This video starts with “I can’t believe I’m sharing my secret”, but this post should start with “I can’t believe it’s taken me so damn long to post this!” Not exactly a timely treat in the middle of December. There’s no gingerbread or ubiquitous pumpkin. And it’s frozen.
But hey, if you have a need to curb that sweet tooth amidst all your holiday parties, or you happen to live in a place where the sun warms the air (and your face) to above freezing, then this is for you! And if not, come back next July.
Here it is, a tribute to the dessert-turned-breakfast that I fell in love with on a trip to Hawaii with one of the greatest friends I’ve ever met.
Recipe:
One frozen packet acai puree
One banana That’s it. Blend and put in your ice cream maker with a splash of water for the best possible outcome.
Other ideas to mix in:
Milk of choice (just a splash), nut butter of choice Topping ideas:
Fresh fruit, hemp hearts, chopped nuts, unsweetened coconut, honey or maple syrup, cacao nibs, carob chips…the possibilities are endless. Get crazy with your bad self!
I know the way to my dog’s heart. Peanut butter and bananas. Well, I guess bacon too. But this is a veggie show. So Peanut Butter Banana Cake it is for Frankie’s “birthday” this year. I can’t believe it’s been 4 years since we took him in.
He’s brought so much joy into our lives that I’m forever grateful to the two teachers who found him while we were all living in Korea. I’m grateful that they decided, for whatever reason, to go for a walk on Yudalsan that day. That they decided not to chalk it up to one of many unfortunate cases of strays living in Korea and turn a blind eye to the tick-infested, sickly little thing who wouldn’t leave them alone. That they decided instead to give him a chance and find him a good home. You never know when one simple act of kindness will change a person’s (or animal’s) life forever.
While they were doing this, it happened as coincidence that I wanted to save a dog at the same time. I visited the foreign-run adoption site and saw one, and only one, goofy little face listed in my area staring right back at me from the screen. When these two worlds intersected, we all agreed to meet and take him for a “trial weekend”. But the minute he stepped into our apartment, Steve and I knew he was our travel buddy for life.
It might not be his actual birthday, but May 17th will always be his birthday as a member of the Rudolph family!
Celebrate your dog too with this recipe: 1 cup oats, ground into flour 1 banana 1/2 cup peanut butter (only ingredient: peanuts!) 1/4 cup olive oil water as needed *Mix all, pour into pan of choice, bake for 20 min, and cut into bone shape (if you didn’t already have a bone-shaped pan). Serve in small pieces throughout the next week or so. Either keep refrigerated or let sit out uncovered overnight to harden up. Watch for cuddles and slobbers of approval!
It’s no secret that I loooooove chocolate. Last I checked, I have no Y chromosomes, so this is not really Earth-shattering news. Here is yet another chocolate recipe, surprise surprise. It’s not super fancy. They’re not big, decadent, why-did-I-eat-that-oh-I’m-such-a-piggy-someone-please-stop-me brownies. But they are perfect for a little snack during the week. Less than 100 calories, 7 grams of sugar, and super gooey and chocolatey if you cook them about 3 minutes less than you think you should.
Recipe (no guilt needed):
1/2 cup almond pulp leftover from making almond milk, ground finely (or plain almond flour)
1 cup sifted cocoa
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup starch (like corn or arrowroot)
*Whisk these together
1/2 berries of choice, chopped if large (I recommend strawberries)
1/3 cup coconut or olive oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup water
*Puree in blender, then add to dry ingredients
*Pour into 8×8 pan. Bake at 350 for 20 min or so. Leave them a little gooey inside!
Do you need an explanation for this one, I ask you? Do you?
To be quite honest, I like the coconut flour G-Free one better. Would I make an entire cake out of it? Probably not because it doesn’t keep its shape on its own like regular flour. You would need to mix it with something else. But for a mug cake? With that molten chocolate inside? Hell yeah!
I tried to keep the sugar low here, but if this is too dark-chocolatey for you, you can always add more to your liking. With both recipes, it doesn’t matter if you do wet or dry ingredients first. It’s a small batch, and you’re the only one that’s going to eat it anyway!
