Pumpkin season is my favorite time of year. When the days get shorter, the nights cool and crisp, I indulge in my fascination with those odd shaped, brightly colored vegetables known as winter squash.

Pumpkin is a type of winter squash, and I use a variety of winter squash in my pumpkin recipes. For these Paleo Pumpkin Bars I chose roasted acorn squash, though you could just as easily select sugar pumpkin (a smaller, denser, tastier version of the more ubiquitous pumpkins used for jack-o’-lanterns), kabocha, butternut, buttercup, carnival or delicata, with fabulous results.

This year I’ve been purchasing my winter squash at Alfalfa’s, a local market that has an unbelievable selection of produce. How to choose a winter squash or pumpkin? Look for deep saturated colors and make sure the skin is thick and clean –no dents, scuffs or cracks. Finally, check that the squash has a hard, cork-like stem.

I am often asked if canned pumpkin will work in my pumpkin recipes. I must confess, I have not laid my hands on canned pumpkin for a good 20 years, so I don’t have an answer. I do recall we used canned pumpkin growing up, long before I developed can-phobia (though that’s another story involving BPA). Since making your own pumpkin puree can seem intimidating, I have prepared a simple tutorial called How To Roast a Pumpkin in 10 Easy Steps that walks you through this process.

I have added chocolate drops to this gluten free pumpkin bar recipe, though you can simply omit the chocolate or use raisins instead.

Here are some of my other pumpkin and winter squash recipes:

• Paleo Pumpkin Bread
• Butternut Squash Soup
• Squash Fries

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I’ve been working on various power bar recipes lately as I need some easy to pack snacks for an upcoming adventure. My husband and I are planning on climbing a 14′er (that would be a 14,000 foot mountain) this summer and of course I want to make sure we have the proper nourishment. These bars will work well for the two of us given our constitutions.

Like all of my recipes, I tested this one many times before posting it here. During one of my test batches the mixture was so thick that the food processor could not spin it further. When this happened, I pulled the mixture out of the food processor and finished working it together with my hands before placing it in the pan. In the event that this happens to you, feel free to use this little trick.

Finally, if you are wanting to reproduce my exact results, use blanched slivered almonds. The key really is the blanched more than the slivered. Recently, I have been purchasing my blanched slivered almonds at the Whole Foods here in Boulder. You can use almonds that are not blanched and you will get more fiber, however, I found the flavor profile was not as good when I made them this way.

As always, feel free to try out any and all substitutions that come to mind so that you can customize these bars to your exact dietary needs. Unfortunately, I don’t know how things will turn out without testing your substitutions, so will not answer substitution questions. Besides, if I did, I’d spend my entire life chained to the computer, and I need to train for that 14′er, remember?

I like these bars as they have relatively few ingredients and are a fairly nutritious snack made of whole foods. Figs are antioxidant rich and full of fiber. Almonds (one of my favorite foods of all time) are a nutrient dense super food also full of fiber and substances that promote cardiovascular health. Coconut again provides fiber and good fats as well.

Just in case you have any big hiking or travel plans for this summer and need some good gluten free on the go snacks, here are a couple of my other bar recipes:
-Goji Power Bars
-Spicy Power Bars
-Cherry Vanilla Power Bars

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Primal. Paleo. Specific Carbohydrate. GAPS. Call it what you want. I began the grain-free diet in 2001. I have adhered to it religiously ever since. When I began, I followed the Specific Carbohydrate Diet; since then, although I’ve used various sweeteners and oils, I have not veered from grain-free. This is not a fad for me. It’s not even something that really has a name. When I started my grain free diet, people thought the gluten free diet was freakish.

Now there’s lots of us. We’re gluten free. Some of us are even grain free. We’re definitely not freaks. Now we’re merely a bit ahead of the curve. It wasn’t always like that.

The almond flour cookie recipe that I share with you today for a Paleo chocolate chip cookie reminds me of the way I used to bake a decade ago. When I used honey quite often in my recipes. Call them what you want. Argue with what they’re called. It’s all semantics anyway. And I promise you. I won’t argue back. I have a teenager and a tween. So why would I look for more arguments here? Just enjoy the cookies.

If you want to make changes to them, do. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your substitutions and alterations turn out. I can’t do the testing for you –remember, I’ve got a tween and a teenager, and they keep me real busy. And they like to eat cookies that I bake from scratch. These cookies. Gluten free cookies. Easy chocolate chip cookies. It just seems that all is right in the world when young men sit at the table eating cookies. So go ahead, like I said, enjoy the cookies!

What changes and substitutions will you make to these cookies to custom tailor them to your special diet needs? How do you think they’ll turn out?

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With only four ingredients, this simple gluten free dessert recipe will wow your Passover or Easter guests. These primal macaroons are made of coconut, egg whites, honey and salt, making them an optimal Paleo cookie recipe. They’ll be devoured within minutes!

