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Cranberry Ginger Oatmeal Cookies

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A gift for you in the new year – wholesome, warming, nourishing cranberry, ginger + oatmeal snack cookies.

These are not traditional cookies – instead of being made with butter, sugar or flour, they’re made with oats, walnuts, almond flour, flax seeds, coconut oil, pure maple syrup, plus cinnamon, ginger and dried cranberries – making them naturally vegan, gluten free, and delicious.

Texturally, these cookies are dense, yet very soft and chewy. There’s a lot of texture in every bite – crunch from the walnuts, plumpness from the cranberries, chew from the oats. Taste-wise, they are ginger and cinnamon heavy, making them spicy and warming. They’re just sweet enough – they taste like a cookie, but not one loaded with sugar. There’s a toasty, nutty taste from the walnuts, a sweet tartness from the cranberries and an earthiness from the oats.

Here’s a little more about the nourishing ingredients that go into them:

Oats: Oats make up the majority of the base of these cookies, because well, they’re oatmeal cookies. 🙂 The oats in these make them hearty and filling – they make a wonderful mid-day snack.
Walnuts: I love the taste and texture of walnuts in baked goods, especially when they’re lightly toasted beforehand, as I do in this recipe.
Almond flour: Adding a bit of almond flour brings a softness to the texture of these, and makes them more cookie like. I like using almond flour in baking for that reason, as well as it’s a one-ingredient naturally gluten free flour.
Flax: Ground flax seed mixed with water is an excellent egg substitute in vegan baking. When mixed, the flax and water ‘gels’ and acts as a great binder in place of egg. I use the flax in this recipe for that reason, but I’m happy anytime that flax makes it into what I eat because of its nutritional value.
Coconut oil: Coconut oil is my fat of choice for these cookies, as well as for almost all of the baking that I do.
Pure maple syrup: Just as above, pure maple syrup is my sweetener of choice for almost all of the baking that I do. Be sure to use pure maple syrup rather than table/pancake syrup.
Cinnamon and ginger: I am obsessed with both cinnamon and ginger right now, and I do not skimp on the amounts in these cookies. I love the warm, grounding nature of these spices. They make these cookies feel comforting to eat.
Apple juice sweetened dried cranberries: I love the taste and texture of dried cranberries. I like to buy ones sweetened with apple juice only, like the ones linked here, but use whatever you have access to.

These cookies are made to warm you, make you feel good and nourish your mind, body and soul. I hope that they are able to bring you a taste of comfort and joy to your day, as they’ve been bringing to mine.

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Cranberry Ginger Oat Cookies

Naturally gluten free, vegan, and delicious, these healthified cranberry ginger oatmeal cookies are meant to nourish your mind, body, and soul!

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword cookie, gluten free, healthy, vegan

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons ground flax
  • 4 tablespoons water
  • 3/4 cup walnuts
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 3 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup apple juice sweetened dried cranberries

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

  2. Make your flax "egg." In a small bowl, mix ground flax and water. Set aside.

  3. To toast the walnuts, add walnuts to a skillet over medium heat Stir frequently, until lightly toasted and fragrant. Set aside.

  4. Add melted coconut oil and maple syrup to a food processor. Process until well combined. Alternatively, you can just mix the cookies together in a bowl.

  5. Add flax mixture and vanilla extract to the food processor. Pulse until just combined.

  6. Add toasted walnuts, rolled oats, almond flour, ground ginger, cinnamon and salt to the food processor and process until mixture just comes together.

  7. Add dried cranberries to the food processor and continue processing until cookie dough is formed.

  8. Using a spoon and your hands, form dough into cookies and place on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. The dough will be sticky but will form easily into cookies. I use approximately 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie and get about 10 cookies from the recipe.

  9. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. When done, cookies will be lightly browned with a crust; still soft but no longer sticky. They will harden a bit as they cool.

  10. Enjoy! These are delicious straight from the oven, soft and warm, but are just as good kept over several days as well.

Nourishment Lately – Beginning of Whole 30

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Hello dreaming foodie friends!

