Roasted Winter Squash with Toasted Coconut Gremolata

Sometimes it hits me that I read a lot of cookbooks. I love reading cookbooks. And cooking from them. Mostly I love learning new things ranging from the big ideas and amazing flavors to the tiniest details of cooking techniques. As I read my review copy of Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes by Alison Roman, this fact that I read a lot about food became apparent because these vibrant, flavor-packed recipes brought to mind other similar dishes from other books. For instance, I knew the Blistered Green Beans with Creamy Tahini and Fresh Hot Sauce would be great because I’d previously tried the Roasted Green Beans with Tahini and Sesame-Seed Dressing from Brown Sugar Kitchen. The Grilled Corn Salad with Fresh Cheese and Corn Nuts took me back to the Corn, Green Beans, and Parmsesan Salad with corn nuts from Tartine All Day and the summer salad with corn nuts from Curate. Burrata with Tangerines, Shallots, and Watercress reminded me of how well citrus goes with burrata which I learned from trying the Blood Orange, Burrata, and Freekeh Salad from the book Citrus. Inevitably, food brings back memories, and flavors that pair well are seen together again and again. I’ve been eating smoked trout more often as of late, so the Smoked Trout with Mustard and Apples salad made with mustard seeds and frilly mustard green leaves looked delicious. And, the Skillet Chicken with Crushed Olives and Sumac looked like a fantastic result from not too much effort. The first dish I tried presented a new and different idea I’d never seen before. Toasted coconut chips became a central element in a gremolata for sprinkling over roasted winter squash. Turns out, I have added coconut chips to a winter squash salad before, but that was part of a very different dish and had nothing to do with a gremolata. 

Here, winter squash was sliced and roasted after being tossed with melted coconut oil. I used acorn squash, but delicate is shown in the book. For the gremolata, unsweetened coconut chips were toasted in a dry pan and left to cool. Chopped chives and cilantro leaves that I was able to harvest from my herb garden were added to a bowl with lemon zest, Aleppo pepper, and salt. The coconut chips were added and tossed to combine. This gremolata was sprinkled over the roasted squash pieces before serving. 

Winter squash and coconut go great together, and sweet potato wedges would be a delicious alternative as well. The lemon and Aleppo pepper added nice punch to the mix of flavors. It’s fun for me to connect the dots of ingredients and pairings that I encounter from book to book to book, and mostly it’s a lot of fun to eat what ends up on the plate. 

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Cookie Dough Bars

These days, I mostly try to avoid refined sugar. Mostly. Of course, it can’t be avoided if I’m inspired to bake an exciting, new cake recipe or if ice cream making is on the agenda. But, most days, I opt for savory over sweet or treats lightly sweetened with dates or a little maple syrup. This approach to sweets has been made very easy by the recipes from Good Clean Food: Super Simple Plant-Based Recipes for Every Day. After writing about this book in April, I’ve tried two more recipes that I have to mention. One of the handy things I’ve noticed about the recipes from this book is that they don’t make too, too much. You end up with a tasty treat made from great ingredients that lasts just long enough for two people to enjoy without overdoing it on sweets for days. First, I tried the Cookie Dough Bars, and they really taste like delicious cookie dough. They’re topped with a drizzle of chocolate sauce that you can either make with raw cacao powder or by melting dark chocolate. The other recipe I tried was the Salted Caramel Bonbons. The date- and almond butter-filled bonbons were dipped in chocolate and were surprisingly filling. I didn’t get quite the same sweet, bitter, salty flavors I know from salted caramel, so I might start calling them by another name, but they were great, little treats in their own right. 

The processes for making both of these treats are similar. For the cookie dough bars, dates were pitted and covered with hot water. In the food processor, raw cashews, oats, coconut flakes, salt, and vanilla were pulsed until fine. The dates were added with some of the water they’d been soaking in along with cacao nibs. The mixture was pulsed again until it formed a dough. This was pressed into a pan, and you can decide how thick or thin you’d like the bars to be. I pressed the dough into an eight-inch square pan, but only filled half the pan. The pan was placed in the freezer for a few minutes. The chocolate drizzle was made by stirring together cacao powder, coconut oil, maple syrup, and a little salt in a double boiler. The sauce was drizzled over the chilled bars, and the pan went back into the freezer for 20 minutes before cutting into pieces. The bars do need to be stored in the refrigerator. 

For the bonbons, dates, almond butter, a little almond meal, coconut oil, and a little salt were pulsed until smooth in the food processor. This mixture was placed in the freezer to firm up for about 10 minutes. Then, the mixture was scooped into balls that were placed back in the freezer while chocolate was melted. Each bonbon was dipped into the melted chocolate and topped with flaked sea salt. These are also stored in the refrigerator. 

