Zucchini Almond Muffins/Zucchini Almond Bread (Gluten-Free/Dairy Free)

If your garden runneth over with the bounty of summer zucchini, this is a great way to use them. I like to grate any extra zucchini as the season goes on and freeze it in 2- and 4-cup portions so it is all ready to go when I want to bake.  Also, that way I have garden zucchini muffins all year long! Zucchini also works great roasted and pureed into a zucchini sauce.  On the outside chance your family is a touch *particular* about green things, then using zucchini puree is definitely a good option.  As an aside, you can also substitute zucchini puree in lots of recipes where you would use apple sauce. 

I actually find that they work better with frozen/thawed zucchini because the zucchini releases so much water when it thaws.  That way these aren't all greasy like so many zucchini muffins and zucchini breads are with the water left in the mixture to repel the oil out of the muff.

Flour note: My favorite GF flour is a homemade combo of freshly ground buckwheat groats combined with any mix of garbanzo/brown rice/amaranth/sorghum/teff.  Of course you could use gluten/wheat flour of any kind here, just omit the ground chia. 

Recipe Sub notes: I have had great success cutting back oil and subbing in apple sauce, pumpkin or pureed squash and yam.  Also grated carrot works really well in place of zucchini if you like.  Any sugar will work but I love the caramel-y flavor that the coconut sugar lends. Coconut oil could be used in place of the olive oil but I'm just not a big fan of the flavor of coconut oil in my baked goods. You might love it!

Zucchini Almond Muffins (or bread)  

• 2C  flour (any type you want- see note for GF) 
• 1C  almond flour or almond meal 
• 2Tbl  ground chia seeds
• 1Tbl  baking powder
• 1tsp  cinnamon
• 1/2tsp baking soda 
• 1/2tsp sea salt  
• 1/2C  olive oil (or coconut oil)
• 3/4C coconut sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2C almond milk
• 2C grated zucchini

 Optional: 1/2 cup mini choc chips, blueberries, nuts or the like

Directions
Preheat oven to 350deg. Grease either 4 mini loaf pans, 12 muffins or 24 mini-muffin tins.

In large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together thoroughly.

In separate bowl whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs and milk- then mix in the zucchini.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, then fold in your optionals if using.  Scoop the batter into your pans or muffin tins and bake!

Mini loaf ~35 min
Muffins ~22 min
Mini Muff~12 min

This recipe adapted from Zucchini Almond Bread in Nourishing Meals; Healthy Gluten-Free Recipes for the Whole Family. 

Full size muffs with blueberries and grated zucchini

Mini muff with pureed zucchini and chips, also delish!

Almond Date Bars (gluten-Free/Dairy-Free)

These bars are so decadent tasting!  I am typically loath to deal with chopping and mixing dates due to the high-maintenance nature of the beast, but here I can't get enough.  I find that if I chop them and toss them in the dry mix a bit, then it is easier to use my hands to just break them up a bit.  Heck, this might even make a near-Paleo list if you wanted to get so ambitious to sub in coconut for the oats or something crazy like that.  I have played around with lots of variations in the wet ingredients and all are delish- subbing applesauce for part of the oil and/or part of the honey, agave or coconut syrup for honey.... all good!  Might have to try subbing in some pumpkin next with extra spices. 

These hold up well to freezing for later, but it is critical to make a double batch to allow for this practice, otherwise you wont have enough.  I am amazed at how many of those little crumbs keep needing to be pinched up and gobbled as I walk past the pan.  Suddenly there is only an odd sized piece left, and it always needs to be squared up....  I also imagine that this could be used as a mighty-healthy option for a crumble topping on an apple crisp.   

These have been adapted from a recipe by Deb Perelman from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook for Almond Date Breakfast Bars.  A great cookbook cover to cover!


Almond Date Bars

• 1 cup chopped dried pitted dates
• 1 1/4 cup rolled oats 
• 3 Tbs flour (I use my AP gluten-free flour blend, any type will do)
• 1/3 cup flax meal
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds
• 1/2 tsp salt (scant tsp)
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/4 oil (see note above)
• 1/4 honey
• 1/8 tsp almond extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350deg and line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper. 
2. Mix together all of the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
3. Whisk together all of the wet ingredients in a small bowl (I just measure them all together in a 2c glass measuring pitcher for ease of clean up).
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mix and stir very well to make sure all is well coated, then pour into your prepared pan.  Smash it down hard, pressing into all of the corners and such.  This will help it all stick together later so make sure it is well smushed.
5. Bake the bars 20-25 minutes until browned around the edges and top a bit, then cool completely on wire rack in the pan.

