Posts Tagged ‘almond milk’

Spelt Biscuits

spelt biscuits

There is nothing better than a hearty, soul warming soup in the fall and through the winter, but as excited as I am about tasting each new batch or being reminded of familiar favorites, sometimes I get just as excited about the bread that will be accompanying it.

I made a big batch of stew for dinner the other night soon after finishing our chickpea noodle soup. Normally I enjoy soups and stews with a nice loaf of crusty bread; sopping up all the last remaining bits with a shaggy torn piece at the end. This time however, I was craving biscuits. Warm from the oven, flaky, buttery, homey biscuits.

Now, these are not your traditional biscuits in any sense, they are made entirely from spelt flour, but they still have that buttery, slightly flaky characteristic I was craving. So they suited me just fine.
butter

dough

spelt biscuits

This batch made plenty more than we could eat that night and biscuits are always a welcome sight in the morning. I rewarmed them slightly in the oven the next day just to give them that warm from the oven feel again. Then I drizzled mine with some local raw blackberry honey alongside a hot cup of tea, but jam or even just a nob of butter perks them up too. I also may have eaten more then one, but who’s counting?

Now that I’m on the topic of breakfast, I’m envisioning serving these alongside scrambled eggs or tofu or maybe making a fried egg sandwich from them as well. Biscuits have so many great uses! Never be afraid to make a double batch, they will always get eaten.
spelt biscuits with honey

Spelt Biscuits /8-10 biscuits

Other than the change from white flour to spelt (you can use light spelt if you prefer too), there is plenty of cold butter mixed in to give the biscuits their flakiness. I used my favorite buttermilk substitute of almond milk and vinegar, but if you have a splash of buttermilk needing to be used up you can use that here too.

3/4 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 1/2 Cups spelt flour
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine the milk and vinegar (alternatively you can use buttermilk), set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using your hands, rub in the butter into the flour mixture until you have roughly little pea size bits.

Stir in the milk mixture with a wooden spoon. You should have a shaggy doughy mess, don’t worry if it seems dry at this point. Dump everything out onto a clean surface and knead the dough 10-15 times just until all the flour is worked in.

Flatten the dough out into a 1″ thick circle and use a biscuit cutter to make neat rounds of dough. Gather together any remaining dough scraps and repeat until you have 8-10 biscuits cut out. Place them on a baking pan and bake for 18-20 minutes. Serve warm.

Bread, Breakfast, Fall, Grains, Proteins, Sides, Winter

Lemon Thyme Strawberry Shortcakes

I can feel Summer coming, it’s really close. The days are long and every morning I gently wake to the sound of birds chirping. In the NW, many say Summer is never truly here until after the 4th of July. After that, it’s one of the most pleasant and beautiful places to be.

In the mean time I’ve been eating strawberries by the fist full to compensate for the lack of sun. After picking up my first little blue basket a couple weeks ago, I went back and bought an entire flat. I couldn’t help myself. And I wouldn’t mind going back to get more from a farm nearby to pick my own. They were perfectly ripe red jewels. I set aside a few baskets to eat as is, baked with them, placed them in salads, pureed some and put them into pancakes and the rest were cleaned up and placed into the freezer for a little December strawberry delight.

But I couldn’t think of a better way to start July than with strawberry shortcakes. I don’t think there was ever a childhood Summer where I didn’t enjoy one of these tasty cakes. I always preferred mine loaded with fresh strawberries and not as much whipped cream, the same is true today.

These aren’t your traditional shortcakes though. And definitely not the spongy little cakes that come wrapped in plastic, that for some reason I remember were always slightly sticky. What was that?

The inspiration for these shortcakes actually comes from a favorite cornbread recipe that I’ve been making for years (although I’ve yet to share it here, I’d better get on that). A subtle taste of lemon and a grassy earthiness from the thyme makes these something different. The cakes themselves are actually vegan, but you wouldn’t know it.

They bake with a perfectly thin and crisp crust on the outside and a soft, delicate crumb interior. I could eat them on their own, like a scone with a cup of tea, but when topped with strawberries and a dollop of fresh whipped cream well, lets just say I went in for seconds.

I also wanted to share something sweet with you as a sort of bribe for info from all of you. In about a week we’ll be headed down to San Francisco for the Renegade Craft Show. We’ve only spent a brief amount of time in this incredible city, and even though this trip is more work related, I’d love to get inside tips on places to go, see, and of course good places to eat.

Budget friendly places are always most helpful, but really anything you’ve got I’d love for you to share. And if you happen to be in the bay area on July 9th and 10th you should come and stop by.

Lemon Thyme Strawberry Shortcakes / makes 6

This recipe make 6 single serving shortcakes, but can easily be doubled if you’d like more. If you’re unsure about the lemon or thyme, leave them out, you’ll still have a perfectly delicious vegan shortcake, sans the whipped cream of coarse. I used white whole wheat flour to keep them from straying too far from their original light color, but feel free to use whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose flour if that’s what you have.

shortcake
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cane sugar
zest of one lemon
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme or 3/4 tablespoon fresh
6 tablespoons coconut oil, not melted
3/4 cup almond milk
juice of half a small lemon

whipped cream
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoons cane sugar

a pint of strawberries, sliced for serving

Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat baking mat.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, lemon zest, and thyme. Using your fingers, rub in the coconut oil until little pebbly pieces begin to form and mixture is crumbly.

