Posted in Christmas, Dairy Free, Dessert, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Holiday, Soy Free, Sugar Free, Thanksgiving

No Bake Pumpkin Pie

Posted on by Annie Eskeldson

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 can full fat coconut milk (room temperature, liquid and fat)
  • 1 cup Swerve brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup arrowroot flour
  • 1 TBSP powdered gelatin
  • 1 cup Organic 100% Pumpkin Puree
  • 2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 1/4 tsp Redmond Salt
  • You will also need 2 9 inch store bough pie crusts or baked ones of your choice.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Without heat, whisk the first 4 ingredients in a medium sauce pan really well.

2. Add medium-low heat until mixture becomes thick, 8 to 10 minutes. Whisk often.

3. Remove from heat.

4. Add remaining 3 ingredients. Whisk thoroughly.

5. Pour filling evenly into the 2 pie crusts. I used ready-made pecan pie crusts.

6. Put in the pies into the fridge without the lids on for about 30 minutes.

7. After 30 minutes, put the lids on, put back into the fridge and chill for 4 to 6 hours.

Dishing on this Dish: This easy pie was a hit, easy to travel with, and gives a break from baking. What I love about this recipe is that the coconut milk is used at room temp. If yours is already refrigerated, just pull it out and let it warm up awhile. It will still work. And yes, you add the liquid and the fat. Also, the gelatin is added without blooming it first. How easy is that?! Be sure to whisk the first four ingredients together, before adding heat. This ensures the arrow root doesn’t get clumpy when warmed. Setting the pies in the fridge for 30 minutes without lids prevents condensation from sticking to the lid covers. It offers a better presentation of the pies if you are sharing them with others. I also like this recipe because it makes 2 pies. You’ll need them!

Posted in Holiday, Keto Friendly, Sugar Free, Sweets

Sun Butter Cups

Posted on by Annie Eskeldson

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1.5 Bags Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips
  • 1 Cup Sugar Free Sun Butter
  • 5 TBSP Arrow Root Flour
  • 1 tsp Coconut Oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

  • 1. Mix the Sun Butter and Arrow Root together in a small bowl and set aside.
  • 2. In a double boiler, gently melt the Lily’s and the coconut oil together.
  • 3. Spoon melted chocolate into Cupcake Liners. Using a soup spoon, cover the bottom of the liner with melted chocolate. The amount should be on the thinner side as it will thicken as it solidifies.
  • Add the Sun Butter/Arrow Root on top of the chocolate. Use a soup spoon for this too.
  • Spoon on the top layer of the melted Lily’s using the remaining chocolate. Remember, it will thicken as it solidifies, so don’t make it too thick, It will be hard to bite into.
  • 4. Let them cool in the fridge for an hour.

Dishing On This Dish: This is super easy to make. The trick is to keep the chocolate on the top and bottom thin so it isn’t hard to bite into. I used foil lined cupcake bottoms and the foil stuck and it was a disaster. Parchment paper Cupcake liners worked better.

Posted in Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Sugar Free

Sweet Potato Casserole Crunch

Posted on by Annie Eskeldson

Ingredients for Potatoes:

  • 2 Large Sweet Potatoes, peeled, cut, boiled, and drained.
  • 1 cup Monk Fruit Sugar or Swerve
  • 1/2 cup Ghee
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 1.5 Tsp Vanilla

Ingredients for Topping:

  • 2 cups Chopped Pecans
  • 1 Cup Swerve Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 cup Ghee (or coconut oil)
  • 1/2 cup Coconut Flour

Directions:

  • Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into cubes. Bring to a boil for a few minutes.
  • When a fork can be inserted into the potatoes, remove from heat and drain.
  • Put them into a large mixing bowl and mash them with a fork.
  • Add all the Potato ingredients and mix well with a fork or hand mixer.
  • Put into a large casserole dish and smooth the top.
  • Place all the Topping ingredients together in a sauce pan and melt together.
  • Put them on top of the smoothed over Potatoes.
  • Bake the potatoes with the topping at 350 degrees F for about 20-30 minutes, depending on your oven. Be sure to check so that the topping does not burn.
  • Enjoy!

