Look out, Red Lobster!!  I've got the grain-free, gluten-free, guilt-free, sitting-next-to-a-ridiculously-obnoxious-party-of-5-free answer to your evilly addictive cheddar drop biscuits.  I know you're shaking in your seafoody booties.

Before I get to the meat and potatoes (or coconut and cheese?) of my post here, I'll say this:  I was shocked (SHOCKED!) at how large the grain-free community actually is once I got to looking around.  Some people are gluten intolerant.  Some are anti-GMO products (which MANY American grown products happen to be).  Some are low carb lovers.  Some are simply curious.  Whatever your reason may be, just know that this is not one of those crappy "alternative" recipes.  This isn't something that'll get you by in a pinch in a "that'll do" kinda way because you don't eat traditional flour.  Nay, my dear treat lovers.  This is a ridiculously tasty anytime treat that you can whip up in under 20 minutes.  It's as easy as stirring and plopping.

Note:  If you've never used coconut flour, don't be afraid of the name or taste.  It IS made from very finely ground coconut - but when used in recipes like the one I'm about to share with you, you do not taste coconut.  I promise.  I wouldn't do that to you.  Cheesy coconut biscuits would be gross.

One last disclaimer before I send you into a coconut flour induced fit of lust:  These biscuits do rise a tad, but not a great deal.  That being the case, you can make them any size or shape you desire and they'll closely resemble that when finished baking.  The photos in this post are from different batches, thus they look different. 

INGREDIENTS
- 1/4 cup butter, melted (or you could use coconut oil)
- 1/3 cup coconut flour, sifted
-  4 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (granulated garlic)
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2-3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I prefer mine with 3/4 cup)


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Melt butter and pour in a medium bowl (or microwave the butter in a microwave-safe bowl!).  To the butter, add eggs, butter (or coconut oil), salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and parsley.  Mix well.  Sift coconut flour and baking soda into your bowl.  Whisk well, until completely combined and not lumpy.  Stir in shredded cheddar cheese.  Drop batter by the spoonful onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet (or greased baking sheet, if you don't have parchment paper).  Bake at 400 degrees, or until the tops of the biscuits begin to brown (see photo).   Keep an eye on the oven if you choose to make your biscuits bite-sized (smaller) or fairly large, as cooking times will vary with size.

A word of warning if you're new to coconut flour:  It is extremely absorbent.  Look up some recipes.  Give 'em a shot.  Play around with the stuff.  But do not try use it as a measure-for-measure replacement for regular flour.  The properties of the two flours are different (for example, coconut flour just absolutely sucks up moisture - more so than regular flour) and they don't have an equal exchange rate.  Generally speaking, you'll always need more liquid when using coconut flour.

Happy baking!

By Amy Barton

An apple a day, my friends, does not keep the doctor away.  Unless you happen to be a minor-league caliber pitcher with a wicked fastball (fast apple?).  But yes, apples ARE good for you.  They're high in fiber, have a high water content, and are high in FLAVOR!  I'm a big fan of just sitting down with an apple (or two, if we're being honest) and just going to town.  On occasion, I like to get crazy.  Baked crazy.  Not that kind of baked.  Geez.  Cooking apples gives them a whole new warm, fuzzy, lovely dimension of flavor.

There is one exception.  The king of all apples:  The Honeycrisp Apple.  Don't cook this guy.  Don't cut him up and make him into apple chips.  I mean, you can.. But don't!  If you've never had a honeycrisp, you're in for a real treat when you find one in season (look around in October/November for the best ones).  They're huge, about as crisp as you can imagine, ridiculously juicy, and sweet sweet sweet!  So, get some of those while you're out.  Look for sales - their only drawback is they're typically upwards of $4 per pound.  Yikes!

But, I digress.  Apples are soooo versatile.  You can bake with applesauce in place of butter.  You can make pies, crumbles, crisps, bars, dehydrated apples, freeze dried apples, apple chips, candied apples, apple fruit leather.... I'm like the Bubba Gump of apples here, people.  

Let's take a trip down Apple Chip Alley...

INGREDIENTS & GADGETS
Apples, however many you'd like (I used 2 for this batch)
Cinnamon, ground (to taste)
optional: sweetener of choice
1 very sharp knife or mandolin slicer


DIRECTIONS
First, decide how you want your apple chips to look.  If you want them to be round and have the pretty little "star" in the center, then you'll slice them whole.  If you want to core them first, that's fine too - you'll end up with apple ring-shaped chips.  Or, you can cut your apple in half vertically and remove the seeds with a melon baller or spoon, and then slice into chips.


Now, preheat your oven to 200 degrees F.


Take your apples, after you've decided what you're doing with the core, and slice them as thin as you can.  I use a mandolin slicer for this.