I wanted to pop on here today to share a bit about my first ever Whole 30 experience. I never thought that I would do anything like this, mainly because I am not big on following rules, especially when it comes to setting rules around food, but after hearing and learning more and more about the Whole 30 program, here I am, eleven days into my first Whole 30!

Day one for me was Thursday, Feb. 14, and day thirty will come on Saturday, March 16. I don’t have a lot of concrete reasons as to why I decided to give this a try, other than maybe just as a way to change things up, to try something new and different. I’m feeling like winter is getting a bit old and boring, and this seemed like as good a way as any to bring something different to the table. I was also drawn to it because of its lack of extreme rules or time period. It’s honestly not that different than how we normally eat, so I knew that the changes wouldn’t be overly extreme and it’s only a 30 day experiment and experience (although I do plan to do a reintroduction portion following that).

Here’s a summary of the things that I cannot have during my Whole 30 experience: alcohol, grains, legumes (beans, peanuts, etc.), natural or artificial added sugar, dairy. 

And here is what I have been eating:

Protein: eggs, beef, poultry, pork, fish

Veggies: spinach, kale, sweet potatoes, beets, butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, garlic, onions cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, celery, mushrooms, spaghetti squash

Fruit: blueberries, bananas, cherries, apples, oranges, dates

Fats: olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, ghee (clarified butter)

Extras: walnuts, almond butter, coconut milk, collagen protein powder

What you see above has basically been the extent of my ingredient list over the last eleven days. Breakfast has been either eggs and some combination of veggies, or a smoothie. Lunch and dinner have been a protein and a ton of veggies. For snacks, I have been having apples and almond butter, a date with almond butter, or an orange. One thing for sure that I am loving – how many veggies we are eating! We have always been big veggie eaters, but with lack of grains and legumes, we have been going super heavy on the veggies and I love it. 

As far as how I feel, I honestly don’t have much to say at this point other than that I just feel good. I just feel good. And I am enjoying what I am eating every day. I do want to say that I feel like I have slightly more energy overall, but I still think it’s too early to tell if that is true. So far, I am loving my Whole 30 and I plan to keep the blog updated with the rest! Let me know what questions you have in the comments below!

Grain Free Apple Cobbler Cake

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I wasn’t sure what to call this dessert. My intent was to make a healthified apple cobbler. It came out more like a cake – but yet not really like a cake. So it’s an apple dessert. A grain free, maple sweetened apple dessert. This recipe uses minimal, whole ingredients. It uses: almond flour, eggs, pure maple syrup, coconut oil, some salt, vanilla extract, lemon juice, baking powder, and apples. That’s it. It’s simple to put together and we have been loving it as a weeknight dessert or snack.

This apple cobbler cake has an incredibly moist and dense crumb. It is perfectly sweetened and the touch of lemon juice comes through pleasantly. The apples soften just right – they’re soft and pillowy yet still hold some crunch. You can eat this while it’s still warm, but I wouldn’t recommend it – it falls apart a bit when it’s still warm. It’s texture becomes amazing once completely cooled and that is how we’ve preferred to enjoy it.

Something to note. I absolutely love this dessert. It’s delicious and it makes you feel good + nourished after eating it. That being said, if you’re looking for a decadent, indulgent fall dessert, this is not what you’re looking for. This is for anyone who wants a dessert that’s grain free and naturally sweetened. We haven’t always eaten grain free and I don’t know that we always will, but right now that’s what we’re going with. As far as sugar, I’m doing all of my baking these days with either pure maple syrup, honey or dates. I love classic homemade desserts using all out sugar and flour, but this just isn’t that. This is whole food nourishment that tastes like dessert and I am loving it :).




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Grain Free Apple Cobbler Cake

Ingredients

  • 2 medium apples, sliced
  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8 or 9 inch baking dish by rubbing it with a bit of coconut oil.

  2. Layer most of the sliced apples on the bottom of the baking dish, saving a few apple slices for the top, if desired. Set aside.

  3. In a small bowl, mix together almond flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut oil and maple syrup. Add the eggs, vanilla extract and lemon juice and whisk until well combined.

  5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Pour batter into baking dish, covering the sliced apples. Top with remaining sliced apples.

  6. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting and eating.

