Please welcome Claudia Vasquez, who is today sharing a beautiful photo tutorial of making the Macaroons from Nourishing Traditions. Thank you, Claudia, for your inspiration and lovely photos!

Inspired by GNOWFGLINS Fundamentals eCourse, I decided to try the Coconut Macaroons recipe from Sally Fallon’s book Nourishing Traditions. I bought all the ingredients at my local health food store, and started preparing them on a snowy winter day in February. Once the cookies went in the oven, the coconut scent filled the whole entire house. All my family members came down to the kitchen, waiting patiently for the timer to go off. Cooling time went by extremely slowly, but the reward was worth waiting for! I hope you try this recipe, and if you and your family are coconut fans, like us, I guarantee this recipe is going to be a keeper!

Ingredients:

-8 egg whites

-2 pinches of sea salt

-4 tablespoons of arrowroot

-1 cup organic Grade B Maple syrup

-2 tablespoons organic vanilla extract

-5 1/2 cups organic commercial dried unsweetened coconut meat, finely cut

Preparation: line baking sheets with buttered parchment paper.

Add the two pinches of sea salt…

…to the egg whites…

…and beat until peaks form.

Measure 4 tablespoons of arrowroot…

…add the arrowroot to the white mixture and beat for a few seconds.

Measure two tablespoons of vanilla extract and mix them together with the cup of maple syrup.

Slowly beat in the maple syrup and vanilla, about a minute.

Add two bags of finely cut dried unsweetened coconut.

into the egg white mixture

and fold them with a rubber spatula.

The mixture should look like this.

With a Tablespoon or the smallest ice cream scoop, take small portions of the mixture…

…and line them on the baking sheets. Keep 1/4-inch gap between each portion.

Cookies will expand just a tiny bit while baking.

Bake them in a 300°F oven for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned. Lower the oven to 200° and bake them for another hour,
or until macaroons are completely dried and crisp.

Let them cool completely before removing from parchment paper. They can be kept in an air tight container, or in the freezer.
Enjoy them!

Please consider guest posting at gnowfglins.com! Read this for more details.

If I had had time yesterday to participate in the Tuesday Twister (better go add myself now), I would have shared that I made these gluten-free soaked biscuits. They are moist, light, and tasty – even after three days. This is a gluten-free and soaked version of my cinnamon and honey sprouted spelt biscuits.

For the gluten-free flour blend, I used equal parts of these fresh-ground flours: millet, sweet brown rice, hulled buckwheat, and tapioca.

Makes about 24 biscuits

• 2 cups gluten-free flour blend (cannot be warm from grinding or will melt the coconut oil)
• 6 generous tablespoons unrefined, virgin coconut oil, chilled if liquefied at room temp (like during the summer)
• 1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar, kefir, Kombucha, yogurt, or whey
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons raw milk, coconut milk, or nut milk (or even water)
• 2 tablespoons raw honey
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of additional raw milk

Cut coconut oil into flour with a pastry cutter or fork, until coconut oil is the size of peas or smaller. Lightly stir in the raw apple cider vinegar and milk. Cover and leave on the counter for 8 hours or overnight.

The next day…

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix in the honey, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt – gently. If it is not mixing well and needs a bit more moisture to make a workable biscuit dough, add additional milk as needed.

Transfer the dough to a clean, floured surface and roll into a rectangle about 1/2″ thick. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut into 2″ squares.

Transfer squares to a coconut-oiled cookie sheet, leaving space between. Put sheet in oven. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to drying rack. Eat!

Delicious on my best homemade chocolate ice cream, here’s an easy chocolate syrup which features mineral-rich and tasty maple syrup as well as my new favorite kitchen ingredient, Artisana’s coconut butter.

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup, Grade B
• 2 tablespoons coconut butter
• 4 tablespoons water, or more for desired consistency

Blend all ingredients together in food processor or blender. Serve immediately – this is when it drizzles best. Chill leftovers. When serving again, let it come to a cool room temperature and give it a quick stir to smooth out the texture. Enjoy!

