Gluten-Free Crackers with Mediterranean Herbs

Since the beginning of this year I've been thinking about slowly adding savory recipes to the blog, not every single dish I prepare at home (because honestly, most days are "let's throw those leftovers in a bowl and pretend I'm eating a fancy buddha bowl") nor every recipe I develop for certain brands, but I want to share the ones that really resonate with me. Also I will try to keep this savory recipes as simple as possible, wholesome and nourishing dishes that won't require too much planning and will make your tummy feel happy and full.

Still don't know how often I'm gonna share this type of recipes, will just let myself go with the flow and rest assured that whenever I'm inspired I will quickly write a new blog post. Of course the cakes, cookies, ice creams and all things sweets will always be the soul of Cinnamon Girl; some super easy recipes and others a tad bit more elaborated...because some days you can't tame the Nigella inside of you and have the need to create some tall and decadent layer cakes. ;-p

So let's talk about this recipe, gluten-free crackers that are so damn easy to make and taste so damn good! They are really tasty on their own, and quite addictive like potato chips; I love to have a small bag of these crackers in my pantry to nibble on between meals.

They are great with any kind of vegetable spread, paté, hummus, cheese...highly recommended to serve them if you are having a dinner party. You can throw in whatever aromatic herb your heart desires, my favorites are oregano, thyme and rosemary.

To make things even more fuss-free you can use some good quality herb-flavored salt, like I did. The team at Herbes de la Conca kindly sent me a package with some of their best-selling products and I used their mediterranean herbs & salt blend; it works great for so many dishes! It's unrefined fossil salt 100 % free from microplastics...kind scary to know so many table salts contain microplastics; that's why I always buy Himalayan pink salt, it's one of the cleanest salts you can find.

Cooking with flavored salts is quite fun and gives a more complex and aromatic flavor to any food; maybe next time I will try cooking tofu with BBQ salt. ;-)

¡Receta en español en mi último post de Instagram, aquí!

GF Crackers with Mediterranean Herbs

Ingredients
1 cup chickpea flour.
1/2 cup white rice flour.
1/2 cup potato starch.
1/2 cup water.
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.
1 1/2 tablespoons chia seeds.
1 teaspoon garlic powder.
2 teaspoons herb-flavored salt.

Directions

Preheat oven to 180 ºC (356 ºF) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl sift together the chickpea flour, rice flour, and potato starch; mix well using a wire whisk. Add in the chia seeds, garlic powder, herby salt, and mix until combined.

Pour in the oil and mix using a silicone spatula until the mixture looks coarse, like wet sand. Gradually pour the water into the mixture mixing with your hands, until a cohesive and dense ball of dough forms; it shouldn't stick too much to your fingers.

Cut a big piece of parchment paper and place over your working surface, roll out the dough creating a circular shape (doesn't have to be perfectly round), until the dough is quite thin but still easy to handle. If the dough is too thin it'll be difficult to cut into shapes and transfer to the baking sheet.

If your rolling pin sticks to the dough lightly grease it with olive oil.

Using a circular cookie cutter cut your crackers until you've used all the dough, depending on the size of your cookie cutter you'll get a larger or smaller amount of crackers. Don't throw away the leftover scraps, shape into a ball and roll out repeating the process all over again.

Carefully transfer the crackers to the prepared baking sheets and prick each one with a fork to prevent them from puffing during baking. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through.

Let crackers cool completely on the baking sheets, they will get crispier as they cool.

I recommend to serve them on the same day to enjoy them at their best level of crispiness but you can safely store them in an airtight container at room temperature and still be delicious.

Vanilla Date Caramel Swirl Ice Cream

Summer is flying by and I've been so super busy the past weeks...damn, I've felt really overwhelmed by deadlines! But needed to finish several collaboration works before everyone goes off on vacation, and I stay here dealing with this insanely humid hot Barcelona weather preparing new recipes for my blog, call it a productive staycation. I've been so focused on developing recipes for food brands and other collabs that neglected the blog a little too much. Anyways, I'm back with a delicious super summery recipe: a vegan vanilla ice cream with date caramel swirl and walnuts. It's a completely vegan recipe and as usual I only use organic and wholesome ingredients. So incredibly good, so creamy...like really, really creamy no one would ever guess it's a homemade ice cream.

If I had to pick just one type of dessert I'm pretty sure it'd be ice cream, I'm a real ice cream monster that even during the coldest winter days dreams about caramel swirls and big chunks.

What's your favorite ice cream flavor? Mine is anything vanilla-based with lots of chunks and toppings.

Hope you are all having a fantastic summer, enjoying those endless golden afternoons outside with lots of ice creams, gazpachos and whatever your heart (and your gut) desires.

