Thursday, May 7, 2015

Vegan, Gluten-Free Banana Coconut Cream Pancakes



 *drools*


In honor of my 1 year blog-versary, I decided to make my hands-down favorite brunch (food) to celebrate! These pancakes are super duper easy to make (they take 15 minutes!) and yield 10 pancakes per batch so they're perfect for a cute brunch party (or you could totally just eat all of them in one sitting. No judgements here)!

Side note: You can totally make these pancakes into crepes! Just increase the almond milk to 2.5 cups!

Some ingredients you'll need are:
- 1 cup raw buckwheat groats, ground into a fine flour
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1.5 cups + 3 tablespoons almond milk (those 3 tablespoons make all the difference!)
- 1 heaping cup diced ripe bananas
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or agave nectar)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Coconut Whipped Cream (available at Whole Foods and Sprouts)
- chopped fresh strawberries, for garnish

Onto the actual pancake making...
1. Preheat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. A drop of water should sizzle when the skillet is ready!
2. In a blender, blend the buckwheat groats on high speed until it turns into a fine flour. Place into a large bowl. Now whisk in the rest of the dry ingredients (rice flour, arrowroot, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon).
3. Dice the banana until it's the size of peas or a bit larger. Fold the diced banana into the batter.
4. Lightly grease skillet (I sprayed coconut oil on it). Scoop a heaping 1/4 cup of batter onto the preheated skillet and quickly spread the batter out into a circle. Cook until some bubbles appear and the edge looks deeper in color and more firm. Flip and cook for another 3-ish minutes until golden. Adjust heat as needed. Repeat for other pancakes. 
5. Stack and serve with Coconut Whipped Cream and fresh chopped strawberries!

I hope you find these pancakes as amazing and delicious as I do!
xoxo, J

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Baked Fruit: 3 Ways


Baked fruit 3 ways
Guys, I think it's pie season. Every magazine cover I look at seems to have a pie (or two or three) on it. This proves a few things: 1. I apparently only read food magazines. 2. It's pie season. I've already started making my list of possible pies I'll be baking for Thanksgiving this year (I'm way early, I know). But man cannot live on pie alone. A great and lighter alternative is baked fruit. You still get to enjoy all the delicious fruit flavor without quite so much butter, sugar and crust. Here are a few of my favorites.
Baked peach parfait
Baked Peach Parfait, makes 4 servings.
Needed: 2 peaches, 1/2 cup oats, 1/8 cup olive oil, 1/8 cup maple syrup or honey, a few pinches of cinnamon, and a handful of chopped pecans.

In a small bowl, combine the oats, oil, sweetener, cinnamon and pecans. Stir, making sure every oat is coated in oil and sweetener. Slice peaches in half and remove pits. Fill with oat filling and bake at 400 F for 15-18 minutes, until softened and the skin begins to pull away from the fruit. Garnish with whipped cream.
Baked grapefruit
Baked Grapefruit, makes 4 servings. This is great for breakfast or a light dessert!
Needed: 2 grapefruits and a conservative handful of brown sugar.

Slice grapefruits in half and remove as many seeds as you can. Begin to segment the grapefruit—this will allow the sugar to soak in even more. Sprinkle with sugar and bake at 400 F for 16-18 minutes.
Baked apples
Baked Apples (or "Opposite Apple Pie" if you're feeling clever, and I AM), makes 4 servings.
Needed: 2 apples (I like Granny Smith), 1/4 cup brown sugar, a few pinches of cinnamon and 1/2 sheet of puff pastry.

Core apples and slice in half. Coat the inside with brown sugar. Slice up the puff pastry into thin strips and create a lattice design over the apples. Sprinkle with a little more sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 400 F for 16-18 minutes until puff pastry is golden brown, and apple has softened. Serve with vanilla ice cream!
Baked fruit
As you can see these are super easy to make but also really cute and delicious. Impress your next dinner party guests with this sweet pie alternative. Happy baking!
xoxo, Joanna