It’s been a while since our last Kid’s Cook Monday post. With the end of summer, a little bit of traveling, and some crazy cold that kept me on the couch for a week, I haven’t spent much time in the kitchen. I woke up feeling better this morning, so I decided to go with my new energy and get some cooking and cleaning done. After cranking out a few loads of laundry, vacuuming and sticking some Mexican chicken in the crockpot, I turned my attention to baking.
I know I mention this every time, but I am not a fan of baking. Too messy, too precise, and too many opportunities to fail. I asked the kids to help me so that at the very least we would have fun.
I had seen some beautiful photos from a fig tart recipe on Pinterest a few days ago and thought it might work well with the figs we had received in our Bountiful Basket this week. I still had some Medjool dates that had been harvested from Agritopia, a farm literally half a mile down the street, so I wanted to use those too.
I took the fig tart recipe, added some dates, removed the gluten, and substituted the dairy. I don’t own a tart pan, so I turned it into a pie. We ended up with a gluten-free, dairy-free, rustic fig & date pie.
Why rustic? Well, I always call my pies rustic. That way when the crust isn’t perfect, there’s a reason. It’s rustic!
Leila, Joe and I had a great time making the crust. I ended up making the filling while they were playing at the park. This pie takes some time to make, and playing on the slide and digging in the sand is much more important.
This is my favorite shot of the day. Joe absolutely insists on smelling each and every ingredient and step along the way when we are cooking. He really gets in there doesn’t he?
I sold my nice rolling pin at our yard sale on Saturday because I need a new non-gluten-contaminated one. So Joe and I pressed the dough out with our hands, and it worked just fine.
We each had a slice of pie after our taco dinner and agreed that it was very good. The gluten-free crust was especially nice, and I think I will use it again for other recipes.
For the full recipe, visit Notes from My Food Diary and substitute:
In the crust:
-1⅓ gluten-free all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur brand) + ¼ tsp. guar gum or xantham gum
In the filling:
-¾ non-dairy buttermilk (see directions below)
-2 Tbsp. gluten-free all-purpose flour
To make non-dairy buttermilk, simply squeeze 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into a liquid measuring cup. Pour your choice of non-dairy milk (I used coconut milk) on top to the 1 cup measure. Let sit for 2 minutes, and you have buttermilk!
That looks really good. I would never have pegged it for a “kid’s” recipe, but the kids seem to be having a lot of fun helping.
Thanks
Thanks for the comment Jan. I don’t often do “kids” recipes, but instead have them help me with whatever I am making. They have fun with any recipe!
Loved your fig shots on IG yesterday… These pics of ur kids are too cute and this non-dairy buttermilk sounds awesome and tasty 🙂 will come in handy for vegan baking. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Yuri! I was excited to find a non-dairy way to make buttermilk.
Lovely pie, although I confess I am not a huge fan of figs. While, I do love to bake, I am not much of a pie crust maker, so I like to keep a couple of Whole Foods frozen gluten-free pie crusts in my freezer. Love the shot of your son’s face in the food processor. Classic!
Thanks for the comment EA! I have never had fresh figs before this week. I buy the dried figs for my kids to snack on. This was really out of my usual cooking comfort zone but it was fun. I thought the pie crust turned out great, but it would be nice to have some in the freezer as this one took a while to make.
This looks absolutely delicious! Thanks especially for the tip on non-dairy buttermilk! I’ve never had much luck getting my husband interested in trying vegan dishes, but something like this might do the trick.
Rustic desserts are my favorite kind, especially when they are topped with all those gorgeous figs.
Amazing Alysa! I love fresh figs, especially when they’re cooked and perhaps topped with a lil cheese. That must’ve been so much for for the kids!
this looks divine – cannot wait to try this recipe out!
Love that you provided gluten and dairy free instructions here. Will have to try this soon!