Gluten-Free Vegan Vanilla/Yellow Cake Recipe & Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cupcakes Recipe

Podcast Note: I find it ironic that I said the date in the podcast was "Saturday April 4" lolol... so I obviously subconsciously knew that this would not go live until Monday April 4th! lolol Happy Monday y'all!!

Printable version of today's recipe.

Today’s recipe came from a failed experiment. A few of my colleagues and I are celebrating a friend’s birthday tomorrow and they have auto-immune health issues and eat a low inflammatory diet. What this means for baking is that they avoid gluten, eggs, coconut, and bananas. 

I asked our birthday colleague what kind of cupcakes they liked, and out of all the choices I offered, they said chocolate cake with chocolate icing -OR- chocolate chip cookie cupcakes. Personally, I think anyone who really enjoys baking, also wants to show off their baking… so I opted to make the more complicated “chocolate chip cookie cupcakes.” 

Silly, silly me. 

I’ve made chocolate chip cookie cupcakes in the past, but never as a vegan recipe without eggs. So I attempted to try a shortcut and made a gluten-free box cake mix recipe with an egg substitute (a mix of water, baking powder, and oil), but I knew trying to replace 4 eggs would be tricky. And anytime you use a LOT of baking powder, you generally taste it in the final product. Surprisingly to me, the batter tasted great… but the finished product? A total flop. They tasted terrible and I wasted a perfectly good gluten-free cake mix. Oh well. 

Then I spent about an hour looking at gluten-free vegan yellow cake recipes online. There are plenty to choose from, but I was hesitant to try any recipe with a lot of additional baking powder or baking soda. I finally decided to start with a recipe from Allergylicious. Many of the vegan cake recipes I saw were based on wartime “crazy cakes” or “wacky cakes”, or cakes that were made when things like milk and eggs were rationed during war times. Those cakes tended to have more oil than a traditional cake and increased leavening powder. If baking soda was used, an acid like white vinegar or apple cider vinegar was added to activate the soda to rise. Baking powder already has an acid added (cream of tartar) so it doesn’t need an additional acid. Some recipes even called for using both, which also helped with creating a better rise on the final product. 

From the comments I read on the Allergylicious post, I decided to cut back slightly on the gluten-free flour and add a tablespoon of ground psyllium husks, which helps to hold the shape of risen baked goods, along with adding texture that is similar to wheat. I also added a little bit of turmeric to add yellow color, which would normally come from egg yolks, and I added butter extract (in addition to vanilla extract) to better replicate the flavor of a yellow cake. Finally, I added ½ cup of Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips. The mini chocolate chips are key, because they aren’t heavy enough to weigh down the batter and sink to the bottom while baking. 

The cupcakes rose beautifully and I went with store bought shortcuts to finish them. I frosted with store-bought vanilla icing and decorated them each with a half of a Cybel’s ‘Free to Eat” allergen free chocolate chip cookie. They are my favorite store bought gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and they just happen to be vegan as well.  If you DO want to make your own homemade gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, I highly suggest my award-winning recipe, but I might be biased!

Gluten-Free Vegan Yellow Cake Recipe &

Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

The recipe is adapted from: Allergylicious.com 

It’s also Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Vegan, and Soy-Free

Makes 2 - 8” cake rounds, 18 cupcakes, or 1 - 9 x 13 baking dish

Printable version of this recipe

Dry Ingredients

2 ¾ cups all-purpose gluten-free flour for baking (I used King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure flour)

1 ½ cups white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon turmeric (for yellow color - OPTIONAL)

1 tablespoon psyllium powder (for helping hold the texture of the cupcakes when they rise, fiber is a bonus)

Wet Ingredients

2 cups non-dairy milk (I used oat milk, but only because my store was out of my normal almond milk)

2 tablespoons white vinegar

⅔ cups extra virgin olive oil (or any oil that doesn’t have a lot of flavor)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon butter extract or flavoring

Add-In’s: 

½ cup mini chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life Allergen-Free Mini-Chocolate Chips)

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

• If making cake in round cake pans, line pans with parchment paper rounds and/or non-stick cooking spray, or line cupcake pans with paper liners, if using a 9x13 pan, spritz with non-stick cooking spray. 

