Smart Sweets: 30 Desserts to Indulge Your Sweet Tooth 1

Smart Sweets: 30 Desserts to Indulge your Sweet Tooth 1

Table of Contents

Introduction

Why Desserts?...... 4 Are the Recipes Healthy?...... 4 Snacks? Sweets? What's the Difference?...... 5 Why White Sugar?...... 6 What Sweeteners are there Other than White Sugar?...... 6 What Sweeteners Aren't Recommended?...... 8 Where to Find Alternative Sweeteners...... 9 Three Tips to Trick Your Tongue...... 9 Supplies You Might Want to Have Around...... 10 Homemade Ingredients ...... 10 Ingredient Notes...... 11 Features of the Text...... 12 How to Use an eBook...... 14 Special Diet Notes (gluten, casein, egg)...... 14

1. Pumpkin Cookies...... 15 2. Honey Molasses Cookies...... 18 3. Coconut Macaroons...... 20 4. Cinnamon Raisin Spelt Drops...... 24 5. Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies...... 26

Bars and Brownies

6. Fudgy Brownies with Chocolate Chips (with sprouted option)...... 28 Bonus: Soaked Fudgy Brownies...... 30 7. Traditional Brownies with Walnuts (with sprouted option)...... 31 8. Black Bean Brownies and Blondies...... 32 9. Butternut Spice Bars ...... 34 10. Peanut Butter Bars (or cookies)...... 36

Cakes and Cupcakes

11. Cider Doughnut Spiced Cupcakes...... 38 12. Whole Wheat Carrot Zucchini Cake...... 40 13. Classic Butter Cake with Whole Grains...... 42 14. Coconutty White Cake...... 44 15. Sourdough Chocolate Cake...... 46 16. Mom's Famous Almond Frosting (or chocolate)...... 48

Pies 17. Magic Coconut Pie...... 50 18. Whole Wheat Fruit Pizza...... 52

Candy

19. Peppermint Coconut Bark...... 54 20. Dark Chocolate Truffles...... 56 21. Peanut Butter Kisses...... 59

Frozen Desserts

22. Kelly's Probiotic Fudge Bars...... 60 23. Apricot Sorbet & others...... 62

& More!

24. Grain-free Baked Apples...... 64 25. Cherry Almond Crepes …...... 67 26. Easy Brown Rice Pudding...... 70 27. Apple Crisp (slow cooker, soaked, gluten free)...... 72 28. Buñuelos...... 75 29. Better-for-You Chocolate Syrup...... 77 30. Real Pudding: Easy Vanilla, Creamy Maple Almond, French Vanilla...... 79

Photos...... 81 Bonus Recipe: Chocolate Peppermint Lotion Bar...... 83 Other Desserts Recipes and Resources...... 85

Why Desserts?

We have to begin with the obvious question: Why bother with an eBook about desserts? Aren't sweets inherently unhealthy? Why would a real food lover choose to make a dessert using sweeteners that, no matter how “unprocessed” they are, still aren't actually adding any nourishment to your diet?

Well. Mostly because it's fun. Most folks simply enjoy having desserts and sweets from time to time. Even the most die hard whole foods advocate may still want to indulge their sweet tooth, no matter how well they've trained that sweet tooth to be quiet and appreciate the natural sweetness of apples, carrots, or coconut oil.

I say it's better to indulge in an occasional wiser dessert than fall completely off the wagon and cavort with Sara Lee or Betty Crocker.

The desserts in this book are “smart sweets” for many reasons. All of them incorporate at least one of the following, if not many:

• less sugar than a conventional recipe • unrefined sweeteners instead of white sugar • healthy, real fats that have been consumed for thousands of years • whole grains, soaked or sprouted grains, and many with no grains at all • vegetables or fruits • nutrient-dense foods like milk, yogurt, and nuts • zero ingredients you can't pronounce...unless you don't know how to say “sucanat” (notice I don't include a pronunciation key with the word!)

They're also delicious.

That being the case, another reason to make real food desserts is to tempt others to eat wholesome foods. For those who would rather have their Twinkies and french fries, embracing a better diet can be a tough sell. Introducing some sweet treats that are actually good for them (more or less) and also taste great is an excellent way to entice newbies to the real food lifestyle, a little “real food evangelism” if you will.

