I knew I wanted to make egg nog cookies. I started assembling the ingredients, pulling out the cans and bags I needed, reached in the fridge for the eggs, and nada. We didn’t have any. This is an e x t r e m e l y rare occurrence in the Keatley household. Alas, I decided to carry on with the plan and see what I could concoct sans nature’s perfect food.

Yield: ~16 cookies

Cookie Ingredients

• 2 c almond flour
• 1/3 c coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1/2 c canned, full fat coconut milk
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1 t grated nutmeg

Icing Ingredients

• 1/2 c canned, full fat coconut milk
• 1/4 c palm shortening, melted
• 2-3 T powdered or liquid sweetener of choice
• 1/2 t grated nutmeg
• 1 T brandy (optional)

Method

For the cookies

Preheat your oven to 350ºF.

Mix together all the cookie ingredients. Use a cookie scoop to dole out the mixture onto a silpat (or silicone or parchment paper) lined baking sheet. These cookies won’t spread, so don’t be afraid to plop them close together. Place in the oven and bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

For the icing

In a bowl or 2 cup measuring cup (something with a spout would be ideal so you can just whisk, chill and pour the icing), whisk all the ingredients together and place in the fridge until it’s had enough time to chill and thicken. Once chilled, pour has much icing as you’d like over the top of the cookies.

Pea-can? Pa-cahn? D-licious. Here’s a recipe for nut butter with a nice twist on what you can find commercially available. And what to do with it..besides inhaling it out of the jar with a spoon? We’ve got you covered there as well. Ants on a Leaf…a fall flavored rendition of your favorite marching insect snack.

Ingredients

• ½ c raw almonds
• 1 ½ C raw pecans
• 2 pitted dates (we used medjool)
• 2 t salt
• ½ orange, zested
• ¼ c almond oil (might take a little more)
• a few tart apples, my favorite is Pink Lady
• dried cranberries or dark chocolate chips

Method

Place the almond and pecans on a baking sheet. Roast on 300ºF for 10-15 minutes, until pecans have darkened and the almonds begin to crack a little. Let the nuts cool. Add the nuts to the food processor, along with the dates, orange zest, salt and almond oil. Blend until smooth. You may have to take off the food processor lid and scrape the sides a few times to incorporate all the nuts.

If your butter looks a little crumbly, add more oil, a little at a time, until it comes together. Once the butter begins to reach a smooth consistency, just let the food processor run a wee bit longer, until it’s as smooth as you’d like it.

Ants on a Leaf

Slice your apples and smear  on the butter, or for a more portable way of consumption: fill a sandwich/snack bag with the butter. Cut off the tip of the bag and squeeze the butter onto your apples as you see fit. Sprinkle the dried cranberries and/or chocolate chips so that they stick on the butter.

We have witnessed criminal pear negligence this fall. Over the last few weeks we have had to sit idly by while a home near the front of our neighborhood let their pear tree go unpicked. What a tragedy – once potential deliciousness rotting in the grass. Could it be that these folks just didn’t know about this wonderful recipe? That has to be it. Here’s to all the unloved pears out there…the respect you deserve.

Ingredients

• ½ c butter or non-hydrogenated palm shortening, softened
• ¼ c palm or coconut sugar
• ½ c coconut flour
• 5 eggs
• ¼ c molasses
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t powdered ginger
• 1 t ground allspice
• ¼ t  salt
• 2 ripe pears
• ½ lemon, juiced
• 1 T coconut sugar
• 1 t cinnamon

Method

Preheat your oven to 350ºF.

In a mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar.

Add in eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between each addition, and then add the molasses.

Add in all dry ingredients/spices.

Cut the pears in half and core out with melon baller. Remove the stems and butts, and cut each half into 4 wedges. In a mixing bowl toss the pears with lemon, sugar and cinnamon.

Place the pear wedges in a starburst pattern around the bottom of your greased 9 inch pan. Pour in the batter and pat down with fingers to fill in all the holes and distribute evenly.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center, comes out clean.

To serve, wait until the cake has completely cooled. Run a knife all the way around the edge of the pan. Place a plate over the top of the pan, and holding the plate with your fingers and the cake pan with your thumbs, flip the cake pan over, and remove gently. The cake will now be right side up and ready for eatin’.

For those who enjoy the flavors of fall, are afraid of baking (no ovens, tempering or whipping involved) and/or have an allergy to nuts, grains, gluten, dairy and/or eggs, this recipe has your name written all over it. Essentially, the only people who can’t eat this Paleo treat are vegans, but that’s just because they won’t.

