Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Okay, so I have wanted to make chocolate hazelnut spread for a long time.  I don't like that Nutella has sugar in it, nor milk powder and soy lecithin.  Plus, I like soaking my nuts before I eat them, that way the enzyme inhibitors are neutralized and they are much easier to digest.

Soaked, Dehydrated, and Roasted Hazelnuts

4 cups raw, organic hazelnuts

sea salt

filtered water

1.  Get out a large glass jar and fill halfway with filtered water.  Add 2 tablespoons sea salt and stir with a wooden spoon.  Add hazelnuts and cover with a cloth or coffee filter.  Let sit at room temperature overnight.

2.  The next day, pour out water and put hazelnuts onto a baking sheet or dehydrator sheet.  If using a dehydrator, dry at low heat, less than 150 degrees.  You can do this in the oven if you oven will set a temperature that low.  Or you can set it as low as possible and open the oven every now and then to let the temperature drop.  Dehydrate either way for 12 hours or more, until the nuts are nice and dry and crisp.  How do you know they're done?  Taste one!

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

2 cups (soaked, dehydrated, and roasted) hazelnuts, cooled

1/2 cup raw honey

1/3 cup organic cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoon Homemade vanilla

1 teaspoon coffee liqueur (I used Kahlua)

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup coconut oil, gently melted (I used expeller-pressed so there is no coconut flavor)

1.  Place hazelnuts, honey, cocoa powder, vanilla, coffee liqueur, and sea salt to the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse a few times to combine.  Then turn on the processor and add melted coconut oil in a slow, steady stream.  Add more or less coconut oil depending on the consistency you want.  Serve.

Chicken Tetrazini

This is a recipe from my SIL Kristen. I have modified it to include pasta I made by soaking the dough overnight to reduce phytic acid. I also added some herbaceous goodness to the sauce with basil and marjoram at the suggestion of my friend G. It came together very nicely when I made it for lunch yesterday.

I also see that this recipe is nothing like the "Chicken Tetrazini" in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Who knows what that is all about? So, full disclaimer: I don't know if this is really Chicken Tetrazini, but that's what I call it. Enjoy!

Chicken Tetrazini

8 oz. soaked or sprouted pasta (I used durum wheat berries ground up for my pasta)
3 cups cooked chicken, cubed
3 cups homemade chicken broth/stock
½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
½ cup Cheddar cheese, grated (I used raw, grass-fed)
1 cup milk or cream
5 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons sprouted flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cook pasta until tender and drain. In a large saucepan, melt butter and gradually whisk in flour to make a roux. Gradually stir in broth, whisking continuously. Add milk and parmesan cheese, stirring with a wooden spoon until all cheese is melted. Cook over medium heat until mixture bubbles and thickens.
2. Season with salt and pepper, basil and marjoram. Add chicken and pasta into saucepan and combine. Pour into buttered 9x13 pan. Sprinkle grated cheddar cheese over top. Bake for about 30 minutes, until cheese has melted and begins to brown.

Basic Rich Crackers

These are the basic crackers I make on a pretty regular basis for our family. They are made with four simple ingredients: butter, yogurt, flour, and salt. You combine, cover and soak overnight, then roll them out in the morning, cut and bake them. Simple as that, and you get all the benefit of whole foods, properly prepared.

To start with, freshly ground flour that has been soaked to rid it of phytic acid is very healthy. Not to mention the vitamin K2 from the butter if it is grass-fed, and the probiotics found in good quality whole milk yogurt. Even the salt is beneficial if you choose a high quality salt full of trace minerals, such as Celtic sea salt.

I like to use Kerrygold Irish Butter from Trader Joe's because it is the best price I have found. I also get my yogurt from Trader Joe's, or I make my own from whole raw milk. I haven't tried it yet, but since I have milk kefir around, I wonder if I could use that in place of the yogurt in this recipe.

They are delicious with raw cheese and organ meat sausage (like Braunschweiger, yum!). But enjoyed all by themselves they are still lovely. They are very similar to Cheez-its I think.