Are the Recipes Healthy?

I asked my mother-in-law to taste some of the homemade chocolate syrup (p. 77) the first time I made it, and she asked me, “Is it healthy?” A few thoughts ran through my head before I stumbled through a not-very-complete answer.

1. Well, sucanat is certainly healthy-ER than high fructose corn syrup. 2. And it's healthy-ER than white sugar. 3. But it's still sugar. 4. And any sweetener has calories, plus an impact on blood sugar. 5. So...is it healthy? Not exactly.

The real answer about the recipes in Smart Sweets is that some of them are healthy- ER than most homemade dessert recipes, and some of them could be called healthy-“ish” since they've got some really good ingredients along with the sweetener.

All of them are head and shoulders above anything you could buy in an average grocery store, but I don't know that they go all the way to “nourishing” since we're not exactly talking bone broth and plain yogurt here...although the latter is included in a couple recipes.

They're smart sweets...but no one is hiding the fact that we're still making desserts here.

Snacks? Sweets? What's the Difference?

It's a pretty common American picture: The mother welcomes her kids home from school with a warm plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies and a tall glass of milk. Of course, in the real world it's often a package of Chips Ahoy and a carton of skim milk, and the mother may or may not be included.

The point is this: Cookies are often seen as an acceptable snack, when, clearly, they're a sweet. A dessert.

The lines are easily blurred, and one can see why: Some desserts are easy to grab, tasty in a hurry, and ready when you are. They fit the definition of a snack quite nicely. Some snacks, especially muffins and storebought processed yogurt tubes, have as much sugar as many of the desserts in this book. In fact, if you are familiar with my first eBook, Healthy Snacks to Go, you may notice that a few of those recipes got tucked into Smart Sweets.

Is there much of a nutritional difference between my granola bars with a cup of honey for a 9x13 pan and the healthy pumpkin cookies (p. 15) with just over a half cup honey for six dozen cookies? Actually, the cookies have less sweetener per cup of grains, so I'd tip the scales in their direction when it comes to nourishment factor.

My point? Don't worry about snack/sweet boundaries as much as total daily nourishment. You want to serve cookies or pie for an after-school snack? Go for it; just make them the healthiest version you can find. Then offer fresh fruit after dinner instead of a dessert.

My goal is to offer you some sweets recipes that make your family feel spoiled without realizing they hardly strayed from a nourishing diet.

Just be smart about how many smart sweets you create in a given week.

Or day.

Okay? *wink*

Why White Sugar?

Some readers may be appalled to see the option of white sugar in many of these recipes. “Why, Katie?” they may cry. “Why in Heaven's name would you include something that is clearly a poison rather than teaching people about real food?”

I have a few reasons, actually.

First, I use white sugar from time to time. When there's not much in a recipe, there are days when I just don't feel like coughing up the double and triple price upgrade for maple syrup, sucanat or other unrefined sweeteners.

Second, I don't want to be overly elitist or inaccessible to an average Joe or Jane Healthy Baking Rookie. If someone has no idea what sucanat is or where to find it in the stores, and they see a recipe that calls for only sucanat as a sweetener, they'll likely skip the recipe and move on to something else. (That was me two years ago.)

I'd rather provide recipes that someone can make with what they have on hand and help reduce sugar/white flour intake than scare them away entirely. Besides that, if your average white sugar baker starts to get into Smart Sweets, perhaps I'll have the opportunity to teach something about unrefined sugars, soaking grains, and traditional diets. (Waving at Joe and Jane Rookie Baker reading this part about themselves – glad you're here!)

Third, I like to have “food donation” options. Even the most die hard real foodie who feels guilty if they have a bag of white sugar in the house might want a less expensive option when asked to bring a plate of cookies for a bake sale, for example. Many of us don't have pockets deep enough to feed the best ingredients to the whole world, all the time. Reality is reality, and I like providing options for many different sweeteners, many different variations on each recipe. You'll find one that works for the philosophy by which you already work in the kitchen.

What Sweeteners are There Other than White Sugar?

