I really don’t write a lot on my website because:

1. I’m not a writer.
2. I figure you all come here for the recipes anyway.
3. What’s the point? I like short and sweet. Literally.

Every now and then though, I do get the itch to write just a bit. And this recent comment on Facebook tickled my writing fancy:

I absolutely adore your recipes. I’ve been Paleo for over a year and feel/look amazing. I have to ask, though, aren’t treats such as Paleo baked goods supposed to be a very occasional treat? It seems that they’re being posted on a near daily basis.

And this was my response:

You are totally right, however I have a houseful of almost a dozen growing boys here everyday after school and they aren’t Paleo (most aren’t even gluten-free) so they get at least a Paleo treat a day –far better than the standard teenage fare of soda and chips, if you know what I mean!

Why the heck are there so many dessert and bread recipes on here? Well, it’s not that much of a challenge to come up with a Paleo chicken recipe –they’re all over the internet. Just sift through the websites of people like Martha, Ina, and Elise, and you’ll likely find some nice healthy steak and vegetable dishes as well. They’re probably gluten-free and maybe even Paleo. However, when it comes to finding baked goods that are of course treats, well, that’s not as easy, and that it is something I provide on this website –I create classic Neolithic dishes (like these Paleo Chocolate Chip Scones) that use Paleo-friendly ingredients.

Further confirming this hunch is the list of the Top 10 Most Viewed Recipes on my sidebar; just crank your eyes over a few inches to the right and take a gander at that feature. As you can see, folks look at, and I assume therefore want, baked goods. And so I am pretty much always testing something, and thankfully, the hordes of boys that come to my house after school take pleasure in eating the items that I am continuously testing.

And now back to our regular programming:

These gluten-free, dairy-free Chocolate Chip Scones are made from coconut flour. So no, the measurement of 1/2 cup of flour is not a typo (I get this question on just about every recipe on my website that uses coconut flour). Coconut flour is unique in that just a little bit goes a long way.

On another culinary note, I want to point out that coconut flour is quite light and fluffy –great for cakes and muffins. So these quick and easy Paleo Chocolate Chip Scones are rather cakey and fluffy and don’t have a heavy crumb. They’re a bit different than a classic scone. They’re also nut-free which is deliberate as I’ve had more and more requests for nut-free recipes lately.

Finally, yet most importantly, I based this recipe on one from Brian Musial at mypaleodiet.net, although I’ve made a number of modifications. He has a lovely site that you may wish to peruse for other healthy Paleo recipes. Enjoy the scones and thanks for listening.

Peace out,
Elana

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If I had a grain free muffin of the month club November would be pumpkin spice muffins. September would be banana muffins and May would be blueberry muffins. Of course, I have no such club, however, I do love a good healthy muffin.

For those of you who have nut allergies? These grain free Pumpkin Spice Muffins are nut free.

The roasted pumpkin in this muffin makes it delicate and moist and the spices add a robust fall flavor. I use a tablespoon each of ground cinnamon and ginger. The result is a healthy one given that cinnamon is a wonderful blood sugar stabilizer and ginger is anti-inflammatory. When baking, these muffins will perfume your home with the wonderful aroma of healing spices.

Next week I will be posting the vegetarian Pumpkin Spice Whipped Cream recipe that you see crowning these Pumpkin Spice Muffins. If you want immediate gratification, check out Marla’s recipe at familyfreshcooking.com, and check out the gorgeous photos on her site as well.

While I based my dairy free pumpkin whipped cream recipe upon hers, mine is a bit different. Marla’s has less sugar (she sweetens it solely with stevia) and mine has more spice. That’s what I love about the internet –there’s a recipe for everyone if your fingers do the walking.

Here are some of my other gluten free muffin recipes:

• Banana Muffins
• Bran Muffins
• Carrot Muffins

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I originally posted this date sweetened, gluten free muffin recipe the year before last in my Great Agave Debate post.  Because it was part of something so much bigger, it kinda got lost in the mix.  I’m re-posting it because I think it’s an easy, super tasty, healthy recipe that will please both agave lovers and haters alike.