• In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients. 

• In another bowl whisk together all wet ingredients. 

• Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk together until ingredients are well incorporated and smooth, there should be no lumps. 

• Allow batter to rest for 10 minutes to allow the psyllium to thicken the batter. 

• After resting the batter, whisk the batter again, it should be thickened,  IF you are making the chocolate chip cupcakes, then gently stir in the mini chocolate chips, if you just want a yellow cake, leave out the chocolate chips.

• Add batter evenly to round cake pans, a 9x13 greased baking dish, or evenly into individual cupcake liners. If making cupcakes, fill nearly to the top. 

• Baking times: for cupcakes = 18-20 minutes, for 8” round cake pans = 30-35 minutes, for a 9x13” baking dish = 30-35 minutes. 

• Test the cake for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the middle of the cake or cupcake. It should come out mostly clean, with a crumb or two, you don’t want to see wet batter coating the toothpick. 

• When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from pans, and then frosting & decorating. 

Kitchen Notes: 

• Turmeric. The turmeric for color is completely optional, leave it out or don’t use it if you don’t have it. 

• Sugar. You can probably use other types of sugar in this recipe if you don’t want to use white sugar. But I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know how it would turn out. If you use a liquid sugar like honey or maple syrup, you may want to decrease the other liquids by ⅓ of  a cup. 

• Psyllium husk powder. This is relatively easy to find on Amazon or in your local health food store. If you don’t want to use this, then increase the all purpose flour to 3 cups instead of 2 ¾ cups and just leave it out altogether. However, I have not made it without the psyllium, so I can’t guarantee the cake will come out as well. 

• Non-dairy milk. Honestly, I think you can use whatever milk you prefer. Coconut milk, almond milk, even dairy milk will work fine in this recipe if that is what you would prefer to use. 

• Olive oil. If you do not have or do not like to use extra virgin olive oil, I would recommend using a light tasting vegetable or coconut oil. If you can use butter all the better. If you do use butter, you can leave out the butter flavoring. 

Kitchen wisdom for today's recipe:

photo from wikipedia.com

• 
  

• “I want people to fall in love with themselves and to be really proud and full of joy for the space they take up. If someone else appreciates the space you take up, then that’s icing on the cake.” — Jonathan Van Ness

Need another serving? 

Please join me on facebook.com/Gingerlemongirlblog to share any comments and/or questions that you may have about today’s recipe. Happy gluten-free baking! 

Small Batch Peach Scones from In Jenny's Kitchen

The first recipe I ever tried from Jenny was peanut butter pie. Her husband had passed away and she was trying to find ways to honor his memory. So we made peanut butter pie. His favorite.

I've followed Jenny's journey through the past few years and I admire her resilience, tenacity, and willingness to share her personal struggles. I also love her writing style. One day, when her daughters are older, I believe they will treasure the love she has so beautifully penned through the trials and transitions in their lives after the death of their father.

Scones have been a hot topic among my foodie co-workers lately. Kerry and Elizabeth have both been gushing over a recipe for whole wheat ricotta scones shared from Smitten Kitchen several years ago. So when Jenny shared a small batch recipe for peach scones last week, I really wanted to try them.  I love that the recipe is for a small batch. There are only two humans in our immediate family  (yep, the furrbabies are absolutely family)... and Michael isn't a huge baked goods fan (unless it's chocolate cake, brownies, or his favorite chocolate chip cookies!)... so when I find a small batch recipe, it's a great option for us!

Peaches are in season right now and I just happened to find a few perfectly ripe ones at the grocery store this morning. I made Jenny's recipe with a few basic adjustments to what I had on hand... and of course, made gluten-free.