Both of these quickly-made treats come in handy when you need a boost of afternoon energy. And, both have great flavor from dates, coconut, and nuts. I know I’ll be making them again soon, and I’m especially thrilled to have learned a way of making a pure chocolate topping that’s sweetened only with maple syrup. Although, there’s probably a decadent, sugar-filled recipe in my near future too. 

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Granola Cookies

Baking with a mix of flours and various types of natural sweeteners has become my new standard. I love trying different types of grains and nuts in flour form for breads, pancakes, and cookies, and all kinds of treats. So, it was a delight to see the newest book from the Kitchens of Martha Stewart, A New Way to Bake: Classic Recipes Updated with Better-for-You Ingredients from the Modern Pantry, that focuses on just that kind of baking. I recently received a review copy. Not all of the recipes are gluten free, but some are. And, not all of the sweet recipes are free of refined sugar, but less-refined organic sugar is recommended when granulated sugar is used. It’s a collection of mostly traditional, comforting recipes that have been amped up a bit in the nutrition department with a reduced use of white flour. The accompanying photo with every recipe will make you want to taste each one. At the very beginning of the book, I couldn’t wait to try the Gluten-Free Quinoa Pancakes sweetened only with maple syrup and the Vegan Banana-Oat Pancakes made with shredded coconut and orange juice. Still in the Breakfast chapter, I want to try the Double-Chocolate Rye Muffins, the Pumpkin Spelt Scones with Maple Glaze, and the Seeded Breakfast Rolls. Beyond breakfast, there are also cookies, brownies, pies, tarts, cobblers, cakes, breads, and more. I’ve marked many, many pages including the dairy-free Chocolate-Coconut Pie made with coconut oil and coconut milk, the Molasses-Oat Bread, and the Seeded English Muffins. So far, I’ve made two recipes from the book. I’ll be writing about the Cornmeal Drop Biscuits soon, and today I want to tell you about the Granola Cookies. They’re actually not made with granola. Instead, they’re made from a lot of the same things that go into granola. 

These are dairy-free cookies since no butter is used. Coconut oil was combined with brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. I used less-refined muscovado sugar rather than regular brown sugar since I had some on hand. Eggs and vanilla were added next followed by flour and I used whole wheat pastry flour. Baking soda and salt were also added. Last, oats, flaxseed meal, pumpkin seeds, large unsweetened coconut flakes, chopped dark chocolate, and unsweetened dried cherries were folded into the dough. Once mixed, the dough was refrigerated to firm up, and then it was scooped onto baking sheets and baked for about 14 minutes.

This cookie checks every item on the desirability list: chewy, nutty, fruity, chocolaty, and delicious. And, there’s lots of room for personalization since you can use a different type of nut or seed, choose your favorite kind of chocolate, and pick a different dried fruit if you like. In fact, at the beginning of the book, there’s a suggestion to experiment with all of the recipes by trying different combinations of flours, milks, sweeteners, or fats. There’s even a handy chart and more ingredient info at the back of the book to help with making substitutions. Tinkering with and tasting all of these recipes is going to be fun.  

Granola Cookies 
Recipe reprinted with publisher's permission from A New Way to Bake: Classic Recipes Updated with Better-for-You Ingredients from the Modern Pantry.
 
Coconut oil takes the place of butter in this brown-sugar–based dough. Wholesome granola mix-ins—coconut flakes, dried cherries, pepitas—are added alongside bittersweet chocolate chunks for an irresistible old-fashioned drop cookie that’s a great energy-boosting snack. 

MAKES ABOUT 40 
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil 
1 cup packed light brown sugar 
2 large eggs 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1 teaspoon coarse salt 
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 
1/4 cup flaxseed meal (ground flaxseeds) 
1/2 cup hulled pumpkin seeds (pepitas) 
3/4 cup large unsweetened coconut flakes 
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup) 
1 cup unsweetened dried cherries or cranberries, chopped 

In a bowl, with an electric mixer, beat oil and brown sugar on medium until well combined, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, and salt, and beat until combined. Stir in oats, flaxseed meal, pumpkin seeds, coconut, chocolate, and cherries until well combined. Refrigerate dough until firm, about 1 hour. 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough, 2 inches apart, onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden, 13 to 14 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cookies cool completely. 

(Cookies can be kept in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 days.) To make the cookie whole grain, swap in spelt flour for the all-purpose. To make gluten-free, substitute 1 cup of Wholesome Flour from Cup 4 Cup (available at cup4cup.com) for the all-purpose, and use gluten-free oats.

