Gluten Free Banana Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake Recipe, Vegan, too!

Hello?  Is anyone here?  I’m here!  My last post was exactly one year ago.  What in the world have I been doing?  Just being a busy mom of three teenagers and a ten year old.  That and I just felt like I needed a break.  Not sure why.  I have missed blogging terribly.  I started feeling like a part of who I am was missing.  I love baking and I love sharing it with others.  My health is great!  I cannot complain at all.  With my diet changes of going gluten free and refined sugar free (and my 15 year old deciding to be vegan!), I think I had just been in a rut on what to do, what to make, what to share and post here.  But I decided I really want to try again with this little part of me that was missing.  I’m not in it for hundreds of thousands of visitors.  I’m not going to be making videos.  My blog is WAY outdated.  But I don’t care.  I need to do it for me.  A lot of it is that I’ve just decided I need to keep documenting things I love somewhere else besides just scribbled in a notebook.

 

My idea the last couple months has been to take some of my favorite tried-and-true recipes, whether they be from here on my blog, or favorite blogs or cookbooks and make them gluten free, refined sugar free, and sometimes vegan and share them with you.  I’ve made a number of things already and am so happy with how they are turning out with simple changes like gluten free flours, unrefined sugars (coconut sugar, raw honey, agave, etc.).  I plan to share links to my favorite cookbooks, blogs and recipes as they were originally made, then post my changed results here.  Does that sound good?  I think so.  I’ve asked a few people and they think it’s a great idea.  So I’m here to try it!

 

Now, this cake—I first shared this cake not long after starting my blog in February 2008!  I saw it on a blog, who adapted it from Bon Appetit in a 2003 magazine article.  I adapted it enough that I’m leaving you the link to my post for this Absolutely Delicious Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake.  I made this more times than I can count over the years.  Well, I’ve come up with a new, delicious favorite that everyone here loves, except it’s gluten free, vegan and refined sugar free.  The boys don’t care!  This is a good sign.  A lot of times, they won’t even try something when I tell them it’s gluten free.  This is gone so quickly every time I’ve made it recently, which is like three or four times. 

I made this again yesterday for dinner as we were having the LDS sister missionaries over and one of them has celiacs.  They both went crazy over how good it was and we let them take the leftover cake home.  There wasn’t a lot left, maybe two pieces, but it’s because they had seconds while we were eating it!  Win.  I love when someone is happy with something I’ve made, especially when there are changes that most would think would make something taste strange.  This one is good!  Try it!  It is our go-to when we have overripe bananas.

 

Gluten Free Banana Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake (vegan), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

*Streusel topping:

1/4 cup coconut sugar**

1/2 tablespoons agave nectar

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

 

Cake:

1 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend (xanthan gum included)

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup agave nectar

1/2 cup (4 ounces) coconut oil

1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed, 2 1/2 tablespoons water, let sit for 5 minutes)

1 1/3 cup mashed banana (about 4 small/medium or 3 large bananas)

3 tablespoons almond milk (or non-dairy milk of your choice)

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg’s)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Make the streusel topping.  Combine the coconut sugar with the agave, mix together with a fork until it is all moist like brown sugar.  Add the pecans, cinnamon and chocolate chips.  Stir together, set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line an 8x8 inch square pan (9x9 also works fine!) with nonstick foil and spray lightly with a non-propellant cooking spray (I like coconut oil).  In a small bowl, make the flax egg, let it sit while you prepare the rest.  In another small bowl, combine the almond milk and vinegar, let sit.  In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, whisk together and set aside.  In a large bowl, add the coconut sugar, agave and coconut oil.  Whisk until well combined.  Whisk in the flax egg and almond milk mixture and the vanilla.  Stir in mashed banana (sometimes I pulse it in a food processor, sometimes I just mash them with a fork).  Fold in the dry ingredients.  Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly.  Evenly sprinkle the topping over the cake batter.  Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with just a few crumbs.  Let cool on a wire rack completely.  Remove pan using foil edges.  Carefully remove cake from the foil and put it on a serving plate.