Small Batch Peach Scones
Slightly Adapted from In Jenny's Kitchen
Makes 4 large scones
Gluten-Free, Vegetarian

• 1 peach, peeled & cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
• 1 cup Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour, plus extra for shaping
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons cold butter or shortening, cut into small bits
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon sour cream or heavy cream 
• Additional sugar for sprinkling on top

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the peach cubes in a small baking dish and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Roast the peaches for 10 minutes until they are fragrant and a bit jammy. 
2.  In a medium bowl whisk together 1/4 cup sugar, the gluten-free flour, baking powder, and salt. 
3. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a fork or a pastry/dough blender. 
4. In a smaller bowl, mix together the egg yolk and sour cream or heavy cream. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix into a sticky dough. If your dough is too dry and crumbly, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it's a shape-able dough. 
5. Add the roasted peaches and mix evenly through the dough. 
6. Sprinkle additional gluten-free flour onto a board or parchment paper and pour the dough out onto the floured surface. 
7. Shape the dough into a thick circle or a really large biscuit. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 4 scones. 
8. Place the 4 scones onto a greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle the scones with the additional sugar, if you have large grained natural cane sugar all the better, but plain sugar is fine too. 
9. Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden brown and eat warm :-) Enjoy!

Snickerdoodles

This summer my grad school program decided to offer classes in 2, 5-week summer sessions. I decided to stick with one class during the first summer session, (please don't ever make me take a research methods and statistics class in 5 weeks again...) which means I actually have the rest of the summer to chill... and bake!

I started the weekend by making a traditional flan recipe for a dinner party. The hardest part to me was caramelizing the sugar (I tried the recipe twice and it's gonna take some practice)... however it was delicious and devoured at the party, so win win.

After the dinner party, we were sent home with leftovers of chicken ropa vieja and scratch black beans. Such good food! Send your guests home with leftovers and they'll love you forever!

However, when you're sent home with leftovers, it means you have a dish to return. And being raised with good southern manners, I like to return a dish filled with treats.. Which gave me a good reason to crack out the mixing bowls and make cookies!

I debated what kind of cookies to make our friends. I thought about the classic chocolate chip, my favorite peanut butter... but for some reason snickerdoodles kept coming to mind. Snickerdoodles are old fashioned simple vanilla cookies that are coated with cinnamon and sugar.

They were some of the first cookies I learned to make as a child, and there's just something cozy and warm about them. They are the perfect cookies to pair with a hot cup of tea and a good book. Cliched maybe, but a good "librarian" cookie!

Snickerdoodles
free of gluten, dairy, and soy
adapted from the recipe in Southern Living Christmas Cookies c. 1986, pg. 62
makes 24 cookies

Wet Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Coating Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon 

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Line a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet
3. In a small bowl mix together the coating ingredients and set aside. 
4. In a medium mixing bowl cream together the shortening with the sugar. Add the egg & vanilla extract and stir until smooth and creamy. 
5. In a separate bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. 
6. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until fully incorporated. The dough will be firm, but not dry. 
7. Roll the dough into balls by teaspoons. Roll the balls into the coating mixture and place on a baking sheet 1" apart. 
8. Flatten the cookies into circles with the bottom of a glass. 
9. Bake 6-8 minutes until cookies are golden. 
10. Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool COMPLETELY before removing from the pan. They are fragile and will break if you don't allow them to cool completely!
11. Enjoy with a cup of hot tea or a big tall glass of milk! 

Simple Gluten-Free Banana Nut Muffins and Fall Photos

I've made quite a few banana nut muffins over the years... such as these, and these, and even these... but yesterday I just wanted the easiest recipe I could find.

I flipped through my baking cookbook and found a recipe that used my "master baking mix" (you could substitute gluten-free bi$quick or your favorite all-purpose GF baking mix) but I didn't have any on hand...  so I made it work for what I did have on hand:

Simple Gluten-Free Banana Nut Muffins
gluten-free, can be dairy-free, no xanthan or guar gums, can be egg-free
serves 12
print-friendly recipe

Dry Ingredients: 
2 cups gluten-free flour of YOUR choice -OR- my current favorite blend:
     -2/3 cup brown rice flour
     -2/3 cup arrowroot starch
     -2/3 cup almond flour (I prefer Honeyville)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