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Gratin de Fruits Exotiques

As often happens when reading cookbooks about food from faraway places, I’m suffering from a bit of travel envy. Imagine beginning a journey in France and then continuing to several beautiful places where French colonies were established just to follow the trail of culinary influences. How fun and delicious would that be? That’s how the new book Provence to Pondicherry: Recipes from France and Faraway by Tessa Kiros came to be. There’s a chapter devoted to each stop along the way. It begins with Provence and continues to Guadeloupe, Vietnam, Pondicherry, La Reunion, and then ends in Normandy. So, the recipes begin with French classics and then veer off into use of flavors from other climates prepared with French influences. The Court-Bouillon de Poisson from Guadeloupe is made with chiles, garlic, tomato, and beurre rouge with annatto seeds. From Vietnam, Banh Mi is of course made with baguettes, and the creme caramel includes lemongrass. Some hints at French influence in foods from Pondicherry include milder flavors with fewer chiles as in the Pondicherry Chicken curry. I lost track of time when I got to the La Reunion chapter due to the fruits, rum, coconut, and interesting uses of vanilla. There’s a braised duck dish made with split vanilla pods and a mashed potato dish that incorporates vanilla-steeped warm milk. I walked straight to the kitchen when I read about the Punch de Coco. Seeds from a vanilla pod were added to coconut milk, and it was chilled while the flavor infused before being served with rum. I highly recommend this combination. Also from this chapter, I had to try a very French-sounding dish of gratineed fruit made with very un-French fruits. 

In the book, lychees, guava, strawberry guavas, pineapple, and mango are suggested for the gratins. But, some of those were too exotic for me to find them. Instead, I used chopped pineapple, papaya, and mango. The process is very simple once all the fruit is chopped to a similar size. Ramekins were buttered and filled with a mix of the fruit. A tablespoon of cream and one of rum was added to each ramekin followed by some ginger, and I used freshly grated. Bits of butter were dotted on top before putting the ramekins under the broiler until browned. I should mention that sugar was supposed to have been sprinkled over the fruit, and it definitely would have brought about more browning. I chose to skip the sugar since the fruits were already very sweet. I garnished with toasted slices of fresh coconut and some mint leaves. 

The cream and butter made this rich and decadent while the fruits and ginger added a mix of fresh flavors. And, I’m always happy when there’s rum. This dish seemed to perfectly highlight the point of intermingling cultural influences. A very French technique of gratinee-ing with butter and cream was applied to ingredients specific to a different spot in the world to bring about something uniquely delicious. 

Gratin de Fruits Exotiques 
Recipe excerpted with permission from Provence to Pondicherry: Recipes from France and Faraway by Tessa Kiros, published by Quadrille March 2017, RRP $35.00 hardcover. 

The amounts here are very easy to adjust according to how much fruit you will be using and the type. Just use a good variety. Add more or less rum to suit your taste. 

Serves 2 

4 lychees, peeled, halved and stoned 
1 guava, sliced 
3 goyaviers (strawberry guavas) 
2 pineapple slices, halved 
4 good slices of mango 
2 tablespoons cream 
2 tablespoons rum, or to taste 
4 small blobs of butter 
3 tablespoons cane sugar 
scant 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 

Lightly butter 2 shallow ramekin dishes, about 11cm (4 1/4 in) diameter and 3cm (1 1/4 in) deep. Divide the fruit between them. 

Splash the cream and rum over each, followed by 2 blobs of butter each. Mix the sugar and ginger together and scatter evenly over the tops. 

Preheat the grill (broiler) to hot. Grill until deep golden and charred here and there. Let it cool down just a little before serving. 

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Salted Almond Butter Chocolate Bars

I didn’t get a chance to tell you about these delightful treats when I made them a few months ago, so I’m taking the opportunity now. It’s another recipe I enjoyed from A Modern Way to Cook: 150+ Vegetarian Recipes for Quick, Flavor-Packed Meals by Anna Jones. It’s one of those not-too-decadent sweets that you taste and don’t realize anything is missing until you’re told. There’s no refined sugar in the bars and no flour or grains of any kind, and they can be made vegan. As a bonus, they’re easy to make too. You just have to wait briefly for the bars to chill at a couple of points, and then wait for the chocolate to set after dipping. Then, you’ll have something like a much better version of an Almond Joy made with the ingredients you choose. 

