Coconut Oil and Honey Pumpkin Bread

Things have been quiet on the Bakelette blogging front... a little too quiet if you ask me. (Insert truly sincere sorry that I do all too often for abandoning my dear readers.) When things get quiet on my blog, you can assume I am busy busy and I wish I was super organized and good at planning ahead so that I had a stock pile of pictures and recipes to post during these busy busy times. But as usual I don't.

Time management has never been my forte...and I am honestly trying to work on it. I have always had a planner, and I love it dearly, I sometimes just write completely superfluous tasks in it just because I like to write things in it. You would think that my love of my planner would mean I myself am a great "planner" and at looking ahead, but nope. Things are lacking in that department. It's funny, I can be so organized in certain aspects of my life, but when it comes to others its like a hurricane and typhoon whipped through leaving gigantic messes in its path. Throughout high school, I had one of the most organized lockers, but my room and workspace at home were always disastrous. Full disclosure my room and workspace are still a disaster. I wish I could just go upstairs right now and organize and clean my room in one go, but sometimes I can be a bit of a perfectionist and I have these grand ideas of organizing, dusting, sorting, and going through everything in my room all at once. IT DOESN'T WORK...at least for me. My brain just isn't wired that way, which I am fine with, but at times it can be extremely frustrating especially when I really want to clean my room, but I get overwhelmed by the task because of all that I want to accomplish at once. So, then I just try and avoid it. This also doesn't work. 

As usual this "story", if that is what you even want to call it, has no relation to the recipe. I find this blog is my outlet, where I can express things that I just haven't found any other outlet for. I think this post is just me trying to get some of the "clutter" in my brain out of my head and onto paper. Currently, I am trying to organize my life, focus on living a healthier lifestyle, and incorporate more positivity into my life. I feel like writing honest posts like these motivate me to change my life even more, and I don't mean to be preachy or anything, but I am just trying to be true to myself and to better myself. It just so happens that I have a blog and I am sharing bits of my real life with you. 

Coconut Oil and Honey Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

1 and ¼ Cup Whole-Wheat Pastry Flour

½ Cup All-Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

½ teaspoon Baking Soda

¾ teaspoon Salt

1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

¼ teaspoon Cardamom (optional)

¼ teaspoon Cloves

Pinch of Ginger

1 and ¼ Cup Pumpkin Puree

½ Cup Coconut Oil, Melted

½ Cup Honey, Local Raw is best

2 Eggs

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray standard loaf pan with non-stick spray.

2.     In a medium bowl, stir together whole-wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and ginger until well combined. Set aside.

3.     In another medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin, coconut oil, honey and eggs, until thoroughly combined.

4.     Add wet ingredients to dry, gently fold in wet ingredients until no more flour is visible. Be careful not to over mix, batter will be thick. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 20 minutes in pan on wire rack, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe by Bakelette Adapted from The Flour Sack 
Print Recipe Here

Heart Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my second time making this recipe and I often do not repeat recipes unless I absolutely love them! I think that speaks volumes to this recipe because not only are they yummy, but they are heart healthy! Heart healthy cookies that don't taste like cardboard. Sounds too good to be true right? Well, it is thanks to Erin Mckenna of Babycakes NYC. These babies are heart healthy because they are made with coconut oil (lauric acid), chocolate chips (antioxidants if you use dark chocolate), and flax seed meal (Omega 3s).

I got this cookbook on incredible sale at the nearby outlet center. For awhile I had been looking at the book and was ambivalent about buying it. So, when I saw it for half price, there was no way I could pass up that offer! I first became interested in this book because part of me has wanted to become a vegetarian. I still want to, but I do not eat nearly enough vegetables to safely do so. I also really like hot dogs in the summer, grilled chicken and the occasional cheese burger. To that I do try to be conscious about using cruelty free beauty products (I am thinking about putting together a post about some of my favorites!). Something I just realized that I am talking about becoming vegetarian which would still allow me to bake almost anything, but I want to clarify that this book is vegan. I am not really sure where I am trying to go with this, but yeah it is late and I am tired. Good night. (This was written about a week ago late at night, but obviously I am only posting it now during the day.)

Also in the next few weeks I hope to amp up the number of posts I am able to do, but for the next few weeks posts may be a little spotty! Thanks and hope you love me and stay with me!! :) If not hope you have a great day and at some point the future decide to return!!

Heart Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies 
Click Here for Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 Cups Oat Flour
1 Cup Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour
1 Cup Sugar in the Raw
1/4 Cup Ground Flax Meal
1/4 Cup Arrowroot
1 and 1/2 Teaspoons Xanthan Gum
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
3/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil, Melted (You may substitute canola oil)
6 Tablespoons Unsweetened Applesauce
2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F, and line rimmed baking sheet with parchment or silicone baking mat.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the oat flour, Bob's flour, sugar, flax meal, arrowroot, xanthan gum, baking soda, kosher salt and cinnamon. Add in the melted coconut oil, applesauce, and vanilla, then stir with a rubber spatula until dough forms. Then stir in the chocolate chips (I begin stirring my chocolate chips in when the dough is about halfway formed).
3. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto prepared baking sheets and gently flatten using the palm of your hand.
4. Bake for 7 minutes, then rotate the baking sheet and continue to bake for 7 more minutes or until golden brown and set. Let the cookies cool for 15 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe Adapted from  Babycakes Covers the Classics

This post does include affiliate links, but is not a sponsored post. I am not a dietician or a nutritionist, so the heart "healthiness" of these cookies has not been evaluated by the FDA, just me and my research. :)