Apple Cinnamon Bread

And the Christmas decor goes up!  Christmas is huge in our family.  We love celebrating what it means.  On my husbands side, even the decorating is huge!  Every year, the Friday after Thanksgiving, is a huge decorating party.  My sweet mother-in-law loves this so much--and so do I!  We get together starting first thing in the morning.  All the ornaments are laid out.  Christmas tree goes up.  Everyday dishes are put away and the Christmas Spode dishes come out.  Soaps are swapped out.  Candles are changed.  Stockings are hung.  The Christmas Village is built.  Christmas music is played for all to hear.  Wassail is a brewing to sip on all day long.  Hot Coco is ready to make in the Keurig. Holiday munchies, such as Cranberry Salsa with crackers, cheese and crackers, and sweet breads sit out on the counter to much at throughout the day.  Some years we are lucky and have cold enough weather to bundle up in sweaters and warm fuzzy socks sipping warm drinks all day long with the fire place blazing.  And... then there is this year with a high of 83*.   But that's beside the point.

So while there will be things that I can enjoy food wise, there may be things that I cannot enjoy as well.   But, this year, along with all the other typical goodies, there will also be my Apple Cinnamon Bread.  My GRAIN FREE Apple Cinnamon Bread.  Oh so yummy.  I maybe enjoy it a little bit too much.  You want the recipe?  Ok.  (It's a good one.)

Grain Free Apple Cinnamon Bread

Dry

1/2 c. sifted coconut flour
1/4 c. pecan/walnut meal
1/4 c. FINELY chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 T. cinnamon

Wet

3/4 c. apple pulp
PLUS 
1/2 c. fresh apple juice
{OR}
1 c. apple sauce

2 eggs
1/4 c. honey
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. cider vinegar

Preheat your oven two 350*.  Grease two mini loaf pans or one large loaf pan with some coconut oil.  Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl combine your wet ingredients.  Make sure your oven is preheated at this point!!! Combine wet and dry ingredients together thoroughly, pour them into your pans, and place in the oven.  Do this process as quickly as you can!  This is important because the reaction between the vinegar and baking soda is the primary rising agent.  Bake for 35 minutes for the two small loaves or 45-50 minutes for the large loaf.   Pull out of the oven and enjoy a wonderful holiday bread!

Let it cool in the pan for a couple of minutes.  Cut around the edge of each loaf with a knife, and flip them out of the pans onto a cooling rack.  Let the cool completely and then wrap them in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.   To enjoy a slice later, cut off a piece and place in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to warm.

Cranberry Orange Nut Bread (Grain Free!)

Oh how I love fall.  And YES! Fall goes through Thanksgiving!  I am one of those people who could completely skip over Halloween, simply celebrating the season of Fall, and then jump right into Thanksgiving celebrations.  Thanksgiving is a holiday, right?  Sometimes I think stores (and people) forget that.  I know that you should be thankful year round, but there isn't anything wrong with having a time set aside to really focus on that.  I also love how Thanksgiving sets your heart and mind up so well for the Advent Season.  Heading into the Christmas season with a THANKFUL heart is totally good and appropriate.  After all, what greater thing should we be thankful for than what the true meaning of Christmas is?  Jesus Christ entered into His earthly form so that 33 years later He could DIE for our SINS once and for all.  I think that's pretty amazing and we SHOULD be thankful beyond anything else for that gift.

I love the cultural stuff about Fall too.  Especially the food.  Oh the food is yummy!  Let me say that the past 30 days were incredibly difficult to not have a ton of my favorite baked goods.  I did it... mostly.  But I did figure out a way to make one of my favorite holiday breads that is Paleo.  Oh Cranberry Orange Nut Bread... you are so tasty.  So, without rambling on any longer, let's get to the point.

Grain Free Cranberry Orange Nut Bread

Dry

1/2 c. sifted coconut flour

1/4 c. finely shredded coconut flakes

1/4 c. almond meal

1/4 c. finely chopped walnuts or pecans

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 1/2 c. washed and dried fresh cranberries, halved

1/2-3/4 c. walnuts, coarsely chopped

Wet

3 eggs

2/3 c. orange juice

1/4 c. honey

1 1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 t. cider vinegar

Preheat your oven two 350*.  Grease two mini loaf pans or one large loaf pan with some coconut oil.  Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl combine your wet ingredients.  Make sure your oven is preheated at this point!!! Combine wet and dry ingredients together thoroughly, pour them into your pans, and place in the oven.  Do this process as quickly as you can!  This is important because the reaction between the vinegar and baking soda is the primary rising agent.  Bake for 35 minutes for the two small loaves or 45-50 minutes for the large loaf.   Pull out of the oven and enjoy a wonderful holiday bread!

Let it cool in the pan for a couple of minutes.  Cut around the edge of each loaf with a knife, and flip them out of the pans onto a cooling rack.  Let the cool completely and then wrap them in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.   To enjoy a slice later, cut off a piece and place in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to warm.

What are some other favorite holiday "treats"?

Pumpkin Bake

I love Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving, and LUCKILY my whole30 will be over in time for me to get some sweetened, creamy pumpkin pie.  I'm so excited to try this Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie!  Not only is my whole30 over, but Thanksgiving is my dairy reintroduction day!

However, as soon as Fall hit, I was sure in the mood for some pumpkin something.  This was a delicious snack and breakfast.  Oh my!  It hit the spot.  So, if you are trying to figure out something to make in place of a pumpkin pie, this is just the thing for you!  Oh, and P.S. My 1-year-old little girl just gobbled this up!

