Very Berry Coconut Macaroons

With Valentines Day approaching your mind naturally deviates to reds, pinks, baking, and most definitely SWEETS!  It is that time of the year and most definitely one of those times that all enjoy!  In honor of Valentines Day I thought I might make some cookies that were on the Valentines Day theme.  Marachino Cherries seemed like a good pick to start with.  I originally was going to use some of the liquid from the cherries as an extract to boost the flavor, but the liquid is actually not so very tasty, so I used the extract from another red berry-  Raspberry Extract.  The combination of the two really made for an excellent flavor too!

In the cookies pictured I used coconut sugar which is slightly darker than brown sugar.  The pink color was barely tinged by the darkness of the sugar.

Very Berry Coconut Macaroons

2 eggs
3/4 cup Sugar (I used coconut sugar in the cookies in the picture)
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Raspberry Extract
1/3 cup Rice Flour
1/2 cup Tapioca Starch
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
2 1/2 cups Coconut 
1/4 cup Chopped Marachino Cherries, well drained (abt 15)
Red Food Coloring (4-8 drops)

Thoroughly mix first 4 ingredients in Medium sized mixing bowl. Then add remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Drop on to cookie sheet in tablespoon drops shaped in a ball. Bake 325 for 20 minutes. Then raise temperature to 350 for an additional 3-5 minutes.

 

*If you have an allergy to egg, you can use 2 small-medium bananas instead of eggs.  Bananas will only slightly affect the flavor.

Coconut Sugar Treats

Sunday is my baking day for many reasons.  I love to bake and it is a stress-less activity for me; AND it gets us prepared for our week.  I find if I bake 3 snack type items, I don't have to worry so much about if there is a quick snack available.  Most people can provide the snacks a typical child needs by going to the store.  Even in a gluten and dairy free diet you can, however, it costs soo much I find it more effective for our family to just make sure we set aside the time to make the bulk of our snacks at home. Also, by making them at home, I have full control over the ingredients I put in them.

My goal for today was not only to make the snacks, but also to really get to know the flexibility and effective uses of Coconut Sugar.  I used it in all the cookies posted in the picture- UN-Peanut Butter Cookies, Coconut Macaroons made with bananas instead of eggs, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Bread.  It worked fabulously in all of these and I even had no problem with the yeast rising in my Bread.  There also was no noticeable compromise of flavor in these items, though the color was slightly darker than usual.  The color of the Coconut Macaroons was most noticeable, darkening just to the level of a pale-colored caramel. The Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies I am comfortable saying that their color was left unchanged and the bread was the color of your average whole wheat loaf.

SOO, many of you are probably wondering why I have ventured into Coconut sugar.  If you are curious about this, I recommend you read my previous post HERE- other than that, all I've got to say is its got more nutrients in it than many vitamin supplements and easier for your body to absorb too!

Chicken Nuggets OR Boneless Buffalo Wings

While sitting in a Doctors Office a few years ago I was a reading a child's magazine with one of my kids and saw a recipe for Chicken Nuggets. Seeing the nuggets on the page just gave me a challenge- Made me say there has got to be a way to not only get the bread to successfully stick to the nuggets, but also make the texture of the bread resemble the texture of 'normal' nuggets.  Out of that Doctors visit comes these, highly successful, and very yummy OVEN BAKED and chicken nuggets. They are even friendly enough that your children can help make them.  

Just a tip, this recipe will be much easier if you keep pre-packaged (bagged) mixes of my pizza crust on hand.  If so, you will need 2/3 cup of the mix instead of the first section of the 'Bread' recipe.

Chicken Nuggets

 

2-3 Large Chicken breast cut into 2 x 3/4 inch strips 

For the Bread:

1/3 cup Rice Flour

1/4 cup Tapioca Flour

3 TBSP Sorghum Flour

1 TBSP Ground Flax

1 tsp Gelatin

1 tsp Guar Gum

1/4 tsp Granulated Onion
1/4 tsp Granulated Garlic

1/4 tsp Poultry Seasoning (McCormick)

Pinch Oregano (rubbed in the palms of your hands 

                              first if you can't find rubbed oregano)

1/4 tsp Parsley

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

1/8 TSP Cream of Tartar

*  *  *  *

2 Eggs

1/2 cup Rice Milk

*  *  *  *

2 1/2 cups Corn Flakes, Crushed (or any other kind of flakes)

1) Get 3 bowls or shallow dishes like pie pans or cake pans

2) In the first bowl put the first list of ingredients.  This is actually a reduced portion of the dry ingredients of my Pizza Crust Recipe - I actually keep pre-bagged pizza mixes on hand so I can use it when I need it. If you decide to premake mixes like this, you will need about 2/3 cup of the mix.  It is much easier this way.

3) In the second dish, put the eggs and the rice milk and beat with a fork for a minute.

4) In the final dish put the crushed corn flakes.
5) Take a few of the chicken pieces and gently move them around in the pizza flour mixture and then dredge in the egg mix and finally in the corn flakes. Repeat the process til all the chicken is breaded.

6) As you finish pieces, place them on a greased baking sheet.  When you fill the sheet spray nuggets liberally with non-stick spray.

7) Bake at 450 for 10 minutes then flip the nuggets, spray the other side liberally with non-stick spray and then return them to the oven for 10 more minutes.

As dips or flavorings for these, you can use salad dressing or ketchup, OR you can toss them with Buffalo Wing Sauce.