Note: It is best to completely cool before trying to lift out or they may crack a bit, forcing you to perform the aforementioned crumble clean up. Cut into squares and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (Gluten-free/Dairy-free)

These super tasty muffins and packed with great sustaining protein and fats making them a perfect quick breakfast.  Also they ridiculously easy to make!  Even my peanut butter loathing daughter thinks they are delish.  However, after the first bite of the first batch, she and Mike bit into their muffs and immediately made haste to the kitchen to manually apply chocolate chips.  Clearly they were correct in their assessment and thus, this recipe strongly suggests the chip application.  Also, in the first batch I made, instead of 2 bananas, I used one banana and about 3/4c left-over cooked oatmeal from these muffins made last week.  I liked them that way, but most of you will enjoy more banana I suppose.  I also like to add a couple of tablespoons of ground flax for lots of reasons- great nutrition, fiber and such- but also flax and psyllium husk are great additions to gluten-free baked goods as they help with the binding that gluten otherwise provides as well as help bind in moisture.  Your option to add or not, they are fine either way.

Ingredients:

• 1c Peanut butter (Natural)
• 4 lg eggs
• 2 bananas (see note above)
• 1/4c maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 Tbsp coconut flour (really any flour should work)
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• (optional) 2T ground flax seeds/psyllium husk 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Blend all ingredients except chips in food processor until smooth.  Mix in chips, then divide evenly between 12 muffin tins and cook for ~25 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy! 

Banana Applesauce Muffins (Gluten & Dairy-free adaptable)

Actually, I made these into mini muffins.  The mini muffin is a curious item.  So cute and tasty, anyone would want to pop one in.  Or six.  Thankfully, Mia is no different from the rest of us in this department.  A muffin is a fabulous way to pack a billion tasty and nutritious things into a tiny package and feel good about what  you are selling and who you are selling it to.  The mini muffin just makes it easier. 

I didn't put any grated zucchini or carrot in these today out of sheer laziness, but you certainly could add a cup or more in when you mix the batch together.

And a note on gluten-free here.  Never before has gluten free shined brighter than in the quick-bread.  Really.  Any quick-bread recipe you read always says to 'not over mix' or 'mix just until dry ingredients are wet' and such.  This is so you don't over activate the natural gluten in typical flour.  With gluten-free flours, you can go to town and skip the xanthan gum.  They turn out great!

Banana Applesauce Muffins

• 2 cups flour (you choose your type*)
• 1tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/4c brown sugar & 1/4c agave syrup)
• 1/3 cup milk or vegetable oil (I used almond milk)
• 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbls lemon juice
• 1 cup mashed banana
• 2/3 cup apple sauce
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

* for my gluten-free flour today, I mixed 1/2 cup each buckwheat, garbanzo, brown rice flour with 1/2c potato starch.  You can use what ever you want here!

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350deg.

2.  Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together well to fully blend.

3.  In separate bowl (I just use a 3 cup wet measuring cup), mix all wet ingredients together, then pour the wet mix into the dry ingredients and combine.  Again, if you are using standard flour, avoid over mixing.  Gluten-free?  mix it up. 

4.  Pour into greased muffin tins (or papers). See cooking times/amounts below:

Makes:
42 mini-muffs (filled cups), cook 11-13 minutes
14-16 standard sized muffs, cook 20-22 minutes
1 loaf pan, cook maybe 45-55 min?

Let cool in pan 5-10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Mini-muffin, shown to scale in my hands.  So darn cute!

Mia appraises her mini.  Again to scale.

No-Bake Oatmeal Cookie Balls (Gluten-free/Dairy-free)

These are tasty little numbers adapted from a recipe given to me by Mia's Naturopath, Dr. Molly Gray.  We love her and everyone else we have seen at their clinic.  Dr. Gray has been especially amazing in how she treats Mia like a full human and makes her visit there extremely positive and cooperative, vs. doing things to her whether Mia wants them or not.

So these were supposed to be a yummy treat that Mia would love to eat and just pack her with nutrients and such, but it turns out she wasn't into them.  Toddlers, right?  But me?  I absolutely loved them!  Being the food enthusiast/Physical Therapist that I am, I brought them to work and shared them with my colleague and about half of my patients and unanimously we all agreed that they were amazing!  To borrow from Cooks Magazine: "Tasters referred to them as 'delicious', 'abundently satisfying' and 'just right, such that you eat one and are completely sated'".  Really, try them for yourself if you have an extra 3 minutes to spare.  That is all it will take.  Bonus, these are the kind of thing that you could put just about anything into and in fact, I used the little bits of about 4 different types of nuts and trail mixes just to clean the cupboard. 

