Gluten-free and Sugar-Free Berry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

It's easy to make a tasty cookie, it's not as easy to make a tasty cookie that is gluten-free, sugar-free (excluding fresh fruit), no unprocessed nuts/seeds, peanut-free, dairy-free, chocolate free, and full of flavor, but not too sweet (read: barely sweet). I was pretty proud to have come up with these cookies. I wasn't entirely sure how they would turn out, but even as a lover of sweets I enjoyed them.  They are basically a guilt-free cookie that you want to eat.They are dense - more like a bar and there is zero sweetener other than the strawberries and blueberries (which do add a nice amount of sweetness). I like to think of it as handheld oatmeal.

Berry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
How I Did It:

1 3/4 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup raw almonds
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp all spice
2 eggs
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup strawberries, chopped
1/4 cup wild blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Place almonds in a food processor and grind into a flour. Keeping the almond flour in the processor, add in 1/4 cup of the rolled oats and process that into a flour as well.

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour/almond mixture with the rest of the rolled oats, unsweeetened shredded coconut, salt, cinnamon, and all spice.

4. In a seperate bowl, mix together the eggs, coconut oil, vanilla until well combined.

5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry along with the blueberries and strawberries. Make sure the the fruit is well distributed.

6. Form dough into balls and place onto cookie sheet and flatten. They will not expand or rise/flatten so shape them as you wish to serve them.

7. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges start to brown and the center looks dry.

Special Blueberry Banana Bread

This banana bread was one of the two desserts I made for Mother's Day. I found it at Gluten Free Vegan Girl. My mom loved it and my sister and I agreed that it would be great for breakfast. Of course, the only one I shared the secret ingredient with was my mom. I have used tofu in vegan frosting before and it really does make for a nice texture (you can't taste it - promise). This bread is vegan, gluten-free and has no added sugar - the sweetness comes from the bananas and blueberries, but it's only mildly sweet. I doubled recipe (per below) and I think that was the perfect amount for a loaf pan and it still cut and served easily.

Special Blueberry Banana Bread

How I Did It:

4 ripe bananas

300 grams silken tofu

2 cups of rolled oats

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a bread pan with canola oil.

2. With a potato masher, mash together the bananas and tofu in a bowl.

3. In a food processor, grind the oats into oat flour. Pour into the banana/tofu mix along with the baking powder. Stir to combine.

4. Pour into prepared bread pan and spread out evenly. One at a time, push blueberries into the batter.

5. Bake for about an hour or until it doesn't jiggle when you shake the pan and it is cooked through (will remain very moist).

6. Store covered and refrigerated. 

Banana Almond Whoopie Pies

If you can't tell from the picture, these aren't your traditional, sugar and fat filled whoopie pies.  I saw very tasty looking banana chocolate chunk cookies over at Spoonful of Sugar Free and I knew I would have to make some version of them for my mom's belated birthday celebration. We were planning on celebrate via some sort of outdoor picnic during our mini vacation so cake of any sort wouldn't make it unfortunately. Well, once we all tried them all thoughts of "mom friendly" cake vanished!

I made a few changes to cater to my family's taste and food sensitives and they turned out great! Just sweet enough and the almond flavored center with the banana was perfect! These could easily be part of your breakfast or a great midday pick-you-up snack!  I left some without the filling and they are great like that as well. As an extra bonus the batter is quite tasty uncooked and of course perfectly safe to eat!

Sunning itself before being consumed during the birthday picnic

Banana Almond Whoopie Pies
How I Did it:

Cookies:
(makes one dozen single layer cookies)
2 cups oats
2 very ripe bananas
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/8 cup raisins

Filling:
1 cup almond butter
2 tbs almond milk
1 1/4 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Grind oats in a food processor until they become flour-like. Set aside.

