Pumpkin Pie (dairy free)

Last year, I posted a pumpkin pie recipe which had many dairy ingredients. After I found out that Brek still has a dairy intolerance, I had to modified all of my recipes to exclude dairy, including my pumpkin pie recipe.

I made two slight adjustment to my the recipe. Sour cream was replaced with coconut cream. Instead of using butter in the crust, I replaced it with coconut oil.

The pie tasted smooth and melted in your month. Watching Brek gobbled up my dairy free pumpkin pie with no food allergy reactions makes me feels pretty relieve. He can now have something pumkiny sweeter any time.

Pumpkin Pie
serve 6-8

Prep work

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Line a 8 by 6 (small rectangular) baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

For the crust
5 oz. graham crackers
3 oz. coconut oil, melted

1. Place the graham crackers in a food processor and pulse until finely grounded. (Or crumble the graham crackers by hands.)
2. Add the melted coconut oil.
3. Pulse a few times to blend.
4. Place the crumb in the prepared baking pan.
5. Using the back of a spoon, press the crumb to pack it, making sure the crumbs come up the side of the pan a bit (like a wall).
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Then set aside to cool.

For the filling
1 (1.7 oz.) large egg
1/2 cup (3.5 oz.) packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (4.7 oz.) canned pumpkin puree (Libby)
1/2 cup (4 oz.) coconut cream (Aroy-D)
1/2 tsp. grounded cinnamon
1/8 tsp. grounded nutmeg
1/8 tsp. grounded cloves

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar.
2. Add the pumpkin puree. Whisk until smooth.
3. Add the coconut cream and whisk again until smooth.
4. Add all of the spices into the batter and mix until combine.
5. Place the filling over the prepared graham cracker crust.
6. Bake until a tooth pick inserted in the middle of the filling comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes.
7. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: This pumpkin pie will have a smooth texture while it is still warm. Keep it covered in the refrigerator. Once their texture is firm to touch, cut them into desired shaped. Drizzle them with melted chocolate for more yumminess.

 

Allergy Info: This pumpkin pie can be made without or is free from dairy, corn, legumes (soy), wheat, nuts (not coconut), and fish.

Cheese Chips

I discovered making the cheese chips by accident. When I made a dairy free pizza, I used manchego cheese. I know that the manchego cheese is still dairy from sheep's milk, but my kids were dairy intolerance to cow's milk. So the pizza I've been making for them is made with manchego cheese with or without the buffalo mozzarella cheese.

After the pizza baked, I noticed the crispy cheeses that was on the parchment paper and some on the pizza crust. That got me thinking. What if I just baked the manchego cheese by itself. Wonder how that would taste. Oh, to die for!!! The cheese chips tasted nutty and super addicting. Perfect healthy snack for my kids.

I usually make cheese chips after I turn off the oven from baking something sweeter. By using the oven while it's still hot, it is my way of saving money on electric bill. So let me write up two versions on how to make cheese chips.

When buying manchego cheese, I usually pick up the 3-months old. It is half the price per pound to a 6-month or a year old cheese. Ask for the manchego cheese at Whole Foods.

Cheese Chips
serves 2 to 4, depending on how much chips are made

1 small wedge of 3-months manchego cheese

Heated Oven Version
1. Slice the manchego cheese into the same desired shapes, using a peeler.
2. Place them apart on the baking tray lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake in the heated oven until golden brown, about 7 to 10 minutes.
4. Turn the manchego cheese over and continue to let the cheese bake until golden grown, about 5 to 7 minutes more.
Note: If the cheese slices don't seem to bake quickly enough, preheat the oven to 350°F degree. Once the oven is preheated, turn it off and let the cheese slices bake. Keep an eye out as the heat will bake the cheese faster.

Preheated Oven Version
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F degree.
2. Slice the manchego cheese into the same desired shapes, using a peeler.
3. Place them apart on the baking tray line with parchment paper.
4. Bake the cheese slices until golden brown, about 7 minutes.
5. Turn the manchego cheese slices over and continue to bake until the cheese slices are golden brown, about 5 - 7 minutes more.

