Brown Butter Rum Raisin Cookies

In the words of Julia Child, "with enough butter, anything is good". What she forgot to mention, was that with enough browned butter, everything is good! I hate to admit it, but fall is finally starting to creep in.  Granted, the weather here has been practically tropical (think 25-30 degrees!), but the leaves are starting to change and the nights are getting cool.  As a tea addict, my lemony summer teas are being swapped out for spicier cinnamon scented chai and licorice, and my cookies and cakes are about to get a whole lot more decadent!

This recipe came about for two reasons; one, I had a deep desire to satisfy my usual baking hankerings. Reason two, I had to challenge myself to not use any chocolate! As a chocoholic I am proud to say that I haven't had a piece of deliciously dark chocolate or chocolate in any of its wonderful forms, in two weeks! Quite the accomplishment for me, although I know I can keep going!

These cookies are great for just about any occasion, as most cookies are in my books, but the brown butter makes them just that much more special.

Browning the butter with your vanilla bean makes all the difference, not to mention it makes your house smell better than any Bath and Bodyworks candle ever could! The addition of soaking your raisins in a little bit of rum lends a depth to these caramel coloured cookies and pairs very well with the brown butter. (Don't worry, the alcohol burns off when you cook it) If you haven't browned butter before, not to worry! It's a simple procedure that requires just a touch of effort on your part. Enjoy this batch with some tea and a cozy sweater by a fire or if you're on the west coast, while you're soaking up this gorgeous September sunshine!


Brown Butter Rum Raisin Cookies

Makes 12-16

1/4 salted grass-fed butter

1/2 vanilla bean

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 egg 

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp soda 

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup oat flour

1/4 cup almond flour

1 1/2 tbs coconut flour

1 cup oats

1/4 cup finely shredded coconut

1/2 cup raisins

1 tbs rum (I used Malibu Black)

1 tbs Galliano (Or 2 tbs dark rum if you have it on hand)

1 tbs hot water (or more rum!!)

In a small bowl, mix rum, Galliano and water. Add raisins and let soak for 20 minutes or, if desired, cook raisins in a saucepan until warm for 3-5 minutes to plump them up. (Or microwave them if you must)

In a saucepan (frying pan works too) over low-medium heat, melt your butter with your vanilla bean that has been sliced down the middle and squeezed. Leave the pod in the pan as your brown your butter. Using a spatula, gently swirl your butter as it begins to bubble. The butter will begin to brown and let off a nutty vanilla scent. The butter is finished when the colour has deepened and the nutty vanilla scent is apparent, 5 minutes for me. Discard pod. 

In a medium bowl, mix your brown butter, coconut sugar and maple syrup together until smooth, like a very soft caramel. Let cool for a few minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine oats, oat flour, almond flour, soda, salt and baking powder. 

Add egg to sugar mixture and mix until combined. Add extra vanilla extract if desired. 

Add dry mixture to wet mixture by folding it in with a spatula. This recipe is a lot more fun by hand! 

Fold in raisins, along with any remaining liquor that wasn't soaked up. 

Fold in shredded coconut and gauge to see if any further dry ingredients are necessary. 

Transfer bowl to freezer or fridge to harden. 

Once hardened, bake at 350 for 8 - 10 minutes, or until golden brown on the top. Remove from oven and let cool on sheet. These cookies should be very chewy and slightly undercooked when removed from the heat. 

Fudgy Nutella Cookies

My boyfriend and I got into a heated debate a couple weeks ago. The topic? Nutella. He likes his on its own, straight out of the jar. (I seriously can't leave him alone with a jar of my homemade Nutella) To him, anything else is downright blasphemous. For me on the other hand, although I do love a spoonful straight from the source, I just don't think it's fair to limit such a magical spread to being the solitary star of a sandwich, or spoon for that matter. I spread mine over rice cakes with strawberry or raspberry jam, alternate icing layers of cake with it and even make room on the spoon for jam or ice cream. While I can admit it's amazing on its own, Nutella deserves a friend or two.

So let the blasphemy begin.  I made a batch of homemade Nutella the other day (See my chocolate cake recipe for the how-to), only to find that I had added the fixins in too early.  I ended up with a separated but thick paste, which tasted delicious but wasn't quite what I was looking for, so I abandoned that ship only to accidentally find myself in cookie heaven. These cookies are crisp on the outside, chewy and fudgy on the inside and the sliced almonds and homemade shredded coconut lend just the right amount of crunch to the whole ordeal.

Whether you are a Nutella purist or a sacrilegious strawberry jam and Nutella lover like myself, enjoy these cookies on their own, with jam or even as an epic strawberry ice cream sandwich!

