New Paleo CSB starts in January 2017!!!  Gift certificates available!  Click on the "About The CSB" tab for all the details.

The Last Winter Paleo CSB Pickup!

I have absolutely loved baking paleo treats for clients this fall/early winter!  It has been so much fun trying out different combinations, playing with alternative "flours," enjoying the tasty, yet nutritious, creations, and being able to share more healthful goodies with my clients.  If you participated in this session, THANK YOU for your support!  I have greatly enjoyed baking for you.

Today each CSB member receives a baker's dozen of assorted paleo cookies.  Hopefully these will help Santa feel a little better than the usual butter bombs!  A few ingredients are a bit of a stretch for "paleo" baking, but they have their purpose.  The Lillie Belle dark chocolate has cane sugar in it (not paleo), but it's vegan, local, organic, and…well, chocolate!  The same is true for the Enjoy Life brand mini chocolate chips that I used (except for the local part).  I needed to use some tapioca starch in the frosting for the "sugar" cookies, which helps stabilize it, and a bit of organic palm oil.  Coconut oil is great, except that it tends to melt, which is not a good property when you want icing to stay put on a cookie!  The dried cranberries are organic, but I was unable to locate a juice sweetened variety, so they do have cane sugar as well.  I also used a teeny sprinkle of naturally colored sprinkles (cane sugar) to make them a little more festive too.  Even so, these cookies offer much more nutrition, and are a much better choice than the regular versions.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! (I cannot leave those dang "sugar" cookie cutouts alone!!)

~"Sugar" Cookie Cut-outs:  almond meal, tapioca starch, organic maple syrup, organic coconut oil, raw local honey, non hydrogenated organic palm oil shortening, pure vanilla extract, baking soda, sea salt.

~Fig Pinwheels:  almond meal, organic pasture raised eggs, organic pure maple syrup, organic coconut oil, organic figs, pomegranate juice, pure vanilla, baking soda, sea salt.  (These spread a bit more than expected and so aren't quite a great of a "pinwheel," but they still taste great!) 

~Smoky Maple Shortbread Rounds:  organic coconut flour, bacon grease from nitrate free, local pasture raised pork, organic maple syrup, pure vanilla.

~Lillie Belle Chocolate Chunk with Fleur de Sel:  almond meal, organic coconut oil, organic maple syrup, organic pasture raised eggs, organic dark chocolate, pure vanilla, baking soda, sea salt.

~Cranberry Pistachio & Dark Chocolate:  almond meal, organic coconut oil, organic maple syrup, organic pasture raised eggs, dried cranberries, Enjoy Life mini dark chocolate chips, roasted pistachios, pure vanilla, baking soda, sea salt.

NEW Paleo CSB Session Posted!!!

Everyone usually wants to detox when the holidays are behind us, starting in January.  To help with those sweet cravings, why not join the Paleo CSB?!  You'll receive a sweet, wholesome treat two times in January and two times in February, which will help cure cravings but also offer your body something nutritious.  Click here for more info:  Paleo CSB.

Paleo CSB, Week 2

I love getting to play around with more nutritious recipes, and this week has been especially fun.  Maybe it's because I'm already in the mood for PIE, but these tarts were a blast to create, and are even tastier to eat.

Three of these tarts started with a coconut flour and almond meal crust.  It's different than the paleo version I have tried before (which was 100% almond based), and I like it a lot more.  It has a cookie like flavor.  What do you think?  The other is a hazelnut raw crust, with a touch of raw cacao in it.

Ingredients:

~Lemon Creme Tart:  Organic coconut cream, raw local honey, organic eggs, organic Meyer lemon

~Apple Pie Tart:  Organic apples, organic maple syrup, organic chia seeds, cinnamon, pure vanilla extract

~Chocolate Hazelnut Tarts (raw & vegan):  Hazelnut flour, organic coconut oil, organic pure maple syrup, organic coconut milk, organic raw cacao, black cocoa powder, vanilla extract, sea salt

~Coconut Creme Tart:  Organic coconut cream, raw local honey, organic dark chocolate, gelatin from grass fed cows, unsweetened coconut

In the baked crusts:  organic coconut flour, almond meal, organic coconut oil, organic pure maple syrup, organic eggs, vanilla, soda, sea salt.

All of these tarts MUST be kept refrigerated.  Enjoy!

2015 Fall CSB, week 3

Bar cookies often don't get enough credit.  They seem like a lazier approach to drop cookies, mostly because it's a press-into-the-pan, one or two step effort.  With a bit of creativity, however, they can offer so much more flavor, and a welcome texture change from a typical cookie.  I made CSB members six different varieties to try today.

