Egg Free Carrot Cake

I had the grandsons over for the weekend and well, there is a sign in  my kitchen that says ” A Grandmother Never Runs Out of Hugs or Cookies”  and I had made a deal with the boys that if Granny’s TARDIS cookie jar was ever empty, I owed them $5! On the morning of their arrival I whipped up a batch of Welsh Cakes which quickly filled the TARDIS but they just as  quickly demolished them!
Now normally I don’t  have a problem keeping cookies in the TARDIS but seems Mother Hubbard’s cupboards were pretty low on this particular weekend …therefore no eggs to bake with. ( I subbed in Egg Replacer in the Welsh Cakes)

I did have  a bunch of carrots that needed using up so I googled Egg Free Carrot Cake which resulted in this Ingredients Only  list over at TheAnswerIsCake. When I tried to follow the link to the full recipe I came upon a broken link…hate broken links! S’all good, I know how to bake a cake…

Everyone loved the Carrot Cake! I don’t think anyone even noticed the lack of eggs and no one complained that it was not sporting the regular Cream Cheese Frosting they all expect on Carrot Cake;  I didn’t think an Egg Free Carrot Cake should be “contaminated” with  a dairy product topping so I just gave it a light dusting of icing sugar. Yum!

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Egg Free Carrot Cake

1/2 cup Margarine
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Grated Carrots
1 1/4 cups Flour
1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 cup Almond or Soy Milk
1 cup chopped Nuts, Pecans or Walnuts
2/3 cup Coconut

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly spray a 9Inch Square baking dish with vegetable oil spray; coat lightly with flour, tapping out excess flour.

In a small mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
In mixing bowl cream together margarine, brown sugar, sugar and vanilla; beat for a minute.
Stir in grated carrots.
Stir in half the dry ingredients followed by the almond milk.
Add remaining dry ingredients, stir, increase speed to beat for another minute.
Fold in chopped nuts and coconut.
Turn batter out into prepared pan and bake in 350F. oven for 25 – 30 minutes or until pick inserted comes out clean.
Place on wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before turning out of pan to cool completely on wire rack.

Dust lightly with icing sugar and serve.

Yield: 16 Servings

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Egg Free Carrot Cake – perfect afternoon snack

Low Carb Chicken

I make these using either chicken drumsticks or chicken wing drumettes.  They are super easy to make and are always well received.

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Low Carb Chicken Drumettes or Drumsticks

1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 cup SPLENDA Granular or Sugar Substitute of your choice
2 Tablespoon Ginger, grated
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon Hot Chili Flakes
3 lbs Chicken Drumettes or Drumsticks

In large Ziploc Freezer Bag or Tupperware Season-Serve combine olive oil, soy sauce, SPLENDA, ginger, garlic and hot chili flakes.
Add chicken and marinate chicken overnight or for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350F.
Line 2 baking trays with foil and lightly spray with vegetable oil.

Place marinated chicken prepared baking trays.
Brush with marinade; return marinade to refrigerator.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
Baste chicken again with remaining marinade.
Bake for another 20 minutes.
Place under Broiler for a few minutes, if necessary; watch carefully!

Serve with Steamed Vegetables and a Garden Salad if watching Carb intake.
If not watching carbs, serve with Steamed Brown Rice.

Yield: 10 Servings

1 Serving = 407.1 Calories, 25.3 g Protein, 32.6 g Fat, 1.9 g Carbs

Protein Energy Bites

You can never have too many recipes for Protein Bites! What you have in your pantry at any given moment will  determine which Protein Bite recipe you will  make, right?
The other night, my husband asked if I had any chocolate in the house and rather than handing him a little bowl of chocolate chips, I whipped up a batch of these. Infinitely better for you than that little bowl of choc chips!

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Protein Energy Bites

1 cup Rolled Oats
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips – mini ones are best but use what you have
1/4 cup Honey
1/4 cup Chia Seeds
1/4 cup Dates, chopped
1/4 cup dried Cranberries
1/4 cup Pecans, chopped
2 Tablespoons Protein Powder
Pinch of Cinnamon

Sesame Seeds or Fine Desiccated Coconut

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except sesame seeds until everything is evenly distributed.
Roll into about 24 balls – I use a #2 Pampered Chef scoop for uniform size
Roll some or all in sesame seeds or coconut.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to set.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Variation:

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Protein Energy Bites rolled into a log for slicing instead of rolling into balls.