For more information on agave, please check out my Great Agave Debate post and all of the amazing reader comments and debate that follow it.  Meantime, everyone, enjoy these purely fruit sweetened coconut flour based muffins!

I loved Joy the Baker’s awesome post on coconut flour; her accompanying recipe for Coconut Waffles looks obscenely good (I can’t wait to make it myself).  If you haven’t been to her site, be sure to check it out.  Joy is an amazing writer with true wit and an outrageously good sense of humor.  Her recipes are pretty darn great too!

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I have been a huge fan of Michael Ruhlman’s book Ratio for quite some time.  His work really came to life for me when I saw him speak at Blogher Food last year.  He conveys his love of good food in a passionate manner, which I find compelling.

So, when my friend Silvana invited me to participate in this month’s Ratio Rally, I said yes, even though I have not really baked using ratios and scales.  I am definitely a numbers person though, so the concept is not a daunting one.  If you don’t like numbers and scales, do not read any further.  This post is not for you!  If you’re into making recipe templates that can serve as the basis for numerous other recipes, then proceed.  And get out that scale!

According to Ruhlman, “a quick bread is composed of cake batter ingredients that are stirred together.“  He goes on to say that “muffins are quick breads baked into cups.“  Hence, my decision to make muffins. Ruhlman’s ratio for making a quick bread using wheat flour is 2 parts flour: 2 parts liquid: 1 part egg: 1 part fat.

The ratio I came up with for muffins uses almond flour, and is 4 parts flour: 4 parts egg: 1 part sweetener.  After much experimentation, I can say that  I doubt these proportions will work with other flours as almond flour is a very unique ingredient.

So why create this recipe at all?  Well, it is still versatile in two ways.  First, it is a wonderful template for a muffin recipe.  You can experiment by adding different flavor combinations including: date walnut, lemon poppyseed, dried cranberries with white chocolate chips, cinnamon raisin, and orange dark chocolate chip.  Second, you can scale up the recipe and make as many muffins as you like.  Double it for 8 muffins.  Cut it in half for 2.  It’s that flexible.

The ratio for making a basic, lightly sweetened almond flour muffin is (4:4:1), and here is the complete recipe:

To make a loaf of quick bread, simply double the above batter and bake it for 35-40 minutes on the lower rack of your oven in an 6-½ x 4-inch baby loaf pan (Luminarc).

My findings? Because almond flour is more wet than wheat flour, I ended up eliminating the 2 parts of liquid that Ruhlman used in his ratios.  And because almond flour is more fatty than wheat flour I have eliminated the fat that was part of his formula.  Finally, I used equal parts almond flour and egg in my recipe because almond flour is heavy and requires extra leavening, and eggs are a wonderfully simple form of leavening that is high in protein.

I did not have a hypothesis when I began this experiment.  I based my ratio on Ruhlman’s and started out with liquids, fat and all sorts of unnecessary other ingredients (that I found are not relevant when baking with almond flour).  In order to come up with the recipe above, I baked the muffins 4 times before the result was remotely edible, and 5 more times to perfect them.  As you can see, when it comes to baking, hands on is the only way to go; guessing does not work.

The winner of last weeks giveaway for a brand new 12-Cup Food Processor from the Cuisinart Elite Collection™ is M. Sieu! I want to thank everyone for participating and sharing your favorite food processor recipes.

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Did you know that I am obsessed with all things muesli?  I have a recipe for muesli bread in my book, and I make just about everything else I can with muesli.  While traditionally muesli has oats in it, I make mine grain free, as I follow as diet that is very close to Primal/Paleo.

So what exactly is muesli?  According to Wikipedia, it is a “popular breakfast cereal based on uncooked rolled oats, fruit and nuts. It was developed around 1900 by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients in his hospital. It is available as a packaged dry form, or it can be made fresh.”

These scones have my favorite little muesli combination of dried fruits and nuts, and are the perfect vehicle for fellow muesli addicts.  I am about to sit down and enjoy one for my afternoon snack with a cup of Dandelion Root Coffee.

