Elana’s Pantry

Macadamia Caramel Clusters

We have a big all star game tomorrow, though unfortunately I will be missing it. One of my parents was hospitalized this week so I am flying back to California for a weekend visit.

As I tucked my older son into bed tonight he said, “I want extra snuggles since I won’t see you until Sunday.” He was very disappointed that I would be missing his game and couldn’t completely understand how a hospital visit could take priority over his tournament. I did pack a couple of batches of blondies for his team (to keep them energized during the game) and am hoping my husband will remember to take them along tomorrow.

I also made these macadamia caramel clusters for my husband. I experimented with them earlier this week and he just about ate the entire test batch –I took that as a sign that they were good enough to share with all of you. I hope you like them as much as he does.

My husband said these remind him of my candy bars –though says these are better. What do you think? Macadamia Caramel Clusters or Candy Bars? What’ll it be?

Celebrating Independence

Yesterday my son and I made the delicious strawberry sorbet pictured above.

As July 4th approaches, our ice cream maker has been getting a real workout. It’s hotter now so we’re always looking for good frozen treats to cool us off. When I asked my older son what he thought about the sorbet, he simply said, “yum.” That sums it up fairly well. I find it light, sweet and refreshing.

On another note, I enjoy using holidays throughout the year to pause, reflect and freshen my perspective, finding that even secular celebrations come in handy for this. With July 4th just around the corner, I’ve created a little list of independence offerings that provide new ways of doing the same old everyday things. I hope you like it and find it useful.

And for a wholesome, delicious dessert to go along with your independence celebration, try this sorbet. You will wow your guests with a burst of fresh fruit flavor!

Happy Fourth of July! I hope all of you have a fantastic holiday weekend and enjoy good food with good friends! Feel free to leave a comment below to let me know what you will be eating doing this weekend.

Survey Says: Candy Bars

Baseball is what it’s all about in our house these days. We lost in the main bracket of the post-season tournament and are now playing in the consolation round and doing well. We were winning our game yesterday against the Red Socks and had the game postponed due to rain in the bottom of the 3rd inning when we were ahead 3-0. The boys were playing well and devouring the snacks that I brought to keep them full of energy!

On another note, just a while back, I added a cool little survey feature to this site. You may have noticed it on the lower right portion of the homepage, in the “navigation” section. This poll was to determine which of three potential recipes people most wanted to see –Mango Chicken, Chocolate Cupcakes or Candy Bars.

Well, I was not all that surprised to find that the candy won out! Were you? All the guys I know that go to the site voted candy bars –well, all two of the guys that I know who frequent the site. So take that statement with a grain of salt. And speaking of salt, that is what is sprinkled on top of the candy bars in the photo above! It’s different and tasty. Try it out for yourself.

These bars are more complex than my usual recipes –though no one ever said making candy from scratch would be easy! If you want to simplify the recipe, toast your pecans in the oven instead of using the double roasting method; I do this to make the pecans super crunchy, though if you can stand less crunch in your bars, skip that step.

I based this recipe on Pay Day Candy Bars from a favorite site of mine called Eating Out Loud. The author of this site, Allen, seems like that all around cute/smart guy that everyone wants to meet; I have seen his photo online, I think on stumbleupon, however can’t locate it anymore, so you’ll just have to imagine!

Thai Iced Tea

We are in the middle of our little league baseball tourney (presently in quarterfinals) and play tonight to see if we can advance to the semis. My older son has been playing first base while the little one is bat boy.

We have had much fun, though it is getting quite competitive and the team we are playing tonight (the Nationals) is known as the meanest in the league. We have played them twice and lost both times so this is our chance to make a comeback. If you are hanging on the edge of your seat with baited breath, then sign up for my twitter –I generally leave tweets of our scores over there.

Summer is not only perfect for baseball, it is a great time for iced tea. While I generally salivate at the thought of Thai iced tea, I have not actually had the privilege of consuming one. This sweet, thick gooey drink usually consists of black tea, sugar and condensed milk (more sugar). Since I don’t do caffeine, sugar or dairy, it hasn’t been my drink of choice.

Now though, after seeing friends drink this sweet treat and reading all about it, I think what I have come up with is a decent approximation of this delightful drink.

Thai Iced Tea
2 tablespoons loose rooibos tea
2 cups boiling water
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon agave nectar
12 drops stevia
10-12 ice cubes
½ cup cashew milk

1. Place loose tea in a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup
2. Pour hot water over tea, add almond extract, agave, stevia and steep for 15 minutes
3. Place ice cubes in 2 large glasses
4. Strain tea into glasses
5. Pour in cashew milk
6. Serve

Serves 2

Thai iced tea makes an ideal dessert drink for summer as it is both cool and satiating. The boys and I have been making a lot of these lately after dinner. My little one uses heavy cream in place of the cashew milk, though the older one and I make ours using the recipe above. Either way, enjoy!

