Tag Archives: nut free

Baking Day: Spice Cakes

Which one is gluten free and which one isn’t?

Click here for delicious “regular cake” and cream cheese frosting recipe from Cooking Classy.

Click here for the equally tasty gluten, dairy, oil, soy, and egg free version from The Vegan 8 with my modifications.

Oat Breakfast Muffin

It’s no secret that I’ve been doing a lot of baking lately… well, the last 4 months. This past week, I thought more about the flour I’ve been using. Four years ago, I was very strict about the flour I used. No blends, no tapioca, no potato flour, no bean flour. Oh, and I definitely didn’t use sweetener outside of honey, fruit, or unsweetened applesauce.

I wanted to get back to that cleaner way of baking and eating. I really do feel better, even though I almost never stray from gluten and dairy free.

I also wanted to get the best deal nutritionally from my flour. (But more about that in a later post.)

All this led me to bring back an old muffin recipe and tweak it just a bit (click for original post). One thing I remember is that the muffins were good, but crumbly and the taste could have been better.

As soon as I tasted the first muffin, I remembered how much I enjoy the taste of honey and the homey, comforting flavor of these flours without the add-ins of a blend. These muffins are so smooth and NOT crumbly, it’ll be hard to eat just one. AND these are dairy-gluten-egg-soy-nut-refined sugar free. It’s a tall order for a muffin, but it comes through!

So, without further ado, Oat Breakfast Muffins!

Oat Breakfast Muffins Recipe:

1 c. Brown Rice Flour

1 1/4 c. Oat flour (plus extra if needed)

1 c. Sweet Sorghum flour

1 scant tsp. salt

1 tsp. Cinnamon

2 tsp. Baking soda

2 c. Unsweetened applesauce

2 Tbs. Apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. Gluten-free vanilla extract

Flax seed egg (2 Tbs. milled flax seed + 2-3 Tbs. cold water and sit for 5 minutes)

2 Tbs. melted coconut oil (plus some for greasing pans)

6 Tbs. raw honey (I *may* have used a bit more)

  • Preheat oven to 380F. Grease pans with the extra coconut oil. (This recipe makes 18 muffins.)
  • Whisk dry ingredients together
  • Add wet ingredients and stir until mixed. If mixture seems loose, add a couple Tbs. of oat flour.
  • Scoop into prepared baking pans. Filled cups 1/2-3/4 full. These muffins don’t rise a whole lot, so keep that in mind.
  • Bake for 15-18 minutes.
  • Let set in pan about 10-15 minutes to firm up. Let cool on wire rack or plate.
  • Enjoy as they are, or with honey or fruit spread! Oh, and coffee. ;-)

Saturday Happenings

Because rainy days are for baking.

Click here for the recipe from theprettybee.com. It’s my first gluten, dairy, egg, soy, and nut free cake. And it’s chocolate. I’m a fan!

My recipe notes:

Apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar (keep in mind some vinegars ate NOT gluten free)

Add 2 Tbs. strong dark roast coffee and as much extra GF flour. Trust me on this. 😍

Grapeseed oil instead of canola oil

Coconut sugar instead of cane sugar… not sure how much difference it makes. I just didn’t have any cane sugar.

I didn’t put in chocolate chips, because I was out. I have allergen-free chocolate icing to use instead.

Vanilla Blueberry Scone Recipe: gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-freedom

Today is a snow day!

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In keeping with snow day tradition, I slept in and then made my way to the kitchen for coffee and morning baking.

Last snow day, I made pancakes (recipe here). Today, however, I wanted something a little lighter and not as fried.

Scones.

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These blueberry-vanilla scones are every bit as good as I remember- maybe even better! Here is my recipe modified from Wholesome Patisserie’s Blueberry Scones:

1 cup all purpose gluten free flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup sweet sorghum flour

1 Tablespoon gluten free baking powder

1/4 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt

1/2 cup coconut cream (the thick part from the top- don’t shake the can!)

