Blueberry Frangipane Pie Bars

On the way to work the other day, I heard the Cheers theme song on the radio ("sometimes you want to go where everybooody knows your naaaaame...") and was overcome by nostalgia. I didn't watch Cheers as a kid, but I watched the show that was on right before it (Seinfeld, I think), and always left the TV on so I could hear the theme song. Even as a kid, it made me feel nostalgic.

I guess the idea with the Cheers song is that after a tough day, you can go to a bar where everyone knows you. But for me, it always felt like the song was really about going home, or going back to a simpler time. Because, as the song says, "making your way in the world today takes everything you've got".

If the modern world has you feeling a bit beaten down, I have a solution for you. Click the link in the first paragraph and listen to the Cheers song over and over while you make yourself a batch of pie bars. They are just the thing if "your third fiancé didn't show", "your shrink ran off to Europe and didn't even write", or if, like me, you've just had kind of a long week.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

I have been on a quest to make delicious paleo & gluten-free muffins, because I can't have eggs for breakfast every single day.  This is the third time I've tried, and I finally have what I want: a moist, sweet muffin with a beautiful domed top that is bursting with blueberries in every bite.  Best of all, these muffins taste like the real thing, not a gluten-free imitation.

Make Your Own Almond Milk

Do you drink coffee?  How do you take yours?  Have you ever had to switch the way you make your morning coffee?

Cherry (Chocolate) Almond No-Churn Ice Cream

I am SO excited about this post.  This ice cream is ridiculously good, ridiculously healthy, and ridiculously simple, and I have made it three times since I invented it two days ago.  There are five ingredients, and you don't need an ice cream maker.  There are also NO sweeteners.  This is the stuff dreams are made of.  Well, my kind-of cheating whole30 dreams, at least.

Almond Blueberry Pie Bars (Paleo, Gluten-free)

One of my favorite recipes I've blogged about is almond blueberry pie bars.  They are amazing: a rich, buttery crust, a smooth, custardy filling studded with juicy berries, and a crumbly topping with crisp sliced almonds.  When my mom and I were trying to decide what to make to bring to our cousin's wedding, these bars came to mind.  I wondered if we could make a decent paleo version.

Luckily, the answer is yes!  These bars are just as delicious as the original.  They're not exactly the same--this version has a soft buttery crust, whereas the others had a crunchier crust--but you won't find me complaining.  We brought a huge platter of these to the wedding, and they disappeared fast, devoured by gluten free eaters and non-restricted eaters alike.  They are even more amazing with a scoop of vanilla ice cream--I recommend Blue Bell if you can get it.

It was a bit of an adventure baking these bars at my aunt's apartment, because she does not have a real oven!  I was nervous about using her combination (microwave and convection) oven, so I found the manual online and read the instructions carefully.  I found that the bars browned VERY quickly, but were still not done in the center, so I covered them with foil for the rest of the baking time.  You may or may not have that problem in a regular oven.

This was my first time using coconut flour and maple sugar, and I think they both worked very well in these bars.  The coconut flour is very fine and created a nice smooth crust in combination with the almond flour.  The maple sugar is granulated, so I didn't have to worry about adjusting the proportions of ingredients in order to use a liquid sweetener.  You won't taste any more than a very faint tinge of maple flavor, and that's really only if you're looking for it.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (adapted from Annie's Eats; makes 36 small but thick bars):

For the crust and topping:

1 and 1/2 cups coconut flour
1 and 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons almond flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple sugar (granulated)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest of one lemon
18 tablespoons grass-fed cold butter
1 cup sliced almonds, lightly crushed

For the filling:

4 eggs
1 cup grass-fed milk or coconut milk
1 and 3/4 cup maple sugar
1/2 cup coconut flour
Juice of one lemon
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 and 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350.  Line a 9x13 pan with tinfoil and grease it lightly.  To make the crust, combine the flours, sugar, salt, and lemon zest in a food processor (or by hand in a large bowl).  Cut the butter into cubes and pulse until the mixture is uniform.  If you're not using the food processor, it's easiest to mix the dough with your hands.  Reserve about 3/4 cup of the mixture to serve as the topping.  Press the rest of it into an even layer in the bottom of the pan.  Bake for about 12 minutes, until golden brown.