See all basic recipes.

Scoopable, creamy, smooth, delicious… the best homemade ice cream ever! You can turn this basic recipe into mint chocolate chip, cookies and cream, or strawberry, just to give you some ideas…

Start with the vanilla or chocolate base. This makes 1 quart.

• 3-1/2 cups cream, local and grass-fed preferable
• 3 pastured egg yolks
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup Rapadura*, Sucanat*, evaporated cane juice, or dry maple sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder (for chocolate base only)

*Grind the Rapadura or Sucanat in a food processor or blender to a more fine consistency.

Blend all ingredients thoroughly, but not too much to whip the cream. Chill. Add to ice cream maker, following manufacturer’s directions for churning. Be sure to follow these 7 tips for perfect homemade ice cream – one of them especially makes a difference. Add any add-ins during the last few minutes of churning, which is when the ice cream is almost firm.

For soft serve ice cream, eat immediately. For harder ice cream, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for a few hours to harden up.

Suggested topping: Basic chocolate syrup.

See all basic recipes.

I’m sharing this post in FoodRenegade’s Fight Back Friday.

My friend Julieanne shared this yummy maple sugar cookie recipe with me. I tweaked it to use Rapadura and sprouted flour. We love the wonderful maple flavor, along with the nice crunchy outside and chewy center. Like many other cookies I make, I like to use sprouted flour for these reasons:

• sprouting the grain neutralizes the naturally-present phytic acid, which ensures maximum mineral absorption.
• no need to soak the flour overnight because the phytic acid is already neutralized – a make and bake cookie!
• sprouting grains increases the nutrition of the grain – for example, when wheat is sprouted, certain B vitamins and vitamin C levels go through the roof.
• sprouted grains digest like vegetables – this is really exciting if you’re trying to watch your carbs!

Sprouted flour is available on my Resources page, or you can make your own.

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup Rapadura or Sucanat
• 1/2 cup real maple syrup, Grade B
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups sprouted spelt flour – here’s how to do it yourself
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream together the butter, Rapadura (or Sucanat), maple syrup, eggs and vanilla. Add all dry ingredients. Mix well.

Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Shape into two or three logs and roll each one up in natural waxed paper. They should be almost as long as the waxed paper is wide, about 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Chill once again, for at least 15 minutes.

Cut 1/4″ slices off a log, and place on parchment-paper lined baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown at the edges.

Transfer cookies to cooling rack to cool, or slide the parchment paper off the baking tray (with the cookies) onto a work surface.

Store tightly when cool. Enjoy!

Visit the Gallery of Christmas Cookies for more nourishing Christmas dessert ideas!

My mom made these cookies every year at Christmas time, and we loved them! I called her and asked for the recipe so I could tweak it a little bit to share in the Gallery of Christmas Cookies. The original recipe is “Helen’s Christmas Cookies” from the book “Golde’s Homemade Cookies” by Golde Hoffman Soloway.

Instead of canned maraschino cherries, I’m using dried, unsulphured cherries. The almonds should be soaked and dehydrated prior to becoming part of these cookies, to deactivate the enzyme inhibitors. I also call for butter rather than shortening. My Kerrygold butter I got from Trader Joe’s is coming in handy!

Also, these cookies, like all my cookies lately, call for sprouted flour.

Using sprouted flour offers great benefits:

• sprouting the grain neutralizes the naturally-present phytic acid, which ensures maximum mineral absorption.
• no need to soak the flour overnight because the phytic acid is already neutralized – a make and bake cookie!
• sprouting grains increases the nutrition of the grain – for example, when wheat is sprouted, certain B vitamins and vitamin C levels go through the roof.
• sprouted grains digest like vegetables – which is really exciting if you’re trying to watch your carbs!

Sprouted flour is available on my Resources page, or you can make your own.

• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 cup date pieces or whole dates
• 1/2 cup soaked and dehydrated almonds
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1-1/2 cups Rapadura or Sucanat
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 3 cups sprouted spelt flour – here’s how to do it yourself
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Coarsely chop cherries and dates (if whole). Chop the almonds. Combine in a small bowl and pour the water over all. Let soak for 1 hour.