Dishing on this Dish: This is a royal hit at my house. My family loves this dish. If you have a large enough casserole dish, think about doubling it because it will disappear fast!

Posted in Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free, Low Oxalate Pumpkin Pie, Holiday

Perfect Pumpkin Pie (gluten, dairy, sugar free)

Posted on by Annie Eskeldson

Crust Ingredients:

  • Generous 1/2 cup Ghee
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 tsp Redmond’s Real Salt
  • 3 TBSP Monkfruit Powdered Sugar or Swerve
  • 3/4 cup Coconut Flour

Instructions:

  • Mix the first four ingredients with a fork.
  • Add the coconut flour and mix in well.
  • Gather the dough into a ball.
  • Roll out onto parchment paper.
  • Line your 9 inch pie pan with the dough.
  • Bake at 400 Degrees for 5-7 minutes.
  • Let it cool before adding the pumpkin pie batter below.

Pumpkin Pie Batter Ingredients:

  • 15 ounces Pumpkin Puree
  • 1/2 cup Fat from Canned Coconut milk (previously chilled & full fat, not lite)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup Monk Fruit Powdered Sugar or Swerve
  • 2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 1/4 tsp Redmond’s Real Salt
  • 1 tsp Vanilla

Instructions:

  • Combine all ingredients.
  • Mix on low until smooth, but don’t over mix.
  • Pour the filling into the cooled crust.
  • Gently tap the vessel to remove air bubbles, you can pop them with your finger.
  • Bake about 35- 45 minutes, but check it about 28-30 minutes.
  • The center should be slightly jiggly, like jello, not fully set.
  • Remove pie. Completely cool on counter or fridge. Add whipped topping (below).

Whipped Topping Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup chilled Canned Coconut Fat
  • 3 TBSP Monk Fruit Powdered Sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla

Directions:

  • Combine all ingredients into a medium bowl.
  • Mix with a hand mixer until stiff. It should just be a couple minutes.
  • Dollop onto pies, or put into a baggie, snip the corner, and decorate!

Dishing on this Dish: This delicious pie is low oxalate, gluten and dairy free as well as sugar free. The sugars used in this recipe do not affect the glycemic index. This crust can be used with savory dishes too, just omit the Monk Fruit Sugar. When using this crust for pies like pumpkin or apple, protect the crust with foil or purchased crust protectors. Just put them on after adding the filling but before putting back into the oven. Tips on the Canned Coconut Milk: I always keep a couple cans of full fat coconut milk in the back of the fridge. Store them here, upside down. Then when you need them, you just turn them right side back up and open with a can opener. Voila! your full fat is right on top and can be easily scooped out. You should have enough fat in one can for 2 pies, or 1 pie and the whipped topping recipe above.

Posted in Cane Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Gluten Free Cookies, Soy Free

Oat Flour Oatmeal Cookies

Posted on by Annie Eskeldson

Ingredients:

  • 5 eggs
  • 3/4 cup Monk Fruit Sugar
  • 3/4 cup Monk Fruit Brown Sugar or Swerve brown Sugar
  • 1 TBSP Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 1 TBSP baking soda
  • 3/4 TBSP Celtic salt (to taste)
  • 1 and 1/2 cups Ghee or Coconut Oil (softened or melted)
  • 1 TBSP Organic Vanilla
  • 3 and 3/4 cup Organic Oat Flour (*see note below)
  • 3 and 3/4 cups Organic Rolled Oats
  • 1 and 1/2 cups Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips
  • 1 and 1/2 cups Organic Raisins or cut up prunes (optional)

Directions:

  • Warm Oven to 350 degrees F
  • Add the first seven ingredients to a very large bowl and mix with electric mixer
  • Add the Organic Oat Flour and mix
  • Add the Organic Rolled Oats and mix
  • Add the raisins and choc. chips and mix
  • Form 1 and 1/2 TBSP- 2 TBSP size balls of dough and put on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
  • Flatten the balls a bit as they will not flatten on their own
  • Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees F
  • Let cool a few minutes then transfer to a cooling plate or rack
  • Enjoy!