Rosemary Chocolate Truffles

Last night was the conclusion of a “grand” Memorial Day weekend. My parents came in and took the boys down to the Boulder Creek Fest where they all had a blast. There was much spoiling –meals out, bowling, batting practice at the amusement park and overall non-stop fun. A perfect weekend with the grandparents.

After an exhausting weekend of keeping up with my seventy year old folks, I put my children to bed for a solid night of rest. When thunder cracked so loud that my house shook, the boys bolted down to my tiny home office and made themselves comfortable with blankets on the floor as I worked.

As the little one fell asleep, the big one observed that he does so with his eyes half open, “that’s how you know he is really asleep.” I was told. I carried the big one up to bed for a quick tuck and an hour later hauled the sleeping little one up to his room. I guess all my workouts are really paying off –carrying 70 pounds of sleeping child up a flight of stairs makes me feel like I’m Ahnold.

After they were snuggled away in their beds and sound asleep I decided to work on a new chocolate recipe, galvanized by Holly’s challenge in the comment section of my Raw Chocolate Fudge post. She inquired about using stevia and cutting back on the agave in that dessert; in my quest to do so I came up with these extra dark truffles. Holly, thanks for your inspiration.

Rosemary Chocolate Truffles
½ cup cacao
¼ cup coconut oil
¼ cup coconut butter
¼ cup almond butter (I used roasted)
¼ cup agave nectar
1 dropper stevia
½ cup walnuts, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced

1. In a large bowl, combine cacao, coconut oil, coconut butter, almond butter, agave nectar and stevia
2. Stir ingredients until well combined
3. Place bowl in freezer for 10-15 minutes until chocolate reaches cold, firm consistency
4. Remove from freezer and roll into 1 inch balls
5. Place walnuts and rosemary in a bowl and roll each truffle in mixture to coat
6. Serve
7. Be sure to store in fridge to maintain texture and consistency

Serves 12

In addition to Holly’s great request, teaching the 3rd graders to make chocolate fudge gave rise to this new recipe. For that cooking class, I brought in a dozen different herbs, spices, dried fruits and nuts and allowed the children to choose what to add to the basic recipe.

One of the 3rd graders, Zippy, made rosemary flavored fudge. I had hoped that one of the students would choose this herb as I was intrigued by the idea of adding it to chocolate. Her choice was sophisticated, adventurous and turned out to be one of my favorite flavors.

Many thanks go to Holly and Zippy for their fine inspiration!

Top 10 Healthy Memorial Day Recipes

Memorial Day weekend is a great time for picnics and barbecues. Below you will find some of my favorite festive dishes for this great little three day weekend. These are perfect for warm weather parties. Packed with nutrition as well as flavor, this simple, healthy grub will wow your guests.

Select 3 or 4 dishes if you are having a smallish gathering, or cook up just about everything below if you are having a grand affair.

What do you like to do on Memorial Day weekend and what is your favorite dish to cook once the warm weather settles in? Leave a comment and let us know!

Raw Chocolate Fudge

A few of my favorite things? Coaching baseball. Growing vegetables. Walking on a sunny day. Hanging with my husband late at night after the boys have gone to bed. Cooking with children –of any age.

Recently I have had the opportunity to teach cooking to my son’s third grade class. This has been great fun. I get a real glimpse of each child and his or her temperament when we cook together –in the classroom mixing things up, working away.

I break the children into groups of 4, hand them a recipe, then pass out cooking equipment and ingredients. It is so much fun to watch, help and see what cute and adorable comments they make as they cook, “Elana, are these nuts chopped well enough?” That was a regular comment during our charoset project in April. They are so careful and caring in their handling and preparation of food. It is quite awe inspiring.

Now, as the end of school approaches, the ice cream truck screams through our neighborhood, announcing the arrival of overpriced individually packaged treats. In direct competition, I respond with my own homemade goodies.

For this school year’s final venture into the classroom: chocolate from scratch. I taught my favorite 3rd graders to make the raw dessert that follows.

We made a big mess. We had lots of fun. See here.