So go get yourself a tablespoon, a mug, and something to eat with (that isn’t just your face) and try this:
Regular:
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp turbinado sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
Dash salt and baking powder
Dash of any spice you like, like cinnamon or ginger
2 Tbsp milk of choice
1/2 Tbsp olive or coconut oil
*Bake at 350 in a toaster oven for 8-10 minutes
Gluten-free:
1 Tbsp coconut flour
1 Tbsp turbinado sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
Dash salt and baking powder
Dash of any spice you like, like cinnamon or ginger
2 Tbsp milk of choice
1/2 Tbsp olive or coconut oil
*Bake at 350 in a toaster oven for 8-10 minutes
Who doesn’t love gingerbread in the winter? Tips for this recipe:
Make it into gingerbread men and decorate as you choose.
Use other shapes (I happen to like stars), no decoration needed, and dunk in milk.
Don’t actually bother baking it at all. Throw chunks of the raw batter into vanilla ice cream for some homemade gingerbread ice cream. When I tested this out on my guinea pigs, everyone was picking at the raw batter, it’s that good!
Recipe:
3/4 cup sugar (recommended: coconut sugar)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
*Mix these 2 ingredients first to get rid of clumps
1/4 cup milk of choice (recommended: unsweetened coconut or almond)
1/4 cup maple syrup
*Add these 2 ingredients to the sugar and oil
2 cups flour of choice (recommended: whole wheat pastry)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp ginger
Pinch of salt
*Add dry ingredients gradually. Mix with hands to form dough. Roll out on floured board with floured rolling pin and cut into shapes of choice. Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. Because these are thin, dense cookies, keep an eye on them so as not to burn.
Obviously this year of transition has not been the biggest for recipes in the Lady Ace Kitchen. A loooong time ago, I posted a video for homemade almond milk and mentioned I would show you what to do with that leftover almond pulp. I really hope you’ve not kept that same almond pulp till now. Because it’s probably really gross and covered in freezer burn. Unless you’re into that sort of thing.
But finally, after yet another move, here is the video! This is just one idea of what to do with the delicious and nutritious leftovers of homemade almond milk-making.
Recipe:
-1/2 cup almond pulp, dried
(Substitute 1/2 cup plain old almond flour if you don’t have the pulp)
-1/2 cup raw cashews
-5 tablespoons cocoa powder
-10-12 medjool dates, pitted*
Pulse almonds and cashews in food processor until fine. Sift if desired for a more fine texture. Add cocoa powder and pulse again. Set aside. Pulse dates by themselves until they form a paste, then add back in dry mixture. Press into pan and freeze until ready to eat. These will cut directly out of the freezer. No need to thaw! I repeat: YOU CAN CUT AND EAT DIRECTLY FROM THE FREEZER! How many other foods can you do that with, really?
*Medjool dates are really sticky. If you only have the kind that tend to be really dry and find that they don’t form a paste, add water a little bit at a time to help it along. You might even want to soak the dates a bit before making the fudge. Play around with it.
To make a more decadent tasting fudge, add 2 tablespoons melted cocoa butter or chocolate chips into the mixture before freezing.
I’ve always liked vegan baking because you can lick the bowl guilt-free when you’re done due to the lack of raw eggs. Besides chocolate cake batter, cookie dough is about one of the best things in life. You know you agree with me.
But I got to thinking – What else can I do to make it even more guilt-free? Is vegan margarine really the only substitute for butter? And what to do about all that white flour?
So I came up with these simple changes. 1) Dark chocolate. Duh. 2) Turbinado instead of white sugar. Less processed, not necessarily healthier. Let’s not kid ourselves. It’s still sugar. 3) Extra virgin olive oil. 4) Cashew flour in place of half the white flour.
Boom, a magical combination. Quite frankly, I’m not going to make chocolate chunk cookies any other way now. This is THE one.
Semi-healthified Chocolate Chunk Cookies
1 cup raw cashew flour (see note below for how to make*)
1 cup regular flour
3/4 organic cane or turbinado sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla
Lots of dark chocolate chunks
Whisk dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients and mix with spoon or hands. Add chocolate chunks last. Form into desired sizes and bake at 350F / 180C for 10-12 minutes. Dunk in milk!
*Cashew flour can easily be made in your blender by grinding down raw cashews into powder form. The measurement above is after blending.