Muesli SconesNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
2 cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup dried apricots, cut into ¼-inch pieces
¼ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup sesame seeds
¼ cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
1 large egg (size does matter as dough will not hold together with a small or medium egg)
2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey

1. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt and soda
2. Stir in dried fruit, seeds and nuts
3. In a small bowl combine egg and agave
4. Stir wet ingredients into dry
5. Use your hands to form dough
6. Shape dough into a 6 ½ x 6 ½ square that is about ¾” thick
7. Cut dough into 16 squares
8. Bake at 350° on a parchment paper lined baking sheet (thanks Jenn!) for 10-12 minutes
9. Serve

You can “mix it up” by using different dried fruits and nuts for this muesli scone recipe and coming up with your own favorite combination.  Please remember though, to share your results with us in the comment section below as I’d love to hear all of your ideas for variations and adaptations of this recipe.

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Once again, it’s all Joy the Baker’s fault.  This scone obsession of mine.  When I saw those cute little hand cut squares of Orange Chocolate Buttermilk Scones on her blog, joythebaker.com, I knew I had to make them mine.  And I did.  And then some.

So, here’s the latest in my scone series, gluten free Cranberry Orange Scones.  As you can see, there is a strange “orangeness” on the top of my scones.  That’s because I had a little extra zest leftover and rolled the dough in it.  Feel free to give this a try if you’re big time into the orange zest thing.

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange SconesNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
2 cups blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup white chocolate chips
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 egg
2 tablespoons agave nectar

1. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt, baking soda, cranberries, chips and zest
2. In a smaller bowl, combine egg and agave
3. Mix wet ingredients into dry
4. Knead dough with hands if necessary to ensure proper distribution of ingredients
5. Form dough into 2 little circles so that each one is about ½-inch in thick
6. Cut each circle like a pizza, into 8 slices
7. Using a metal baking spatula transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet
8. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes
9. Serve

As you can see, with white chocolate chips, these scones are not even close to Paleo or Primal.  So, if you’re looking for a healthier treat, substitute the white chocolate with dark chocolate.  Or maybe just experiment with leaving out the chocolate altogether –blasphemy to chocolate lovers, I know!

Here are some more gluten free scone recipes you may enjoy baking:
-Bacon-Cheese Scones (Gluten-Free, Egg-Free, Cow-Dairy-Free Scones) from Approvechar
-Gluten-Free Vegan Cherry Oat Scones from Cybele Pascal
-Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones from Gluten-Free Goddess

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It really is Joy the Baker’s fault.  I have been baking scones every day since I read her post for Orange and Dark Chocolate Buttermilk Scones.  I knew I would have to make my own gluten free version.  So I did.  And it’s scone mania over here.  It’s gotten so bad that last weekend I made 5 batches of scones.  All gluten free of course.

Joy, I wish I was your gluten free neighbor.  And by the way, I do not have a dog, nor do I play loud 90′s music.  And I’m not shy, well, that’s not entirely true; I am shy in groups.  But not one-on-one, and I would definitely say, “hi,” if I was your neighbor.  And I’d most certainly bring you a batch of these gluten free Orange Chocolate Scones.  If I was your neighbor.

I hope you all enjoy these healthy gluten free scones as much as my family and I have!

My friend Tia did a wonderful review of my The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook on her site, Glügle Gluten-Free.  She’s also giving away one copy of my book, as well as a 5 pound bag of blanched almond flour from Honeyville, so check it out!

Here are some other gluten free scone recipes you might enjoy:
-Gluten Free Vegan Coconut Date Cardamon Scone Recipe from Book of Yum
-Honey Chai Scones from GF/BFF (Gluten-Free Best Friends Forever)
-Sweet Vanilla Blueberry Scones from Ginger Lemon Girl

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Okey dokey, here comes a turkey day fave.  I’ve had a lot of requests for a gluten free biscuit lately, especially in my forums.  These biscuits are super easy to make and high protein fare to boot.  So you just might want to add these to your Thanksgiving menu.  Or your Christmas dinner menu.  Or a brunch menu.  As you can see, they’re quite versatile.

BiscuitsNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
2 ½ cups blanched almond flour, plus about 1 cup for dusting the dough (thanks Karen!)
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup earth balance natural buttery spread (soy free)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey

1. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda
2. In a large bowl, blend together buttery spread, eggs and agave
3. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until a nice dough forms
4. Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to 1 ½ inches thick
5. Dust dough with extra almond flour if it is sticky and/or misbehaving
6. Cut the dough into biscuits using a mason jar with a 3-inch wide mouth
7. Using a spatula, transfer biscuits to a parchment lined baking sheet
8. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes, until biscuits are browned on the bottom edges
9. Serve with gravy, jelly or whatever else your heart desires

Makes about 10 biscuits

Here are some more gluten free biscuit recipes you might like:

-Biscuits (gluten free, egg free, dairy free) from Ellen from I Am Gluten Free
-Sweet Potato Biscuits by Karina from Gluten-Free Goddess
-Biscuits (egg-free, gluten-free, casein-free) by Kelly from The Spunky Coconut

To help you with your biscuit making adventures I’m giving away a 5lb bag of blanched almond flour from Honeyville! To enter leave a comment below. Everyone everywhere is eligible and I will pick the winner at random. This contest will end at midnight on November 21st, 2010.

Update: this giveaway is now over and the winner was Jennifer Bussey!

Speaking of giveaways, below are a few friends who are giving away The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook:

-Totally Together Reviews (Leave a comment by 5pm PST on 11/15/2010)
-The Daily Meal (Upload a Thanksgiving recipe to TheDailyMeal.com by 11pm EST on 11/16/2010)
-Natural Solutions Magazine (Register for the Natural Solutions eNewsletter by 11:59pm MST on 11/30/2010)

What better way to use your bag of blanched almond flour than with a free copy of The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook!

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One of my favorite readers Courtney recently suggested that I create a gluten free cinnamon roll recipe. She said it would be perfect for Christmas morning. Being smack in the middle of Hanukkah that wasn’t something I had thought about. Thanks Courtney!

So, here’s my little ol’ gluten free Cinnamon Bun Muffin recipe. I hope you all enjoy it during the holidays.

For a real cinnamon roll recipe, you can head on over to Gluten-Free Girl, she has been working on a cinnamon roll recipe of late and I imagine will post one soon.

I am totally blown away by Stephanie’s blog, Totally Together Reviews; Stephanie recently blogged about the The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook and is doing a giveaway as well. Her post about my book has received well over 400 comments.  Thanks Stephanie.

One of my favorite periodicals, The Christian Science Monitor just ran a Best Cookbooks of 2009 article mentioning The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, what a delight to find my book in there.

And in television news, I was on two shows today (demoing recipes from my gluten free cookbook) the first show was Good Day Colorado and the second, Daybreak on the Deuce. You can watch both appearances below.

Finally, to top these muffins off, stay tuned for my next post with my yummy gluten free Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.

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When I saw this recipe for a purely fruit sweetened carrot cake from Heidi over at 101cookbooks.com I just knew I would want to make it into some sort of gluten free version.  So I did.

Last weekend our friends Chris and Larry came over to sit out on our porch and read the Sunday New York Times with us while soaking in some good Colorado sunshine and we enjoyed these descendants of Heidi’s carrot, banana, date yumminess.  Here it is for all of you.

Yesterday, I was happy to find that The Philadelphia Inquirer included my own little gluten free cookbook,  The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook in an article called “Gluten-free but still tasty.”  Way cool.

In Friday Freebie news, this week I am giving away a copy of a fabulous book written by the founder of Tropical Traditions, Brian Shilhavy.  It is called Virgin Coconut Oil and was provided by the wonderful folks over at Tropical Traditions for this giveaway.  Thanks Brian! Go ahead and leave a comment for your chance to win.

UPDATE: this giveaway has ended, the winner was Lauren

The winner of last week’s Friday Freebie, a Luminarc Baby Loaf Pan (Update: This loaf pan may have been discontinued since this giveaway. Stay tuned…) from the amazing Courtney at Benefit Your Life, is Lydia.

Finally, don’t forget to submit your grain free cake post to the “Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten-Free” Blog Carnival I’m hosting this month. For more details view my grain free cupcakes post.

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