These are so good. They are more of a treat than a healthy snack but that hasn’t stopped them from disappearing from my kitchen in less than 2 days! Every time I turn my head another muffin goes missing. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Recipe adapted from Food52.

Makes 20 muffins

• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk use just under 1/2 cup milk+1 tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice)
• 1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp dark spiced rum
• 1/2 cup raisins, *soak in rum/vanilla for 1 hour before using
• 1/3 cup pepitas
• 1 tbsp brown sugar+1 tsp cinnamon for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. in a large bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
3. in a medium bowl whisk together the egg, pumpkin, sugar, coconut oil, molasses and buttermilk.
4. combine the wet ingredients with the dry.
5. add the candied ginger and raisins.
6. stir until just combined. Do not over mix.
7. distribute the batter evenly amongst 2 muffin tins making 20 muffins.
8. sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture.
9. bake for 30-33 minutes.

*Note: If you want to make this recipe into a loaf simply add an extra 2 tbsp coconut oil and bake in a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Thanks to Antiques on Queen  for the beautiful dishes used in this post.

Recipe adapted from Heather Christo

Today is my sister Emma’s 30th birthday. I had hoped to take her out to brunch but she was far too hungover for that. Since I wasn’t able to get her to leave the house I decided to whip her up a little personal sized cake and bring it to her. I hadn’t planned on making a cake so I had to use a recipe that called for ingredients I had on hand. This is what I came up with.

Happy Birthday Auntie Emm!!

cake: 

1 1/2 cups gluten free flour

1/2 cup organic cane sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1/3 cup pumpkin puree

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

2/3 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup coconut milk

In a medium bowl sift together the dry ingredients. In a small bowl combine the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well. Pour the batter into a parchment lined 4 1/2 inch cake pan ( my pan is about 3 inches high and I filled it 2/3 of the way) Bake at 350 for 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted all the way thorough the center. Let sit for 5 minutes. Remove cake from cake pan, place on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes. Once cake has cooled compleatly cut into 3 using a serrated knife.

*note: If you wish to keep this cake vegan, switch out the cream cheese and use your fave vegan icing!

icing:

2 tbsp coco natura, room temp

1/4 cup coconut spread, room temp

1/3 cup cream cheese, room temp

1 1/2 cups icing sugar ( use a bit more if you like thicker icing )

In a stand mixer whip together the coconut spread, cream cheese and coco natura. Add the icing sugar and whip until light and fluffy.

To assemble:

place first piece of cake on a small dish, top with a thick layer of icing. now add the second layer of cake and top with a thick layer of icing. Add the third layer of cake and frost the entire cake! sprinkle with a little unsweetened coconut. Enjoy!

*note: you can make mini muffins with the left over batter. in a greased mini muffin tin, bake for about 25 minutes.

We decided to take advantage of our Family Day long weekend by inviting a few friends over for a bit of food and a little play time with Poppy. The flirtng was instant as Pop began to work her magic. Sharon was the first recipient of the our little one’s flirty flirty ways and then it was on to the boys. There was a ton of fun to be had with jumbo chalk, books, bowling, and a few tattoos ( thank you paul for teaching poppy it is o.k. to draw on something other than paper ).  Top it all off with a little dance party and I would say the day was a sucess.

Makes about 15 med-small biscuits 

For the biscuits:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbsp butter, chilled and diced or grated

1 cup feta, crumbled

6 stalks scallions, finely chopped, green parts only

1 cup plain yogurt ( I used greek 2% )

preheat the oven to 450. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In your stand mixer using the pastry attachment add the dry ingredients and cut in the chilled butter. Using the paddle attachment fold in the feta and scallions. Now add the yogurt and mix until just combined. Place two inch balls of the dough on the prepared baking sheets and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the tops and bottoms begin to turn a nice golden brown.

for the spread:

1/4 cup cream cheese

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1 heaping tbsp dill, coppped

1 heaping tbsp scallions, chopped

Add all of the above to your food processor and mix until combined.

