Coconut Flour Pie Crust

Coconut oil is solid at room temperature and makes it challenging to work with when a recipe calls for more than a tablespoon. I have 16 oz glass jars of organic coconut oil. I suppose that if I ever buy that humongous container from Costco, I would have to move it all into glass containers. I put the jar in a pot of water over medium heat. After a few minutes, enough of the coconut oil liquefied and to pour out what is needed instead of having to guesstimate the solid to liquid ratio. I have gotten many ideas about raw coconuts (like how to make coconut products from scratch with whole coconuts) from the Coconut Mamma blog. This recipe ratio is hers and I like its simplicity.

Unbaked Coconut Flour Pie Crust

Like an almond flour pie crust, this one is hard to gauge how thick it is when you pat it down into a 9" pie plate. Given how it bakes, this pastry is only good for the bottom of the pie.

Ingredients

1/2 c organic coconut oil, melted
2 eggs
1/4 tsp sea salt
3/4 c organic coconut flour
2 tbsp raw honey

Directions

In a large bowl (or food prep), beat together eggs, coconut oil, honey, and salt. Add coconut flour and stir until the dough holds together. Gather into a ball and pat into a 9" pie plate.

Prick the dough with a fork. (Sadly, this does not stop the pastry from rising from steam.)

Bake 10 minutes, until edges are golden brown. Let cool before using.

Coconut Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

This is a freeform cookie experiment. I didn't really start with a cookie base; if I did, it started this way.. Two sticks of butter plus one cup of brown sugar with two room temperature eggs. I wasn't aiming to make a sweet cookie. Hot out of the oven, these cookies disintegrate upon eating. While they look nice out in the tray, they are hard to remove without a spoon or flat spatula. I baked a dozen on a rimmed cookie sheet and another dozen in a muffin tin. It looks like, the muffin tin is the way to go for these cookies. They spread a little, but the muffin tin helps to keep the rounded shape. I think the amount of brown sugar is plenty for the sweetness. The more I play with the cookie crumbs on a plate, the more I think this would make an excellent streusel topping for some other dessert.

Makes 3 dozen.

Coconut raisin cookies. Looks normal?

Ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tbsp raw chia seeds (optional)
2 c old fashioned oatmeal, coarsely ground
1 c golden raisins
1/2 c sweetened (or unsweetened) grated coconut (optional)
1/2 c cake flour
1/4 c coconut flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
pinch of sea salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F.

1. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla extract together, add eggs, then mix everything together in a large bowl.

2. Roll a tablespoon of cookie dough into a ball and place each ball into the cavity of a muffin tin.

3. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown.

Let cook on a rack.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

After having made a failed batch of protein powder to presumably make chocolate covered protein bars, I have perhaps stumbled across one of the most delicious tasting cookies I have made so far. Though, the amount of sugar in the recipe is a bit much. I could certainly cut it down.

This is what went into the protein powder:

wet ingredients

1/4 c homemade sugar cane syrup, heated to 220 F and cooled
2 tbsp organic peanut butter
1/2 c homemade pear sauce
1 tsp vanilla extract

dry ingredients

3/4 dark chocolate chips
2/3 c dried cranberries
2 c old fashioned organic oatmeal, pulsed briefly in a food prep
4 tbsp organic chia seed, pulsed briefly in a food prep
2 tbsp organic flax seeds, pulsed briefly in a food prep
2/3 c organic coconut flour


And, to help bring it together as a "dough", I added:

1 egg
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/4 c organic granulated sugar (omit next time)
1/2 c brown sugar

Directions

Mix together until all the ingredients stick together. Spooned onto a baking sheet lined with a silicon mat. Gently press down onto each cookie. These don't spread out, so a dozen can be baked on a single sheet at a time.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Makes 2 dozen tablespoon-sized cookies.