low heat (do not let it boil, or you’ll have to start over).  Allow to cool to room temperature; this is the vanilla cream.

Stir 1/2 cup of malted barley flour into the soaked wheat flour and pour into a glass mixing bowl.

Add 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon Celtic salt and then cut in 4 tablespoons pastured butter.  Make a well in the center of the mixture, then add 3/4 cup raw milk, 1/2 cup of raw cacao nibs and a cup of coarsely chopped, dried tart cherries.

Work by hand into a soft, slightly wet dough.  Mixture will be quite thick and a little sticky.

Drop heaping tablespoonful of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, sprinkle with rapadura and bake in a 375 degree oven until golden brown, about 12 minutes.

Serve warm with additional cacao nibs and vanilla cream.

This post is part of the Real Food Wednesdays Blog Carnival


Bookmark and Share