Rosemary Lemon Bread

I've become slightly stuck on rosemary lately. After buying a bunch at the store, I decided to see how my love for the buttery flavored herb transitioned to baked goods. The outcome? Rosemary lemon bread--made bready thanks to my new standby, coconut flour.

The are definitely a bit more grown up--not the treat to serve to little kids or someone looking for a sweet, dessert-like bread. However, they're incredibly flavorful without being super sweet and are much more interesting than the usual banana bread. This recipe is definitely a keeper in my collection. Enjoy!

Nutty Banana Muffins

Continuing onward with my almond flour experiment, I decided to use some to whip up some nutty, dairy-free (obviously) breakfast muffins. Inspired by the fabulous Elana’s Pantry blog (a must-read for anyone looking for white flour alternatives or just loves beautiful pictures of cupcakes), I added a little arrowroot powder into my almond flour. Let me tell you, that woman knows her cakes. These muffins taste like muffins—springy texture, moist with banana, and filled with the occasional bite from the crunchy peanut butter I used.

Double Coconut Muffins

These dairy-free and gluten-free muffins use the two newest ingredients I’ve run across whilst spending way too much time and money in Whole Foods: coconut oil, which I’m now using as a butter substitute, and coconut flour, which may be my new favorite gluten-free flour. It isn’t dry, and it holds together well—meaning baked goods don’t crumble at first touch, which is always a positive.

These muffins are much more dense and less cakey than the traditional blueberry or banana, making them more filling—more of a cross between a muffin and a biscuit. Whatever you call them, they’re super tasty with a little almond butter or agave spread on top. The flavor isn’t overwhelmingly coconutty, although adding some more shredded coconut into the batter in the last step would bump up this flavor even more.

Winter-is-Over Agave Citrus Jam

We’re nearing the end of citrus season, so I recently bought a giant sack of my favorite winter fruit, cuties. The problem is, since the boyfriend recently moved to Michigan for the baseball season, I’m going through food a whole lot slower than usual. I looked at my huge bag of little cuties in the fridge and realized there was just no way I could finish all of them before they shrivel up into moldy balls. So I decided to make jam—and enjoy them all through summer.

Of course, traditional jam recipes are loaded with sugar and chemicals, which basically negates all the benefits of the fresh fruit. I decided to try it with just agave nectar, the fruit, and nothing more. The consistency wasn’t exactly that of store-bought jam, but it made a slightly more viscous (is that a gross word to use when talking about food?) spread that works just as well in terms of adding fruity flavor to toast, oatmeal, or muffins. The flavor is more balanced between the tart of the citrus and the sweet of agave, making it really feel like I’m eating those little cuties atop my toast.

Olive Oil Corn Muffins

Olive oil in a muffin? I was doubtful at first, too, but this recipe, inspired by one from Giada’s Kitchen: New Italian Favorites, packs both unique flavor and moist texture. After taking a bit, the first taste will be the sweet citrus and the bite of fresh corn, followed by the olive oil’s fruitiness.

Dairy Free Zucchini Muffins

Continuing my oat flour experimentation, I decided to try a few more batches of muffins. I’m always trying to eat more veggies, and shredding some into ooey, gooey batter is the sweetest way I’ve found to do this yet. Oh, and after tasting these little puppies, I now officially take back what I said about oat flour—these turned out incredibly moist. I’m sorry, oat flour. Can we be friends? 

Mother’s Day Dairy-Free Banana Bread

Nothing says thanks for ensuring that I didn’t turn out a pregnant teen or Republican like a made-with-love loaf of bread. (It also says, “I’m poor,” but the belly-warming slices spread with (vegan) butter should sufficiently distract from that whole issue.)

This is my take on a classic banana bread—one of the early baking projects I made as a child with my mom, standing on a stool to reach the kitchen counter. This week I’m experimenting with oat flour, recommended constantly in one of my favorite healthy-eating books SkinnyGirl Dish. I want to like oat flour, since it doesn’t seem to require all the extras that other gluten free ones do, but I recently tried making a batch of cookies with it, and they turned out very dry. So, for this loaf, I used over half oat flour and the rest traditional white flour—and it turned out just as moist as it’s supposed to be. I’d like to tinker my way out of all of the processed white flour, and will try to do this with my two recipes this next week.

What else, what else? As always, substitutions are at the bottom of the recipe. If you’re like me, and, well, hurting a bit in your financial sector, this is an economical and thoughtful gift to make for this Sunday.