edible sound bites

I have a little secret. 

There is not one spot of flour or dairy in these cookies! I kid you not. Gluten free and only 6 ingredients, you would never be able to tell that they're gluten free either.

These cookies could go up against any old chocolate chip cookie and win hands down. They are crispy yet tender-soft on the inside, and are to die for! I think I'm beginning to have an obsession with cookies... 

This recipe actually comes from Clean Eating magazine. If you haven't checked them out yet, they have a bountiful amount of healthy, good-for-you recipes. Every recipe they put out is full of flavour and you can be happy that it's healthy too. I always love reading the helpful eating and nutrition tips they put in they're magazines.

Who ever said healthy eating tastes bad?

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies {Gluten Free & Vegan} (Makes 2 dozen cookies)

Adapted from Clean Eating Magazine.

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted almond butter
• 3/4cup organic light brown sugar or sucanat
• 1 chia egg *see note*
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup Enjoy Life Mega Chunks chocolate (certified gluten free & vegan)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment stir together first 5 ingredients. Stir in chocolate.
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls (more if you would like bigger cookies) onto baking sheets lined with parchement paper. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden.
3. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completley.

*Note* To make the chia egg simply add 1 tbsp chia seeds to a small sized dish and add 3 tbsp water. Let this sit for at least 5 minutes to let the seeds fel and absorb some of the water before adding to the other ingredients.

Nutritional Info: (Per Cookie) 110 Calories, 8 grams fat, 1.5 grams sat. fat, 55 mg sodium, 1 gram fiber, 5 grams sugar, 2 grams protein, 10 mg cholesterol

Viola! You now have a delicious cookie that is both gluten free and vegan!!!

Now lets get baking!!!

Happy Friday!

You're in for a real treat today.

This is something so special that it would be a crime not to share it with you.

As you might already know I'm obsessed with nut butter. And if you didn't. . . well now you do. I love making my own nut butters, so I pulled out my food processor yesterday and decided to try a spin-off of Ashley's roasted maple cinnamon almond butter. After the first time I ever made her almond butter I was hooked (she creates some of the best nut butters). Before then I don't think I even liked almond butter all that much (*gasp* Sacrilege). Well the rest is history. She inspired me to start creating some of my own nut buttery goodness.

Like this one. Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter.

Move over peanut butter, because there's a new favourite in town.

If you've never made your own before, then you're missing out. You may be a little intimidated at first like I was, but it couldn't be easier. Trust me. Once you make it you'll never want to go back to the store bought variety again. This stuff is so gourmet, you won't even believe you made it yourself. There's just a few ingredients involved including: almonds, maple syrup, maple butter, cinnamon, and sea salt.

It takes approximately 30 minutes in total to make and you want to make sure you've got a good powerful blender. Roasting the almonds will make them easier to process plus it enhances their taste.

Here's what it looks like when it's just getting going:

This is after about 10 minutes of blending:

And here it is nice beginning to smooth:

One of the wonderful things about living in Canada is being so close to pure maple syrup all the time. I got the maple butter at our farmers market last weekend (this stuff isn't cheap, but it's a real treat! And it's of course local). The syrup actually came from my brothers girlfriend's family maple bush here in Ontario. There's nothing like the real thing! It's always been a tradition in my family every Spring to go to a maple syrup bush. When I was growing we would go visit my grandparents and meet up with my aunt and uncle out in the country, and all go together for pancakes and then a horse ride through the bush. Oh, and the maple taffy that they make right on the snow was a special treat. 

I love eating this on my oatmeal, with apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon, on whole grain toast, and it also makes a killer sandwich! I have yet to still try this in this sandwich. You can store this in the fridge in a glass mason jar or a recycled nut butter jar. It should keep as long as store bought nut butters.

Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter

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Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw almonds
• 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp pure maple butter
  
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325*F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium sized bowl mix the almonds and 2 tbsp of maple syrup together to coat.
3. Roast for 15 minutes stirring once or twice and half way through to prevent burning.
4. Take them out and let them cool slightly, about 2 minutes. Then place them in the food processor and and start it up. It may seem a little intimidating but just let the processor do its job. You will want to scrape down the sides with a spatula every now and then once it starts to clump together. Don't worry it will begin to start smoothing out and turn creamy, you just need to be patient. It shouldn't take any longer than 15 minutes.
5. Once it begins to smooth out, add in the sea salt, cinnamon, 1 tbsp of maple butter. Give a whir in processor again until it mixes all together and is nice and smooth.

If you've never been to a maple bush before when the sap is flowing then I really suggest you do it. It's one of the coolest things I remember from growing up, and I still love going every Spring. You have to make sure you go while they're boiling the sap though. The smell is divine!

I've never been more excited for breakfast!

Shared at Fit and Fabulous Fridays and Fresh Bites Friday

Ugh, It's Monday. Ick.

That's okay though, because as I promised I've got something very special for you that involves both cinnamon and honey. This is magical enough to make you forget it's even Monday people.

You see I discovered this great little place called Simply Tea & Chocolate in downtown Barrie not too long ago. They have a nice big selection of loose leaf teas, locally hand crafted chocolates, comfy couches, and a cozy atmosphere over looking the lake. They also know how to make some really good food that's fresh and health minded. This is where I found the most wonderful sandwich.

Thin slices of apple, almond butter, and honey on whole grain bread all warmed up in a grill press. Who would have ever thought to make a sandwich out of apples? You have to admit its a pretty strange idea at first. It's also very delicious.

So naturally I needed to make my own version because this was just too good. Trust me sandwiches don't get much more exciting than this. Especially if you love all things nut butter.

So instead of just plain bread I used a really good cinnamon raisin bread from the local bakery. Then I took creamed honey (this stuff is from Dickey Bees, Unpasteurized and also local) and mixed it all up with some cinnamon.

Spread that almond butter on nice and thick, it's good for you! (as long as your not allergic of course)

Slice your apples nice and thin so they cook and caramelize a little while in the panini press.

Now for the fun part. Squish!
Oh George Foreman Grill, what would I do without you? You have so many wonderful purposes!

Eewy Gooey toasty goodness! If you love almond butter or any kind of nut butter for that matter, you really need to try this.

Almond Butter & Apple Panini with Cinnamon Creamed Honey (yields 1 sandwich)

(Inspired by Simply Tea & Chocolate's A-Team Panini)

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of Cinnamon Raisin Bread
• 1 tbsp unpasteurized creamed honey (if its local its tastes better and is better for you)
• about 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp raw almond butter (I used MaraNath's Organic & Creamy No-Salt added)
• 1/3 of an apple sliced very thinly, skin left on

Method:

1. Stir together the honey and cinnamon until nice and creamy, and well mixed.
2. Spread almond butter on one slice of raisin bread.
3. Spread creamed cinnamon honey on the other slice of raisin bread.
4. Add thinly sliced apples to the slice of bread with honey on it and top with the almond butter slice.
5. Place the assembled sandwich in a preheated panini press, or like I'm using, a George Foreman gill, and lower the lid.
6. Grill on the first side for about 4 minutes but make sure you watch it so it doesn't burn (temperatures can vary from one grill to another).
7. Flip the sandwich over and grill on the other side for another 3 minutes or until nice and toasty. The honey and almond butter will be drippy.
8. Transfer to a plate, slice on an angle and enjoy!

My basil plant want's to eat my sandwich!This will be one that you make over and over again.