Additional ingredients:

300g smoked salmon

capers

Lemony Greens:

1 small tub of mixed greens

lemons

olive oil

baby tomatoes

cucumber

red onion

To assemble:

cut biscuits in half, add a good sized dollop of the cream cheese spread and top with smoked salmon, capers and some lemony greens. We served these with a side of scrambled eggs and a little side salad made with leftover lemony greens, some red onion, heirloom tomatoes and cucumber. Enjoy!

*recipe adapted from baconeggcheesecake

These are perfect as a quick on the go breakfast or snack. Pair them with a handful of berries or warm them up with a little butter or, for a sweet treat, try them with a smear of date paste…soooo good.

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 super ripe banana, mashed

2 pear, mashed

1/2 cup date paste + 1 tbsp water

1 cup gluten free flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup ground oats

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp psyllium husk powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

2 carrots, shredded

1 small zucchini, shredded

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 egg, lightly beaten

*date paste- Place about a cup of dates into a mason jar and cover with water. Let soak for a few hours or over night. Empty the dates into a food processor with about a tablespoon of the soaking water. Pulse until you have a beautifully smooth paste.

Preheat oven to 350

In a food processor pulse together the zucchini and carrot until nicely shredded. In a medium bowl mix together the yogurt, applesauce, banana, pear, zucchini, carrots, date paste, coconut oil and egg until combined. In a separate bowl add the flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, psyllium husk powder and cinnamon; whisk together. Dump the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon stir until well combined. Grease an 8 inch square baking pan with a little coconut oil. Evenly spread the batter into the pan and bake for approximately 1 hour/ 1 hour 10 min. To tell if they are done insert a toothpick into the center of the pan, if it comes out clean the squares are done! Enjoy.

Getting Poppy to eat has been a challenge. From the start it was quite clear that Poppy was going to eat what she wanted when she wanted and if she didn’t like it then there was no way it was staying in her mouth. We have been through the “headshaking” phase where I would try to distract her to get a quick bite in ( this doesn’t work well if you want to get more food in after the first distraction ); then we were in the “just because it’s in doesn’t mean it’s staying in” phase where she would happily eat a ton of food, stuffing her cheeks to the brim and as I sat watching with joyful relief that she was finally eating she would open her little mouth and proceed to spit every last bit out. This was beyond frustrating. I knew there were a few different options on how to deal with this and I chose simply not to react as it seemed to me she was trying to get a reaction every time she did it. Thankfully after a few weeks this phase ended and now we are into the “Mommy gives Poppy a wide variety of food and Poppy decides what she wants” phase. These days what Poppy wants is smoothies ( this is how I get veggies into her )  bread, cheese and fruit. Because she is so into bread I thought I would try and make my own bread and see how much good stuff I could throw into it without Poppy knowing. This bread was my first try. It is quite good – both Poppy and “grownups” love it. It’s full of goodness and super moist..maybe a bit too moist but that hasn’t stopped anyone from devouring the 2 loaves I have made so far. I have a few tricks I will try next time to see if I can shorten the baking time and take a bit more of the moisture out of it but for now this is my go to bread recipe for Poppy and if she could talk she would absolutely tell you to make it!

• 1/2 cup cottage cheese, pulse in food processor if you don’t want any chunks
• 1/2 cup pitted dates + 1 tbsp water, puree in food processor until the dates turn into a paste
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 super ripe banana, mashed
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 med zucchini, shredded and pressed between paper towels to get some of the excess moisture out
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon

You can also add about 1/4 cup flax seeds or other seeds, dried fruit, nuts, choc chip or carob chips if you want.

Preheat oven to 350. In a Med bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. In a separate medium bowl mix the cottage cheese, date paste, apple sauce, mashed banana, pumpkin, oil and egg. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Fold in the zucchini ( and nuts, seeds, fruit, choc chips etc if using ). Pour batter into a well greased 9″ loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour 30 min. Insert thickest point of loaf with a wooden skewer; if it comes out relatively clean it’s done. Remove from oven let sit for 10 min and then turn out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.

I serve this to Poppy as is or with a little organic apple butter for a treat.