Raw Chocolate Fudge
1 cup raw cacao powder
½ cup coconut oil
½ cup coconut butter
½ cup macadamia nut butter
1 cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1. In a large bowl, combine cacao, coconut oil, coconut butter and macadamia nut butter
2. Stir in agave, vanilla, salt and cinnamon
3. Mix well, mashing lumps against side of bowl with a fork to smooth out batter
4. Pour mixture into a 7 x 11 glass pyrex dish
5. Place in freezer for 1-2 hours, until firm
6. Cut into squares and serve
7. Store in refrigerator or freezer to maintain proper texture and consistency

Serves 24

This recipe is based on one that I found at Circle of Healers. Many thanks to them for coming up with a fabulous superfood dessert rich in anti-oxidants and good fats.

To make a more exotic fudge add your favorite nuts, dried fruit and spices. The children and I added raisins, macadamia nuts and various spices to their fudge –it was fun to see them get creative. My personal favorite was Cutter and Elijah’s addition of toasted coconut, which resulted in little “Mounds Bars” treats.

What would you like to add when you make this delicious dessert? Don’t be shy! Go ahead, let us know; share your great ideas below…

Carrot Cake

You may have noticed a new little feature on the sidebar of this website –in computer programming terms it is called the “democracy poll.” Basically it is a survey that allows you to vote for the dish you would most like to see me post. The current competition is between Chocolate Cupcakes, Mango Chicken and “Candy” Bars, which by the way are winning. Go ahead, stop by and cast your vote for the recipe you would most like to see up here.

In other competition, my spring has been filled with baseball. As I have mentioned, I am coaching my son’s little league team and it is quite a hoot. We won again yesterday, though more important, the boys are playing as a team and have great spirit. It is somewhat amazing to see how focused 9 year olds can be and how supportive they are of each other. This coaching deal has been a real treat for me.

Speaking of treats, I find this to be the perfect time of year for carrot cake. It’s an ideal dessert for cookouts, picnics and graduation parties. Today’s post is for of one of my favorite readers, ~M. She requested carrot cake a while back and I post it now in honor of her recent graduation.

What occasions in your life call for a good carrot cake? And what memories does it bring back for you? Don’t be shy, let us in on it and leave a comment!

Coconut Cream Frosting

Frosting is one of my favorite foods; in fact, I consider it an actual food group. After all, what is a cupcake without frosting? It’s nothing!

Lately I have been stymied when it comes to the frosting creation process. Yes, I have my delicious vegan chocolate frosting recipe, however, I have been lacking in the white frosting department. For me this has presented hardship because chocolate frosting just doesn’t work with carrot cake and lemon cake. Besides, who wants to use just one frosting recipe on top of all of their baked delicacies?!

Yes, I do admit, making frosting without butter and sugar is quite a challenge. Though for me challenge is the name of the game. So lately, I have been on a conquest for white frosting.

Sixteen batches later, I have a delicious coconut frosting that my many taste testers approve of. Unfortunately, my most important taster is traveling this week, so I confess, I don’t have the ultimate seal of approval. However, I think it is still good enough to share with all of you.

This frosting will be great on the carrot cake which I am in the process of creating for ~M, one of my favorite readers. She finished school this month and I will post the recipe in honor of her graduation.

On another note, you may have noticed that I recently added a feature to the side bar of this site. It is a survey which polls readers as to which recipe they would like me to whip up next. Check it out and post your vote –for chocolate cupcakes, mango chicken or “candy” bars.

Almond Butter Blondies

Kelly over at Celiac Chicks does a fabulous job covering the latest in gluten-free news. On top of that, she is a lovely person. It has been great getting to know her through our email conversations these past few months.

I recently spent some time looking through the recipe section of Kelly’s site and was most intrigued by these delicious looking peanut butter bars. She traces the original recipe back to one from 2003 in Family Circle magazine. Of course, she made her own adaptations to the bars, which I then edited as well. Since I don’t actually eat peanut butter, I substituted the main ingredient with high protein almond butter and made a couple of other changes along the way.

The most challenging part of this recipe has been naming it. My husband and I sat in the kitchen last night throwing ideas back and forth. Blondies? Chocolate Chip Blondies? No, I said, blondies have chocolate chips in them –Chocolate Chip Blondies would be rather redundant.

Nevertheless, with a mere 6 ingredients, these bars are super easy to prepare. Although made with almond butter, you would never know it, as they taste quite cakey. I have cooked up this recipe at least a dozen times. Even the batches I considered “failures” were devoured by my testers –that would be my little league team, in this instance. Let’s not forget, I coach a bunch of 10 year old blue gatorade drinking boys. Although these bars are not that sweet, my team absolutely loved ‘em. They inhaled even the first experimental batches that were a horribly underdone, delicious goo –which ended up as much on their faces as in their mouths.

So here, expedited, due to a request from Courtney (one of my favorite readers) are my version of Kelly’s Peanut Butter Bars. Hope these go over well at your mother’s day celebration, Courtney and best of luck as head chef!

