World Baking Day is May 19 – the perfect occasion to whip out your apron, dust off your measuring cups and try a new recipe for tasty baked goods.

Browse the World Baking Day website, choose from one of 100 different cake recipes, and stock up on all the right baking supplies at Nuts.com. Or if you’d like to ease into your career as an expert baker, start with one of our easy and delicious baking mixes.

Cake Mixes

Funnel Cake Mix

Bring the festival to your house with our classic funnel cake mix. Just add water to the mix, blend into a batter and fry cakes on the stovetop. Finish with your favorite toppings – powdered sugar, ice cream, honey, cinnamon or sprinkles.

Gluten-Free Brownie Mix

Our gluten-free brownie mix will make any chocolate lover happy. Add butter, vanilla, water and one egg and get homemade flavor in a snap.

Cookie Mixes

Coconut Macaroon Mix

Whip up a batch of gourmet coconut macaroons in just 20 minutes with this easy mix. Just add water, and you will create cookies that taste bakery fresh.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

Indulge in gluten-free chocolate chip cookies that taste just as good as Mom’s. Add butter, water and an egg to the mix and bake, and you’ll end up with soft, chewy, chocolatey cookies.

What’s your favorite kind of cake or cookie?

There are so many things that you can make with ingredients from Nuts.com. Bake cookies, cakes, and breads. Create a candy buffet for your upcoming wedding reception or party. For a healthy boost, create your own delicious trail mix and smoothies!

When you create something with our products, we encourage you to take a photo and post it on our Facebook wall. We’ll add it to our Cool Customer Creations album! To get inspired, take a look at these five customer photos of their yummy treats.

“My son Isaac helps to make blenderized food to go into his g tube – with moringa, almonds and quinoa from Nuts.com!” – Kimberly Gould Crawley

Koren Lynch shared this photo of Nuts.com pink candy for her daughter’s princess pony party.

“Dried pears with melted chocolate and topped with walnuts. Pears and walnuts from nuts.com.” – Lisa Schae

“I love your pistachio flour! Here’s another creation that I made with it. Gluten free pistachio-lime sugar cookies!” – Amy Shaffer

“Cranberry white chocolate chip muffins!” - Serenity Palmer

For more ideas, see our previous post, 5 Customer Creations with Nuts.com Products!

Sure, you’ve heard about the health benefits of whole grains, and you may have added healthy foods like quinoa to your diet. But do you know about the super grains teff, millet, and kamut? How about buckwheat, not technically a grain or wheat, but a cousin to rhubarb that has a similar nutritional profile to super grains?

Last week on the Dr. Oz Show, Nutritionist Heidi Skolnik shared that these four super grains are eaten all over the world, while in the U.S. we’re overly focused on wheat. Each of these super grains has its own nutritional benefits, and several are gluten-free!

Teff

Teff is the smallest grain in the world, so small that it can’t be refined or otherwise processed! It has a mild sweetness similar to flaxseed, and it’s full of calcium. Cook whole grain teff as a hot breakfast cereal by simmering 1 cup of teff with 2 cups of water, until the liquid is absorbed. You can also substitute teff flour for around 1/4 of the all-purpose flour called for in your favorite recipes. Teff is gluten-free.

Kamut

Kamut is considered the “high energy grain” because it contains 40% more protein than the national average for wheat. Skolnik writes:

A half-cup of cooked kamut has more protein than an egg! It also has B vitamins and contains omega-3s, which may help the body fight inflammation. It is also higher in vitamin E than common forms of wheat, which helps keep the immune system strong.

Kamut is a long grain that’s best cooked in a rice cooker or slow cooker, for up to one hour. As a member of the wheat family, kamut is not gluten-free.

Millet

According to Skolnik:

Millet provides magnesium and B vitamins, two nutrients that have been shown to help reduce muscle/nerve pain like migraine headaches, muscle tension and cramps. Millet is being rediscovered for its possible role in helping control diabetes and inflammation in the body.