Basic Rich Crackers

1 cup plain, whole milk yogurt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3 1/2 cups freshly ground whole grain flour (I have used spelt and whole red winter wheat, both with good success)
2 teaspoons sea salt

1. Cream yogurt and butter together. Add flour and salt and stir to combine.
2. Cover with a towel and a plate, find a warm place to soak 12-24 hours (or overnight).
3. After the soaking period, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
4. At this point you can add any herbs, cheeses, or spices to your dough you might like to try. I have only attempted cracked pepper and parmesan cheese, but it was delicious! The possibilities are endless, but the crackers are truly delicious all on their own. Don't feel you need this step, it is optional.
5. Use white flour, sprouted flour, or arrowroot powder (because each of these options have no phytic acid) to roll your dough out very thin. Use a pastry or pizza cutter to cut dough into small squares or rectangles.
6. Place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. You can put the crackers fairly close to each other, they do not spread. You can prick with a fork, but I have not seen much of a need for it.
7. Bake 8-12 minutes, checking every minute or so after 8 minutes have gone by to make sure they do not overbrown. You know the crackers are done when they are slightly brown on the edges and the middles of the crackers look drier.
8. Remove from baking sheet to cooling racks immediately, but be gentle so they do not break. Enjoy!

Vanilla Oatmeal with Pan-Fried Cinnamon Apples

Finally, I have made a delicious soaked oatmeal. I have to give a major H/T to my friend G for it though. My problem with soaked oatmeal has been how much honey and maple syrup it took to make the oatmeal good. It never occurred to me that pan-fried apples would sweeten it up without massive amounts of sweetener. Now I can add this to the breakfast staples. The ratio is all you need to know to soak oatmeal: for each cup of oatmeal use one cup of water, one Tablespoon of acidic medium, and one or two dashes of salt. The next morning, cook in another one cup of water for each cup of oatmeal you started with.

Vanilla Oatmeal with Pan-Fried Cinnamon Apples

The night before, in a glass bowl:
3 cups of oatmeal
3 cups of filtered water
3 T. whey, lemon juice, whole yogurt, buttermilk, apple cider vinegar, or other acid (I use whey, but Kimi Harris over at The Nourishing Gourmet says lemon juice gives the best flavor)
1 teaspoon sea salt

Cover with a towel and let soak between 12-24 hours.

In the morning, in a cast iron skillet:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or coconut oil (I do a little of both!)
3-4 peeled apples, cut into bite-sized pieces
sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg

Saute over medium heat until apples are browned and softened, stirring occasionally, and the sauce reduces down to a glaze. In the meantime, start oatmeal:

In a saucepan:
3 cups of water
all the contents of your glass bowl from overnight soaking

Bring oatmeal to a gentle bubble and stir constantly. It should only take 3-5 minutes to cook your oatmeal because of the soaking process.

Towards the end of cooking, add:
2 tsp. vanilla
sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg (yes, in addition to the sprinkles on the apples)
up to 1/4 C. honey

Your apples and oatmeal should finish close to each other. Add the apples from the skillet to the saucepan. Stir all together and serve hot. If you like, add some yogurt on top of each bowl of oatmeal, perhaps with a sprinkling of nuts or dried fruit.

Grilled Turkey and Cheddar

I made this sandwich today and it was so simple and herbaceous that I had to share.

Grilled Turkey and Cheddar
(Wednesday April 14th version :D)

sliced spelt sourdough bread
butter (I used grass-fed)
sea salt
pepper
dried rosemary
sliced turkey (I used organic)
mild cheddar (I used raw, and wish I would have had sharp)
yellow mustard
mayonnaise (I used lacto-fermented)
dried thyme

1. Butter two slices of bread, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and rosemary.
2. Build sandwich by placing one piece of bread butter side down in a cast iron skillet and layering on turkey, cheese and then the other piece of bread with the side spread with mustard and mayonnaise and rosemary face down and the buttered/salted/peppered/roasemaryed side up. After it browns on one side, flip and brown the other. Cut in half and chomp. Perhaps with soup? I didn't have soup, but that sounds amaaaazingggg.

Italian Rice Salad

I finally made this for dinner last night and it was way more delicious than it sounded. And I already thought it sounded good! A good summery recipe, too.