*Note—The original Absolutely Delicious Banana Cake I linked above also has streusel in the middle.  I did make it that way once (photo above), but decided it’s not necessary.  Good, but not necessary.  So if you’d like you can double the topping able and put half of it on half the batter in the pan.  It’s all natural sugars, so no harm done!

**Make your own, all-natural brown sugar.  Combine coconut sugar with agave (use amounts posted above in the streusel for the correct consistency) until moist.  It’s perfect, in my opinion!

 

 

Make your own healthy, all-natural “brown sugar”.  Combine coconut sugar with a touch of agave, raw honey or molasses, mix with a fork until all moist.  Use about 1/2 cup coconut sugar and 1 tablespoon agave/honey/molasses.  I love it!

If I had some more overripe bananas right now, I’d make this again today.  Guess I’ll have to wait another couple days. 

You may be wondering what is going on with my family.  Quick update, Scott graduated school last year and is 19, has a girlfriend that he spends all his time with when he’s not working at Taco Bell.

Parker is almost 16, almost done with driver’s ed, aching for a job and will start his sophomore year of high school soon!  He’s currently having “fun” with hair colors.  He did purple and a pink for a while, but his hair is currently an orange color (MS awareness???).

Taylor is 13 and starts 8th grade soon.  He’s busy being a crazy 13 year old and doing his best trying not to drive me crazy.  He’s pretty funny and still likes lots of creative crafty things.

Sam is 10 and about to start 5th grade.  This is crazy!  When I started my blog, Scott was 10 and my baby was a baby!  Waaahhhh!  They aren’t supposed to grow up so fast!  Sam loves baseball and discovered this year that he loves being the catcher. 

Kevin and I celebrated our 20th Anniversary in June!  Twenty years—what????  Crazy.  He’s amazing and treats me like a queen.  I don’t deserve him.  He receives awards at UVU for being an outstanding educator.  He got to be in a spread in UVU’s magazine as Captain America.  He’s my hero.  He’s a great professor, just took over as department chair in the business school at UVU, he’s a wonderful dad and the best husband!  So there.

For our 20th, since we didn’t get to take a big trip or anything (he taught for the summer session of school), he surprised me with a bunch of my favorite concerts over the last month, including New Kids On The Block/Paula Abdul, David Archuleta, the Utah Symphony and GENTRI and we got to spend some time together in Salt Lake City.  I’m spoiled.  Love my life.  My health is good.  MS is 100% stable, nothing new.  Besides being tired more than I’d like, I’ve got this.  Glad to be back here and hopefully I’ll post again soon!

Spicy Mixed Nuts (Refined Sugar Free, Paleo)

Looking for a munchy snack for New Year’s Eve?  These spiced mixed nuts are great!  They aren’t just perfect for New Year’s or any other holiday, I’d make them year round.  And they are pretty healthy—there are no refined sugars in them—just good Grade B maple syrup, and not even that much.  A little egg white to add to the protein and some great spices make these perfectly crunchy and delicious.  I’ve loved having them here while others around me are eating so many other treats that I no longer eat. 

I used pecans, almonds, and just a handful of cashews and hazelnuts along with some raw sunflower seeds.  I threw a little orange zest in the mixture and it’s good.  I wish I would have added a little more.  The kick from some cayenne is just enough, but if you’d like it even spicier, add a little more.  I was afraid and didn’t want to make them too spicy since I’m mainly the only one eating them around here.  Love the sweet combo of cinnamon, maple and orange.  It goes well with the cayenne, chili and cumin powder to make a great sweet and spicy flavor.

These made for some nice holidays gifts I also handed out.

Spicy Mixed Nuts (Paleo, Refined Sugar Free), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

5 cups mixed nuts (I used a mixture of mostly pecans and almonds, with some cashews, hazelnuts and some sunflower seeds)

2 large egg whites

¼ cup Grade B maple syrup

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon Ancho chili powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne powder

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Put all the nuts in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer for 2 minutes, until frothy. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the nuts) and fold it all together. Spread the mixture evenly on the baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Or portion them out into cute gift bags and ties.

