refined sugar free

October 30, 2019 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

i’ve been meaning to share this post for weeks now. amesy turned 3 years old (!!!) at the end of september. we had a small gathering with family - there was a little dinosaur egg hunt (naturally), a cardboard castle, dinosaur masks, water painting, shake shack burgers and fries, and this chocolate chip cookie cake! amesy is an equal opportunity cookie lover, but his absolute favorite is chocolate chip. naturally, a chocolate chip cookie cake was where my mind went. i’m still not sure where this last year went. while it was one of the most emotional and trying in some ways, it was also such a special year of getting to know my growing little boy as more than a baby, but a little human with interests and ideas, and questions, and curiosities.

i’ve been making amesy’s cakes for 3 years now, and each year they’ve inevitably had a dinosaur theme because, well, he loves dinosaurs! i’ve tried to switch it up each year. for his 1st birthday i went with more dinosaur decorations on the cake - cookie “dirt”, teeny plastic dinos and tropical trees. his 2nd birthday, i made cut-out marzipan dinosaurs to place on the top and sides of his cake. and this 3rd birthday, i opted for the simplest amazon-purchased dinosaur cake topper because i decided to give myself some relief with having my newborn joey and all. and each year i've tried to keep the cake as low in sugar as i possibly could without it tasting like “healthy” cake. when it comes to sugar i usually stick to a few sweeteners: coconut sugar, monkfruit sweetener (both the granulated and the powdered), maple syrup, honey, and stevia. those are what i generally stick to for kids cakes. and just so everyone can partake in the cake eating, i make them gluten-and-dairy-free as well.

in my haze as a mom to 2 kids, one being a newborn, i opted to use google to find myself a chocolate chip cookie cake recipe. the recipe i landed on was grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free cake that looked great! i made a few minor adjustments - using almond butter instead of tahini, swapping out some of the coconut sugar for monkfruit sweetener, and omitting almond extract. i also used store-bought vegan icing, because, if i’m honest, i hate making frosting, and i wanted to cut the time down since i was making the cake while joey napped which didn’t give me much time. i also made the cake layers a couple days ahead of time, and frosted and assembled the cake the day of. this makes it easier to frost (pro-tip: when your cake layers are cold you get less crumbs in the frosting). then i took it out of the fridge about 1 1/2 hours before i was ready to serve it. it couldn’t have been more of a crowd (and amesy) pleaser :)

method

preheat oven to 350°F. oil three 6-inch round cake pans, and line the bottoms with parchment rounds.
in a large bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients until combined.
in a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. using a rubber spatula, add the dry ingredients to the wet a little at a time until fully combined and the batter is smooth. fold in the chocolate chips.
divide the batter evenly between the 3 pans, using your spatula to smooth the tops. bake for 18-25 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. remove cakes and set them on a cooling rack. once they are completely cool wrap them tight in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours (or overnight).
the day of, frost cake one layer at a time. then lightly frost the top and sides of cake. refrigerate until 1 hour before serving. then slice and serve!

chocolate chip cookie cake | gluten-free | refined-sugar free | grain-free

| makes one 3-layer 6-inch cake |

recipe adapted from Ambitious Kitchen

wet ingredients

4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup monkfruit sweetener
1/2 cup coconut sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened almond butter
1/2 cup melted (and cooled) coconut oil, plus more for pans
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

dry ingredients

2 cups super fine blanched almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup chocolate chips (i love Lily’s), plus more for decorating

frosting

two 10 ounce containers vanilla frosting (i used this brand)

this was two.

this was one.

similar recipes:

strawberry rhubarb chocolate cake w/ coco whip

COZY BANANA BREAD GRANOLA / October 2, 2019 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

COZY BANANA BREAD GRANOLA | dolly and oatmeal

early fall will forever be granola season in my house, i’m never able to really deep-dive into autumn right away (especially when daytime temps are still pretty warm), and granola is the perfect touch of cozy that shifts everything towards a more snug vibe, plus it’s a cinch to make, and lasts for breakfast and snacks throughout the week! but the kicker here is that the banana and spices give your home the coziest fragrance that immediately puts you in the mood for all things fall.

weekday breakfasts tend to be an eat-and-go situation where frank and i are independently huddled in some corner of the house trying to get food in our mouth while we feed amesy, and in between nursing joey. almost 2 months of juggling 2 children, and we still haven’t really gotten our groove, but having prepared breakfasts are key to starting our day out nourished and feeling our best. i love granola just for this reason: it has the ability to be the cornerstone of wholesome breakfasts and snacks.

this granola is grain free, and made from chopped nuts and seeds. we add a good bit of spice here to help with the banana bread flavor we’re going for. but the glue that holds it all together is my new favorite oil, thrive algae oil! it’s a wonderful oil to cook, bake, and make sauces and dressings with, especially when you don’t want any unwanted added flavor in what you’re cooking or baking. take this granola for example. we really want the banana to shine here, and thanks to this flavorless, odorless oil, it very much does! unlike most other flavorless oils, algae oil is high in the kinds of healthy monounsaturated fats our bodies love, and low in saturated fat. it’s really been a game changer in my kitchen. i also love that it’s widely available and isn’t a niche product. i get it at my local whole foods, but it’s available on amazon, and at grocery stores nationwide.