Everyday Italian Rice Salad
from The Nourishing Gourmet

2 cups of brown long grain rice (soaked 7 hrs before hand in water and 2 T. of whey/lemon juice/buttermilk is preferable)
4 carrots, washed, peeled and shredded
4 celery, thinly sliced
1 cup of frozen peas
4 eggs
Dressing
1/3 cup of raw apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced or put through a garlic press
1 teaspoon sea salt
plenty of freshly ground pepper

1-Make rice according to the package’s instructions. I use 4 cups of homemade chicken stock to 2 cups of rice. After the soaking period add a generous pinch of salt and bring to a boil, cover and turn down heat to the lowest setting. Cook for about 50 minutes.
2-Meanwhile, put together the dressing. Simply pour and toss everything into a mason jar and put on a lid and shake, or whisk it in a small bowl. Then prepare the vegetables.
3-When the rice is done, take off of the heat and remove the lid. You will want to combine the rice and dressing while the rice is still warm so that the flavor permeates it, but I don’t like to do it when the rice is too hot, otherwise it starts to cook the vegetables, which you want nice and crisp. If you don’t have time to let it cool a bit, I will sometimes dump it onto a large plate or jellyroll pan and flip the rice mixture every few minutes to let it cool faster.
4-When the rice is still warm, but not hot. Scramble your eggs. In a small saucepan, add a little olive oil and place over medium heat. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl, and pour in the pan. I like to stir my eggs with a fork as it prevents the eggs from clumping into large pieces. Cook until the eggs are still moist, but cooked through and remove from heat.
5-Put it all together! Add the rice, peas, and eggs to a large bowl. For the frozen peas, simply rinse with hot water in a sieve until they are room temperature and add to the warm rice, which will heat them slightly. Pour in about 3/4’s of your dressing and gently stir. Then stir in the carrots and celery. Taste test, you may need to add the rest of the dressing now, or some more salt and pepper. As the salad sits, it will absorb more of the dressing, so you may need to refresh it with a bit of vinegar and olive oil.
Enjoy this salad, warm, room temperature, or cold.

This Italian's First Time Making Pasta

I love pasta, but I know that most of the pasta available at stores is not whole grain, nor soaked to reduce phytic acid. So I had reconciled myself to never having it except once in a while. But alas! The Nourishing Gourmet has a very simple recipe, either cut into strips, or large squares for "handkerchief" pasta.

Yesterday I made the handkerchief ones, and they are delicious! Probably due to the soaking process they do not taste as "wheaty" as some of the whole grain pasta I have bought. R even liked them, and he does NOT like it when I make whole wheat versions of things (like pasta and pizza).

I have not tried it yet, but since I bought some organic durum wheat berries at Foodwise a few days ago, I want to try them for my next pasta attempt. Durum wheat is the traditional grain used for pasta. I will be using the whole grain version by grinding up whole durum wheat berries, not semolina which I believe is not considered whole grain.

Handkerchief Pasta

3-3 1/2 cups of freshly ground whole wheat/spelt/durum wheat flour (I used hard red winter wheat)
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (I used apple cider vinegar)

1. You can use a Bosch to knead this dough, but I did it by hand since I have a Kitchen Aid and do not find it to be too great at kneading. (I want a Bosch! I am saving my pennies...) Combine water and vinegar in a glass or plastic bowl and then add 2 cups of the flour, stirring with a wooden spoon. Keep adding flour until you cannot stir it with the spoon anymore. Turn out on a floured surface and knead in more flour until the dough is feeling nice and stiff. You should have to knead 10 minutes or so, until the gluten really develops and the dough doesn't stick as much.

2. Oil a bowl with olive oil, placing your dough ball inside, and then flipping until coated with oil. Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel, and then set a heavy plate on top to firmly press the towel down. Find a warm place and leave on the counter overnight to soak. (I use my dehydrator set on 85 degrees.)

3. The next day, uncover your dough and do not worry if the top of the mound is darkened, it will not affect the flavor of your pasta. Cut dough into four pieces so you can work easily with each piece as you roll it out. Using arrowroot powder or white flour (white flour doesn't contain phytic acid, so it needs no soaking; I used arrowroot powder I got from Azure Standard), roll your dough very thin, to about 1/16 an inch thick or less. Then using a pizza cutter, cut into rectangular shapes, few inches per side.

4. Lay your cut pasta out on cooling racks, or just on the table or counter provided you flip them once in a while to ensure even drying. It should take about 12 hours to dry completely*, when they break crisply in half when you bend them.

*Store in a jar or bag for a few days/weeks? I am not sure how long they will keep, but I would guess about 2 weeks for optimal nutrition. You can also skip the drying and just make the dough the night before you want to serve it, and then use the freshly cut pasta for dinner the day you roll them out. They cook in about 2-3 minutes that way. We ate them last night over beef stroganoff, which was amazing. I need to post that recipe next!

