Valentine Rice Krispy Treats (gluten free, corn free, vegan)

Good morning and happy Valentine's day!

Today I share with you cocoa and vanilla rice krispy treats. These treats use brown rice syrup instead of marshmallows, so they contain NO gluten, corn, soy, or animal products. Yum!

Easy Gluten Free, Vegan Rice Krispy Treats

Ingredients
1/3 cup nut butter of choice (I used cashew, but I think peanut or hazelnut would be fantastic with the cocoa treats)
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups gluten free crispy rice cereal (I use this one) It also comes in cocoa.

Method
In a large pan, heat nut butter and brown rice syrup over low heat until melted and well combined.
Stir in vanilla extract
Turn off heat
Stir in rice cereal until well coated with syrup mixture

Spread rice mixture in brownie pan to cool.

Alternatively, you can use a rice mold to make all kinds of shapes. I find this easier than cutting out rice krispy treats with a cookie cutter. This is what my rice mold looks like:

You can find rice molds (sushi molds) in Asian grocery stores. If you are lucky to live in a city that has a Chinatown, you can find them in ALL shapes and sizes- and super cheap. I found my heart mold, which also came with a flower mold, for 99 cents in San Francisco's Chinatown. If you can not find them in a local shop, you can also find them on Amazon.

Allergy-friendly Candy Apples

This recipe is linked to Wellness Weekends and Allergy-Friendly Fridays. 

Be sure to visit those pages for more yummy Halloween treats!

Hi everyone! I meant to post this recipe last week. I was traveling, and I thought I'd done well in planning ahead to write this post on the road. I made the apples early, took photos, loaded all of the photos onto my laptop, and edited photos while on the plane. Perfect! Now I just had to add the recipes and upload to the blog...

Guess what I forgot at home???

Yup. The recipes.

Oops!

But now I'm back, and here you go...

Here are recipes for THREE versions of candy apples. No gluten, corn, soy, dairy, or refined sugar. Bonus: they are RAW vegan! Yes, raw vegan treats for Fall : ) Who needs Halloween candy? These taste MUCH better- and they are better for you.

As I was thinking about writing this post, I came across some pre-made candy apples in Publix (our local grocery store).

Here are the ingredients: 

Obviously these are not an option for anyone with a corn allergy, or kids who may be sensitive to artificial flavors or dyes.

There were also caramel apples: 

Ingredients: 

Corn syrup, refined sugar, dairy PLUS sugar, soy, more dairy (can you really call dipotassium phosphate "milk"?), more soy, even MORE soy, something unpronounceable, imitation vanilla- really, there is not any FOOD in here, except for the apples. And it contains three of the eight major allergens.

How about the chocolate turtle apples?

Ingredients:

Yeah. More of the same. 

So, now that you are convinced you probably do not want to feed this commercial, pre-packaged "food-like substance" to your family... here is an easy & healthy alternative.

I started with the biggest, prettiest Fuji apples I could find. You can use any variety of apple you like.

Note: next time I would choose the smallest apples I can find, not the largest. I was dazzled by the beautiful large apples in the store. But as I was making the apples, they were really too big and heavy, and they were much too big to eat. Each of these apples was enough for 2-4 people. Too big. But they were pretty : ) 

A smaller apple would be easier to handle (especially for kids) and it would also give you a better candy-coating-to-apple ratio.

OK, on to the recipes. I experimented with caramel, chocolate, and white chocolate apples. 

I used the "I Am the Best" Caramel Sauce recipe from Cafe Gratitude's I am Grateful (un)cookbook

Raw Vegan Caramel Apples

Ingredients

Apples

Lollipop or popsicle sticks

Caramel

1 cup macadamia nuts

1/2 teaspoon himalayan salt

1/4 cup raw almond milk

1/2 cup raw agave nectar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla powder

1/2-1 teaspoon yacon syrup

Method

Place all ingredients apart from the yacon syrup in high speed blender. Pulse or start on low and gradually increase the speed until you have achieved a smooth texture (you may need to add a little more almond milk).

Now blend in 1/2 teaspoon yacon syrup, slowly. Taste and add a little more yacon syrup if you like. Note: if you add too much yacon syrup, the color will change from golden to green!