As it turns out, there are quite a few. When I talk “alternative sweeteners” I do not, emphatically do not, mean artificial sweeteners or anything else made from chemicals in a lab. Yuck. In Smart Sweets, you will find such smarter sweeteners as:

• Sucanat • Maple Syrup • Palm Sugar • Molasses • Honey • Stevia (liquid extract)

Most recipes discuss substitutions, but here's a quick explanation of what each sweetener is, why it's smarter than white sugar, and what you can use in place of it if you don't have something on hand.

Sucanat

Also found under the name “rapadura,” sucanat stands for SUgar CAne NATural and is a granulated cane sugar – basically the unrefined version of white sugar, with the molasses and nutrients still intact instead of stripped away. Nearly any granulated sweetener (date sugar, coconut sugar, palm sugar, etc.) can be used in place of sucanat. It subs in for white sugar quite nicely in most recipes, but because it has more flavor it does alter certain dishes.

Note: For some reason I always thought “Rapadura” might be a liquid sweetener. It's not. It's granulated and interchangeable with sucanat. I use sucanat in this book because it's easier to find for me. Feel free to use either one. More info here on this category.

Palm Sugar

Another granulated sweetener, palm sugar is from a palm tree instead of the sugar cane plant. It is sometimes called “coconut sugar,” although in my experience actual coconut sugar has less intense flavor. Palm sugar is a deep brown color and works very well with dishes containing cinnamon. Although it's brown, it does not taste like brown sugar. (Neither do sucanat and rapadura, by the way.)

Honey

Raw honey from local hives is the best choice for health benefits and is the least processed sweetener of all. When baking with honey, you will lose many of the health benefits of raw honey, but it's still slightly healthier than unrefined sugar. A number of the recipes in Smart Sweets allow the honey to remain raw in the finished product (Apricot Sorbet, Peppermint Coconut Bark, Whole Wheat Fruit Pizza [frosting only], and Peanut Butter Kisses).

Because honey is also sweeter than sugar and a liquid, you'll need to adapt recipes using white sugar if you want to substitute honey. (Using less is one reason it beats white sugar in a nutritional head-to-head.) See How to Bake with Honey (http://bit.ly/rR2AYi) back at Kitchen Stewardship.

Maple Syrup

Forty gallons of maple sap boil down to one gallon of maple syrup, which is high in zinc and a clearly natural product. Since it's usually more expensive than honey, you may want to substitute with honey unless you need the flavor of maple syrup in a recipe.

Molasses

When white sugar is made from the sugar cane plant, molasses is basically what gets stripped off. It is high in iron and has other trace minerals, but it also has a fairly distinctive taste. I like to add just a Tablespoon of molasses to some baking recipes in place of honey, for the nutritive benefits. Blackstrap molasses is the least refined.

Stevia

A South American herb 30 times as sweet as sugar, stevia plants are used to make an extract which is 300 times sweeter than sugar. Although difficult to substitute in baking recipes for granulated sweeteners, stevia is ideal for liquids or creamy recipes like custards, puddings, and some fillings or frostings. Be sure to look for stevia without additives or weird chemicals (skip the powders). I recommend Sweetleaf brand while my husband prefers NuNaturals. More on stevia.

What Sweeteners Aren't Recommended?

Brown Sugar

There are a few recipes in Smart Sweets that call for brown sugar, but don't be fooled: Brown sugar is NOT healthier than white sugar. A tiny bit of molasses might be added back into your refined sugar, but it's mostly just for color. When you can, sub sucanat or palm sugar for brown sugar.

Organic Sugar, Evaporated Cane Juice, Demerara Sugar, Turbinado, Raw Sugar

All of these terms are variations on the same theme: Sugar cane, slightly less processed, but still stripped of most of the nutrients in the sugar cane (which aren't a whole lot to begin with anyway). These sugars are generally a light brown; sucanat and rapadura are quite dark brown, at least as dark if not darker than regular (light) brown sugar. Don't be fooled into paying triple the price for something that's a very small nutritional step up, but still basically white sugar.

There are a few minor advantages to evaporated cane juice or organic cane sugar, simply that they are generally fair trade sugars and grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers. If that's important to you, know that you can use either sugar in place of any white sugar or sucanat in most recipes.

