How to make coconut oil biscuits

Coconut oil biscuits

I unexpectedly cracked the code on coconut oil biscuits earlier this week. I had zero intentions of sharing this recipe so soon but a fierce craving resulted in some fierce recipe testing (I finally got my groove back and it feels. so. good.) and before I knew it we had five different batches of biscuits hanging out in our pantry. Which isn’t a completely terrible problem to have, except when three of the five batches are considered “mostly inedible” and your dude has given you a complex about disposing of food when there are people outside our bubble who don’t have access to food the way we do. But what’s worse – giving second-rate biscuits to houseless folks or throwing them in the garbage?

Don’t answer that.. because we need to get down to business. Continue Reading

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Cashew butter French toast

Cashew butter French toast

OH HI.

It’s 2017 and I haven’t posted in three weeks but I’M BACK! With a French toast recipe that doesn’t rely on ground flax seeds or mashed bananas and a list of things I hope to accomplish over the course of the next twelve months.

But let’s talk about last year. 2016 was a rough one for a lot of people. Hell, it was a rough one for the world. On a personal level, however, 2016 wasn’t all that bad. In fact, I’d venture to say it was one of the better years of my adult life despite the fact that I hit rock bottom right around this time last year (the holidays always put me in a funk and last year’s funk was one that almost got the best of me). We went to Europe, got a brand new kitchen, and Alchemy finally became something more than just a wild idea. And even though I hit a few potholes early on, those potholes are what encouraged me to try my hand at mastering the art of self-acceptance. So I did. And you know what? I’m better for it. I’m stronger. I’m happier. I’m healthier. And, at the end of the day, I really couldn’t ask for more from a year that dealt a lot of people I love a pretty shitty hand. Continue Reading

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Almost raw white chocolate bites

Almost raw white chocolate bites

This post was created in partnership with Califia Farms.

Can you believe that Christmas is only three days away? THREE DAYS, you guys. I’m having a really difficult time wrapping my mind around it but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it’s only because we haven’t spent a single Christmas in Denver since we first moved here back in 2009. It feels kind of weird to be home. Weird to not be in Ohio. Weird to not be waking up every morning and schlepping my laptop into the coffee house in my tiny hometown (fun fact: my tiny hometown is where KitchenAid stand mixers are manufactured). But it also feels good. Good to be able to avoid the chaos of the airport and the shitty weather in Ohio (oh, and a certain – uhh – political climate that plagues small-town USA). Good to be staying in the Mile High City and to finally (fiiiiiinally!) be starting traditions of our own. Traditions we’ve dreamed about for years, and traditions we’re making happen thanks – in part – to a certain big brother who moved out here a few months ago. Because without him, I’m pretty sure we’d be eating Chinese takeout and spending Christmas Eve alone. In a bar.

And I don’t even like to drink.  Continue Reading

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Hazelnut crunch cake

Hazelnut crunch cake

Man. It took me forever and a day to decide what kind of cake to make Thom for his birthday. I wanted something different from years past and I was thisclose to settling on a bantella cake. Banana. Nutella. BANTELLA. Delicious, right? But then I decided I should probably let Thom choose the flavor of his cake so I sat silently while he rattled off some options.

Apple and pear. For a birthday cake? Boring. Peanut butter and strawberry. HA! No way, José. Chocolate and lime. That sounds disgusting. Something with raspberries? Did that last year, ya goon. Then finally vanilla-something with hazelnut came out of his mouth and I thought to myself, NOW WE’RE TALKING, THOM. So I got to work planning his cake and just when I was about to make him a vanilla cake in bundt form (with boozy hazelnut glaze), I was reminded that YOU CAN’T MAKE HIM A BUNDT CAKE FOR HIS BIRTHDAY, YOU NINNY! So I settled on a simple hazelnut layer cake with vanilla bean frosting. I had dreams of Ferrero Rocher innards but when I ran that idea by Thom, he made it clear that he wanted vanilla and hazelnut. Not chocolate and vanilla and hazelnut. Noted. Continue Reading

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