Chewy Almond-Raisin Cookies with Coconut Butter Frosting! (Vegan, Paleo, Gluten-free)

Hello again! Yes, I’m still alive…even though my lack of posts over the last few months may suggest otherwise!

Although I haven’t been doing much posting, I have been doing MUCH baking…lots and lots of baking! One of the most exciting things about deciding to go grain-free and sugar-free (and choosing to use only real and wholesome food — none of the processed stuff) is coming up with delicious new recipes. It’s something that I don’t think I’d ever get sick of!

After spending over 15 hours in the last day and a half, cooking and baking at Wilder & Hunt, I once again found myself in the kitchen – baking. As soon as I walked in my door, I decided that I needed to bake some cookies, since we had none in the house (not acceptable!) and about 20 minutes later, my house smelled like sweetly toasted heaven and I had at least a dozen of these amazing cookies to show for it.

In case you were wondering,  Wilder & Hunt is an exciting, brand-spankin’ new “Real Food” store/cafe offering raw smoothies, delicious baked goods and ready-made meals catering to Paleo, Primal, Vegetarians/Vegans as well as anyone interested in being healthy. Because I’m so passionate about making healthy food taste delicious (and of course, grain-free and sugar-free) the perfect place for me to cook and bake my recipes is the Wilder & Hunt kitchen, where I can share my food with all of their customers! For those of you in Auckland or visiting, check out our facebook page here!

Now on to the recipe…There are actually two recipes that I will be sharing with you today. The first recipe is for my Chewy Almond-Raisin Cookies, and the second is for Coconut Butter Frosting which I decided at the last minute to combine with these cookies to make a “Frosting Sandwich”…and wow–was it good! Please give these a try, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Sunflower & Poppyseed Rustic Flax-Focaccia

This recipe has fast become my new favorite. In fact, I’ve already made two batches in two days! I can’t wait to share this recipe with you…

Focaccia bread is a flat, oven-baked Italian bread which may be topped with herbs, nuts, seeds or topping of choice. Focaccia doughs are similar in texture to pizza dough, and usually consist of high-gluten flour, oil, yeast, water and salt. This recipe however, is free from flour, gluten, grains, dairy, sugar, and nuts! You are in for a treat.

Flourless Banana Coconut Muffins (nut-free, paleo)

I’m going to keep this post short and sweet ~ just like these delightful little muffins. These are flour-less (gluten-free & grain-free), nut free, dairy free, sugar free, and so extremely moist and delicious, when you take a bite you may just be mistaken and think that you are eating cake!

Divine Dark-Chocolate Morsels…Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from here in New Zealand, to you ~ wherever you are!

Given this day of celebration, I thought it was only appropriate to gift you with this sweet little recipe ~ which I came up with in my kitchen today, with you in mind! I hope you enjoy these delectable little treats as much as Cam and I did… these are t.d.f. (to die for).

As most of my recipes are, these are sugar-free, dairy-free, paleo, low carb, raw, and incredibly mouth-watering good! Try these for yourself, and if you love them, please come back and rate my recipe and feel free to share with your family and friends too! Happy Easter to you and yours, and wishing you a very blessed day…

…Now for my recipe!

Mandarin Coconut-Butter Cups

I know it’s been awhile since my last post – this week has just flown by, and I’m not sure where it’s gone but the weekend starts tomorrow! Yay.

I shared a few photos of different versions of this recipe this last week on instagram, and after experimenting with different ingredients and flavors, this one was the chosen winner! By myself and Cameron, that is…

These Mandarin Coconut-Butter cups are delicious little treats to have tucked away in your fridge/freezer for when you are getting a sweet craving, and you can enjoy one (or two) of these without feeling guilty after too. Win, win! They are also dairy-free, sugar-free, low-carb, and paleo approved. Sweet.

Coconut-frosted RAW chocolate logs

This has been my favorite morning/afternoon (or both) snack this week, so I thought it’s about time I share this recipe so you can get in on this goodness too! I’m sure you’re familiar with “Lara Bars”, right? Well this is my version of Lara bars…a mixture of dates, nuts, raw cocoa powder, coconut and spices. I thought it would be fun to shape them into “logs” which are pretty much the same size of a nice cuban cigar (just slightly better for you). They are also 100% RAW and have an incredibly yummy spiced, chocolatey flavor. Try these out for yourself, and let me know how much you love them!