Rather than shredded coconut, I used flaked coconut as I wanted to try something different, and I thought it would look pretty and brown nicely.

I don’t usually have a lot of tips for the recipes I write, however, I do have a couple for this Paleo Coconut Macaroon recipe.

As noted above, I did not use shredded coconut in this recipe; I used flaked coconut which is quite different.  Coconut flakes are much larger than the tiny pieces in shredded coconut. I do not know if shredded coconut will work. If you try it, please let us know how it goes.

Next, the 2 tablespoon size scoop is important for the recipe to work –a smaller scoop won’t work as it will not hold the coconut flakes. I’m not sure if an even larger scoop will work as I haven’t tried using one. Feel free to experiment with any size scoop you wish.

Finally, the idea to let the batter sit in the fridge comes from the macaroon recipe at paleodiet.cz. I like this method as it helps the batter set up and creates a macaroon that holds together better after it is baked.

Does your family have a favorite macaroon recipe? If so, feel free to share it in the comments below.

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I can assure you, this is not a Paleo cookie. It is not even a Primal cookie. It is a special occasion cookie –a wonderful treat to serve at a gluten free Super Bowl party. It also makes a great holiday cookie (think gluten free Valentine’s Day dessert). Lately, everyone who has been over to our house –gluten free or not –has been gorging themselves on these Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Whatever your thoughts about the healthfulness (or lack thereof) of this treat, when you’re going to have a big dessert such as this, it’s great to slow down all of the sugar with some high protein almond flour, which this chocolate chip cookie contains.

All in all, these cookies are a super easy homemade treat that will wow your friends. And family. My husband liked ‘em so much that he asked me to bake up a batch for a business associate of his. Now that’s one mighty big metaphoric seal of approval.

If you are looking for healthy gluten free cookies, leave the white and milk chocolate chips out of this recipe. The result?  A double dark chocolate chip cookie, made from high protein almond flour and anti-oxidant rich dark chocolate. Or try my gluten free Chocolate Chip Cookies if you’re not in the mood to tinker with this recipe.

I made (and nibbled on) these cookies during the holidays last month on Colorado’s “Everyday” Show (straying from my regular Paleo fare). This clip was broadcast on our local channel FOX 31 (KDVR) in Denver. You can watch the video below:

I think this may be the most decadent dessert that I make. What is your most indulgent treat?

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I really enjoy using almond flour –almonds are a superfood and highly nutritious. However, every now and then, someone requests a nut free dessert recipe for some type of gluten free baked good. At other times, folks are looking for an egg free recipe.

There are as many allergies out there as there are colors in the rainbow. This brownie recipe is for all the nut free, egg free, refined sugar free, gluten free, primal vegans in my life. You keep me on my toes! And I love it.

This recipe uses sunflower seed butter, which is actually similar to a nut butter (though nut free). Sunflower seed butter is gluten free, high protein and made from highly nutritious sunflower seeds –you didn’t think I was going to use rice flour, did you?! I’m still as grain free as I’ve ever been since I gave up grains 11 years ago. All of the recipes on this website are gluten and grain free recipes.

These brownies are based on a gluten free brownie recipe that Amy Jelley posted on my facebook page a couple of weeks ago. Thanks Amy! Her recipe used a ½ cup of honey which is a little much for where my blood sugar is at these days; so I decreased the amount of honey and added in some xylitol and stevia. I also increased the fat and made a couple of other minor changes to the recipe along the way.

This is a very fudgey brownie –it won’t seem totally cooked through when you pull it from the oven. I took mine out when the edges were just about to burn, that was how I determined it was done.

Now, a word of caution. Do not feed this dessert to your pets. Chocolate and xylitol are highly toxic to animals. Have any of you been feeding my other desserts to your pets? If so, why are you doing this? Please leave a comment and let us know!

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Healthy yet tasty gingersnaps are a deliciously addictive traditional holiday cookie. My gluten free, grain free version contain a good dose of anti-inflammatory ginger. I’m passionate about creating desserts that please the palate and contain super foods as well –a win-win situation for myself, my family and my readers.

These cookies are one of those rare vegan, yet primal friendly treats. These nutritious cookies are the perfect primal friendly treat. I won’t call them Paleo as I believe many peeps will take the opportunity to point out that this is not a perfectly Paleo cookie recipe –pretty close though.

My children and I have been baking quite a lot of gluten free, grain free cookies lately. I find this ginger cookie recipe especially easy to make and so do the boys. That’s why I will be preparing these cookies live on Colorado’s “Everyday” Show. The program will broadcast on our local FOX affiliate KDVR, tomorrow, Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 at 10:45am (MST).

I went on Twitter last night asking folks a few questions about the holidays. You see, I’m Jewish and was having trouble deciding which cookies are appropriate for Christmas. The verdict was that my Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies are indeed a Christmas treat. I want to thank everyone who responded to my religious-culinary inquiry.