Gingerbread Buche de Noel—Tuesdays With Dorie—Baking Chez Moi

Wait—before the year is over, I must post about this Tuesdays With Dorie recipe we made in the group over Christmas!  I’m a little late on posting it.  The date was for the Tuesday before Christmas, but I wanted to make it for Christmas Eve, so didn’t get it posted—until now—all the sudden it’s New Year’s Eve!  I did make this for Christmas Eve and I must say, though it was a huge labor of love and there were many steps to follow, I have learned that with Dorie’s recipes, if I do just that—follow all directions, the recipes always turn out great.  That said, I followed all the steps perfectly, except I decided to try making it gluten free and used organic cane sugars. 

Oh, look, two skinny little ends cut off.  I had to taste them for quality control!

I had high hopes that since the cake only called for 3/4 cup of flour that changing it to a gluten free flour blend would probably be okay.  I was going to retype the recipe as I made it, but I really didn’t change anything except the flour (I happened to have some Pamela’s Gluten Free Baking Mix, so that is what I used) and I used organic cane sugar and organic brown sugar.  All the many involved steps to the recipe were not changed at all.  And though I say it was a labor of love and there were what seemed like many steps involved, it was SO worth it.  I would certainly make this cake again for a special occasion.

The gingerbread flavor was not too strong, so I think this cake could be made year round.  And even if it was a strong ginger flavor, I would not be against making this in the summer if I really felt like it.  ; )

The cake roll worked perfectly—that’s always a worry that it will not roll up nicely.  This rolled perfectly with not even any cracking.  The filling is a nice cream cheese/butter filling that isn’t sweet at all and then the delicious egg white/sugar syrup frosting is a perfectly sweet addition to the cake.  Also loved the pecan praline crunch that was in the filling and on the top of the cake. 

This cake was my big holiday splurge and I won’t tell you how many pieces of it I ate (not all in one sitting).  I took the cake to a family Christmas Eve celebration and it was well liked by everyone who ate some of it.  Nice thing about those big family get-togethers—so many desserts that I was able to bring a little bit of the cake home to enjoy later.

I wish you all a wonderful, Happy New year!  Thanks for still sticking around here with me.  It’s almost been seven years since I started my blog and while I’m not in it for the fame and money, I love sharing with my readers the happiness I get from baking and sharing with all those around me.  While how often I blog has changed over the years and even the kinds of things I blog, I’m happy you’re still here.  I wish you all health and happiness in the new year!

You are in luck if you want this recipe, it can be found on the internet from some of the promotions done with Dorie’s new book.  You can find the recipe HERE.  I think you should just get Baking Chez Moi!  My link at the top for Tuesdays With Dorie has everyone else in the groups’ posts for their Buche de Noel cakes.  Check them out!  We’ll be starting the year out more healthy with some granola bars, coming soon! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Gluten Free Slow Cooker Apple Crisp

Gluten Free Slow Cooker Apple Crisp

After seeing Mary at Bunny's Warm Oven recently post her Crock Pot Apple Crisp, I NEEDED to make it gluten free so I could have some!  It wasn’t that hard to recreate with gluten free oats and a little gluten free flour.  I changed up a few other things and this made for a delicious treat for days.  I might have even had some for breakfast one day. ; )

There’s nothing quite like the fall aroma of baking apples with cinnamon and nutmeg!  I love that it was slow cooked, which made the smell go on longer.  The apples cooked perfectly to my liking, not too crisp and not too mushy.  Whether you make this with Mary’s version or my gluten free version, you will love it.  Of course all crisps are great with vanilla ice cream, but for me, it was perfect on its own and I didn’t need to make sure I had some ice cream I could eat.

