Not-so-sweet pumpkin muffins.

I have a sweet tooth, but for the most part I prefer savory food. I’m not a fan of sugary muffins, especially if it’s something I’m going to eat first thing in the morning or as an afternoon snack. I prefer to add honey later on, if I choose to do so. I also like nuts in my muffins as well, for a nice crunch (and a little protein).

Roasting a pie pumpkin is so easy and they should be abundant now that Autumn is here. I prefer to do this rather than go to the store and spend a few dollars on canned pumpkin, it doesn’t make sense to me! But you can use canned, of course, if that’s your preference.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 1/2 cups sprouted wheat flour
1 cup roasted pie pumpkin, puréed but kept slightly chunky
1/2 cup raw organic coconut oil, warmed (I also use ghee sometimes)
2 large pastured eggs
1/4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon unsalted five spice powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup Tamarisk honey (I like this honey because it has such a rich, molasses-like flavor. use the darkest honey you can find or whatever honey you have on hand).
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1-2 tablespoons homemade sour cream (or just cream)
1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts, toasted

-Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with baking cups.
-Whisk together pumpkin, coconut oil, eggs, spices, honey, baking soda & powder, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then add flour and mix until just combined.
-Divide batter among muffin cups and sprinkle tops with walnut pieces. Bake until puffed and golden brown and skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

I always eat the first one fresh out of the oven. Then later I eat one topped with homemade butter and a little more Tamarisk honey. Tasty.

 

Apple & Honey Clafoutis.

We have a lot of apples right now in our kitchen and apart from eating them for snacks or plans to make them into butter or sauce, etc I’ve wanted to bake something with them. I really enjoy making and eating simple desserts when at home and since we also have a big stash of honey right now, I decided to use this recipe as a reference to make an apple and honey clafoutis.

Instead of using sugar, I used honey in the recipe and I actually cooked the apples in a light honey caramel sauce while the batter rested. I had one very ripe pear as well, so I added it in with the apple mix. I also used just a little bit of salt-free five spice mix (from Savory Spice Shop) and a bit of sea salt in the honey caramel because it’s hard not to love slightly salty caramel. I didn’t use any brandy either, but next time I may use some whiskey.

The best part about clafoutis for me is eating it at room temperature or having it straight out of the fridge the next day with a little bit of fresh whipped cream.

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Chocolate chunk pillows.

It’s been a while since I’ve made cookies and I really had a urge that I couldn’t ignore, so I made these. I like to whip up a batch and bake a few and the rest of the batter (scooped) I put in the freezer for those “emergency cravings.” I normally like a more flat and crispy cookie, but sometimes a girl needs a bit more substance! ;) Of course these are cookies but I like calling them pillows because of their soft, puffy texture.

I think that if we wanted to have kids, I’d try to teach them that things made from scratch are more satisfying and delicious. I get disappointed when parents buy those ready-made cookie doughs at the stores because it really doesn’t take that much more time to make it from scratch. Plus from what I’ve learned from hanging out with kids is that they absolutely adore making things and getting their hands dirty, so to speak.
But of course I’m speaking as a person without kids, so that’s just my two cents! ;)

Cooking together as a family is such a great bonding experience and I adored it growing up. I was always happy to help my parents (mostly my dad, he cooked more) and my grandmother when it was time to make something.

These cookies are on the less sweet side, which is my preference! Add more sugar if you’d like.

Chocolate Chunk Pillows
2 1/2 cups sprouted wheat flour (you can use whatever flour you have, but I prefer to use sprouted flour now)
1/2 cup softened virgin coconut oil
3 pastured eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups sucanat (or your favorite sugar)
1 generous teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cups or less raw milk (or whichever milk you prefer)
6 oz very roughly chopped chocolate (at least 70%)

-Heat the oven to 375ºF.
-Whisk all ingredients together in a large bowl.
-Cream the coconut oil & sugar until well combined and then add the eggs one at a time until incorporated completely. Add the vanilla extract.
-Combine the dry & wet ingredients. If the dough is too dry, add a some milk a little at a time until it comes together. It shouldn’t be too wet.
-Add the chocolate chunks and stir until well incorporated.
-Scoop as many cookies as you would like to bake at once, I use a scoop that equals about 1 Tablespoon or so. Place scooped dough onto a baking sheet topped with parchment paper.
-Bake for about 10 minutes, or until puffy and nicely browned.
-Enjoy! :)

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Lamb burgers & homemade buns.

This evening we got a chance to try more of the lamb that we bought recently, I blogged about that here. I decided to make burgers out of some of the ground lamb and of course that meant that I needed to make buns as well! I didn’t get a chance to start on those buns early enough, so I thought I’d have to postpone this dinner until tomorrow. Luckily, the dough rose enough and I was able to bake them off and prepare everything else just in time!

Oh my goodness, this lamb burger was amazing. I really didn’t do much to the lamb other than season it with a little sea salt & fresh black pepper and cooked it to medium rare. The buns were made out of a mix of sprouted wheat, spelt and rye flour brushed with a light egg wash topped with caraway seeds & gomasio before baking. I didn’t put anything on the burgers other than some lettuce and raw shallot with a side of dijon mustard. I also roasted some local asparagus just with olive oil and my husband and I sat without saying much at dinner. We were too busy eating!

Though my husband and I enjoyed the buns immensely, I need to tweak the recipe a little more. After I’m a bit more satisfied with it, I’ll be sure to share it here! But if you have a favorite bun recipe, it should work fine with sprouted flour as well. I mean if you do plan to use sprouted flour! I just wanted to share this very enjoyable meal. It definitely reminded me of summer, which feels like it’s well on its way here! :)

I’ve also updated my photoblog, so please check it out: photokatje photography.

 

Banana bread.

Sometimes we buy a bunch of bananas because we think we’re going to eat one every single day, but that doesn’t always happen. Usually, when they start to really ripen, I wrap some up in foil and stick them in the freezer to make smoothies. Other times I make banana bread. When I’m in the mood to have a more cake-like version, I use a mix of white whole wheat pastry and brown rice flour. Today I wanted it to be more like bread, so I used just white whole wheat flour. There are a lot of banana bread recipes floating around out there, but here’s just one more! This recipe is not very sweet, so please adjust to your liking. You can also add some toasted nuts to the batter.

Recipe

2 cups white whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup raw, unfiltered honey
2 large eggs
3 mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup Greek style yoghurt (not the low-fat kind, though)
1/4 cup unrefined macadamia nut oil (or melted unsalted butter)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs and add the mashed banana, honey, yoghurt, macadamia nut oil (or butter), and vanilla. Pour the banana mixture into the dry mixture and stir gently with a spatula until everything is combined. Make sure not to overmix! The batter is going to be very thick, lumpy and will have streaks of flour, but that’s how you want it to look!

2. Pour the batter into a prepared loaf pan (buttered or sprayed with oil). Make sure to smooth the top. Bake in a 350ºF oven for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

3. Cool the bread in the pan on top of a wire rack for a few minutes. Gently tip it onto the wire rack and allow it to cool completely before slicing.

If you’re impatient like me when anything delicious comes out of the oven, go ahead and cut yourself a warm slice! I like my banana bread with a bit of pastured butter and marmalade, but my favorite is also a bit of homemade peanut (or almond) butter with local raw unfiltered honey. Heaven!