 

Five Recipes For Fall

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Fall officially kicked off in my kitchen this year with this clam chowder, which was the most wonderful start, and I’m now looking forward to every bit of the warming and comforting food that goes along with this season. Here are five recipes that are on my fall cooking bucket list! 

Peanut Butter + Jam Baked Oatmeal. Fall=oatmeal time. This peanut butter + jam baked oatmeal is the definition of comforting. This healthy and nourishing recipe will feel so right on cool, fall mornings.

Butternut Squash, Pear + Curry Brown Butter Soup. I love using fruit in savory recipes like this one. Grab some local butternut squash and pears and enjoy a warming and comforting bowl of goodness.

New Sweet Potato + Black Bean Burgers. This remains one of my favorite plant-based burger recipes. These burgers hold together so well and are flavorful, hearty and nourishing. Use local sweet potatoes for these this fall!

Beet Gnocchi. Beet gnocchi may just be my favorite dish ever. And with local beets in the fall – it’s perfect. This recipe is from Food & Wine, and my post shares the process, plus a few minor tweaks I make to the recipe.

Apple Crisp. A favorite fall dessert of mine. This apple crisp is just slightly sweet and is made with almond flour instead of wheat flour.

Happy fall cooking and eating!

Clam Chowder

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This clam chowder was inspired by two things: my desire to make something that I normally don’t, and my parent’s recent trip exploring New England. While I would love to be tasting my way through New England and Canada like they are, I am not retired like they are, so clam chowder at home it was. We made this soup on a dreary, end-of-summer day at home, and everything about it was just so right. Let’s talk about it.

Clams
I was able to buy wild, USA caught cherrystone clams at my grocery store for this. You could use a variety of types of clams for this soup, but as I feel about all seafood – try to use wild, USA caught.

Veggies
If you are a fan of clam chowder, you know that this can really vary between versions. Some have very few or no veggies; some have potatoes and some don’t. This one is full of veggies – onions, carrots, garlic and celery – and lots of potatoes. This is my preference, but feel free to customize types and amounts of veggies in this to your liking.

Broth
The broth for this soup is made from boiling the clams. To prepare the broth, you add the clams to a pot, top them with water, bring to a boil and then boil until the clams open. You then remove the clams and strain the liquid – that’s your broth. I recommend straining several times because the broth can tend to be a bit sandy from the clams. I love that the broth for this soup is made from just water + clams. Also, this is a brothy clam chowder. There is no thickener in it, so it’s a thin and extremely flavorful broth – just how I like my clam chowder.

Flavors
This soup uses: clams, bacon, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, potatoes, fresh thyme, white wine, a touch of milk, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. That’s it. If those flavors sound amazing to you, make this soup ASAP! 

This recipe is the epitome of end of summer, beginning of fall cooking and eating for me. Clam chowder always reminds me of summer vacation days, but is warm and comforting like fall. Since I can’t be wandering around New England right now, this was my best attempt at bringing end of summer, beginning of fall New England vibes to my home, and it worked just perfectly :).






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Clam Chowder

Ingredients

  • 24 medium to large clams (I used cherrystone)
  • 1/2 pound bacon
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 6 carrots, chopped
  • 6 celery stalks, chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 12 baby potatoes, quartered
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 bunch fresh thyme
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Instructions

  1. Scrub clams well and place in a large pot. Cover the clams with water. Place pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Boil 5-10 minutes, or until all clams have opened.

  2. Strain clam stock into a bowl and set aside (if the stock is sandy, you may want to re-strain). Remove clams from shells, roughly chop and set aside.

  3. Wipe out pot and add bacon, cooking over medium heat until done. Remove bacon from pot, crumble and set aside.

  4. Keeping pot over medium heat, add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, potatoes, wine and a few sprigs of fresh thyme to the bacon fat. Cook 5-10 minutes, until wine is almost evaporated.

  5. Add strained clam stock and a few more sprigs of fresh thyme to pot and simmer until vegetables are tender, 20-25 minutes.

  6. Turn off heat but keep pot on burner and add milk, bacon and clams to the pot and stir well. Remove thyme stems. Season with salt and pepper to taste. We used 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. 

  7. Serve in bowls garnished with fresh thyme if desired and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.