Gluten Free Slow Cooker Apple Crisp, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

Apple filling:

5-6 large apples, or 8 small-medium sized (I used 5 large organic Fuji apples), peeled, cored and cut into chunks 

1/4 cup organic coconut palm sugar

2 tablespoons raw honey

1 tablespoon non-GMO cornstarch

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crisp topping:

1 cup gluten free flour blend

1 cup gluten free old fashioned oats

1/3 cup organic light brown cane sugar, lightly packed

1/3 cup organic coconut palm sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

pinch of salt

1/3 cup coconut oil, chilled for a few minutes if it’s not solid

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Put the cut apples in the bowl of a slow cooker.  Add the sugar, honey, cornstarch, spices, lemon juice and vanilla and stir to combine. 

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, oats, sugars, spices and salt.  Work the coconut oil into the mixture, kneading it together with your fingers until it is all well combined.  Stir in the pecans.  Sprinkle the topping mixture evenly over the apples.  With the lid on the slow cooker, cook on high for 2 hours.  Remove the lid and cook for another hour.  Serve warm.  Or cold for breakfast the next day! ; )

So good, even right out of the slow cooker!

Big Fat Delicious Clone of a Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

I wanted to wish my friend Shelby from The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch a Happy Birthday today!  You might recall at the beginning of this month when I participated in my last Secret Recipe Club assignment, I got to make something from Shelby’s blog.   And at that time, I decided to go all out and throughout the month since getting my assignment, instead of making one thing, I cooked and baked from recipes on Shelby's blog and made a dozen things instead of just one.  So I wanted to post another one of those recipes today in her honor. ; ) 

Who can resist a cinnamon roll?  Not my family.  Shelby’s cover photo on her blog are these cinnamon rolls.  It seemed wrong to not make them since they were right there every time I turned to her blog and seemed so right to try these because I knew they would be a big hit here.  While eating them, Sam could be heard saying, “These are the BEST cinnamon rolls ever.”  While that makes me feel a little sad because I already have a tried and true family favorite recipe for cinnamon rolls that I’ve been making forever, these ARE really good.  They look awesome and are huge, which is what makes them most like a Cinnabon roll. 

This Cinnabon clone recipe isn’t too far off from the size of ingredients of mine when I usually halve it.  But the reason they are like a clone is because the recipe only makes eight rolls!  I’ll definitely make these again because the boys all really liked them.  I made a few small changes (I used 2% milk instead of almond milk and butter instead of margarine) to the recipe Shelby posted, so I’ll post mine here. 

Big Fat Delicious Clone of a Cinnabon, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch

For the rolls:

1 cup warm milk (I used 2%, you could use any kind you’d like)

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup butter, melted

4  1/2 cup bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2  1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2  1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, softened

For the icing:

1/4 cup butter, softened

1  1/2 cups powdered sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-3 tablespoons milk

Put the milk, eggs and melted butter in the bowl of a mixer.  With the dough attachment, mix together.  Add the bread flour, salt, sugar and yeast (adding the yeast last).  Let the mixer stir the mixture together on low until all combined into a dough.  With the mixer set to about medium speed, knead the dough for 5 minutes.  Turn off mixer and let the dough stand for 10 minutes.  Turn mixer back on and knead for another 5 minutes.  Put the dough in a bowl that is lightly greased and cover it with plastic wrap.  Let rest in warm place until doubled in size, about an hour.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Roll the dough into about a 16-21 inch rectangle.  Spread the dough with the 1/3 cup softened butter.  Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar, then cinnamon.  Roll up dough and cut into 8 rolls.  (I rolled from the short side of the dough, but you could roll the long way and get even bigger rolls.)  Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan.  Cover and let rise until nearly doubled in size, about 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake rolls for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.  While rolls are baking, beat together 1/4 cup butter, powdered sugar,  salt, vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of milk.  Add a little more milk until it is the consistency you want.  When the rolls are somewhat cooled, spread the icing over them.  Serve! 

Hope you have a wonderful birthday, Shelby!  I’m sure you will, since you get to be with your boys!

Peach Mango Cinnamon Ice Cream, Dairy Free and Refined Sugar Free

I made this Peach Mango Cinnamon Ice Cream, though it’s dairy free (made with coconut milk) and instead of sugar I used raw honey.  It might not be all that pretty, but it sure is tasty!  I have made peach mango “ice cream” before, but this one is a little different. 