Oatmeal No-Bake Cookie Balls

• 1 cup whole oats (use certified gluten-free if needed)
• 1c mixed nuts (I used salted pumpkin seeds, walnuts, pecans and pine nuts)
• 4 dates, pitted
• 1/2-1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2-3 Tbls pure maple syrup

Directions
1) in food processor or blender, blend up the oats and nuts until they are finely chopped; add dates and blend until they are also finely chopped.

2) add vanilla and 2T syrup and pulse a few times to combine.  This will still be very coarse in presentation (see photo below).  Add more syrup as you see fit.

3) scoop up small hand fulls and smash into balls.

Pulsed without vanilla or maple syrup

with the vanilla and maple

 

too beautiful not to add a picture of them!  Reminds me of working on a Kibbutz many moons ago....



scoop up a handful....

and smash it into a ball!


Enjoy!!

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars (Gluten-free)

I am a huge fan of having guest bloggers here on Fawnalicious.  So far only Katie has with her fantastic Basque Red Bean Soup. I have been super busy lately getting the new PT clinic up and running so have barely had chance to cook for myself and the family, much less write about it.  So this brings us up to today's delicious recipe from the Great Auntie Bert.  Now, while everything that follows is her creation, this is my blog after all and therefore I get to take a moment to talk about her. 

Bert is a special friend, colleague, godmother and 'Auntie' to our daughter.   I hope beyond hope that anyone reading this has friends like her.  She is one of those friends that makes your life easier by just being a part of it.  Anyone who knows her is aware of the love and generosity she brings to those she spends time with.  She makes being a parent a little easier with each visit shared.  And now she comes through again with the following recipe which she happens to have talked big about for weeks now, but I have never tasted since they get gobbled up by anyone who comes close to them.  Now I will make them my darn self.


From Bert:

"This is a lovely treat, which is super easy and can be a little more sweet or less sweet depending on how you might choose to adapt it. It has been used a breakfast bar in a pinch, or a pre-exercise snack.

Prep time 10 min, bake time 30 min, and they freeze well~

Makes 16 bars

I am not a stickler for following recipes and this with this one you can get away with that behavior for sure!

Bert’s Gluten-free Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

• 1 1/4 cups gluten free flour
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, divided
• 1 cup raspberry jam
• 1 large handful of choc chips 43% cacao (optional, although why wouldn’t you!)
• 1 medium handful of walnuts chopped, (optional)

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 9-inch-square baking dish with cooking spray.

2.Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.

3.Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla and almond extracts until smooth. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; mix until combined. Stir in 13/4 cups oats. Spread 2/3 of batter on bottom of prepared baking dish. Spread raspberry jam over the batter with back of spoon.

4.Add remaining 1/4 cup oats to remaining batter. Crumble over top of raspberry jam. Bake 30 minutes, or until golden. Cool, then cut into bars.

Bert's fav gluten-free AP flour blend

In the mix!

(adapted from many sources…..)"

Maple Syrup Oat Scones (Gluten-Free/Adaptable)

I saw this scone recipe a few weeks ago on the Smitten Kitchen website and pretty much rushed out and made them that day.  I have only made my gluten-free adaptation, but I imagine the original version as she posted was amazing as well.  The only downfall of the gluten-free version is that they don't rise as much, but anyone who eats gluten-free baked goods or bread knows this is the way it goes.  Also, I have this need to always cut some of the butter or oil from most of the baked goods I eat, so this also likely affected the fluff factor, as my version cut 1/3 of the fat.  Furthermore, I am constantly playing with different flours to increase the protein and nutrient value, so a simpler flour mix may also be lighter.  You choose!

We ate every last scone in an 18-hour period and I have just been too busy to make them again, or I would have made them a few more times since.  Mia loved them and not just because we had "scones for dinner" that night.  These will surely make a great addition to any Easter brunch or any regular breakfast (or dinner!) for that matter.

For the standard flour version, I will simply send you here for the original post that I adapted the following recipe from.

Gluten- free Maple Syrup Oat Scones (makes 8-10 scones)

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour, plus extra for dusting surface (or see below for the combination I used)
• 1/2 cup oat flour (see this recipe for how to make this flour if you don’t have it on hand, or use a different flour to substitute if you like)
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 very heaped tablespoon baking powder (very heaped)
• 1 very heaped tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 3/4 cup (unsalted butter, cut into pieces (I used 1/2c butter and 1/4c applesauce)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup milk or buttermilk (I used almond milk)
• 1 egg, beaten (for glaze) (I skipped this because I forgot- no big deal)

(Fawn’s GF flour combo: 1/3c buckwheat flour, 2.3c Tom Sawyer’s flour, 1/4c brown rice flour, 1/4c crushed pecans, 1/4c garbanzo flour)

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Butter a baking tray or line one with unbuttered parchment paper.