To make the topping, add the crushed sliced almonds to the reserved dough and mix until combined.

To make the filling, whisk together all ingredients except the blueberries until smooth.  Gently stir in the blueberries.

When the crust is baked, let it cool for 10-15 minutes, leaving the oven on.  Then, pour the filling over, sprinkle the topping evenly over the filling, and bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the middle is just set.  Cool completely before cutting--it helps to put them in the refrigerator to firm up.  Slice into squares or rectangles and enjoy!

You might also like:

Salted Maple Caramel Peach Bars (Gluten free, paleo)

Fruit & Frangipane Galettes

Banana Blueberry Muffins (Gluten free, paleo)

Almond Pancakes with Blueberry Compote (Paleo, Gluten-free)

Pancakes!  The perfect breakfast food.  When I spotted a recipe for almond flour pancakes in one of the paleo cookbooks I picked up, I was eager to try it.  Surprisingly, these pancakes are a lot like regular pancakes.  Since the batter is made in the food processor, it's nice and smooth without any noticeable chunks of almond.  These pancakes also make a hearty and high-protein breakfast since the recipe calls for four eggs.  With the blueberry compote and a few sliced almonds on top, you will be in your pancake happy place.  I'm starting to think regular flour is totally superfluous!

Ingredients (makes 6 large pancakes; serves 2):

For the blueberry compote:

1 and 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen)
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon honey, or to taste
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

For the almond pancakes (adapted from Easy Paleo Diet Recipes):

1 and 1/2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 eggs

Butter or coconut oil for cooking
Sliced almonds, for serving

To make the blueberry compote, place all ingredients in a saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until some of the blueberries have collapsed and the liquid is syrupy, 10-15 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

To make the pancakes, process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.  Heat the butter or coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat, and add about 1/4 cup of batter.  Cook the pancake until the top is covered with bubbles.  Flip and cook until golden on the other side.  Add a little more butter or oil before cooking the next pancake.

Serve hot with blueberry compote and sliced almonds.

You might also like:

Blueberry Avocado Breakfast Cake

Dutch Baby

Blueberry Lemon Muffins with Almond Streusel

Blackberry, Almond, and Rocket Salad with Fresh Mozzarella

Did you know that arugula is called rocket in the UK?  Arugula is a pretty fun word, but rocket is even better.  This salad has rocket in it, along with all the other delicious things listed in the title.  After making blackberry cupcakes for this month's Get Your Chef On challenge, I wanted to do something else fabulous with the rest of my juicy blackberries.  I dreamed up this salad, and thought about it all day during class.

I was happy to find that it was even better than I had imagined!  The spicy arugula, sweet blackberries, creamy mozzarella, and toasty almonds are the perfect combination.  This is my new favorite summer salad.  Ben loved it, too!  When I served it he said it looked fancy (secret--any salad with blackberries looks fancy!), and then he asked for seconds.  Usually he's a one plate of salad kind of guy.

So, here's what I would recommend.  Go buy a lot of blackberries, make these cupcakes, then make this salad.  A light dinner with a decadent dessert is the perfect thing to have on a summer evening.

Ingredients (serves 2):

1/2 cup sliced almonds
3 cups arugula
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Pinch of sea salt
1 heaping cup blackberries
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, roughly cubed

Toast the almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often to make sure they don't burn, until golden brown (less than five minutes).  Set aside to cool.

Toss the arugula with the oil, vinegar, and salt and adjust seasonings to taste.

To serve, line plate with arugula.  Top with blackberries, fresh mozzarella, and toasted almonds.  Enjoy!

You might also like:

Spring Salad with Citrusy Shallot Vinaigrette








Jerk Chicken with Avocado and Papaya Salad








Wheat Berry Salad with Pine Nuts, Raisins, and Pickled Red Onions

Triple Berry Almond Clafoutis

Berries and almonds go together well (see evidence here, here, and here).  So when I saw a clafoutis recipe that called for almond extract, I figured it would be even better with actual almonds, too.  And while I haven't tried this recipe without almonds, I'm pretty sure I'm right.

