Trinidad Coconut Drops...Diabetic/Sugar Free Version

Don't open yuh eye big so...coconut drops can be made sugar free and still remain tasty. Traditionally Trinidad coconut drops are little sweet dense mounds that are a cross between bread and cake. The smell of these little buns of tropical goodness baking send your senses straight  to the Caribbean with the scent of coconut, rum, and spices. I usually make coconut drops with regular sugar but since my mom has to watch her sugar intake I decided to make these sugar free. The main sweetener for this recipe could have easily been splenda but since my mom is skeptical about artificial sweeteners I decided to go the all natural route with agave nectar. In short agave nectar is a sweetener derived from the Mexican cactus like agave plant...you can learn more here.

  For my mom I decided to use part whole wheat flour and part all purpose flour to add to the nutritional value of the drops, but you can choose to make the recipe using all purpose flour alone. Another tip for baking drops is to soak your raisins so that they don't dry out while baking. I soaked my raisins in a mix of cherry brandy and Angostura Single Barrel rum but water can be used to soak raisins as well.

Since many people both old and young have dietary restrictions when it comes to sugar I decided this would be a great recipe to post so that my diabetics and pre-diabetics can still enjoy delicious homemade coconut drops. I will also experiment with other flours such as whole grain and rice to see if I can develop versions to accomodate other diets. Will Keep you all posted in the mean time Happy Baking!

Sugar Free Trinidad Coconut Drops

Makes 6

1/3 cup raisins, soaked in rum or water

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup agave nectar

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cola essence, optional

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 cup grated coconut

- Soak raisin in small bowl at least 1hr before baking.

- Prepare sheet pan by greasing or lining with parchment paper. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

- Combine flour(s), nutmeg, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt

- Melt butter and place in mixing bowl along with agave nectar. Mix on medium speed until well blended and emulsified.

- While butter and agave mix, combine egg, extracts, and lemon zest in small bowl.

- When agave and butter emulsify add in egg mixture and mix until combined.

- Add in coconut to mixture and combine.

-Add in flour mixture, mix until just combined.

- Add in raisin, leaving reserving the liquid to the side.

- Divide batter into 6 equal portions

- Shape into circular mounds

- Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.

- Remove from oven and brush lightly with rum mixture raisins were soaking in. (Omit this step if you used water)

- Cool and enjoy

Muenster Scallion Biscuits

This was my take on an already existing recipe utilizing ingredients I could easily get in my neighborhood supermarket. The recipe was from Smitten Kitchen (I love the recipes there) and it turned out perfect. The biscuits were easy to make and the texture was so tender. The recipe at SK called for blue cheese but I used muenster and I am sure you can you any cheese your heart desires as well. So I followed the SK recipe exactly except for chopping sliced muenster cheese and chopping it to tiny bits. When I took my biscuits out the oven I immediately brushed them with some melted butter, but to save yourself the calories you can definitely leave out that step.

Blue Cheese Scallion Drop Biscuits

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick or 3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese

4 scallions, finely chopped

1 cup well-shaken buttermilk (or, you can make your own)

Preheat oven to 450°F. Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, then blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in blue cheese and scallions. Add buttermilk and stir until just combined.

Drop dough in 12 equal mounds about 2 inches apart onto a buttered large baking sheet, or one lined with parchment paper. Bake in middle of oven until golden, 16 to 20 minutes.

Buttermilk Cornbread

When I think of cornbread I envision a table spread akin to the Soul food movie with fry chicken, yams, collard greens, and the like. I also think of it as a staple of  not only southern cooking but American cooking. I am not new to baking cornbread and I have been putting new spins on boxes of jiffy mixes since I was a little girl adding in cheese, sausage, or extra butter. As time went on I moved away from the Jiffy boxes and started making my own from scratch but the recipes I found never really did it for me. I wanted a dense, semi sweet, semi savory bread. I kept on searching and last week found a recipe on allrecipes.com , it was a buttermilk cornbread recipe with great reviews. The recipe made 9 servings but I wanted 12 so I used to automatic recipe converter. The only strange happenings was that the recipe called for 2 3/4 eggs!? I decided that 3 whole eggs would work and only add to the cake-iness of the cornbread.  I also reduced the converted amount of sugar from over 3/4 cups to only 1/2 because I didn't want it to be too sweet, and lastly I added in one tablespoon each of garlic and onion powder. I wanted to go extra southern and bake the cornbread in a cast iron skillet so I liberally greased it with butter and carried on mixing the batter. The recipe was a great success and even though I am not the biggest fan of cornbread I plan to keep the recipe for whenever I am in the mood for good ol' cornbread.

Grandmother's Buttermilk Cornbread

• 2/3 cup butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1-1/3 cups buttermilk
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/3 cups cornmeal
• 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.

Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.