Healthy recipes from Kristen Bowen:
Cheese Crackers with Almond Flour (Gluten Free)
1 1/4 cup blanched almond flour (not the same as almond meal)(honeyville grains is best)
1/8 tsp. salt (I used fine grind sea salt)
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup freshly grated cheddar cheese (I used extra sharp cheddar and lightly packed it into measuring cup)
1 1/2 T olive oil
1 large egg
If you store your almond flour in the freezer like I do, you'll need to take it out and let come to room temperature for a few minutes before using in the recipe. Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Grate 1/2 cup cheddar cheese.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine almond flour, salt, baking soda and cheese. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg and oil. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until well-combined.
Cut two pieces of parchment paper the size of your baking sheet. (To bake in a toaster oven with a small baking sheet, you'll need three pieces.) Put one piece of parchment on cutting board and put dough on top, or half the dough if baking on small baking sheet. (I made the dough into the shape of the parchment.) Put second piece of parchment on top of the dough and roll out with rolling pin until dough covers the parchment sheet. (It's fairly important to roll it out the same thickness or the thinner pieces will burn, a lesson I learned the hard way.)
Remove top parchment and cut dough into pieces 2 inches square. (A pizza cutter would be perfect for this if you have one.) Slide the parchment with the cut dough onto baking sheet and bake crackers 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Let crackers cool on the baking sheet for 30 minutes (or if you need to bake another batch like I did, carefully slide first batch off to cutting board to cool while you use baking sheet to bake the second batch.)
Crackers will keep for a few days in a plastic container! (Makes about 30 crackers, recipe from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elena Amsterdam. This recipe is half the amount in the book, so it can be doubled.)
Amazing Biscuits
1 and 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted organic butter or nonhydrogenated shortening
1 cup plus two tablespoons of finely ground almond flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
4 egg whites
The technique for these biscuits is simple. All you need is a fork and couple of bowls. Follow these simple steps to biscuit perfection!
1. Cut cold fat (butter or shortening) into dry ingredients with the tines of your fork, rotating the bowl around with your other hand until the mixture has pea-sized chunks throughout.
2. Chill mixture in the fridge for 5-10 minutes or as long as you can stand it. The longer the better. The more the fat can get cold and hard, the puffier your biscuits will be.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the whites and whisk egg whites with a fork in a bowl for 20 seconds, until no longer stringy and goopy. You just want them a little foamy.
4. Remove mixture from fridge and whisk in the egg whites for a couple of seconds, breaking up any massive chunks in the dough with your whisk or fork. It'll be extremely runny dough with chunks of the almond mixture. Pour it into greased foil-lined ramekins/nonstick muffin cups/a muffin top pan and get that sucker in the hot oven before the fat can even THINK about softening! Preheat oven to 400˚ Fahrenheit and bake for about 15 minutes. Makes four biscuits
Cheese Crackers
1 1/4 cup blanched almond flour (not the same as almond meal) I only use Honeyville Grains.
1/8 tsp. salt (I used fine grind sea salt)
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup freshly grated cheddar cheese I use the Richmond cheese from Farmers market that has no growth hormone
1 1/2 T grapeseed oil
1 large egg
Mix all of this together and roll out between two pieces of parchment paper. Take of the top piece, score and bake at 350˚ for 12-15 minutes. Really watch these depending on how thick you rolled them. I do it to the size of the parchment paper that fits right on the baking sheet. Make sure to score them before you bake them.
Almond Butter and jam Cookies
½ cup creamy roasted almond butter. I use Barney Butter
¼ cup Spectrum vegan shortening
½ cup coconut palm sugar
1 egg
1 ¼ cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ cup Butchers Bunches Sugar Free jam found at Gardner's market in Logan or Cascadian Farms raspberry jam.
In a large bowl, cream almond butter, shortening, palm sugar and egg with a hand blender. Blend until smooth then stir in almond flour and salt. Scoop dough 1 tablespoon at a time onto a [parchment] lined baking sheet. Make a large thumbprint in the center of each cookie. Scoop jam 1 teaspoon at a time into the center of each cookie.
Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes. Makes 24 cookies.
Dairy Free Chocolate Mousse
¼ cup water
¼ cup coconut palm sugar
1 cup dark chocolate chips
4 eggs, separated
½ cup cream/fat from can coconut milk
In a medium pot, heat water to boiling. Reduce heat, and then stir in palm sugar until dissolved. Remove pan from stove and cool palm sugar mixture for 8 minutes. Add chocolate, stirring until melted. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks until pale yellow. In another medium bowl beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Stir egg yolks into chocolate mixture (yes, into the pot). Stir egg whites into chocolate-yolk mixture until well combined, and then stir in coconut fat. Pour or spoon mousse into jars, then place in refrigerator overnight to set. Grate some chocolate on top and serve.
Popsicles
2 1/3 cups Greek yogurt, divided
1/2 cup organic sliced strawberries
1/2 cup organic blueberries
choice of sweetener to taste: stevia, agave
Mix in your blender and pour into molds. My kids like to slice kiwis and push down in before you freeze so that you get chunks of fruit. Add some cocoa and bananas without the fruit and it is a fudgesicle.
Smoothies
A bit of so delicious coconut milk.
about 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries (always add these to cover the green)
2 huge handfuls of organic spinach
2 cups of any frozen fruit we like the mixes at Sam’s club and usually have all on hand to choose from.
1/2 to 1 frozen banana because it makes it so creamy
Chia gel 1/4 cup per person I am serving
sweetener if needed we like nu-naturals Stevia
Blend, if it is too thick add more coconut milk not too much or it overpowers the flavor. Ice cubes make it thicker you can throw those in if needed. I put in the blender the night before and then pop in the fridge add the ice cubes in the morning and breakfast is served along with a muffin. We also take the extra and freeze for popsicles.
