Gluten-free paleo chocolate tart with an extra special secret ingredient

The first time I made this tart I couldn't quite believe just how tasty it was, especially knowing it was gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free and refined sugar free too! And you'd never guess the special secret ingredient....pumpkin!

I used one butternut pumpkin (the small ones shaped like a pear) and roasted this up the day before. Once roasted, scoop out the flesh and add to the food processor with a tiny bit of water - just enough to turn into a thick, smooth puree.

For the crust:

3 Tbsp coconut oil melted
3  Tbsp maple syrup (or honey)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6-7 Tbsp pumpkin puree (keep the rest for the filling)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup coconut flour
3 Tbsp tapioca flour or arrowroot

Filling ingredients:

1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (or the rest of the puree you have)
1 cup melted coconut oil
1/2 cup cocoa powder
6 Tbsp maple syrup (or honey or other sweetener)
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves, nutmeg, mixed spice

To make the crust:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease a pie dish.

Place coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, pumpkin puree, cinnamon and salt in a food processor and mix until smooth. Add the coconut flour and arrowroot/tapioca flour and mix well by hand until combined.

Press mixture into a greased pie tin and evenly press up around the walls to form the crust. Use a fork to pierce some holes along the base of the crust to prevent bubbling during baking. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes.

While the crust is baking, place all chocolate filling ingredients in the food processor and process until mixture is smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides a few times. Once the crust has cooled, pour the filling into the tart and smooth out the top with a spatula.

Chill tart in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours prior to slicing. It will remain solid (and mousse-like) at room temperature after that so long as it's not too hot where you live, or you can keep it chilled if you prefer.

Enjoy!

For other tasty and healthy recipes, visit my Cooking page.

That carrot and chia seed cake with honey mascarpone cream....{recipe}

I have to apologise for the long delay in posting this recipe since I know a fair few of you were keen to get this a few weeks ago. This is actually one of my favourite gluten-free dairy-free sugar-free muffin recipes which I was really hoping would go equally as well turned into a cake.

Life keeps getting in the way of regular blogging at the moment but I'll just snatch a few snippets of time as and when I can...like now.....so without further ado...that cake!

Ingredients:

3 free range eggs
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
3/4 cup coconut oil, olive oil or butter
2 cups ground almonds
3/4 cup shredded coconut
150g grated carrots (1 cup tightly packed)
grated zest of one lemon
2 Tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease/line a 20 cm tin. Add all ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, mix until well combined. Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted.

Optional mascarpone cream icing:

1 cup mascarpone cheese
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp honey
2 Tbsp pumpkin seeds

Put the mascarpone, lemon zest and honey in a bowl. Using a spoon, mix until well combined. Gently spoon the mascarpone cream on the top of the cooled cake and spread out evenly with a knife. Sprinkle with seeds to decorate.

Enjoy knowing you're indulging in one healthy yet very tasty morsel!

For more gluten-free, healthy and tasty recipes, visit my Cooking page. 

Banana and walnut bread (gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free)

It's been a long time since I shared a recipe on here....too long in fact!

That's probably because for a good long while there wasn't a lot of baking going on in our house - we were too busy trying to be healthy and not have too many naughty treats in the house and there was the inconvenience of also having to keep the house looking immaculate for open homes so it was easier just not to make a mess in the kitchen in the first place.

But now that that's all out of the way.... not the trying to be healthy bit (we're still doing that!), there's definitely more time for a little indulgence in the kitchen.

We've been trying to empty out the freezer little by little, so when I saw a few old frozen bananas hanging round I went in search of something tasty to make. This ticked all the boxes!

Banana and walnut loaf (gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free)

3 large bananas
3 eggs
3 tbsp melted coconut oil
3 tbsp honey/maple syrup
3 tbsp full-fat coconut milk/cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp ground almond
4 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 tbsp slivered almonds

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Grease a loaf tin and line it with baking paper.
2. Put bananas, eggs, honey/maple syrup, vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar in the blender and mix until a smooth consistency.
3. Sift in the ground almond, coconut flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon and add the salt and walnuts.
4. Fold gently to combine.
5. Transfer the mixture to the prepared loaf tin. Sprinkle the slivered almonds over the top. Then bake for approximately 60 minutes - or until it feels springy to the touch and a cake
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before turning out of the tin and cooling on a wire rack.

And the verdict was utterly scrump-diddly-umptious. It's definitely one of those recipes that's going to be made time and time again!

Almond Butter Cookie Recipe {gluten free, dairy free}

C is for cookie and cookie is for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

You would honestly never know that this recipe is both gluten and dairy free. These cookies are chewy deliciousness in every single mouthful and a hit with everyone who tries them! You can make these with chocolate chips in but they are just as yummy without, as the crunchiness of the walnuts adds great texture to the mixture.

Makes about 24 cookies.

1/2 cup walnuts
1 egg
1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup almond butter (or any nut butter)
1 1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup chocolate chips or chunks (optional)

1. Pulse the walnuts in the food processor until the biggest bits you have are the size of a chocolate chip. Remove and pour into a mixing bowl.

2. Add the egg, coconut oil, sugar and almond butter to the bowl and mix well to combine.

3. Add the ground almond, sea salt and baking soda and mix well to combine.

4. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least half an hour (longer if you can) and preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

5. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll into a tablespoonful size ball and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

6. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until golden on top.

7. Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack.

For more tasty recipes, go here.

