Brownies > Bread

I was trying to make bread, really I was.
I've been wanting to try this Paleo bread recipe for a while and today I was all set to do just that. Unfortunately, I only managed to properly seperate 3 eggs. I ended up dropping the yolk of the fourth egg into my whites and there went my plan.

Left with 4 eggs, I had to find something to do with them, so I went through my dessert board, figuring that I'd find something I could do with 4 eggs. Then I found these brownies sitting at the top of my Paleo dessert board.

I whipped everything together wondering how well this would really work.  I was craving some coffee so I threw a little into the mix before throwing it in the oven.

Ok, so I didn't wait 3 hours (or throw them in the fridge), I cut in after about 20 minutes because I just had to know.  In the picture above you can see that they are actually a rather cakey brownie and honestly were a little dry. I'm hoping that maybe after they sit a little while and cool off they will be a little better. I expected fudgier brownies since they were flourless.

Trying them again a few hours later and pieces in the middle seem to be somewhat fudgy but at the same time still really dry.  Hubby tried them and said they were good, but dry. He suggestd that the added coffee may have decreased the moisture.

Pintest: Vegan Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

Going gluten & dairy free has been interesting, but not nearly as interesting as it will be in about 2 months when I start trying to figure out how to make Thanksgiving dinner.  So, when I saw DAMY's recipe for vegan Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake, I thought I'd try to get a head start.  And, when I showed it to hubby, he let me know (with that look in his eyes) that I was going to have to test this recipe sooner rather than later.

Note: I had taken all kinds of great pictures during the process of making this, but evidently my phone ate them.

Now, I'm all about some substitutions, and I still say this could be made with almond butter, but he let me know that wasn't going to happen. So, while at Earth Fare (the closest thing we have around here to Whole Foods) I picked up a $10 jar of Cashew Butter. Man, is that stuff expensive!  And since I couldn't seem to sit still last night and needed a distraction from an upset tummy and boredom, I figured I'd cook instead of eat.

So, as instructed, I mixed up all the ingredients (a word I evidently can't spell) for the filling. Doing so, used about 1/3 of a jar of the Cashew butter and about 1/2 the can of pumpkin.  Seeing this, I just said screw it and doubled the entire recipe. Call me crazy! For the record, I used 4Tbsp honey & 2 packets of Stevia (ok, Truvia) for the entire (double) filling batch.

When it came time to make the crust, my substitutions started showing. I only had a handful of pecans in the house, so I decided to try making the crust with almonds instead (something we always have on hand). Since I'd already doubled the filling, I figured I'd go ahead and double the crust recipe too. Looking back, that might have been either a mistake or a genius idea.  I probably didn't need as many almonds as I used, as I ended up adding a few extra dates just to get everything to mix good enough to form a decent crust.  It never did form that dough-like consistency that Amy had mentioned in her recipe. I finally just gave up and decided to work with what I had and it did press together well enough to form into the bottom of the dish, like a good crust should. However, I didn't take into account that I was still using the same size baking dish. So, I had a lot left-over.

Finished Product

After pouring in the filling, I topped it all off with a little left-over crust mixture, some coconut and a few pecan pieces. Hubby was sadly disappointed to find out that it had to sit in the freezer all night before he could try it. I did, however, let him taste the filling and we both agreed that it tasted great and should make for an excellent Pumpkin Pie substitute once it reached the proper consistency.

I figured I had to do something with all that left-over crust mixture and it seemed like the perfect base for some Larabar like snack bars. So, I combined it with the remnant of filling mixture that remained in the small processor bowl and mixed it all together. I mashed that out into a flat pan and stuck it in the fridge.

This evening when he came home, he found me taking pictures of the finished product (since my phone ate all the pics I took last night).  The bars on the left turned out really good. There was just enough pumpkin filling left in the processor when I added the left-over crust to give a perfect pumpkin pie flavor to the "larabars".  They got his seal of approval with a "I hope you wrote down the recipe".  Well, I did. Kind of. The problem is that in order to make those, I have to make the whole pumpkin pie thing (and that is a little spendy).  He said he was ok with that. Then he tried the actual "cheese"cake.  He commented that he felt like it was missing something, but could'nt quite figure out what it was. My thoughts were the only thing it could be missing was whipped cream. That said, it was better than any real pumpkin pie without whipped cream, and as good (or better) than any pumpkin cheesecake.  We definitely have a win here (substitutions and all).

