Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Balls

Quick gluten-free dessert.

Ingredients:


1 (8 oz) package cream cheese,softened
¼ cup butter, softened
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup finely chopped nuts, toasted (I used walnuts)

With an electric mixer at medium speed beat together all ingredients except nuts until creamy and well mixed. Cover and chill at least 2 hours. Shape chilled mixture into small balls (about 1 tablespoon each). Roll balls in nuts. Serve well chilled.

Wheat free biscotti

This recipe is from Wheatbellyblog.com



Ingredients:

2 cups almond meal
½ cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup cocoa powder (undutched)
½ cup dark chocolate chips
Sweetener equivalent to ½ cup sugar
½ cup ricotta cheese, room temperature (replace with coconut milk if lactose intolerant)
4 tablespoons butter, melted (replace with coconut oil if lactose intolerant)
2 large eggs
¼ cup milk, unsweetened almond milk, or soy milk
¼ cup almond, peanut, or sunflower seed butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Mix almond meal, walnuts, sweetener, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips in bowl. Mix in ricotta, butter, eggs, milk, and nut butter and blend by hand thoroughly.

Pour mix onto baking pan lined with parchment paper or greased with coconut oil or other oil. Shape into loaf approximately 1 inch deep and 3½ to 4 inches in width. Place in oven and bake for 40 minutes.

Remove loaf and allow to cool 15 minutes. Slice into approximately ¾-inch widths and lay each biscotto on its side on baking pan. Put back in oven for 10 minutes.

Remove pan and flip biscotti over. Place back in oven and bake an additional 5 minutes. Remove and cool.

Optional: For a little dark chocolate “icing”:

Melt 3-4 oz semisweet or dark chocolate in microwave (in 15 second increments until melted) or in metal bowl placed in heated water. Stir in 1-2 teaspoons butter.

Dip each biscotti into melted chocolate mix or drizzle chocolate mixture over top of each biscotto.

Wheat-free pumpkin bread

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2010

Wheat-free pumpkin bread
Try this recipe for a wheat-free, gluten-free yet healthy "bread." Unlike many gluten-free foods that send blood sugar skyward, this will not.

Ingredients:
2 cups ground almond meal (Buy it from Trader Joe's--70% cheaper than other grocery stores.)
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup sour cream (full-fat, of course)
15 oz canned pumpkin (Trader Joe's is bisphenol A-free)
2 medium to large eggs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg or allspice
Dash of salt
Choice of non-nutritive sweetener (I used 3 teaspoons Trader Joe's stevia extract powder, the one mixed with lactose. Two tablespoons of Truvia, 1/2 teaspoon of the more concentrated stevia extract, or 1/2 cup Splenda are other choices. You can taste the mixed batter to gauge sweetness if in doubt.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease baking pan (e.g., 10 x 6 inch). The pan should be big enough so that the mix will not be more than 2 inches deep, else it will require much longer to bake. (If you have only smaller pans, you will need to cook longer while the pan is covered with aluminum foil.)

Mix all ingredients thoroughly in large bowl. Pour mix into greased baking pan.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for additional 30 minutes or until inserted toothpick or knife comes out dry.

Serve with cream cheese or as is.

Gluten free pumpkin pancakes

For health reasons, I'm starting to add more wheat-free recipes to the blog. We made a couple of adjustments to the original recipe to cut down on sugar. We also use sugar free pancake syrup to make sure to make this a great diabetic/heart healthy recipe.



Ingredients:
1 egg
1 Tbsp sugar or sugar substitute
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup of pureed pumpkin
1 cup Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose GF Baking Flour (made of, garbanzo flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, sorghum flour and fava flour)
1/4 cup Buckwheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 pinches of nutmeg
1 cup of organic whole milk ( I used skim)

In a mixing bowl whisk together the egg, sugar, and vanilla, until foamy. Add the melted butter and pureed pumpkin and stir together.

Sift together the flours, baking powder, and spices then add them to the pumpkin mixture. Pour the milk over the mixture and whisk together just until it’s smooth. Add more milk if you like your pancakes thinner. Cook pancakes on hot griddle until golden brown. Serve immediately with your choice of maple syrup.

Wheat-free pie crust

Today starts the new label for non-wheat items. This recipe is from Tim's cardiologist, Dr William Davis


From the blog of Dr. William Davis – Tim’s cardiologist

I’ve been working on wheat-free yet healthy recipes these past two months.

You can buy wheat-free, gluten-free foods at the store, of course. But the majority of these products are unhealthy because cornstarch, rice starch, potato starch, or tapioca starch are commonly used in place of wheat. Recall that these are among the few foods that increase blood glucose higher than even wheat.

Here’s a simple recipe for wheat-free pie crust that works best for cheesecake, pumpkin pie, and cream pies, but not for berry or other fruit pies like apple.

You will need:


1½ cups ground pecans
6 tablespoons melted butter
or melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 medium egg
2 tablespoons Truvia™ or ½ teaspoon stevia extract or ½ cup Splenda®

Mix all ingredients thoroughly in bowl. Pour mixture into pie pan and press onto bottom and sides.

Fill pie crust with desired filling. You can fill it with your favorite cheesecake recipe (e.g., Neufchatel or cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, vanilla, and stevia; add pumpkin for pumpkin cheesecake) and bake, usually at 350 degrees F for one hour.

Yes, the butter provokes insulin and artificial sweeteners can trigger appetite. But, for the holidays, a slice or two of pie made with this crust will not increase blood sugar nor trigger the uncontrolled impulse eating that wheat crust will trigger.