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! 

Restaurant Review: zpizza, North Raleigh

Roasted Tomato Pesto Pizza on a gluten-free crust at zpizza in North Raleigh!

It's amazing how far my small town has come in the past 5-6 years as far as having gluten-free resources readily available! Between Harris Teeter, Walmart, Target (and soon ALDI), we have a ton of options for gluten-free baking supplies, mixes, and even bread... However pizza is still a different story.

For pizza, we make a special trip to Raleigh! And that's okay... it makes it a fun outing and something that you really enjoy when you get!

Several years ago Mellow Mushroom was my favorite place to go, but the past few times we've gone the wait has been super long and the parking in downtown Raleigh, is no easy task... so we headed to zpizza instead. There's also a zpizza in downtown Raleigh, but we were trying to get away from the traffic, so we sought out the North Raleigh location instead.

One thing I really love about zpizza is it's focus on whole, natural foods. Not every ingredient is organic, but they have 100% certified organic tomato sauce and non-GMO flours for their pizza. (I'm not sure if the gluten-free pizza is also non-GMO, but the regular crust is.)

The pepperoni is preservative-free and the chicken breast is hormone-free.  The mozzarella is from grass-fed cows and is RBGH-Free, and they offer AWESOME gluten-free and vegan options. NEARLY any pizza on the menu can be made on the gluten-free crust, and they use Daiya vegan cheese, so no soy for those of you who need to be dairy-free and soy-free as well!

I really love this handsome dude! :-) 

I had the Roasted Tomato Pesto Pizza on a gluten-free crust, which I LOVE because the sauce is not tomato-based (and my tummy has tomato issues!) The pizza was AWESOME! I love the crispy thin gluten-free crust, and the pesto was fanstastic. It tasted super fresh and with the fresh basil and mozzarella, it was lip-smackin' good! The pizza had just a handful of fresh cherry tomatoes on top that get caramelized and roasted as it bakes and it was absolutely delicious! Just the right amount of tomato for this nightshade-sensitive gal!

Michael had the All American pizza on a regular crust and was a very happy camper! It's great to go somewhere we both get an option and I still know I can get a safe gluten-free pizza!

We're big fans! If you have a zpizza nearby check it out! :-)

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!

Frugal Accomplishments - April 2014

free image courtesy of Pixabay.com

I realized yesterday that I didn't do a Frugal Accomplishments post for April. So here ya go! Here are a few things we did over the month to continue on a money-saving, (gluten-free) frugal-living journey! 

• Cash Only - Continued using cash only for all purchases outside of gas and our monthly Amazon order. This one trick helps us cut extra spending probably more than ANYTHING else we do! If you only have a limited supply of cash, things that you thought you "needed" suddenly don't seem very important anymore. 

• $1000 Emergency Fund - FINALLY established and we didn't touch it all month. That was a major accomplishment. We technically had it the past several months, but always ended up having expenses that we needed to dip into it for. Thankfully in April we were able to keep it intact and didn't use it. 

• Frugal Exercise - I finally started exercising again (I've been "fighting" this exercise thing for the past 2 years! lol) But I FINALLY gave in to start walking again, I just wanted too to be honest. I think it was finally the right time. And we had to do this on a budget. I'm wearing the same tennis shoes I've warn for two years, I'm walking outside on days it's not too hot, and I'm using old leslie sansone walking dvd's in the living room on other days. I listen to books on tape when I'm walking outside (I do think my audible subscription is completely worth the money!), and I'm getting lots more fresh air and sunshine. Some days I even do my walk at work around the Duck Pond! :-) 

• Frugal Exercise Seminar - My work offered free attendance to an online webinar during work hours that was about fitness, why it's important, and the benefits of starting an exercise program. While I didn't really get anything new out of the program, I appreciated that my work offered it to people for free and we could attend it during work hours. It was a nice break and a good reminder why I need to start exercising on a regular basis. 

• Frugal traveling: SW VIRGINIA GLUTEN-FREE EXPO - This was the 2nd time I've attended this Expo in my hometown of Roanoke, VA and I really enjoyed it. We made the trip frugal by staying with friends for the weekend (instead of a hotel) and we ate lots of frugal meals we packed ourselves and stuck to our cash supply for anything we needed to purchase during the trip. I was given some great gift-cards for speaking at the conference, so we treated ourselves to some gluten-free groceries from Kroger's along with some fun stuff from Amazon. 