Note: I added about 2 Tbsp melted raw cacao butter to this recipe in the hope that it would harden on the apple once it cooled. It did not harden as I'd hoped, and I also thought it changed the taste (it was still good, but it was much better without). I did not try it, but I think adding 1 Tbsp coconut butter to the recipe might have the "hardening" effect I was going for. So you might try that if you are feeling adventuresome. If you try it, I'd love to hear how it works out.

Insert a popsicle or lollipop stick and dip apples in caramel:

Sit on plate or bowl. This is where I'd hoped it would harden, but it never did (it was still yummy though)

Some of the caramel slid off, and I wound up with a thin coating of caramel, something like this:

Roll apple in topping of your choice, if desired. I used a coconut and pecan mixture left over from another recipe:

Next up: Chocolate apples. The chocolate part of this recipe is from Sarma's Living Raw Food (un)cookbook.

Raw Vegan Chocolate Apples

Ingredients
Apples
Lollipop or popsicle sticks

Chocolate coating
1 1/4 cups coconut oil, warmed to liquify
3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons raw cacao powder
3 1/2 Tablespoons maple syrup
Pinch of sea salt

Blend all chocolate ingredients until smooth and fully emulsified.

Dip apples in chocolate. Roll in topping, if desired. I used chopped almonds. This topping will harden even faster if you put it in the fridge.

Last one: White chocolate apples!

White Chocolate Candy Apples

Ingredients

Apples

Lollipop or popsicle sticks

White Chocolate (recipe from Lisa at Vegan Culinary Crusade)

1/2 cup melted raw cacao butter (place it in a bowl of hot water until it becomes liquid)
1 tsp vanilla bean (extract or powder)
1/4 cup raw agave syrup (if you keep it in the fridge give it some time on the counter to warm up so it won't cause the cacao butter to solidify too quickly).

Method
Stir everything together in a bowl.
Dip apples in white chocolate coating. Let cool to harden. It is OK to put in fridge, but do not put in freezer. The white chocolate coating is ok in the freezer, but frozen apples thaw out to be mush.
Note: I did not try it, but I think adding 1Tbsp coconut oil to this recipe would make a nice smooth coating that hardens. Let me know if you try that and how it turns out!

Enjoy your healthy, allergy-friendly candy apples! 

I'd love to hear which one you choose, and how it turns out.

Black Forest (Mini) Pie

Guess what? Today we have another mini-pie : )

I needed to: 1) use up some fresh cherries which are in season and abundant and nearly falling out of my refrigerator and I was out of ideas for using them 2) find a good use for the leftover vanilla creme from the Key Lime Pie. Those are good reasons for more pie, right???

Since last week was so much fun, I'm also going to submit this recipe to Vegan Culinary Crusade's Raw Vegan Mini-Pie Challenge, Cybele Pascal's Allergy-Friendly Friday, and Diet, Dessert, and Dogs' Wellness Weekends (Hi Ricki!) Be sure to check out each of those pages for even more allergy-friendly and healthy recipes. I had a lot of fun browsing recipes on those sites last week.

Note: This is a very rich pie! In my opinion, 1/4 of the 4" pie is enough for a serving.

Raw Vegan Black Forest (Mini) Pies
Makes three, 4" pies

Ingredients

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups walnuts
Dash himalayan salt
1/3 cup raw cacao powder
Approximately 10 pitted dates (unsoaked)

For the filling:
1 cup soaked cashews
3 tablespoons light agave nectar
1 vanilla bean- scraped or ground whole in coffee grinder (see this post)
Approximately 1/4 cup filtered water- enough to blend to a creamy texture

For the topping: 
Pitted fresh cherries

Method

Crust:
Place walnuts and salt in food processor fitted with the S blade. Process until finely ground.
Add the raw cacao and pulse a few times to mix.
Add the dates and process until well combined and you have a consistency that sticks together when you press it between your fingers. Try not to overprocess, or your mixture will become oily. Mine is a little oily, you can tell in the pics- this happens when the nuts release their natural oils while processing. It still tastes great, but the texture is better if you can manage to stop processing before they start to release their oils.
Using your fingers, gently press pie crust into mini pie pans or tart pans. A tart pan with a removable bottom makes removal much easier, if you want to display your crust. But mini pie pans are cute, too, and you can serve right out of the dish. Your choice!