Yield: 6 Servings

Ingredients

• 14 oz. can pureed pumpkin
• 14 oz. can coconut milk
• 1/3 c maple syrup, grade B (It’s cheaper and more flavorful)
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 T gelatin powder (I used the Great Lakes brand)
• 1/4 c luke warm water

Method

In a small sauce pot, whisk together the pumpkin, coconut milk, maple syrup, cinnamon and vanilla. Right when it’s about to come to a simmer, remove it from the heat.

While the pumpkin mixture is heating up…

In a cup or small bowl, sprinkle the geltain over luke warm water and stir to combine, making sure there are no lumps. Let it firm up. Whisk the semi-solid gelatin mass into the pumpkin mixture.

Pour the pumpkin custard into ramekins or any fancy dish you’d like. The smaller the dish is, the faster the custard will be ready for consumption.

Press a small square of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pumpkin custards, not over the top of the ramekin, directly on the custard (doesn’t hurt to reiterate, right?). This keeps a ‘pudding skin’ from forming on the top.

Refrigerate, to allow the custard to set-up and get firm.

You should be able to serve and eat in around 4-6 hours.

Whenever Brandon and I are traveling together, we usually stop somewhere and buy iced coffees.  It’s our “on-the-road” treat. The 6ish dollar tab always leaves me with an ugly temperament. So I’ve decided to make my own. Instead of using the traditional drip system, french press or coffee maker, which would yield roughly 8 cups, I dabbled in the cold brewed method, which leaves you with a freaking stock pile of coffee.

Ingredients

• 1 lb of coffee for Cold Brewed Coffee (recipe below)
• Water
• Frozen Water
• Coconut Milk, canned or carton, (try using the flavored stuff for a little added sweetness)
• Protein Powder, optional

Method

Cold Brewed Coffee

Depending on what kind of equipment you’ve got on-hand, this recipe may be easy or kind of MacGyver-ish. Grind up (or use ground) 1 pound of your favorite coffee. Dump the coffee grounds into a large bowl. Add 1 gallon (16 cups) of water. Mix to combine. Cover and let steep for at least 8 hours and up to 24.

Get out a large pitcher (at least 4 liters or 1 gallon) or another large bowl. Place a drip coffee [pic] filter holder (lined with a filter, of course) on top of the pitcher opening. Pour in the coffee until the bowl is empty. You may have to spoon out some grounds if the drippiness seems slow. If you don’t have a drip coffee set-up, just use a fine mesh strainer (possibly lined with some cheesecloth, depending on the fineness of your mesh) and place the set-up over a large bowl or wide mouthed pitcher. Done.

Now, this is where things get a bit hairier, as the variations are probably endless; (Proper use of semi-colon? No clue.) and these variations probably don’t need explainations, but I’ll go on anyway…

Iced Coffee

Fill a cup with ice. Pour coffee over ice. Mix in the desired amount of coconut milk.

Frappuccino

Put the recipe above in a blender. Blend on high until frothy.

Protein Shake

Add a scoop of your protein powder and do what it says above.

We get a lot of B.S. for labeling things like what we’ve got pictured above as ‘paleo’. All I can say is…I don’t want to type this lonnnnnng title out every single flippin’ time we have a recipe that’s grain/gluten free, dairy free and low carb. It’s just easier to type the word ‘paleo.’ It’s all encompassing–you know what we mean when we type it. Did they use almond flour in paleolithic times? No. But they also didn’t drizzle olive oil, drink coffee or chow down on the modern day bovine cow. We’re not re-enacting paleolithic times! Then there’s the other side of the coin, reproducing a ‘bad’ neolithic food into a ‘paleo’ food. Pancakes, pizza and pie exist and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon. So our whole view on this is, why not have something that really isn’t detrimental to your well-being. It’s a treat. Treat your treats like a treat–eat them every once in a while. We solemnly believe treats like these help you NOT de-rail from the Paleo track. So, with all due respect to our readers, if you don’t like it, don’t make it. We’re not going to stop posting things like this. The end.

Yield: 10-12 big ol’ fatties

Ingredients

• 1 ½ c almond flour
• ½ c coconut milk (we used the refrigerated carton kind)
• 1 T sugar
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t vanilla
• 5 eggs
• F.O.C. (fat of choice), we used bacon fat—mmm, bacon flavored pancakes.

Method

Blend all the ingredients in your blender. Set your cast iron pan or griddle on medium heat and melt some of your F.O.C. Ladle the batter into whatever size you’d like–coin, silver dollar, big ol’ fatties. Once tiny, little bubbles form around the edges of the pancake, it’s ready to flip.

