Cinnamon Orange Pecans

When you make these your house will smell awesome. I wish I could bottle that scent and sell it – I’d make millions! The aroma of the freshly roasted pecans with cinnamon spice and orange zest is just amazing! They taste pretty great too! These make perfect holiday gifts as they are easy to make but still taste wonderful! This makes about 1 lb of candied pecans.

• 2 oranges, zested and cut into slices
• 1 Tbsp almond milk
• 1 cup coconut sugar, or regular sugar, honey, other sweetener
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp all spice
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 lb pecan halves

In a large pot, combine coconut oil, milk, oranges, cinnamon, all spice and sugar. Bring to a boil and add in pecans. Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes or until sugar mixture has coated the pecans and is almost absorbed. Spread pecan mixture on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and let cool and harden for about an hour or two. Break pecans apart and store in a sealed container. 

Hello Dolly Bars

Today I was missing my grandma. Grannie Grunt has been gone a long time but she helped start my baking addiction. I have dozens of her cookbooks that sometimes I just glance through to see her handwritten notes or find recipes she liked. I remember holiday dinners or birthdays or some other occasion and getting to eat her wonderful meals. My mom apparently inherited her cooking skills because she is a wonderful cook also. Anyway – I found this recipe going through one of her cookbooks. My mom and I made these little cookie bars all of the time. There are also called Magic Cookie Bars (I’m pretty sure a similar recipe is on the back of a sweetened condensed milk can). They are very simple to make but not gluten free. So I decided to accept the challenge of recreating one of my favorite desserts into something I could eat again. Result – success! These were so very similar to the real thing and I cut out the dairy, gluten and some extra sugar.

½ cup sorghum flour

¼ cup coconut flour
¼ cup teff flour
¼ cup coconut sugar
¼ cup coconut oil (or melted butter)
1/3 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened vanilla)
2 Tbsp brown coconut sugar
½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
¼ cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup cocoa nibs (or chocolate chips – I used Enjoy Life! brand)

• In a mixing bowl, combine flours, ¼ cup coconut sugar and coconut oil and mix together until mixture is coarse crumbs.
• Press crust mixture into a 9x9 greased baking pan.
• In a small saucepan, combine almond milk and coconut sugar and bring to boil. Boil for about 2 minutes and then let cool.
• Pour cooled milk mixture over crust. Sprinkle pecans, coconut and chocolate on top of crust.
• Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until coconut starts to brown. Let cool 10 minutes before cutting and serving.