If you don't have a mandolin slicer, DON'T FRET!  You're still on the road to awesome apple chips.  I promise.  Just take your sharpest knife (make sure you have a sharp one, it makes slicing things thinly so much easier) and slice your little brains out.  Figuratively.  The main objective, regardless of your cutting mechanism of choice, is that you end up with thinly sliced apples that are all roughly the same size, shape, and thickness.

Lay your apple slices out in a single layer on a baking sheet.  You don't need to line your sheet pan with parchment paper, but I always do - it makes clean-up so much easier and you basically eliminate the chances of your apples sticking to your pan.  Don't overlap your apples or they won't cook evenly or crisp properly.

Sprinkle your apples with cinnamon.  As much or as little as you like.  It helps if you do the happy cinnamon dance while you're sprinkling.


Just kidding (no I'm not ... but you'll never see my dance).


This would be the time to sprinkle your sweetener as well, if you're using one (sugar, Splenda, etc.).  Truthfully, I never use anything other than cinnamon.  If you use apples that are already sweet, you don't need to sweeten them up any more.  If you use, say, Granny Smiths?  Well, you might be in for tart apple chips then.  Maybe add some sweetener.  Unless you like 'em tart!

That's it, really.  Isn't this awesome?  You're almost done!  It's so easy - that's why I love it.  Also, because I apparently have an apple problem.


Leave the apples in the oven for one hour.  After an hour, they'll look a little curly around the edges, but they won't be finished cooking yet.

Flip the slices over.  If you like your apple chips super cinnamon-y, add cinnamon to the second side after you flip.  If not, well... Don't!  (I do.)  Pop 'em back in the oven for one more hour.


Depending on how thin your slices are, your chips may be done after the second hour.  Chances are they'll be close, but not QUITE there.  That's OKAY.  Just leave them in there and check on them every 20 minutes or so.  You don't really want them to brown, but you do want them to dry out and start to crisp.  They'll finish crisping when you take them out of the oven and let them cool.  


Alternatively, you don't have to let them get all crunchified.  Maybe you like apple leather.  Or apple rings.  Or dried-but-not-crunchy apples.  Dried Apple NotChips, if you will.  If that's the case, start checking them just before the two hours are up and you'll have a little chew left.


When they're finished cooking (whether still chewy or crunchy), they'll appear to be quite dried out and a little shriveled up.  Success!! 

I'd love to sit here and tell you all about how many apples I've probably eaten in my life (too many) and about all the other wonderful apple recipes I'm considering sharing with you (I'll save 'em for a rainy day), but... I've got some major munching to do instead.  Ciao for now!  xo

By Amy Barton

I'll go out on the cliche ledge and say it:  Guacamole belongs at any party.  Most of all, it belongs in your hands and mouth for the duration of every Super Bowl ever played.  It's just one of those culinary rules of life.  I've long been known among my friends and family as "the best guac maker ever."  Not gonna lie... I'm pretty good.  What I'm sharing is my basic guacamole recipe.  You can jazz it up any way you'd like.

What makes mine so different?  I like it chunky, baby!  I need substance.  I need girth.  I need something to chew on.  I need a zesty green party in my mouth.  There's also a secret ingredient hiding in the silky goodness. 

INGREDIENTS
-  4 ripe avocados
-  2 medium tomatoes, diced small
-  1/2 large red onion, chopped fine
-  fresh cilantro, one bunch (or dried cilantro to taste - start with 3-4TBSP)
-  3 green onions, chopped
-  juice of 2 limes
-  1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
-  1 TBSP garlic powder (or garlic salt - if using garlic salt, adjust additional plan salt accordingly)
-  2 tsp ground cumin (secret ingredient alert)
-  salt and pepper, to taste
-  hot sauce; optional

DIRECTIONS
Peel avocados and remove pits, discard.  Cut into large chunks, add to large bowl.  Add diced tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, and green onions.  Squeeze lime juice into your bowl - watch out for seeds!  Add olive oil, garlic powder (or salt), ground cumin, salt, and pepper.  If desired, add favorite hot sauce, to taste.  Mix vigorously with a wooden spoon, large fork, or spatula.  You want your guacamole to be creamy-feeling when you eat it, but the point here is to leave some large chunks - so don't go to town mashing your avocado!  The olive oil and stern hand when mixing will get it as luxurious as you'd like it be while still leaving some avocado chunks.  Think of it as guacasalsa.  Or salsamole.

Get ready to dunk!  Much like other dips/spreads/snacks/condiments, I really don't need to dip anything in this.  I'm perfectly happy eating it directly from my spoon.  Just be sure you're tasting it along the way.  Guacamole is very forgiving - you can easily add more lime juice, garlic, cilantro, onion, or hot sauce and stir that baby up again!

Nutritional Info, per serving (makes 8 servings): 145 calories, 12g fat, 10g carb, 5.5g fiber, 2g protein