Orange olive oil muffins, gluten free

I find myself clenching my jaw lately. No doubt it’s because I’ve been paying more attention to what’s happening in the world as is reported to me, and digesting the hard truths like the fact that ignorance and white supremacist attitudes run so very deep. I can’t imagine what it’s like trying to live your life in a status quo where you are devalued and feel under threat. I’m very lucky all I feel is a sore jaw.

I find distraction and escape curled up on the couch next to Simon watching a good tv series.

I recently (reluctantly) approved Simon’s choice - a Netflix’s South Korean zombie series called Kingdom. It spans several genres: fantasy, horror, thriller, historical and political drama.

If you can’t imagine watching horror then consider Kingdom as a period piece. It’s set in the 16th century Korea, the sets and costumes are sumptuous, the story is engrossing and the cinematography is incredibly artful. 

But the gore is over the top!

I needed to hide my face in my hands at least twice an episode. But I grew so enthralled with the series I eagerly agreed to watch the second season, which was also excellent.

At first it seemed Kingdom was escapist fantasy but not far into the series it became uncannily relevant to current events.

The show’s main plot is about a mysterious disease spreading rapidly through an unsuspecting populace as government officials hide the terrible truth. And the main characters are constantly running towards hope. See what I mean?  

Rather than the plague itself, the show is about the different characters and how they respond. One of the show’s creators said the question he held in his mind while writing the tv series was: Who is an upright leader that truly thinks of the people in the midst of a crisis brought on by an unknown disease?

And to think the pandemic wasn’t even on the horizon at the time of filming. How serendipitous!

Now for the muffin recipe, which involves adding an entire seedless and unpeeled orange to this recipe.

Orange, olive oil and almond flour play beautifully together and the result is an aromatic, delicious, light, moist muffin dappled with tiny dots of orange. The orange flavour is predominant yet also mellow.

I haven’t experimented but I imagine you could use any type of orange, as long as you remove any seeds. You could also bake this in a loaf pan and adjust the baking time to about 10 minutes longer. To serve as dessert, decorate with icing and flower petals, which I just might try.

Gluten Free Orange Olive Oil Muffins (makes approx 8 large muffins)

One seedless orange, whole and unpeeled

3 eggs

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup coconut flour

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1 tsp baking soda

Place orange in pot of water and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, cover and allow to simmer for 1 hour.

Drain water and allow orange to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 F' and grease a muffin tin or use liners.

Slice orange into sections and remove any seeds. Add to food processor along with eggs, oil and maple syrup. Blend well.

In a separate bowl add the coconut flour, almond flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk well.

Add wet mixture to dry mixture and combine well.

Distribute the batter between cups. Bake on the middle rack for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Let cool before removing from tin. 

Tahini brownies, flourless

Chocolate and tahini are a winning combination and these brownies are the proof.

Two whole cups of tahini - a paste made from ground toasted sesame seeds, which comes from middle eastern cuisine - disappear into these brownies making them moist and fudgy with a crackly, crinkly crust on the top.

Here are a few tips before you give this recipe a try:

Be mindful of the baking time so that you get a nice balance between cakey and gooey. The difference between a baking time of 23 minutes and 25 minutes can be significant! Fudgy and wet are not the same thing, so avoid under baking.

On the other hand, if you have a “hot” oven and it’s been 23 minutes, and you see the edges getting darker, pull them from the oven and let them rest.

Allow them to COMPLETELY cool before slicing, otherwise they can lose their integrity.

Cut them in bite size squares and eat with your hands as a mid-afternoon snack. Cut into larger squares or triangles and serve on a pretty plate with a scoop of ice cream for a more elegant presentation.

These brownies keep for several days in an airtight container. They also freeze well. Take one from the freezer and eat at the half-thawed stage or briefly warm in the microwave first.

To make the tahini flavour really shine make these a day in advance of serving. The colour and flavour of the tahini intensifies over time.

Tahini brownies, flourless (original recipe here)

2 cups tahini

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup dark chocolate (roughly chopped) or chocolate chips, optional

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper with enough over hang to allow you to lift brownies out of the pan.