Wet Ingredients:
2 medium bananas, mashed to oblivion (about 1 cup of banana puree)
2 large eggs (or egg substitutes)
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup non-dairy milk mixed with 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice)
2 tablespoons lite olive oil -or- melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
• Line a muffin pan with paper liners and spritz them with non-stick cooling oil or lite olive oil.
• In a large bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. 
• In a smaller bowl whisk together all wet ingredients.
• Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients and just mix until all the dry ingredients have been thoroughly incorporated into the wet ingredients. 
• Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, spoon batter into a greased or paper-lined muffin tins until at least 3/4 full - but you can fill to the top, they will just rise taller.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes, testing the middle with a toothpick inserted in the middle (should come out clean) to make sure the muffins are done. 
• Cool on a wire rack and serve. These muffins can be stored on the counter for up to 3 days and they will retain their moisture. I would freeze them in small packages after that. 

*********

Michael's mom playing with Charlie during a recent visit... 

In other news... I'm headed towards the end of my first graduate class and trying to get caught up on my last few assignments... because this final paper is not going to write itself...

Michael had a double ear-infection over the past week and I hope I NEVER have to see him go through something like that again. Talk about serious pain. I felt so bad for him. Thankfully after 3 trips to the doctor and 2 rounds of antibiotics + a huge antibiotic shot over the past three weeks, he's doing much better. And trust me on this one...after all that medication, give your loved ones probiotics... probiotics are the bee's knees my friends! Do it people!

I can't believe how FAST this semester has flown by.... I'm not sure if it's because I'm older and time in general seems to go by faster now or if school just has a way of making life do that... but I kinda wish it would slow down a bit! :-)

Happy Fall Everyone!

This guy has been lurking in the pecan tree over the past few weeks! We still can't believe he let Michael get this close!

Best buddies for life! Charlie & Whiskey Jack

So THIS was the publication that people
found a familiar face in... 

It's actually a 2nd printing from last year, which was why I was so surprised to see it!
Fun to see yourself in the drug store magazine selection though! :-) 

Our super sweet niece Cheyenne... 

Cheyenne decided I needed a friend to take home with me...
heart = melted!

Michael took this at the duck pond at work one morning. I love fall sunrises! 

Michael and his siblings.  So good to see them all together!

Fall decluttering... it took two loads to get it all in the car to Goodwill... and I'm not done yet...

Charlie's favorite spot!

A favorite shot of my father-in-law.. love this guy!

Gluten-free cupcakes I made for a friend's birthday.
I loved how the frosting turned out (Good ol' Pillsbury...). Used this recipe. 

All the snuggles and the sticking out of tongues!

Afternoon Coffee, Procrastination, and Peanut Butter Cookies

Don't judge... Yes, that's instant coffee! I'm the only one who drinks coffee in the GLG household, I don't like the environmental impact of K-cups.. and let me tell you, Nescafe is darn better than Sanka (well, Sanka circa 1990 which tasted like charcoal.. I haven't tried it lately though... ;-) 

It's a quiet Sunday, I was enjoying a small afternoon cup of coffee and I pulled out my "Introduction to Library and Information Science" to begin reading chapters 8, 9, 10  for my assignment next week and then it dawned on me, it was a great time to make cookies.  I know, I thought it was brilliant timing too! 

My favorite peanut butter cookies are the ol'  "1 cup of peanut butter + 1 cup sugar + 1 egg" recipe... but I didn't want to use THAT much peanut butter (do you know how expensive peanut butter is these days?) or THAT much sugar... or really...let's be honest...do I need THAT many cookies?

Probably, I don't need any cookies...

A few months ago I bought a used hardback copy of the 1974 edition of the Joy of Cooking. I wanted to get a copy I could actually use since the beloved paperback that my Dad had when I was growing up, is literally falling apart.

I love that cookbook. His favorite chocolate chip cookies came from Ms. Irma Rombauer and probably a bunch of other meals we used to eat growing up like meatloaf, oyster stew, and chicken a' la King. I wonder where Irma learned to make chicken a' la King.

These are basically the peanut butter cookies in Joy of Cooking (1974 ed.), but I made them gluten-free (of course) and halved the recipe. You could easily make this recipe egg free, If you choose to do that I would replace it with 1 tablespoon of water mixed with 1 teaspoon of ground flax seeds. Stir that mixture together and allow it to 'gel.'

