Happy Holidays, folks! I don’t know about you all, but the only positive that I have been able to pull from this year’s Covid Christmas season is that I’ve had more time for holiday baking. In a normal year, I’d be so busy every weekend from Halloween to New Years, that I’d be lucky if I could find one solid afternoon to make a cookie or two and that would be it, but this year, I think I’ve baked at least 2 batches of something every weekend for the last 3 or 4 weeks. That means that I finally perfected the conversion of my mother’s Orange Spritz Cookie recipe (my perpetual favorite) to a paleo recipe. If I’m not mistaken, the original recipe came from Wilton in the little booklet for their electric cookie press back in the 70s or 80s. My mother would pull out that little appliance every year and make these cookies in triple batches so that we could share with neighbors and friends. You can find a modern version of the recipe that uses all butter and no shortening, but the original had both and produced a lightly crispy cookie (rather than chewy), which is what I always loved about them. Nowadays you can’t find the electric press, but you can get a manual cookie press from Michaels, or most stores that carry cake and cookie decorating supplies.

It’s taken 3 or 4 tries to get it right, but I’ve now used this paleo version twice with consistent results. Note that to keep it paleo, you should forego the red and green sugar sprinkles that the original recipe called for, but I won’t judge if you go for it anyway.

Paleo Orange Spritz Cookies

Recipe by paleosherryCourse: DessertCuisine: EuropeanDifficulty: Medium

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

My favorite holiday treat made paleo.

Ingredients

• 1/2 c butter (softened, but not melted)

• 1/4 c palm shortening

• 3/4 c maple sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 c almond flour

• 1 c tapioca flour

• 6 tbsp coconut flour (divided)

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 2 tsp orange extract

• 1 tbsp ground orange peel

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Mix almond, tapioca, 2 tbsp of coconut flour, and salt together in a bowl and set aside
• Mix butter, shortening, sugar, and egg in mixer until well combined. 
• Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture until all ingredients are combined.  Dough will be stiff.
• Add extract and orange peel
• Let dough sit for about 5 minutes and add the other 4 tbsp of coconut flour. 
• Let sit again another 5 minutes before loading dough into cookie press.  
• Press cookies onto parchment-lined cookie sheets (as close together as you can with the press is fine.  they don’t spread much).  If the dough isn’t stiff enough for the press, try adding another 2 tbsp of coconut flour to the dough and letting it get absorbed before trying again.   If it’s too stiff, you can add a tbsp of water.
• [Optional] add sprinkles to each cookie 
• Bake for 10-12 mins until edges look lightly browned. Cookies will crisp when cooled.

I know it’s been months since I’ve posted anything new – I would say it’s because my work life is so hectic right now, there isn’t much time for anything else, but that’s not really true.

Realistically I have simply been maintaining – rotating through a lot of my favorite recipes which I’ve already shared here, and trying a few new ones (with disappointing or just ok results).  EJ is a bit less picky than I am, so he’s been fine with everything I’ve made, but I just haven’t been really wowed by any of the new dishes until recently.

So, here are the 2 new favorites I’ll be adding to this week:

Picadillo with Plantains (from A Calculated Whisk) – this is amazingly simple and delicious.  I’ve made it nearly 3 weeks in a row now, and I still love it.  We’re not olive lovers, but there’s a suggestion to add boiled or fried egg on it- and I highly recommend both.  It’s also really good topped with this Creamy Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing from Paleo Gluten Free Eats.  It’s quick enough to pull together for a weeknight meal (30 mins or so) and reheats really well when prepped in advance.

Instant Pot Cashew Chicken (from Whole Kitchen Sink) – this is another quickie that can be pulled together quickly enough for a weeknight meal.  I used chicken tenders for quicker and smaller cuts, and spread this over caulirice (fried rice w/ coconut aminos is a real treat).  We managed to acquire a large container of roasted cashews, and this is a great way to enjoy them without snacking between meals.  I also cut back on the sugar content by omitting the coconut sugar, and instead adding some fresh squeezed orange juice.

Enjoy!

Ok, after a couple more weeks of emotional upheaval, I’m finally getting my groove back.  I went for a run this morning, did some yard work, and ran some errands with my favorite National Guardsman that will be leaving me in another week and a half for a 3 week school in the north east.  I’m expecting the next few months to be a roller coaster ride to say the least, but I am at least trying to stick with the diet basics and lose that last 5 elusive pounds since the vacation.  I made a small bit of progress again this last week, and I’m hoping to keep it going.

We also had a couple of real winners in the new recipe department that E.J. really wants me to share, so here you go:

• Pressure Cooker Ropa Vieja – normally I struggle to enjoy roasts.  I’m not sure why, but I just don’t love them the way EJ and my mom do.  But this one is absolutely AWESOME.  I actually used the alternate slow cooker method instead of the InstantPot, but the meat was tender and the sauce was phenomenal.  This could easily have been something from a fancy Cuban restaurant and will definitely be going on the favorites list.  I paired it with tostones (fried plantains) and guacamole
• Cajun Salmon with Strawberry Salsa – I had been looking for a savory recipe to use some of the incredibly fragrant strawberries that we’ve been getting in the stores this season.  This was a total winner and I plan to make it again.
• Sweet Potato Seafood Chowder – although the heavy sweet potato content means lots of carbs, this was a very tasty version of the classic soup.  I practically doubled the seafood that it calls for, just because I like a chunkier chowder, and would highly recommend it.

Hope you all are enjoying the summer!