10/17/2011

These Berry Tarlets are made with a sugar cookie crust and creamy filling, topped with our favorite berries.  A delicious summer dessert that everyone will enjoy.

Sugar Cookie Crust:
1 package Organic Sugar Cookie Mix from The Pure Pantry
1/2 cup butter or butter alternative, such as Earth Balance, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup organic, non-hydrogenated shortening, such as Spectrum
1 egg
1 teaspoon cold water (or more if needed)

Filling:
1 8 ounce package cream cheese or substitute such as Tofutti Cream Cheese
1/2 cup raw agave nectar, preferably Nature’s Agave Raw variety
1 egg or egg substitute, such as 1 teaspoon Ener-G foods Egg Replacer mixed with 2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 pints fresh raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Prepare pastry crust by placing sugar cookie mix, butter and shortening in large mixing bowl.  Blend with pastry blender or fork until mixture is in pea sized bits.  Add egg and water and blend with pastry blender until dough comes together.   Using your hands,  pat dough into a flat disk.  Cover with waxed paper and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer until soft.  Add agave nectar, egg (or egg substitute) and vanilla and beat on low until combined.

Remove pastry dough from refrigerator.  Prepare a work surface by placing a large sheet of parchment paper or waxed paper down and lightly dust it with rice flour or corn starch.  Dust rolling pin with rice flour or cornstarch as well.  Roll out dough  to 1/4 inch thickness.

Place individual tartlet pans upside down on top of dough and push down.  Create 12 tartlets cuts outs.  If you have just a few little tartlet pans, you can prepare a few at a time.   With a metal spatula, lift cut out dough up and place in tartlet pan.  Press dough down firmly and evenly throughout pan with your fingers.

Poke holes in each pastry with a fork so surface has tiny holes throughout.

Place pans on cookie sheet.  Bake for 5 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool 5-7 minutes.  Meanwhile wash berries and drain in colander.

Fill tarlets with 1/4 cup cream cheese filling.  Return to oven on middle rack and back for 12 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely.   Place berries on top of tartlet and dust with powdered sugar.

When Fats Domino wrote the song “I found my thrill, on Blueberry Hill”, I don’t think he was talking about the health benefits of eating blueberries, but perhaps he just didn’t know the facts.  Blueberries are a super food.  A healing fruit that is high in antioxidants, blueberries provide vitamin C, B complex, vitamin E, vitamin A, copper selenium, zinc, and iron.  An Ohio State University study published in 2009 found that blueberries shrunk the size of tumors and significantly improved survival rates in an animal research project.  A compound in blueberries has also been found to prevent colon cancer, according to a 2007 study jointly conducted by scientists at Rutgers University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The study’s lead researcher, Bandaru Reddy, PhD., said, “This study underscores the need to include more berries in the diet, especially blueberries.”  Maybe Fats Domino would have had a different name had he actually eaten blueberries?  Anyways, for those of us who want the thrill of nourishing our bodies with the top super foods, blueberries should be added to the list.

Gluten-free/Dairy-free alternatives

Ingredients:
2 cups The Pure Pantry Organic All Purpose Baking Mix
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup coconut oil or butter
1/2 c. brown sugar or coconut sugar
3 large eggs, beaten, or egg replacer
1/2 cup sour cream or sour cream substitute
3 tablespoons milk of choice (rice, almond or regular)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups organic blueberries, preferably fresh but frozen can be substituted if defrosted and drained

Crumb Topping:
3/4 cup The Pure Pantry Organic All Purpose Baking Mix
1/3 cup coconut oil or butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar or coconut sugar

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
Combine baking mix, salt, and nutmeg in large mixing bowl.
In a medium mixing bowl beat coconut oil (or butter).  Add brown sugar (or coconut sugar) and cream together.  Add eggs one at a time, blending after each addition.  With mixer on low, add sour cream (or non-dairy substitute), milk, vanilla and lemon zest.
Gently fold in blueberries with spoon.  Pour into greased bundt pan or 9 x 11 inch baking dish.
Prepare crumb topping by blending coconut oil (or butter) with baking mix and sugar until mixture resembles pea sized crumbs.  Sprinkle crumb mixture on top of cake.
Bake for 30 minutes or until tester comes out clean.  Cool before serving.

Snack Basket –  A Cornucopia of Gluten-free Choices

By Elizabeth Kaplan

“There is nothing to eat in this house,” says my twelve year old son,  just returning from a full day at school.

“Gee, I just spent $300 at the store, “ I reply, baffled that the starving child cannot find anything.

Take two, enter three year old son, “I’m hungry!” he says.  He opens the pantry door and starts pulling items off the shelf searching for something to snack on.   “I want this!” he says, holding up a bag of marshmallows left over from our camping trip. Why didn’t I dispose of those at the campsite?

Take three, fifteen year old daughter walks in the kitchen.  “Mom, can you make me a snack?”

“Not now honey, please help yourself to something,” I say as I am finishing up an email.

“There’s nothing to eat in this house,” she says as she gazes into the refrigerator.

This is a common scene in kitchens of families with growing children, especially when food allergies limit the choices they can have.  What I figured out was my children needed to find snacks in an organized place, otherwise they just did not know what to eat.   So along came the concept of the snack basket at home.  It sits on our counter.  Since I work, I restock it in the morning so that when the kids get home from school, it’s their go to place for something to tide them over until I muster up the energy to cook dinner.