Many thanks to my mom, for making our food with your own hands after long days at work. Happy Mother’s Day!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Passover really threw me for a loop. It wasn’t the guests we had visit for the holiday. It was the 100 matzo balls for my son’s third grade seder. That, plus charoset and maror for everyone at the event. My house was overtaken by a cooking frenzy last week; I focused on that and nothing else (except my children).

Now everything has calmed down and I am happily back to this blog! I have been thrilled by the amount of chat in the comments over here. I have also received so many lovely emails from people thanking me for these recipes and all I can say is –you’re welcome! It is wonderful to love what you do and ALSO be appreciated for it. That is the proverbial icing on the cupcake.

Now, I am happy to introduce vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting and continue on my coconut flour recipe roll. I have been making (and testing) this dessert for close to two years and it is one of my personal favorites. I think it might be a hit with you too based on reports from taste testing friends.

My friend Patricia claims she and her son have fought each other over these cupcakes. I hope you like them as much as she does.

Vegan Chocolate Frosting

This is my all time favorite icing recipe. Lately, I’ve been using it to frost cakes, cupcakes, and also as a filling between chocolate wafers. My son loves this double chocolate treat –chocolate wafers with chocolate frosting– packed in his school lunch.

I promise, I’ll put chocolate wafers up here on the boards soon. That recipe just needs a few more rounds of testing until it is ready for public consumption!

This gluten-free, dairy-free, rich and creamy chocolate icing will fool all of the junk food junkies, dairy-lovers and gluten gluttons in your life –they won’t have a clue that they’re eating on your meal plan. Go ahead, see for yourself.

Passover Round Up

Passover is this Saturday! I have been cooking up many Pesach dishes of late and am happy to provide a round-up below.

A couple of notes:

I did not include a vegetable dish in the above list. Generally, I like to serve steamed broccoli or broiled asparagus with our Passover meal. I have linked to a squash pie recipe that I use during Passover as our squash “kugel.”

As you will notice, matzoh is conspicuously absent from the above list. I purchase a gluten-free oat matzoh for my boys, however, I do not eat grains, so I create an almond flour matzoh for myself to use as a vehicle for the Hillel Sandwich. My husband says the matzoh that I make is so bad, that I have deemed it unworthy of ‘blogage’.

Happy Pesach to you and yours!

Elana

Passover Torte

Ok, so in yesterday’s “reach out and touch someone” post I failed. In fact, I fell flat. On my face. Do you know how many comments were posted? One. Not much community in one post.

To cheer myself up, I can always read some Dooce. That woman makes me laugh out loud. Or I can listen to the Captain and Tenille’s Love Will Keep Us Together. Either way, I do not despair, Passover is near and for me, this occasion provides endless activity and distraction.

For the Jewish Betty Crocker in all of us, here’s a delectable cake recipe for Passover.

This pareve torte is rich and sweet. Though it is a tad sweeter than most of my desserts, that’s because a) this one is for a holiday; b) my husband really liked it that way.

Still the cake has enough protein that it will not leave you with a high-carb hangover after your Pesach Seder. Now, if you eat too much matzah, well, that’s another story.

Coconut Macaroons

Passover is approaching.

Later than usual this year, my favorite spring holiday falls on April 19th, just over 3 weeks away. I especially enjoy the food traditions surrounding this holiday; during the next couple of weeks I will be posting all of my favorite Passover recipes.

Macaroons are an ideal Pesach dessert because they are made with egg whites and do not contain chametz, or leavened grain products. According to my 9 year old son, who is studying the Torah in school, we refrain from eating chametz because, “when leaving Egypt the Jews did not even have enough time to let the bread rise.”

Ironically, after a bit of historical research, I found that macaroons are actually a Christian food. According to mirabilis.ca, “macaroons originated in an Italian monastery around 1792. The name comes from the Italian word for paste, maccarone, which refers to almond paste. Macaroni means flour paste.”

I make this great gluten-free Passover dessert all year round; when I retested it today, my younger son ate an entire baking sheet of these yummy little cookies!

Stay tuned for more delicious organic, gluten-free Passover dishes and desserts!

* Please note, I edited this recipe on 3/28/08, modifying the baking temperature; the macaroons are more moist when baked at a higher temp for one or two minutes less.

Chocolate Cake — Coconut Flour Continued

Yes, I continue to roll out the coconut flour recipes. I am having a great time experimenting with this unique flour. I have been doing so for almost two years now and have created a small stockpile of recipes that work well with its light and fluffy texture.

This gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate cake (nut-free too) is a family favorite, with a thick, yummy vegan chocolate frosting.