If you decide to double the recipe below, just use a whole egg instead of an egg white (or double up on the flax seed substitute.)

Basic Peanut Butter Cookies
adapted from the 1974 edition of 'Joy of Cooking' by Irma Rombauer
gluten-free, soy-free, easily egg-free, vegetarian
yields 30 - 1.5" cookies

Wet Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine of choice, (or even extra peanut butter if you're a big fan)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (we like chunky, all natural)
• 1 egg white (or 1 tablespoon water mixed with 1 teaspoon ground flaxseeds)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Dry Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup arrowroot starch (or starch of choice -- potato starch, cornstarch, tapioca starch, etc...)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 
2. In a large bowl cream together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and peanut butter, until creamy and fluffy.
3. Stir in the egg white and vanilla. 
4. In another bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. 
5. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until you have a sticky, slightly wet cookie dough. 
6. Drop batter by small spoonfuls (about a teaspoon and a half per cookie) onto the cookie sheet. Placing a few inches between each cookie - we make 12 cookies per batch. 
7. Flatten cookies by gently pressing with the back of a fork in a criss-cross pattern. To keep the fork from sticking to the cookie, dip in granulated sugar between criss-crosses. 
8. Bake for 11-14 minutes until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. 

Grain-Free, Gluten-Free Yellow Cupcakes Recipe

My friend Pamela posted a message on facebook the other day asking for basic grain-free, gluten-free cupcakes. Eggs were fine, sugar was fine...she just wanted a grain-free cupcake that she could serve to friends and family.

When she asked I was intrigued. I knew Pamela was also intolerant to coconut (as I am) and many grain-free cupcake recipes call for coconut flour. I knew that was out for Pamela and I wondered how we could come up with a fluffy, delicious cupcake that her gluten-eating guests would enjoy.

I decided to play around with my almond flour scones recipe to see what I could come up with. I always liked the texture of that recipe and how easy it worked. I like the combination of almond flour with arrowroot starch. It gives a good crumb to baked goods and it just "feels" like you're eating a wheat-based dessert. I loved that with that recipe in particular it looked like a regular scone, was not only gluten-free but lower in carbs than your average gluten-free baked good.

So here's what I came up with! Please note the intial recipe does have a bit of an "eggy" flavor, almost like a rich pound cake (thanks for reminding me of that Dad!)... While I like the flavor, I was concerned that it might be off-putting to other cupcake lovers... so I've included notes at the bottom of the recipe on how to only use 2 eggs, so the cupcakes won't have as strong of an egg taste. If you try the "less eggs" version, I'd love to know how it turned out for you and what substitute you used! Despite the "pound-cake" type flavor, the cupcakes themselves are quite light & fluffy, which is a feat with almond flour baked goods!

Also... use whatever frosting you prefer! If you need grain-free, lower sugar frostings, check out the frostings from Elana's pantry... honestly, I was a fan of these lovely cupcakes just the way they were without a fancy frosting!

Fluffy Gluten-Free, Grain-Free Yellow Cupcakes
Free of gluten, dairy, grains, soy
Created by Carrie Forbes of Gingerlemongirl.com
Printer-friendly recipe

Yields: 12 Cupcakes or 1 - 9” layer cake

Dry Ingredients:
223 grams/ 2 (packed) cups, blanched almond flour
94 grams/ ¾ cup arrowroot starch
150 grams/ ¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:
154 grams/ 3 large eggs (see option for 2 eggs in notes below)
121 grams/ ½ cup + 1 tablespoon almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
61 grams/ ⅓ cup light-tasting olive oil (or other mild tasting oil)
1 tablespoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners and spritz liners with non-stick cooking spray or brush with olive oil or coconut oil.
2. In a large bowl whisk together all dry ingredients.
3. In a small bowl whisk together all wet ingredients. Stir wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly until you have a wet batter.
4. Spoon batter into greased cupcake liners until ¾ full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.
5. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before decorating with your favorite frosting.

