Cinnamon and raisin sweet potato cookie bites - grain, gluten, sugar and dairy free. Paleo & AIP

When I come across an AIP compliant biscuit/cookie/muffin/baked item I Pin it. I'm amassing quite a collection now and getting the hang of baking AIP style. The results are different from regular baking & even straight paleo, but not necessarily in a bad way and there are a few tricks to ensure success.  I end up adapting most recipes to suit my tastes or tweaking to make even more yummy! This recipe is a tweaker from Healing Family Eats which is a great website for those following an AIP diet.

Cinnamon and raisin sweet potato bites

1 cup of mashed sweet potato (1 medium sized sweet potato)

1/2 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut

 1/3 cup of softened coconut oil 

2 tbs molasses

4 tbs coconut flour

1 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup raisins

Oven 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Puree the sweet potato and shredded coconut in a blender to smooth out the mash and break up the coconut. Add in the rest of ingredients, except the raisins, and pulse until well combined.  Stir in the raisins. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out the dough or roll balls of dough in your hands and place on the baking sheet.  Be warned the mixture is quite sticky!  Flatten the balls by pressing down lightly with your hand.  They don't spread out much during baking. Bake for about 30mins. The bites will crack a little and slightly brown at the edges.  Leave to cool completely on the tray, they will be quite fragile (it helps to make them on the small side). Store in the fridge to keep them firm.  I made 15 mini bites. 

Sweet potato morphed into a cookie format. How good is that? Does anyone know another version of sweet potato cookies? 

Chewy granola - AIP, paleo, grainfree & gluten free

I've splashed out and bought 2 new cookbooks recently. My favorite is The ZenBelly Cookbook. The author, Simone Miller is an actual chef (rather than a home cook who's found social media & then made a cookbook!) so her recipes are tried and tested and therefore actually work. The second is The Healing Kitchen which is to help expand my AIP recipe base.  I haven't used this one as much but so far so good. The recipe below is adapted from that book.

Rightly, or wrongly, I am a snacker.  I can't function on just 3 meals a day.  The autoimmune protocol puts snacks in the wrong camp but I find I can't get through the day without snacks.  I think I have a high metabolism (*excuse).  So I thought this granola would be an easy grab and go snack but of course it can be for breakfast too!

Chewy Granola

2 tbs molasses

2 1/2 tbs melted coconut oil

2 ripe bananas

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups of unsweetened coconut flakes

2 cups of plantain chips

1 cup of raisins

2/3 cup of other dried fruit chopped (e.g. apricots, cherries, apple rings, mango)

1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a large bowl mash the banana with the molasses, coconut oil & vanilla until you have a smooth-ish paste.  Stir in the remaining ingredients ensuring everything is evenly coated with the wet mixture.  Spread out into a thin layer on the baking sheet.  Bake in the oven for 40-50 mins or until it is beginning to crisp around the edges.  You may want to stir it halfway through to ensure an even crisp.  Leave to cool on the tray before breaking up into pieces.  Store in airtight container in fridge.

I'm excited to play around with this recipe; changing out mashed banana for other fruit purees, different dried fruit options or drizzling with melted dark chocolate (as a friend suggested), not AIP but would be amazeballs.........I'll keep you posted!

Plantain donuts - AIP, paleo, dairy, grain & gluten free

I have been following the Auto Immune Protocol diet for 3 (or could be 4, I've lost count!) weeks with the aim of getting an handle on my own auto immune diseases.  If you want more information about AIP click here.  Initially it can seem daunting but 3/4 weeks in I am finding it quiet manageable.  Lunch and dinner did required a few changes, namely omitting nightshades and certain spices, but really nothing major.  Breakfast & snacks required a more major overhaul.  Previously I would snack on nuts or dried fruit or regular paleo baked goods. Not any more! Introducing the plantain donut! Baking at its AIP finest! Breakfast and snack rolled into one, hello!

Plantain Donuts

Recipe adapted from here

1 plantain cut into pieces

1/4 cup of mashed sweet potato (cooked)

1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

2 tbs maple syrup

2 tbs coconut oil

1 tsp cinammon

pinch of salt

To "glaze" melted coconut butter, toasted coconut flakes & sea salt 

Preheat your donut maker.  Put all of the ingredients (except for the glaze) into a blender and process until a smooth thick batter forms. Using a piping bag or a Ziploc bag with the corner cut out fill each donut mold with the batter. You need to overfill each one so the mixture fills both the top and bottom halves of the donut maker as the batter will not rise.  Leave for at least 5 minutes. They are done when they feel a little firmer to the touch and the outside it golden in colour (mine took more like 7 minutes).

Whilst they are cooking toast the coconut flakes under the grill. Warm the coconut butter on a plate. 

When the donuts are done dip them in the warm coconut butter then the coconut flakes and leave to cool slightly allowing the butter to firm up and the flakes to stick.

This quantity made 8 mini donuts.  Best eaten warm straight away!

  

The original recipe by Don't eat the spatula made them in waffle form. I think they would also work well as proper donuts (i.e. fried).