If you’re like me, Christmas mornings always feel FULL…our focus is always on being together, opening stockings, gifts & relaxing to enjoy each present & moment with our families. In our house, 4 little ones & next year…5, means I want to be fully present to the beautiful chaos rather than in the kitchen on Christmas morning. Of course, we want to eat a delicious brunch once we’re done opening gifts, but it’s nice when the majority of the work is done in advance.
In this case, I made the quiche & the coffee cake the day before, and we re-heated on the big day. My family is also obsessed with biscuits & gravy, which comes from their dad’s Southern roots & is a tradition I accept because he takes responsibility for it 😉
I will share a link for that simple recipe too, in case it inspires you.
Christmas brunch menu
*Festive Quiche (recipe below)…just choose red & green veggies and voila.
*Fruit platter (we went with a red & green fruit theme, and some family favorites like cantaloupe & pomegranates…do what your crowd loves best)
*Sour cream coffee cake (recipe below), one from my childhood, moist & incredibly good.
*Side of bacon or sausage if you have meat lovers in the crowd
Christmas morning memories are some of the best there are…I hope these recipes & ideas help you have a peaceful, beautiful & truly inspired morning with loved ones.
All my love,
maddy
Sour cream coffee cake
Ingredients (filling):
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c finely chopped nuts
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
Ingredients (cake):
3 cups all purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1.5 cups granulated (I used raw) sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1.5 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
1.5 cups sour cream
Ingredients (glaze):–optional (I find it plenty sweet & delicious without this)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 tsp milk
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350. Grease bottom and sides of 10×4 inc angel food cake pan, 12 cup fluted tube pan, or 2 9×5 in loaf pans with butter or coconut oil/shortening. In a small bowl, stir all filling ingredients until well mixed; set aside. In a large bowl, stir flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well mixed, set aside. In another large bowl (ideally kitchenaid to make it easier), beat sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat about 1/4 of the flour mixture and sour cream at a time, alternating, into sugar mixture on low speed until blended.
For pans: if using a round pan, spread 1/3 of the batter in pan, then sprink with 1/3 of the filling, repeating 3 times. For loaf pans, spread 1/4 of the batter in each pan, sprinkle 1/4 of filling, then repeat, once.
Bake angel food or fluted cake pan about 1 hour, loaf pans about 45 min or until toothpick or knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 min in the pan on wire rack. Tastes amazing warm and equally amazing reheated the next day!
Breakfast Quiche
Ingredients:
1/2 a red bell pepper, diced & roasted
1 cup spinach or kale, lightly sauteed to soften
1 pie crust (pre-made is fine, we’re trying to simplify 😉 For GF, you can find GF crust, or make your own, or omit the crust entirely, it will still be incredible.
4 large eggs
1/2 c heavy cream
3/4 c milk
1/2 c shredded swiss cheese
1 small onion, finely chopped
salt & pepper
optional: 4 slices bacon, cooked, or 2-3 sausage patties if you want to add meat. It’s delicious either way!
Directions: Preheat oven to 400. Line pie pan with crust, and bake for 8-10 minutes. Mix cheese, eggs, cream and milk together. Once the pie crust is cooling, add onions, veggies, meat, and the wet ingredients, salt & pepper. Bake for 10 minutes at 400, then turn oven down to 325 and bake for approx 45 more min…quiche will be golden brown & bubbling when done. Let cool for at least 1 hour before serving. I suggest making it Christmas eve, and then reheating at 300 for 20 min on Christmas morn! Bon Appetit!
If you make these dishes, tag me @maddypidel on insta or with hashtag #inspiredeats.
June…strawberry season…this year it coincided with a big sigh of relief a things start to open up again, and we find new patterns of summer “normalcy”–and of celebrating warm weather (that came late in CT), and being alive after the winter that would never end. And of course, strawberries are the perfect early summer fruit that we’re all craving as the days lengthen & heat up.
We finally did a strawberry patch day at Jones Family farm, after hearing about it for years. Definite summer bucket list for this crew…and the result…LOTS of strawberries…the kids, especially the girls are great pickers! The boys much preferred to romp in the patch and eat everything in sight, and that was wonderful too.
We came home loaded, especially thanks to a mothers helper who was also a dedicated picker 😉 So now the fun decision time…coinciding with fathers day weekend…what to make?
High on the list was strawberry icecream, along with strawberry rhubarb pie, and the desire to attempt Jam for the first time…and along with that, if we had enough left, some strawberry scones for Father’s day brunch. So here we go, sharing the recipes we tried, tweaked, and loved.
I may just want to go back in a few weeks and do this all over again!
