it’s fall… somewhere?

I was looking for something to bake.  I was in the mood for some type of coffee cake, but came up short in the recipe department.  I was also in the mood for something made with pumpkin… yes, it’s currently June but pumpkin is not a seasonal ingredient for me :).  I found this recipe for gluten free pumpkin muffins, and thinned out the base to make it in a 9×13 pan and topped with some cinnamon oat pecan topping – yum!

*I used the measurement for honey listed below as I prefer my baked goods less sweet.  If you are looking for something a bit sweeter and more dessert like, you can add up to 1/3 cup honey in the base recipe and adjust the amount of honey (or possibly add some brown sugar) in the topping as you desire as well.  Even with the 1T listed below, these bars got a lot sweeter the next day and really turned out delicious!

Cinnamon Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Base

• 1 cup oat flour
• 1/2c millet flour
• 1/2 cup (2T garbanzo bean flour + the rest sorghum flour)
• 1/2 cup ground flax
• 1t baking soda
• 1t baking powder
• 1t nutmeg
• 1T cinnamon
• 1/4t salt
• 1/4 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 15oz can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/3 c unsweetened applesauce
• 1T honey
• ~3/4c water

Topping

• 1/2c oats
• 1/2c crushed pecans
• ~1 1/2 T honey
• ~1T water

cinnamon to taste (lots for me!)

1. Sift together the flours and add the flax, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt.

2. Whisk together the almond milk, pumpkin, applesauce and honey.

3. Create a hole in the center of the dry ingredients.  Add in the wet mixture and mix until combined.  You can add the water at this point to get your desired consistency.  (Since I was baking it as a coffee cake, I wanted it thinner than the original recipe made).  Pour into a 9×13 pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.

4. Mix together the oats and pecans for the topping.  Add in the honey and water to create a crumbly topping.  Sprinkle on top of the base batter.

4.  Bake in at 350* for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve with butta!  (aka Earth Balance)

the 80’s are here again

It was in the mid to upper 80’s today.  In my mind I have been waiting for it to finally warm up enough so that I’m not continually cold all the time, but once the heat finally hits I am just never ready for it!  Living in Wisconsin, we only have about 2 months of summer as it is, and this year it has been even worse so far.  I feel like we maybe have only had around 5 truly nice spring or summery days.  Well, summer did in fact hit today (curious as Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer), and I have a nice little sunburn to go along with it.  At least I am no longer the color of paper…

One thing that is hard for me to do in the summer, especially when the air conditioning is not quite ready to be turned on, is to bake.  I tried out this recipe a little over a week ago (no baking involved!), and it turned out magnificent.  Definitely a keeper.

Decadent Date & Pecan Brownies

adapted from a recipe posted on Earth Balance 

• 2 cups raw pecans
• 2 cups chopped and pitted dates
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder* (Trader Joe’s worked awesome in this)
• 1/2T agave syrup
• 1/4t sea salt
• water

1. Put pecans in food processor and pulse until they’re in small pieces.  Add in the dates and pulse a few times, or until incorporated.

2. Add in the cocoa powder, agave, sea salt and about 2-4T of water (to hold mixture together).

3. Press into a 9×9 (or similar) baking dish.  Put in the fridge.

• 1/4 cup(s) of agave syrup
• 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1T natural peanut butter

4. In a blender, process agave, almond milk, cocoa powder and peanut butter until smooth.

5. Pour the topping over the brownies and set in the refrigerator.

Along with being a no-bake recipe, these are also raw, gluten-free and vegan, but I don’t think anyone could ever guess!  These are incredible rich brownies, so be sure to have a nice glass of unsweetened vanilla almond milk to go along side!

*In a repeat making of this recipe, I used Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder.  I do not recommend using this cocoa powder in the recipe.  The recipe did not turn out like it did the first time and the whole batch ended up in the garbage :/.