Agave Nectar

Agave is often touted as a natural alternative, but then again, so is “corn sugar.” Agave is not a traditional sweetener but rather a fairly recent addition to the food landscape, and it has 70% fructose (more than high fructose corn syrup). I read many more sources that say “stay away” than ones that genuinely convince me it might be healthy. For the price premium, I'm happy to avoid agave. Read more here.

Corn Syrup

You know this stuff is really bad for you, right? Even “light” corn syrup often includes high fructose corn syrup in its ingredients. If your recipe calls for a liquid sweetener, just use honey.

If you only have white sugar, do consider looking into some other less processed sweeteners, but also know that for the price upgrade, you get more bang for your buck

© 2011 Katie Kimball | Kitchen Stewardship, LLC Smart Sweets: 30 Desserts to Indulge your Sweet Tooth 9 by changing food purchases like meat, milk, and produce first, then sugar. If you have to use sugar, it can go into any recipe that calls for “sucanat” using a one-to-one ratio. Just remember your sweets aren't quite as smart.

For more information about all these sweeteners and other alternatives that aren't included in Smart Sweets, browse the Sweet, Sweet Summer series back at Kitchen Stewardship.

Where to Find Alternative Sweeteners

If you don't have a health foods store near you and cannot find something in a regular grocery store, you can check Kitchen Stewardship under “What to Buy” and “KS Recommends” - my Amazon “store” links to many of the sweeteners used in this book. Tropical Traditions ( http://tinyurl.com/3eknlx4 ) also carries some of them, and many small online businesses that cater to healthy cooking stock sucanat and palm sugar.

Be aware when buying maple syrup that you only want REAL maple syrup, with exactly one ingredient. Also be careful when purchasing honey; try to find well-sourced honey, typically not the stuff found in grocery stores.

Three Tips to Trick your Tongue

Sugar tastes great. It’s also addicting. We all should try to cut down on the sugar or use an alternative, natural sweetener whenever possible. The ultimate goal is to cut out the sweeteners entirely, but that’s a tough one! You can cut down and still speak to your sweet tooth by using three foods in your recipes that help make you think you’re eating sweeter dishes than in reality:

1. Cinnamon 2. Spelt Flour 3. Coconut Oil

It’s easy to add a teaspoon or more of cinnamon to oatmeal, pudding, pancakes, or quick breads while cutting down on or cutting out the sweetener. It makes the Butternut Spice Bars on page 34 sweet with very little maple syrup (or none) involved.

Spelt is simply a more ancient grain than its relative, the wheat plant. When baking, you can often substitute spelt flour for whole wheat, and the result almost always ends up being more melt-in-your-mouth than the original.

Virgin coconut oil, the kind with full coconut flavor and aroma, is a good substitute for sugar in your morning oatmeal (I add cinnamon, too) or coffee, tastes great in smoothies, and helps make whole wheat desserts taste less “grainy.” It will impart a hint (or more) of coconut flavor, so if you really dislike coconut, you may be out of the game on this one (See “Ingredient Notes” on p. 11 for more info on coconut oil).

Bonus: vanilla also tends to add a hint of sweetness, so use it whenever you can!

Ingredient Notes

I don't really use a lot of fancy ingredients, but I get a little picky about certain ones. Here's a little peek into my head (and my cupboards):

