Months ago, I may have mentioned that Hugh was doing the ketogenic diet? Surely you've heard of it. Most of the cookbooks at my local Costco are keto books so you know it's mainstream. He humored me and went off it for the holidays and is back to it these days. I refuse to make a third version of whatever I'm cooking, but I will compromise. How saintly of me, right? I have my current granola recipe pretty nailed down, but I gave it a spin with less sweetener and replaced the oats with more nuts. It replaces the carbohydrates with more fat, so I don't know where your nutrition paradigms lie, but it tastes good either way. You can use this as a topping for plain yogurt, oatmeal, as a snack or I used it as a crunchy bit for a green salad with arugula, red onion, and roasted butternut chunks and thought it worked perfect. I made a few notes below on seasoning options.

NUT'NOLA // Makes about 5 cups

You can find the coconut flakes (the wide shards, not the same as shredded coconut) at Trader Joes, larger conventional grocery stores or Amazon. The kind of nut isn't as important as the yield. Swap in pecans or macadamia nuts, whatever you prefer. We use this as a breakfast sort of deal, if you want a more savory route, a dash of cayenne and some fresh chopped rosemary is a great swap, or that Everything But The Bagel seasoning from Trader Joes is pretty amazing here too, especially if you want to use these as a crunchy salad topper.

2 Tbsp. coconut oil, warmed
1/3 cup maple syrup
3/4 tsp. sea salt
heaping 1/2 tsp. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

1 cup raw whole almonds
1 cup raw whole cashews
1/2 cup raw walnuts
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 Tbsp. raw sesame seeds
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes/chips

Preheat the oven to 325' F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the warmed coconut oil, maple, salt and cinnamon/spice. Stir to combine.
Give the almonds, cashews and walnuts a rough chop. Add them to the maple mixture along with the pumpkin seeds, sesame and coconut flakes. Stir everything to coat. Spread the mixture in an even layer on the baking sheet and pop in the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, stir, bake another 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove to cool completely. The nuts will crisp up as they cool. Store in an airtight container for a couple weeks.

Maple Pecan Crunch Ice Cream - Chocolate Shards - Sprouted Kitchen

I took the base of my ice cream maker out of the freezer because it was taking up too much real estate only to put it right back in. I love ice cream but don't make it that often. I'm really not very good at it and a pint of something is always on sale at the market to completely validate not going through the hassle. I wish I were the person whose affection for ice cream sprang up in the warm summer months but I don't discriminate based on weather. I love it, always. But now that our nearly two-year-old sees and wants every treat we reach for, I thought it was appropriate to try this coconut and cashew based recipe sweetened exclusively with maple. I've also gotten better at stashing cookies out of sight. I've made fully coconut milk-based ice creams before but adding the cashew cream was a really nice touch; breaking up the coconut milk flavor while still being super creamy. The thing is, sure it tastes different, but it is creamy and sweet with crunchy bits and a scoop with a sprinkle of granola on top is just the thing.

Maple Pecan Crunch Ice Cream - Ingredients - Sprouted Kitchen

MAPLE PECAN CRUNCH ICE CREAM // Makes one pint

Recipe barely adapted from Icy Creamy Healthy Sweet by Christine Chitnis

As it goes with dairy free ice cream, the result is a little more icy than the real stuff. After it's completely frozen, let it sit for 10 minutes before scooping.
Note that the cashew cream requires starting a step the evening prior.

3/4 cup real maple syrup, divided
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup pecan pieces
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup full fat coconut milk, divided
1 Tbsp arrowroot starch or cornstarch
1 cup cashew cream*
seeds of half a vanilla bean, optional
2 ounces dark chocolate, well chopped

In a cast iron pan over medium heat, warm 1/4 cup of the maple syrup and vanilla until thin. Add the pecans, sea salt and cinnamon and stir to coat. Transfer to parchment to cool completely.

Mix the arrowroot or cornstarch in a large bowl with 2 Tbsp. of the coconut milk to dissolve. Once dissolved, stir in the remaining coconut milk, remaining 1/2 cup maple syrup, cashew cream and vanilla beans if using. Put the mixture in the fridge to chill for a couple hours.

Churn the ice cream according to your machines instructions. In the last couple minutes, add in the mapled pecans and chocolate. Freeze for a couple hours to get a firmer, scoopable state.

* To make cashew cream, soak 1 cup cashew nuts, covered, overnight in cold water. The next day, drain and rinse well. Blend the nuts in a high powered blender for a couple minutes with a fresh cup of cold water until completely smooth. You can adjust the amount of water for how thick you want it, for an ice cream base, you need it pretty thick.