What’s in the Cupboard: *Oat flour – you don’t need to buy this. You can simply use a food processor and grind up your rolled oats for a few minutes and Presto! You’ve got oat flour. When measuring, use a spoon to transfer it to your measuring vessel. Processing it will cause it to be fluffier so you want to measure again after processing. Indeed, you need both the processed flour and the 3 and 3/4 cups of the rolled oats.

You can substitute Cinnamon and Nutmeg for the Pie Spice using 1 and 1/2 tsp of each instead. You can use ghee or coconut oil or a mix of both. Use any sugar you like, I just prefer Monk Fruit to make the recipe sugar free. You can add 3 TBSP of molasses to this recipe for enhanced taste as well. If you are fresh out of raisins, but have prunes, they work great in this recipe! I just cut them into small pieces first. I have not made these using chia seed or flax eggs, but I don’t see any reason why that would not work. If you can, use duck eggs, they really enhance the body of the cookie.

Dishing on this Dish: We have made these for years, and they are always a hit! We found using duck eggs makes a firmer cookie. These are pretty firm with chicken eggs, but they need a bit of time to cool and set up after pulling them out of the oven. This is a nice large recipe. It makes about 6 dozen small cookies or about 4 dozen large cookies. This is great for large families, or for freezing. These cookies freeze so nice! Just pull them out when you are ready to use them. They travel well too. What is the benefit of using oat flour? Low Oxalate! The chocolate chips will add some oxalate for sure, so use more raisins and less chips, or just omit the chips all together.

Posted in Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Snacks, Soy Free

Oat Crackers

Posted on by Annie Eskeldson

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp pink Himalayan salt (or to taste)
  • 4 tsp nutrional yeast
  • a pinch of organic dandelion herb (optional)
  • 4 cups organic, gluten free oat flour

Instructions:

  1. Whisk the first three, wet ingredients in a large bowl
  2. Add in the baking powder, salt, yeast, dandelion and whisk them.
  3. Add the oat flour and stir with a large, metal spoon, until thick.
  4. Knead the dough into a nice, smooth little ball.
  5. Pull the ball into 4 equal parts. Since you’ll work with one ball at a time, keep the other balls covered.
  6. With a rolling pin, roll out one ball at a time between parchment paper. You want the dough to be very thin, like a cracker. Go for 1/16 of an inch.
  7. Using a round pizza cutter, cut the rolled dough both vertically and horizontally so that squares are about 1 x 1 inch. You can make them larger if you wish!
  8. I like to use a fork to quickly but gently puncture each cracker, encouraging even baking.
  9. Since your scored dough is already on parchment paper, simply move the whole thing – paper and cut dough – onto a nice big baking sheet. A professional 1/2 size pan is perfect.
  10. Bake at 350 Fahrenheit. Check the crackers at about 10 minutes. Ovens bake at varying times and I usually check mine at 13 and see that they need a little more time. But they should bake up with a nice, light color. The outsides will bake first, so you can easily remove these and then continue to bake the more centered ones, gradually removing them, getting closer to the center as they get baked.
  11. While your crackers are baking, you can roll out the next ball in the same manner.

What’s in the Cupboard: You can add other fresh herbs if you like, you may just need to add a bit of water to the recipe if you are adding a lot of extra dry ingredients. If you are fresh out of coconut oil, you can substitute olive oil although it changes the flavor to a more bitter cracker. You can also use ghee.

Dishing on this Dish: 1. You can make oat flour using a food processor to grind up whole oats or steel cut oats. Grinding a few cups of oats first on low and then on high for a couple minutes each makes a really nice, soft, flour. If you spoon your flour from the processor into the measuring device you may find you need to add a couple more spoons to the recipe to be able to knead your ball. When you spoon it versus pouring it the measured amount is slightly less, so just add a bit more if your dough ball is too sticky to knead. 2. This recipe is low/no oxalate. If your looking for a cracker that is keto minded, click here. 3. Crackers are really easy to make once you get all the kinks figured out. The biggest issues are rolling them thin enough. 1/16 – 2/16 of an inch is just right. They will bake quickly and crisply. Also baking them just right by removing outer squares while leaving the center ones to bake a little bit longer is key. It just takes a few times to get into your cracker baking ‘zone’. This recipe provides four dough balls so you’ll be an expert by the time you are done. This is enough crackers to snack for the day as well as having enough to box up in savvy bags and boxes for gifts or snack trays for parties. These crackers are thin yet hardy enough for topping with salsa, avocado, meats or cheeses. Air-tight containers will keep the crackers for several days.

