Sweet Treats
As the weather warms up, so does my appetite for smoothies and shakes. This shake is rich, creamy, and a fun combination of tahini, frozen banana, dried fig, cinnamon, and vanilla.
You've hit the jackpot with these cookies if you're vegan, dairy-free or gluten-free, or you're none of those but you've run out of eggs, butter and flour. And if you're skeptical that a baked good with a base of almond flour, coconut oil, and tahini can be rich and satisfying, your world will be turned upside down when you bite into these.
A simple lemony, coconut-milk based custard batter that as it bakes, the creamy custard settles at the bottom and the spongey cake layer rises to the top.
These naturally gluten-free muffins are mildly sweet and citrusy with a soft, tender crumb that is held together with almond flour, brown rice flour, eggs, applesauce and olive oil. I've opted for coconut sugar which made the batter darker. Feel free to use regular sugar if you'd like to keep the batter lighter so there's more contrast with the poppy seeds.
This rustic, free-form tart is easily one of my favorite desserts to bake. If you don't like the fuss of baking projects, or even if you do, but you also appreciate simple elegance to highlight the best of the season's fruit, then this is your recipe.
Now that I've been blogging for six years, I'm realizing there are some hidden gems tucked away in the recipe archives that might be getting lost in the shuffle. I keep returning to these recipes over the years, making some fun tweaks along the way. And I'm eager to share them with you again…because they're that good. These custard cups are one such recipe.
With almond flour and cornmeal as the base and coconut oil, applesauce and ground flax to bind and moisten, this cozy, cinnamon-spiced autumnal treat just happens to be vegan and naturally gluten-free.
This is my farewell-to-peaches peach cobbler. My favorite stone fruit guy at the farmer's market drives several hours from the Central Valley to the Bay Area every Thursday and Sunday for our markets. He's still harvesting peaches and nectarines but plums are quickly taking over and persimmons should be arriving in a few weeks.
These Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies with dried cherries and toasted pecans are one of my all-time favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes. I turn to them when I'm craving rich chocolate along with some chew and crunch.
Happy New Year! I’m offering this Breakfast Cherry Crumb Cake as a sweet antidote to all the New Year cleanses and detoxes dangerously promising to make you once again clean and pure. If you want to steer toward the middle rather than operate in the extremes this year, keep reading for the sweet origin story of this cake.
These Chocolate Gingerbread Tahini Cookies must be the easiest, quickest holiday cookie you won't have to bake. Made sweet and creamy with tahini and honey, spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and allspice, and dipped in melted dark chocolate, these are essentially a festive, edible cookie dough.
With a stir and dump technique, use of everyday ingredients such as applesauce, maple syrup, and olive oil, and fun bites of pear and chocolate chunks, this Pear Chocolate Almond Loaf is the quintessential hybrid cake; easy enough for every day cooking but sophisticated enough for a special occasion.
These naturally gluten-free shortbread cookies made out of almond flour and flavored with vanilla and almond extracts and Meyer lemon zest are so simple and satisfying, you'll want to make them on the regular.
This Berry Crumble, with a tart sweet berry base and a grain-free almond pecan topping, is one of my go-to desserts. It's always a crowd pleaser, it accommodates fresh or frozen berries, and it can be made in advance.
The dry recycled air, sitting for long periods of time in a confined space, poor quality food, and crossing time zones all challenge our digestion, circulation, hydration, and circadian rhythm. While I'll never get used to the grind of air travel (does anyone?!), I've learned what foods to pack in my bag and how to adjust my mindset to ensure I feel the best I can while in transit and after I land.
This Berry Pudding Cake is my I'm-pretending-like-it's-summer cake. If you're a cobbler fan like me, you'll love this one. As the cake bakes, it turns into a soft, spongy, cobbler of sorts. Top it with yogurt and you're set for a snack or dessert!
There comes a time in the middle of winter when I need a bright, fruity, tropical fix. Anyone else out there? That time has arrived for me, and this Mango Lassi Chia Pudding hits the spot. Between the fruity mango, bright hit of cardamom and lemon, rich creaminess from coconut milk and almond butter, and a salty-sweet, buttery topping of....
This was almost as fun to make as it was to eat. That's because the crust is simply made of toasted pecans, maple, coconut oil and salt blitzed up in a food processor. And the dark chocolate mousse filling comes together quickly in one sauce pan on the stovetop. Once the two components are layered into a pie plate, the pie goes into the fridge (or freezer, if impatient) for a few hours to set. No baking involved, naturally free of gluten and dairy, and only simple ingredients required.
What does your weekday snack situation look like? I've always found this to be a challenging mini-meal to plan. But these One-Bowl Honey Almond Snack Bites tick all the boxes required for weekday snackables -- portable, filling, and delicious.
Technically there's still a few more weeks left of summer. With Madrid's recent cool nights and daytime temps relatively low, baking a summer cake rose to the top of my list. This is what resulted. With a naturally gluten-free base of almond flour, this blackberry-studded cake is flavored with....
These cherry chocolate ice cream bars might be the easiest, most delicious dessert I make all summer. Fruity, rich, and creamy bites of frozen bliss, these bars are exactly what I want during Madrid's sweltering summer days.
Hands up if you like lemon bars! When summer temps hit, I crave all things lemon. Homemade lemonade, lemon bars, and lemony salads. Not too sweet nor too tart, these bars are slices of lemon custard bliss. The perfect everyday summer dessert.
These millet muffins and roasted strawberries are two tried and true recipes I've enjoyed over the years, often together. They come from Heidi's Swanson's second cookbook, Super Natural Every Day.
It's spring and the sun is out in Madrid! I've heard even Madrid is not immune to cool and rainy spring days. But for now it's warm, and I'm celebrating with a smoothie! Today I have for you an energizing, mood-boosting, creamy and very blueberry smoothie.
These cakes bites are my new favorite snack to keep on hand during the week. With a base of almond and coconut flours, coconut oil, and applesauce, they bake up with an incredibly moist, almond-scented interior with pockets of tartness from the cherries.
Are you overwhelmed with the holiday meal planning, shopping, and prep? I am. And I'm telling you this because you need to know that even health coaches and food bloggers get stressed about holiday meals. ;-) But I have a solution, and a festive dessert to go along with it!
May I offer you a slice of this Apple Cornbread Cake? In addition to apples, cornmeal and almond flour, it boasts a heavenly combination ofcinnamon, vanilla, and lemon zest - one of my favorite Sicilian/Mediterranean flavor profiles.
Sometimes we get tricked into setting idealistic standards for ourselves. If you follow the health and wellness space closely, you'll probably agree that the marketing for the health trend du jour makes a convincing argument for why you too .....