Pour the almond milk and lemon juice into the bowl. Gently stir until a soft dough starts to form. It will be a pretty wet and sticky dough, but make sure that you incorporate all the flour at the bottom of the bowl. You just don’t want to over work it.

Divide the batter into 6 equal portions, about a half cup each. I like a more rustic look and just plop the onto the baking sheet, but you can try patting them into a more uniform shape.

Place them in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. They should be puffed up, slightly golden, and have a slight give with lightly pushed with your finger. Transfer them to a wire cooling rack.

To make the whipped cream, pour the cream into a mixing bowl along with the sugar. Whip at a high speed until soft peaks begin to form, do not over-beat. Keep covered and chilled until ready to serve.

When ready to assemble, carefully slice the cakes in half with a serrated knife. Place strawberries and whipped cream on the bottom half, then cover with the top half and serve.

I think the cakes are best eaten on the first day, but stored in a tightly covered container they will keep for a couple days.

Bread, Desserts + Sweets, Fruits

Mint Chip Ice Cream

Happy solstice! Today is one of my favorite days of the year. The sun comes up before 5am and it doesn’t go down until 10pm. It’s crazy and it’s a day that calls for ice cream. Don’t you agree?

I have many fond memories growing up of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Mostly in the Summer months and always with sticky streaks of light green running down the sides of my cheeks. But I’m an adult now and the green coloring added to my ice cream isn’t as appealing as it once was, nor is a face smeared with the stuff. So once again I pulled out my beloved ice cream maker and set about to make a fresh minty batch of ice cream.

Remember when I made mango sorbet. It was light, refreshing, and there was no refined sugar. I loved the idea of using dates as a sweetener and knew my Summer was going to be filled with all kinds of icy treats made using this technique. I was so excited when I took my first bite of this mint chip ice cream. Just the right amount of sweetness, no weird artificial or chemical after taste, and perfectly minty and chocolaty in every bite.

I used David’schocolate chip making expertise. It worked perfectly. You just chill the container you want to keep your ice cream in, drizzle in a bit of melted dark chocolate, cover with a scoop of fresh churned ice cream and repeat, swirling in the chocolate as you go to make chips. You’ll end up with small bits of chocolate and some that are slightly larger depending on how thick you drizzle.

Mint Chip Ice Cream / makes about 3 cups

A packed cup of mint may seem like a lot, but you will be straining the mint out, not blending it in and it really depends on how long you let the milk and mint mixture sit to achieve your satisfactory mint potency. I let mine site for about 1 1/2 – 2 hours and it was perfect.

1 cup almond milk
1 14oz. can coconut milk
pinch of salt
1 cup packed fresh mint
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 oz. pitted dates, about 1 cup
about 1 cup boiled water
3 oz. dark chocolate

Heat the almond milk, coconut milk, salt, and mint in a small sauce pan over medium high heat. Let it get hot enough to where it is steaming, but not boiling.

Cover and set aside to cool for about 1-2 hours or depending on how minty of a flavor you want.

In the meantime, place the dates into a small bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Let sit for at least 15 minutes to soften, then drain.

Strain the mint leaves from the milk mixture, giving them a good squeeze with a spatula to extract more mint flavor if you wish. Place the dates and milk mixture into a blender and blend on high speed until smooth. Place everything in the refrigerator until cold, at least 2 hours or overnight.

Freeze the ice cream according to your ice cream machines instructions.

Place your ice cream storage container into the freezer. While the ice cream is churning, melt the chocolate in a double broiler, stirring until smooth.

Pull the container out of the freezer, drizzle some of the chocolate into the bottom. Then scoop out some of the churned ice cream and drizzle on more chocolate and quickly stir it in. Continue layering like this until and stirring in more chocolate until finished.

Place in the freezer until firm. Pull out 15 minutes to serving for easier scooping.

Desserts + Sweets, Gluten-Free, Vegan

Banana Bread with Chocolate & Walnuts + A Giveaway!

I realized the other day that the end of this month marks exactly three years since my husband and I have been working solely for ourselves. It makes me think back to the day we left our comfortable paychecks and looked to our future with open hearts and minds. Although we had lots of support, I can’t say for sure how comfortable our family and friends felt with our decision, but it was one we knew to be right for ourselves and one that we knew could be accomplished if we put our everything into it.

Early on there were definitely days we wanted to end our business venture, but luckily we had each other and those feelings we both had never crossed paths. If it was me who was worrying, Scott would reassure me that everything would be fine and to wait and see what the end of the week or month would bring. If it were him, I did the same. I can’t believe its been three years already, it really only feels like yesterday. We have worked our butts off, spending most, if not all our time on our business and we look forward to its future.

