Tag Archives: coconut oil

Easy Biscuits – 5 Ingredients

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I have a weakness for biscuits. My mama usually used the biscuit recipe from her old, battered Better Homes checkered cookbook. She made the best biscuits ever. And the best apple pie and now I’m getting hungry! These biscuits were so easy and just about perfect. The original 3-Ingredient Coconut Oil Biscuits  from Gimme Some Oven calls for self-rising flour, which I have never bought. It would be easier to use self-rising flour and skip the baking powder and salt, but since I don’t have any other recipes that use self-rising flour I’ll just make 5-Ingredient Biscuits.

Biscuits

2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup coconut oil, solid
3/4 cup almond milk, or any non-dairy milk

Pre-heat oven to 425*. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together. Cut in the coconut oil (I actually used my pastry blender for the first time in a year) then add the milk. Give it a good stir until it forms a ball, turn dough out onto floured surface. If your dough is too soft add more flour as you knead. Knead 10-12 times. Shape into a disk and cut out biscuits. I used a juice cup to get 18 small biscuits. My biscuit cutter would have made about 6 biscuits (maybe, it’s big). (Gimme Some Oven has great pictures. When I grow up I’ll be a blogger like that.) Bake biscuits for 10-12 minutes. I like mine golden brown on top.

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Favorite Chocolate Cake

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The internet is so great. I searched for “sour milk chocolate cake” and found the exact recipe I used last summer! Whahoo! Now I just have to remember the changes I made, also I am making a link for the next time I lose the recipe. Original Sour Milk Chocolate Cake, from The English Kitchen. This one is not vegan or dairy-free, but it is a start. The fabulous thing is that this recipe can be vegan and chocolate free (for those times I give up chocolate) and still be yummy.

I have to say that the burnt sugar icing is totally a happy accident. The frosting was supposed to be brown sugar icing, but well…you know how sugar and butter melt and merge together, but sugar and coconut oil, well, don’t? I might have had my sugar on the burner too long, but then I remembered a recipe for ice cream that started with caramelized sugar and creamer from Speedbump Kitchen.  I hate to throw out food, it’s like admitting defeat, so when it looked like I might have ruined the frosting I grabbed some So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer and started stirring. I took a little taste and was pleasantly surprised. My oldest daughter told me it was the best frosting I have ever made. Great. Good thing I wrote it down!

Sour Milk Chocolate (Carob) Cake
With Burnt Sugar Frosting

1 1/2 cups sifted flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa or carob powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 banana or 1 large egg
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup sour non-dairy milk
1 TBS vanilla

Pre-heat the oven to 350*F.  I used spray coconut oil to grease a 7×11 pyrex pan. A 9″ round cake pan would also work.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Mix together the sour milk and vanilla.  Add to the dry ingredients.  Stir until moistened and then add the coconut oil while stirring (lumps of hardened coconut oil are not ideal). Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed or use a whisk and beat it by hand to offset the calories.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes until it tests done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from the  oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.  NO need to remove from the pan.

Note – Even if plant-based milk is past date it isn’t really “sour” so I add 1 TBS of vinegar in a measuring cup and add enough milk to make up 1 cup of liquid.

Burnt Sugar Frosting

1/4 cup coconut oil
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk creamer
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
dash of salt

Melt coconut oil and brown sugar in medium pot. Bring to a bubble and keep stirring. Remove from heat and add creamer and STAND BACK because it will sputter! And the sugar will harden. Whisk the mixture until sugar lumps dissolve. Keep stirring, it will work. And stir some more, until the sugar is dissolved.  Stir in the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. Add more powdered sugar if needed to be a spreadable consistency.

This cake doesn’t really need frosting and the two times I have put frosting on this cake it turned weird the next day. The frosting looked like it had melted in spots, even though I know I waited for the cake to cool before I frosted it. I don’t know. I still tasted great, just didn’t look right. So, only serve it to company right after you frost it or just eat it all yourself. Enjoy!

Romantic French Toast?

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Sometimes I’m tired of eating healthy. Shocker, I know. I’m really trying to view food as fuel for my body. But food is so much more. When I think about romantic food, I do not envision a smoothie. I love smoothies, but I think one of the most romantic things is brunch. I’m a girl, what do you want? I get nostalgic about brunch. I have had some wonderful brunches in my life, not many, but a few great ones.