1/4-1/2 cup vanilla almond or coconut yogurt (can also use peach or strawberry)

3/4 cup coconut milk french vanilla coffee creamer

1/2 c. Frozen blueberries

Extra gf flour for rolling

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Step 1: Make a cup of coffee to drink. That’s my baking secret. Also, preheat oven to 390 degrees F. Generously spray a round cake pan or use coconut/ grapeseed oil to avoid any soy.

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Step 2: add all ingredients together, except the blueberries. If the dough is not soft, add a bit more all purpose gf flour. It should be sticky, but maleable.

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Step 3: add frozen blueberries and stir carefully.

Step 4: turn dough out on floured surface and pat/hand roll until about 1 1/2 inches think. Use floured cookie cutter or plastic cup to make 2 in. circles.

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Step 5: Place scones in baking dish. Brush with coffee creamer and sprinkle with raw sugar (if desired). Bake 25-30 minutes or until sides and tops feel firm and crunchy. (I used too much creamer and had to bake an extra 8 minutes). Let set 5-10 minutes.

Step 6: Make another cup of coffee and enjoy with the scones!

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Pumpkin Cake

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One of the hardest things about eating GF (gluten-free) is finding a dessert recipe that tastes good and doesn’t have a weird consistency. Pinterest has been a great help in finding recipes, and I’m thankful for all the chefs experimenting in their kitchens and posting food blogs.

This recipe is the Paleo Pumpkin Coffee Cake from jaysbakingmecrazy.com.  I haven’t made the recipe strictly per instructions, although I think it looks fantastic.  Since I can’t have eggs, and I was missing a couple ingredients, I had to change a few things. So, if you aren’t limited like I am, use the recipe as is.  However, if you find yourself missing pumpkin pie spice and unable to digest eggs well, then here is the modified recipe:

    • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
    • 1/4 cup honey
    • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
    • 1 cup canned pumpkin
    • 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free General Purpose Flour
    • 1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
    • 1/4 cup coconut flour
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
    • 1/2 teapoon ground cloves
    • 1-ish teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 2-3 Tablespoons reconstituted milled flax seed (in  water about 5 minutes, to be honest, I didn’t measure…)
    • 1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
CRUMB TOPPING
  • 1/4 cup coconut flour
  • 1/2 cup brown rice flour
  • 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • crushed walnuts (add a bit more oil and honey if you do this, or it will be crumbly; to keep recipe nut-free, omit walnuts)

I then followed the recipe’s instructions for adding ingredients and baking:

Instructions [from the blog]:

  1. Preheat oven to 325° and line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper.
  2. Make the crumb topping first: in a small bowl, combine coconut flour, [brown rice] flour, coconut sugar, cinnamon, honey, walnuts, and coconut oil. Mix well- it should resemble wet sand. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, combine coconut oil, honey, coconut sugar, and pumpkin. Mix well.
  4. Add in the brown rice flour, GF general purpose flour, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. [here add the ACV and flax seed] Mix until no dry pockets remain. Pour into prepared pan and top with crumb topping.
  5. Bake for 45-50 minutes.
  6. Store in fridge after the first day.

I let the dessert cool in the pan to help it stick together and it did not fall apart when I cut it and served it.  I’ve been told this also tastes good with vanilla ice cream or cool whip.

Basic Sweet Potato Soup

Basic. Three ingredients. 10 minutes.

It’s also nut, dairy, and gluten free. And organic, if you please.

It started this weekend when the stomach bug meant solid foods were not an option. I had some chicken broth and a couple sweet potatoes on hand.

I cut a small-medium sweet potato and baked it in the microwave on high for 8 minutes. Meanwhile, I poured about 1 cup chicken broth into my Ninja food processor and sprinkled in a healthy dose of ginger. I did not add salt because the broth was already providing 25% if my daily need.

I scooped out the sweet potato and blended in my processor for about 25 seconds. And it was done.

The soup is more like a bisque, depending on how much blending and the ratio of broth to sweet potato. When I got braver, I cooked a bigger potato and added chucks of potato after pureeing.

Perfect fall warmth on a cold day.

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