Grain-Free Sugar Cookie with Candy Cap Frosting

In October 2017, the Miller-Hooshiar Bunch went on a West Marin Food and Farm tour. We had the most amazing food! Seriously, I need to go back and take another tour. They had us sample some local ice creams, one of which had a secret ingredient which tasted a lot like maple. The secret ingredient was Candy Cap Mushrooms!!!! I know! Mind blown. I’ve been determined to incorporate these candy cap mushrooms into a dish, and I succeeded. WINNING!  

Grain-Free Sugar Cookie with Candy Cap Frosting

cleaneatingwithkatie
This recipe is a fun twist on a classic sugar cookie recipe. Candy Cap mushrooms do not taste like mushrooms. As the name suggests, they are sweet and taste like maple.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 36 minutes
Course cookies, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 10 people

Ingredients
  

Cookie Ingredients

  • ½ cup grass-fed butter room temperature
  • 1 egg pasture-raised
  • 1 cup coconut sugar
  • 1 cup Otto's Cassava Flour
  • ¾ cup tapioca starch
  • ½ cup full-fat coconut milk
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract

Frosting Ingredients

  • ½ cup grass-fed butter softened
  • 3 tbsp Kite-Hill Cream Cheese or dairy based cream cheese
  • 2 cups confectioner's sugar sifted
  • 1 tsp candy cap mushrooms ground to a fine powder
  • 1-2 tsp water as needed for consistency

Instructions
 

Cookie Directions

  • In a medium bowl, add the dry ingredients and set aside.  
  • Combine the butter and coconut sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until well combined. Add the egg, vanilla, and coconut milk and mix until well combined.
  • On a low speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until well combined. 
  • Place the dough on a sheet of parchment paper. Wrap up and chill dough for at least an hour. 
  • Dust a rolling pin and work surface with tapioca flour or cassava flour for rolling. Once dough has chilled, roll out the dough and use cookie cutters to form cookies.
  • Bake at 350° F for 10-12 minutes. Cool cookies on a wire baking rack.

Frosting Recipe

  • Mix the butter and cream-cheese using a hand mixer until well-combined.
  • Add the candy cap mushrooms and slowly add in the powdered sugar. 
  • If the frosting is too thick, add a little water and mix. If needed add additional water. 
  • Frost cookies and enjoy!
Keyword candy cap frosting, grain-free cookies, grain-free desert, sugar cookies

Pumpkin Spice Protein Bites

On our way out of Houston, TX earlier in 2018, we stopped at a local coffee and kombucha place. They also had some peanut butter chocolate energy bars. The bar was amazing, but had a few ingredients I prefer to avoid. It got my wheels spinning and thus, I created Almond Butter Chocolate Protein Bites. I decided that this recipe could be easily tweaked to make a pumpkin version for pumpkin season This would be the perfect recipe to make with little kiddos!

Pumpkin Spice Protein Bites

cleaneatingwithkatie
This is a new pumpkin version of the Almond Butter Chocolate Protein Bites recipe and is perfect for pumpkin spice season. Unlike most other pumpkin spice things, this is made with real food ingredients and it won't leave you feeling hangry.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 5 people

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup canned pumpkin
  • ¾ cup gluten free oats
  • 5 tbsp warm water
  • ½ cup cashew butter or other nut butter
  • 3 scoops collagen peptides beef or marine
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 tbsp raw local honey
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Instructions
 

  • Add the oats and the warm water to a bowl, stir and let sit for 30 minutes. 
  • Once the oats have absorbed the liquid, mix in the remaining ingredients.
  • Use a cookie dough scooper to portion energy balls in paper liners (they are a bit sticky).
  • Enjoy right away or refrigerate covered for up to 3 days (if they'll last that long!).
Keyword apple dessert, fall dessert, pumpkin spice, pumpkin spice protein bites, snack

Almond Butter Chocolate Protein Bites

These Almond Butter Chocolate Protein Bites were inspired by a vegan peanut butter chocolate protein bar from a juice bar in Houston, TX. I’m not a fan of vegan proteins, so I thought I’d figure out a way to make them myself. After a little tinkering in the kitchen, we found a winner. Jim approved!

Almond Butter Chocolate Protein Bites

cleaneatingwithkatie
These ABC Protein Bites make a great snack or treat that you won't feel guilty about. They also won't leave you hangry like other snacks or sweet treats.
Prep Time 35 minutes
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 5 people

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup gluten free oats
  • 4 tbsp warm water
  • ½ cup almond butter
  • 2 tbsp collagen peptides beef or marine
  • 2 tbsp raw cacao powder
  • 2 tbsp chocolate chips Enjoy Life brand is my fave!
  • 2 tbsp raw local honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions
 

  • Add the oats and the warm water to a bowl, stir and let sit for 30 minutes. 
  • Once the oats have absorbed the liquid, mix in the remaining ingredients.
  • Use a 1" cookie scooper to scoop the bites. 
  • Enjoy right away or refrigerate covered for up to 3 days (if they'll last that long!).
Keyword almond butter, almond butter chocolate protein bites, apple dessert, collagen, gluten-free, snack

Grain-Free Pumpkin Cookies

This recipe is inspired by a pumpkin cookie recipe that I fell in love with years ago. I remember thinking, who needs pumpkin pie if you have these cookies. I know -very controversial, but I still stand by that statement today – 100%. In this recipe, I swap out white flour for “Paleo” flours, regular sugars for low-glycemic sugars/less processed sugars, and I use grass-fed butter.