I had recently bought some of those fruit pouches, that are perfect for kids lunch boxes.  My boys really like them.  Apparently their favorite is the plain applesauce or applesauce with cinnamon.  But I’ve got some of the other flavors here and there to see what else they might like.

Apparently these Fruit and Veggie ones from Del Monte are not a favorite.  The boys weren’t eating them.  I kept seeing them in the pantry.  They are all real fruit with juice and veggies added.  Peach mango, hmmm?  I checked to see what veggies were in them and it’s just a little pumpkin and carrot juice.  Ding!  These needed to be put to use.  This dairy free ice cream was created using seven pouches.  Here’s the recipe.  Get a box of them and try it out. 

Peach Mango Cinnamon Ice Cream, Dairy Free and Refined Sugar Free, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

7 Del Monte Peach Mango Fruit + Veggie Squeezers (1 Box is 8 pouches, you could use all 8)

1/4 cup raw honey

1 can lite coconut milk (or regular is fine, I just had some lite on hand)

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (to taste—I added 1/2 teaspoon, but ended up putting in a bit more)

couple pinches of fresh nutmeg

Put all the fruit and veggie mixture from each pouch in a large bowl.  Add the honey and whisk to combine.  Whisk in the coconut milk, then add the almond extract, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk until all combined.  Pour the mixture into the frozen bowl of an ice cream maker and church according to manufacturer instructions, about 20 minutes.  Serve ice cream soft serve immediately or put in an airtight container in the freezer.  To serve frozen ice cream, let sit on the counter for 15 minutes for easier scooping.

Peach is definitely the dominant flavor in these pouches and in the ice cream.  The cinnamon is a perfect autumn addition.  You’ll love it!

Slow Cooker Apple Butter—No Sugar Added

If I wasn’t such a lady, I’d have eaten all 32 ounces of this apple butter by myself.  Who says apple butter has to be for spreading on bread?  I don’t eat bread anyway, or at least I don’t have any gluten free bread right now.  I’m sure it’s delicious on bread, but try not to just spoon too much of it in your mouth straight from the pot.

This couldn’t be any easier to make, the hardest part (though it’s so worth it) is waiting for it to cook in the slow cooker.  That is the main reason most of its cooking time was overnight and while I was gone to my  doctor’s appointment this morning.  Perfection when I returned! And sure smells great!  I’ve made an apple butter before, but also used some pears since I didn’t have enough apples.  So this one is pure apple butter, with no sugar.  It does not need sugar!  Chop the apples—I used my Vidalia Chop Wizard (As Seen On TV, but available in many stores now and only about $20).  Love this thing.  It has two different sizes for chopping.  I chopped these with the smaller one.  Added a little lemon juice, some yummy spices and a little apple juice and let it cook away.

Slow Cooker Easy Apple Butter, No Sugar Added, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

12 apples, your choice, but something like Gala, Braeden, red or yellow delicious, or Fuji, or any combination (if you use Granny Smith apples, you might need sugar), peeled, core removed and chopped

juice of 1 lemon

1  1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1  1/2 cups 100% apple juice

Put all the ingredients into the bowl of a slow cooker, stir together until combined.  Cook on low 12 hours, perfect for overnight.  After about 10 hours (in the morning), blend the apples until smooth (I used a handheld blender right in the slow cooker, but you can carefully transfer the apples to a blender, in batches, too.).  If you don’t blend it too much, you can just call it applesauce, but keep blending until is a super-smooth consistency and it becomes a nice apple butter.  Once blended, you can let it cook another couple hours, but you don’t have to.   Let cool, store in jars in the refrigerator for up to a couple weeks.  Makes 32 ounces (4 half pints, perfect gift giving homemade item).

Applesauce-y

Almost there, blend a little longer.  It will become silky smooth.