• Re-purposing leftovers - I turned leftover chili into meat for tacos. We added leftover rice and corn to scrambled eggs for breakfast. I saved all leftover pieces of bread or cornbread to make sausage stuffing for a meal later. 

• Make-Ahead Breakfasts for Work- Several weeks in a row I made 2 loaves of Luce's GF Artisan Bread on Sunday nights. I sliced up the loaves and froze them and we had bread with boiled eggs or mini quiches for breakfast at work. I want to do this again this month! There's something wonderful about simple bread & eggs for breakfast during the week! 

photo from http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/mini_mushroom_sausage_quiches.html

Quick Mini Quiches (No Crust!)

Created by Carrie Forbes of gingerlemongirl.com

• 10 eggs
• 1/2-3/4 cup chopped pepperoni
• 1/2 cup chopped green peppers
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1-2 teaspoons dried sundried tomatoes
• 1-2 teaspoon dried shallots
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese
• 1 teaspoon italian seasoning

Mixed it all together and then spooned into very well greased muffin pans. (it made 18 mini quiches) baked them for about 18 minutes at 350 degrees until they were puffy and golden brown on top. We have each had two each morning for breakfast with gluten-free bread. Super easy, super tasty! (Photo from eating well.com, but they looked alot like that!!)

• Pantry/Freezer "Shopping" - For most of our meals over the month of April I FIRST "shopped" in our pantry and freezer before shopping the sales at Food Lion. This really revamped how I made meals for the month and I plan on doing pantry/freezer cooking a lot more often. It definitely kept our grocery bills down. 

• Essential Oils for Holistic Health - I've been using essential oils for several years, but in the past few months I really "upped' our usage of them to help with headaches, seasonal allergies, and in our aroma diffusers in place of candles in our house. I use several different brands of oils. My favorite "brand" is Doterra, but they are very pricey. I know quality is important in purchasing therapeutic oils, but budget also has to be considered, so I found another brand called Eden's Garden to use especially when I'm diffusing oils and adding them to homemade cleaners, etc... Either way, essential oils are a great tool to use. I've been reading a kindle version of this book to learn more about the best ways to use essential oils: The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy. 

How have you been frugal this month? 

Product Review: gardenlites™ Veggie Muffins

Product: gardenlites™ Veggie Muffins

Last week I received a big box of gardenlites™ Veggie Muffins to try. I was sent five different varieties (was rather blown away by that! I was expecting maybe 1 box! lol), and Michael and I have tried two of them so far. Since they were individually packaged, we took them with us to work for snacks and/or for breakfast. ALL of the muffins are gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and soy-free, and are PACKED full of vegetables! What I really love (in addition to the allergen-free goodness) is that these muffins have 5 grams of fiber EACH, plus 3 grams of protein! 

They are low in sugar and the main ingredient in each muffin is a veggie! So far we have tried the Carrot Berry Muffins and the Blueberry Oat Muffins. Next on my list to try is the Zucchini Chocolate Veggie Muffins! The company doesn't necessary market the products as gluten-free, because they want them to be seen as a healthy baked item for all folks, not just the gluten-free crowd!  

To give you an example of the nutritional info (which you can also EASILY find on the gardenlites website - I love that!), here's what you'll find in the Carrot Berry Muffins, which are so far my favorite variety: 

Nutritional Info: 

• Calories: 120 for one muffin
• Total Fat: 2 grams
• Cholesterol: 20 milligrams
• Sodium: 250 milligrams
• Total Carbohydrates: 24 grams
• Dietary Fiber: 5 gram
• Sugars: 11 grams
• Protein: 3 grams

Ingredients (for the Carrot Berry Veggie Muffins):  
Carrot, Pasteurized Egg Whites, Pasteurized Whole Eggs, Evaporated Cane Juice, Brown Sugar, Soluble Corn Fiber, Corn Starch, Sorghum Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Canola Oil, Dried Cherries (cherries, rice flour), Dried Blueberries (blueberries, sugar, sunflower oil), Dried Cranberries (cranberries, rice flour, sugar, sunflower oil), Baking Powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, corn starch, monocalcium phosphate), Potato Starch, Cinnamon, Salt, Vanilla Extract.