You can use millet in a variety of ways. To cook it like rice, heat 2 parts millet to 5 parts water and boil for 30-35 minutes. You can fluff it and eat it as a hot cereal, mash it as a savory side, or grind it into flour to use for baking. Millet is gluten-free.

Buckwheat

Oprah calls buckwheat a superfood! It’s high in potassium and phosphorous and contains 50% more vitamin B than wheat. Believe it or not, buckwheat has the highest source of biological protein in the plant kingdom! It improves circulation and may lower “bad” cholesterol. To cook buckwheat, combine 1 cup Whole Buckwheat Groats with 2 cups water in large sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook 10 to 12 minutes, then let stand 5 minutes. Buckwheat is gluten-free.

Learn more about the super grains that Dr. Oz recommends, and try incorporating them into your diet!

Chances are, you have heard a friend or colleague or family member talking about the “paleo diet” within the last year. So what’s it all about?

This eating plan is based on the idea that modern processed foods are making us unhealthy and that people should instead eat wholesome foods that our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have presumably eaten about 10,000 years ago. These foods include fresh meats (preferably grass-fed, free-range or wild), seafood, fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts and healthy oils (olive, coconut, avocado, macadamia, walnut and flaxseed) but exclude dairy products, cereal grains, legumes, refined sugars and processed foods.

Dr. Loren Cordain, author of The Paleo Diet and a number of other books, sums it up on his website:

With readily available modern foods, the Paleo Diet mimics the types of foods every single person on the planet ate prior to the Agricultural Revolution (a mere 333 generations ago). These foods (fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and seafood) are high in the beneficial nutrients (soluble fiber, antioxidant vitamins, phytochemicals, omega-3 and monounsaturated fats, and low-glycemic carbohydrates) that promote good health and are low in the foods and nutrients (refined sugars and grains, trans fats, salt, high-glycemic carbohydrates, and processed foods) that frequently may cause weight gain, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and numerous other health problems.

Want to explore the paleo diet? Whip up one these three tasty paleo-friendly recipes to give it a try.

1. Stuffed Grape Leaves (Dolmas)

These bite-sized stuffed grape leaves offer a satisfying blend of sweet and savory flavors — ground lamb, pine nuts, raisins or currants, dried mint and fresh parsley. Serve them as a hearty appetizer or as a main course.

2. Muesli Scones

If you can’t bear the idea of giving up pastries, these muesli scones will ease your anxiety. The recipe uses blanched almond flour as a base, adding dried cranberries, dried apricots, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pistachios and honey or agave nectar for a natural crunchy sweetness.

3. Beef and Vegetable Chili

This chili recipe makes enough to feed a crowd, but you might not want to share! Each bowl is full of flavor from beef, fresh vegetables and chili peppers, coconut oil, chili powder, sea salt, cumin, oregano, thyme and topped with a rich dollop of coconut milk.

What are your favorite paleo diet recipes? Share them in the comments!

Eating a gluten-free diet doesn’t mean you have to give up your favorite foods. You can still eat scrumptious pizza, bread, even cookies, cakes and other desserts, prepared with a variety of gluten-free flours. Whether you are eliminating gluten from your diet because of an allergy or a new healthy eating plan, or you are simply trying to cut back your flour intake, you will enjoy these finger-licking-good recipes.

Gluten-Free Flour to the Rescue

1. Wheat Belly Pizza Crust

Rejoice, you no longer have to watch enviously as your friends dig into piping-hot, cheesy pizza! This pizza crust recipe, from Dr. William Davis’ popular book Wheat Belly, is wheat-free and has a hearty texture from chickpea flour, ground almonds and ground golden flaxseed meal. Add your favorite vegetables, sauce and cheese for a meal that everyone will love.

2. Paleo Bread 

Sandwiches, toast, bruschetta… no more giving up your favorite bread-based treats. This gluten-free bread recipe is high in protein and has a subtle sweet, nutty flavor from its natural ingredients. The bread contains delicate almond flour, light, fluffy coconut flour, ground golden flaxseed meal, coconut oil and honey.

3. Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Nothing beats a sweet, chewy homemade chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven. Alton Brown’s gluten-free chocolate chip recipe is a huge hit, passing taste tests as “the real thing.” The cookies use brown rice flour, corn starch, tapioca flour, xantham gum and, of course, loads of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

What are your favorite recipes made with gluten-free flour? Share in the comments!

Yawwwwwwn.

Heading back to work after a holiday break is never easy, and just getting out of bed in the morning can feel like a Herculean task. Give yourself something to look forward to each day by stocking your pantry full of delicious, healthy breakfast foods that will perk up your sleepy taste buds and get you ready to tackle the day.

And it’s not just your mother who insists that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Research shows that eating a good meal at the beginning of the day gives your body the energy it needs to function, helps you maintain a healthy weight and leads to better alertness and focus throughout your daily activities.

Here are some of our favorite healthy breakfast foods:

1. Acai Blueberry Superfood Cereal

What better way to start your day than with a bowl full of superfruits? Our acai blueberry superfood cereal is hearty, nutritious and packed with antioxidant-rich blueberries, acai, elderberries, bilberries and camu camu fruit. Studies show that blueberries may have numerous health benefits, from improving memory and combating disease to lowering blood pressure and protecting heart health.

2. Organic Raw Cacao Goji Energy Squares

No time to sit down for breakfast? No worries! Our raw cacao goji energy squares are perfect on-the-go bites that fit easily into a purse or briefcase. They are gluten-free and certified organic, made from goji berry powder, dates, raisins, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, dried apricots, coconut and chunks of cacao.

3. Gluten-Free Steel-Cut Oats

A bowl of this fiber-rich hot cereal will keep you going all morning long. Heat up our pure, old-fashioned oats with water and salt on the stovetop, then sprinkle with walnut pieces and dried fruit for a well-balanced breakfast. Try our gluten-free rolled oats, as well!

What is your favorite healthy breakfast item?

As the holidays approach, you’ll find us in the kitchen, baking and cooking up a delicious storm.  Almond flour is one ingredient that we always keep on hand.  This gluten-free flour is one of our most popular and most versatile flours.

Recently, Chef Joe of PBS’s Taste This TV used our almond flour in three tasty dishes: almond flour encrusted chicken, almond flour breaded pork, and almond flour muffins.

After cooking with our almond flour, Chef Joe had this to say:

“Nuts.com Almond Flour is filled with flavor, including a delicious nutty taste.  This flavor packed flour can’t becompared to other products of its kind.  Its nutty taste blends well with so many other foods regardless whether you are cooking or baking with it.  When using Almond Flour the food comes out so moist, light, and tasty.  Even if you do not eat gluten free you will fall in love Nuts.com Almond Flour.  Not only is it delicious, but also filled with great vitamins and proteins.  Whether you put it in pancakes or use it to fry up chicken, you will not be disappointed!” 

Thanks, Chef Joe!

Here are a few ideas for using almond flour in your holiday (and everyday) cooking and baking:

• Substitute almond flour for regular flour or bread crumbs when breading fish and meats.  Not only does almond flour add a bit of texture, it contains healthy fats, vitamin E, and plant-based proteins.  That’s why the flour is one of our Health Nut’s Top Picks!
• As a substitute for wheat flour, almond flour adds depth to gluten-free pancakes, gluten-free muffins, gluten-free chocolate scones, and gluten-free shrimp cakes.
• If you’re baking an apple crisp, substitute almond flour for regular flour to make the “crisp” part of the recipe even nuttier and more nutritious.  This is one dessert that’s melt-in-your-mouth-good without being sinful to your waistline.

If you’re just getting started with gluten-free baking and gluten-free cooking, you will love our gluten-free flour bundle, which includes The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guide Part 1, as well as one pound each of our almond flour, coconut flour, and millet flour.

And don’t forget to check out our Guide to Gluten-Free Flour Blends for other ways to use gluten-free flour substitutes in your kitchen.

Hosting the big Thanksgiving Day meal can feel like a major juggling act — not only do you have to shop, prepare and cook, you also have to consider any allergies or dietary restrictions your guests might have. You might be at a loss as to what to cook for your vegetarian niece who doesn’t eat turkey or your gluten-intolerant friend who can’t partake in the pumpkin pie, but these delicious recipes will take the guesswork and stress out of preparing a feast everyone can enjoy!

Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipes

Butternut Squash Risotto

Vegetarians don’t have to be content with a small plate of salad and mashed potatoes for a meal. This recipe for rich, cheesy risotto uses hearty butternut squash, fresh baby spinach, toasted pine nuts, sage leaves and grated nutmeg will satisfy vegetarians and carnivores alike.

Cheesy Pasta Casserole with Mushrooms

This grown-up version of mac and cheese will have the vegetarians in your group going up for seconds. The dish blends pasta, dried porcini mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, white button mushrooms, fontina cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for pure melty goodness.

Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Recipes

Wild Rice & Brown Rice Stuffing

Guests with a gluten allergy can’t eat bread stuffing, but a rice-based stuffing is a filling and tasty alternative. This recipe combines wild rice, brown rice, toasted pecans, dried cranberries, apples and a hint of sage for an inventive side dish that might just upstage the main course.

Apple Crisp

Too often, gluten-free guests have to pass on dessert because flour is a main ingredient in many sweets. This gluten-free apple crisp will be the perfect grand finale (and another thing to be thankful for!) to your Thanksgiving meal. It tops fresh apples coated in maple syrup with brown rice flour, quinoa flakes, cinnamon and ginger for a sweet and tart crunchy flavor.

What vegetarian or gluten-free recipes have you tried for Thanksgiving?

Photo credit

We’re nuts for gluten-free products at Nuts.com. Our high-quality gluten-free flour is perfect for cooking and baking, and our huge selection of gluten-free snacks, ingredients and baking mixes can’t be beat.

In fact, our gluten-free products are so fantastic that we were recently approved by the Gluten Free Consumer!

If you’re a gluten-free baker, you can’t do better than our gluten-free flour. We love baking with favorites like almond flour and coconut flour, as well as experimenting with flours such as chickpea flour and potato flour. Trying out a variety of flours is a great way to find your favorite gluten-free flour.

We now offer an amazing new product that’s perfect, whether you’re new to gluten-free baking or open to experimenting with new flours and recipes. Our Gluten-Free Flour Bundle includes 1 lb. each of our fabulous almond flour, coconut flour and millet flour. It also includes a copy of the book, “The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guide: Part 1.” This wonderful cookbook makes it easy to get started baking mouthwatering gluten-free desserts.

Check out all our fantastic gluten-free choices, including our Gluten-Free Flour Bundle, in the gluten-free section of Nuts.com, and see for yourself just how delicious certified gluten-free products can be! We’re committed to providing our gluten-free customers with products that are incredibly delicious and safe to consume. The result is simply scrumptious!

We love baking with chickpea flour, and we think you will, too! Chickpea flour, which is one of our many gluten-free flours, is a fantastic substitute for wheat flour. It produces rich, tender baked goods that are loaded with protein and fiber. We love using chickpea flour to make pancakes, waffles, falafel and even fritters. However, one of our favorite recipes is chickpea flour cookies.  You can serve up these cookies with a sprinkling of organic evaporated cane juice or load the dough with your favorite flavored baking chips. They’re wonderful with a glass of cold milk or a cup of hot coffee!

To start, cream 1 stick of softened unsalted butter in a mixing bowl with 2 cups of brown sugar, 2 eggs and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Add 2 cups of chickpea flour, 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt and stir until the ingredients are just combined. If desired, add up to 1 cup of your favorite flavored baking chips, 1 tsp. ground cinnamon or up to 1 cup of chopped walnuts. Form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls and drop them onto a greased baking sheet. (The dough will be quite sticky, and will spread out a bit during baking.) Sprinkle the tops of the dough balls with a pinch of organic evaporated cane juice, if desired.

Bake the cookies at 350 for about 15 minutes, or until they’re golden brown. These cookies are delicate, so be careful when removing them from the baking sheet and be sure to let them cool on the sheet for about five minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Have you ever cooked or baked with chickpea flour? What are some of your favorite recipes?