Notes:

• To have a less “eggy” flavor, use 2 eggs and add an additional ¼ cup of any of the following: applesauce, pumpkin puree, mashed bananas, pureed sweet potatoes or butternut squash. To keep the cupcake tasting very vanilla-y, use applesauce instead of the other options. 
• Milk: Use whatever milk substitute you would like. If you can use dairy milk, feel free to use that as well. 
• Sugar: Feel free to use coconut palm sugar or unrefined cane sugar in the same amount as the sugar. I'm not exactly sure how to use honey or maple syrup, as you would need to adjust the liquids in this recipe as well. 
• Egg-Free? NO idea... I haven't tried it completely egg-free, and I'm not sure how well it would work... however, if you try it and it works out well for you, please let me know how you did it!

New Gluten-Free Products at ALDI Grocery Stores

I first visited an ALDI grocery store after I had graduated from college and was living in my tiny little first apartment. It was perfect for me because I was BROKE and I needed affordable groceries. I lived off canned and boxed foods at the time and ALDI was a perfect fit. Tons of cans of vegetables for less than .40 a can, I made a lot of vegetable soups and had lots of canned fruits along with rice, pasta, and even fresh veggies for incredibly good prices. ALDI was a lifesaver for me, especially when my budget incredibly limited before I was married.

I stopped frequently shopping at ALDI when I went gluten-free in 2007 mainly because they didn't offer many gluten-free items other than naturally gluten-free foods.

HOWEVER, I found out this week that for a LIMITED time ALDI will now be selling an incredibly diverse line of gluten-free products. The supply is limited and you should probably run out and grab these items before they are gone. IF you really enjoy the products, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go to ALDI'S website and leave them a message saying you'd LOVE to have these products available ALL the time. I get the feeling that many of these products are name brands we pay big bucks for in a regular grocery store.

Over the next two weeks I hope to test out these products I picked up on Monday night to let you know what I think of them and how they worked out. If you try any of the products I didn't pick up (like the dessert baking mixes or the frozen products, I'd LOVE to know what you think of them! PLEASE send me an email or a comment on this post to let me know what you tried and what you thought of it!

THE BEST thing about these great products SO FAR, quite simply is the GREAT prices (and the fact, I'm pretty sure they are name-brand items just re-branded by ALDI.) Below I've listed what I paid for each product. These products are at least half the price if not 1/3 less expensive than what you would pay in any other grocery store for gluten-free products.

Gluten-Free Penne Pasta (like Heartland brand) $1.29 (10-12 servings) for 16 ounces

Gluten-Free Multigrain Snack Crackers (like Crunchmaster) for $1.49 for 4.25 ounces

Gluten-Free Pizza Crust Mix for $2.99 for 16.5 ounces (makes 1 large pizza)

Gluten-Free Baking Mix (like Gluten-Free Bisquick) for $2.99 for 16 ounces

Gluten-Free Rice Pasta & Cheddar Cheese Mix (Like Kraft Mac & Cheese) for $1.49 for 6 ounces

Gluten-Free Rosemary & Olive Oil Multigrain Snack Crackers (like CRUNCHMASTER brand) for $1.49 for 4.25 ounces

GLG Disclosure: 

I purchased these gluten-free products from ALDI on my own dime because I wanted to try them out. I was not compensated or given free product by ALDI grocery stores or asked to do a review.  

The opinions and photography in this post are completely my own.

Recipe Review: Gluten-Free Goodness' Divine Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cheryl is a dear friend. a wise counsel, and a darn good cook! She shared these cookies last week on her blog and I had to try them! I love using lower glycemic, gluten-free (or even grain-free) flours for making baked goods for myself. My husband prefers "regular" gluten-free baked goods, but I need to keep an eye on my carbohydrate intake, so I enjoy making treats like this that I can enjoy and not feel guilty about eating! 

These cookies were SO easy to make and they are just so tasty. 

Cheryl's recipe is unique for several reasons:

• Instead of using butter, palm shortening, or even coconut oil or butter... Cheryl gets creative and uses homemade macadamia nut butter for the fat. It works just beautifully and adds a rich and creamy and even BUTTERY (with no dairy!) texture to the cookies! Check out how to make the macadamia nut butter on Cheryl's blog post!