Wait!  Did I forget to tell you what a clafoutis is?  When Ben woke up this morning and I told him what I was making, he made some really good joke about doing Krav Maga in footie pajamas.  I think he thought I said krav footie?  Anyway, a clafoutis is a French cake that's basically pancake batter poured over fruit (traditionally cherries) and baked.  I guess it's a dessert, but I made it for breakfast.  With lots of eggs and fruit and just a little flour, sugar, and butter, I think it's totally healthy enough to be the first thing you eat in the morning.

Oh, and it's delicious!  It's almost like a custard, bursting with berries, and with a sweet almond crunch on top.  Bonus--it's really easy to make.  Without much trouble at all you can impress all your friends with your sweet culinary skills and knowledge of obscure dessert vocabulary in French.  Win-win-win (there was a third winning point in there somewhere, right?).

Ingredients (makes 8 servings; adapted from Bon Appetit and King Arthur):

3 cups mixed berries (I used frozen blueberries and fresh raspberries & blackberries)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup plus 2 teaspoons sugar, divided
1/2 vanilla bean
4 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup milk (I used 2%)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Powdered sugar and whipped cream*, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350.  Lightly butter a 9 inch round cake pan and put the berries in it.  If your cake pan is 2 inches deep, that's perfect.  If it's 1 1/2 inches deep like mine, put it on a baking sheet just in case.  I didn't have any overflow but it was close!  This thing puffs up a lot.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool.  Place the 1/2 cup of sugar in a medium bowl, and scrape in the vanilla bean seeds.  Use your fingers to rub them together to evenly distribute the vanilla--this will make sure you don't end up with a few huge chunks of vanilla bean seeds.  Add the eggs, salt, almond extract, milk, and butter and whisk to combine.  Add the flour gradually, whisking until most of the lumps are gone.  Pour the batter over the fruit.  Top with the sliced almonds and then the two teaspoons of sugar.

Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, until the custard is set and the top is golden brown.  Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, then run a sharp knife around the edge to loosen the clafoutis.  Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature, with powdered sugar and whipped cream if desired.

Refrigerate any leftovers you don't plan to eat within a few hours.  While clafoutis will keep in the fridge for two or three days, it's best on the day it's made.

*My new favorite way to whip cream is in a mason jar!  Put about 2/3 cup of heavy cream, a tablespoon of powdered sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla in a jar.  Screw the lid on tightly and shake til it's ready (3-5 minutes).

Chewy Chocolate Almond Cookies

Guess what?  In only 20 minutes, you can have rich, chewy chocolate almond cookies with no gluten, no butter or oil, no egg yolks, and no dairy!  It sounds too good to be true, but these cookies are really delicious!

You'll end up with a couple of egg yolks, which you could save for ice cream.



The bad news is that my bag of almond flour is now almost gone!  I'll definitely be buying more.  From financiers to mocha brownies to these cookies, it's my new favorite healthy baking ingredient.  Go get some and make these today!

Note:  You won't taste the coffee in these cookies--I just added it to bring out the chocolate flavor.  You can leave it out if you want a decaf cookie :0.

Ingredients (adapted from Heather's Dish):

2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 rounded tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon finely ground coffee (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.  Add the egg whites, vanilla, and almond extract and stir until the dough comes together.

Drop tablespoon-sized balls of dough onto the parchment paper, and flatten the tops slightly with your hand or a spoon (the cookies will not spread much at all while cooking).  Bake for 10-15 minutes, until crisp on the outside but not burned on the bottoms.  Cool on a wire rack.

Mocha Almond Flourless Brownies

Yesterday I got some almond flour and blue cornmeal in the mail from Bob's Red Mill.  I was super excited to try some chocolate baked goods with the almond flour.  Did you know it's just ground-up almonds?  Amazing.  Full of heart-healthy fats and protein instead of the empty carbs in flour.

I decided to try these flourless brownies, adapted from this recipe on Om Nom Ally.  They are really good!  The coffee and almond flavors are subtle, but add an extra richness to the chocolate flavor.  The brownies are really fudgy and moist, which makes them very satisfying.  Just one is enough (until the craving strikes again an hour later...).

These brownies are not overly sweet.  I actually added extra sugar, because the original recipe only called for 2 tablespoons and I didn't want a bitter brownie.  I think my version came out great, but I would have dusted them with some powdered sugar if I hadn't been out.

