baking – Page 15 – GUTSy Performance Nutrition

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

December 9, 2012December 18, 2022by Rebecca3 Comments

“Good habits are as addictive as bad habits but, you know, much more rewarding.” That simple thought may be my lifeline right now, as I consider the extreme parallel- interests my thoughts have taken lately.

School – Running – Cooking.

Teaching – Running – A Quick and Healthy Meal.

Learning New Curriculum – Running hours before sunrise – Breakfast with pumpkins.

Got to get to that stack of grading – Workout tomorrow – Remember to check the lights on the hydroponics at school – Roast up those pumpkins for cookies.

Welcome to my world. The only thing that has kept my new work life “balanced” is equally obsessing over my other two loves, running and spending quality time in the kitchen.

Weeks ago now, I know, but as I was leaving my parent’s house the week before Thanksgiving, I was encouraged to take two perfect little pie pumpkins. I intended to use them for a pumpkin pie. That week got busy, however, and I pulled out a can instead. Now, a couple weeks later and already full force into the Christmas season, I am busy pumpkin-ing up meals on a regular basis. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin oatmeal, rosemary roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin risotto, the list goes on. What I’d really been meaning to re-vamp for months now are amazing pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. They are gluten and dairy-free and even better than the original recipe (less cakey, more cookie-y). Perfect to share for holiday festivities. Or just to warm and comfort on a cold December day!

Going back to that, ahem, good habits and balance thing, I know my diet may be a wee bit heavy on the orange veg lately, but I keep saying to myself, “You are balanced. You have three lovely things to not stop thinking about”. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, adapted from Culinate

110 gr / 1/2 cup coconut oil

1 egg or 3 Tbs. aquafava

320 gr / 1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

200 gr / 1 cup cane sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

330 gr / 2 3/4 cups gluten-free flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

120 gr / about 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a mixer, beat the coconut oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the egg, pumpkin, and vanilla extract.
In a medium bowl, weigh out the flour and combine with the baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.
Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture. Fold in about half a cup of chocolate chips.
Pack a cookie scoop level with dough and drop the dough onto a cookie sheet. Add a couple chocolate chip pieces to each cookie.
Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

Autumn

Candied-Orange Spice Prune Loaf

November 11, 2012January 3, 2015by Rebecca4 Comments

Neah and Papa brought prunes. Every time they come to visit, my grandparents bring food. When we were younger, it was always a box of doughnuts, and then whatever they had in excess that needed to be shared- a box of apples, walnuts, raisins, some frozen fruit, and, oh yes, prunes. The prunes were so overly dried that we couldn’t sink are teeth into them; being inventive as I am, I sure tried. My mother would throw the prunes into the big chest freezer and there they’d stay. When I started leaving for college, I’d raid the freezer. I would inevitably take a bag of raisins and walnuts, but always left the prunes. Sadly, just no easy way to eat them.

On a whim, I finally decided to grab a bag of those prunes on my last trip home. Surely, they could be used for something. Then one day in early September, an epiphany. I kept finding the lovely Italian prune plums at the markets. I wanted to use them in a loaf of some sort but inevitably kept eating them fresh before I ever got around to baking. And then, with the last bite of the fresh plums in my hand, I pulled out an old recipe I’d been meaning to adapt and there it was. The answer. All these years, I’d been avoiding my grandparents prunes and all they needed was a bit of re-hydration!

Now that I’ve tested this recipe so many times I had to go purchase the not-so-overly dried prunes at our nearby farmstand, I really must say it is my new autumn favorite. Molasses, prunes, spices, and candied-orange peel. Not sickly sweet, nor overly-indulging–just a bit of perfection with a nice cup of steaming tea.

Candied-Orange Spice Prune Loaf

9 1/2 oz. gf flour mix (about 2 1/4 cups)

1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cups boiling water

1 cup prunes, diced (about 18 whole prunes)

1/3 cup candied orange peel, diced

1/2 cup orange syrup (or honey)

1/4 cup molasses

1 Tbs. canola oil

1 egg

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 heaping tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/8 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp. ground allspice

Pour boiling water over prunes. Let rest for five minutes. While prunes are resting, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9″ x 5″ baking dish. Line it with a small handful of oats.
In a separate bowl, mix together flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt, and spices.
Measure out orange syrup, molasses, oil, egg and vanilla. Add them all to the prune mixture. Feel free to substitute honey for the orange syrup.
Pour liquids into dry mixture and stir in the candied peel.
Dish into the prepared baking pan. Level with a rubber spatula and sprinkle a few more oats on top for good measure.
Bake for approximately 55 minutes.
If you can, store this loaf away in the fridge for a day or two before eating. The flavors will be enhanced!

Autumn, Spring, Summertime, Winter

Gluten-Free Flour Mix

July 29, 2012March 24, 2020by Rebecca9 Comments

I find that mixing up a big batch of your own gluten-free flour mix is really the way to go in most recipes, as the gluten free mixes out there to purchase often have flours and flavors that I inevitably find too starchy or beany in taste. I like to mix up a big batch to store in the pantry, and use a kitchen scale to get exact weights.

For the most part, I substitute this mixture cup for cup with all-purpose flours in non gluten-free recipes. Or if I’m trying to be really exact, 5 ounces of all-purpose flour and 5 1/2 ounces of whole wheat flour equal a cup, so I’ll measure 5-5 1/2 ounces of gluten-free flour on a per cup basis in recipes.

Rebecca’s Gluten-Free Flour Mix