3. In a mixing bowl, mash bananas with a potato masher. Mix in vanilla and salt.

4. Add in oat flour, baking powder, and baking soda and mix until well combined. Stir in water.

5. Add in dates and raisins and mix to distribute evenly.

6. Place heaping tablespoonfuls of dough onto prepared baking sheets. It won't change size/shape too much so depending on your preference you can make them flatter or more fluffy as you are putting them on the cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes - they will turn light brown and you will be able to pluck them right off the sheet. Let fully cool.

7. While your cookies are cooling, make the filling. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and beat well. Cover and place in the refrigerator (to firm up) until cookies are completely cool.

8. Once the cookies are fully cooled, try to pair up by size so each are matched with a cookie whose bottom is similar in size. Generously spread the filling on the flat bottom one of the matched cookies, allowing it to pile up more in the middle. Take it's partner and slightly press down to secure it on top. Repeat for the rest of the cookies. Store in a container in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature for best test before eating.

Fruit and Nut Whole Wheat Bread

I am always drawn towards bread with fruit in it for some reason. Not for sandwiches of course, but it is so nice with breakfast or as a quick snack. I found this a recipe for healthy breakfast bread at Spoonful of Sugar Free and have been wanting to try it out for a while. I made a few modifications, but her idea was great and the bread is fantastic. Very hearty and healthy tasting and definitely quite filling! It was great right out of the oven, but since then I have been just slicing off pieces and eating them cold. Maybe I will try toasting a piece, but it definitely doesn't need butter/spread or honey. 

Fruit and Nut Whole Wheat Bread

How I did it:

2 apples, chopped and peeled
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1/2 cup dried apricots, thickly chopped
1/4 cup dates, thickly chopped
1/4 cup dates, chopped into small pieces
1/8 cup dried apple slices, chopped
3/4 cup nuts, chopped (almonds and pecans)
1 1/8 cup water
topping:
1/4 cup rolled oats

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a bread pan and set aside.

2. Pour 1/8 cup water in a medium frying pan and add in the chopped apples. Leave covered until apples begin to soften and then mash with a potato masher until it looks like fresh apple sauce (leave some apple chunks remaining). Take off the heat and set aside.

3. Pour 1 cup of rolled oats into a food processor until the oats turn into a fine powder. Transfer to a mixing bowl and combine with whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and flaxseed meal. Once well combined, mix in 1 cup of water and the apple sauce. Stir in the dried fruit and nuts and make sure they are well distributed throughout.

4. Pour into prepared bread pan evenly. Sprinkle oats on top and lightly press down. Cook for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out (almost) clean. 

Healthy Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Happy Mother's Day!

Although I love sugar and chocolate filled desserts, my mom has many food limitations and I wanted her to be able to enjoy dessert on her big day. I scoured my brain and several different blogs until I came up with something she could eat and we could all enjoy! I got the idea for the recipe over at Chocolate Covered Katie and made a few alternations to suit my needs.

If I tell you these cookies are not only diary and egg free, but also sugar-free and gluten-free and low in fat you might ask me how good they taste. Fair enough. As a lover of "normal" dessert I can tell you they are pretty darn good. With that said, they don't taste like oatmeal cookies at all - they are tasty in their own healthier way. I added chocolate chips to a portion of them (in addition to the raisins) b/c I was worried about the dirty looks I might get from my family when I brought these as the only dessert. As it turned out I was worried for nothing as everyone said they were great and my great uncle must have had at least...well, more than two.

Healthy Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
How I did it:

(makes about 20 - 25)

1 1/8 cup rolled oats
 8 dates, chopped
1 cup unsweetened natural applesauce
1/2 heaping cup almond butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
6 tbsp baking raisins (or raisins pre-soaked in juice)
3 tbsp mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, stir almond butter and apple sauce until well combined. Set aside.

3. Combine 1/2 cup of the oats and the dates in a food processor until they become a powder. Add this mixture into the applesauce/almond butter mixture and then add the rest of the ingredients, except the chocolate. I separated out half of the batter and mixed the chocolate into the remainder.

3. Shape into small balls ("dough" will be very sticky) and bake for about 15 minutes or until they are firm and start to brown a bit. Note: They will not change shape. If you can't wait feel free to enjoy the batter uncooked!