• Aluminum-free baking powder • Unrefined salt • Butter: I don't get too picky about brands and origins, but mostly I use unsalted butter, and never, EVER the fake stuff • Coconut oil: “refined” coconut oil is more processed and has no odor or flavor, while “unrefined” has both the smell and taste of coconuts. Some recipes call for one or the other for a reason, but many desserts could use either. Be sure to find well-processed coconut oil, pressed at low temps and mechanically, not chemically, extracted. Both forms of the oil are solid below 76F and liquid above. • Arrowroot starch/powder/flour: a more natural alternative to cornstarch and a non-GMO (genetically modified) option; common in gluten free foods and thickens about twice as effectively as wheat flour, so generally use half as much. • Unsweetened coconut: I never use sweetened coconut in any of my baking. That's what you generally find at a grocery store, but the sugar and random filler ingredients are atrocious, and besides that, the sweetened stuff doesn't even taste like real coconut. My whole life, I thought I didn't like coconut, until I tried unsweetened coconut and unrefined coconut oil. Now I absolutely adore the flavor, but not if it's artificial. (No piña coladas for me.) Find unsweetened shredded coconut at a health foods store or online in bulk. You'll use it! • Flour options: ◦ I do grind my own flour, but many of these recipes originated before I owned a grain mill, so they're ready for storebought flour too. I rarely make any changes in a recipe moving from store whole wheat to freshly ground. ◦ Whole wheat flour – traditional “hard red” wheat (the norm in a grocery store) ◦ White whole wheat – “hard white” wheat if grinding your own; white whole wheat has no fewer nutrients than traditional whole wheat. It's simply a different strain of wheat plant, not anything about the way it's processed. King Arthur is a great brand to purchase. ◦ Whole wheat pastry flour – from “soft white wheat” berries; this flour is good for cakes, muffins, biscuits and crackers, but terrible for breads or cookies. ◦ Spelt flour – an older cousin of wheat, spelt does contain gluten, although less than traditional wheat. Spelt often lends a hint of sweetness to a recipe. ◦ Sprouted flour – see page 25 for the background on why sprouted is healthy. • What's “100% whole wheat?” – When you see “whole wheat” on a box in a grocery store, you should immediately be wary and check the ingredients. Likely, the first ingredient is still “wheat flour” which is a tricky way of saying “white flour.” There's whole wheat in there, sure, but unless something says 100% whole grain, with “whole” in front of all grains, you can bet it's not.

In my recipes, if I title it “whole wheat” I mean one hundred percent. I think it's unethical any other way. If I'm going to blend white and whole wheat flour, the title of the recipe is no place to brag about whole wheat. So there.

Features of the Text Use these simple icons to figure out how difficult a recipe is, special allergy or dietary ingredients, cost, and real food ratings. Please note that many recipes have multiple variations, and the icons may only apply to one form.

With each recipe, you’ll Refined Sugar Free also find:

Gluten Free Timesaver Tips

Casein (Dairy) Free Variations No Added Sweetener May include less sugar options, soaked versions, or alternative sweeteners. Grain Free

FAQs Nut Free You won't have any left after you read mine.

Soaked or Sprouted Option Notes from the

Kitchen Includes frugal tips and other stuff I thought you might want to know...

Time Needed

The Time Needed icons have one, two, or three clocks, describing recipes that are:

simple to throw together in one bowl and with less than half an hour's work

multiple bowls or pots needed, might have an overnight soak or additional steps

more complicated recipes with lots of steps or appliances and dishes to dirty

Real Food Rating

The Real Food Rating is a good way to tell at a glance whether the recipe is a “healthy- ISH” and worth making homemade, “healthy-ER” that takes your homemade cookie and adds even more nutrition, or “healthy-EST”, when a dessert actually has real nutrition going on.

One check: Healthier than the store: probably still has plenty of sweetener, might even have refined grains, but it's homemade and doesn't have any high fructose corn syrup or unpronounceable ingredients.

Two checks: Healthier than most homemade: either has less sugar, more wholesome sugar options, whole grains, and/or some super food boost to add nutrition.

Three checks: Some honest-to-goodness nutrition in there: must have zero white sugar, low or no sweetener overall, whole grains and/or soaked grains, and some real food ingredient like vegetables or yogurt.

Cost

One dollar sign: An inexpensive dessert by any standards, usually well under $5 for the whole recipe.

Two dollar signs: A mid-range recipe, one that you could easily make for an everyday dessert, including no exclusive ingredients that an average real food kitchen wouldn't have on hand.

Three dollar signs: A pricier dessert, one you might save for serving guests or a special occasion. You may need to buy a special ingredient at a premium price for three-dollar-sign recipes.

