dairy free dessert | Ripe Red Berries

Which means it’s getting closer to berry season in Maine…which means it’s time to make fruit crisp for those summer get-togethers…

Actually, it’s always ‘crisp’ season if you ask me. (:

This is the best crisp recipe. You can make it with apples, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, or a berry mix.

It’s delicious with traditional flour/ butter and it’s equally (if not more), amazing with GF flour and dairy free butter or coconut oil…

It’s from a cookbook my grandmother gave to me, twenty years ago! Savoring Care Cod.

In her unmistakable handwriting, the inscription simply says, ‘To Jenny, with love Gram’, Christmas 2000.

Each recipe included in the cookbook was contributed by a volunteer, friend, and/or staff of the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary; It’s a cookbook put together by the Massachusetts Audubon Society.

The year of the gift (2000), was also the year my grandmother needed to sell her home in NJ and move to the Cape, to live with my aunt. Her daughter…

My grandmother was (then) diagnosed with alzheimers.

She didn’t want to leave NJ. She was a ‘Jersey girl’ – so the fact that this cookbook is from the Cape, is a reminder of the beginning of that chapter for her…and that chapter for all of us…

It is also a reminder of her and the interests we shared – good food, entertaining, nature, the beach… time spent together, cocktails at 4, and oh so much more…

This same grandmother passed away two weeks ago. She was 98.

I love you gram.

Thank you for everything. I see you in everything…

If you’re in need of an easy and delicious dessert – give this one a go.

Gram says so. (:

Enjoy.

Fruit Crisp Recipe + Printable version below.

Enjoy (:

This recipe can be made with apples, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or a mixture of berries.

This recipe can be made exactly as is here with either traditional flour + butter.

GF flour + coconut oil/dairy free butter.

Just switch out ingredients – measurements stay the same.

Ingredients

5-8 apples (any good pie apples), peeled and sliced OR 3.5 cups berries (frozen works too) – raspberries, blueberries or mixed berries

1 Cup Gluten Free flour (bob’s red mill 1 to 1 baking flour works well) – or regular flour.

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup coconut oil, (or butter) melted.

coconut oil/butter for greasing pan.

What to do

Grease a 9 X 13 – inch baking pan. Or a pie dish. Spread fruit in pan. You want enough to cover the bottom of the pan as well as have enough ‘height’ of the fruit itself …

*Blend dry ingredients. Add egg and melted butter. Mix until dry ingredients are moistened.

*If you are making it with GF/DF substitutions, blend the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat the egg and add the melted butter/oil. Then add the dry ingredients to the ‘wet’ (egg + oil), until moistened.

Pat mixture over fruit. Bake for 35 – 45 minutes or until topping is browned. Enjoy!

Fruit Crisp Recipe – Ripe Red Berries Download

Brownies. Who doesn’t love them?

Since starting this blog our household has had to switch from a glutenous, dairy laden household to a gluten free, dairy free household.

Some of our old favorites have gone by the wayside (sadly), but others have found their way back into our hearts (and bellies) – one such favorite is homemade brownies!!

I came across this recipe by MakeMineCadburys and gave it a try (with a few modifications) and they came out delicious.

Chewy, rich and chocolaty goodness…you’d never know they were dairy/gluten free.

Bonus – they are super simple to prepare.

Here’s what you’ll need and the how to;

Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut oil*

1/2 cup cocoa

1cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup gluten free flour

1/4 tsp. salt

*if you use triple filtered coconut oil, you will not taste coconut – if you use a ‘regular’ coconut oil, the brownies will have a coconut flavor – but hey, coconut and chocolate go very well together – I tried it both ways and both were equally delicious – but see what works for your taste buds…)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line an 8 X 8 X 2 pan with parchment paper.

Parchment paper side note – I did not grease pan or the parchment paper before adding batter. I cut a piece slightly larger than the pan, let some ‘hang over sides’ then held in place with clothes pins. Once batter was complete, I poured it in and then spread evenly with rubber spatula, removing pins before placing in oven of course. Oh, and if you think the paper is hanging over just a bit too much, then trim it down – leaving enough to allow you to lift brownies out of pan once baked…

What to do next;

Melt coconut oil over low heat. Once melted, remove from heat. Add cocoa, then sugar, mix.

Then add eggs, one at time.

Stir in vanilla, salt, then flour.

Do not overmix.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake about 20-30 minutes or until tester comes out clean…

Let cool slightly in pan. Lift out and turn over (gently – not to break) onto a cooling rack. Carefully remove parchment paper. Let fully cool before slicing…if you can wait that long. (:

Enjoy!