Gluten Free, Sugar Free Healthy Gingerbread Made With Coconut Flour

I wanted to share with you guys a new recipe I developed in my own little kitchen during the fall months, because gluten free gingerbread is more suitable for that type of season. However, I am expecting some changes to this recipe, so expect the best gluten free, grain free and sugar free gingerbread when the weather starts getting cooler.

With this recipe I use my favorite flour in the whole wide world: Coconut Flour. I like this flour because...

• It is grain free and gluten free
• It is high in fiber and protein
• It is made out of coconuts

The last bullet point doesn't mean it tastes like coconut, however--far from it! Coconut flour is a very "thirsty" flour because of all the fiber it contains. The net carbohydrates in gluten free coconut flour are also extremely low, which is a good thing for those watching their insulin levels (hopefully everyone!). Soon I will devote an entire post to this flour.

This recipe contains no sugar, no gluten or dairy. Eggs are needed for the structural support of this baked good to provide leavening and also the gluten-like structure found in wheat flour. Ginger and cinnamon spice up this bread, which are two incredibly healthy ingredients. Ginger is an anti-inflammatory, while cinnamon can help lower blood sugar levels.

But enough with facts about this and that. I shall cover this in another post. This recipe uses guar gum or xanthan gum with a mixture of water or coconut/almond milk. When this mixture sits for 20 minutes it forms the texture of honey. Don't skip this ingredient! Use honey if you have to (lowering the stevia to 1/8 tsp.), or pure coconut milk for this mixture. When using honey, be sure to add 1/4 tsp. of baking soda to the dry ingredients. On with the recipe!

Gluten Free and Sugar Free Gingerbread

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup gluten free oat flour (you can also use buckwheat)

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. Stevia
OR 1/2 cup Sugar Equivalent

1/8 cup Coconut Sugar or Xylitol

1 1/2 tsp. Ginger

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

3 eggs

1/2 cup coconut or almond milk

1/4 cup coconut milk, almond milk or water + 1/4 tsp. Guar Gum/Xanthan Gum (allowed to sit for 20 minutes to thicken)

1/4 cup melted coconut oil or organic butter

Combine all dry ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together. In a large bowl combine eggs, milk(s) and coconut oil or butter. Whisk together.Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly until all clumps have disappeared.

Grease an 8x8 inch glass baking pan (or a small loaf pan) with coconut oil and fill pan with batter. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes, or until firm to the touch, or when a prick or when a prick of a fork comes out click (didn't know how else to phrase that statement!).

Cool completely. Top with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with ginger, cinnamon and xylitol.

*You can opt out of using this guar/xanthan gum mixture and use pure coconut milk, or even honey. When using honey, add 1/4 tsp. of baking soda to the batter.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 oz organic, regular cream cheese

1 oz organic butter

12 drops Vanilla Stevia

Pinch of Xylitol or Powdered Stevia, to taste

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

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This has been The Healthy Advocate

Coconut Part Two: Gluten Free, Grain Free and Sugar Free Healthy Coconut Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

This photo comes straight from the original recipe found at Healthy Indulgences. My photo will soon replace this, as the current one I own does not do the recipe justice. Anyone want to help me out on my photography skills, or lack there of?

I have made some great things from many different bloggers and websites available on the net. It's been an amazing experience to see different recipes that are healthy, gluten free and refined sugar free, and then putting my own little twist on them. They also give me wonderful new ideas for brand new recipes that I can bring to you to really liven up your own menu.

But, these cupcakes are so good, you would NOT know they were healthy. Believe me, you won't. I've adapted this recipe from Healthy Indulgences (one of the few blogs I go to to find basic recipes to then go out and experiment with my own). Lauren is around my age, and we're both college-bound, gluten and sugar free healthy advocates. She's a bit more experienced then me (OK, a lot more than me), but I'm getting there. I'm glad to have her, as well as others, be my "teachers", even though they don't know that they are just yet.

These cupcakes are grain free, meaning that they are going to be low in carbohydrates and gluten will be nonexistent. Many people find that they can lose weight, gain energy and vitality, reverse digestive disorders or dis-eases, clear up skin, etc., quite easily when they cut grains out of their diet. If you want to read my own grain free experiences, read my story here.

The coconut cupcakes surprisingly don't taste too much like coconut, but you can still sense that tropical feel once you bite into this amazing superfood; and as your tongue reacts to the flavors while you eat this slowly, you energy starts to feel refreshed, replenished and your mood can stay elevated for hours. OK, maybe nothing is that good--but these do come close. They definitely WILL NOT result in an energy crash like other cupcakes, because again, they are low in digestible carbohydrates (particularly refined carbohydrates, which can turn into sugar quite quickly in your body) and refined white sugar, all of which can cause a quick insulin spike and crash, resulting in low energy. So you really are good to go with these.

Be sure to try and pulverize the dried coconut in either a blender, Magic Bullet, coffee grinder, ect., as you really do want a find powder. I used a food processor the first time, and it resulted in half powder, half coconut "bits". If you don't mind having those "bits" in your 'bites', then it shouldn't bother you. Me, I would rather have a cupcake with a smooth texture. Also, make sure you are using real eggs and REAL butter or oil, as using replacements will result in a different texture and you will also be missing out on any health benefits the egg yolk, butter or coconut oil provides.