How to Use an eBook Can I Share? An eBook is designed to be used either on the computer screen or as a printed work. You can As with any cookbook, feel free print out the entire eBook and staple it together or to share a recipe or two with put the pages in a 3-ring binder. There are larger friends. If someone wants to margins on the left to accommodate holes. Many borrow the entire book, however, recipes fit on a double-sided page with recipe please direct them to purchase notes, so it’s easy to pull one out while you prepare their own copy at the food. I recommend printing double-sided if you www.KitchenStewardship.com. can. You can also choose to print the book in “grayscale” to save on color ink. Thank you for refraining from passing the entire eBook to other I also considered your printing costs when I people. It is also a copyright included photos. What is a desserts recipe book infringement to post an entire without a few photos to drool upon, right? But you recipe verbatim on a website. If can print your recipes without overtaxing your ink you post a recipe from Smart supply. Just skip pages 81-82 and leave the photos Sweets, you must write your own on your computer for your viewing pleasure. directions, and please credit appropriately. One additional benefit of an eBook over paper is that there are clickable links to online resources and other recipes for you to enjoy.

Special Diet Notes

• Gluten-free readers: Although this book is not gluten-free entirely, there are some grain-free recipes and some gluten-free recipes. When I could figure it out, I tested a gluten-free version, and those variations are all included. If I tested it and it didn't work, I will note that for you as well. Gluten-free recipes (and variations) are marked

• Dairy-free: Most recipes are flexible for changing out the fats, so if you have a dairy sensitivity, try coconut oil or palm shortening in place of butter. I tried to include all choices for fats and oils in every recipe, but if they're not listed, it doesn't mean they don't work, just that I didn't get a chance to test them out. You'll find recipes with a dairy-free version marked

• Egg allergies: If you have an egg allergy, hopefully you're familiar with the egg substitute of 1 Tbs. ground flax mixed with 2 Tbs. (some say 3) warm water. Allow to gel for a few minutes and use in place of one egg. Some of these recipes have been tested for egg free versions; see FAQs or notes for the scoop. Otherwise, you can always do your own experimenting to see if the recipe works without eggs. (See also the Index by Dietary Restrictions on p. 87.)

Ready for more? Buy the full eBook of Smart Sweets back at KS!

Pumpkin Cookies

Time Needed Real Food Rating Cost

Ideal for a Halloween party, Thanksgiving dinner, or potluck at your kids’ school, these healthy pumpkin cookies will be a huge hit! You might even have to make a batch “just because” to keep at home. They are quite simply the perfect pumpkin cookie.

Ingredients 2 c. butter or coconut oil 1 ½ c. sugar or sucanat 16 oz. can pumpkin or 2 c. pumpkin puree 2 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla 4 c. white whole wheat flour 2 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. nutmeg ½ tsp. allspice 1 tsp. salt 2 c. chocolate chips or raisins 1 c. chopped nuts (optional; I use walnuts)

Method Cream fat and sweetener. Add pumpkin, eggs and vanilla; beat well. In a separate bowl, stir together flour and next 6 dry ingredients.

Add to batter; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts with a spoon.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls two inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. They will spread just slightly. Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes.

Store at room temperature; best within the first few days as they are a very moist cookie, but should last fine for a week.

Makes 6-7 dozen cookies.

Variations Alternative fats: Palm shortening works great as well, and you can substitute ground flax seed (also called flax meal) for some of the fat. Substitute using a 3:1 ratio, meaning you can pull out 1/2 cup of the butter and add in 1 ½ cups of flax meal. It sounds like a lot, quantity-wise, but it works out and is very hearty and tasty. (Be sure to understand how to store flax so you don’t let it go rancid!) Cookies made with flax will have a slightly shorter shelf life.

Less sweetener: The original recipe called for 2 full cups of sugar, but even down to one cup granulated sweetener still does an amazing job of satiating my sweet tooth, especially with real pumpkin puree. Using unrefined coconut oil or spelt flour would give yet another boost of sweet sensation and you could probably go even lower. I'd venture down to a half cup.

Alternative sweeteners: Feel free to use ½ c. + 2 Tbs. honey in place of the granulated sweetener. Honey browns more quickly, so your bake time will possibly only be 10-12 minutes. The cookies are lighter and fluffier with honey, and perhaps even better than the original!

Timesaver: Cheat on the dry ingredients. Just pour them on top of the wet batter and do a little swishing to pre-mix them before incorporating them into the cookie dough.