This recipe is an ode to all the singles out there on Valentine’s Day. No one thinks about you guys during this ‘holiday’, I’d imagine a lot of you dub it a ‘helladay’. Well, there’s no longer any need for that. It’s time to start thinking about things a little differently. How about this…all the couples have to share this recipe and you don’t. How awesome is that? But, if you are currently attached… this is definitely the only way you can 100% guarantee you’ll be gettin’ some whoopee this Valentine’s Day.

Yield: About 24 cookies or 12 cookie sandwiches

Ingredients

For the Cookies

• 2 c almond flour*
• 1/4 c cocoa powder
• 1/2 c full fat, canned coconut milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 t baking powder
• red food coloring (You choose what you want to use. Beet juice is the hippie way, otherwise just use liquid or gel, until you like the color you see.)

For the Filling

• 3/4 c palm shortening**
• 3 T coconut oil
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 3 T powdered sugar, or any liquid sweetener***

Method

Set your oven to 350ºF. Whisk together all the cookie ingredients. Use a cookie scoop to dollop the batter in uniform sizes (important for the art of sandwich cookie making), onto a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet. Depending on the size of your cookie/baking sheet, this took two batches. Bake for about 15 minutes.

For the filling

Beat all ingredients together in a mixer. It may appear crumbly at first, but give it some time and eventually the shortening will start to get fluffy like butter. This should take about 3-5 minutes.

Once the cookies are 100% cool (Do not rush this, unless you enjoy wasting things.), use a small off-set spatula, or a spoon, to scoop some filling onto one of the cookies. Spread the filling around the surface of the cookie, top with another cookie and immediately put it into your mouth.

The filling does get hard in the refrigerator, so it’d be best to fill the cookies right before you plan to eat/serve. You could, of course heat the refrigerated cookie sandwiches in the microwave for a few seconds to soften everything up a bit.

*We just re-ordered some Honeyville almond flour. They’ve milled it down finer than previous batches we’ve purchased. Hands down, way better than before and way better than (and cheaper than) Bob’s Red Mill. These cookies really, truly had a baked texture similar to what you’d get with flour. Highly recommend this almond flour!

**Palm shortening is a tropical, non-hydrogenated, trans-fat free, flavorless, similar to butter, budget friendly fat source. They sell it at most health food stores.

***Why liquid if you don’t use powdered sugar? Granulated sugar didn’t dissolve when we made these, so the texture was oddly crunchy…definitely still edible, just crunchy.

Can you tell we were inspired? Sweet, salty, crispy, gooey. I truly think I could live off of this for the rest of my life…Read the recipe on Food Renegade.

This recipe was written for Food Renegade, a website that is pro-raw dairy. If you do not eat dairy, we have made this recipe with equal parts coconut oil and had great success. I’d venture to say that lard would also work.

Check out the recipe on Food Renegade.

I also dub this recipe “Christmas Protein Shake” and “Christmas flavored coffee creamer”.

Ingredients

• 3 cans (13.6 oz) coconut milk
• 1 T vanilla extract
• lots and lots of nutmeg–about 1/4 of a ‘nut’, freshly grated
• 1/4 t ground cloves
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 – 1/3 c sugar
• cheap Brandy (optional)*

Method

In a large saucepan, heat the coconut milk over medium heat and add the vanilla extract.

In a mixer, add the egg yolks and whisk with the sugar and until they’re pale and fluffy. Remove the bowl from the mixer and bring it the near the stove with a whisk. If you don’t have a mixer, just do it the old-fashioned way… ELBOW GREASE, baby!

Pour just a bit of the warm coconut milk into the whipped yolks (which are still in the mixer bowl) and whisk together. Now, put the coconut milk back over the heat and then add the egg yolks/coconut milk mixture from the mixer bowl. This is what is called ‘tempering’ the egg. Its purpose is to make sure the egg doesn’t turn into ‘chunkies’ when it’s added to a hot liquid. Whisk everything together and turn the heat up to medium-high. Whisk the mixture every minute or so for about 5 minutes, until everything has thickened.  DO NOT let this mixture come to a boil or you will have created Scrambled Egg Nog. Stir in the brandy, if using.

Serve hot or cold, topped with some fresh grated nutmeg.

*Brandy is a product of the wine making process. I highly recommend using Brandy in this recipe. Just a few tablespoons makes a big difference in flavor without any added alcohol-iness. Of course, if you’re looking for alcohol-iness, add as much as you want.