this is how the conversation with my 3 year old went at breakfast the other day:
brady: “mommy, there are bugs in my scone.”
me: “oh, those are just chia seeds.”
(with a look on his face, that showed he clearly didn’t believe me)
brady: it’s okay mommy, i like bugs.”
breakfast is one of the hardest meals for me to find inspiration for. ever since my youngest son had violent reactions to eggs, our home has been pretty much egg free. i miss eggs. i miss how easy they were for breakfast. so until they return to our house (which i am hopeful that they will) i keep trying new ideas to keep breakfast interesting. these yummy creations were inspired by a recipe from one of my paleo cookbooks {Paleo Comfort Foods: Homestyle Cooking for a Gluten-Free Kitchen}. i love paleo recipes, but many of them are pretty “egg” heavy, so i try alterations to make them work. i first made these as a dessert and then altered them again by adding more fiber for a perfectly filling, slightly sweet breakfast treat.
Author: inspired & adapted from "paleo comfort foods" by julia & charles mayfield
Recipe type: breakfast, dessert
honey sweetened shortcakes. makes a perfect breakfast or a wonderful summer dessert.
Ingredients
2 c. strawberries
2 c. blackberries
2 tsps. raw honey
2 c. blanched almond flour
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
pinch of celtic sea salt
3 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 flax seed eggs* (or 2 large free range eggs)
2 Tbsp. raw honey
Instructions
wash, hull & slice strawberries and mix in a bowl with the blackberries and 2 tsps. of honey
set aside
preheat oven to 350
in a bowl, combine the blanched almond flour, chia seeds, cinnamon, sea salt, baking soda & baking powder
in a saucepan make 2 flax seed eggs (heat 6 Tbsp. water & wisk in 2 Tsbp. ground flax seed until mixture becomes gel like)
combine coconut oil, honey, vanilla & flax egg mixture and pour over dry ingredients
mix gently until ingredients are well incorporated
using a ⅓c. measuring cup, scoop out ½ circle dough balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet
this recipe makes six ⅓ c. shortcakes.
bake for 18-20 minutes, until light golden brown
serve warm, topped with honey sweetened strawberry-blackberry mixture
Notes
*if you are making these using eggs, you can omit the baking powder. I have found that using a small amount in egg-free baked items helps them rise.
**for baked goods I typically use blanched almond flour, it just cooks better. I have tried almond meal in this recipe and it works well also, the shortcake will just be a little denser.
i have a slight obsession with cookbooks. oh… i have tried to like the cookbooks on my ipad, they are so easy, so instant, but they just don’t cut it like a good ‘ole paper book. trust me, you can tell which cookbooks contain my favorites by the splatters of ingredients on them.
well the other night i decided we needed something different for dinner. i had a nice piece of frozen wild caught salmon just waiting to be cooked. i love, love, love grilled salmon, but would rather get a fresh piece if i am going to simply grill it. so on the hunt for a recipe, i pulled out a cookbook that i received for christmas this past year {The Pure Kitchen: Clear the Clutter from Your Cooking with 100 Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Recipes} and quickly found a recipe for a honey mustard salmon. now, in true jennifer fashion, i did not plan ahead and was lacking the chives, the parsley & the caraway seeds that the original recipe called for and brian really wanted a “crusted” style salmon. so we altered the recipe some and came up with an almond crusted honey mustard salmon. this recipe will definitely be added to one of our regular favorites. i served it over lemon herbed quinoa and with a side of green beans. check out the “the pure kitchen” cookbook for the actual quinoa recipe (i was missing some ingredients, so mine was just “okay”)
marked clearly on my calendar with a big red circle, is the day. january 6, 2009. it was the day that i went gluten free. only for a trial period, right? or so i thought.
i was 4 weeks postpartum with my first son and suddenly all my tummy troubles were back. my sister had been diagnosed with early signs of celiac damage earlier that year and was already well into her gluten free journey. i made the decision, i was done. so what did i do? well naturally i bought a cookbook {1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes (1,000 Recipes)} it had 1,000 gluten free recipes…this couldn’t be that hard, right?
as soon as my cookbook arrived, i chose a few recipes to try and headed off to whole foods. and there i stood. i think i was there for over 2 hours, just reading labels. never fear, i had my trusty list in hand with all the words that could mean “gluten”. a few hundred dollars later, i came home with all sorts of gluten free items. i had sorghum flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, xantham gum…and on and on, armed and ready to bake.
i have to admit that the first thing we ever baked gluten free was actually a huge success. though we now eat a very limited amount of gluten free starches and grains, i still thought this recipe should be shared. these little cookies, offered me the encouragement i needed as we dove into changing everything about the way we knew how to cook.
*flax seed egg (heat 3 Tbsp. water + 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed, until mixture gels)
Instructions
mix together dry ingredients (sorghum flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, xantham gum, salt & baking powder) & set aside
with mixer on low blend butter until smooth & then beat in sugar, flax seed egg, brown sugar, vanilla & almond extract
slowly fold in dry ingredients
remove dough from bowl and knead dough with hands until smooth
divide into two balls and pat into flat disks between plastic wrap or parchment paper
chill in refrigerator for one hour
cut each disk of dough into 12 equal pieces
roll each piece into balls & coat with cinnamon and sugar
place on parchment lines cookie sheet & press slightly to flatten
bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes
Notes
if making with flax seed egg, cookies with become pretty dry after about 2 days. freezing the extras is our preferred way to store them
2.2.6
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Hi, I am Jennifer and I am a Functional Medicine Health Coach that is passionate about helping busy moms simplify their family & athletes’ health through clean eating & meal prep