Filling:
Place cashews, agave nectar, vanilla bean, and water in VitaMix or blender and blend until creamy. Adjust ingredients to taste, if necessary.

Pour filling into pie shells:

Top with fresh pitted cherries, cut in half:

Enjoy a teeny tiny slice of a teeny tiny pie: 

More on the health benefits of: walnuts, cashews, cherries, dates, raw cacao

Gluten free, Dairy free Chocolate chip cookies

These chocolate chip cookies are gluten, soy, dairy and corn free. "Corn free?" you say, "But I don't put corn in my chocolate chip cookies!" Guess what? Do you know where corn might be hiding in your chocolate chip cookies? Baking powder, vanilla extract, and the chocolate chips. Yup! It's true! Also, xanthan gum, a common ingredient in gluten-free baking, is derived from corn. It can sneak up on you in ingredients you'd never expect!

Just a reminder to always double check your ingredients, and don't hesitate to contact the manufacturer if you aren't sure.

Gluten free, Dairy free Chocolate chip cookies
Makes approximately 24 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups gluten free flour mix (I used this one)
• 3/4 teaspoon guar gum
• 1 1/4 teaspoon corn-free baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/2 cup organic sugar
• 1/2 cup organic brown sugar
• 3/4 vanilla bean, finely ground in a coffee grinder
• 2 egg whites (egg free/vegan option: use egg replacer, such as Ener-G Egg Replacer check ingredients to make sure it is safe for your needs)
• 1/2 cup gluten free, dairy free chocolate chips, such as Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1/2 cup pecan pieces (optional)

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat
• In a small bowl, or food processor, whisk GF flour mix, guar gum, baking powder, and sea salt
• In a large bowl, beat egg whites, oil, sugar, and vanilla bean
• Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in batches, and beat with mixer just until mixed.
• Stir in chocolate chips and pecan pieces, if using
• Drop rounded tablespoons of batter on cookie sheets. I'm not sure why, but these cookies didn't spread. Maybe because there's no shortening? So you'll want to flatten them out a little once you put them on the cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 12 minutes, or until edges are starting to brown.
• Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheets for about 10 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.

Enjoy with a cool glass of non-dairy milk!

Gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookies- with a secret ingredient

These cookies are low in fat, and have an added protein and fiber boost from the quinoa and, surprise - beans- which you can't even taste!

Free from gluten, corn, soy, dairy, nuts, and oats.

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup of your favorite gluten free flour mix
• ¼ cup quinoa flakes
• 1 tsp corn-free baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• a dash of salt
• ½ tsp vanilla powder
• ¼ tsp cinnamon (optional)
• ½ cup canned white beans, liquid reserved
• ½ cup raw sugar
• ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup dark chocolate chunks (use what works for you; I chopped up an organic dark chocolate candy bar)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F. 

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla powder. 

Whisk together and set aside. Put beans, applesauce, sugar, and 1 tbsp of the bean liquid in in VitaMix and blend until smooth. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and stir about 10 times. Add the chunks of chocolate, 1/4 cup quinoa flakes and the rest of the bean liquid, stirring until combined. 

If the mixture is too wet, add more quinoa flakes. If it's too dry, add a little water. Drop tablespoons of batter onto a cookie sheet, leaving an inch of room between each. 

Note: flatten them out a little, as I later discovered they don't really spread during baking. Bake 15 minutes, until edges are just turning light brown and middles are firm. They will firm a bit more as they cool. Check the bottoms to make sure they are golden brown. 

this is the first batch- as you can see, they came out the same shape as they went in

this is the second batch- I flattened these out before baking.

Either way, they taste great!

Ideas for next time: For a sweeter cookie, use organic brown sugar. For an even lower glycemic index, use agave in place of sugar (usually 3/4 as much agave as sugar for same sweetness). For oatmeal raisin cookies, use oats in place of quinoa flakes and raisins in place of chocolate chips. I would also use brown sugar and increase the cinnamon for oatmeal-raisin cookies.