The first step is to grind seven ounces of whole almonds in a food processor until they become almond butter. Next, three tablespoons of honey or agave syrup or maple syrup is added with two tablespoons of melted coconut oil, the seeds from a vanilla pod, and a pinch of salt. The mixture is processed to combine. Five ounces of unsweetened, shredded coconut is added next, and you should pulse a few times to form a dough of sorts. The dough needs to be patted into a parchment-lined eight-inch square pan, and the pan then needs to be placed in the freezer for a few minutes for the dough to set. Meanwhile, seven ounces of dark chocolate should be broken into a heat-proof bowl to use as a double-boiler. Melt the chocolate over a saucepan with simmering water and set aside. The chilled dough is then removed from the pan and cut into whatever shapes you prefer for the bars. After cutting, place them on a baking sheet and chill again before dipping. Once the melted chocolate has cooled slightly and thickened, dip the cut and chilled bars and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet to set. Sprinkle with flaky sea sat after dipping in chocolate. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for the chocolate to set, and then store refrigerated. 

I found the mix of chocolate, coconut, almonds, and a bit of flaky sea salt impossible to resist. And, since they’re the kind of treat you don’t need to feel too guilty about, I predict there will be frequent appearances of them in my kitchen. There’s a similar recipe in the book that I need to try next called Raw Cookie Dough Bars, and that one is made with Brazil nuts pulverized in a food processor. And really, every single page of this book has something I want to try. 

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Strawberry Coconut Cake

I’m a believer in cakes for birthdays. A candle in the middle of a brownie or a set into a scoop of ice cream doesn’t work for me. I appreciate all sorts of sweets on other days or for other occasions, but on my birthday, there needs to be cake. Even if I bake it myself as I usually do. And, luckily, I had just read a review copy of Grandbaby Cakes by Jocelyn Delk Adams right before my birthday. I had several new cakes to consider making. Both the book and Jocelyn’s food blog of the same name came about from memories of her grandmother’s made-from-scratch cakes and kitchen lessons. The cakes in the book include options for every level of baker from beginner to experienced, and each one comes with a story about the recipe’s origin. There are basic layer cakes, pound cakes, sheet cakes, baby or mini-size cakes, celebration cakes, and seasonal cakes for holidays. In the Pound Cake chapter, the Apricot Nectar Cake is a recreation of a recipe from the author’s aunt and sounds delicious with the nectar in both the cake and the glaze on top. The Peach-Raspberry Cake has a pretty ombre effect in frosting that changes hue as it moves down the layers. Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is reinterpreted as cupcakes, and they’re decorated with dried pineapple slices that look like flowers. The Mango Swirl Carrot Cake with mango puree added to cream cheese that’s baked into the top of the cake is a carrot cake variation I need to try. A serious contender for my birthday cake was the Strawberry Sundae Cake with the alternating layers of vanilla cake and strawberry ice cream. But, in the end, I chose the Strawberry Coconut Cake with strawberry puree mixed into the vanilla cake layers and shredded coconut covering the cream cheese frosting. 

I’m not sure when it happened but at some point in the last 20 years or so, the standard for layer cakes seems to have become three layers rather than two. For a household of two people, that’s a lot of cake. I almost always reduce the quantities of ingredients and only bake two layers, and that’s what I did here. The cake batter is made with sugar, butter, pureed fresh strawberries, eggs, flour, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and sour cream. Strawberry extract was suggested, but I didn’t locate any at the grocery store and left it out. Red food coloring is also an option, but I skipped that as well. The result was just barely pink cake layers, but the flavor from the fresh berries was the most important part. The frosting was made with cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract. I added extra confectioners’ sugar to firm it up a bit. For the coconut flakes, my favorite is the unsweetened kind. The flakes are smaller, but the flavor is all coconut without any extra sweetness. 

This was a rich and tender cake with the butter, oil, and sour cream, and it didn’t stand a chance of being dry even the next day. The strawberry puree gave it great flavor too. Cream cheese frosting is always a winner, and the coconut flakes dressed it up a bit. This was everything I wanted in a birthday cake. And now I want to bake all those other cakes for other occasions too. 

Strawberry Coconut Cake 
Recipe reprinted with permission from Grandbaby Cakes by Jocelyn Delk Adams, Agate Surrey, 2015. 

SERVES 18-22 

Big Mama's Coconut Cake is famous. You may think this is a tall tale, but people would literally line up in front of her home just to get one for the holidays. Her cake’s highlight is a heavenly meringue frosting, which she whips by hand. I adore her classic, just like its legions of fans do, but I had a bit of fun updating it. The cake now has an exciting strawberry flavor; the pink layers burst against a bright white frosting with a tangy cream cheese accent. It is such a fantastic way to liven up a coconut cake recipe that has not only been around the block but looks mighty fine for her age, too. 