The perfect, slow-roasted chicken (with mixed root veggies)

I’m going to keep this blurb short and sweet – only because it’s getting late, and I’ve promised some dear instagram friends that I’d post this tonight. This is a perfectly cooked, slow-roasted chicken with a flavor combination of hazelnuts, rosemary, garlic and lemon — and insanely delicious. Though this is a fairly simple recipe, it does require some patience for the marinating (overnight), and the 3 hour, low heat roasting time (of which you can pretty much just leave it to do its thing). This is what I made for dinner today, and it was the most tender and juicy, fall-off-the-bone meat…even the breast meat was tender as. I’ve got a few tricks, and I’m happy to share… here you go!

The Drunken, Ginger-Poached Chicken

I can’t wait to share this recipe with you! This is one of those recipes where I actually felt proud afterwards…partly because of how amazing it turned out – but also because of how simple this recipe actually is! This recipe will give you a moist and tender, flavorful, and perfectly poached chicken with very little effort! You just have to remember, that if you are wanting to prepare this for dinner, to put the chicken in the brine mixture in the morning so it has several hours to soak it up and get nice and drunk. This is a slow-poaching method, where you will do part of the cooking on stove, then remove pot from heat and let stand for the remaining time. You will also be left with the tastiest broth EVER, which you can then use for soups, stews, stir-frys — you name it! 

Chocolate-Velvet Avocado Pudding

I know I’m a little behind in my daily – er – weekly posts, so please forgive me! I’ve had several requests now to post this recipe, and have been reminded of the fact that I still haven’t by some of my lovely instagram friends, so without wasting anymore time – here it is! (This pudding is paleo too, FYI)

Grain-free Granola Crunch

This recipe has been post long-overdue, and I feel guilty for not sharing it sooner. I always make sure to have a nice-size jar of this ready made in my cupboard. It’s a handy ‘trail-mix’ snack to chuck in a ziplock bag and take on the go, or you can enjoy this for breakfast with some homemade creamy caramel almond milk on top for a treat! It’s super low carb too, with only 6g carb per serve, so perfect if you’re on a low carb thing. Lately, I’ve been finding myself sprinkling this on top of homemade ice cream, and most recently used this as a topping for my dairy-free Vanilla Yogurt and Blueberry Parfait…oh. my. goodness. SO GOOD.

Grain-free Granola Crunch

Dietary Info: GF/DF/SF/PA/V and Vegan! (*see notes at end of post for dietary codes)

Serves 14
Serving size: 50g

Ingredients:

• 1 c. (200g) Almonds, roughly chopped
• 80g unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/4 c. (50g) sunflower seeds
• 1/4 c. (50g) pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 c. (50g) macadamia nuts, chopped
• 1/4 c. (50g) walnuts, chopped
• 2 Tbs. sesame seeds

To mix in after baking:

• 3 Tbs. honey + 1 Tbs. boiling hot water
• 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
• 2-3 heaping Tbs. (16g) LSA Super Fruits, or ground flaxseed
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• sea salt to taste
• 100g sultanas

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees (160C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix all chopped nuts, seeds and coconut.
3. Spread in an even layer on un-greased cookie sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes,  stirring occasionally until starting to turn golden in color. Remove from oven and transfer toasted nuts and seeds to large mixing bowl. (leave oven on).
4. In a small bowl, combine honey with boiling water and vanilla bean paste and stir well to combine.
5. Mix wet mixture into the large mixing bowl with nuts and seeds and stir until all dry ingredients are covered with honey mixture.
6. Add ground LSA (or flaxseed), cinnamon and sea salt (I used about 1/4 tsp. salt for this recipe). Toss well.
7. Place parchment paper on cookie sheet and return to oven for 15 more minutes, stirring halfway to make sure it doesn’t burn.
8. Check granola for dryness. If nuts and seeds are lightly golden but still a bit moist with honey mixture, turn oven fan on and heat off and crack the door. You can leave in for another 15 minutes so mixture has a little more time to dry. (I don’t mind mine on the more toasted side as you can see.)
9. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
10. Once cooled, toss in raisins. Transfer to jar that can be sealed for easy storage, and enjoy however and whenever you wish!

Nutrition facts per 50g serving: Calories 211, Fat 20, Carb 6, Protein 5

Special Dietary Needs:

Gluten Free/Grain Free = GF
Dairy Free = DF
Sugar Free = SF
Paleo Approved = PA
Vegetarian = V
Low Carb = LC

The above codes for specific dietary requirements will be found under each recipe title