Fig & Peanut Butter on Zucchini Coconut Flour Bread

Lately, I'm getting really into creating each component of a meal from scratch. Earlier this week I went to a talk in Auckland by the Women's Collective where I heard Megan May from Little Bird Organics, Auckland's resident Raw Foodie and Rebecca Wadey from The Centre (a yoga & wellness centre which sits above Little Bird) speak. One of the things that stood out to me the most from this talk is how much love and dedication goes into Megan's food. Rebecca told of how you may not realise but every little thing at Little Bird is made from it's raw form- coconut water from the inside of a coconut, not from a bottle and almond milk made completely from scratch. It's these little differences and attention to detail which make Megans food so ridiculously good but also shows her passion towards her whole message and belief. Basically, the don't take shortcuts just because they can and I think it's something everyone could learn from.

While many other cafes would happily grab a box of almond milk, Megan goes well and beyond to ensure her food is made with the upmost love and this really stood out to me to pay more attention to what I fuel my body with and where every food source comes from. 

I loved hearing these two inspiring Women speak and walked away with an even greater appreciation for what they do for the Auckland Health & Wellness Community. Little Bird hands down has the best raw treats I've ever tasted and I think they do such a fantastic role at creating a really fantastic community.


These past few weeks I've been trying my hand at different coconut flour breads as I was given three bags as gifts over the past few weeks and really wanted to find a way to effectively use it. Sometimes I look at it and think back on failed muffin attempts and become discouraged, but I think the biggest thing about coconut flour is just knowing how to use it properly.


What I've realised about baking with coconut flour:

-It's best to pair it back with another flour- almond, gluten free flour or rice flour will make sure it's a little bit more dense. Going half/half and pairing it back with another type of flour will make for a better consistency in your baking.
-Coconut flour to wheat flour is not a one-to-one ratio so you must ensure you are using 1/4 cup of coconut flour for each full cup wheat flour if you are replacing it in recipes.
-Coconut flour is incredibly absorbent meaning most recipes using it have a very large number of eggs and a very small overall quantity of flour
-If you're substituting wheat flour for coconut flour in one of your favourite recipes, keep in mind that it might not always come out right the first time but don't get too discouraged, you’ll start to get an idea how well it absorbs and how the batter should probably look at the end after a few attempts.

Yesterday I went up to the beautiful Matakana markets, an hour north of Auckland and picked up some of the first figs of the season, I can't tell you how happy I am to see these beautiful fruits again! (Bit of a produce nerd) Fresh figs are one of my favourite fruits and I love to use them in baking. I paired these fresh figs back with my homemade peanut butter on top of my homemade Zucchini Coconut Flour Bread. 

This bread has a really good consistency and is really easy to make. I added a banana into this recipe to make it a sweet bread however you can leave out the banana and add in walnuts, and garlic for a really nice savoury bread. 

I was lucky enough to use fresh Zucchinis from my grandmas garden- always a bonus!

Zuccini Coconut Flour Bread

You will need:

-1 medium Zucchini, grated

-6 eggs

1/2 cup coconut or olive oil

-1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup coconut flour

-1/2 cup almond meal flour or gluten free flour

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1 teaspoon baking powder

Optional for sweet bread:

2 tablespoons coconut sugar or rice malt syrup

1 banana, mashed

Optional for savoury bread:

-1/3 cup chopped walnuts

-1 teaspoon dried or freshly grated garlic

Method:

1.  Grate your zucchini and wrap in a paper towel to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. This step is really important and you must make sure you get out all the water as you can otherwise the consistency of the bread won't bake correctly. 

2. In a bowl, mix the eggs, oil, apple cider vinegar, and zucchini.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the coconut flour, almond flour or gluten free flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

Optional: If you're making a sweet bread, here's where you want to add in your sweetener and mashed banana and if you're going for a savoury bread, here's where you want to add in your walnuts and garlic. 

4. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to combine
5. Pour into a greased loaf pan that has been lined with parchment paper and sprinkle the top with sea salt.
6. Bake at 180°C for 450-60 minutes or until cooked through.