2. Whisk the flours, oats, baking powder, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. With a pastry blender or your fingertips, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. In a small dish, combine the milk and syrup, then add these liquid ingredients to the butter-flour mixture. By hand or with a rubber spatula, bring everything together to form a dough. If it feels too dry, add a little more milk but not enough that the dough is too, too sticky.  Remember that gluten-free baked goods will not have the same consistency of their gluten-full counterparts, so the dough will be much stickier here.

3. On a lightly floured surface, pat or roll the dough out until it is 1 1/4 inches (3 cm) tall. Using a 2-inch (5-cm) cutter, cut the dough into rounds and place them on the prepared tray so that they almost touch. Glaze the tops with beaten egg (or not)  and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the scones are lightly golden.

"heaping"!

Just use a glass to cut the scones if you don't have a biscuit cutter.  Delicious!

Sunday Pancakes (Whole Wheat or Gluten-Free Quinoa/Buckwheat)

These are only Sunday Pancakes because I never think to make time for pancakes during the week.  They are, however, fast and easy to make so could very well be Everyday Pancakes.  Usually I make a full batch and freeze the leftovers so I can just pop them in the toaster and eat in a pinch during the week.  They also make great peanut butter sammies.

This week, we have company in town, so I made regular and Gluten-Free for options.  I loved the flavor of the Gluten-Free ones and didn't find they lacked for texture, either.  The fam said the regular 'cakes were delish as well.  Regulars were adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything and the Gluten-Free were adapted from Karen Robinson's Cooking Gluten-Free!: A Food Lover's Collection of Chef and Family Recipes Without Gluten or Wheat

Pancakes (Gluten-Full)

• 2C flour (I use 1/2 all-purpose & 1/2 whole wheat)
• 1T baking powder
• 1/2t salt
• 1.5T sugar or 1T agave
• 1 or 2 eggs (or 1egg & 1egg white)
• 1-2c milk (cow, soy, almond, rice.....)

Directions:
1. Preheat griddle or large skillet over medium heat while you make the batter
2. Mix together the dry ingredients.  Beat the egg(s) into 1c of the milk, then gently stir the milk/eggs into the dry ingredients, mixing only enough to cover the flour- many lumps will remain.  Add additional milk to adjust the thickness to your preference.  3. Put a bit of butter or oil in you skillet (you can skip this if using a non-stick), then drop into pan in ~1/4c blobs, leaving a few inches between if you care about them touching.
4. Cook them 1-2 minutes, until you see the top bubbling and the bottom golden brown, then flip for 1-2 minutes to brown the other side.
5. You can hold them in the oven on warm while cooking or just serve them up as they go!

Gluten-Free Pancakes

• 1C Buckwheat or Quinoa Flour
• 1C Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour (Wendy Wark's or Tom Sawyer's are great) 
• 1/2t Salt
• 1t Cream of Tarter
• 1/2t Baking Soda
• 2t Baking Powder
• 1/4c Sugar (or 2-3T agave)
• 1/2c Vegetable oil (or 1/4c oil and 1/4c apple sauce)
• 3 Eggs (or egg substitute- I used 2 eggs and 1T flax meal mixed with 2T water)
• 1-11/2C Milk (Cow's, soy, almond, rice...)

Directions:
1. Preheat griddle or large skillet over medium/medium-low heat while you make the batter
2. Mix together the dry ingredients.  Beat the egg(s) into 1c of the milk, then gently stir the milk/eggs into the dry ingredients, mixing only enough to cover the flour- many lumps will remain.  Add additional milk to adjust the thickness to your preference. 
3. Put a bit of butter or oil in you skillet (you can skip this if using a non-stick), then drop into pan in ~1/4c blobs, leaving a few inches between if you care about them touching.
4. Cook them 1-2 minutes, until you see the top bubbling and the bottom golden brown, then flip for 1-2 minutes to brown the other side.  These pancakes cook much faster than the other recipe, so a lower heat is a good choice
5. You can hold them in the oven on warm while cooking or just serve them up as they go!

All good parents give their toddler a knife to help mix with, right?

If you like berries, just add some onto the batter once you drop them in the pan.

Serve with warm maple syrup and butter or peanut butter or powdered sugar....

Remember to keep the leftover pancakes in the freezer and toast them in the toaster for healthy snacks!