Real Food Links

First I read Nourishing Traditions, which I talked about in my previous post, and then:

• I found the Bountiful Baskets co-op
  
• I found the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 (full list) to help with produce shopping
  
• I found information about raw milk that eased my mind
  
• I found raw milk in my area (and you can too here)
  
• I found The Nourishing Gourmet, and subsequently Cheeseslave
• I found Real Food Media which is a network of real food bloggers
  
• I found a budget breakdown of how to afford raw milk/dairy, pastured eggs/chicken, grass-fed beef
• I found an Arizona Local Food website with tons of links and information
  
• I found local ranchers and farmers for grass-fed beef
• I found a farmer's market (Phoenix Public Market) on Saturday in Phoenix for pastured eggs from Chile Acres, produce from Maya's Farm and grass-fed beef from Doublecheck Ranch (not the best price, but they carry suet and broth bones)
  
• I found a Sunday farmer's market in Ahwatukee for grass-fed beef (best price I have found)
• I found a list of good cod liver oils, various brands; also, a CLO explanation here
  
• I picked the Green Pastures brand, and found their website had the cheapest price for bulk buying
  
• And finally, the crowning glory: I found Azure Standard: they carry the cheapest organic grains, wholesome sweeteners, pastured eggs, raw cheese, natural parchment paper, canning supplies, pastured meat, cod liver oil, spices, and stainless steel baking supplies that I have found in all my local and internet searching. I cannot recommend them enough.

(cross-posted)

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread--SUCCESS!!

I have always loved sourdough bread, having grown up near San Francisco and eaten it happily for years. I remember my mom buying extra sour sourdough bread from the grocery store in a crackly waxed paper bag. But now I have learned about white flour and phytic acid and wish someone made 100% whole grain sourdough SOMEWHERE. I have never found a whole wheat sourdough loaf at any store, but I did finally find some recipes like this one at The Nourishing Gourmet.

First I ordered a whole wheat sourdough starter culture from Cultures for Health. Following the directions I got my starter bubbly and active. Then I was finally ready to try the recipe from TNG last week...and it was so-so. I noticed the dough did not rise as much as it should have, during both the first and second rises. It was also too dry, and when I baked it the bottom burned. I think TNG's recipe works in her area, but for the dry air of AZ the recipe needs adjustments.

Finally, I got out some more starter and gave it another try. I used less flour so the dough would be more moist. I covered my overnight rising dough much more thoroughly. I baked the dough at a lower temperature. I got a squirt bottle of filtered water to occasionally spray the loaves throughout the baking time. Voila!

I tripled this recipe, and when preparing my starter I fed it twice a day for two days to get it nice and sour.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
1 cup of sourdough starter
1/2 cup of filtered water
1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt
2 Tablespoons-1/4 cup of honey, depending on how sweet you want it (I used 2 T.)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3-4 1/2 cups whole grain flour (I used 3 cups of freshly ground hard red winter wheat)

1. In a large plastic bowl (NOT metal) combine starter, water, honey and olive oil. Mix well with a whisk.
2. Start stirring in the flour, mixing with a wooden spoon until the dough becomes too stiff. Turn out onto a floured board with floured hands and knead in any remaining flour if you have any left. To knead, fold the top half of the dough onto the bottom half and then push the mound of dough together and up towards the top of your surface with the heels of one or both of your hands. Then turn the whole piece of dough 1/4 of a turn and repeat.
   
3. Knead for about 10 minutes. The feel of the dough should change as time goes on. Your dough should feel less sticky and more firm by the time you are done. When you pinch the dough it should spring back a little bit.
4. You are ready for The First Rise. Lightly oil a bowl, place dough inside and cover very well. Find a warm place to let rise. Depending on how warm and moist your house is this can take anywhere from 3-24 hours. Generally it takes 12 hours. The dough should double in size by the time it is ready. I covered my oiled bowl with a towel and a dinner plate pressing it down, then placed it in my dehydrator on 85 degrees overnight. This seems to be the best timing.
5. Once your dough has doubled you are ready to shape it into a loaf. Press into a rectangle, then fold the long sides over to the middle to make a long skinny rectangle. Starting at the top, roll the dough down, sealing the edge as you go until your dough is formed into an oblong loaf. Pictures here are very helpful (look at "Step Three: The Shaping and Second Rising"). Place into well greased bread pans, or onto parchment for a free-formed loaf.
   