The nice thing is, this can easily be made dairy free. Just substitute coconut or almond or a combo milk, and they now have a dairy free heavy whipping cream alternative…so easy!
I also substituted coconut palm sugar for regular sugar…it definitely gives it a different (I would say lighter sweet) flavor, and I personally love it.
We doubled the batch…our kitchenaid icecream attachment couldn’t fit it in all at once…but definitely better to just make it all up and cycle it through if you can!
Ingredients
2 cups fresh strawberries , hulled and chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar, divided–1/2 cup for blending with strawberries and 1 1/2 cups for the main mixture–we used coconut palm sugar
4 cups heavy whipping cream (can sub dairy free)
2 cup milk (whole)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Directions
Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup sugar in a mixing bowl, set aside in fridge for 2 hours.
In large mixing bowl (kitchen aid) beat eggs until light and fluffy.
Gradually add remaining sugar, mixing well. Stir in milk and vanilla and mix well.
Blend strawberries in a blender for a more even pink look/flavor and save a few strawberries in chunks for some nice texture.
Add strawberries with juice and mix well.
Gently stir in whipping cream just until combined.
Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions.
The kitchen aid icecream attachment is definitely the lazy man’s way to make ice-cream (I’m sitting here writing this out while it churns)….I remember the many hot hours taking turns churning icecream with my cousins as kids. But the reality is…this is much less intimidating, and I don’t want my ability to make ice-cream often in the summer to be dependent on whether my kids are around to lend an arm (they helped with the initial part of the recipe and then went in the sprinkler with friends).
A killer taste. Literally a spoonful tastes like every summer memory, flooding into one bite. Don’t take my word for it…try this!
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
With Father’s day weekend, we needed no excuse to whip up this tasty recipe. I used store bought pie shells because I have no guilt with taking short cuts on full weekend days…but here’s a good recipe if you’re making your own crust!
The rhubarbs grow wild in our yard (planted by the former owners, in a corner of the yard we hardly use…so it’s fun to have the girls bring heaping handfuls of them for us). They have a bitter edge that is balanced well by the ultra sweet strawberries. This wasn’t a pie combo I loved as a kid, but it’s now one of my absolute favorites.
We started with this recipe…and adapted (increased strawberry to rhubarb ratio, etc). Emma was my lattice queen, and it was fun to see her enjoy the creative pastry process…a girl after my own heart, finding flow & enjoyment in the kitchen in creative ways.
Ingredients
3 cups chopped rhubarb
2.5 cups chopped strawberries
3/4 c. raw sugar
1/2 c. cornstarch
1 tbsp lemon juice plus 1 tsp. zest
Pinch kosher salt
2 tbsp. cold butter, chopped
1 large egg, beaten
*Vanilla ice cream, for serving*
Directions
Preheat oven to 425°. Prepare pie crusts and then do a quick pre-bake (scoring the dough) for 10 minutes…meanwhile…
In a large bowl, mix together rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, zest, and salt until mixture begins to look juicy. Place one crust into a pie dish and pour in fruit mixture. Dot with pieces of butter.
Decrease oven temp to 375
With the other sheet of pie dough, make a lattice top. First, cut the dough into ¾” strips. Then, weave strips over and under each other in a criss-cross formation. Using kitchen shears, trim the top and bottom crust so there’s a 1” overhang, then fold under and crimp edges together. Brush crust with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake until pie is golden and filling is bubbling, about 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes. If crust is browning too fast, cover with aluminum foil.
Let pie cool slightly, then serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.
So yummy & balanced! A perfect summer treat…and I also happen to love it for breakfast with cold brew on a warm summer morning! Try it, guilt free…after all, we’re after #intutiveeating here.
Fresh Strawberry Scones
The final recipe we made with our first batch of strawberries…strawberry scones for fathers day brunch. We tripled this recipe (changing some things), and then were able to have 2 extra batches for sharing with neighbors, for guests, and freezing So easy to pull out from freezer and prepare whenever you’re in the mood for that fresh summer taste.
So, is it wise to triple a recipe when it’s new and you’re experimenting? Not always. But in this case, it worked out! It was touch & go for a bit as I worked to get the consistency right with the types of flours I was using. I’ll encourage you to stay flexible, and work with these measurements with a literal grain of salt 😉
I wanted to make mine with less gluten so I started out with half & half einkorn flour and white whole wheat flour. But then, with the heavy cream I used instead of the originally suggested yogurt, it ended up being a bit too moist and needed more flour, so I added almond flour. All of this is reflected here, and it actually worked out to be a wonderful blend of textures/flavors. This process is exactly why my old food blog was named “whoops yummy”…and my family still teases me with that phrase from time to time.