In the next couple of weeks I’ll be tweeting a lot about what I’m making for the holidays this year –feel free to join the conversation.

Update: here’s the video for aforementioned above!

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Because I’ve been getting quite a lot of requests lately for healthy dessert recipes and because I had a pound of organic prunes that needed to be used up, I decided I would develop a gluten free prune cake recipe.

After a string of successful and not so successful prune cake experiments, I had a different, yet satisfactory result: Chocolate Prune Bars.  All in all these are basically fudgey prune brownies.  Whatever they’re called, I like ‘em.

In fact, as I drove home from a lunch in Denver this afternoon, I was thinking about eating one of these little Paleo/primal friendly treats.  Prunes or no prunes, a chocolate dessert recipe is a chocolate dessert recipe, and when it’s an easy dessert recipe that tastes good too?  Well there’s nothing better than that!  I walked in the door grabbed a chocolate prune bar and it was as good as I had recalled.

So here I am sharing it with you all. And don’t be afraid of prunes, they’re just another dried fruit, and are actually the dried version of European plums.

If you want to make this dessert into a chocolate prune cake, bake it up in a 9 inch cake pan, which should work just fine.  I tried this in one of my test batches, though can’t recall how long I baked it for so if you do so please leave a comment for all of us with your baking time.

Now, a brief commentary on the ingredients in this recipe.  You will notice that rather than agave, I have chosen coconut sugar as the sweetener for this recipe (if you do want to make it with agave, feel free, however I’m not sure how much it would need, or if it would actually work as I haven’t tried it myself).  I also used coconut oil (of which I am a huge fan) rather than my staple grapeseed oil (feel free to experiment with your oil of choice).

Finally, a little bit about prunes, or “dried plums” as they are often now referred to.  Prunes are a very tasty and healthy food, full of unique phytonutrient antioxidants, potassium and soluble fiber.  So don’t be shy, grab yourself some prunes, or try to hide them in this deliciously chocolatey dessert and fool your children, big and small.

More healthy recipes with prunes:
-Chocolate Prune Truffles
-Fruit Pudding
-Roasted Chicken with Olives and Prunes

What are your feelings when it comes to prunes?  Like? Dislike? Or don’t care?  Leave a comment below with your prune history.

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These peanut butter cookies are gluten free, grain free and vegan to boot.  I based them on Heidi’s Peanut Butter Cookie recipe over at 101 Cookbooks, one of my favorite websites.  Though I did cut the amount of sweetener in half and make a couple of other changes.

I have been on a bit of a peanut butter kick lately.  I didn’t eat peanut butter for a long time.  I just didn’t feel great when I ate it, however, I’m feeling a lot stronger these days, so peanut butter is back.  Last week I posted a recipe for Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies and next week I will be posting my Peanut Butter Protein Shake recipe.

Some people don’t ever eat peanut butter; my friend Kelly, over at The Spunky Coconut uses sunflower butter in its place.  I find that peanut butter and sunflower butter taste quite alike, so I think it might be worth your while to try out this substitution.  I haven’t though, so I’m not sure if it will work in this recipe –please let me know if it does.

Here are some more yummy vegan recipes for bars and cookies you might like:
-Chewy Magic “Peanut Butter Middle” Cookies from Alexa of Lexie’s Test Kitchen
-Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Bars from Kelly of The Spunky Coconut
-Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Alisa of Alisa Cooks

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Last night I had a hunkering for gluten free peanut butter cookies. I went over to Elise’s site, Simply Recipes, and found a yummy looking recipe for gluten-filled Peanut Butter Cookies. I experimented a bit, made a couple of changes to her recipe and came up with a nice gluten free cookie dough. I then decided that it might be fun to make a gluten free peanut butter and jelly cookie.

So here you have it, high protein, gluten free peanut butter and jelly cookies, the product of my insomnia and late night experimentation. When I pulled these out of the oven, I was thinking about breakfast the next morning. What else is there to think about than the next meal? And I thought to myself, these cookies are healthy enough for a quick, on the go bite, maybe even breakfast. They have a good amount of protein and fiber (from the almond flour and peanut butter) and still a bit more protein from the egg.

That all turned out to be in theory, though, because this morning I had a peanut butter protein shake.

Yes, I am on a peanut butter kick, as you can see. If you do not want to use peanut butter, you could try experimenting with sunbutter or creamy roasted almond butter. In terms of finding a replacement for the egg in this recipe, I’m not sure what would work. If you have a good solution, please leave a comment below.

Generally, I use Fiori di Fruta jams, however, my boys have been on a sugar kick lately and so in this recipe I used Cascadian Farms jam which is organic and sweetened with sugar rather than juice.

More gluten free flourless cookie recipes from other food bloggers:
-Flourless Almond Butter Cookies from Alta of Tasty Eats At Home
-Flourless Oatmeal Cookies by Shirley of Gluten Free Easily
-Flourless Nut Butter Cookies by Kimi of The Nourishing Gourmet

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