BAKING BACKWARDS: brunch

Healthy Apple Cake (vegan, gluten free)

8:00 AM

Apple pie (for 1 or 2, Gluten-free, Vegan)

11:00 AM

Who wouldn't love a personal size apple pie?

Pie is without a doubt one of the most comforting foods on the planet. Give everyone on Earth their own piece of pie, throw some caramelized apples and cinnamon in there and you have a recipe for world peace. Tell me I'm wrong.

There's so much to love about this personal apple pie. The pastry is low in fat - yet buttery tasting, the filling is lightly sweetened with natural sweeteners (no refined sugar), the recipe is gluten free without any nasty ingredients - yet the pastry is flaky, and its healthy enough to enjoy for breakfast. In fact that's exactly what I did when I made it and I suggest you do the same. #WorldPiece

APPLE PIE (FOR 1 OR 2)

(Gluten-free, vegan)

PASTRY (Double recipe for two pop tarts)

1/8 cup white rice flour
1/8 cup brown rice flour
1 tbsp arrowroot starch
Tiny pinch of salt
1 tbsp coconut oil, solid
1 tsp maple syrup
Cold Water

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Mash in coconut oil with a fork. Gradually add in a little bit of cold water until a shaggy dough forms. Roll into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze while you make the filling.

APPLE FILLING (makes 2)

0.75 cups peeled and chopped apples (small pieces)
1.5 tbsp maple syrup
0.5 tbsp coconut sugar
Tiny pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
0.5-1 tsp coconut oil
Pinch of arrowroot starch

Add everything to a small pot and mix well. Cook two minutes over medium heat until the liquid is sticky and thickened. Remove from heat.

Remove pastry from freezer and roll out into a rectangle shape between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut into two equal size rectangles (if making 1 pop tart, or cut into 4 equal pieces if making 2 pop tarts). Fill the center of one piece of pastry with a little filling. Top with the other piece and press the edges of the pastry together gently, trying to keep filling inside the pocket. Add a small slash on top to let steam escape. Bake in oven preheated to 375F until filling escaping from the slash is golden and bubbly.

Green smoothies for great digestion

2:53 PM

Salted Caramel Nicecream Bowl (vegan, glutenfree, nutfree, soyfree)

9:00 AM

I know what you're thinking...an ice cream recipe in the middle of February? Bear with me...

I am a big fan of smoothies and ice cream in the winter -- well, year round really. If you asked me 'what's your favourite dessert?' anytime in the past 30 years the answer would always be ice cream. I am an addict, through and through. I'm not saying conventional ice cream is healthy -- because its totally not. In fact I think everyone should stop consuming dairy. But today's recipe isn't for ice cream, its for 'nicecream'.

Creamy, cold, dairy free, vegan, gluten free, soy free and nut free. Perfect for me and my allergy challenged peers. "Nicecream", also known as "banana ice cream", is healthy and just plain incredible. Seriously -- nicecream has been one of my favourite vegan food staples for years. If you haven't tried it yet you need to, now.

Vegan ice cream made of whole food ingredients -- who would have thought it was even possible? Well consider me a believer! You can make nicecream with just frozen bananas if you want but I love jazzing it up with different flavours like today's recipe for Salted Caramel Nicecream.

Sweet, salty, creamy and gooey -- this Salted Caramel Nicecream Bowl recipe is a winner. Its also a totally acceptable breakfast! What ice cream sundae can you say that about? If you own a food processor or a blender you can make this recipe in a few minutes at home. The salted caramel sauce is worth its weight in gold (IMO). All you need to make it is three ingredients, a bowl and a spoon. Brown rice syrup gives the sauce a thick, goey texure and subtle sweetness, tahini (no I'm not crazy!) makes it rich and creamy, and maple syrup unites all the flavours. A touch of sea salt makes it perfection. Drizzle the whole batch over a bowl of banana ice cream and thank me later.