Ingredients
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup einkorn flour
1 cup almond flour
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
1/3 cup sugar (I used raw)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 heaping cup hulled and diced fresh strawberries
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 large egg
Optional but recommended: 1/2 shredded coconut to mix in
Raw sugar to sprinkle on top of the scones before baking
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or tin foil.
In a medium bowl, blend together all of the dry ingredients.
Cut butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter. It’s old fashioned but genuinely the best…channel your inner Julia Child and enjoy.
Gently mix in the diced strawberries
In a small bowl, whisk the heavy cream and egg until smooth. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, gently stir wet mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form (be careful not to squish all the berries). Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. The dough may be crumbly at first, but as you press, the dough will come together. If it’s not crumbly at all, and instead is too moist (the flours like einkorn can absorb it differently)…then go ahead and keep adding almond flour until the consistency is right.
Place dough ball on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.
Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.
Can serve warm (extra yum) or make ahead and then re-heat in a toaster oven or low heat oven for the same melt-in-your mouth effect, but with less worry about timing it perfectly.
We spoiled our guy with these on Father’s day, and Emma, who is a scone afficionado and critic, said they were seriously amazing.
So basically, this blog post can be–ways to eat fresh strawberries all day long, from breakfast (scones), midday (ice-cream), to evening (pie). That’s certainly my plan.
If you try out any or all of these, let me know how you like them! Tag me on insta so I can see your creations.
Lots of love, stay safe, and keep enjoying the summer with simple, beautiful rhythms and some new fun summer recipes!
You guys. This is SO good. I made peach icecream a few weeks back and got re-acquainted with my kitchen-aid attachment for icecream. BEST gift that I had on my wedding registry–you know, the obscure thing that you think you won’t use, or don’t use…well I’m using it 🙂
I do have the best childhood memories of making ice-cream with an old-fashioned ice-cream maker, the rock salt, hours of churning it on the back porch of my cousins’ house (there were alot of us so we took turns and it went OK–but I remember that it disappeared in an instant!). When I was looking up recipes to inspire my peach ice-cream with freshly picked peaches, I ran into a coffee ice cream recipe, and just left it open, bookmarked in my phone (one of my ways of remembering/noting to come back to something–anyone else?). Anyway, this is entirely my own creation, because low and behold, Trader Joes happens to have this incredible coconut cold brew concentrate. As soon as I saw that, I knew this would be happening.
I had thought about doing a non-dairy or vegan version of this, it would be pretty simple to do, but the intrigue of using egg yolks, and my obsession with sweeten condensed milk and coffee together (a thai combo that I’ve had before) just led me to keep it straightforward. I’ll suggest the substitutions, in case you need to make it vegan or dairy free.
Homemade Coconut Cold Brew Ice-cream.
*TJ’s coconut cold brew concentrate (I used like 1/4 cup, depends on how strong you want the coffee flavor to be)
*1 can sweetened condensed milk (could use coconut cream to make it vegan)
*1 can evaporated milk (see above)
*2 egg yolks, lightly beaten (skip for vegan)
*1/4 cup raw sugar
*1.5 cup heavy cream or regular milk (use a coconut-almond milk instead like the califia one, for dairy free)
*1/4 c to 1/2 c flaked coconut
That’s it!! Crazy, right? If you have the kitchenaid mixer, just throw all the ingredients in with the pre-frozen bowl (freeze for 24 hours first), and let it mix for 20+ minutes (we were outside in the sprinkler while it was happening. Classic summer afternoon).
Then, place bowl in freezer and try to patiently wait. I was dipping my spoon and getting samples as it hardened and was just blown away by the flavor…
Warning to the wise: I think the caffeine in the cold brew made me stay up crazy late the first night I made it (I had a big helping after dinner, and I normally have little to no caffeine ;))…but SO worth it.
Let me know how you love it, and who you’re with when you enjoy it. Summer moments like these will live on in our memories for a long time.
And hop on my email list (above) for more of this delivered right to you—soon we’ll be focused on healthy kids back to school, healthy fall routines, recipes, and more…but for now…enjoy summer to the last moment!
My intention at the beginning of this busy season was to front load all the things that had to get done, and then, with time and energy left over, create a list of things we wanted to do if time allowed…and this was on the top of the list, after chatting with the girls. We have done these in the past, when they were super little, like with their friends in Brooklyn, and in recent years, I had always done a smaller version or skipped it all together–just dreading the mess 😉 But this year, we timed it well with my cleaning crew arriving the morning after (as I’m writing this) and we also had an older crowd, who were more helpful than anything–that made a huge difference. They were a few of our favorites from school, that mine idolize, so they were in absolute heaven to have them over for tea and cookie afternoon.