6. You are now ready for The Second Rise. I put my loaves onto parchment, covered well with towels and into the dehydrator on 85 degrees. I put a ceramic bowl with boiling water in next to it to keep the air moist. You can recreate the moist air in your oven as well, by covering your loaves, setting a bowl with boiling water in with them and shutting the oven door. Either method should allow your loaves to rise more quickly, around 2-3 hours.
7. I baked my loaves on parchment-lined cookie sheets at 350 for 35-50 minutes. (The original recipe calls for 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes, but that burned the bottom of my loaves the first time I made this bread. It could be because they were not in bread pans, that the air is dryer in AZ, that my dough was too dry, or some combination of those factors.) You will know your bread is done when you tap on the bottom and it sounds hollow.
   
8. Cool on cooling racks and enjoy with grass-fed butter. And maybe some raw honey. Or some jam. Or maybe as a vehicle for your fried or scrambled eggs in the morning. Mmmmm.
   

Healthy Shortbread (not kidding!)

I found two shortbread recipes over the holidays that I wanted to try, but since they used alternative sweeteners and sprouted wheat flour I chickened out when baking for family and friends. Now that I am making it for me and the boyz (R, M, and E) at home, I feel more confident to try it out. Plus, that jumbleberry pie from a few days ago turned out wonderfully.

First I tried The Nourishing Gourmet's Scottish Shortbread Cookies recipe. Then I tried Cheeseslave's Sprouted Flour Shortbread Cookies with Grass-fed Butter recipe. Below are my versions of each.

Scottish Shortbread Cookies

1 cup plus two tablespoons of sprouted wheat flour
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
1/4 cup of maple sugar
1/2 cup of cold butter
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Set out an 8 by 8 pan.

In a medium sized bowl combine the flour, arrowroot powder, sugar, and salt. Whisk a little to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and then “cut” into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter. Do this until the dough resembles small crumbs.

Using your hands gently start forming this mixture into a ball. At first it will be really crumbly, but keep gathering it together and gently kneading it together. It should form a ball within a minute or two. If it absolutely will not stick together, you can sprinkle a little water over it.

Press evenly into the ungreased pan.

Then cut the shortbread into desired amount of squares.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the dough is set and the sides browning just very slightly. Remove from the oven. Recut lines in warm pan. Let cool completely in the pan, then remove.

Classic Round Shortbread

1 3/4 cups sprouted wheat flour
1/4 cup rice flour
2/3 cup palm sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
8 ounces unsalted grass-fed butter, unsalted, cold

1. Set oven rack to middle. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Add flour and arrowroot powder, all but 1 tablespoon sugar (reserve for sprinkling), and salt to mixing bowl. Mix at low speed until combined.
3. Cut very cold butter into 1/2-inch cubes.
4. Add butter cubes to flour mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough looks like wet crumbs. All the butter should be mixed in thoroughly.
5. Press crumbly dough into glass pie pan. Use your fingers, and then the bottom of a glass to press down on the surface and make it smooth and level.
6. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and place shortbread in oven.
7. Bake 20 minutes.
8. Remove pan from oven. Let cool for 5 minutes.
9. Set a 2-inch biscuit cutter in the center of the shortbread. Press down hard. Pull up, leaving the center circular piece intact.
10. Using a sharp knife, cut the outer ring into 16 equally sized wedges.
11. Using a skewer or other pointy-tipped implement, poke holes in the top in a decorative pattern.
12. Return shortbread to oven and continue to bake until golden, about 40 minutes longer. You may want to put an extra cookie sheet underneath to catch the butter dripping.
13. Remove from oven and sprinkle shortbread evenly with reserved 1 tablespoon sugar. Let cool for at least 15 minutes.
14. Cut at scored marks into wedges. Let cool for at least an hour.

Store shortbread cookies in an airtight container for up to 7 days.

Eli's Birthday Cake

Nourishing Cake (adapted from this recipe)

1 cup butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled I used half butter, half coconut oil
3/4 cup buttermilk I didn't have any so I did half whole milk and half whole milk yogurt, then added a splash of raw apple cider vinegar
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups whole rolled oats
¾ cup honey I did half honey, half rapadura*
2 eggs
1 t. sea salt
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla
1 cup raisins, chocolate chips or other dried fruit I doubled the recipe and made three small cakes: 1. Eli's Cake: candy-coated chocolate pieces and finely chopped almonds, 2. cinnamon raisin, and 3. chopped dates and chopped almonds)

*(but 1 c. rapadura equals 3/4 c. honey, so I did 1/2 c. rapadura and then eyeballed the honey somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 c.)

Stir together butter/coconut oil, buttermilk, flour and oats in a glass bowl. Cover with a cloth and allow the grains to soak on your counter overnight or for at least 8 hours.