What goes in the gluten-free, allergy-free snack basket?

Fresh Fruits: I always keep fresh, washed organic apples, banana, and oranges or whatever is seasonal as the main choice. Blueberries, cherries, strawberries and grapes  I’ll put in a small bowl within the basket.

Dried fruit and nuts: trail mix, (if your kids are nut free, there are some nut free trail mixes, try Enjoy Life’s) almonds and pistachios in the shell, dried apricots, dried apples and dried cranberries.   Purchase or make your own if you have a dehydrator.

Handy packaged snacks:  I usually do not purchase smaller packaged items for both earth’s sake and economics.  However, I have found that our 3 year old is under the impression that if it comes in a little box or fancy wrapper, it must be something special.  They are also so easy to have on hand for a grab and go snack.  So, I break down and purchase organic raisins in little packages and gluten-free bars, occasionally.  I also place organic fruit leathers in the basket.    Our three year old adores the fruit and veggie purees in squeezable bags.   The great thing about these is that your child is getting  two servings of fruit and/or veggies in one snack.  If your child isn’t keen on veggies, the blends of fruits and veggies have more of a fruit than a veggie taste and are also high in fiber.   The gluten-free bars that we enjoy are Luna’s gf varieties, Lara Bars and Zing bars. Since we have soy, peanut, dairy and gluten allergies in the house, it is difficult to find bars that don’t have at least one of these ingredients!

Oatmeal Cookies: loaded with fiber and low in sugar, Wholegrain Oatmeal Spice Cookies are great to keep on hand.  The children and I prepare them in mini format and freeze them.  One mini cookie (1/3 the size of a regular cookie) has only 20 calories,  less than .5  grams of fat, and 1 gram of sugar.  The kids know that they need to have one piece of fruit or a portion of nuts/trail mix before they can help themselves to one or two cookies.  (At least that is my belief, naïve as it may be.)  Another great recipe using the Oatmeal Spice Cookie Mix as a base is Cherry-Almond Oat Bars.  These bars boast healthy ingredients and are easy to prepare.  Children can easily make them on their own and ask parents for help to place them in the oven.  Recipe below.

Chex Mix:  For an after school treat or a party snack, I make Agave-Almond  Chex Mix, recipe below.  There are many varieties of Chex mix to create and kids have fun participating in the process.  I place some of it in a bowl in the snack basket and store the rest in an air-tight container.

Gluten-free Pretzels:  Glutino makes tasty gf pretzels in a variety of sizes and shapes.  They disappear very quickly at our house so I sometimes mix them into a Chex Mix to extend their life.

Creating a handy, organized space for snacks will help your children make healthy snack choices, ease the burden on parents of constantly being the short order cook, and help you to engage your children in preparing their own food.  Here are a couple of recipe ideas for snacks that you and your children can make together in large quantities and freeze, if desired.

Snack basket recipes:

Wholegrain Oatmeal Spice Cookies from The Pure Pantry

Gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, dairy-free/vegan optional

All you need is:

1 package The Pure Pantry Wholegrain Oatmeal Spice Cookie Mix

¾ cup butter or coconut oil,

2 eggs (or egg replacer)

1 teaspoon vanilla.

Add raisins if you like.

Directions are on the package.

Simple and satisfying.

Cherry-Almond-Oat Bars

 Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Soy-free, Vegan optional

Ingredients:

1 package gluten-free Oatmeal Spice cookie mix from The Pure Pantry

½ cup orange juice

½ cup raw agave nectar

1 large egg beaten (or equivalent egg replacer)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or coconut oil

1 cup chopped raw almonds

¼ cup ground flax meal or ground almond meal

½ cup dried cherries (can substitute dried cranberries, blueberries or raisins)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Spray an 8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Place Oatmeal Spice cookie mix in large mixing bowl.  Make a well in the center and add the orange juice, agave nectar, egg, oil and whisk until just combined.  Stir in almonds and dried cherries (or other option).
3. Spread the batter evenly in the pan to the edges.  Bake until lightly browned, about 25 minutes.  Cool in the pan.  Invert onto a cutting board.  Using a sharp knife, cut into 12 bars.  Wrap individually in foil or plastic wrap.  Bars can be stored in airtight container for up to a week and can be frozen for up to three months.

Agave -Almond Chex Mix

Image courtesy of General Mills Chex Recipes

Gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, egg-free

Ingredients:

6 cups gluten-free Rice Chex or Honey Nut Chex

1 cup dried banana chips

1 cup whole raw almonds

¼ cup butter or coconut oil

1 tablespoon coconut sugar or brown sugar

¼ cup raw agave nectar

1  teaspoons ground ginger (optional)

1 cup flaked coconut (unsweetened)

½ cup dried cranberries, pineapple, or papaya

Instructions:

1. In a large skillet melt butter or coconut oil with brown sugar and agave over medium heat, stir in ground ginger until mixture comes to a boil.
2. Place cereal, banana chips, and almonds in skillet and stir until evenly coated for about 3 minutes.
3. Stir in coconut and dried fruit and continue stirring over medium heat for 3 minutes until cereal begins to brown.
4. Spread on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper to cool.   Store in covered container.