Grain Free Quinoa Chocolate Chip Cookies

YUM!!  All three of us - my son, my husband, and myself loved these cookies - now, that's a rare thing!  So, I am sharing the recipe right away.  The wonderful, Wendy, of cookingquinoa.net, invented these.  Here is the link to her original recipe:  Quinoa-Flax Chocolate Chip Cookies
I made a few changes, so here's my vegan, gf, non-processed sugar version:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups GF flour blend (Bob's Red Mill garbanzo and fava bean flour) + 1/4 cup quinoa flour
1 cup organic quinoa flakes
1/4 cup ground organic golden flax see
1 tsp baking soda (aluminum free)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground organic cinnamon
1/2 cup melted organic coconut oil
1/2 cup organic applesauce
1 1/2 cups coconut palm sugar
2 "flax eggs" = 2 tsps of flax seeds ground and then mixed with water.  Let sit for a few minutes until egg-like consistency
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup of cacao nibs mixed with some agave to coat  (I chose to do this instead of chocolate chips to avoid the processed sugar and other non-gf ingredients)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2.  Make the flax eggs.
3.  Combine flours, quinoa flakes, ground flax seeds, baking soda, sea salt, and cinnamon.
4.  Using an electric mixer, mix together the coconut oil, applesauce, and coconut sugar.  Add the flax eggs and mix again.  Add the vanilla and reduce speed to low.  (I added a little bit of agave nectar in because I have such a sweet tooth).  Add in the flour mixture and beat until combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips or sweetened cacao nibs.
5.  Drop in teaspoonful onto the baking sheets.  They are sticky, so use the parchment paper.  These cookies really spread out, so give them some room.  Bake for about 10 mins until they start to brown on the edges.  Allow to cool or they will be mushy when you try to eat them.  They are soft and wonderful once cooled.

I hope you enjoy these!  We agreed that they actually taste even better after they have been refrigerated for a few hours!
Thank you, Wendy, for sharing!!

Vegan Almond Milk Egg Nog

YUM!  Soooo good!  I found this recipe here: Incredible Smoothies  It's easy, healthy and delicious!  This is the recipe reprinted from the Incredible Smoothies website:

Ingredients:

• 1-and-1/4 cup plain almond milk (Don’t add the vanilla or dates.)
• 2 frozen bananas, peeled and sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 date, soaked for 10 minutes
• dash of ground clove
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• dash of sea salt

Directions:

Start by adding the liquid to your blender (I use a Vitamix), blend on high for 20 seconds or until there are no chunks of frozen banana left. Garnish with a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg if desired.

Grain Free, Vegan Brownies

This was a treat for my sweet husband and he loved them!  I found this recipe HERE from Kelly of The Spunky Coconut.  The only changes I made were almond flour instead of coconut flour, cacao powder instead of cocoa powder, and coconut sugar instead of honey.  Also, I used raw cacao nibs that I sweetened by mixing them with a bit of agave in a bowl before adding them to the top.  I'm not big on the taste of stevia, but my husband likes it and these were for him.

Gluten Free, Vegan, Grain Free Bagels

These are easy and delicious!  My son loves them!  Completely grain free and vegan, these bagels are the perfect snack or meal.  I got the original recipe from The Spunky Coconut Onion Poppy Seed Bagels & Cinnamon Raisin Bagels grain-free, gluten-free, egg-free casein-free, gfcf

My son likes them plain, though.  I only made a few changes to Kelly's recipe, which include using almond flour instead of coconut flour, almond milk instead of cashew milk, agave instead of honey, and   I used coconut oil instead of ghee.  They came out a little smushy inside, but he still loved them and that's what counts!

Raw Walnuts and Dates Snack

I call this creation, The Raw Bowl of Joy because it is just so delicious.  I have a super sweet tooth, so I don't like eating walnuts plain.   Some might find this too sweet and if so, just leave out the maple syrup.  The amounts are what you like according to your taste and how much you want to make.

Ingredients (organic):
Raw Cacao Nibs
Maple Syrup
Medjool Dates
Walnuts (previously soaked and dehydrated)

Chop the walnuts in a nut grinder or food processor.  If using a food processor, you can just add all of the ingredients together and chop up.  If not, chop the dates by hand and then add some cacao nibs and maple syrup to your liking.

Enjoy!  This is delicious, nutritious and only takes a few minutes to assemble.