Nutella Cookies

Makes 12

1 1/4 cup Nutella Paste (preferably homemade, see Nutella Paste recipe) 

1 egg 

3 tbs  organic coconut flour

1 - 2 tbs whey protein powder

1 tsp soda

1/2 cup organic coconut palm sugar (more if you like it sweeter)

1/3 cup sliced or slivered almonds

Sea Salt

Shredded Coconut or dark chocolate chips on top for decoration. 

If using homemade Nutella, make sure it's cold, or add a little chocolate and arrowroot powder to it so it sets better. (The firmer the Nutella the better)

1. Combine Nutella, sugar and egg in a medium sized bowl 

2. Sift in coconut flour, whey and soda

3. Add in almonds until just combined

4. Let sit in fridge until hardened, approx. 30 min - 1 hour. (I like to leave mine overnight sometimes)

5. Preheat oven to 350

6. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on baking tray lined with parchment

7. Press down balls slightly, then add salt if using.

8. Top with small piece of dark chocolate and coconut if using

9. Bake for 10 minutes, or until tops are cracked and cookies have spread. 

10. Cool on wire rack

 (ice cream sandwich made with local strawberries and coconut milk)

Easy Grain Free Apple Crisp

I took a little bit of a hiatus to visit my aunt and uncle down in Phoenix, Arizona.  They spend the spring and winter down there now that their kids are grown up.  My cousin, who happens to be my age and the sister I never had, met me down there. A week with family can be a lot of fun, but after seven days with my extended family under one roof I think I can say I've had my fill for a while.  They have an amazing place out in Scottsdale, so I took full advantage of biking the flat roads, running the trails and of course, their back yard swimming pool!

My aunt is the queen of planning outings and events.  She took us floating down the salt river on tubes, complete with a tube for our coolers.  Note, if you ever want to torture your adult children, promise them sun, food and water, then take to them a river, throw them on tubes,  attach them to their parents and send them down a river for three hours.  Okay, so it wasn't that bad.  I love my family so we had a great time, but you can picture some terrible sit-com where the dysfunctional family takes a river trip and it ends up being a complete disaster.

The next surprise she had lined up for us was an hour long drive, without telling us where we were headed.  We arrived at a canyon, where there was an amazing old train station.  We me out guide, Fermin, who was half butler half tour guide on our train adventure. Sitting in an original caboose from the 1930's, our family got to sit back in our own personal car at the back of the train while we made our way through the Verde Canyon.  Did I mention it was fully catered, complete with a stocked liquor cabinet? My aunt outdid herself. 

As way of thanks, Mother's Day morning I decided to do a little baking.  They were trying to clean our their pantry as they were heading back to Calgary the next day, so it was a use what we've got type of baking session.  Lucky for me, I love a challenge!  I found the last of the apples, the rest of the butter from my bulletproof coffee breakfast routine (Kerrygold for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about) and some almonds.  I found some instant oatmeal, but I couldn't bring myself to use it. You have to draw the line somewhere right?

I basically just winged it and threw everything together. The crisp turned out lovely, even without oats.  In fact, it turned out so well I didn't have a chance to take a picture of the final product! My uncle loved it and my aunt, who doesn't bake or care for baked goods, enjoyed it throughly.  They ate it so quickly it hadn't even crossed my mind to take a picture. All in all, I had a great week full of amazing home-cooked meals and some stellar sun.  

Easy Gran-Free Apple Crisp

(This recipe is just a ballpark, so feel free to play around)

6 Honeycrisp apples, sliced (these were small little organic ones, so 4 regular size will do)
2-3 handfuls of almonds, toasted until slightly crunchy
5 tbs cinnamon, divided (use as much or as little as you like)
4 tbs honey, divided
5 tbs grass-fed butter, divided

Preheat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit.

Arrange apples in baking tray of choice.  I found a glass 9x9 baking dish. Arrange first layer, then sprinkle cinnamon freely over apples, along with 2 tbs honey and 1 tbs butter (chopped into tiny pieces)

Place second layer of apple overtop, adding more cinnamon and honey if desired.

In a blender or food processor, grind nuts until they are in small chunks.  I made mine quite fine, so that half of the almonds had turned to flour, while the other half were teeny tiny pieces.

Place nuts meal in medium bowl and add remaining honey, butter and as much cinnamon as you want. If you have coconut palm sugar or a sugar of choice, add it in as well.  Using your hands, blend ingredients together so you have a sticky, buttery paste. You can add more cinnamon if it's looking too light or more almonds if you don't think you'll have enough to cover your apples.

Spread the crumble mixture over your apples as evenly as possible.

Bake @ 350 for 34-45 minutes, depending on your oven. The top should be a nice deep golden brown and the apples should be quite soft.

Allow to cool, or if you're impatient, enjoy right out of the pan!

Note: this would be awesome with coconut whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Here are a couple of cool shots from my trip.