Along this journey, we’ve had to sacrifice many things, mostly material, but our lives are by far simpler and richer then they’ve ever been. We’ve made incredible friendships I know would not have happened had we been inside a cubicle everyday.

We’ve learned many things about running a business, but time management always seemed the most difficult. Working for yourself means you don’t have to get up at a certain time to be somewhere on time. You can work in your pajamas if you want and you can head out to meet whomever, whenever. But you can also end up working too much, not giving yourself a break because if you do guilt sets in because you are not working. We have both been more of the latter.

I’m finally letting in the fact that there has to be balance. I can and should have moments of free time that do not include thinking about our business. I’ve learned to keep a pretty steady work flow through the week and reserve weekends for a little time off. Truthfully, I do still work on weekends, but its more laid back and includes other activities. This weekend I actually worked a lot, catching up on things for the craft show season, but because we actually had really nice sunny days I spent some time getting things planted in my garden, going to a local print show and baking banana bread just for you.


This banana bread has a delicate light crumb texture. It’s studded with the perfect amount of chocolate and toasted walnuts, to be sure there’s a bit in every bit. It has the signature deep cracks along the top and a golden brown crust that gives into a moist interior. The ripeness of your bananas can dramatically change the taste of your bread. Most use heavily spotted to black bananas but that always yields an entirely too banana flavor for my liking. I like my to be yellow, but covered with little brown spots. Just enough banana flavor to know it’s banana bread, but not overwhelmingly overpowered. This recipe will work however you like your bananas.

Now for the giveaway! We’re so excited about our three years in business we wanted to share some of our excitement with all of you and offer one reader one a chance to receive one 8″x 10″ Let The Sun Shine In poster! This has been our most popular poster and mentioned on many design blogs, you can also purchase one right here. To enter, leave a comment below telling me your favorite memory in the sunshine. You can enter a second time if you twitter @slidesideways and come back here letting me know. And because I hate leaving people out, this one’s up for anyone inside or outside of the US. Please leave an email so I can reach you if you’ve won. Contest ends this Friday at noon, PST. One winner will be chosen at random.

Banana Bread with Chocolate & Walnuts / 1 loaf

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup cane sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups mashed ripe banana
3/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350F. Oil or line with baking parchment a 9″x 5″ loaf pan.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.

In a medium bowl combine the mashed bananas, almond milk, olive oil and vanilla. You want to make sure this mixture is very smooth, if you need to run it through a blender that would work as well.

Pour the wet mixture over the dry and combine just until everything is wet. You don’t want to over mix. Using a spatula, fold in the chocolate and walnuts.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared loaf pan and give it a couple drops on the counter top to even everything out. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting and serving.

Bread, Breakfast, Desserts + Sweets, Fruits, Vegan

Mini Lemon Poppy Seed Cakes

I am so ready for Spring and Summer to be here. I can hardly wait for my local farmers market to open so I can roam between each stand picking out the freshest asparagus and the most mouth watering strawberries I’ve ever seen. So much of my cooking inspiration comes from the farmers market, so after going five months without it, I start to get antsy waiting.

I’ve been trying to make the best of it by getting excited about my own garden this year. Beside growing some greens, squash, carrots and herbs in my own back yard, I’ve joined forces with a few friends to build our own little urban garden. Well I shouldn’t say little. It’s actually going to be quite large and hopefully produce enough vegetables for the six of us well through most of the summer. Overly ambitious? Maybe, but I haven’t even told you about the plans for chickens yet. So even though April is here and I still have a kitchen full of root vegetables and hearty greens that make it into every meal at least I have something to look forward to.

Last week I decided to break up all the veggies for a little lemony treat. Something bright in flavor and studded with poppy seeds seemed to sound just right. Zesting a lemon alone is enough to brighten any old rainy Spring day. I contemplated making a quick bread, but then decided little cakes would be much cuter and easier to grab and snack on when the moment called.

Mini Lemon Poppy Seed Cakes / makes 20 little cakes

I like my cakes studded with lots of poppy seeds, if you prefer less you can stir in 2 or 3 tablespoons instead of the full 1/4 cup. It’s important to have your ingredients at room temperature for this recipe because the melted coconut oil will begin to solidify as your stirring if they are much colder. The spelt flour can be replaced by all-purpose if you’d like as well.

2 cups spelt flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon salt
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons almond milk
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup cane sugar
6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoon packed grated lemon zest
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup poppy seeds

Preheat the oven to 350F and position the rack in the middle. Lightly grease muffin tin.

In a small bowl stir the lemon juice into the almond milk and let sit for about 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, set aside. In a large bowl combine the sugar, coconut oil, and lemon zest. Add each egg one at a time, whisking well after each addition.

Stir in the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk mixture in 2 additions. Mix until everything is just blended. Stir in the poppy seeds. Spoon the batter in heaping tablespoons full into the prepared muffin tins.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

*If you want to make larger cakes, just fill the tin to about 3/4 full and cook for a longer time, I’m guessing about 20 minutes should be close, but you may want to watch them.

Breakfast, Desserts + Sweets, Grains