Stir in honey, eggs, salt, baking soda and vanilla. Fold in raisins, chocolate chips or dried fruit. Pour into a buttered 9×9 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Whole Grain Crackers (soaked)

I have made these crackers twice in the last week, since the first batch got chomped in one day! These crackers taste like Cheez-its to me, but in a good healthy way. ;)

Plus if you soak the dough overnight you get not only a tasty whole grain cracker but the added bonus of being able to properly digest the grains as explained here in depth, and here in short.

Rich, Whole Grain Crackers (made with Yogurt Dough)

The night before cream in a large bowl:

1 cup of plain whole milk yogurt (I used Trader Joe's organic)
1 cup of grass-fed butter, softened (I used Organic Valley's cultured butter, on sale from Sprouts for $4.99/lb.)

Mix in:

3 1/2 cups of freshly ground wheat flour (I want to try other whole grain flours and see how they do--I will let you know)
2 teaspoons of salt (I used pink Himalayan)

Cover and leave in a warm place for 12 to 24 hours (this is the “soaking” part).

The next day, when ready to bake:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using white flour to dust your surface and dough, roll your dough out thin. Cut into strips and then cut into squares.

Place your squares on an ungreased cookie sheet and prick with a fork. Bake for about 8 minutes and check, keep checking every two minutes until done. They should be browning slightly on the edges, when done. Take off of sheet and place on a cooling rack. Serve plain, with cheese, or with a hearty soup. Yum!!!

Biscuits (soaked and yummy!)

This very morning I finished making biscuits. It is from one of my favorite blogs: The Nourishing Gourmet. She bases most of her recipes on the food philosophies of Sally Fallon, the Nourishing Traditions cookbook, and the Weston A. Price foundation. I am not a big fan of the book itself (poorly edited, but informative; get it from the library), but I do frequent this blog for recipe ideas. (I will soon try making her sourdough recipe, once my starter arrives in the mail!)

The recipe below is written with the specific ingredients I used. I made two batches at the same time, one with butter and milk, and one with coconut oil and coconut tonic. I had to do both because my DH does not like coconut, but I am currently experimenting with (virgin organic) coconut oil due to all of it's health benefits. If you want pictures and more information on the biscuits, click here for the original recipe. Here is my version, which is barely different.

Fluffy, Whole Wheat Biscuits
Makes 20 small biscuits

COCONUT VERSION:
Coconut oil melts at a low temperature, so keep this dough “soaking” under 76 degrees so the oil will stay solid.

2 1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
6 tablespoons coconut oil
3/4 cup of coconut milk tonic*
1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt


(*one can coconut milk, 17 oz. coconut water (or plain water, I used coconut water from a coconut we had drained earlier that day), and 1 tsp. vanilla, whisked together)

BUTTER/MILK VERSION:

2 1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
6 tablespoons organic, pastured butter
3/4 cup of raw milk
1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1-The night before, measure the flour into a medium size bowl. Using a pastry cutter, or a fork and knife with a cutting motion, cut in the coconut oil/butter into the flour. When the oil/butter is the size of peas or smaller, you are done. Add the coconut milk tonic/water/milk and vinegar, and mix in until just combined. Leave overnight at room temperature, well covered. You can cover it with a towel and then put a plate on top to hold it down. This mixture will be wetter then your average biscuit recipe. This is so we can more easily mix in the salt and rising agents the next day.

2-The next morning, place the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 450. Press down the dough a bit right in the bowl. Sprinkle the baking soda, baking power and salt on top of the dough, then fold it in half, top to bottom and press down firmly. Fold in half again from the side, and press down firmly again. Starting at the top, repeat this process until you have folded the dough about 10-15 times (do so until you feel assured that the rising agents and salt have been well mixed in).

3-Now it’s ready to roll it out! Because the folding process develops the gluten a bit, you may not need any flour. But if you do, feel free to use some more whole wheat pastry flour or arrowroot flour when you roll this out. Place on a clean surface, and roll out into a rectangle. It should be about 1/2 an inch thick.

4-You can use biscuit cutters to get nice round biscuits, but I like to simply cut it into squares as there is no waste this way.

5-Place on a parchment-lined jellyroll pan and pop it in your preheated oven. Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the top and bottom is lightly browned and the middle is cooked all the way through. Remove to cooling racks when done. Biscuits are best warm, we enjoyed ours with a little butter and local raw honey on top.