In a mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat well.

Add fruit and nut mixture to the mixing bowl. Mix well.

Add flour, baking soda and salt to the mixing bowl. Mix well.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown at the edges.

Transfer cookies to cooling rack to cool, or slide the parchment paper off the baking tray (with the cookies) onto a work surface.

Store tightly when cool. Enjoy!

Visit the Gallery of Christmas Cookies for more nourishing Christmas dessert ideas!

Welcome to our Gallery of Christmas Cookies! Throughout the coming days, I’ll be grabbing your Christmas cookie (or dessert) recipes off your blogs and adding them to this gallery. So be sure to check back later to see what recipes have been added!

The recipes featured here embrace GNOWFGLINS. This means we’ve all done our best to use natural, organic, whole food ingredients, and as much as possible, grown locally and in season ingredients. Look below the gallery for instructions on having your recipe added to this gallery.

Thanks to all participants! I’m looking forward to a spectacular array of nutritious cookie choices!

How to Participate in this Gallery

1. Today or some day this week, make a post on your blog, sharing a Christmas Cookie (or dessert) recipe featuring GNOWFGLINS foods – God’s, natural, organic, whole foods, and if possible grown locally and in season – as best you can. Feel free to create a new post linking to an older recipe!
2. Feel free to use the Gallery of Christmas Cookies image in your post, which is here: http://gnowfglins.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/gallery-christmas-cookies.jpg
3. Include a link in your post to my Gallery of Christmas Cookies post: http://gnowfglins.com/2009/12/14/gallery-of-christmas-cookies/
4. Leave a comment below, sharing the link/URL to your recipe post.
5. I’ll grab your photo and add it to the gallery, along with a link to your recipe.

If you’re not a blogger, I still welcome your recipes! Leave them in the comments. I’ll put a placeholder picture in the gallery and link it to your recipe.

That’s it! Leave your links (or recipes) below in the comments.

We view this treat like a salad, and eat it before or after many meals. It is loaded with digestive enzymes and probiotics!

Start with a bowl of raw, plain kefir or yogurt, then top* as you desire with any or all of the following:

• pureed raw fruit or chopped raw fruit
• soaked and dehydrated rolled oats
• soaked and dehydrated chopped nuts and seeds – start with raw nuts
• sprouted and dehydrated (hulled) buckwheat groats
• raisins, date pieces, pieces of dried fig, or other dried fruit (unsulphured)
• drizzle of raw honey
• sprinkle of cinnamon and/or nutmeg
• sprinkle of unsweetened coconut

Yumm! Serve and enjoy!

*All toppings should be raw (not heated above 115 or 118 degrees F), especially the dairy, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and honey – if you want the digestive enzymes intact. The cultured dairy, germinated (soaked) nuts, germinated (soaked) seeds, sprouted buckwheat, honey, and dates are all excellent sources of digestive enzymes. The cultured dairy is an excellent source of probiotics, with the kefir having around 10 times more active cultures than yogurt.

What else would you add? Also check out these 7 Yummy Ways to Eat Kefir!

Remember! The Gallery of Christmas Cookies is right around the corner – this coming Monday, the 14th of December! Get your cookie recipes ready!

I’ve long wanted make a homemade Larabar, but I really got inspired this week when reading about foods that are excellent sources of digestive enzymes. The key ingredients in Larabars – dates and nuts – are two of those foods. However, dry nuts are rich with enzymes only if soaked and then dehydrated at a low temperature, also called crispy nuts in Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions.

Now I don’t have a Larabar wrapper handy and I’ve searched their website, and I can’t find out if the nuts in the Larabars have been soaked or not. If not, then my homemade bars are much better (and probably cheaper, too), because I do use soaked and dehydrated nuts. The nuts in my Larabars are rich with digestive enzymes, rather than rich with enzyme inhibitors. (Read this post for the why and how of soaking and dehydrating your nuts.)