Ingredients (makes 9-12 brownies):

1 cup almond flour (finely ground almonds)
1/2 cup cocoa, plus extra for dusting
1-3 teaspoons finely ground coffee, to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, melted, plus extra for greasing the pan
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease an 8 x 8 baking dish and powder the bottom and sides with cocoa.

In a large bowl, mix the almond flour, cocoa, coffee, salt, and baking powder.

In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, butter, milk, eggs, and extracts.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool and cut into squares.

Blueberry Lemon Muffins with Almond Streusel

So, I mentioned that I'm really into Stevia, right?  The kind I've been using in my coffee is much sweeter than sugar, so you just need to add a little bit.  I hadn't tried baking with Stevia, but then my boyfriend brought home a big thing of Stevia that's designed for baking and measures cup for cup like sugar.  I decided to experiment by putting the stuff into some blueberry muffins.

The other healthy thing about these muffins is that they are made with whole grain pastry flour.  But, that part is pretty much an accident...I was totally tricked by deceptive labeling.  I was at Whole Foods looking for cake flour, and couldn't find any.  All I could find was pastry flour, and the only indication that it was whole grain was a tiny, vertical label on the left-hand side.  When I got home and saw this, I was not happy.  But since these muffins are an experiment anyway, I decided to throw that in.  I have to use it up somehow! (Note: I actually used this flour for half of the flour in these cupcakes since I ran out of all-purpose flour, and did not notice any difference.  Who knows what 100% would be like in cupcakes, though?)

Turns out these muffins were a successful experiment!  To me, the Stevia did not cause any noticeable difference.  The whole wheat flour did change things a bit, but I still wanted to (and did) gobble up several muffins.  If you are not completely ready to jump on the healthy muffin bandwagon, I understand.  You should try this with half Stevia and half sugar, and half whole wheat and half white flour.  They are not noticeably "healthy-tasting" at all when made like that.

I am a big fan of almonds, and of blueberries and almonds together.  If nuts are not your thing, these would be delicious without, too.  This recipe makes 12 muffins.

Muffin Ingredients (highly adapted from A Bitchin' Kitchen):

2 1/4 cups whole grain pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 rounded tablespoon baking powder
1 egg
3/4 cup Stevia (use the kind designed for baking)
4 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
2 cups frozen blueberries (or use fresh)

Streusel Topping Ingredients (adapted from Annie's Eats):

1/4 cup brown sugar
2 rounded tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup raw sliced almonds

To make the muffins, melt the butter and set aside to cool.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with paper liners (or if you don't want to use paper liners, just butter the muffin cups).

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.  In another bowl, beat the egg.  Add the sugar and beat again.  Add the cooled butter a bit at a time while whisking constantly.  Add the buttermilk the same way, then stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and almond extract.

Add the blueberries to the dry ingredients and toss to coat (this helps keep them all from sinking to the bottom of the muffin cups while baking).  Fold in the wet ingredients just until combined.

Spray some cooking spray on an ice cream scoop, and use it to fill your muffin cups.  It's okay if the batter comes all the way up to the top.

To make the streusel, cut the butter into small cubes.  Crush the almonds in your hand to break them up a bit.  Combine all the ingredients, and mix with your hands until the butter is incorporated and the mixture is crumbly.  Sprinkle evenly over the filled muffin cups.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until muffin tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Is your muffin buttered?  Would you like me to assign someone to butter your muffin?

P.S.  Tomorrow I am leaving for a week-long trip to Jamaica!  I had this big plan to save up posts to publish while away, but turns out I can't wait to publish a post once it's finished.  So I'm thinking maybe I can write up a post or two about the local foods I've tried, and post some pictures of that.  Is that something you'd like to see?  I'm thinking about tropical cocktails, lots of jerk chicken, and something involving conch.  When I get back, maybe I can try to learn to cook some Jamaican food!

Make Your Own Chocolate Truffles (plus Vegan Coconut Almond Truffles)

Chocolate truffles are so easy to make, it’s amazing that places like Godiva get away with charging so much for them.  If you want yours to be even more like the ones at the chocolate shop, you can melt your favorite milk or dark chocolate and dip the chilled truffles in it instead of rolling them in cocoa powder and confectioner’s sugar.  Use a fork to remove the truffle once it’s covered in melted chocolate.  Let the extra drip off, and place the truffle on wax or parchment paper or in a candy cup.   This is a deliciously rich, fancy, no-bake dessert that will impress anyone.  Chocolate truffles also make a great gift wrapped up in a cellophane bag or placed in a decorative box or tin.  This recipe makes about 20 truffles.