7. Allow to cool completely before serving. I'm really impatient and always grab things out of the container before they've cooled but for this bread especially, it's really important to allow it to set as the coconut flour really needs to continue to set otherwise you'll find it will crumble or break apart. 

8. Slice with a bread knife and store in the fridge or freezer. 

Serve toasted.

My favourite serving suggestions:

-Fig & Peanut Butter

-Honey

-Poached eggs and garlic hummus

-Homemade Kale Pesto

Homemade Peanut Butter

This was the most simple process i'm finding it hard to believe I haven't ever given this a go before. This recipe is so easy, quick and makes such a creamy, natural peanut butter free from oils, salts and any preservatives. I'm sitting here eating it by the spoonful & thinking of what else I could possibly make with this new cupboard staple.

Recipe makes 2 small-medium jam jars of Peanut Butter (about 1 and a half cups to two cups)

Ingredients:
3 cups raw organic peanuts (about 500g)

Optional: 1 tsp organic salt

Method:

1. Heat oven to 180C.
2. Lay our your peanuts on a roasting tray and roast for 15-30 minutes or until golden brown. Make sure to toss half way through to ensure the peanuts all turn a roasted golden colour.

3. If you've bought peanuts with the skins on, you'll need to rid of the skins before you blend away. Allow the peanuts to cool for 30 minutes and then rub small handfuls in between the palms of your hands.  You'll need to repeat this process for 5 to 10 minutes until all the skins all come off. 
Here's a trick my Grandma taught me, who, according to my sister has been "roasting peanuts half her life". When you're ready, take the tray into the garden and toss peanuts carefulls on the tray. The wind will blow away the skins and if it's a still day, you can blow away the skins yourself until you're left with just peanuts. 

4. Throw all of your peanuts into a blender and process for approximately 3-6 minutes. Your peanut butter will go few different stages- Chunky (and loud), crumbly, chunky dough-like paste, and finally, creamy, buttery, peanut goodness.

5. Add in salt if desired and store in clean jars & enjoy, share and devour.

Raw Snickers Bars

Call me crazy but I think I prefer these to actual snickers. These are the best treats to have in the fridge/freezer for a sweet treat  after dinner or for when you have a sugar craving. These are refined sugar free, gluten free, raw & vegan.

Chocolate Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Virgin Coconut Oil

1/2 Cup Cacao Butter
1/2 Cup Natural Cocoa Powder
1/4 Cup Natural Maple Syrup or Rice Malt Syrup

Caramel Ingredients:
1 Cup Pre-Soaked Fresh Pitted Medjool Dates
3 Tbsp Agave Nectar
2 Tbsp Almond Butter
1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Extra Ingredients:
1 Cup Dry Roasted or Raw Peanuts

Directions:
Place Chocolate Ingredients over a bain marie and melt on a low heat until smoothe and all ingredients are melted.

Set aside.

Place all Caramel ingredients into your food processor and blend until smooth (stopping to scrape down the sides).
Coat your silicone molds, muffin tin or mini-muffin tins bottom and sides with a fairly thick layer of chocolate (remember you want these to be able to pop out easily).
Layer in caramel.
Top with peanuts.
Add one final layer of chocolate completely coating the top.
Place in the freezer for 1 hour.
Remove from freezer, serve and enjoy!

Tip – Keep these in a sealed-tight container in the freezer until serving.

Coconut Flour Raspberry muffins

Coconut Flour Raspberry muffins

Gluten free, nut free, dairy free, low carb

These have to be my all time favourite muffins.



Ingredients

⅓ cup + 2 tablespoons coconut flour

1/2 cup frozen or fresh raspberries plus a small handful to top

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
3 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons stevia
½ cup coconut milk



Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix the coconut flour, stevia and baking soda. 

2. In a separate bowl mix all the wet ingredients- coconut milk, coconut oil, eggs, vanilla and mix through the coconut flour mixture to form a batter. 

3. Gently fold in the raspberries

4. Pour batter into muffin pans and bake at 180°C for 25- 27minutes or until they turn golden brown on the stop. 

5. Leave to cool for at least 15 minutes

Recipe makes 6 muffins. Store in the refrigerator.

