Grain Free Pumpkin Biscuits

With the pumpkin spice madness coming down upon us, I thought something pumpkin might be appropriate right about now. I keep seeing recipes online for pumpkin rolls, biscuits, and muffins that are Suited to a Paleo diet. They also seem to be suited to a well controlled diabetic diet, so I decided to check them out.

My results were a little different than I expected, but the resulting ‘biscuits’ were quite tasty and great with coffee. They did not rise as I hoped and were very moist – almost like little pumpkin custards rather than what i would consider a biscuit or a roll.

Grain Free Pumpkin Biscuits
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 15 min
Total Time: 20 min

Ingredients:
-Dry
1 cup blanched almond flour
2 tbsp coconut flour
1/2 cup arrowroot powder (or tapioca powder)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt, more to taste
-Wet
1/4 cup canned pumpkin (OR unsweetened applesauce)**
1 egg
3 tbsp butter, cold or room temperature (not melted)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with baking liner or parchment paper.

In one bowl combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl combine wet ingredients. Add wet to dry and whisk together to combine

Roll dough into balls and place on parchment paper. Or in my case drop 1/4 cup of mixture into cupcake pan segments. (Mine came out rather wet.)

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cooked through and flaky. Serve warm with butter.

My dough was more of a batter.

Raw batter in cupcake pan.

Batter after baking.

 

Finished ‘biscuits’.

Make them more of a sweet roll by adding a touch of cinnamon and raw honey. Or make more of a savory by adding white pepper, garlic, sage, or your favorite savory spices.

Paleo, grain-free, gluten-free, in case you were wondering.

Enjoy!

— Ann Cathey

 

2 Ingredient Pancakes?

Can this be for real? Apparently it is. The “two-ingredient pancakes” recipe has been bouncing around the internet for a while, and I finally decided to try it. It fits into my dietary requirements, and I wanted to find out if it fit my palate as well.

Apparently, it did. These pancakes are super quick and simple to whip up, and are tasty enough that they don’t need any other ingredients – not even syrup!

Ingredients:
1 banana
2 eggs

For a larger batch:
2 bananas
3 eggs

 

Whole peeled banana and second banana mashed with a fork.

Mash your banana(s) in a mixing bowl. *Add any spice(s) at this time and mix well.

 

 

Well mashed bananas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crack eggs into a separate bowl and whisk until yolk are broken and the mixture is slightly frothy.

Add eggs to mashed banana(s) and mix thoroughly.

 

 

Heat griddle to 300F, and butter lightly.

 

Spoon batter onto hot griddle, allowing each puddle of batter to spread to about 4″ across.

 

Cook on first side until firm enough to flip, about a minute and a half. Cook on second side for same amount of time. 2-3″ pancakes may only take one minute on each side.

Turn pancakes carefully onto a plate as they can be quite delicate.

Butter them up and chow down!

*A dash of cinnamon adds another dimension to this recipe. I imagine that a tiny dash of things like nutmeg, cocoa powder, white pepper, ginger, and even cardamom will give each batch something special. You can also use protien powder or peanut butter powder, but do so sparingly so as not to foul the liquidity of the mix. I plan on a lot of experimentation in the future.

If you are so inclined, you may add a bit of baking soda for fluffier pancakes.

As there is no wheat or other flour in this recipe there is little to hold them together before they start cooking. Be sure to keep them small so they maintain their integrity. You may need to experiment a bit (like I did) to figure out just how to handle them on the griddle.

If you want to add nuts or chocolate chips, make sure they are chopped small and only add them after the batter is spooned onto the griddle, and before the flip.

When the recipe says “serve hot” beleive it. The banana sweetness is definitely in the forefront while they are hot. The egginess, in both flavor and texture, become predominant as the pancakes are allowed to cool. Be sure to have your add-ons, such as butter, syrup, yogurt, or sliced fruit, ready to go!

Using this batter in a crepe pan should also result in super thin, delicate crepes that may be rolled around your favorite ingredients. As mentioned above, this recipe results in tender, delicately textured pancakes.

Because of the ingredients, or lack thereof, these pancakes are paleo, gluten-free, dairy free, grain free, and have no added sugar.

Enjoy!

— Ann Cathey

Simple Almond Flour Waffles

This tuly simple waffle recipe is great for folks on gluten free diets and can be made Paleo in a pinch. It’s also super tasty for folks who simply enjoy waffles!

I admit I found it on the internet and decided to give it a try. The ingredients listed below are what I actually use at home.

Simple Almond Flour Waffles 
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Yield: 4-6 waffles

 

Almond flour is creamier in color than wheat flour and has a coarser texture.

Ingredients 
1-1/2 cups almond flour
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
¼ cup milk
1 tablespoon honey
oil for brushing waffle iron (if needed)

 

 

 

Hot waffle iron treated with olive oil spray.

Preheat a waffle iron to medium. Spray or brush with oil if needed just before adding batter.

 

 

 

 

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Push dry ingredients more to the sides, creating a ‘well’. This will allow wet ingredients to be mixed in more readily.

Note the difference in color and texture of each of the dry ingredients. Arrowroot is white (left), baking soda is a brighter white (far right), and the salt is a greyer white (left side of right-hand photo. These small differences can help you keep track of added ingredients.

Add eggs, milk and honey to bowl and mix until well blended. The mixture will come out similar to cookie dough, though not as visually smooth due to the almond flour.

 

 

 

 

 

Drop approximately 1/2-3/4 cup batter into the waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.

 

 

Serve hot with butter and/or syrup as desired.

 

Large waffle still on the griddle (left), and a smaller waffle on a salad plate (right).

To make these waffles Paleo friendly, use pure honey or maple syrup (not the stuff that’s full of preservatives or cut with high fructose corn syrup) and a non-dairy milk product. Also be sure to use a fine ground sea salt.

If you prefer not to use honey, an equal amount of molasses, maple or another syrup may be used instead.

While arrowroot is easy for me to find locally, you may substitute an equal amount of tapioca starch or coconut flour.

“Oh, holy low carb, Batman!”
– Me, excited about being able to eat waffles again.

This recipe came out right the first time for us. Tasty, fluffy, though obviously with the
slightly grainy texture of almond flour. Even after they have cooled off, they were delicious
and went outstandingly well with fried chicken tenders.

Chicken and Waffles!

— Ann Cathey

Healthy Eating Information

A friend of mine shared an interesting, and helpful, set of cooking charts from some else’s blog a few weeks ago. There are apparently several posts in that same vein. This group is all about healthy eating, including some smoothies and soups and Paleo ideas.

Healthy Eating Charts

These wonderful diagrams contain knowledge made simple on things like what a serving of fruit really looks like, “is this Paleo?”, how to pick avocados, cooking grains and brewing a great cup of tea, and all sorts of smoothie making hints.

–Ann Cathey