CAKE 
2 cups granulated sugar 
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 
2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled 
3 large eggs, room temperature 
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour 
3 teaspoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon salt 
3/4 cup sour cream, room temperature 
1/3 cup vegetable oil 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 teaspoon strawberry extract 
3–4 drops red food coloring (optional) 

COCONUT FROSTING 
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature 
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar 
1 cup heavy cream, cold 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract (optional) 
Pinch salt 
3/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes, for garnish 

FOR THE CAKE 
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Liberally prepare 3 9-inch round pans with the nonstick method of your choice. 

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream together the granulated sugar and butter on medium-high speed until nice and fluffy, about 6 minutes. 

Meanwhile, place the strawberries in your food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside. 

With your stand mixer running, add the eggs 1 at a time, combining well after each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Change your mixer speed to medium-low and add the strawberry puree slowly into the batter. Continue mixing while you tend to the dry ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add 1/2 of the flour mixture to your stand mixer bowl. Continue to mix on low speed to combine. 

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and oil and add to your stand mixer bowl. Pour in the remaining flour mixture and continue to mix on low until well incorporated. Add the vanilla extract, strawberry extract, and food coloring, if using. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix the batter until just combined. Be careful not to overmix. 

Evenly pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 23 to 28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a layer comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto wire racks. Let cool to room temperature. Lightly cover the layers with foil or plastic wrap so they do not dry out. 

FOR THE COCONUT FROSTING 
Clean your stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment. Beat the cream cheese on high speed until it begins to thicken and become fluffy. 

Turn your mixer down to low speed and carefully add the confectioners’ sugar. Once the sugar is fully incorporated, turn your mixer speed back to high and continue whipping. 

Add the heavy cream; vanilla extract; coconut extract, if using; and salt and continue to mix until a smooth, light, and fluffy frosting is achieved. 

TO ASSEMBLE 
Once the layers are completely cooled, place 1 layer on a serving plate. Spread just the top of the layer with 1/3 of the frosting. Add the second layer and spread with another ⅓ of the frosting. Add the final layer, bottom-side up, and spread with the remaining frosting. Frost the top and the side of the cake. Gently pat the side and the top of the cake with coconut flakes. Serve at room temperature. 

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Carrot Banana Cake

We’re still anxiously awaiting our return to our permanent property. The work on our new house is progressing, and the kitchen is starting to take shape with cabinets being set into position. Every day brings a new dilemma like what kind of outlets should be installed on the island? Hopefully, all of the issues will be solved soon, and I’ll be in my new kitchen in time for holiday baking season. I realized how much I’ve missed more frequent baking as I turned the pages of Yvette Van Boven’s newest book Home Baked. I recently received a review copy. I was hooked on this book from the very beginning thanks to the tips for homemade vanilla extract, natural food coloring, and a list of flours from various grains to use. The Bread chapter won me over quickly with tender Potato Rolls, Spicy Italian Anchovy-Garlic Bread, and the use of a sourdough starter for bread and pizza dough. The recipes are a mix of sweet treats and some more wholesome options with whole grains and less sugar. There are cakes, bars, cookies, pies, and pastry, and even treats for canine friends. I took one look at the Speculaas cookies and wanted to find out how to order a board with a windmill mold to make them. (Incidentally, I found one here.) And, the Pear Caramel Pies with Walnuts look decadent with the crisp puff pastry and drizzles of homemade caramel. Since I’m still doing my best to keep sugar intake at a minimum, I decided to try the Carrot Banana Cake. It’s a cross between a carrot cake and banana bread, and it’s lightly sweetened with just a couple of tablespoons of honey. The rest of the sweetness comes from apple juice, carrots, and the fruit in the cake. 

This is a little different from other banana bread recipes because the bananas are sliced rather than mashed. There were supposed to have been dried apricots in the recipe, but as seems to happen to me often with various ingredients, the day I needed dried apricots there were none to be found. I used dried plums instead. To begin, apple juice (and I love that organic unsweetened apple juice was recommended), grated carrots, halved dried plums in my case, and honey were combined in a saucepan and brought to a boil. The pan was removed from the heat, and it was left to rest for 30 minutes. Spelt flour, grated unsweetened coconut, baking powder, ground ginger, and salt were sifted together. There’s a note that cinnamon is nice here as well, so I added some. The carrot and apple juice mixture was added to the flour mixture, beaten eggs were stirred in, and last the banana slices were folded into the batter. The cake baked for about 50 minutes. 

I tasted the batter just before transferring it to the baking pan. I thought it tasted not sweet enough and worried the cake would be bland. But, it didn’t occur to me that I was tasting plain batter with no banana in it. Once the cake was baked and sliced, and the banana slices were evenly distributed and found their way into each bite. They added just enough extra sweetness. I loved the texture with the carrots and all the fruit, and I wouldn’t change a thing the next time I bake it. Now, if we can just get moved, I can wait to start breaking in my new, roomier kitchen with lots of baking. 