Recipe notes: Choose organic ingredients whenever possible. Choose unsulphured dried fruits that were dehydrated at low temperatures (115 degrees or less). Choose raw nuts for making your crispy nuts. If you use figs for the “other” dried fruit, you’ll have chosen another enzyme-rich dried fruit! This recipe makes a chocolate bar, but the cocoa powder can be omitted in favor of other flavors.

I’m thankful for the template recipe at Enlightened Cooking, on which my recipe is based.

• 1 cup chopped dates, pitted (do not use date pieces that are coated with oat flour)
• 1 cup other dried fruit or combination of dried fruit (such as raisins, dried cherries, or figs)
• 1-1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• pinch of sea salt
• 1-1/3 cup soaked and dehydrated nuts, such as almonds
• up to 1/3 cup add-ins (such as unsweetened shredded coconut, soaked and dehydrated seeds, chocolate shavings, mini chocolate chips, etc.)
• additional tablespoons of water, if needed

Process dates, dried fruit, cocoa powder and sea salt in food processor until all chopped up. It will be like a thick paste, and perhaps even roll up into a ball. Remove from food processor to a bowl.

Put nuts (and seeds or coconut, if using) in the food processor. Process until a coarse meal.

Break up the fruit paste into chunks and add back to the food processor. Add chocolate shavings or mini chips (if using). Process to incorporate all ingredients. It may roll up into a ball. Press with your finger – does it hold together? If not, add additional water, tablespoon by tablespoon to achieve this.

Press the dough into a stainless steel 8-inch square cake pan. Refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes until hardened sufficiently for easy cutting.

Bring out of refrigerator and cut into bars. I do 18 bars – 6 rows of 3 bars each. Each bar is 1 inch by 2 inches.

Store the pan of bars in the refrigerator, covered tightly so they don’t dry out. Or wrap each bar individually and store in the refrigerator – for an easy grab and go snack!

This post is part of Fight Back Friday at FoodRenegade.

In the past, I’ve used the cream part of coconut milk (not light) to make frosting, and that works pretty well. Except that at room temperature, it gets too soft and doesn’t hold up.

The answer: Artisana Coconut Butter. Not the most frugal option, BUT definitely the best. In my opinion, it is worth every penny!

This frosting holds up at room temperature, and yet is semi-soft when right out of the refrigerator. It is the perfect balance of creamy, smooth, spreadable, and semi-stiff. I don’t expect I’ll ever make another type of frosting. That’s why I’m including this recipe in my new series, Basic Recipes.

The recipe, as stated, will generously frost one 8-inch square Chocolate Sourdough Cake (another yumm). It will adequately frost two 8-inch square cakes.

This frosting makes an awesome sweet dip for your favorite fresh or dried fruits!

The amount of maple syrup may be lessened to your desired sweetness. However, as it acts as a liquid, lessening it will affect the consistency, making the frosting more stiff. I believe there’s room to play here. Also, the milk may be lessened or omitted to make a more stiff frosting. Enjoy!

See all Basic Recipes.

Yield: about 1/2 cup

• 1/2 cup Artisana Coconut Butter – or other raw coconut butter/cream
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup maple syrup, grade B
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 to 4 tablespoons raw milk, to thin to desired consistency

Blend all ingredients in food processor or Vita-Mix until smooth, adding the milk one tablespoon at a time. Let the food processor run long enough to gently warm and smooth the frosting (one to two minutes in a cooler room temperature when the coconut butter will be quite hard; less in warmer room temperatures). Spread on cooled cake. (Optionally, let the frosting cool a bit, too. But it shouldn’t be hot anyway, it should just be mildly warm at the point where it gets smooth.) If too firm when chilled, allow to warm up in a water bath until spreadable.

Variation: Basic Vanilla Frosting – Coconut Cream.

© Copyright 2009 by Wardeh Harmon.

The Gallery of Thanksgiving Sides is coming up on Thursday, November 19 – think about what Thanksgiving side dish you’d like to contribute!

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, this week hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.