Raw vegan tacos

Raw vegan tacos

I'm so happy I was able to throw these together with ingredients I had at home this evening!! There's nothing better than not having to do a run to the shops when you're in an experimenting mood. I'm also so excited because I got to pick out so many things from the garden which is blooming right now due to this amazing weather- kale, spring onions, basil, mint & chives.

We haven't posted in so long- sorry!! I also apologise that these don't look like the rest of the other pretty looking raw vegan tacos out there in there internet world but never the less, I bring you the throw-it-all-together (messy) raw vegan tacos!!



Made up of:

*Kale
*Tomato, onion, chive salsa
*Walnut "mince"
*Cashew "sour cream"
*Large lettuce cups/leaves

and if you want to add:

*brown rice (obviously not raw but such an amazing addition!)
*avocado


Walnut "Mince"
1 cup of raw almonds
2 tbs tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp olive oil or coconut oil
pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp paprika
pinch of chilli flakes

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until it has a mincey looking texture. This won't take long, making sure you don't over blend it otherwise it will turn to paste.


Cashew "sour cream"
1 cup raw cashews (soaked for two hours)
pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Juice of one lemon
5 tablespoons of water

Place all ingredients into a blender until it becomes a smooth and creamy consistency, this should take a couple of minutes

Salsa
Dice up whatever you have got! Salsa doesn't need to be complicated. I used chives, basil, garlic, olive oil, red onion, tomatoes and spring onion and mixed it with kale.

Things that work well in salsa:

*capsicum
*kale
*avocado
*spring onion, red onion, onion
*mint, basil, chives
*any type of tomatoes 
*chick peas
*garlic
*sea salt
*olive oil

Throw it all together into your lettuce cup & enjoy!

 Walnut "mince"

Spelt Soda Bread Recipe

Does anyone else ever wish they were Meryl Streep as Jane Alder in 'It's Complicated'? Baking warm chocolate croissants at midnight? Making lavender ice cream, feeling totally sexy sitting in the bathtub eating it?

Last night at 11:30, I decided I really wanted to master this bread recipe. Did someone say challenge? Because I really like a good challenge. In attempt to master my own bread recipe and embody Jane Alder,I ventured to Coles last night at 11:30 and picked up an absolute array of ingredients I thought I could use, trying to be quick enough not to get locked inside Coles (I say this like I wouldn't be in heaven if it did happen).

Rice flour, xantham gum (yes, they sell this at Coles now!), baking powder, spelt flour, bicarb of soda, yeast, brown rice flour, chia seeds, coconut oil, flaxseed meal, almond flour, coconut flour, wholemeal flour, gluten free bread kits, butter, eggs, vinegar, almond milk, egg replacement, you. name. it.

After several unsuccessful attempts, a couple of 'just edible' attempts, as I like to call them, a batch full of 'nearly there but not quite right' attempts, I passed out at 2:30am, only to wake up in the morning to create two successful loaves of spelt flour bread. This bread is wheat free, however not gluten free but went perfectly well with the sugar free Nutella Abbie and I made earlier in the day.

The recipe below is my take on 'Irish Soda Bread'. And the other recipe? You'll just have to wait for our ebook! I would love to know what your thoughts are on this bread and any adjustments that you make- bread is such a hit or miss I think and I am so intrigued about the different substitutes that could be made so would love any feedback.

Spelt Soda Bread

• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup of butter milk 
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarb of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

tip: if you don't have buttermilk in your pantry (which I never do), take 1 cup of milk and add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and leave it to sit for 10 minutes. The consistency will become similar to that of butter milk and is more than fine for this recipe

1. In a large bowl, mix your dry ingredients. 

2. Make a well in the center of the bowl and with a fork, mix through your buttermilk.

3. Move the dough to a floured surface and knead gently for 30 seconds. As you as using spelt flour, you don't need to knead bread like you would with normal flour. 

4. Shape the dough into a ball and place on a lined tray in the oven for 35 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. 

5. Allow to cool. 

This bread is so quick and easy to make, crunchy on the outside yet not too dense on the inside.