Single-Serve Pancakes with Gingerbread Pecan Butter from Living Candida-Free

Many of you may already be familiar with Ricki Heller and her popular website, a fantastic resource for vegan, sugar-free and gluten-free recipes and information about living with candida. Her new book, Living Candida-Free, offers practical and realistic strategies for anyone wishing to follow an anti-candida diet, as well as more than 100 recipes that anyone—on a special diet or not—can enjoy. Since many people aren’t familiar with candida, I asked Ricki in this guest post to explain what candida is and how she conquers it on a plant-based diet. 

I was hired to do the food photography for this book, so I was able to try out a number of the recipes. Luckily, Ricki is allowing me to share one of my favourite recipes from the book below, the single-serve pancakes. I love them because they’re made with wholesome ingredients like chia, quinoa, buckwheat and hemp. They’re also super simple to make and have become one of my go-to weekend breakfast recipes. For more delicious, sugar-free recipes and information about living candida-free, grab a copy of the book or sign up for Ricki’s Candida Kick-Start Course.

As a self-proclaimed sugar addict, I was perturbed (to say the least) when I was first diagnosed with candida and had to embark on an anti-candida diet.

Candida is a form of yeast that normally lives in the intestinal tract in harmony with all the other organisms that reside there. In a healthy body, candida causes no problems and can even be beneficial to help keep toxins under control.

But when things go awry (a condition often referred to as “dysbiosis”) in the internal microcosm, candida can quickly grow out of control and wreak havoc. Symptoms like overweaning fatigue, sugar cravings, foggy thinking, allergies, joint aches and all kinds of yeast infections can begin to develop and interfere with normal functioning.

Carob Pudding from Living Candida-Free

The usual treatment for candida overgrowth is a diet devoid of all sugars (even fruit), starches, yeast, alcohol and all moldy foods, along with antifungal supplements (and perhaps prescription antifungals, too).

So you can understand why I was concerned about having to follow the diet.

In addition, most candida diets shun a vegan approach to eating. Because meat, poultry, fish and eggs are all free of sugars or starches, they are usually recommended as the best forms of protein while battling the yeast. Some diets even go so far as to suggest that it’s impossible to remain plant-based while clearing the candida.

Eggplant “Parmesan” from Living Candida-Free

Well, I’m happy to say I proved those folks otherwise—even with a very severe case of the syndrome. It took some experimentation, working with a fantastic naturopath and time, but I managed to clear my candida while living a normal life and even created some delicious recipes along the way (recipes I am proud to serve to my husband, friends and family—and they don’t even realize they’re “special” foods!).

Fellow sugar addicts, take heart: if you’re dealing with candida, it IS possible to remain plant-based and conquer the yeast. With dedication, persistence, and some kick-ass recipes, you’ll be on your way and feeling better in no time.

ACD-Friendly Grain-Free Granola from Living Candida-Free

And even if you’re not dealing with candida overgrowth, the anti-candida diet is still a great way to transition to a diet free of refined sugar and incorporate more natural, lower glycemic sweeteners in your recipes; it’s a great resource for diabetics, too.

Single-serve pancakes

Yield: Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons (75 ml) milk of choice (unsweetened almond, hemp, flax, etc.)
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) raw apple cider vinegar
• 5 to 10 drops plain or vanilla pure liquid stevia, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) smooth natural almond butter or sunflower seed butter
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) whole chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) uncooked quinoa, millet, or amaranth
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) uncooked whole buckwheat
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) raw shelled hemp seeds (hemp hearts)
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) coconut flour
• ¼ teaspoon (1 ml) baking powder
• Pinch of fine sea salt
• Coconut oil, for pan (optional)

Directions:

1. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the milk, vinegar, stevia, and almond butter until smooth. Set aside.
2. In a coffee grinder or blender, grind the chia, quinoa, buckwheat, hemp seeds, coconut flour, baking powder, and salt to a powder. Pour the mixture over the wet ingredients in the bowl and stir to blend. It will seem a bit too thick for pancake batter and more like a soft cookie dough. This is as it should be.
3. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat (brush with coconut oil if it has a tendency to stick). Divide the batter in half and place in the skillet (I use an ice-cream scoop), then use a spatula to flatten to about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. Cook until the top begins to dry out (about 4 minutes); flip and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Serve immediately. May be prepared in advance and frozen. Will keep, frozen, for up to 3 months.

From Living Candida-Free by Ricki Heller. Reprinted with permission from Da Capo Lifelong, © 2015

Wow, it’s ridiculous what a little site redesign does to invigorate my passion for blogging and sharing new recipes. I had so much fun—yet had to do very little—working with Lindsay over at Purr Design on giving ADC a new look. (If you’re reading this through an RSS reader or by email, click over and check out the changes!)

