Blueberry Mango Pie

My new favorite, especially for spring.  

For an 8 or 9 inch pie

For a 9 inch pie I have to adjust the recipe so that I still have a full pie.  Also, for a lattice crust, or if you want extra dough for braiding or any add ons, you will need more dough.

Pie Crust Recipe:
2 c. flour
½ t. salt
¼ c. sugar
2/3 c. shortening
8-9 T. cold water

For detailed directions of my pie crust.

Fruit Filling:
5 c. berries/mangos (1-2 cups mango, 3-4 cups blueberries)
1 c. sugar
2 T. flour
3 T. cornstarch
1/4 t. salt

For the fruit, I use frozen, but let it sit out for a little while (maybe 30-45 minutes) before using it.   In a separate mixing bowl, mix the sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Mix in the fruit.  I like to mash some of the berries (maybe ½ c.) to help absorb and mix the sugar mixture.  If you were using blackberries, which is what I originally used this recipe for, the berries break while you mix it and you don’t have to worry about it, but you want it to incorporate.   Add the berry mixture to the empty pie crust, and spread evenly to the edges.
Cover pie with top rolled out crust. Roll the edges in to seal in the berries and design the edges however you prefer. The top should have some kind of an opening to allow air to be released, use any design you prefer for that as well, with a knife, just deep enough to cut the crust.  You can use an egg wash over the crust if you would like and sprinkle it with sugar, or just leave it dry. 
Bake at 375 for about 50-60 minutes. The edges of pies have a tendency to burn, so you may need to use a pie crust saver, or just foil will work fine. You can cover almost the entire top and edges with foil, just as long as you cut a hole in the center, to allow air to flow. The pie is almost done once the filling begins to bubble through the cut made in the crust (let bake for 5-10 minutes after you notice a bubbling edge).

Brownies... no bake and delicious!

I love easy, raw desserts.  Being someone that bakes a lot and loves the culinary aspect of that, I will probably never give it up completely, but I do like to switch it up, because I very much promote healthy living!

This is such an easy recipe and so delicious.

Raw, easy, healthy Brownies!
1 1/2 c. pecans
3/4 c. dates
1/2 c. cocoa powder
honey or maple syrup

With a food processor, blend your pecans, until they will not blend anymore (should be very fine).  Add the cocoa, pulse a few times until blended.  Add the dates (they should be pitted), and blend completely.  Now here is the only tricky part.. The recipe I used didn't call for honey or maple syrup, but it did say to use soft dates, which mine were not, they were more dry.  So after the first 3 ingredients were combined, they didn't form a "dough" which it was supposed to.  I added a drizzle of maple syrup and it did the trick.  While mixing, it should come together to form a ball of dough.  In a 8x8 pan I cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the pan but lay over the edges.  Press the dough into the pan, and refrigerate for at least an hour.  You can lift the paper out to cut the brownies on a cutting board or leave them in the pan.  Serve cold!  So yum.

Wonderfully Raw Macaroons!

So, I will confess that this cookie is a 100 % knock off of the Wonderfully Raw Coco-Roons that I love oh so much, but are too pricey to buy in bulk.  Although my sweetheart of a husband said they were better :) I've been searching for a couple weeks with foodgawker/google/pinterest and other places for similar-looking recipes, and I think I found/created a winner.  I've only made them once (I stupidly made a huge batch so I couldn't justify make more the next day, even though I wanted to, just so I could make some tweaks to the recipe).  Obviously things can end up different depending on the brand of the ingredient you use, or your specific oven and things like that, so don't be made if it doesn't come out perfect :/

Raw Vanilla-Maple Macaroon

1 1/2 cups almond flour
3 cups coconut flakes (dried and unsweetened)
3/4 cup maple syrup (real maple syrup)
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1 1/2 Tablespoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, coconut, and salt) thoroughly.  Add the wet ingredients (syrup, oil, and vanilla), and mix.  If for whatever reason it feels to dry to roll into a ball and stay intact, add a little more coconut, but this mix should work fine.
On cookie sheets lined with parchment paper I scooped/formed the cookies, using a small cookie scoop.  You could roll them if you want, if you don't have a scoop, but that made it the easiest for me.  The size of the cookie doesn't really matter, but you will have to change the cook time accordingly.  If you had a dehydrator, you could use that, which would make this cookie truly raw, but I don't.  One recipe I found that used a dehydrator said 8 hours, but it really just depends on how you want the cookie to turn out.  So try it out half way through!  I used my oven at 200 degrees, with the door open.  This took almost 2 hours.  Yes, this very simple recipe has a painfully long finish time.  I checked the cookies at the hour and a half mark to make sure they had not dried through the middle and the bottom was still quite moist (not easy to handle) so I let them stay in longer.

This recipe made about 2 dozen, maybe a little more (I forgot to count darnit).  You only need one pan because they don't expand, you can place them right next to each other.  Let them cool and store in an airtight container.  I didn't refrigerate them and they lasted just fine for a week.

Wonderfully Raw, has an amazing assortment of these cookies!  We've tried the lemon (my favs), vanilla-maple (martin's fav), and the chocolate brownie one (I'm not the biggest choco fan).  I'm trying the apple pie next!  You should try them first and then you really know how to create this perfect little cookie.  My next flavor to make will be lemon :)  This is the basic recipe so I would assume I'll use this and add to it.
Bob's Red Mill is the brand I use for most of my flours/grains and other things.  I buy my almond flour and coconut flakes in bulk on amazon :)  They really have everything, especially if you have to do gluten free, which I'm obviously going for.  We just love their gluten free pancake mix.