Chocolate Cake
¾ cup coconut flour, sifted
¼ cup dagoba cacao powder
1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 eggs
1 cup grapeseed oil
1 ½ cups agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon orange zest

1. In a small bowl combine flour, cacao, salt and baking soda
2. In a large bowl using an electric hand mixer, blend eggs, oil, agave nectar, vanilla and orange zest
3. Add dry ingredients into large bowl and continue to blend
4. Oil (2) 9 inch round cake pans and dust with coconut flour
5. Pour batter into pans and bake at 325 degrees for 35-40 minutes
6. Remove from oven, allow to cool completely then remove from pans
7. Frost and serve

This frosting recipe is one of my all time favorites –I have been known to eat it by the spoonful and like to spread it on crackers.

The chocolate vegan frosting above is a nice complement to my vanilla cupcake recipe (made from almond flour) recently featured in the Denver Post. Go ahead and see for yourself on your next special occasion or for no reason at all!

Hamantaschen

Purim is this Friday, March 21st, less than one week away.

For those who aren’t familiar with Purim, it is a festival as opposed to a major holiday or “holy day.” Purim involves the story of the attempted destruction of the Jewish people, the subsequent escape to “freedom” and much feasting, a set of themes that run throughout many of our celebrations.

Purim is recorded in the Book of Ester and dates back to 600 BCE. At this time, Jewish exiles in Babylonia found themselves under Persian rule, with the spread of the Persian Empire. Haman, an adviser to the King of Persia, Achasverus, made plans to kill the Jews. Instead, Esther and her brother Mordechai thwarted these plans –with the help of divine intervention.

Rather than becoming the victims of evil decree, the Jews were allowed by the King to hang Haman; the day after his killing was designated as a day for feasting and rejoicing which we celebrate into the present. A bit macabre, though some Jewish holidays are.

This celebration now entails reading the Book of Ester and shaking groggers (noise makers) each time Haman’s name is mentioned. Further, children dress up in costumes (often as Haman, Mordechai or Esther, though anything goes these days), families exchange shaloch manos (English translation: “send gifts”) of food baskets and bake cookies called hamantaschen.

Hamantaschen, literally means Haman’s pocket in Yiddish. In Hebrew, these three cornered cookies, little triangles stuffed traditionally with poppy seeds or prune filling, are called Oznai Haman, or Haman’s ear. Alternatively, it is thought that Hamantaschen are a representation of the three cornered hat that Haman wore. Whatever these cookies represent, I love to make them every year in celebration of purim!

As I mentioned, traditionally Hamantaschen are stuffed with prune paste or poppy seed paste. While I liked the tradition, these tastes were a little strange to me growing up. Now, these gluten-free Hamantashcen are filled with a more familiar, yet slightly exotic filling. I hope you like them as much as we do!

Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry muffins are such a classic little treat. Great for breakfast, an afternoon snack with a cup of tea or even dessert. These muffins, made with coconut flour, are light, fluffy and satisfying.

This is the first coconut flour recipe I have posted. My favorite taste tester (that would be the beloved husband) and I had a conversation last night about my coconut flour recipes during which he gave me his blessing to post this one for blueberry muffins. The boys also gave their tacit approval by gobbling down a full batch.

Between those two stamps of approval (and several others that I won’t take the time to detail here), I would say these gluten-free blueberry muffins are ready for “prime time!” Enjoy.

Please note: longtime readers, this recipe uses coconut flour, not almond flour. These two flours have very different properties; substituting one for the other will not work. I have had a lot of fun cooking with coconut flour and am looking forward to sharing more of these light and fluffy recipes with you!

My Favorite Gluten Free Valentine’s Recipes

Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us. I don’t buy into the flowers and Hallmark card aspect of this holiday. Rather than the usual hoopla, my favorite taste tester (that would be my husband) and I don’t do much, if anything at all. Simply put, I try to appreciate and show my love for him day in and day out.

On another note, who on earth decided that consumers should show their love by purchasing useless items on some specific day? The rebel in me dislikes holidays such as this based on mandatory consumption. However, the baker in me loves them.

For me, Valentine’s Day is a great excuse to bake lots of treats, give them out and make cards with the boys. This year, my younger son, E decided to sew his Valentines. His teacher asked each child to bring in just five “cards” to exchange, so I think he’ll be up to this little project of his, which you can see taking shape in the photo above.

In terms of the baking aspect of this holiday, below are my three favorite recipes for wholesome, delicious Valentine’s treats. All of these desserts are gluten-free and dairy free.

Cranberry Apricot Truffles


Linzer Hearts


Black and White Heart Cookies

So, have a great gluten-free, DIY holiday!