Other Current Flavors Include: 

• Golden Corn Veggie Muffins
• Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Veggie Muffins
• Zucchini Chocolate Veggie Muffins
• Blueberry Oat Veggie Muffins

Having these muffins in the freezer the past week has been a nice treat! When I needed a quick breakfast or snack, I grabbed one from the freezer. You can allow them to defrost on the counter or just pop them in the microwave for about 30 seconds to have a warm, "fresh-from-the-oven" tasting muffin!

I love that vegetables are the first ingredient in these gluten-free treats.  It can be pretty easy to incorporate fruits into other foods and baked goods, but vegetables can be a challenge. I think kids would really enjoy these muffins and they would be perfect for lunch boxes.

The muffins are quite moist and have a tender crumb. They are individually wrapped, which makes them very convenient. Also, for those concerned about the environment, they really don't have a lot of extra packaging which I really appreciated.
 
The gardenlites website is extremely consumer-friendly and easy to navigate and you can easily find where to purchase gardenlites products, along with ALL the ingredient and nutritional info for each product they carry (simply click on each product!). I really appreciate that they make it so easy for a consumer to find their information. I feel like when companies are proud of the products they carry, they are open and completely transparent about sharing their information.

These are muffins I would definitely purchase when they become available in my area!

GLG Disclosure: 

The product samples were sent to me by Gardenlites.com. to review on my blog if I CHOSE to do so. 

This is NOT a sponsored post and I did NOT receive monetary compensation. 

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

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.

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!

Banana Double Chocolate Almond Flour Donuts (gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, and grain free)

Today I woke up to gorgeous sunlight in my kitchen. When that sunlight hits the table just right at about 9am on Saturday mornings it's perfect for taking food photography! I'm no expert, but it's a great time to pull out the camera and practice different techniques and angles. I prefer natural morning light to any other type of light for photography. It just works SO well with food. Of course that means you end up baking a lot of breakfast items to take pictures of! :-)

Charlie thought they looked pretty dang tasty!

I asked Michael what he wanted me to make. He said waffles... except... I'm pretty sure I goodwill-ed the waffle iron in a kitchen purge. It didn't have a dual purpose in life... it just made waffles, so out it went! (This logic makes no sense to my husband! lol) But when you have a tiny kitchen and very limited cabinet space... out goes the waffle maker... but I think I'm getting side-tracked...

So then I started thinking donuts. I made vegan powdered sugar donuts last weekend when we had friends come over for dinner. My friend Heather is also gluten-free and hadn't had donuts in years, so we gladly ate donuts and coffee for dessert! The donuts were still on my mind. Even though, technically, a baked "cake-like" donut is basically a muffin in disguise, it just seems a lot more fun because it's round and has a hole in the center! lol... Funny how life plays little tricks on us like that isn't it! 

Below is the recipe for the donuts I came up with. I based the recipe loosely from the low glycemic chocolate donut recipe I have in my cookbook, "The Everything Gluten-Free Baking Cookbook."  Michael likes chocolate chip anything, so I thought that would be fun to throw in the batter. I also had some bananas that were a bit past their prime, so I used the banana in place of 1 egg and some additional liquids in the original recipe. I also used both almond flour and arrowroot starch, because I think the combination of the two give a great texture for gluten-free baked goods.

Banana Double Chocolate Almond Flour Donuts
--created by Carrie Forbes, author of Gingerlemongirl.com
--adapted from a recipe in "The Everything Gluten-Free Baking Cookbook"
--free of gluten, dairy, soy, and grains
--printer-friendly version

Yields: 6 large donuts

Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup (81 grams) blanched almond flour
1/2 cup (61 grams) arrowroot starch
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:
1 large (98 grams) banana
1 large (49 grams) egg
1/3 cup (56 grams) brown sugar
2 tablespoons light tasting olive oil
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Add In's:
1/3 cup (55 grams) chocolate chips

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spritz a large donut pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease with coconut oil or butter.
2. In a large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients. 
3. In a smaller bowl mash the banana with a fork until pureed. Stir in remaining wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until you have a wet batter. 
4. Spoon batter evenly into the donut pan for each donut. You should have exactly enough batter to fill each donut mold/indention about 3/4 full.
5. Bake for 10-13 minutes until donuts have doubled in size and are crisp and dark brown around the edges. 
6. Allow donuts to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack or plate to cool completely. 
7. IF DESIRED, you can create a white glaze for the donuts by simply mixing 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons water or almond milk. Dunk each donut in the glaze and allow to rest on the wire rack for an additional 20 minutes or so to let glaze harden.  Serve immediately. These donuts are best the day they are made, but will also freeze well. 