Vanilla Date Caramel Swirl Ice Cream

(4-6 servings approximately)

Ingredients

- For the date caramel:

8 Medjool dates.

150 ml full fat coconut milk.

- For the vanilla ice cream:

2 cups raw cashews.

1 1/3 cups water.

1/2 cup agave syrup.

1 cup full-fat coconut milk.

1/2 cup organic cane sugar.

1/4 cup vegan vanilla protein powder.

1/4 teaspoon guar gum.

A pinch of pink Himalayan salt.

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla powder.

1 cup walnuts, chopped.

Directions

Soak the cashews in filtered water with a pinch of pink Himalayan salt overnight. The day after, rinse them well and place in your blender (preferably a high speed blender) or food processor with 1 1/3 cups of water (discard the soaking water). Blend until you get a smooth and creamy texture with no clumps. Let it set in the refrigerator while you prepare the rest of the ice cream base.

Combine the agave syrup, coconut milk, sugar, vanilla protein, guar gum, salt, and pure vanilla powder and blend until creamy and soft; you might need to stop a few times and scrape down the sides of the container. Add in the refrigerated cashew cream and blend again until fully combined.

Pour the mixture into an airtight shallow container, cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or preferably overnight (the colder your ice cream base is the creamier it will be).

Once the mixture is very cold churn according to the manufacturer's instructions of your ice cream maker, it should have a soft serve consistency. Transfer to a shallow container and stir in the date caramel (instructions below) creating swirls with the help of a toothpick or a cake tester and finally add in 1 cup of walnuts.

Place the ice cream (covered) in the freezer until ready to use. Don't worry if your ice cream looks very solid once it's frozen, simply let it thaw at room temperature until it's scoopable.

- For the date caramel:

Chop the dates and place them inside your food processor and mix with the coconut milk until you get a smooth and slightly sticky mixture. Store in a sealed jar and refrigerate until ready to use.

Mandarin & Ginger Brownies

I wanted to share this recipe with you guys since the very first day I made them, these brownies are seriously addictive: fudgey and super chocolatey but not too gooey, which is the perfect texture for a brownie, in my humble opinion. I just needed a second try to nail them (I wanted them not to be too crumbly), though the first batch disappeared in the blink of an eye!

These brownies are, like the majority of my recipes, vegan-friendly, made with wholesome, organic ingredients. Of course I want my brownies loaded with chunks and this time I opted for chopped walnuts and big chunks (always big chunks, go big or go home!) of one of my favorite dark chocolate bars, Seed and Bean's Mandarin & Ginger Extra Dark Chocolate, they kindly sent me a super nice package with goodies a few months ago and I'm slowly sharing what I cooked with their range of  insanely delicious, organic, vegan-friendly and fair-trade dark chocolates. Here's the first recipe I made for them.

The recipe was published earlier this month at Seed and Bean's website but these brownies are so yummy I couldn't resist to share them here on the blog too, so now it's available for everybody!

I highly recommed to serve these with a scoop of vanilla ice cream because dang it! it's summer, and everybody knows how good vanilla ice cream pairs with almost every baked dessert.

Btw, speaking about ice cream...stay tuned cause I'm preparing a new vanilla ice cream recipe that is to die for.

¡Receta en español aquí!

Mandarin & Ginger Brownies
(makes approx. 9 brownies)

Ingredients
1 cup wholegrain spelt flour, sifted.

½ cup pure cocoa powder.

1 tablespoon potato starch.

1 teaspoon pure vanilla powder.

½ teaspoon ground ginger.

½ teaspoon baking powder.

A small pinch of pink Himalayan salt.

¾ cup coconut sugar.

¼ cup pureed silken tofu (90 g approximately).

¼ cup unsweetened soy milk.

1/3 cup mild-tasting extra virgin olive oil.

Zest of one mandarin.

1/3 cup chopped walnuts.

1/3 cup Seed and Bean’s Mandarin & Ginger Extra Dark chocolate, chopped into chunks.

Mandarin slices, for garnish.

Optional: two drops of orange essential oil (food-grade and organic).

Directions

Preheat oven to 170 ºC (338 ºF) and line a square baking pan with parchment paper making sure there’s enough paper hanging over the sides for easier unmolding.

In a large mixing bowl sift in the spelt flour, cocoa powder, potato starch, vanilla, ginger, baking powder, and salt. Mix everything together with a wire whisk and set aside.

In a separate bowl whisk the pureed tofu with the coconut sugar, soy milk, oil, and the zest of one mandarin (organic if possible). Mix until completely combined and soft.

Pour in the wet mixture into the dry ingredients, and mix using a silicone spatula until smooth. If using, add in two drops of organic orange essential oil (make sure it’s food grade certified), and stir just a little bit. Fold in walnuts and chocolate chunks but do not overmix the batter.

Bake brownies for 28 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let them cool completely before slicing.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.