Now, on with the recipe. I tend to speak too much about the recipes I post, which will come to an end on the next one, I promise. This is a super quick, easy treat for you or anyone you know, and can be eaten as dessert, snack, or even be a high protein, high fiber meal replacement.

P.S. This cupcake is full of coconut, so you know that the fat in this recipe will not be stored as fat, but be used as energy very quickly in your body, even resulting in a higher metabolic rate. Read more here about coconut in the PART 1 of this series.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup blanched dry almonds, pulverized into a flour

2 cups unsweetened, dry coconut, pulverized into a fine flour, meal or powder

1 Tbsp. Coconut Flour

-OR Protein Powder

1/8 tsp. Celtic Sea Salt

1/2 tsp. Grain Free Baking Powder

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

3 eggs

1/4 cup coconut or almond milk (or whole, organic raw milk)

2 TBSP. Organic Butter or Coconut Oil, melted

Sweeteners

12 drops Vanilla Creme Stevia

1/4 cup Xylitol

1/4 cup Coconut Palm Sugar

1/4-1/2 tsp. Stevia Extract Powder, to taste

-OR-

3/4-1 cup natural sugar substitute

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Set oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

Mix the almond flour, dried coconut meal/flour/powder and coconut flour in a small bowl. Add salt and baking powder. Mix together well and set aside.

In another bowl, combine vanilla extract with 3 eggs. Next add the sweeteners. Stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients in with the sweeteners. Mix well. You can also do this in just one big bowl, if you so desire.

Line 8-9 big muffin cups with paper liners. Or, line a mini muffin pan with 20 mini muffin liners. Grease the paper liners well.

Evenly distribute the batter into the muffin cups, making sure that you are giving enough room for rising to occur.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until "springy" to the touch. Set out to cool and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week (but they will be gone much sooner than that!).

Carob added to the final frosting. As I said before, my photos do not seem to do it any justice. Reading up on photography!

Yield: 20 mini cupcakes, or 9 regular sized cupcakes

Healthy Buttercream Frosting

4-6 TBSP. Organic Butter, or Coconut Oil (hard)

1/4 tsp. Stevia Extract Powder
or 1/4 cup Xylitol

1 TBSP. Coconut Milk (optional)

Blend the butter or coconut oil with the stevia or xylitol. Add the coconut milk, if using. Frost cool cupcakes (make sure they are cool) and place in refrigerator for storage.

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There you go, for a healthy, meal on the go or quick snack or dessert to help support your healthy lifestyle. Please check out the ingredients you may have not been familiar with anywhere on this blog by doing a quick search, or look them up on your favorite search engine to find out more. Super healthy and extremely nutritious.

Try these out and tell me what you think! I know you won't be dissappointed.

This is The Healthy Advocate.

Winter Recipe Roundup - Healthy, Gluten Free, Sugar Free and Sooo Good

Click on the picture above to see descriptions

On the last day of winter this year, I decided to squeeze in as much last minute holiday treats as I could. I love wintertime, and I wanted to get the most out of it this year, for some reason. However, when spring came, it was fantastic, because as you can see above in the middle picture (click to enlarge), the first full day of spring was filled with 3 inches of snow--in Texas!

I go to school in Houston but visit Dallas (my home) as often as I can. For spring break I went, and the last day I was there I was running and playing in the snow like a little kid again. How I wish I took more pictures! I made two snow angels, a snow man and several hundred snowballs to throw at the window to get my preteen sister and her friends to wake up (they didn't come out by the way--apparently they're too cool for that).

Anyway, back to the recipes. I made quite a bit, unintentionally, and shared them with my mom--brothers and sisters are more into the processed food, promoting its taste and "quality" while never attempting to try real food. Oh well; there is only so much you can do to try to promote health and wellness in others. However, I am "The Healthy Advocate", so I shall try more, without being too overbearing.

OK, I have strayed again, and I will stay on topic. Enter Coconut Flour Gingerbread Cookies! Sugar free, dairy free and gluten free, I might add (did I also mention they were grain free?). I have never had any luck making a recipe completely vegan when it comes to coconut flour. It seems as though the eggs are an integral part of the recipe in order to bind everything together properly. If anyone has any tips on this, please let me know.

My cookies came out thin, mainly because that was the way I wanted them. You can make them thicker by adding more batter to the cookie cutter (see recipe). Also, they are very soft, not crispy like other gingerbread cookies. I think next time I will try almond flour next winter for a crispier cookie.

The only trouble I had with the recipe was the coconut oil frosting/glaze. Sometimes a chef can't be patient--you must be when it comes to this recipe! You must first allow the cookies to completely cool before frosting, otherwise the coconut oil will soak into the warm cookie, and won't make that beautiful hard coating that you see in the picture below.