We were working with a gluten allergy, and a diabetic in our group, so the focus was on cookies that everyone could enjoy, and I prefer to bake this way anyway. These 2 recipes from Ambitious kitchen worked so well for what we needed—usually almond flour based cookies are super crumbly and are hard to get into that rolling/shaping mode, but this was wonderful in taste and texture. The gingerbread is super tasty (and I’m pretty picky about mine), so give them a try if they inspire you. I’m sharing the better icing recipe of the 2 offered, because we found it was a better consistency, and while it’s not paleo, if you’ll allow for a little organic powdered sugar in your life, it’s a great recipe. Because, balance.
We also made one other fun (EASY!) cranberry bliss bar variation with GF crust of oats instead of the typical graham cracker crumb. I’ll share that too since they are very easy and delicious, and I made it up, so I’m sure I’ll want to come back to this next year to remember. Oh, and cupcakes, because we had the cutest nutcracker toppers to use, and those were GF from a box 😉 And we needed to have different stations to keep these cute hands busy while the cookies were baking…
1 1/2 cups packed fine almond flour (do not use almond meal)
3 tablespoons coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Melt coconut oil, and toss the sugar, honey, egg and vanilla into your kitchenaid. Wait for the coconut oil to cool, then add that in and mix well to combine.
Then, almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well–until a nice dough forms. Allow dough to sit for 5 minutes, at least.
Can roll out and bake immediately, or can wait 24 hours (we made ours the night before), just give it 20 minutes to come back to room temp before attempting to roll it. Shape into all the fun holiday shapes you desire…and then bake for 8-10 minutes on parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Remove from oven, and can leave on the counter on the parchment paper, which also makes for an easy decorating set up (we just moved them back and forth during the party). Makes about 15 cookies, depending on the shapes and sizes you use.
Paleo Gingerbread Molasses Cookies
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup melted and cooled coconut oil
1/2 cup coconut sugar (or use organic cane sugar)
3 tablespoons molasses
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups packed blanched almond flour–the finer the better.
3/4 cup organic coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger (or can use something called gingerbread spice which is mellower but same idea)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional: Organic cane sugar for sprinkling, if desired
ICING (works for both cookies above)
1 cup organic powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon almond milk
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a kitchen-aid mixer, mix together melted and cooled coconut oil, coconut sugar, molasses, eggs and vanilla extract. (**Make sure your coconut oil is not HOT; it can be slightly warm just not hot!)
Next add in almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, spices and salt; mix well to combine and form a dough; sometimes using clean hands might be necessary. Let the dough rest for just a few minutes.
Place dough between two sheets of parchment paper on a flat even surface. Roll out the dough so that it’s approximately 1/4 inch thick.
Use cookie cutters of choice to cut the dough out and then place each shape on your prepared baking sheet about an inch apart. Sprinkle with organic cane sugar if you’d like then place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finishing cooling. Makes about 18 medium sized cookie shapes.
To make the icing: Using same mixer (quick rinse!)–Mix together the ingredients well, until smooth.
Transfer to a pastry bag to pipe icing onto cookies. We did with knives after it had been refrigerated a bit and was more solid, but you can also use a Ziploc bag and cut a VERY small hole in the corner after adding half of the frosting to the bag, then decorate! Definitely make 2 batches of this frosting–it’s that yummy that you have to make sure some of it makes it on to the cookies. Adapted from Ambitious kitchen.
Cranberry Bliss bars–GF and Easy
*1 cup oats
*1/2 cup butter, softened
*1/2 cup coconut flour
*1/2 bag white chocolate chips (6 oz)
*1/2 bag coconut (6-8 oz)
*1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
*1 cup cranberries, more if desired (I like mine with lots of cranberries)
*1 can sweetened condensed milk
Directions:
Mix the butter, oats and coconut flour with your hands or a pastry cutter or both, as if you’re making a crisp/crumble crust. Press into a glass pie pan. Then, layer in cranberries, white chocolate chips, coconut and walnuts, ideally in that order. Then, cover it all with the can of sweetened condensed milk, and bake for 12-14 minutes at 350. That’s it. Cut, serve, and enjoy! It has fruit in it…it must be healthier than your average holiday treat;)…but seriously, it’s an easy crowd pleaser, and packages up pretty well for special deliveries around town!
As we head into the final countdown for Christmas, I’m wishing you all the beautiful memory making, embracing the process and the mess that comes with it, and getting quality time with friends and loved ones, which is always such a gift.
Happy December! Can you believe it’s already here?
Probably my favorite month of the year…especially when we keep stress to a minimum and magic and holiday spirit to a maximum!
