I’m trying not to be the mom who wards off sugar like it’s the devil. I’m laid back. Today, a new friend we met at the park shared her snack with Ian that consisted of blue gummy animals and Jif peanut butter, which I’m pretty sure lists peanuts after corn syrup. His first fructose experienced. I hardly flinched.

In our day to day, I don’t offer sugar. He didn’t even have sugar on his first birthday. I made coconut flour blueberry muffins with maple syrup sweetened whip cream (amazing recipe found here).

Lately, I’ve been baking more (HELLO Fall, I love you even though you don’t feel like a proper Michigan Fall), and my sweetener of choice is raw honey. I used to believe that sugar is sugar is sugar, but I will say when I have treats that are sweetened with good quality raw honey, I don’t have any sugar crash or mood swing yuckiness that can happen with true junk food. Bonus.

This week, the whole family enjoyed almond flour biscuits (which I baked in a cake pan because I’m that lazy) and strawberry jam, both sweetened with honey. Perfect for breakfast or snack time. Enjoy!

Almond Flour Biscuits (slightly adapted from here)

2 ½ cups almond flour

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp sea salt

1/8 tsp baking powder

3 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp pure honey

3 Tbsp almond milk

2 large eggs

Serves 8

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease an 8-inch cake pan.

Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Whisk to incorporate fully.

Combine wet ingredients thoroughly in a small bowl, and add the wet to the dry ingredients. Stir until just mixed. Pour mixture into cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let cool for 10 minutes then cut into 8 wedges. Drown in strawberry jam and fresh butter.

Honey Sweetened Vanilla Strawberry Jam

This is not “proper” jam. We are not canning, y’all, so keep in the fridge and be sure to gobble it up within a week (like it’s gonna last that long).

5 cups cleaned and hulled strawberries

1 vanilla bean, sliced down the middle*

Juice of 1 lemon

¼ cup raw honey

Combine all ingredients into a heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil, then let bubble on medium heat until fruit is soft and the liquid coats a spoon, maybe 20-25 minutes. Cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.

*Can sub vanilla extract. Add 1 tsp toward end of cooking.

While I’m getting all Farmer’s Market organic on you, check out Ian and Bodhi getting musical at the Culver City market.