Jacksonville Inn in Jacksonville, OR. Croissant French Toast. I was in high school and it was a revelation. My two favorite breakfast foods in one!

Mama’s on Washington Square in San Francisco. Orange Cranberry French Toast. I was in college and again it was a revelation. I started making French toast with all kinds of quick breads. I love banana bread French toast. Now, these brunches were memorable, but not romantic. They were brunch with friends. I remember talking and laughing and having amazing food.

Five Sister’s Jazz brunch in Pensacola Florida. Fried Pork Chops, they were not a revelation. They were really good, but they didn’t change the way I saw pork chops. I was married, had a small child and a baby. I was so thrilled to sit down, listen to live music and have someone bring me delicious food. Again, it was the setting and the company and the food that made for a memorable brunch.

With food allergies dining out can be more of a hassle than a pleasure. I can’t eat French toast at restaurants anymore. I adapted this overnight French toast recipe so that I could have a memorable and romantic brunch at home. The work is done the night before so you can enjoy your coffee or mimosa or both while breakfast is in the oven.

Overnight French Toast
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Baked French Toast

1 loaf  French Bread
8 whole Eggs
1 can full-fat coconut milk
1 1/2 cups coconut or almond milk
3/4 cups Sugar
2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract

FOR THE TOPPING:

1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
1/2 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 pinch Nutmeg – Optional
1/2 cup vegan butter or coconut oil

Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease with coconut oil.

Cube the bread and fill the pan with it.

Whisk eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla together and bowl and pour over the bread. Cover the pan and place it in the fridge overnight.

Stir the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg together and then cut in the butter/oil. Pour it into a bag and put in the fridge for morning.

In the morning preheat the oven 350*. Pour the crumb topping over the top of the bread and pop the whole thing in the oven for 45-60 minutes. Make some coffee and a mimosa and snuggle while this bakes. Serve with warm maple syrup or berry syrup or anything your little heart desires, like another mimosa.

 

Sweet and Salty

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So, I have this little vegan problem. On the whole, a vegan diet is healthier than the typical American diet. But not all vegan food is “diet” food. I have found two recipes that are tempting me to snack. Vegan Cheez Its from Minimalist Baker and Carob Freezer Fudge from oh she glows. I know that vegan crackers are better for me than potato chips, but I don’t usually eat chips. And carob freezer fudge is better than a candy bar, but I don’t eat candy bars either. So, any weight that I had lost from my vegan experiment is now gone. Oh, well. These snackies are so good, I really don’t care. I’ll have to be sure that I don’t always keep these yummies on hand. Or maybe I’ll just add a little more exercise! Moderation, girl, moderation.

Dessert in a Cup

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This is either a genius idea or just horrible!  I am leaning toward genius, until I can’t fit in my jeans.  On the pro side, I won’t feel inclined to eat an entire batch of brownies or a two layer cake.  On the con side, I might want to try out a different dessert every night.  And what if it doesn’t turn out?  Then I will have to try another one.  I am planning on making a folder with all the best single serving recipes and saving them until I am a crazy old lady, living in a retirement home, with no access to a stove.  It will happen, if I live long enough.  But until then I really didn’t think I would ever make a cake…in a mug…in the microwave.  I mean, these seem to be mostly for college girls in dorms and crazy cat ladies.  Until… my dearest husband is out of town, the kids are in bed and I NEED something sweet!  Pinterest to the rescue!  Found this blog with a page of single serving desserts.  So far I have tried the microwave mug brownie, (too much flour) cheesecake mug (I “broke” mine, not good) and another brownie (made it with tofutti sour cream, pretty good) and an actual cake in a cup.  None of them have been spectacular and I am wondering if the bloggers are better photographers than cooks.  I’m not a photographer or food stylist and there is no way I’m going to use another bowl for mixing and then pour the batter into a mug.  If I’m making a cake in the microwave it will be mixed, cooked and eaten out of the same container.  So, my results are not Instagram worthy.  However, with a little tweaking I have made a decent tasting dairy-free brownie and cheesecake pudding.