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.

A few weeks back I had a large amount of limes come into my possession (thanks dad!). We were spending the week at his place; when I mentioned I needed a lime for a recipe I was planning on making, he came home with the biggest bag of limes I had ever seen. They have now been sitting in my fridge for a while and the thought of them going bad was enough to get me searching for the perfect recipes to use up this overabundance of limes. Here was one of my favourites, recipe adapted from the nourishing gourmet

• 3 eggs
• 1-2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 6 tbsp coconut oil, melted then cooled to room temp
• splash of vanilla

In a medium pot whisk together the eggs, ginger and honey over medium heat. Stir in the lime juice, coconut oil and vanilla. Continue to whisk until the mixture thickens and small bubbles start to pop to the surface. You now have two options, you can leave it as is or scrape through a fine sieve placed over a bowl. It has a stronger ginger flavour if you skip the sieve but it will not be as smooth.

To serve: This tastes great warm or cold. It will thicken once refrigerated and should last up to a week in the fridge. Serve alone or topped with whipped coconut cream or with some fresh meringue.

I went up to my Dad’s for the week. While I was there he asked if I could try and make him a healthier version of one of his favourite snacks. Brownies. This is what I came up with.

1/3 cup of cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup dates + 3tbsp water

1 15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp vanilla

3 tbsp coconut oil, melted

2 eggs

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350. In a medium bowl sift together the cocoa and baking powder. In a food processor add the dates + water, blackbeans, vanilla and coconut oil. Mix until smooth ( if the mixture is too thick add a bit more water ). Add the eggs and pulse until combined. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry. Stir in the chocolate chips, feel free to save a few to sprinkle on top. Pour the batter into a greased 9 inch squair baking pan. Bake for 50 to 55 min. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Refrigorate for a few hours and serve.

*note: These brownies are best served cold. The texture is smooth almost like a truffle when served this way.

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.

This is how Poppy and I spent our morning…..Enjoy!

for the cookies:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed and room temperature

1 cup organic granulated sugar

1 egg

1/2 orange, 1 1/2 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice

1 tsp organic vanilla extract

2 cups self rising flour, (if you don’t have self rising flour on hand you can use  all purpose flour + 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt)

preheat oven to 350. In a stand mixer on medium-high, cream together the butter slowly adding the sugar. Add the egg then the orange juice and vanilla. Reduce speed to med-low and gradually add the flour. Mix until combined ( do not over mix ); separate the dough into two disks and wrap with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. On a well floured surface roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch in thickness. Using a heart shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many hearts as you can! Place the hearts on a parchment lined baking sheet and toss in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Remove from th freezer and bake for 10 minutes or until the bottoms and edges are begining to brown slightly.

For the Icing:

2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 tbsp meringue powder

1/4 cup water, room temp

1/2 tsp oil free vanilla extract, make sure there is no oil or it will ruin the icing!

pinch of cream of tartar

In the bowl of your stand mixer add the sugar, meringue powder and cream of tartar. Mix together using the paddle attachment. Add the extract to the water and slowly add it to the dry ingredients. Mix on medium speed for about 5-6 minutes ( it should at this point be thick like pudding ) then up the speed to high for another 3-4 minutes or until stiff and fluffy like meringue (make sure you do not over mix! Regardless of how long you have been mixing STOP as soon the peaks form or in other words it becomes stiff)

*note: if this all seems like far more time and effort than you wanted to spend making valentine cookies,  you can alway buy pre-made white cookie icing it’s super easy to use, you don’t need a piping bag….way less clean up annnd you don’t have to let them set overnight! hmmmm that sounds pretty good lol

To decorate:

pipe the outline of a heart inside each cookie then flood with icing; if you don’t know how to flood cookies with icing check out this tutorial on sweetsugarbelle. Once you have flooded your cookies, let them set overnight. Using a food marker decorate the iced parts of the hearts. These make the perfect little valentine. Share the love! x0

makes about 30 macaroons

2 large egg whites

1/3 cup pure maple syrup or honey

1/2 tsp organic vanilla

1/8 tsp organic almond extract

2 cups organic unsweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg whites, maple syrup, vanilla and almond extract. Add the coconut and stir until combined.

Using a tablespoon as a scooper, spoon out the mixture onto a parchment lined tray ( or 2 ) leaving about an inch of space between the macaroons. Bake for 15 minutes or until the bottoms and sides are golden brown and the tops are begining to brown. Once you have removed the macaroons from the oven let rest for a min of 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Enjoy

*note: these would be amazing with a little chocolate drizzled on top!