Here is a great healthy sugar cookie alternative.

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or spelt flour

1 Tbls cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup coconut oil (you could use butter)

2/3 cup honey cyrstals

1 tsp vanilla extrac

2 eggs

1.  Blend first 5 ingredients together and set aside.

2.  Blend the oil, honey crystals and vanilla together.  Blend in eggs.

3.  Blend dry ingredients into liquid ingredients until mixed, do not over beat.

4.  Divide dough in half and refrigerate several hours.

5.  Remove half the dough at a time and place on floured surface.  Lay a piece of wax paper over dough and roll out about 1/8 inch thick.

6.  Cut with cookie cutters and place on ungreased cookie sheets.

7.  Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes, remove to wire rack to cool.  Decorate as desired.

I thought I would share a muffin recipe that my family ate this morning.  I made it dairy free.  However, if your family doesn't have a problem with dairy feel free to use buttermilk instead of coconut milk and butter instead of coconut oil.

Blueberry Date Muffins

Preheat oven to 400°. 

In a small bowl prepare the Streusel topping. Mix with a fork then set aside.

Streusel topping:

3 TB flour (Spelt, Whole Wheat, Barley or Kamut)

3 TB Sucanant

¼ tsp. Cinnamon

2 TB coconut oil

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients below and mix well.

1 ½ Cups Spelt flour (Can use Whole Wheat, Barley or Kamut)

¾ Cup rolled oats

¼ Cup ground flax seeds

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. Cream of tarter

¼ tsp. Salt

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

½ tsp. cinnamon

In a second bowl, cream together the honey and oil.  Beat in eggs then add milk, vanilla and applesauce.

½ Cup honey

1/3 Cup coconut oil

2 Eggs or egg whites

¾ Cup coconut milk

2 tsp. Vanilla extract

¾ Cup unsweetened applesauce

Make a well in the dry ingredients.  Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir just to blend.  Add below ingredients using only ½ cup walnuts and mix gently.

¾ Cup fresh or frozen blueberries

¾  Cup chopped walnuts, divided

½ Cup dates

½ Cup raisins (optional)

Spray muffins tins with non-stick cooking spray, use paper cups or use silicone muffin cups that require no oil.  Fill the cups ¾ full with batter. Sprinkle the tops with ¼ cup chopped walnuts.  Sprinkle the streusel topping over each muffin.  Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until firm.

Makes between 12 and 18 muffins.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!  If you would like to see how you can start making this the day before to enjoy the benefits of soaked grains let me know!

We will be studying American History this year with our Classical Conversations curriculum.  I wanted to do something fun this summer so I decided to study Florida History with the children.  I ordered State History from a Christian Perspective.  We are having a great time making a notebook and learning about Florida.  I also ordered My State History Funbook for my younger children so we can all learn together. 

In addition, I printed out a map of Florida for each of my children and put them in a page protector.  They are using a dry erase marker to trace the map.  They also draw in major cities, rivers, lakes and bays.  My goal is to have my 4th grader draw the map from memory by the end of the study.