Apple Butter, no sugar added

You will want to dive right in.  I’m planning for some of this to go in these Apple Betty Bars I’m going to make this weekend for a family get together.  But I’m also thinking this would sure make some delicious dairy free apple ice cream, maybe even with caramel (vegan, refined sugar free) swirled in, and some pecans.  Okay, yum!  Deal.  Working on it. 

*Note, the strange discrepancy in colors in the photos is because it’s quite a rainy day here today!  It does look most like the first and last photo here on this post. ; )

Snickerdoodle Granola Bars, Gluten Free—Secret Recipe Club

Gluten Free Snickerdoodle Granola BarsT

These are sure tasty!  I know they look kind of plain and boring, but I assure you, there is some great flavor there!  Do you like Snickerdoodles, those cinnamony, chewy cookies?  These taste like those cookies, but in no bake granola bar form.  And of course, I made them gluten free with gluten free oats and a glluten free flour blend and used raw honey and organic sugar.  I decided to splurge a little on the sugar, I consider organic cane sugar not to be a 100% natural, unrefined sugar, but sometimes I use it—so sue me. ;  )  I also don’t use butter much anymore as I’ve been using coconut oil for the most part, but these called for butter and I decided to splurge there, too, and use real butter.  Mmm, I thought the butter flavor came through nicely with these.

Hey, I found these bars over at my Secret Recipe Club blog assignment for this month.  I really enjoyed Aimee’s blog, See Aimee Cook.  New to me, but I sure spent a lot of time there.  I had the hardest time deciding what to make.  Check out Aimee’s awesome Recipe Index.  I love that she posts weekly menus and browsing through some of those I wanted to make everything I saw.  Let me correct that, I wanted Aimee to cook everything I saw for me.  There is a lot of good stuff there.

These are making for a great little snack for me the last couple days.  I have this silly little trick—when my boys ask what certain things are, I tell them they are gluten free or sugar free and they cringe their noses and won’t even try most things.  Little do they know, they taste great and they’d never know if I didn’t tell them.  Makes them all for me that way and they last a lot longer, too.  Hehe

Snickerdoodle Granola Bars, Gluten Free, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Aimee at See Aimee Cook

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup (168 grams) raw honey

1/4 cup (35 grams, not packed) organic light brown sugar

1/4 cup (45 grams) organic pure cane sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

3  1/2 cups (315 grams) gluten free quick cooking oats

3/4 cup gluten free blend flour (I used Premium Gold Ancient Grains blend)

Line a 9 inch square pan with nonstick foil, enough to use the edges to remove the bars easily from the pan.  Spread a light coating of butter or coconut oil over the foil. 

In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, honey, brown sugar, and sugar until melted and smooth.  Let it come to a boil for 3 minutes.  Don’t let it boil to fast and high, if it is, turn the heat down slightly.  Remove from heat and add the vanilla, cinnamon, salt and cream of tartar.  Stir to combine.  Add the oats and stir well.  Add the flour a little at a time until well combined.  Spread the mixture evenly in the pan.  Press it down firmly (I like to use a potato masher for even pressing.)  Refrigerate for about 2 hours until bars are set.  Lift them out of the pan using the foil edges.  Cut into desired sized bars on a cutting board.  Store in an airtight container for up to a week at room temperature or for a month in the refrigerator.  They also freeze well.

These are perfectly soft and chewy at room temperature and obviously more firm out of the fridge.  They wouldn’t take long to come to room temperature, but after enjoying them room temperature for a few days, I have the rest stored in the fridge.  They have great cinnamon flavor and the butter really comes through.  I actually thought they’d be a little greasy, but they are not.  Great job on these Snickerdoodle Granola Bars, Aimee.  I’m totally thinking I’ll trick the boys and make other flavors of these.  We buy a lot of granola bars around here and I’d love to make them instead!

The night I made these, I decided to make this Blackened Chicken and Cilantro Lime Quinoa for dinner.  Course, I had to make it for the boys with rice and let them put it all in a flour tortilla like a burrito, blah, blah.  If I’d have just made quinoa with chicken, they probably would have all complained.  Whatever.  It worked just fine for me to make cilantro lime rice and some cilantro lime quinoa.  I followed Aimee’s recipe pretty much exactly.  I just didn’t make as much rice or quinoa so we wouldn’t have a huge abundance.  It worked perfectly.  I love quinoa and this was a great meal!