Carrot Banana Cake 
Recipe reprinted with publisher’s permission from Home Baked. 

Oh, delicious. Look, I figured: I love carrot cake, I love banana bread, why don’t I throw the two together and combine them into a single thing I love? The cake doesn’t contain any sugar, butter, or wheat, so it’s pretty healthy. But by adding the apricots, banana, apple juice, and carrot, it ends up being pretty sweet anyhow. If you can’t get spelt flour, you can of course simply use wheat flour, I won’t stop you. Bake this cake and bring a thick slice to work. It’s the perfect snack. 

for 1 cake, prep 25 min., inactive 30 min., bake 50 min. 
wheat-free, lactose-free, refined sugar–free 

1 cup (250 ml) unsweetened organic apple juice 
1 1/4 cups (150 g) grated carrot 
2/3 cup (100 g) unsulphured dried apricots, halved 
2 to 3 tbsp honey or agave syrup 
2 cups plus 2 tbsp (250 g) light spelt flour 
1/2 cup (50 g) grated unsweetened coconut 
2 tsp baking powder 
1 tbsp ground ginger (cinnamon is nice too)
pinch of salt 
3 eggs, beaten 
2 bananas, sliced 

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180°C). Position a rack in the center. Thoroughly grease a 1 1/2-qt (1.5-L) loaf pan, or any other pan with approximately the same volume. I use some melted coconut oil, but baking spray or olive oil also works fine. 

In a saucepan, bring the apple juice, carrot, apricots, and honey to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Let cool until the mixture is nearly at room temperature. I usually spoon the mixture into a large dish to make sure it cools faster. 

Meanwhile, combine the flour with the coconut, baking powder, ginger, and salt. Then spoon in the carrot mixture. Stir in the beaten eggs and finally the banana slices. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 50 minutes or so. The cake is done when a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan, then turn out onto a rack. Once cooled off, the cake will be slightly firmer. 

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Coconut Curry Caramel Corn

Popcorn and I have a special relationship. We’ve spent a lot of time together over the years. For as long as I can remember, it’s been one of my favorite things to eat. I keep it simple. The perfect recipe is a huge bowl of salted popcorn, a couch, and something ridiculous to watch on tv. I used to make chile oil for the sole purpose of using it to pop popcorn, but these days, I use plain grapeseed oil, pop the kernels in a Whirley Pop, and sometimes add truffle salt. However, every once in a while I’m willing to try new things with this beloved ingredient. An occasional caramel corn is not out of the question. In fact, when I saw this Coconut Curry Caramel Corn in Susan Feniger's Street Food, I wasted no time in gathering everything I needed to make it. The recipe is also available online. Some sweet and spicy candied peanuts are made with finely chopped lime leaf and coconut milk, and those are mixed into the caramel corn. Then, spices like cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, and cayenne are mixed into the caramel before it coats the popcorn, candied peanuts, and some toasted coconut. Luckily, the recipe makes a lot because this was a very addictive snack. 

Making the candied peanuts was quick and easy, and they can be made in advance and stored at room temperature. You don’t want to walk away from the stove though. They need to be stirred and the heat may need to be turned down to prevent burning. Unsalted peanuts were mixed with coconut milk, dark brown sugar, finely chopped lime leaf, salt, and ground cayenne. The mixture was transferred to a saute pan and cooked over high heat for almost two minutes before stirring while continuing to cook for another five minutes or so. The nuts were then spread on a baking sheet and left to cool and crisp. Next, big pieces of shredded coconut were toasted in the oven while popcorn was popped. The popcorn, coconut, and candied peanuts were combined in a large mixing bowl. To make the caramel, butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup were combined in a saucepan and cooked while stirring until it reached 255 degrees F. Off the heat, salt, baking soda, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, mace, paprika, cayenne, and cinnamon were added. The curry caramel was poured over and mixed into the popcorn mixture. Last, the caramel corn was spread on two baking sheets and baked for an hour at 250 degrees F and was stirred every twenty minutes. 

As I wasn’t able to stop eating this caramel corn, I noticed that one bite would seem sweet while the next seemed a little hot from the cayenne. Then, I’d notice the other spices more in the following bite before the sweet flavor returned again. It made it very hard to step away from the bowl of caramel corn. I think it will work just as well as my usual, simply salted popcorn in the recipe above with the couch and tv. 