Tip: This is best closer to the frozen consistency. The longer it sat in the fridge the closer to a pudding texture it got.

PinTest: Super Moist Zuchini Bread

So, I'd been thinking for a while that I really needed to start actually trying some of these recipes I keep adding to my boards on Pinterest.  Julie over at PaleOMG FORCED me to start with her Moist Chocolate Zuchini Bread. Ok, she didn't really force me, it was more like she's never met me and has no idea who I am, but I love to follow her blog (and we have the same name, so I feel this kinship). PLUS, I've really just wanted zucchini bread for a while, and have had no idea how to make it, especially now that I'm not eating grains.  I guess you could say she inspired me to actually cook something, instead of just pinning it.

I remember the first time I ever had zucchini bread. I probably turned my nose up at it, the idea of zucchini in a bread.  I was visiting my Grandmother in Traverse City, MI and she'd taken me to the zoo. In the parking lot there was a Farmer's Market set up and someone was selling zucchini bread. They let me sample a bite and I was in love. I still remember it almost 30 years later. I've spent the last 30 years thinking about that zucchini bread and somehow have never since had another. It's like my first love of veggie breads, and I've never given another a chance to compare.

I've wanted to try making it, but I had no idea how. And, really, until recently I had little interest in making "healthy" foods. Of course, it got more complicated when recently I also stopped eating grains. So, that left me wanting to try my hand at this "healthy" food but unable to eat "bread". What to do!? Then Julie came along and swooped down like some sort of Fairy Godmother with her recipe.  I just had to try it.  Then, this afternoon I was at the Farmer's Market and I saw the zucchini and it was like a sign. Today was the day.

I couldn't remember anything about the recipe (of course), other than that it was MOIST and made with zucchini and coconut flour. I had no idea how much of anything or whether or not I had everything I'd need to make it. Of course, I probably didn't.  So, I bought a half dozen zucchini (just in case) and headed home.

Step 1 (she says) shred your zucchini. WTF? How do you shred zucchini? A few weeks ago I bought this really cool salad spinner at CostCo that also had a mandolin slicer/shredder attachment, so I was all psyched to try it out. I've used it a few times to spin my greens, but this was the first try at using the slicer/shredder feature... and wouldn't you know this would be the first place things would go wrong. The thing did not fit together right. Every time I'd try to shred the top would pop off the bowl and make a mess. So, I finally held it down and gave up on the food pusher thing and just used it like a cheese grater.

Step 2 (she says) get the water out of the zucchini. Another WTF?! Moment and I'm standing in the kitchen trying to spin the zucchini in my salad spinner. That helped a little, but I was still left doing the paper towel method she described.

Step 3 - combine the zucchini with all the other ingredients. This is where I should point out that a)I never read through an entire recipe before I start and b) I don't follow directions well.  So, I just started adding the things she said to add. My amounts were estimates (sometimes) and I found that I was out of two things... vanilla extract and baking soda. I used Almond Butter, because that's the only nut butter I had on hand.  I mixed it all up anyway. Instead of mini loaf pans (since I don't have those), I poured the batter into a muffin pan and popped it into the oven.

I will say that the batter taste test passed. The batter was good.  The muffins when they exited the oven looked very good.  But, the real test is in eating them. So, I did.  I think I needed the vanilla extract. They also needed nuts (imo). I gave hubby a bite before I told him that they contained zucchini (which he hates). His response "They need something. I don't hate them, but I don't love them." Then I told them they had zuchini, to which he responded "you must have cooked it all out."  We'll call this one a draw. We don't hate it, but we don't love it. It needs work (or at the very minimum all of the required ingredients).

Before I was finished writing this entry, hubby had grabbed a muffin of his own. I guess if the true test is "will he eat it?", these MOIST Chocolate Zucchini muffins passed the test.