Check out Aimee’s blog, See Aimee Cook and all the other goodness from the Secret Recipe Club!

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Grain Free No Bake Gingerbread Cookie Balls, also Gluten Free, Vegan and Refined Sugar Free

Yesterday I made two batches of cookies and some Gingerbread Cookie Bars (I mentioned them on Facebook, they are from Six Sisters’ Stuff).  I love baking.  But I am SO happy to know that I can still have yummy, much-healthier treats, too, even though I am  no longer eating gluten or refined sugars.  Here’s the link for the Salted Caramel Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookies I posted recently.  I made two kinds of them, some had white chocolate chips and coconut and some had semi sweet chocolate chips and M&M’s, the caramel is the sticky star of these cookies, and the flavor and texture from the cream cheese in the cookie dough. 

These Grain Free No Bake Gingerbread Cookie Balls from Beth at Tasty Yummies hit the spot and are delicious!  They are super easy to make, have just a few ingredients and those delicious holiday spices that I was going crazy over smelling while I made the Gingerbread Cookie Bars. 

Simple and great and they do not even any oven time, I didn’t change a thing from Beth’s recipe—so go there now and make these.  They are a perfect treat for when you’re in the kitchen baking away other goodies for people and wish you could have just a little something.  They would also be great to give away to others.  I love all the no-bake treats out there, especially the ones like these with no refined sugars! 

That MIGHT be enough for me to snack on for a few days.  They are made with nuts and dates, a little molasses (unsulphured organic) and yummy spices.  They are rolled in unsweetened coconut, but they wouldn’t need to be and I think I’ll leave them “plain” next time I make them (in a few days).  One more photo, since you need to see them again and since I’m not posting the recipe.  Go to the link above for Beth’s recipe.

Paleo Breakfast Bread—It’s Cinnamon Goodness Is Not Just For Breakfast!

Hi!  Besides not feeling well lately, I’ve also had to deal with some family issues.  (Don’t worry, all is or at least will be fine.)  Just know that it’s nearly killing me to have ignored my blog for so long.  So I had a few minutes today and wanted to get a post up for you.  I sure do appreciate all my readers and hope you’re still around waiting patiently for me to post something.

You may have noticed I’ve been trying a lot of Paleo (grain free, dairy free, refined sugar free) recipes lately and posting some of them.  Here’s another.  I hadn’t realized I never blogged it, but it’s good and SO easy to make, so I wanted to share it with you.  I take no credit for it and didn’t even change anything in the recipe that Elana from Elana's Pantry came up with.  Love this lady and her blog.  We could be twins. (Ha!)  We do have a few things in common.  She has MS.  I have MS.  She has all boys (2) and I have all boys (4).  She’s got a great blog.  I’ve got a blog. ;)  But really, she is an inspiration to me and I have found many recipes on her blog that I enjoy.  She is a cookbook author and blogs great gluten free and Paleo recipes.

I first made this “breakfast bread” back in July and it was great.  I can be an easy thing to grab for breakfast as you and/or your kids are running out the door, but it also makes a great little snack when you just need something.  It is full of protein with almond butter and eggs and has just a few other ingredients, like honey, salt, baking soda and the star of the show—cinnamon.  This is packed with cinnamon.  You can add less if you’d like, but it’s pretty tasty.  Oh, it has a touch of Stevia drops, too.  Get some and keep it for recipes like the ones Elana shares and that I link.  It’s a great all natural sweetener and just a little dab will do ya.

Check out Elana's recipe for Paleo Breakfast Bread.  Better yet, make it.  I’m going to again right now.

It bakes in 12 minutes in an 8x8 square pan.  So easy. 

Just takes a couple minutes to mix up the ingredients in a bowl and stir them with a spoon.  Bake and done.  It can even be enjoyed warm.  Yep, see, ya gotta go make some right now.