1-15 oz can pumpkin puree

1 c. coconut milk

2 eggs

2 T. pumpkin pie spice

2 t. cinnamon
2 T. honey (optional-omit for Whole30)

Preheat oven to 350*.  Blend all of the ingredients together until fulling incorporated.  Pour into 6- 1/2 cup ramekins.  Bake for 30 minutes or until set and an inserted knife comes out clean. 

Spicy Italian Beef Sausage

2 lb. ground beef
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
3 t. paprika
1 1/2 t. Italian seasoning (or mix your own)
2 cloves fresh garlic or 2 t. garlic powder
1/2 to 1 t. crushed red pepper flakes (depending on how much pizzazz you want to add)
1 egg

Mix and mix and mix some more.  Done.

Scones

2 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. sour cream

1 egg

1/2 c. frozen butter

extract of choice {vanilla, almond} optional

1/2 c. dried fruit optional

zest of orange or lemon optional

First, mix the dry ingredients: 2 c. flour, 1/2 c. sugar, 1 t. baking powder, 1/4 t. baking soda, 1/2 t. salt, and any zest {if you are adding zest}.

Then mix the wet ingredients: 1/2 c. sour cream, 1 egg, and 1 t. of your extract of choice.

Now, grate in the butter. Careful of your fingers!  

Try to do this part quickly so the butter doesn't thaw too much!

This is what it should look like. 

Now mix it with your hands... go on... get your fingers dirty!

Then add the dried fruit.

Mix in the wet ingredients. 

Mix it...

You might as well get your hands dirty again. 

Form them into 2 circles and roll it out until about 1/2" thick. 

Get a LARGE knife and cut each circle into eighths. 

Arrange them on a baking sheet.  I used a beloved Pampered Chef stone. :)

Bake them at 400* for 13-15 minutes.

Allow them to cool. 

(1/2 c. dried cherries, 1 t. almond extract)

Berry Cherry:  1/2 c. mixed cranberries, blueberries, and cherries, 1 t. vanilla extract.

Lemon Blueberry:  1/2 c. dried blueberries, 1-2 t. lemon zest.

Cranberry Orange: 1/2 c. cranberries, 1-2 t. orange zest. 

Enjoy!

Homemade Orange Rolls

Over the holidays (and other times too, really), my family has always enjoyed orange rolls.  Cinnamon rolls are good too--ooey gooey cinnamon rolls {like those from Cinnabon}, but we are especially fond of orange rolls.  My husband particularly loves them.

I decided that I wanted to make orange rolls, so I went online to look for some that looked especially tasty. A ton of orange roll recipes popped up in the google search, but none of them were exactly what I had in mind.  So, after looking at a bazillion different recipes, I decided to try to create my own.   I didn't really use any one recipe for any part of the process, so I'll just write what I did. 

Tiddly Trinkets Orange Rolls

Yield: 18 rolls

The Dough:

1 cup whole milk

3 T. oil

1/2 cup sugar

2 heaping t. rapid-rise yeast

1 egg

1 t salt

3 1/2 cups of flour

Nonstick spray

Heat milk,  oil and sugar in the microwave for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes--just until the milk is warmed.  Sprinkle 2 heaping teaspoons of rapid-rise yeast into the mixture and stir around.  This goes into a stand mixer with the bread dough attachment, along with the egg, salt and 1 cup of flour.  Mix for 2-3 minutes on low, stopping intermittently to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Once it is well mixed, add the remaining flour.  Mix well on low until the dough is pulling away from the sides and forming a ball.  {This may require slightly more flour.  Add it in Tablespoons until this occurs.}  

Preheat oven to 170*F.  As soon as it reaches temperature, turn the oven off. Flour a pastry cloth and knead the dough until formed into a ball.  Place the ball of dough in a large bowl that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.  Cover it with plastic wrap.  Place it in the oven {off} for 2 hours. 

It should now be doubled in size.  

Spread it out onto floured pastry cloth.

Roll it out until it is about 1/4" thick. 

The Filling:  

1/4 cup butter/margarine

2-3 T. orange juice

2 t. orange zest

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

1/2 - 2/3 cup sugar

Melt butter and add orange juice, zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  

Pour over the dough and spread until evenly covered.

Sprinkle sugar all over the mixture. 

Roll the dough towards you. 

Cut off the edges so you and discard the doughy ends.

Cut into 1" to 1 1/2" rolls. It made about 18 rolls.  

At this point, you can do one of three things:

1) Place them into a cupcake pan to individually freeze them {raw}. Cover them with plastic wrap and place them into the freezer for a couple of hours. Once they are frozen, you can put them in freezer bags.  Now you will be able to take out a couple at a time the night before you want to bake them.  It works well to take them out of the freezer and put them into the fridge the night before, but probably isn't necessary. Baking times might need to be adjusted slightly. 

2) Place them into the refrigerator to bake within the next day or two.  I take them out of the fridge as soon as I start preheating the oven. 

3) Arrange them into a pan and bake them right now.  

Since this recipe yields about a dozen-and-a-half rolls, I went ahead and froze a dozen, put a couple in the fridge and baked a few right then.  

While they are baking, make the glaze.

The Glaze: 

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 T. orange juice
1/2 t. orange zest

Combine all three ingredients and mix together.  This can also be refrigerated or frozen.

As soon as the rolls come out of the oven put about a tablespoon {or more or less} of frosting on while it's still warm. It will melt all over the roll and make it super easy to spread.  

These are SO good.  

You might want to freeze some just to keep from eating them all at once.

Enjoy!