Celebrating advent–which is a season of preparation–means that we take time to savor the beautiful path leading up to the Christmas celebrations, and it allows us to keep our hearts focused on the right things–the real meaning of the season–the welcoming of the source of all LOVE and LIGHT into the world…and de-emphasizing some of the crazy commercialism, stress and overwhelm that none of us want to welcome into our homes this year.
For me, that means emphasizing simplicity and small, meaningful festive moments with the kids, and keeping our pace as calm and peaceful as can be—Creating space in the days for the good stuff, but not letting the possibilities of it all (Nutcracker, santa sightings, shopping, etc) get us carried away. How do you balance this time of year well? I’d love to know.
This is also the time of year when treats are everywhere…which is fun and festive, but sometimes it can feel like just too much sugar.
This is a fun, healthy twist on a favorite, and the simplicity, the fact that you can switch up the mix-ins, and how much the kids gobble them up, are reasons we keep them around all December…I love bringing small batches for coffee dates with friends…get creative, and tag me when you’re making and sharing them! So fun!
Easiest recipe ever–you’re going to laugh at how good they taste, when you learn how simple they are to make…
Healthy Holiday Fudge
1 cup organic peanut butter or almond butter
1 cup organic honey
1 cup shaklee life shake (we usually do chocolate, but vanilla works great too!)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips, dark chocolate, butterscotch, mini walnuts or other optional mix-ins–not essential but fun to experiment.
Sprinkles!
In a medium saucepan, melt peanut butter and honey over med/low heat. Stir in protein until well blended. Then turn off the heat, and add in optional chips/nuts.
Pour into a pie pan or square glass dish to cool. Put your festive sprinkles on it, and pop it into the fridge for 30 minutes…or as long as you can stand it!!:) Sample and enjoy either cold or at room temperature. Makes a great gift and makes an awesome snack for kids and mommas–tons of protein and healthy fats. They won’t even believe you when you tell them it’s healthy:)
I hope that your December is like this recipe—simple, sweet, enjoyed with good company, and full of surprises!
This recipe is a keeper if you love a rich, flavorful carrot cake–we made the cake and a bunch of cupcakes for a birthday and it worked out well–with some healthy swaps that no one noticed–I’d recommend it for your thanksgiving dessert table!!
Last weekend we celebrated Ambrose’ 2nd birthday with family, and some extra special family members (puppies) who were with us as part of my mom’s Lake Joy Goldens fall litter. The puppies were just 2 weeks old, the perfect age for lots of squeezing and cuddles from my kids, with their eyes opening, and beginning to move around on their own. Ambrose knew how special it was to be celebrating his birthday after watching his sisters make a big deal out of theirs over the summer, he was ready for his turn. We had a wonderful gathering of sisters, cousins and friends to help us celebrate our favorite little guy with a simple birthday brunch.
I’ve had my eye on this carrot cake recipe to try, thanks to discovering it on the Helena Daily list, and knew this was a great occasion for it.
The recipe is from Beneath the Crust–we know some of the ladies and their recipes look fab. I wanted to see if I could adapt for cupcakes, and to do a few swap outs. So I replaced the flour with Einkorn to make it friendly for folks with gluten sensitivities (not celiacs!), regular sugar easily replaced with coconut sugar (and the recipe calls for alot), and coconut oil for regular vegetable oil. We doubled the batch of cake batter to make a set of 18 cupcakes, which worked out great, and didn’t need to double the frosting (or filling) quantities—apparently original recipe makes alot of frosting!
Ingredients
Cake
4 eggs
2 cups coconut sugar
1 1/4 cups coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour (Einkorn is a wonderful consistency, but without the strong effects on our bodies that most gluten flours have…try it!)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1 pound peeled, shredded carrot (I got bags already shredded, and we ran them through a blender to make them even finer).
1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped coarsely (can also buy these already chopped, shortcuts for busy people, zero guilt).
Filling
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped coarsely
1 tsp vanilla
Frosting
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 flour
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into tablespoon sized pieces
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature and cut into tablespoon sized pieces
Instructions
Cake
Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour three 9 inch cake pans.
For cupcakes, if you cook those first, oven will be at 400, baked for 10-15 min.
Toast the pecans (make your life easier and toast the cake and filling pecans all at once!): spread the pecans on a baking sheet and toast 8-10 minutes or until fragrant and toasty. Let cool and then chop coarsely.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt and whisk well to combine.
In a standing mixer fitted with the whipping attachment, whip together eggs and sugar on medium high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Turn speed to low and slowly drizzle in the oil in a thin stream – this actually takes a while, about a full minute or a little more – until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla and stir just until combined.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in dry ingredients until almost fully combined with only a few streaks of flour. Add carrots and pecans and gently fold in until evenly distributed.