i hope you all are enjoying the first weeks of fall so far. our mornings in southern california are cool, but the afternoon temps are still in the 80s. but nevertheless, we’re planning on getting out and living up all those fun autumn activities - i’ve been looking into where L:A picks apple and pumpkins (it’s harder to find patches here than i thought), i’m also trying to get ahead of the game when it comes to halloween costumes for both the boys (!!), while also decking out our entrance for all things fall/halloween (amesy, who’s now 3, is alllll about it!).

big cozy hugs! xo

*this post was created in partnership with Thrive Algae Oil. all thoughts and opinions are, as always, my own. thanks for supporting the sponsors that keep dolly and oatmeal going!

cozy banana bread granola | v & gf

feel free to swap out any of the nuts and seeds for what you prefer or have on hand. if you don’t want this to be grain-free, by all means swap out some nuts for rolled oats or even puffed quinoa or rice. this is the kind of recipe that begs for customization.

print the recipe!

| makes roughly 3 cups |

1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped almonds and cashews
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 sunflower seeds
3 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 ripe banana, peeled
1/4 cup Thrive Algae Oil
2 tablespoons good maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

method

preheat oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
in a large bowl, mix together the chopped nuts, seeds, spices, and salt. set aside.
add the banana, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla to the container of a food processor fitted with a metal “s” blade. pulse until the mixture is completely smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides, as needed.
pour the banana mixture over the nut and seed mixture. use a rubber spatula to thoroughly stir everything together. turn the granola out into the prepared baking sheet; use a spatula to evenly spread the granola out.
baked for 15 minutes, then add the coconut and toss it together with the granola. bake for another 10-15 minutes, until lightly toasted and fragrant.
let granola cool completely, then store in a lidded container. granola can be stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.

PEPITA-COCONUT GRANOLA W/ MAPLE ROASTED PLUMS / September 13, 2018 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

Pepita-Coconut Granola w/ Maple Roasted Plums | Dolly and Oatmeal

to be honest september stumps me in terms of cooking. it’s the height of produce season where you get the wonderful overlap of late summer and early fall mixed into one, and it’s almost too much for my brain to compute! do you have the same problem? i get into a seasonal rhythm when i’m cooking breakfast, so when a new season comes along everything kinda gets thrown out the window. i’ve been having cold summer smoothies on heavy rotation, along with almond yogurt with summer berries and almond butter. i’ve also been making amesy pancakes loaded with sliced peaches and/or blueberries.

so whenever i think of shifting to september, when we want a hint of autumnal spice, but we’re not quite ready to go full throttle, i turn to granola. it’s the perfect conduit for touches of cozy that can paired with just about anything. i tend to go for grain-free granola mixes these days, but many-to-most, store-bought varieties tout their “soft & chewy” texture. not sure about you, but i’m team “hard & crunchy” when it comes to grain-free granola. so most times i just make my own.

this granola recipe pairs 2 of my favorite things: seeds and coconut flakes. coconut flakes are the vehicle here for ultimate flavor. when it’s mixed up and baked with a bit of sweetener, spices, and salt, it absorbs all that flavor delivering the most tasty granola. the roasted plums here were an afterthought, but so worth the little bit of time to make them. you just throw them together while the granola is cooling - easy-peasy. they add a perfect little touch of summer’s end.

happy september, sweet friends!

pepita-coconut granola w/ maple roasted plums | gf/v/grain-free

PRINT THE RECIPE!

| makes roughly 3 cups granola |

2 cups coconut flakes
1 cup raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 cup chopped almonds
3 tablespoons chia seeds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
a couple pinches fine sea salt
1/4 cup coconut nectar, maple syrup, or raw honey
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

plums

4 firm, but ripe plums, halved and pitted
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon melted coconut oil
pinch of salt
unsweetened plant-based yogurt or milk, for serving

method

preheat oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment.
in a large bowl, mix together the coconut flakes, pepitas, almonds, chia seeds, cinnamon, and salt.
in a small bowl, whisk together the coconut nectar, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. pour over dry ingredients. use a rubber spatula to mix the granola, making sure everything is mixed thoroughly and evenly.
spread the granola evenly into the baking sheet, pushing it out into a flat layer. bake for 25-30 minutes, mixing it halfway through, until it’s lightly browned, and fragrant. (the color of the granola will also depend on what liquid sweetener you use. mine resulted in a darker color because i used coconut nectar.)
let the granola cool, and raise the oven temperature to 400°F to roast the plums.
line a baking sheet with parchment paper and toss the plums together with coconut oil, maple syrup, and salt. roast the plums cut side up for 25-30 minutes, until tender and juicy, and lightly browned around the edges. let cool for about 10 minutes.
scoop your desired amount of yogurt into a bowl. top with a good bit of granola, and 1 or 2 plum halves; drizzle a bit of the plum juices around the bowl, and enjoy!
store the granola in a sealed jar at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. store leftover plums and juices in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week. reheat the plums or let them come to room temp before serving.