Roll the mixture into a log.
Wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours. ( I slide my wrapped dough into an empty paper towel roll that I slit open for ease of transferring to refrigerator and it helps the dough retain its cylindrical shape)
Slice into 1/4inch slices
Store in airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Protein Energy "Cookies" - not so messy on the hands!
Protein Energy “Cookies” – not so messy on the hands!

Yield: 3 Dozen

 

Cinnamon Roll Bread

All too often I find myself craving Cinnamon Rolls.  I have a few problems with that: all the kids are grown and gone so I would have to eat the entire batch on my own,  they are sinfully good therefore I would find it impossible to eat just one in a single sitting, and finally,  the cream cheese frosting is far too good to be true.

I am always looking for ways to incorporate that yummy Cinnamon Roll taste in a smaller, simpler recipe. I was delighted when this Cinnamon Roll Bread recipe from CenterCutCook came through my Facebook Feed over at Ay Sontespli’s Kitchen! If you love Cinnamon Rolls as much as I do I hope you will be as pleased with this quick bread recipe as I was!

cinnamon roll bread
Cinnamon Roll Bread

2 cups Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Sugar
1 Egg, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup Milk ( I often use Almond Milk)
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1/3 cup Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream

Swirl Ingredients
1/3 cup Sugar
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
2 Tablespoons Water

Glaze Ingredients
1/2 cup Icing Sugar
1 Tablespoon Milk

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly spray a 9X5 inch Loaf Pan with vegetable oil spray.

In a small bowl combine Swirl Ingredients together: sugar, cinnamon and water; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; make a well in the centre.
In a small mixing bowl or a large pyrex measuring cup combine egg, milk, vanilla  and yogurt or sour cream.
Add dry ingredients all at once into the well in the centre of the dry ingredients.
Stir just to combine.
Spoon half of the bread batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Spoon half of the swirl mixture over the batter.
Carefully spoon remaining bread batter over both,  spreading it evenly over the swirl mixture.
Top with remaining swirl mixture, then use a knife to make swirl designs to incorporate the cinnamon swirl into the bread batter.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 – 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
Remove bread from oven and place on wire rack to cool.
Run small metal spatula around the edges of the cinnamon bread to loosen from pan; turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.
While bread is cooling, make the Glaze:
Combine icing sugar with scant Tablespoon of milk, adding a little more to achieve desired consistency.
When bread has cooled completely, drizzle glaze over the bread, allow to harden slightly before slicing to serve.
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Yield: 8 to 10 Slices.

cinnamon roll bread
Cinnamon Roll Bread with a cup of Tea

 

Caramel Corn

So sometimes you are just craving something sweet but don’t want to feel horribly guilty after consuming said sweet, right? What about Caramel Corn? You convince yourself that Popcorn is good for you….never mind all the sugar and butter required to make it. Caramel Corn, made in your own kitchen is still heaps better than, say, a family size chocolate bar, a bag of chips and perhaps a soft drink, right?
Anyway, everything in moderation, I say. I was actually craving Caramel Corn for ages (since Christmas when I meant to make it but ran out of time) and then along came Valentine’s Day; the perfect excuse to make Caramel Corn to give as a gift while having the opportunity to do a taste test! Perfect, right? Right!

I used to have a great recipe in some random cookbook but I have moved so many times that it is now lost. I turned to my trusty friends over at Canadian Living to find a replacement recipe for Caramel Corn.

caramel corn
Caramel Corn all wrapped up to give away as Valentine’s Day gifts.

8 cups popped Popcorn
3/4 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/3 cup Butter
3 Tablespoons Corn  Syrup
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla
2 cups blanched Peanuts

Pop popcorn according to package directions or using your favourite method.
Sift through popped corn and remove any un-popped kernels.

In small saucepan, combine sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt over high heat.
Bring to a boil.
Let cool, stirring, for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Stir in baking soda and vanilla.

Preheat oven to 325F.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
In large mixing bowl, toss coating with popcorn.
Transfer to prepared  baking sheet, arranging popcorn in a single layer.
Bake in 325F. oven for 10 – 12 minutes.
Let cool slightly; transfer to mixing bowl and stir in peanuts.
Cool completely.
Divide into a few gift bags,  secure then tie adorn each package with a bit of pretty ribbon and a gift tag.
Or turn out into a storage container with a tight fitting lid; store in a cool, dry location for up to 3 days.

caramel corn
Caramel Corn; the perfect gift for yourself and your friends.

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