Ingredients (adapted from Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten): 

       ½ cup heavy cream

       3.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate

       3.5 ounces semisweet chocolate

       1 tablespoon brewed coffee

       ½ teaspoon vanilla or other flavoring

       Pinch of salt

       1 tablespoon Grand Marnier or other liqueur of your choosing

       5 ounces melted chocolate for dipping (optional)

       Cocoa and powdered sugar for rolling (optional)

Break the chocolates into small pieces and place in a bowl (don’t use chocolate chips instead of bars, because they have additives you don’t want in this recipe).  Bring the cream to a boil, then quickly pour it through a sieve into the bowl with the chocolate.  Use a whisk to stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.  If your chocolate isn’t quite melted, put the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until smooth.

Add the coffee, vanilla or other extract, salt, and liqueur and whisk until smooth.  Chill the mixture for at least 45 minutes, until firm enough to scoop.

When the mixture is firm, use a melon baller or small ice cream scoop to form balls, and place them on a sheet of parchment paper.  Don’t worry if the balls aren’t totally round and smooth; you will have a chance to perfect them later.

Chill the balls for about 15 minutes, then roll them in cocoa and mold them into spheres.  Chill overnight is possible, then roll in powdered sugar before serving.  Or, roll yours in a mix of cocoa and powdered sugar like I did.  Alternately, place in the freezer for about 15 minutes, then dip into a melted chocolate of your choice.

Vegan Coconut Almond Truffles

Ingredients:

       3.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (check the label to make sure the brand you’re buying doesn’t have any milk products)

       3.5 ounces semisweet chocolate

       ½ cup coconut milk

       ½ teaspoon vanilla

       ½ teaspoon almond extract

       1 tablespoon brewed coffee

       Pinch of salt

       4 tablespoons shredded coconut

       4 tablespoons sliced almonds

Melt the chocolate as described in the recipe above, using coconut milk instead of cream.  Add the extracts, coffee, and salt and whisk to combine.

Grind the coconut and almonds in the food processor until fine.  Stir half of the nut mixture into the chocolate and save the rest for rolling.

Proceed as in the above recipe, chilling the chocolate mixture before forming it into balls.  Instead of cocoa, roll the chocolates in the coconut and almond mixture.

Almond Blueberry Pie Bars

So, I picked up fresh blueberries at the store today, thinking I’d make the muffins I’ve been wanting.  But then, I saw this post with a recipe for Blackberry Pie Bars on Annie’s Eat’s, one of my favorite blogs.  (The recipe is originally from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather).  I was inspired to try them with blueberries instead, and to give them a nutty twist by adding almonds to the streusel topping and a light almond flavor to the filling.  This makes about 16 small but thick square bars.  They are insanely delicious, and much easier than blueberry pie!  Plus, you don’t even need a fork to eat them.

Ingredients for the crust and topping:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

Zest of one lemon (about a teaspoon)

Pinch of salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold

1/2 cup raw sliced almonds

Ingredients for the filling:

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar

scant 1/2 cup buttermilk 

8 tablespoons flour 

Juice of half a lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

12 ounces (2 small containers) fresh blueberries, or a little more (if you want to use frozen, defrost and drain well)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease and flour an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 baking pan.

To make the topping, process the flour, sugar, and lemon zest in a food processor.  Cut the butter into small cubes and add it gradually.  Once it’s crumbly and well-mixed, reserve 3/4 cup of the mixture for the topping.  Press the remainder of the mixture into the pan to form an even crust that covers the bottom of the dish.  Bake the crust for about 15 minutes, until light golden brown.  The crust will be very bubbly while it bakes—don’t worry!  Let cool for about 15 minutes before adding the filling.  

To make the topping, crush the sliced almonds in your hand, add them to the 3/4 cup of reserved mixture, and mix well.

To make the filling, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, sugar, flour, and extracts until smooth.  Gently stir in the blueberries.

Once the crust has cooled somewhat, pour the filling on top.  Crumble the topping on top of that and bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is starting to brown and the mixture is just set.  Let cool completely on a wire rack, then chill to firm things up before cutting into squares.