Divide batter evenly between the three pans. Bake for 25 minutes for 9 in pans – or until the top springs back when pressed lightly or a tester comes out clean.
Let cool for 10 minutes then remove from pans and let cool completely on wire racks.
Filling
If you haven’t already, toast the pecans (step 2 above); let cool and chop coarsely.
Combine sugar, flour, and salt in a medium saucepan and whisk well. Gradually whisk in the heavy cream until incorporated. Stir in the butter and set over medium heat, stirring constantly, until butter is melted and mixture comes to a boil.
Turn heat to low and let mixture simmer for 5 – 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly combined and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and pecans. Set aside and let cool completely.
Frosting
Combine flour, sugar, cornstarch, and salt and whisk to combine. Slowly whisk in milk, being careful to combine thoroughly with no lumps. Set over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Simmer for about 5-6 minutes, still stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and harder to whisk. Remove from heat and transfer to a clean bowl to let cool completely.
When mixture is *completely* cool, transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whip attachment. Add vanilla and mix on low just briefly until combined. Add butter one piece at a time, allowing each to be fully incorporated before adding the next. Do the same with the cream cheese. Once all the butter and cream cheese has been incorporated, turn the mixer up to medium high and beat until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Let stand for an hour to firm up (I wasn’t this patient, but it still turned out OK).
Place one layer of cake on a platter. Spread enough of the filling to generously coat. Add the second layer, repeat with the filling. Top with the final cake layer.
Frost top and sides with frosting.
Top with toasted coconut, candied pecans, a sprinkle of cinnamon, blue sprinkles for a little boy’s birthday, or anything else that sounds good! Keep in fridge if you’re in a warm climate and take out an hour or so before serving.
*Note the baking times may vary according to your oven…
Here’s a few more pics of our October 28th birthday brunch. These 2 years have absolutely flown by, and this guy is such a staple part of our family dynamics that it’s almost impossible to remember life before his joyful, funny, cuddly, exploratory presence in it. This time around it was fun to see how much the girls could do to help with not only the cupcakes and food prep, but also making signs for him, and helping me pick out the decor, hang streamers, etc. Emma is such a party planner, my dad commented she may have a future in it, after she designed and orchestrated an elaborate “trampoline show” that same day:) Something about being the eldest, and she totally dotes on her little brother.
Grateful to my parents for hosting us, and that everyone came together to celebrate Ambrose, and to make sure the puppies could be included, tiny party hats and all!
What a memorable birthday for all of us, and hopefully Ambrose the dog lover will remember his “puppy party” when we talk about it with him.
I’ve seen the pictures of you all with your cuties, out in orchards, and we went yesterday and did some damage there ourselves…lots of tree climbing, and fun, and finding tiny apples for their baby brother–they really got so into it…it was just the girls and I, and my dear cousin Lucy–Ambrose was passed out after our fun family hike, and Joel was happily chilling with him. I enjoyed the quality time with these two, they are just so grown up these days and I laugh often at their witty comments and overall zest for life…
The orchard was empty because it was the end of the day!–total win–which, by the way, you have to check out. It’s been in the same family as a farm since it was bought from the Indians in the 1700’s! In Litchfield Country. It was right at sunset we had the most gorgeous vistas on 3 sides as we picked, I would have come just for those.
SO, what do we do with all these apples lying around? Here’s a super fun, simple recipe that you can feel good about eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner…and, dessert;)
I made ours Gluten free (coconut flour, easy substitution) and you can easily make it paleo as well with the addition/sub of coconut sugar, or honey instead…Keto would be stevia, didn’t figure out the quantities for that, but the apples you choose could be balanced/sweet enough that you don’t need extra sugar in the crumble topping! So get creative, have fun, feel free to enlist some little hands to help you, and enjoy this delicious seasonal favorite.
Pro tip…try pairing it with Talenti Coconut icecream instead of vanilla or whipped cream–just might blow your socks off:)
Super Simple Apple Crisp
(6 ingredients, optional GF/Paleo variations)
*Apples–2-3 lbs, peeled and sliced thin. I like to do a blend of tart apples for the best crisp flavor. This time we picked Ida Reds and Empire apples, so this is a combination of those. Get creative, and enjoy the local flavors available to you!
Optional but encouraged: sprinkle some fresh lemon juice on these and let them sit in the buttered pie pan while you make the topping.
*1 stick butter, some for the pan, some for the topping.
*1 cup organic oats
*1/2 cup organic brown sugar, raw sugar, or coconut sugar (for paleo), or 1/4 cup honey…consistency will be trickier but it works.