In a bowl, stir together tahini, eggs, maple syrup and vanilla extract.

Add cacao, baking soda, salt and stir until batter is formed.

Slowly fold in chopped chocolate or chocolate chips, if using, and pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 25 minutes on the middle rack of your oven.

Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then, holding on to the ends of the parchment, carefully lift brownies out of pan by holding on to the ends.

Allow to completely cool before cutting.

Honey tahini cookies

Tahini is an essential ingredient in hummus but it makes desserts sing too.

Tahini is a creamy paste made with ground toasted sesame seeds and a common ingredient in Middle Eastern cuisine. If you’ve never added tahini to anything sweet this cookie recipe is a good place to start.

Think of this cookie as peanut butter cookie’s exotic cousin! The tahini provides a wonderful nutty and salty undertone to match the honey’s intense flavour. Tahini is also nutrient-dense. It has more protein than milk and most nuts, is a rich source of B vitamins, vitamin E, and important minerals, such as magnesium, iron and calcium.

Here are a few notes about this recipe:

Play with the crisp to chewy ratio by adjusting the size and thickness of the rounds of cookie dough as well as the baking time.

I like mine crisp and thin. My sweet spot is a cookie flattened by hand to about a 2 inch diameter, slightly less than a 1/4 inch thick and baked for 7 minutes.

I use creamed honey and I swear it makes for a lighter and crispier cookie but liquid honey does the trick too.

If you can’t imagine these without chocolate, you can (once cooled) drizzle cookies with gently melted dark chocolate.

Honey tahini cookies

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/3 cup creamed honey (liquid honey will do too)

1/3 cup tahini

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

optional : 1/3 cup dark chocolate, melted

Preheat the oven to 350° F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Spread the sesame seeds in a plate or bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk the almond flour, baking soda and salt.

In a larger bowl, mix the honey, tahini and vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until well incorporated.

Scoop the dough into 1 inch balls. Roll the balls in the sesame seeds, place on baking sheets about 2 inches apart and flatten.

Bake the cookies for about 7 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden; shift the pans from top to bottom halfway through. Transfer the cookies to a rack and let cool before serving. Drizzle with melted chocolate if desired.

Chocolate layer cake with ganache and mashed raspberries, grain-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free

Even if you're grain, dairy and refined sugar averse you can still bake a delicious chocolate layer cake and eat it too.

For me this cake is the perfect amount of sweet. But, then again, I'm someone who tends to decrease the amount of sweetener called for in dessert recipes. The batter is sweetened with maple syrup and the ganache with big soft medjool dates and a wee bit of maple syrup. So feel free to increase both if your palate demands more sweetness.

This is a two layer version made with seven inch pans but you could do a triple layer with smaller pans.

Added bonus: this cake freezes beautifully. I warm a frozen slice in the microwave for about 45 seconds. It reminds me a bit of those chocolate molten cakes. Delicious!

Inspired by this recipe.

Cake:

3 cups almond meal

1/3 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sea salt

3 eggs

3/4 cup maple syrup

3/4 cup water

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare two 6 or 7 inch pans by greasing and lining with parchment paper.

In a bowl, combine the almond meal, cocoa, baking soda and sea salt.

Combine eggs, maple syrup, water and vanilla extract, and add to dry mixture. Stir.

Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 25 minutes or until tooth pic inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Allow to cool before icing with ganache and topping cake with raspberry sauce.

Ganache:

4 oz 100% cocoa baking chocolate

4 tablespoons coconut oil (melted)

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 cup coconut milk

9 pitted medjool dates

Over very low heat or in a double boiler melt coconut oil and baking chocolate. Once melted, remove from heat. Add to blender along with coconut milk, maple syrup and dates. Blend until consistency is smooth. Allow to chill in fridge until it becomes thick enough to spread (about 20 to 30 minutes.)

Raspberry sauce:

Mash 2 cups raspberries, add 2 tablespoons maple syrup and 2 tablespoons lemon juice.

Cook over low heat for 25 minutes.

Allow to cool; spread evenly on top of iced cake. Top with raspberries.