• Instead of chocolate chips (which I did use, just because we had them), she suggests using a 70% or higher content chocolate bar chopped up for the chocolate bits in the cookies. I have to admit, I prefer cookies made with a chopped up high quality chocolate bar, than using chocolate chips, they just seem to have a more gourmet flair and seem to taste better! 

• NO refined sugars! Cheryl uses maple syrup to sweeten the cookies and I have to say, I was skeptical at how well that would work. And I can tell you, it works perfectly! I loved the sweetless level and amazingly it doesn't really impart a "maple" flavor to the cookies. 

• Cheryl also suggests using ground vanilla beans, or vanilla bean paste to create the cookies and I WISH I had some on hand, because both give SUCH an amazing flavor to cookies, much more deep and vanilla-y, than just extract! If you have ground vanilla beans or the paste on hand, definitely use them!

So please hop over to Cheryl's blog and check our her recipe! Tell her I sent ya and let me know what you think about these cookies! Cheryl additionally has a great collection of recipes, along with wonderful posts about self-care and learning how to become who you really are. I value her friendship and her guidance more than she'll ever know!

(And if you have time to make her red lentil dal, cinnamon apple millet, celery in chestnut sauce, OR her sweet potato pie... oh you MUST! They are wonderful and just a few of my favorite recipes from her lovely site!) 

Gluten-Free Streusel-Topped Blueberry Muffins 2.0

I started making these muffins back in 2008 and I still love them! I make them a bit differently now than I did back then. I don't use as many gluten-free flours (the less complicated the better!), I don't use fake margarine anymore (Velveeta is a different story...), but I sure do still whip those egg whites! 

These muffins are just so pretty I felt like I should showcase them again. There are four components to the muffins, the wet ingredients, the dry ingredients, the streusel ingredients, and whipping the egg whites... so technically you might need to get four bowls dirty to create these beauties. But honestly, I don't think you'll regret it. It's worth washing 4 bowls. 

The muffins are perfect for a brunch or even as dessert and I think they will travel well. I'm actually going to test out that theory tomorrow on a trip to see some good friends in Richmond, Va.

You could of course use any other berries for these muffins. Even chocolate chips, banana bits, chopped peaches or apples, etc... One thing I've learned though is definitely measure out those berries. While the fruit (or blueberries) are the showcase of these muffins, if you go overboard the batter will become too wet and the muffins will be gooey in the middle. Nobody wants a gooey muffin.

So here's the revised recipe, simply updated to using the ingredients that I now keep on hand in my pantry. I hope you'll enjoy them either by using the original recipe or the one below!

Gluten-Free, Streusel-Topped Blueberry Muffins
--created by Carrie Forbes author of Gingerlemongirl.com
--free of gluten, dairy, and soy
--printer-friendly recipe

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1 cup arrowroot starch
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients: 

• 2 egg yolks
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup light-tasting olive oil or melted butter

Streusel Topping:

• 3 tablespoons brown rice flour
• 2 tablespoons GF oats or blanched almond flour
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons butter or coconut oil

Glaze:

• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1-3 teaspoons orange juice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, applesauce, almond milk, olive oil or melted butter and sugar. Add the flour mixture to the egg yolk mixture and fold just until combined. Fold in blueberries.
4. In another bowl whip egg whites until stiff. SLOWLY fold the whipped egg whites into the muffin batter. (If you still see streaks or clumps of egg white that is OKAY, it does NOT have to be completely incorporated!)
5. Spoon batter into a greased or paper-lined muffin tins (makes 10-11 large/ bakery-sized muffins or 24 mini-muffins).
6. In a small bowl, mix together streusel topping ingredients. Sprinkle evenly over unbaked muffins.
7. Bake for 18-21 minutes. Depending on the temperature of your oven, you may have to bake muffins longer. They are done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. If you hit a blueberry while testing it will stain your toothpick purple! 
8. Cool muffins on a wire rack.
9. Mix glaze ingredients together. Only add enough orange juice to give the glaze the consistency you desire. Drizzled on completely cooled muffins. Enjoy!