Keep the cheese chips in a container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat them in the microwave for a few seconds.

Allergy Info: These cheese chips are free from dairy (not sheep's milk), eggs, corn, legumes (soy), wheat, nuts, and fish.

All things Halloween 2013

Halloween is two days away. My kids' Halloween costumes were completed... way earlier than I expected. Well, I only needed to make Camden's knight armor. Relatively easy.

So I decided to test recipes this week. The first thing I did today was helping Brek with his "Kids' cook off" project. I helped him modified William Sonoma's brownies and made them healthier. He called it The Better Brownies. They were packed with banana, flax seeds, cranberries and spinach. I'll have to post his recipe soon.

Then I asked my kids if they wanted some marshmallows. YES!!! I could hear them say, "What kind of question is that, mommy?" I always ask because I don't want to make anything they don't want to eat.

I made a batch of marshmallow and pipping adventures began.

I saw some meringue ghosts on Pinterest, but I wanted to make them using marshmallow. No luck! The marshmallow was too soft and didn't take shapes. I played with the pipping and made Boo! ghosts instead. Just piped the marshmallow into the ghost shapes on nonstick mat and added the chocolate chips for their eyes and mouths.

I also saw another Pinterest that I wanted to try this year. A pumpkin surprised cake that's when cut, it reveals a pumpkin shaped cake. I wanted to make a cake with a surprised bat shaped cake.

Here's my problem. I don't like to read instructions before I test recipes. So I found out after I baked a devil cake that I should under baked the filling cake. So now I have too much chocolate devil cakes.

I went ahead and tested out my cookie cutter techniques. Ended up with spider web and bats. Wish I have a black cat cookie cutter. I think that would be cute too.

I used melted chocolate chips as the cake's frosting. Melted white chocolate chips to decorate bats' eyes and spider webs.

A few weeks ago, Brek's school was holding a bake sale. Since he is currently on a dairy free diet, he knew there would be no dairy free baked goods. For this lunch that day, I made him a whoppie pie with marshmallow filling.

After I added natural orange sprinkles, I realized how these whoppie pies could sit next to other Halloween treats. With that thought, it is appropriate to add them on this page.

One afternoon, Brek wanted to have chocolate cake for snack. I saw the creepy eyes cupcakes on Pinterest and decided to test out the idea.

They  turned out really cute. I baked my chocolate cupcakes using my chocolate cake recipe. After the cupcakes were cool, I dipped them in melted chocolate. Then decorated the creepy eyes using Sun Drop candy. Fun idea with yumminess written all over.

Caramel... luv you, luv you not! I've made caramel many times. But I never attempted to make the caramel apples before.

Last week, I tested it out, using my dairy free caramel recipe. Total bomb!!! Caramel slid off the apple slices. Then I saw inside out caramel apple slices on Pinterest and really thought this idea would work.


I gave the inside out caramel apple a try, using my dairy free caramel recipe. After the caramel was set, I sliced it and that was it. Trouble! Caramel didn't stick on the apples... again. The sweet caramel was a perfect contrast to the sour Granny Smith apple slices.

Just wish I know why the caramel didn't stay on the apples. Maybe it was my homemade caramel. I will have to try again until I get it right. It will be my caramel apple challenge.

I saved a little bit of caramel and cooked it longer to make them into caramel lollipops. The melted chocolate drizzled on the pops was inspired by my friend's photograph of her caramel apple slices.

Halloween is incomplete without a Halloween school lunch. A few months ago, I found a smoke salmon sushi rice balls on Pinterest. Since I can't pack anything creamy without being in a container, I knew right away that I couldn't do spider web sushi rice balls.

This time, I read the instruction on how to make the Jack-O-Lantern sushi rice balls. Super easy! My kids also made their own smoke salmon Jack-O-Lantern sushi rice balls for dinner. If you and your kids luv sushi, this would be a fun activity to do.

Well, it's been fun cooking and baking for Halloween this year. A lot of ideas from Pinterest. Check back next year for more of something Halloween sweeter from my kitchen.