*1/2 cup flour: coconut flour, regular flour, or omit if you want.
Optional extra seasonings: 1/2 tsp salt (if butter not salted) and 1/2 tsp nutmeg
Directions:
Prep the 9 in glass pie pan with butter, then peel, slice, layer in the apples with lemon juice and cinnamon mixed in, let them sit while you prepare the crumble.
Cut butter into oats and flour & sugar, using a pasty cutter. I’m not kidding, it’s truly the way to go. Channel your inner Julie Child and enjoy.
Preheat the oven to 350.
When the pan is 3/4 full of apples, pour the topping in, and throw them in the oven for 15-20 minutes…look for brown and bubbling on the edges, and that the apples are softening on the underside when you check them. You may want to turn it down to 325 if it’s browning on top after less than 15 minutes, as you need the apples to thoroughly soften and cook down a bit. Ovens are so varied so be sure to keep a close eye and trust your judgement. You’ll smell the heavenly fall flavors, and I dare you not to eat it while it’s warm!
Serve with your icecream, fresh whipped cream or side of choice–cheers to October and delicious seasonal treats!!!!
If you make this, tag me on social and share with friends–love simplified seasonal eating!
AND! Check out my new seasonal meal plan offerings–for more of the favorite fall and winter flavors we love, also simplified…here! Amazing new trial program happening now through the end of the year–would love to have you join us for weekly delicious seasonal recipes up until the new year!
This is my all time favorite summer dessert from childhood. The recipe was shared by some close friends, and then my family morphed it into a patriotic theme since we were very into celebrating all things 4th of July…I remember making it all growing up, and posing with my sisters and besties with our flag pizzas–so it was a fun moment to do the same with Emma this year. All 3 of mine added their personal touch to it (cough) and while it neared disaster when Ambrose decided to play toss the blueberries onto the flag, we had a great time and made a memory. It’s super easy to make the dough and the cream cheese frosting in advance (read: before the kids are up) and to do the decorating later. Pro tip: it’s best really cold so see if you can give it an hour of fridge time after frosting and decorating, before serving.
I changed the recipe in a few ways from how it was passed on to me: I made the crust gluten free…because–happy bellies and equally yum! And I increased the quantities of crust and the frosting because you just can’t have too much of those flavors to balance out the fruit, and it’s meant to fill a large rectangular pan.
Seriously–how can you go wrong with these colors and summer flavors? Seasonal eating? Yes please. Obviously if you can find local strawberries and blueberries, even better! But it will be amazing regardless.
Here’s the combination of flours I’ve landed on for most of my gluten free variations–I find the flour textures balance each other out–and you’ll want to double check the oat flour–some brands are labeled gluten free while others say “may contain traces of wheat”…the coconut flour is heavy, and cooks up denser, so the tapioca flour seems to add the right balance. Have fun experimenting and let me know how you LOVE this recipe!!! I dare you to make it only once this summer:)
Fruit Pizza–patriotic and gluten free
Ingredients:
Crust:
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 cup powdered sugar (can possibly substitute coconut sugar or raw sugar but I didn’t want to mess with my childhood memories..and the crust is super thin so it’s not too sweet).
2 1/4 cups gluten free flour:
1 cup oat flour
3/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
Cream cheese frosting:
12 oz cream cheese–you can get (full fat) whipped variety that blends up really well.
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup powdered sugar
Directions:
Combine butter, flours and sugar. Use a pastry cutter for best effect, and finish with hands. Flatten into cookie sheet crust, and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown (recommend you poke some holes with a fork so it doesn’t puff on you).
Then mix the cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar for the topping. Spread onto a completely cooled crust.
Layer fruit in the patterns of your choice.
Refrigerate an hour, then serve!!! (Can be stored up to 24 hours before for fantastic taste!)
Crust is totally cooled (we went for a hike and errands in the meanwhile)…fruit washed, strawberries just have the ends trimmed.
Make it happen! And enjoy the process:)
This is when things got a little exciting 🙂 Luckily most of it ended up where it was supposed to and the older girls modeled how best to spread and place the fruit…
Voila!! It tastes even better than it looks!
Loving her toothy grin, and these fun slower summer days together…
She wanted to add marshmallows for the stars…but was flexible when I convinced her that the fruit would taste amazing on it’s own…she’s all about the inspiration, and artistic process, so I’m sure we’ll be doing lots of fancy baking this summer. Share with me pics when you and your loved ones make this–that is my favorite part!
