It was the year 1884. This was a year remembered for the first Oxford English Dictionary, the most destructive earthquake the UK has ever seen, and the cornerstone of our own statue of Liberty. This was also the year that lives were changed when a Canadian man named Marcellus Gilmore Edson became the first to patent peanut butter. He came up with the idea as a way for people who couldn’t chew well to get nutrients. Clearly it’s come a long way since then including becoming the MVP of one of my favorite cookies!

Peanut Butter cookies have always been high on my list, but I could never handle the store-bought ones. They were never even a temptation, but it was hard to stop once I got started on my mom’s. Despite my mom’s health consciousness, her peanut-butter cookies couldn’t exactly be called healthy. So, I am excited to be spreading this recipe that has more than fulfilled the need for a healthy and delicious peanut butter cookie. Continue reading →

Can I just tell you how much I love this cake? It’s a lot! Ever since we last made it, I’ve wanted to make it again. I just need a good excuse. I remember a time when, for some reason, my brother was really into making chocolate cake. He had gotten this recipe down for really dense, moist chocolate cake. He made it almost every night for a while, and I do not exaggerate. Well, just a few weeks ago I was thinking how much I missed that and how long it had been since I had a really good chocolate cake. So when we started developing this recipe, I was excited to find a healthy alternative to the rich chocolate cake my brother used to make. And let me tell you, I certainly didn’t feel like I was eating health food.

You’ll notice the richness and moisture of this cake. We adapted the Green Smoothie Girl’s method for adding steamed beets to chocolate cake. Continue reading →

Who doesn’t love a good cheesecake? Well, you might not love it if you can’t eat it because you want to keep your body heathy. I wanted to make a delicious-sounding lemon dessert for a function I was going to. But I couldn’t feel good about making the crust as it was in the recipe. So, I invented my own! This recipe has been a huge success on this end. It can be used for any kind of dessert which is good news for all the die-hard cheesecake lovers in my vicinity.

Say goodbye to sketchy graham cracker crusts and hello to this healthy option made with all natural ingredients. Now, just a couple of notes:

1. The butter can be substituted for coconut oil if desired.

2. It’s ok if it sticks to your fingers a little bit as long as it’s all in one clump.

3. Don’t overbake. It should be golden brown. It will get really hard if overdone. Kinda ruins a cheescake.

4. For cold desserts, let it cool completely before adding the other ingredients.

So, it’s bread day again. That full day of mixing, shaping, and waiting that you squeeze into an already-hectic week. But then you go to your cupboard and discover that you’re out of oil.

Simple 3-Ingredient “Pioneer” Bread. Click the picture to go to the recipe.

Before you lean your head against the cupboard in despair and frustration, try this simple recipe for einkorn bread with only 3 ingredients! Or even if you’re not out of anything, you can make a nice bread without honey or oil. As you might imagine, this bread will be a little different, but believe it or not, it is possible!

Go to the full 3-Ingredient Bread recipe or keep reading for a few tips.

Without honey or oil, this bread will be a little denser than other bread but it will still rise. Here are some things to keep in mind.

1. Try to catch your start right when it’s ready. This bread took us a couple attempts. One of the problems the first time was the start had gone a little far. So catch it right at this stage:

2. As with the other bread recipe, this bread works best if you add only half the flour at first and let it sit for a couple of hours. This is especially important for this recipe. There is no sugar in this recipe to feed the natural yeast, so it needs all the help it can get to rise properly.

3. Getting the exact amount of flour can be a little tricky. Forget everything you used to know about bread dough. Einkorn is really sticky especially in a recipe with no oil. So, it tends to clump in the middle and leave some dough sticking to the sides. That’s ok! Also, it will probably stick to your fingers even after you’ve added enough flour. Don’t over knead it. It’s hard enough to work with as it is. So, it’s ok if you want to hit something as you try to get it out of the bowl.

4. Let it rise in a bowl for as long as it needs. It should rise but probably not as much as normal bread.

With these tips in mind, you are ready to make this 3-ingredient pioneer bread! Enjoy!

I’m going to call these muffins a delicious accident. It wasn’t a complete accident. I wanted to make some banana muffins that I often do but I didn’t have any bananas. So, I decided on pumpkin chocolate chip. I just started kind of throwing in things from there. They turned out great! And I can tell you, they didn’t last long.

Check out this recipe! It’s perfect for breakfast or really anything you want.

For those of you who miss muffins in the morning, here is a great option that won’t be hard on your digestion. They’re made with einkorn which we know is easier on the digestive system than regular wheat (Go here for details). Even besides that, though, these yummy muffins are naturally leavened using a sourdough start. That’s what you call a win-win. The fermentation process begins breaking down the grains before we ever consume them. But don’t worry, if the start is used right when it’s ready, there won’t be any sourness in these muffins. Enjoy!

Ok, first of all, don’t give up! I had quite the adventure figuring out how to make this recipe work for me. Einkorn is a little different. I get it. It’s SO worth it! There’s a learning curve. Second, time and measurments are more about consistency than exactness. The truth is, I can’t tell you exactly how long this bread takes. It could be six hours; it could be twelve. It depends on a lot of variables.

If you feel like your dough is taking a lifetime to rise, you’re probably not alone. So before you swear off natural leavening forever, please watch Continue reading →