Posted in Snacks

Easiest Keto Crackers Ever

Posted on by Annie Eskeldson

Ingredients:

  • 1 Egg
  • 2 Tsp Pink Himalayan Salt or Redmond Salt ( or to taste)
  • 1 Tsp Black Pepper (or to taste)
  • 1 3/4 Cup Almond Flour – Finely ground variety

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  1. Whisk egg, salt, and pepper together.
  2. Add the almond flour and stir with a spoon until crumbly.
  3. Knead the dough together with your hands until you get a nice, smooth ball.
  4. Place between two pieces of parchment paper (approx18x 13 size – or half size professional baking pan.)
  5. Roll out the dough, very thin. It will be about 1/16 of an inch. For crisp crackers that bake evenly and quickly, be sure to roll them thin. It should take up most of the 18 x 13 parchment paper.
  6. Use a pizza wheel to cut lines lengthwise and then crosswise to get squares/rectangles.
  7. Use a fork to gently pierce each square for more even baking.
  8. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
  9. After the first ten minutes, pull the pan out and check for any lightly browned crackers. They are done and will be around the edges. You can go ahead and remove them from the pan onto another plate to cool. Put the other crackers back in the oven for two minutes. More crackers should be done at this time, just use a spatula to remove them onto the cooling plate. Put in for another two minutes. Continue in this way until all the crackers are removed. If you have a really good quality convection oven, this may not be necessary. 10-12 minutes and they may all be evenly cooked. Often, however, the baking isn’t completely even, so it’s better to check them and remove the finished ones, moving from the outside to the inside. These crackers are so good, they are worth the effort!

Dishing on this Dish: Crackers are so expensive anymore! It’s driving me crazy. Here is an awesome recipe that works like a charm, tastes great, and is keto as well!

What’s in the Cupboard: I made these with eggs but I see no reason why chia eggs or egg alternative wouldn’t work just as well. If you try it, let me know how they turn out.

Posted in Dairy Free, Dinner, Flour Free, Gluten Free, Keto Friendly

The Best Keto Pizza

Posted on by Annie Eskeldson

Crust Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • 2 Tbsp oil (melted coconut, olive, grapeseed)
  • 1.5 tsp Garlic flakes smashed into a powder with mortar and pestle (or just use powdered)
  • 1.5 tsp fine, organic salt, or Himalayan Pink salt – but smashed fine
  • 1 tsp Xantham Gum
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 full bag (`16oz) Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients EXCEPT the Almond Flour in a large mixing bowl with a whisk until they are mixed well. Add the full bag of Almond Flour. Stir with a fork until a ball forms then knead with your hand. Place the dough ball into the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Roll out the dough using two pieces of parchment paper a little larger than the size of an (18 x 13) rectangular baking sheet and a roller. You’re going to roll this out fairly thin and this much dough is perfect for a large baking sheet (actually called a half sheet in professional setting.) Make sure you measure your pan because this dough needs to be rolled out thin and you may have enough for more than one pan if your pan is not as large as mine. There is enough dough to roll it out, then roll back the edges so that you form a little bit of a raised crust around the outside. After rolling out, simply remove the top parchment paper and put the bottom piece, paper and dough, right into your baking pan. If you do not have a pan this size, you can 1/2 the recipe, or, if you have 14 inch round pizza pans, this is enough dough for two of those.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until it is crisp, but not burned.

Pizza Ingredients

  • Pizza sauce of your choice (I used tomato sauce here, but have made it out of pumpkin in the past)
  • Cabbage
  • Hamburger seasoned with oregano
  • Applegate Uncured Pepperoni
  • Black Olives
  • Mushrooms
  • Green Peppers
  • Organic Mozzarella Cheese OR Daiya Mozzarella if Dairy Free (this is what I used, it was fab!)