These are simple, scrumptious and pack a wonderful nutrient punch. I’m always looking for that balance of sweet without added sugar, and a snack that both myself and my kids can enjoy! These are gluten free, and are sweetened with dates and some honey–(or can use agave if you want them to be vegan)…and the dates and oats provide a perfect hearty yet soft texture. You can bake the oats (optional) but the bars are no bake which also makes them a win in my camp. I made a double batch this weekend and it will hopefully last us through the week–for breakfasts for the school girls, snacking moments before workouts for me, and on-the-go snacking for my toddler. Wins all around, right?
So, about this superfood…Maca. It’s something that’s come into my kitchen (and awareness) only recently, and I love it for postpartum health, because it’s known to balance hormones, especially estrogen, and provide energy, vitality and clear-headedness. All things that mommas need, right?
Here’s a cool article about it if you’re new to the Maca trend.
The dates are another wonderful food for promoting a balanced and positive mood, and the oats are known for balancing and promoting healthy lactation.
Here’s the recipe! When you make these, comment below what you think of them, and where you ate them–ie, everywhere!:)
Ingredients
1 heaping cup packed dates, pitted (deglet noor or medjool)
1/4 cup maple syrup or agave nectar (or honey if not vegan)
1/4 cup creamy salted natural peanut butter or almond butter
1 1/2 cups rolled oats (gluten-free for GF eaters)
Process dates in a food processor until small bits remain (about 1 minute). It should form a “dough” like consistency. You can add water to dates if you’re having trouble getting them to blend/process well.
Optional step: Toast your oats (and almonds if raw) in a 350-degree F (176 C) oven for 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden brown.
Place oats, protein, maca and dates in a large mixing bowl – set aside.
Warm honey and peanut butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir and pour over oat mixture and then mix, breaking up the dates to disperse throughout.
Once thoroughly mixed, transfer to an 8×8-inch baking dish or other small pan lined with plastic wrap or parchment paper so they lift out easily.
Press down firmly until uniformly flattened – I use something flat, like a drinking glass, to press down and really pack the bars, which helps them hold together better.
Cover with parchment or plastic wrap, and let firm up in fridge or freezer for 15-20 minutes.
Remove bars from pan and chop into 10 even bars (or 9 squares). Store in an airtight container for up to a few days.
Cheers! I dare you to have just one…
…no guilt snacking since they are so darn good for you. #intuitiveeating
As many of you know, I do have a solid sweet tooth, and a few years ago when I began to drastically reduce the sugar we consume, personally and as a family (not super strict, just aware, reading labels and mostly eating whole foods, etc)….I started spending time creating sweet variations for snacking and dessert that would be both satisfying, filling and that myself and my kiddos could have several helpings and feel great about it. With a flexible and intuitive eating philosophy, we’re looking to create recipes from wholesome ingredients that satisfy us, and these really hit the spot for our family.
And if you haven’t noticed, simplifying is a huge theme of mine so these are all minimal ingredients, 2 don’t require baking(!) and are easy to make with busy little hands helping 🙂
I so wish I could hop into all of your kitchens this time of year, share a cup of coffee and enjoy seeing all the fun treats you’re whipping up! If you feel inspired to try these, I don’t think you’ll regret it, and sharing them will make it twice as fun–when you let people in on the secret that these are healthy AND Yummy!
Delicious 3 ingredient fudge
Holiday chocolate protein fudge
(Gluten free, paleo (if you use build shake), dairy free)
This recipe is a winner, we created it first to accompany the pumpkin spice flavors of fall, but it stands alone and is an winner with a chocolate protein instead! Another selling point for me with these recipes–no baking…and easy to decorate 🙂
*3/4 cup organic, raw honey
*1 cup almond butter or peanut butter (smooth)–can sub sunflower butter if nut allergies
Blend honey and nut butter in a saucepan on low, until fully melted/blended. Add protein powder, stirring slowly. remove from heat, pour into glass pie pan or square dish (no need to grease). Add crumbled candy cane or other sprinkles…Refrigerate 1 hour and enjoy! Store in fridge, can keep up to 1 week…brilliantqar.
I have a feeling both young and old will love these!
Macaroons
Macaroons
(Gluten free, paleo, dairy free)
*5 1/3 cup coconut flakes (1 package)
*2/3 cup coconut sugar
*6 tbsp
coconut flour
*1/4 tsp salt
*4 egg whites
*1 tsp almond or vanilla extract
Mix coconut, sugar, flour and salt in large bowl. Stir in egg whites and almond extract until well blended. Drop by tablespoons onto greased/floured cookie sheets. Bake at 325 for 20 min or until edges are golden brown. Cool and add sprinkles, optional.
Combine and form into balls, chill on wax paper in freezer while you melt chocolate in a double boiler, adding peppermint extract if desired (I did). Dip and sprinkle with crushed candycane, then return to fridge.