Banana Bread (Gluten-Free)

I nabbed this recipe from my youngest sister-in-law's good friend Ali after she put something about it on Facebook (another strange and wonderful byproduct of social networking).  I wish I had it together in my early twenties to think of dietary changes as they related to other aspects of my life- my post-partum life may have been a touch easier!  I thought this was delicious, but there may be some of you out there who don't like the heartiness of the buckwheat flour.  For you people, there are options.  I loved the texture it added.  This is really only one of my first attempts at actual baking and I am quite pleased at the results.  The Gluten-free flour game is tricky and very expensive, so not to be messed with too much in my kitchen yet.  I made several modifications to reduce the fat, sugar and replace the eggs.  I noted the changes I made as well as her tips along the way.  I think I enjoyed it the most when I toasted up two thin slices the next day and made a banana bread-almond butter sandwich!

Ingredients:

1 cup rice flour
1 cup buckwheat flour (Ali just use's 2 cups rice flour)
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup app sauce
1/2 cup plus 2T canola oil (original recipe called for 1 cup plus 2 tbsp butter and no applesauce)
1/2 cup sugar
2-3T agave (original recipe called for 1 1/4 cups sugar and no agave)
23 oz bananas (I use 3 average sized ones)
4 large eggs (I used Ener-G egg replacer and flaxmeal vs. eggs here for my particular needs)
4 tbsp icing sugar (Ali just use regular sugar) (I didnt even bother with the icing bit, too lazy)
1 tbsp lemon juice

*Ali says "Sometimes i omit the lemon "icing" and put 1 tea of both cinnamon and nutmeg to give it a little more fall flavor."

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350

Sift flours with baking powder and salt.
Beat the oil or butter, applesauce, sugar (and agave if using) and bananas together until smooth and then briefly stir in the eggs (or egg replacer). Stir this into the flour mixture until blended. Pour into a large loaf pan and bake for about 50 min.
Cool for 10 minutes and then mix the sugar with the lemon juice and drizzle over the top. (Ali says: "I like it lemony so I use more lemon juice")

ENJOY!

I am so thankful for the wonderful people in my life and for those of you I have not yet met. 

Whole Wheat Tasty Muffins

AKA: MamaFawn's Whole Wheat, Flaxmeal, Zucchini, Carrot, Applesauce, Banana, Molasses, Reduced Sugar, Low-Fat Muffins.

AKA: Power Muffins

Mia loves these.  Mike loves these.  I loved these.  They are neither gluten-free, nor dairy-free, but they are amazingly tasty and packed full of goodness for big and little ones alike.  This recipe is heavily modified from a zucchini bread recipe originally in a Cooking Light cookbook.  This was originally motivated by trying to find a delicious way to deliver major amounts of nutrients to the little one, but quickly morphed to Mom & Dad's favorite morning snack.  This is one of the few things I truly miss in my wheat-free world.  I have to continue to develop my wheat-free option, so far I'm not there.  Anyway, these have snuck green veggies into even the most discerning Mini-tasters.

~Makes 18-20 small muffins or 12 muffins and a loaf~

~I usually freeze 12+ muffins and pull out from the freezer as needed~

3c shredded zucchini/carrot*

4c flour **

1/3c -1/2c white sugar (or less, as you like it.  The original recipe called for 1c!)

1/4c brown sugar

5t baking powder

1.5t cinnamon

1/2t salt

1/2t nutmeg

1.5c milk, soymilk or yogurt***

2t vanilla extract

2lg eggs lightly beaten (or egg substitute)

6T vegetable oil****

1/2c or so unsweetened applesauce (optional)

3T or so blackstrap molasses (optional, great for flavor and extra iron)

1-2 bananas, either smushed up or finely chopped (optional, good for natural sweetness and potassium)

1.  Preheat oven to 350°

2.  Mix dry ingredients in big bowl and make a well in center

3.  Mix wet ingredients together and add zucc/carrot

4.  Add zucc/carrot/misc.  mix into center of dry ingredients stirring just until combined

5.  divide evenly between muffin tins &/or loaf pans (either use cupcake liners or non-stick spray)

6.  Cook muffins 30-40 min, loaf pan usually requires 50-60min. 

* I use whatever is on hand or sounds good.  Maybe even some frozen, drained spinach would be good for some extra nutrients?

**I usually use about 2.5c whole wheat, 1c white and .5c flax meal.  Use whatever you like to mix

*** Use nonfat for big people if you care, or use full fat for the babies, depending on your goal!

**** I usually use only 3T oil and 3T applesauce in addition to adding extra applesauce for fun, as with the milk, modify your fats as you see fit for your needs