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Flax-Coconut Pancakes

I used to make pancakes almost every weekend. Stacks of simple buttermilk cakes dripping with maple syrup was a Sunday morning thing. Then, I think I developed pancake-guilt. I decided even weekend breakfasts should be a little healthier at least most of the time. If a pancake has some fruit in it or whole wheat flour or nuts, I feel better about serving it. So, of course I had to try the Flax-Coconut Pancakes from the March issue of Food and Wine. The recipe is from Elisabeth Prueitt of San Francisco’s Tartine. She too likes the idea of a healthier pancake, and she’s recently been using grains other than white flour since developing gluten-intolerance. For myself, I’m not concerned about the gluten content in baked goods, but I was happy to pull out my bin of various flours and starches and use some ingredients other than white flour. And mostly, these pancakes sounded like they’d be delicious with the coconut flour in the batter and the coconut oil on the griddle. I pushed the coconut flavor even further by adding some unsweetened, grated coconut. For serving, I couldn’t resist the usual drizzle of pure maple syrup, but I topped that with some chunks of fresh mango as well.

The recipe follows the typical pancake-making procedure but uses a few more ingredients. Brown rice flour, white rice flour, sugar, potato starch, tapioca starch, coconut flour, flaxseed meal, baking powder, and salt were combined in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, eggs, milk, and melted coconut oil were whisked before being poured into the dry ingredients. I added a half cup or so of grated coconut and a little more milk to prevent the batter from being too thick. I spread melted coconut oil on a hot griddle with a silicone brush, and then the pancakes were cooked for a few minutes per side. Just like any other kind of pancake, when the surface bubbles, it’s time to turn the cake.

The pancakes had a subtle, warm, tropical flavor from coconut in three forms which was fitting with the mango chunks on top. The coconut and flax make these heartier than plain buttermilk pancakes, but most important, I was pancake-guilt-free serving these for a weekend breakfast treat covered in maple syrup.

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Coconut Cookie Sandwiches

Coconut is great for holiday cookies as it provides instant flocking. Snowy, fluffy coconut is an easy decoration, and it would have been even better if I had used the regular kind. No, I had to go ahead and use the bag of natural, shredded coconut that I already had at home. The natural kind is delicious, and it has no added sugar, but the shredded pieces are smaller and less exciting-looking as a decoration. Next time, I might bother to get regular shredded coconut instead, but still, these cookies were cute and tasty just as they were. These sandwich cookies are the last ones I have to show from my cookie platter this year, and once again, they’re from last year’s Holiday Cookies publication. The recipe is also online. They weren’t difficult to make, but the dough was a little temperamental. It’s a somewhat dry and crumbly coconut dough, so you have to pack it a bit in an ice cream scoop to form domed shapes for baking. Once baked, the cookies held their shape well, and the filling was a simple schmear of vanilla buttercream.

As usual, flour, baking powder, and salt were sifted together into a bowl. Some shredded coconut was coarsely ground in a food processor and added to the flour. Butter, sugar, and brown sugar were creamed together in a mixer, and an egg and vanilla were added. The dry ingredients were slowly incorporated, and the dough was ready to be scooped. As I mentioned, the dough was a little crumbly and had to be packed firmly in an ice cream scoop to form domed shapes. The cookies baked for about twelve minutes and then were left to cool before being filled. The vanilla buttercream was an easy mix of softened butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla extract. The flat sides of half the cookies were spread with the buttercream, sandwiches with the other half of the cookies, and then rolled in shredded coconut.

One more detail I would add to the next-time file would be to slightly decrease the size. They were just a little bit bigger than I would prefer for a sandwich cookie. It might seem like I’m doing a lot of complaining about these cookies, but they were, of course, delicious or I wouldn’t be mentioning them at all. With a smaller scoop for the dough and regular shredded coconut for the decoration, we’ll have a completely perfect cookie next time.

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Healthier Piña Colada

I've always been fond of rum, and fruity, rum cocktails are delightful whether they come with an umbrella or not. The only, little problem, as I see it, with these kinds of cocktails is that they tend to have very high calorie counts. I used to make pina coladas at home from time to time, and they usually ended up being dessert. I would combine frozen pinapple chunks, some Coco Lopez cream of coconut, rum, and ice and blend until smooth. Served with a wedge of fresh pineapple and maybe a spoon if it was extra thick, it was always deliciously sweet. These days, I pay more attention to how many calories I'm consuming in beverages, so when I saw an idea for a lighter, healthier pina colada in the August issue of Living, I had to try it. The recipe isn't available online, but it's very easy as I'll describe below. For this version, rather than using cream of coconut with added sugar and stabilizers for maintaining a consistent texture, all-natural coconut water is used instead. The result is much less sweet, and the flavor is purely of pineapple and coconut.