 

Grain-Free Pumpkin Cookies with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

Grain-Free Pumpkin Cookies

cleaneatingwithkatie
This recipe is inspired by a delectable gluten-full pumpkin cookie recipe. It took a lot of tweaks to make a delish grain-free version. I also include two "frosting" options – dairy and dairy-free.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 24 minutes
Course cookies, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 10 people

Equipment

  • Med. cookie scooper ~2 tbsp

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup Otto's Cassava Flour
  • ¾ cup tapioca starch
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • 1 cup coconut sugar
  • ½ cup maple syrup
  • 2 eggs pasture-raised
  • 1 cup grass-fed butter coconut oil can be subbed for dairy free option
  • cup pumpkin purée
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 3 oz cream cheese organic
  • 4 tbsp grass-fed butter
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • 2 cups confectioners sugar
  • ~2 tbsp water

Dairy-Free "Frosting"

  • cinnamon-sugar marshmallows regular marshmallows work well too

Instructions
 

Cookie Recipe:

  • Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment (I use baking stones for cookie baking.)
  • Combine the first six ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  • Add the butter and coconut sugar to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on low-medium until well combined. Add the maple syrup and mix again. Scrape down the sides and add the eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla. Mix on low-medium until well combined. 
  • With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredient mixture a little at a time. Scrape down the sides one more time and mix well. 
  • Using a cookie scooper (I use the medium size from Pampered Chef ~ 2 Tbsp.), drop cookies onto a baking stone or parchment lined cookie sheet, about 2" apart.
  • Bake for 20-24 minutes or until cookies test done when touched in the center. 
  • Cool cookies and frost with one of the following: 

Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Add the cream cheese, butter, and ginger to mixing bowl and mix on high until light a fluffy. 
  • Half a cup at a time, add the confectioners sugar and mix into the cream cheese and butter mixture. Add water to the mixture and mix until a proper spreading consistency. 
  • Spread a generous layer of frosting on each cookie. 

Cinnamon Sugar Marshmallow "Frosting"

  •  Turn on oven to low broil. 
  • Just before serving your pumpkin cookies, place cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet (don't skip this – it gets messy). Top with one marshmallow per cookie. 
  • Broil until marshmallow turn golden brown and begin to ooze marshmallow goodness. 
  • Serve immediately. This is such an easy way to "frost" cookies and is my ABSOLUTE NEW FAVORITE frosting. Must try!
Keyword cookies, fall dessert, grain-free cookies, pumpkin, pumpkin cookies
Grain-Free Pumpkin Cookies with Marshmallow “Frosting”

Apple Crisp

Apple season reminds me of my grandparents. I spent countless hours baking apple crisps with my Grandmother (actually I was probably just eating the crisp topping, but she still let me bake with her anyway) and making apple cider with my Grandfather’s MacGyver-style apple cider juice press. I also spent a large part of my childhood in their backyard under the apple tree. Apples hold a very special place in my heart. In case you’d like to learn more about Apples, check out this post about apples or this post

This recipe is inspired by the crisps I made with my grandmother, but uses gluten-free oats, coconut sugar (a lower-glycemic sugar than cane sugar), and grass-fed butter. 

Apple Crisp

cleaneatingwithkatie
I made countless apple crisps with my grandmother as a child and so this recipe holds a special place in my heart. I've made a few upgrades to this recipe to make it a wee bit healthier, but I'm sure you'll love it just the same.
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 8 people

Ingredients
  

  • cups gluten free oats
  • ¾ cup coconut sugar
  • ½ cup gluten-free flour
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup grass-fed butter room temperature
  • 6 cups apples cored, peeled, sliced

Instructions
 

  • NOTE: To peel, core, and slice the apples. I really like using an "apple peeler-corer-slicer". I have the one from Pampered Chef.
  • Preheat oven to 350° F. Add the apples to a 9" pie pan. 
  • Add the dry ingredients to a medium bowl. Add slices of butter to the bowl and cream the butter and dry ingredients until well incorporated. 
  • Spread the crisp topping over the apples. Cover with aluminum foil to prevent burning.
  • Bake for 35 minutes and then remove the aluminum foil. Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes or until apple juices start bubbling at surface and knife inserts easily into apples. 
Keyword apple crisp, apple dessert