As I mention in the video, almost 3 years of living in Korea (a low-wheat country, if you will) has turned me into slightly less than the gluten fiend I was just a few years ago. But gluten-free in Korea and GF in America are two different animals. In Korea, you don’t want gluten? Then don’t eat anything that might have it. Go eat some kimchi instead. But at home, there are pastas and breads made of rice and quinoa and other goodies to satisfy your every need.
This got me thinking – it can’t be THAT hard to replace flour here, can it? So I decided to make my own brown rice flour. I’m still venturing into this GF world because I have to make and test all the substitutes myself, so I’m going with something easy and tasty – Brownies!
I’ve been using my husband and friends as guinea pigs, which they don’t seem to mind one bit. And now I’m asking you to try it out too. This recipe has a bit more measuring than I care to do, but baking (and GF baking especially, I’m learning) is a little more sensitive.
Homemade Brown Rice Flour:
It’s as simple as pouring as much as you want into a blender with a sharp cross blade. Blend until a fine powder forms, then sift. Sifting is key! Do not not sift. Unless you like crunchy brownies, you weirdo. For this recipe, you’ll need 1 cup.
Brownies:
1 large very ripe banana, blended alone to start the base for your liquid ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup water
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
*Blend these with the banana lightly to combine
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp. corn starch
*Add to wet ingredients. Blend until all are combined. Mixture will be rather liquidy. Don’t think you’re doing it wrong. The brown rice flour needs to soak up more water than wheat would. Pour into greased or nonstick brownie pan. Bake on 350F/180C for 25-30 minutes. Let cool, then cut, frost, and eat!
Super Fudgy Frosting:
Did you know that super fudgy frosting is just two ingredients away? Go to your pantry right now and get some cocoa powder and agave syrup. Stir them in equal parts any time you need to frost a cake, brownies, cupcakes…or you know, just eat it late at night with a jar of peanut butter and a romantic comedy.
For this brownie recipe use 2/3 cup each of cocoa and agave.
Frosting Variations:
For less sugar, substitute some of the agave with water or milk and a little vanilla extract
For richer, stiffer frosting, use slightly more cocoa powder
My favorite winter dessert. So ooey, gooey, and crunchy!
Filling:
2 baby oranges
1/2 cup dates, soft or soaked in water
Generous sprinkling of cinnamon
*Blend until smooth. Add a little water if necessary.
Topping:
1/2 cup almonds, ground in blender
1/3 cup organic cane sugar
Sprinkling of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger
Pinch salt
Tiniest bit of olive oil to help create extra chunks
*Mix with hands
*Cover 2 sliced and peeled apples with filling. Sprinkle topping over entire thing. Bake at 350/180 for 20 minutes or until apples are soft and top is lightly browned.
Necessity is the mother of invention. When it comes to food in Korea, I say that a lot.
I don’t know about you, but I NEED chocolate and peanut butter. Well, unfortunately in Korea they don’t sell Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I know, I don’t understand it either. Let’s just say that Steve and I are definitely not the only ones here who’ve had our families send us some in the mail.
But then I got to thinking – wait! I’ve got the ingredients. Chocolate and peanut butter. Duh. There’s gotta be a way to just make them myself. And what do you know, it was so easy that I’m still kicking myself for not having figured it out 2 years ago. And for those of you living in a place where you can buy peanut butter cups anytime you like, why even waste your time going to the store. Just try these!
Super Easy Recipe:
-Melt 2 tbsp coconut oil
-Add 2 tbsp agave
-Add 3 tsbp cocoa powder
*Stir thoroughly and coat bottom of lined muffin tins or silicone forms 1/4 of the way. Refrigerate or freeze for a few minutes.
Meanwhile:
-Mix 1 tbsp creamy peanut butter with sprinkle of powdered sugar (I make mine by blending organic cane sugar for 10 seconds).
*Put little dollop in center of each cup. Top with remaining chocolate mixture. Refrigerate or freeze for 10-15 more minutes. Freezing will just let you eat them faster!
And then EAT!
*Note*
This is a richer, darker chocolate recipe. You could make it more milk chocolatey by adding milk, but play around with the ratios. Make sure to keep enough coconut oil in there to help them hold their form.
For raw foodies: This can easily be made using all raw ingredients and substituting cashew or almond butter.
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