Directions:

Cook hamburger and season. For keto, I don’t drain it. I just let it cool in the fat. Slice and prep other toppings and feel free to add/sub as you like.

When Pizza crust is done baking, top with ingredients, the bake another 8 minutes at 425 until cheese is melty. Cool a bit and enjoy.

Posted in Dairy Free, Dessert, Gluten Free, Keto Friendly, Soy Free

2 Layer Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Posted on by Annie Eskeldson

Cake Ingredients:

  • 12 Eggs
  • 4 tsp Vanilla
  • 3 tsp Baking Powder
  • 2 Cups Lakanto MonkFruit Powdered Sugar
  • 1 large Cup Ghee
  • 1 tsp Redmond’s Real Salt or Himalayan Salt (finely ground)
  • 1 cup Coconut Flour

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl add the eggs and beat them really well for a couple minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients except the coconut flour. Mix very well with a mixer. Mix on low first and then on high to really mix well, about 3 to 5 minutes. Last, add the coconut flour and continue to mix it well for a couple minutes.

Evenly divide the batter into two round cake pans with a spatula. I like to line the bottom of the cake pans with parchment paper. I cut a circle to just cover the bottom.

Bake for 20 minutes. I use an oven with a convection setting, so your oven may take longer to bake. Just use a knife to check the center for doneness. It should come out clean, with no batter. Although there may be some moisture there, but no batter.

Allow cakes to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting Ingredients

  • 4 large avocados
  • 8 Tbsp organic baking cocoa
  • 1.5 cups Lakanto Monkfruit Powdered Sugar
  • 2 tsp Vanilla
  • 1/4 cup Ghee

Frosting Directions

Mix all ingredients well with a mixer until creamy and smooth. You can refrigerate it for a bit if needed while waiting for cake to cool. If it gets too hard or stiff, just let it sit out and stir. It will perfectly spread onto a cooled cake. Frost the first layer, then add the second layer; frost it. Then frost all the sides.

Posted in Gluten Free, Snacks

Pico De Gallo

Posted on by Annie Eskeldson

INGREDIENTS

  • 16 Cups Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
  • 2 Medium Red Onions
  • 1 Bunch Cilantro (1/2 to 1 cup cut up)
  • Sea Salt 1 Tsp to 1 Tbsp (to taste)
  • 3 to 6 Cloves of Garlic (to taste)
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup Lemon or Lime Juice
  • 1 to 3 Jalapenos (optional)
  • 1 Cup Black Beans (optional)

Instructions

  • Add half of the tomatoes to a food processor and pulse just enough to chunk them up. I pulse about 4 to 6 times. Dump them into a large mixing bowl.
  • Repeat with the remaining 8 cups.
  • Cut up the red onions and then pulse them a few times in the food processor and also add these to the large bowl with the pulsed tomatoes.
  • Finely cut up the Cilantro and add to the large bowl.
  • Mince Garlic Cloves and add to the large bowl.
  • Add the Salt and Lemon/Lime juice to the large bowl.
  • If adding the Jalapenos, cut off the tops and bottoms. Slice the long way and only add the seeds if you are desiring HOT Pico De Gallo. Just adding one small jalapeno without seeds will move you to a mild/medium yet spicy flavor. So, it’s very individual. I don’t add any to mine, for a mild, spicy flavor. It’s all about the seeds!
  • Add Black Beans if desired.
  • Stir and let rest in the fridge for about 20 to 30 minutes (if you can!) It just lets the flavors mix and mingle a bit before eating.
  • Serve with Organic Corn Chips or on Wraps and Salads.

DISHING ON THIS DISH: We grew a truck load of tomatoes in our garden this year so there was no shortage of Pico De Gallo. I made this constantly all summer long. It is a refreshing, cool, and spicy treat (even without jalapenos) that we enjoyed all season. Once we harvest our sweet corn, I plan to add some to the recipe as well.