~Pecan Pie Bars:  Starting with a shortbread crust, these feature a pecan crusted sweet custard like topping.  My version is corn syrup free, instead using a combination of pure organic maple syrup and cane based Lyle's Golden Syrup…and I tossed in a couple of tablespoons of Buffalo Trace (GMO free!) Bourbon for good measure.

~Zesty Lemon Bars:  Always a favorite, always a classic, I knew I had to include these this week!  The crust is 100% whole grain, and I used organic lemons for a citrusy burst of flavor.

~Classic Fudge Truffle Brownies:  One of my most popular market treats, these have a well deserved reputation.  I'd like to take the credit for them, but their wonderfulness is really due to the pound of organic Lillie Belle chocolate that is in each small batch!  They're naturally gluten free and pack a rich wallop of dark chocolate flavor.

~Mint Creme Fudge Truffle Brownies:  These are exactly like the Classic FT Brownies, except that they have a layer of mint flavored buttercream sandwiched between the brownie base and the ganache frosting.  The mint oil that I use is locally grown and produced, from Mint To Be!

~Candy Cap Mushroom Cheesecake Bars:  Possibly my absolute favorite bar cookie ever, these cheesecake bars start with an organic graham crust that's sweetened with pure maple syrup.  I use organic Nancy's cream cheese (locally made in Eugene), and grind up candy cap mushrooms for the filling (I source these from Oregon Mushrooms in Keno, OR).  By grinding the dried mushrooms up, I avoid any odd texture issues, and they impart their wonderful butterscotch, earthy, maple notes perfectly.  Even my daughter, who hates mushrooms, loves candy cap goodies!

~Strawberry Rhubarb Oat Bars:  100% whole grain and featuring locally grown fruit!  Strawberry rhubarb is a flavor most often associated with June, so they may seem a bit out of season.  I was able to can a ton of rhubarb pie filling this year, however, so have that on hand just for occasions such as this, and I picked up some freshly picked strawberries yesterday from Adams Berries & Produce.  I'm trying to enjoy as many sweet, local strawberries as I possibly can before they all freeze (any day now!).


Please store bars in the refrigerator (especially those cheesecake bars!), or freeze to enjoy later.

Paleo CSB, Week 1

I really enjoy the opportunity to experiment with alternative, healthier ingredients, and the Paleo CSB gives me the chance to do just that!  Thank you for participating in this Fall 2015 session!

Today each member will receive some delicious Paleo-inspired Fudge Truffle Brownies.  I say "inspired" because they are not 100% cane sugar free; the vegan, organic, local chocolate that I get from Lillie Belle Farms does have some sugar in it.  But compared to MOST desserts, these are much, much cleaner, and many paleo recipes on the internet and in books use chocolate that has sugar in it.  Moderation, right?!

As a bonus for CSB members, I also whipped up some Paleo Pumpkin Bars.  These taste very similar to pumpkin pie, just without the crust, and much healthier!

Ingredients:
Classic Paleo Fudge Truffle Brownies:  organic dark chocolate, organic expeller pressed raw extra virgin coconut oil, organic coconut cream, pasture raised organic eggs, organic coconut sugar, raw fair trade cacao, espresso powder, pure locally brewed vanilla, sea salt.

Paleo Fudge Truffle Brownies with "Frosting":  organic dark chocolate, organic expeller pressed raw extra virgin coconut oil, pasture raised organic eggs, organic coconut sugar, almonds, raw fair trade cacao, medjool dates, organic maple syrup, organic coconut cream, espresso powder, pure locally brewed vanilla, cinnamon, sea salt.

Paleo Pumpkin Pie Bars:  locally grown sugar pie pumpkin, organic coconut flour, organic maple syrup, pasture raised organic eggs, spices, baking soda, sea salt.

Store brownies and bars refrigerated.  They may be frozen, individually wrapped in plastic, or sealed tightly in a Pyrex container, to enjoy later (try cutting each in half to make them go further).

2015 Fall CSB, Week 2

Six different cupcake flavors today!!

Turtle: brown sugar cake filled with fudge, caramel French buttercream, handmade
caramel drizzle, toasted pecans

Pumpkin Bliss: chocolate cake, pumpkin filling, pumpkin French buttercream, ganache drizzle, candied ginger

Pumpkin Pie a la Mode: brown sugar cake, spiced pumpkin filling, vanilla American buttercream, cinnamon sugar sprinkle

Caramel Apple: brown sugar cake, organic apple filling, caramel American buttercream, caramel drizzle

Cookies & Creme: chocolate cake, vanilla French buttercream stuffed with organic chocolate sandwich cookie bits, organic sandwich cookie decor

Chocolate Fudge: Classic chocolate cake, chocolate fudge center, chocolate American buttercream, ganache drizzle, chocolate shavings