FAQS  Can I use other orange vegetables? Yes! Orange squash, such as butternut, has been tried and tested as well.  Refined or unrefined coconut oil? I usually use refined coconut oil in its solid form, but I don't think the flavor of coconut would be a bad thing, either.  Is there a gluten-free version? I just haven't experimented enough with gluten-free flour to adapt a cookie recipe like this, but let me say this: I don't think this recipe relies heavily on gluten for a rise or structure or anything, so it's probably a great one to play with.  Do they freeze well? Yes! Most cookies do, and these are no exception. In fact, they're quite exceptional frozen.

 What if my coconut oil is melted? I've made them with half butter, half melted coconut oil (refined) and they worked out just great, so I wouldn't worry if you have liquid oil. Just be sure to beat well with the sweetener and carry on.

 What other flours could I use?  Traditional (red) whole wheat works out well for a hearty, nutty flavor.  Spelt flour is lovely; an overnight rest in the fridge will ensure a better form to the cookie as spelt tends to soak up liquid as it sits but isn't necessary. Spelt also adds a wonderful hint of sweetness and has

recently become my favorite flour for these cookies from my childhood.  Sprouted flour also works great; if your first tray of cookies is a little flat or crumbly, add up to 25% more flour. How to Make your own Sprouted Flour

Notes from the Kitchen  Using real pumpkin puree that you make yourself is not only more frugal, but so much more tasty. I have a dear friend who won't touch the canned stuff, and she's become quite the aficionado of this particular recipe! Here's one method for making your own pumpkin puree: http://bit.ly/vUe6qv

 Frugal tip: Use half the 29 oz. can and freeze the rest for another batch – it’s usually only a few cents more than the 16 oz. size. You could also put pumpkin in soups, chili, and spaghetti sauce as extra nutrient boosters, or in morning oatmeal with spices for a special treat. Try my Simple Cabbage Soup, Healthy Pumpkin Muffins, or 6 Ways to Use up Leftover Pumpkin if you’re still trying to finish the can!

Coconut Macaroons

Time Needed Real Food Rating Cost

The most delicious way to use up egg whites you'll ever encounter! Macaroons are probably our most often made dessert around here, and I feel good about them because they're grain-free, big on healthy fats, and fairly low on sweetener.

Ingredients

No matter how many egg whites you have, you can make macaroons!

With 2 egg whites:

2 egg whites 1 tsp. cream of tartar OR 1 Tbs. arrowroot starch or cornstarch 1/3-½ c. sugar or sucanat OR 1/4-1/3 c. honey 1/8 tsp. salt 1-2 tsp. almond or vanilla extract 1 ½ c. unsweetened shredded coconut

With 3 egg whites:

3 egg whites 1 ½ tsp. cream of tartar OR 1 Tbs. arrowroot starch 1/3-½ c. honey OR ½ c. sucanat or sugar 1/8 tsp. salt 2 tsp. almond or vanilla extract 2-2 ¼ c. unsweetened shredded coconut

With 4 egg whites:

4 egg whites 1 ½ tsp. cream of tartar OR 1 ½ Tbs. arrowroot starch 2/3 c. sucanat or sugar OR ½ c. honey ¼ tsp. salt 2 tsp. almond or vanilla extract 2 ½-3 c. unsweetened shredded coconut

Method Whisk egg whites into a thick foam, about 1-2 minutes on high with a stand mixer and whisk attachment or with a hand mixer and beaters. You could do it by hand with a whisk, but it would take a strong arm! You want to see some form to the egg whites, like they’re working on making soft peaks when you pull the tool out.

Whisk in cream of tartar or starch. Add the sweetener, salt, and extract and whisk in gently until just combined.

Stir in the coconut by hand and allow the mixture to rest a few minutes. If some liquid remains at the bottom of the bowl, add some more coconut and stir to combine until the mixture holds together enough to form balls. If using optional cocoa powder (in “variations”), you can fold it in at this point, adding a bit more if things just don't look “chocolatey” enough for you.

Form rounded teaspoons (about the size of a child's bouncy ball, one inch in diameter) on an ungreased cookie sheet, baking stone, parchment paper or silicone mat. There is no expansion, so you don’t have to leave a lot of space between cookies.