One more note: The nutrition information below is calculated based on the number of cookies I made. You may need to adjust the numbers when you actually make yours. The entire recipe comes out at 9 grams of digestible carbs! Which means if you ate one cookie, you would only get 0.6 grams of digestible carbohydrates, which is pretty cool (only if you are able to make 16 cookies, like I did). It also contains a whopping 1.5 grams of high quality protein, due to the eggs and coconut flour. What a nutritious and guilt free treat!

This recipe was adapted from SimplyCoconut.com. They have fantastic coconut flour recipes. I haven't tried them all out yet, but I'm getting there.

Coconut Flour Gingerbread Cookies

Makes about 16 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutters.

Ingredients

1/4 + 1/8 cup Coconut Flour (6 TBSP total)

1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Ground Ginger

1/4 Cup Xylitol + 2 TBSP Xylitol (or favorite sugar free sweetener)

1/4 tsp. Pure Stevia Powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1/4 cup dairy free milk--Coconut milk might be best

3 TBSP butter, ghee or coconut oil, melted

3 eggs OR 6 egg whites

Directions

Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl and whisk together. Set aside.

Combine the milk, melted butter or oil and the eggs in a separate bowl. Mix until blended.

Pour in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

On a greased glass baking dish, place your desired cookie cutter. Pour a couple of tablespoons worth of batter in the cookie cutter and press batter into the shape. Slowly unmold the cookie so all that is left is the batter in the desired shape. Repeat with same or different cookie cutters.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Coconut Oil Frosting/Glaze

1/4 Cup - 1/2 Cup melted coconut oil

Stevia, to taste

Directions

Pour sweetened coconut oil on top of cooled cookies one TBSP at a time and spread. Cool cookies again so the glaze will harden.

Nutrition Information

Per Cookie w/o Glaze & Made w/ Whole Eggs

Calories: 68.15

Fat: 4 g

Digestible Carb: 0.6 g

Fiber: 0.95 g

Protein: 1.5 g

Per Cookie w/o Glaze & Made w/ Egg Whites

Calories: 60.65

Fat: 2.9 g

Digestible Carb: 0.6 g

Fiber: 0.95 g

Protein: 1.5 g

Sugar: 0.19 g (naturally occurring and bound w/ fiber in the coconut flour)

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Now for the nut-butter cups. These "Reese's" inspired chocolate covered peanut butter cup is one of my favorite, because I combine different and healthier nuts other than peanut. Peanuts can contain a toxin around them the majority of the time, and are high in inflammatory oils and fats (omega-6's). I use a blend of organic peanut butter, walnut butter and almond butter (homemade, of course--recipe coming soon).

Homemade Reese's can take some time, but it is SO worth it, especially when you consider the health of your body. Rather than giving your body all the sugar and inflammatory fats that are found in regular candies, you know you are giving your body the anti-aging, anti-inflammatory fats from walnuts, the anti-oxidants from pure chocolate, and the metabolism boosting qualities of coconut oil. Also, you won't be bombarding your body with sugar.

This is my first shot at these healthy versions of nut butter cups and balls. I will be trying them again at Easter, and will revisit them again for you guys. You will need paper cupake/muffin liners, cutting the paper "walls" of the liner so that they only stand about 1/2 inches tall.

Homemade "Reese's" Nut Butter Cups

Makes 14-16 Chocolate Covered Nut Butter Cups

Ingredients

4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, bar

-OR- 12 TBSP Unsweetened Cocoa Powder mixed with 4 TBSP melted coconut oil

1 tsp. honey, or more depending on how sweet you want your chocolate to be

1/2 cup of your favorite nut butter (I used peanut, almond, sunflower and walnut)

-Sweeten with powdered xylitol, erythritol, honey or stevia, if desired

Directions

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Using a small paintbrush or a spoon and your fingertips (like me), spread a teaspoon and a half into a paper muffin cup. Spread around to coat the entire cup (may need more than 1 1/2 tsp.). Continue to do this until about 10-12 muffin cups are all coated. Place in freezer to firm.

Meanwhile, stir the nut butter with your sweetener, if using. Take the hardened chocolate cups out of freezer and put nut butter in each cup, making sure you fill the entire cup--but not too much; you don't want to fill it up to the top.

Place the muffin cups in the freezer again. Melt chocolate while you wait about 5 minutes, if you need to, and then take out the muffin cups once again. Spread remaining melted chocolate over the nut butter inside the chocolate shells, and spread over to completely cover. Once done, place in freezer again

Wait until it is solid enough to unmold, and then store in freezer or refrigerator. It can melt fast at room temperature if you are using the coconut oil and cocoa powder mixture, so keep in the refrigerator.

With any remaining chocolate and nut butter, make chocolate covered nut butter balls, or make more chocolate covered nut butter cups. Or, use your imagination, be creative, and tell me what you do!

Nutrition Information

Per Chocolate Covered Nut Cup

Calories: 86.25

Fat: 7 g

Protein: 4.5 g

Digestible Carb: 2.7 g

Fiber: 1.75 g

Sugar: 0.8 g (natural--with 1 tsp. honey)

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Well there is the winter recipe round up. No savory dishes this season, but the upcoming ones you will see more healthy breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas.

This has been The Healthy Advocate.