heartyspoonful

I've been baking non-stop for the last few days. I've definitely become a cookie monster and since it's still the holidays (let's be honest, the festivities run well after the New Year), there's more baking to come. I hope your Christmas was spent with family over drinks (of your choice) and one too many meals.

We've set a record for Christmas this year. Christmas Eve gathering started at lunch time and lasted well into the wee hours of Christmas morning dawn. Then, obviously more meals were consumed on Christmas Day. Let's just say it was a Christmas miracle people were still able to breathe on Boxing Day. I'm now carrying a triplet food baby. Help!

Funnily enough, desserts aren't the highlight of Christmas meals in my family. Because of that, I was particularly surprised that my gingerbread muffins and cookies and chocolate crinkles were consumed so speedily. I had to bake a few batches throughout the two-day celebration. No cookies were burnt, Hallelujah!

My brother and a few of our friends have Coeliac disease or some type of gluten intolerance. With that in mind, I had to be very careful in choosing the ingredients of all my baked goods. Ever so grateful for Google and all the food blogs dedicated to gluten-free AND vegan recipes. Lifesaver this holiday season.


Gingerbread Mini Muffins (adapted here)
Makes 16 mini muffins

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 1 tbsp melted coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease muffin tin with coconut oil. Set aside.

In a small cup, mix together milk and vinegar. Let curdle for a few minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, flaxseed meal, coconut sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt.

Add the milk mixture, molasses and melted coconut oil. Careful not to overmix. Divide batter over the prepared cups.

Bake for 13-15 minutes. Cool completely before removing from muffin tin. Then move to wire rack. Top with cashew frosting or powdered sugar, if desired.

Enjoy! xx 

My birthday was a few weeks ago. There was no Earth-shattering revelation. It wasn't the beginning of a new book, just a simple turn of the page. We love to think of specific dates as the days when we should make the change to improve our lives and finally chase our dreams. So why not today? Why not this moment?

Although I do talk the big talk, I like to take small steps. No spontaneous grand leaps. At least not at first. This month, I decided to do the following to improve my state of mind: 

Too good!