I chopped a whole pineapple into chunks and placed the chunks in the freezer for a few hours. You don't actually need to freeze the pineapple, but it adds to the icy appeal. To make the cocktails, just add two cups of pineapple chunks, three quarters of a cup of pure coconut water, one half cup of ice cubes, one tablespoon of sugar, a teaspoon of lemon juice, and one half cup of rum to a blender. Puree until smooth, and garnish with toasted coconut.

They were frothy and smooth and just sweet enough. Full of tropical flavors, this was just as fun as a traditional pina colada. And, with about a quarter of the calories, I can once again make these cocktails as often as I like.

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Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk and Coconut Cookies

I think I might have started a new thing for family birthdays. It's happened twice now, so it's at least on its way to becoming a thing. Since I bake a lot, and I really can't or shouldn't eat as much as I bake, I decided to send cookies to family members on their birthdays. I'm sure that now this is in writing, I'll not have time to send cookies for the next birthday. It might just be a when-I-have-time thing, and that way the cookies will always be a surprise, right? This cookie recipe is from The Greyston Bakery Cookbook, and coconut is added to the dough. I bought a bag of natural, unsweetened, shredded coconut and then worried that the cookies wouldn't be sweet enough since I didn't use the regular, sweetened stuff. I tasted the dough before I baked the cookies to see if I thought I should add more sugar, and it seemed good to me. Kurt was happy to taste test a cookie fresh out of the oven, and his reaction made me confident they were just fine. The cookies almost disappeared before I could box them up for shipping.

There was nothing unusual about making the cookie dough here. You could use chocolate chips, but the recipe called for chunks, so I chopped a bar of bittersweet chocolate into bits. At two different cooking classes I attended, I learned the same lesson from both Nick Malgieri and Alice Medrich. When you chop chocolate into chunks for cookies, you want to leave the chocolate dust behind. Nick Malgieri places the chopped chocolate in a sieve and shakes it to remove the pulverized stuff and keep the chunks. Alice Medrich used her hands to pull the chunks away from the dust on the cutting board. The fine, powdery chocolate muddies the look of the dough and using only the chunks results in a neater cookie. So, cream butter and brown sugar, add an egg and vanilla, sift flour, baking soda, and salt and add oatmeal then add that to butter mixture, then fold in shredded coconut and natural, unsweetened is fine and neat, dust-free, chocolate chunks. Drop into mounds on baking sheets and bake.

These were easy, straightforward cookies, but the addition of coconut to an oatmeal chocolate chunk cookie was new for me. It's an excellent addition, adding a little chewiness, and one I'll continue to include from now on. Actually, now that Kurt knows about this cookie flavor and will no doubt be requesting it frequently, I'll be baking a lot of these cookies.

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Coconut Cookies

I mentioned my growing collection of different types of flour the other day, and now there’s one more variety in the bin. Coconut flour joined the party as soon as I saw these cookies in Good to the Grain. I bought Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour which is made from ground, organic coconuts, and it has the same sweet, warm smell of fresh coconut. I was thinking this flour would be good in pancakes, and as luck would have it, there’s a buttermilk coconut pancake recipe on the back of the flour package. But, about these cookies, they’re made with just coconut flour and barley flour with no all-purpose or wheat flour included. There’s also coconut milk in them, and each ball of dough was rolled in shredded, unsweetened coconut before being placed on a cookie sheet. Three sources of coconut was a sure sign that Kurt was going to be happy with these. They were tender, cakey cookies full of coconut flavor. Warm from the oven, they were melt-in-your-mouth good, but I also liked them after they’d been refrigerated overnight. I usually don’t go for cold cookies, but these were an exception to the rule. Once cold, they were a little firmer, and for whatever reason, I like shredded coconut when it’s cold.

Making this dough was just a little different from most other cookie recipes. The dry ingredients were sifted together, and those were barley flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Then, eggs were beaten in a stand mixer and then granulated and brown sugars were added and mixed with the eggs. Next, the dry ingredients were added and mixed until combined before room temperature butter was added. I felt a little uncomfortable adding the butter after the dry ingredients, but following the butter, coconut milk and vanilla were added. Last, some of the shredded unsweetened coconut was mixed into the dough which came together just fine. I used a scoop to make balls of dough which were rolled in more shredded coconut, and the cookies baked for about 20 minutes.

When I asked Kurt if he liked the cookies, his response was: of course, they’re made with coconut. So, if you like coconut, you’ll like these cookies. I liked these cookies for the true coconut flavor, for the just-right level of sweetness, and for the tender, cakey texture. Now, I’m off to attempt coconut pancakes and experiment with other ways to use this flour.

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