Baking options: • Crunchy and chewy: Bake 10 min. at 350°F, then 50-60 min. at 200°F. • Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside: Bake 10-15 min. at 350°F, then move to the bottom shelf and bake 25-30 min. at 250°F. (Our favorite!) How to decide between 10 and 15 minutes? The second they turn the slightest bit tan/brown, move to the bottom. Note: Some ovens might not need the “moving” part. It depends on if the macaroons are browning too much on top. • Soft, not so crumbly: Bake 10-15 min. at 350°F, then move to the bottom rack (to prevent over browning) for 10-15 more minutes at 325°F. • Soft and crumbly: Bake 10-20 min. at 350°F.

Cooling is effective either on the baking sheet or stone or on a rack.

Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature. The crunchiest versions stay crunchy, but some that are just crunchy on the outside get soft when stored. You could leave these open to the air overnight if you’re going to serve the following day. They seem to last forever, at least a couple weeks. Macaroons would also freeze well.

Makes 2-3 dozen and up to 4-5 dozen macaroons, depending on number of egg whites.

Timesaver: Bar cookies (below) are much quicker than making individual balls.

Variations Chocolate Macaroons: Add 1 Tbs. cocoa powder per egg white for chocolate macaroons – amazing! Include or delete the almond or vanilla extract. I prefer chocolate-almond, and some prefer no extra flavors with their chocolate. If you look at the mixture before making balls and think it doesn't look quite fudgy enough – think brownies, almost – don't be afraid to add an extra Tablespoon, or even double, the cocoa powder. Sometimes that takes the macaroons to a whole new level of bliss.

Bar cookies: Press coconut mixture firmly into a well-buttered 8x8” glass baking dish and bake at 350°F for 15 minutes and then 25 minutes on the bottom rack at 200°F. Cool completely before cutting, then cut into 1 ½” squares to serve. (Don't despair if the center still looks gooey when you see browning on the edges and need to stop baking. These firm up a lot while cooling!)

Almond-Coconut Macaroons: In the 3 egg white version, use 1 ¾-2 c. unsweetened coconut + ¾ c. finely ground almonds for an interesting twist.

FAQS  How to get egg whites/what to do with the yolks:  Make creamy dressing like Caesar or Spicy Jalapeno  Make homemade mayo  Make Kelly's Probiotic Fudge Bars (p. 60)  Many people like to add an egg yolk or two into their scrambled eggs or even raw in a smoothie (if well-raised by a trustworthy farmer)  Egg yolks or whites can stay in the fridge waiting for your recipe for about a week, or you can freeze them. Add ¼ tsp. salt per 2 egg yolks in an ice cube tray to freeze well. Freeze whites in labeled containers so you remember how many are in there.

 What if I don't have a stand mixer? If you don’t have an electric beater or stand mixer, you can whip the egg whites in a blender, then blend in the starch and pour into a bowl to mix the other ingredients in.

 How do I decide between “10 and 15” minutes at the 350°F temp? If you see browning beginning on the top, cut the heat and/or move the macaroons to the bottom shelf. To slow down any over-browning that might be happening before the insides seem done, place an empty cookie sheet on the top shelf. You might need to pull macaroons from the outer edges of the pan before the ones in the middle are done.

 Can I use less sweetener? I would think so. It's really up to your discretion, but the sweetener isn't needed to stick anything together. You might even try stevia drops.

Notes from the Kitchen  I find that using my fingertips or even the palm of my hand to help form the balls is helpful and almost necessary. They’re not pretty if you just drop them off a spoon.  Do leave the macaroons in the oven when you turn the temperature down according the directions above. **If you have an electric oven, it will generate heat after turning down the temperature, so go shy a few minutes or leave the door open for 30 seconds when turning down the temp.  When using honey, macaroons brown considerably faster. Keep an eye on them and shoot for the lower time limit, especially on the middle shelf at higher temperatures.  If using cocoa powder, it's difficult to notice the “browning” effect. You can peek at the bottoms for the telltale golden brown crisp to make sure the macaroons aren't over-browning.  The macaroons will all firm up quite a bit as they cool, so if they seem gooey or crumbly when you take them out, it may still be a success. Just don't touch them until cooled.  Something I still want to try: in a version with cocoa, add 2 Tbs. coffee instead of the extract.

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