Snickerdoodle Recipe {gluten free, dairy free and too delicious to keep a secret}

Back in the day when I didn't worry about what I ate for my health, my doughnut muffin recipe was a winner and a regularly baked treat in our house.

Now in the (mostly) gluten-free version of my life, I try to find recipes that don't me feel like a second-class citizen missing out on all the good stuff. So when I find a recipe that, in my humble opinion, is just as tasty in it's own way then I do a little happy dance for joy!

Ingredients Part I:
1 1/2 cup ground almonds/almond flour
1 tsp coconut flour
1 egg
1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

Ingredients Part II:
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon

1. Combine all ingredients from Part I in a bowl . Stir well to combine until it turns into a dough.

2. Wrap the dough in glad-wrap and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour - the longer the better.

3. Preheat oven to 180. Mix together the ingredients for Part II, and line a baking tray with baking paper.

4. Once the dough is sufficiently chilled, take out of fridge and roll tablespoonfuls into balls.

5. Roll the balls in the sugar/cinnamon mixture to coat.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

These will keep just fine in the cupboard for up to a week - but believe me they won't last this long.

Makes about a dozen so you may want to think about doubling the recipe!

For other tasty recipes, visit here.

Insanely tasty basil and chia seed cracker recipe {Gluten-free, dairy-free}

On this journey so far into a healthier way of life, there has been one thing eluding me. I reckon these days I can bake a gluten-free, dairy-free sweet treat with the best of them but savoury baking has been somewhat more of a challenge.

I've made a gluten-free version of our very tasty cheese scone recipe before, but the texture just wasn't quite right. More often than not I just find myself buying rice or corn based crackers because it's the easiest way to get my salty, savoury fix.

Which is why I did a giddy dance around the kitchen after my first bite of these insanely tasty crackers. They are SO easy and quick to make, the biggest problem is that they are disappearing so quickly around here that I'm going to be making a new batch every two days at this rate!

Ingredients:
1 cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds (or 1/2 of each)
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 clove of garlic (chopped) or 1 tsp garlic granules
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil
Handful of basil leaves (or 1 tsp dried basil)
1 tbsp chia seeds
2-3 tbsp water

Put the cup of sunflower/pumpkin seeds in the food processor with the garlic and sea salt. Blend until you get a dense flour-like consistency.

Add the sesame seeds, basil and chia seeds and olive oil and pulse until combined.

Add 2-3 tbsp of water one tbsp at a time. You want it to have just enough moisture to bring the mix to a dough-like consistency.

Empty into a baking tray lined with baking paper and press down with a spatula until evenly spread across the whole baking tray. I found it easiest to put another piece of baking paper on top and also used my fingers to even it out.

Score the mix with a knife into 20 pieces and bake at 180 degrees until golden brown. This may be anywhere between 15-30 minutes depending on your oven. The crackers should feel dry to the touch on top.

Remove and allow to cool before breaking into pieces.

Try not to eat all at once!

Other options for seed combinations: poppy seeds, black sesame seeds, flax seed, linseed
Other options for herb combinations: thyme or rosemary

Based on a Petite Kitchen cookbook recipe and tweaked at my end.

For more recipes, go here.

Chocolate Orange Cake {Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free}

Who ever heard of putting a whole orange, peel and all in a cake? Well this recipe does just that and it WORKS. Lordy, does it work. This has got to be the closest thing to heaven that a chocolate orange lover could possibly ask for. I kid you not.

You'd expect a cake that looks and tastes so good to be difficult and take a long time to make. Nothing could be further from the truth. So here's how it's done:

Ingredients:

1 whole orange
250ml water
125g caster sugar
100g ground almonds (almond flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs (separated)
200g dark chocolate (I use 72% Whittakers Dark Ghana)

1. Put the whole orange and 250ml water in a microwave-proof bowl with a lid (or cover with cling film) and microwave on high for 20 minutes (turn the orange over halfway through).

2. While this is cooking, melt the 200g of dark chocolate on the stove top.

3. Once the orange is cooked and cooled, carefully remove any pips, cut into quarters and then pulse in a food processor until a smooth puree.

4. Add the ground almonds, sugar, melted chocolate, baking powder and egg yolks into the food processor and blend until mixed.

5. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff (but not dry) and then fold into the mixture.

6. Grease/line a cake tin and bake at 180 degrees for an hour. Cover with tin foil for half the time to prevent the cake from burning on top.

You can also make this into mini cakes/muffins by using muffin trays and cooking for approximately 20 minutes.

For other delicious recipes, visit here.

Ginger & Honey Roasted Muesli Recipe

Ginger & Honey Roasted Muesli

I am head over heels in love with this new toasted muesli recipe I came across. The combination of honey and ginger is so welcoming on the palate and it is so easy to make!

Ingredients:

2 cups of oats (use a wheat-free version to make this a gluten-free recipe)
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 to 1 cup nuts (I used raw peanuts but you could use any combo and I didn't really measure just poured in roughly)
1/2 to 1 cup of seeds (pumpkin/sunflower)
4 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp coconut oil
Dried fruit - sultanas, cranberries

 Add all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix together.

Melt the 3 tbsp of honey and coconut oil together and then mix into the dry ingredients.

Pop on an oven tray and roast at 180 degrees for 10-20 minutes. Do keep an eye on it and take it out and stir every 5 minutes or so to make sure the muesli gets evenly cooked.

Once you have removed from the oven, mix any dried fruit you want to add in through the muesli - I used cranberries.

Store in an airtight jar.

For other tasty recipes, visit here.