SALTED CARAMEL NICECREAM BOWL

BANANA NICECREAM:

4 cups frozen banana slices
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp brown rice syrup
OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup water or coconut milk (you must add liquid if you are making this in a blender)
OPTIONAL: 1 tbsp tahini

Add bananas to blender or food processor. If using blender add about 1/2 cup of water or coconut milk and the vanilla extract and blend until smooth. If using food processor you don't need to add any water or coconut milk but do so if desired for extra creamy result, blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of your processor and blend again until texture is even. Add tahini if using and blend well. Once blended transfer to an airtight container and freeze for 30 minutes. Make caramel then drizzle over the nicecream, using a spoon to gently swirl it into the nicecream.

SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE:

2 tbsp brown rice syrup
2 tbsp maple syrup
pinch of sea salt
1/2 - 1 tbsp tahini
1 tsp vanilla extract

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix very well by hand until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to swirl into your nicecream.

Cosmic Blueberry Pancakes (vegan, gluten free)

9:00 AM

I grew up eating lots of pancakes. LOTS. It was a Sunday tradition. My Dad makes (and always made) THE BEST pancakes. Fluffy, not too sweet, not over or under cooked. Perfect for ripping up by hand to dunk in syrup or to slather in butter and maple.

Although these Cosmic Blueberry Pancakes aren't the pancakes I grew up eating, they are pretty special. Though they don't look it, these pancakes are gluten free and vegan, which honestly for pancakes is a serious challenge I have struggled with for years now. Up until this morning I'd all but given up on authentic-tasting vegan and gluten free pancakes without bad-for-you ingredients. My husband had too -- he has grown increasingly resistant to my healthy pancake attempts and almost never agrees to base his breakfast on them anymore. He's a pancake purist I guess, and all the healthy imposters I've come up with over the years have failed to fool him. In my many trials, the pancakes have tended to come out too dense, too crepe-like, too earthy flavoured, too undercooked inside or too overcooked outside. Poor guy. I had come to accept that most gluten free vegan pancake recipes result in a first batch of throw-aways (undercooked, overcooked), followed by a few successful edible pancakes. This recipe however has blown my mind a little. I managed to rope my husband in as a very wary taste-tester and we both ended up licking our plates clean -- woo -- they really are THAT good. Finally -- a light, fluffy, sweet but not too sweet pancake with no failed first flips.

You might be wondering why I called these pancakes Cosmic Blueberry Pancakes. Though its hard to tell from these photos, these pancakes are swirled and speckled with a lovely deep blue hue -- the result of me trying to gently "pulse" in my wild blueberries into the batter in my blender. I pulsed too much, resulting in some of the blueberries blending in and dying the batter a gorgeous blue colour. When I gazed at the first successful pancake the batter produced I was struck by how much it reminded me of a galaxy. So even though most blueberry pancakes recipes go out of their way to avoid this kind of blue overload, I embraced it. Plus they came out totally delicious so why mess with a good thing?

Seasonal cooking is great but I decided to make these pancakes with frozen wild blueberries so that this recipe could be accessible for everyone year round. Plus when it comes to baking and desserts I generally prefer using frozen fruit. As if the blue hued batter wasn't enough blueberry to pack into these pancakes, I decided to top each of them with a handful of extra berries while they were frying so that the undersides of the pancakes were studded with juicy wild blueberries.

These pancakes are perfect for weekend brunch, a lazy Sunday morning or a dreary winter's day. To me they taste like a really good blueberry muffin in pancake form. They will definitely be a staple in this house and hopefully will find their way into yours too.

COSMIC BLUEBERRY PANCAKES
(vegan, gluten free)

1/3 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup white rice flour
1 cup brown rice flour
3 tbsp arrowroot starch
1.25 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp maple syrup
1.5 tsp acv
1.5 cup non dairy milk
2 level tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp neutrally flavoured oil
Pinch of cinnamon

Blend all ingredients together well in blender.Scrape down the sides and blend again.

1/2 cup plus extra frozen wild blueberries

Add in 1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries gently by pulsing the blender two or three times.

Heat some coconut oil in a pan over medium high heat. Once sizzling hot, fry your pancakes one at a time. I like to add a tablespoon of blueberries on top after pouring batter into the pan, before flipping the first time. Pancakes are ready to flip after bubbles form on top and edges are golden. Serve immediately with maple syrup or fruit compote.

If you give these pancakes a try, please share a picture on social media, I'd love to see it! #BakingBackwards