Rosemary Garlic Almonds

       

Rosemary Garlic Roasted Almonds

- 4 cups whole raw almonds

- 2 tbsp minced rosemary

- 2 tsp garlic powder

- 1/3 tsp salt

- 2 tbsp ground flax

- 4 tbsp water

1) In a small bowl,  mix flax with a water. Set aside.

2). In a  large bowl,  mix together all remaining ingredients. Then add flax mix and stir everything together very well. 

3). Transfer mix on a parchment paper,  in one layer,  in a large baking sheet. 

4). Bake in a pre-heated to 250F oven for about 40 min until almonds are beige inside. Every oven is different,  so time is very approximate,  so it may take up to 2 hours. Almonds can be roasted at a higher temperature,  but they can burn really quickly,  so, check them often. 

5). Keep almonds in a closed container. 

Notes:

- I like to use fresh or frozen rosemary for this recipe. 

- Often oil is used for nut roasting. I don't like it,  so I use 'vegan egg' - mix of ground flax and water to get all that seasoning stick to a nut. Also lightly beaten egg whites can be used. 

- you may want to stir almonds some time half way during the roasting. 

No Flour Chocolaty Muffins

      

3 Ingredients No Flour Chocolaty Muffins

For about 8 muffins:

- 4 ripe bananas

- 4 tbsp coco powder 

- 4 tbsp peanut butter

1) in a foods processor, process bananas for about 20 seconds, then add coco powder and process for 20 sec more.

2). On a baking sheet,  place 8 silicone muffin forms and distribute the mix evenly among them.  Fill them up on about 1/3 of its volume. 

3). Warm peanut butter in a microwave to soften it up. Place about 1/2 tbsp of peanut butter into center of each muffin and using toothpick make a couple swirls. 

4). Bake in a pre-heated to 350F oven for about 40 min until edges are firm and center is somewhat firm. 

5). Before eating,  let them cool down completely,  not removing from a form

Notes:

- use good quality coco powder.  I use Dutch baking coco powder from Costco. 

- use pure peanut butter,  without oil, sugar, etc. I use organic one from Costco.

- I keep muffins in a container in a fridge. I like them better the next day,  when they firm up even more. 

- I used large silicone muffin forms,  filling them on 1/4, that's why my muffins are looking flat. 

Healthy and Chewy Coconut Cookie

     

Healthy Coconut Chewy Cookie

Well, guilty, I like my morning coffee accompanied by cookie.  To soften the blow to my health and figure,  I'm in constant search of healthy cookie recipe. Here is the version I come up with recently.  Yeah, it's vegan gluten- flour- sugar- bla- bla- bla- free.

For about 25 decent sized cookies:

- 3 cups  unsweetened coconut flakes

- 3 cups pitted dates (I used Medjool kind)

- 1 cup pitted prunes (optional,  they give a little sour note)

- 2 tsp cinnamon (I always use Ceylon one)

- 1/2 cup of water (to moisten enough to get the dough together)

1) Place all ingredients, except water, in a food processor.  Process until all mixed together well for about 1 minute.  Add water at the end.  You should get sticky thick moist dough.

2). Scoup dough into covered with parchment paper baking sheet. Flatten with a bottom of glass. To avoid dough sticking to a bottom of glass,  use plastic wrap (tip!).

3). Bake in a preheated to 359F oven for about 20 min. 

4). When removed from oven,  place on a cooling rack.  

Notes:

- keep cookies in a covered cookie jar, they will be more chewy the next day.  

- you can use vanilla instead of cinnamon.

- prunes totally optional.  Also you can replace them with any other dry fruits or berries like cranberry,  apricots,  etc. 

- you will need large capacity processor,  or cut the volume of all ingredients in half. 

- if you bake cookies without flattening them,  you'll get soft cookies that are yummy too (see the last photo on this page).