I wanted a fresh, streamlined look and, most importantly, a more organized and user-friendly recipe index—check it out by clicking on recipe index in the menu bar above. All recipes are now indexed visually by category and ingredient, or you can click on the archives drop-down menu in the right-hand sidebar to view all posts by date.

Another great feature is that you can save your favourite recipes to an online recipe box (also available from the menu bar above), which means you can keep track of your recipes all in one place and add ingredients to a shopping list before heading out to the grocery store. To save recipes to it, simply click the save button on the right side of any recipe and you’ll be prompted to add it to your recipe box. I teamed up with Ziplist for this feature, so if you don’t already have an account it’s super quick and free to create one. You can search and save recipes from thousands of popular food websites, including epicurious, Martha Stewart, Simply Recipes and Skinnytaste.com.

The recipe box has a ton of great features, including a meal planner that allows you to plan your meals for the week—just drag and drop recipes into a calendar and you can generate a shopping list for those recipes. Pretty cool, right? Oh, and there are also mobile apps available, so be sure to download the Apple or Android app (both are free) so you can access your lists and recipes on the go!

Aside from the recipe features, I’ve also added thumbnails to the reviews page, added a press page and updated my about page, so take a look around and let me know what you think! On the right-hand sidebar, you’ll also find a subscribe option if you want to get ADC content updates delivered to your email inbox. For RSS readers, you can add this blog to your reader by clicking on the RSS icon on the right side of the menu bar.

What does this have to do with cookie dough balls, you ask? Well, nothing. But since this blog is all about food, I wanted to welcome you to my newly designed home with a bowl full of treats. These little guys are ridiculously easy to make, and are perfect bundles of energy to pop in your mouth straight from the freezer.

This recipe was inspired by my raw cookie dough bites, which is by far the most popular recipe on the blog. This version is made nut-free by using sunflower seed butter (try using 100% natural and unsweetened, if possible) and has a soft, melt-in-your mouth texture reminiscent of real cookie dough but without the flour, butter and eggs.

If you don’t end up keeping these all to yourself, they would also be great dipped in chocolate and served on a party platter. Enjoy!

Nut-free cookie dough balls

Yield: one dozen

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sunflower seed butter
• 3 tbsp agave nectar or pure maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup oat flour (use certified gluten-free, if necessary)
• 2 tbsp flax meal
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of sea salt
• 2 to 3 tbsp mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the sunflower seed butter, agave nectar and vanilla extract.

2. Add the oat flour, flax meal, cinnamon and salt and stir to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Scoop out the dough (I use a tablespoon measure) and roll into balls. Place on a small cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Place them in the freezer to firm up. Transfer the balls to an air-tight container and store in the freezer. These can be eaten directly from the freezer.

Yet here I am, within hours of the midnight cut-off to the SOS Kitchen Challenge, presenting you with my final recipe. Highlighting the flavours of carob, kamut and sunflower seeds, these crispy squares are a quick and easy, no-bake summer treat. I made use of some kamut puffs cereal sitting in my cupboard as well as my homemade sunflower seed butter to create a spin-off of my sunbutter bites with a creamy carob frosting. Dare I say these ones taste better?

Crispy carob kamut squares

Ingredients:

For the squares:

• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup sunbutter (homemade or storebought)
• 1 tbsp warm water
• 1/4 cup carob powder
• 2 1/2 cups kamut puffs (I use Nature's Path)
• 2 tbsp sunflower seeds (optional)

For the carob frosting:

• 1/3 cup coconut butter, softened
• 3 tbsp agave nectar
• 1 1/2 tbsp carob powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp sunbutter

Directions:

For the squares:

1. In a large bowl, stir together the coconut oil, agave nectar, sunbutter, water and carob powder until well combined and smooth. Set aside.
2. Using a food processor, pulse the kamut puffs to a coarse meal. You want them to still have chunks, not completely powdered.
3. Add the kamut puffs and sunflower seeds to the carob mixture and mix until they are completely coated. Press the mixture into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan (or small square pan) that is covered with parchment paper. Place the pan in the freezer while you make the frosting (recipe below).

For the carob frosting:

1. In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients until well combined and smooth.
2. Remove the pan from the freezer and spoon the frosting over the kamut base and smooth out with the back of a spoon.
3. Return the pan to the freezer for about 30 minutes until set. Cut into squares and serve. Store leftovers in the fridge or freezer.