Frugal accomplishments for February 2014

Red Velvet Cupcakes from my baking book:
The Everything Gluten-Free Baking Cookbook

February's been a pretty good month so far. We've had our challenges, but overall I've enjoyed a lot of things that happened this month. My Dad is back in the hospital and that has been tough, because he was very sick when he went and his recovery has been very slow, but hopefully he is now on the mend.

We've been able to stick with our budget this month, going "cash only" for gas, groceries, and everyday necessities has been the best way to curb my overspending habits. It's definitely an inconvenience at times, but it's also brought about joys that I did not anticipate!

I've always been a quiet person by nature. Extremely introverted and I prefer doing things by myself or with my husband. But being cash only I've had to come out of my shell a bit. When you're looking for a bargain you often have to talk to people! You have to get out of the car. You have to shop in person, not online. Sometimes this is frustrating, but I've also met a lot of really awesome folks and I've learned to smile more. I've learned there is a HUGE difference between needs & wants.

A few frugal accomplishments this month have included: 

• A frugal Valentine's Day: Because the day was going to be low key financially, Michael and I found really creative ways to have fun and show our love. We made homemade cards, send small emails all day, I made Cheryl's homemade chocolates (for Michael, but I think I ended up eating them! LOL), I also made homemade gluten-free  red velvet cupcakes for a friend and we had a few leftover to celebrate the day. We spent dinner with no screens and just talked and really enjoyed our day. It was a wonderful Valentine's Day!

• Frugal traveling: With my Dad sick in the hospital we wanted to find frugal ways to visit him over the past few weeks. Thankfully I have some really great friends and we were able to stay with friends on our first visit. A week or so after our first visit Dad was transferred to UVA Medical Center in Charlottesville, VA so  I spent some time researching affordable places we could stay in Charlottesville. We found a truly wonderful resource called Alexander House Inn & Hostel. The facility has both a dorm-type facility (the hostel) where you share the large room for sleeping + a small kitchen area  + a shared bathroom, along with an inn that has several private rooms that you can rent for very reasonable prices. We rented a private room, hubs wasn't quite ready for the more frugal "dorm" option! lol (Not that I can really blame him...) You do share a bathroom with the rest of the inn visitors + all open spaces such as the kitchen area, dining area, and living room area. I LOVED how eco-friendly the inn was and how they encouraged recyclying, composting, and even harvesting rainwater for growing plants. It was an extremely relaxing place to be and was a welcome retreat after visiting with my Dad at the hospital. We met some other people visiting at Alexander House as well, but I never felt uncomfortable, and really enjoyed our private room. And surprisingly enough, it didn't seem strange to share a bathroom with people we didn't know. We never ran into a time when we needed it and it was occupied, so it worked out fine. (Oh admit it, you really wondered about that! lol! Especially if you have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, bathroom readiness is important! lol) Cute neighborhood as well and very close to the hospital. We also enjoyed the kitchen area and being able to make our own gluten-free meals in the inn. We took all of our food with us. This was incredibly helpful in saving money over the course of our trip.

• Frugal shopping: Bought 3 books at a used bookstore, will probably sell them on eBay after I'm through reading them. Bought bulk toiletry items from amazon. We won't have to restock on toilet paper or paper towels for months. (Hoping to also cut down on the amount of paper towels we use, would love to stop buying them completely one day.) 

• Frugal clothing: Patched my favorite pair of jeans in the hopes of getting another year's use out of them! The patches aren't even that noticeable! 

• Frugal reading: Downloaded an app from my local library to read ebooks. I read one book, but started having issues with the app even after removing it from my phone and reloading it. Will have to let the library know I had issues with it because I would love to use this resource on a regular basis! 

• Frugal Beauty & Hygiene Products: This month I started something I've wanted to do for a long time. As much as I enjoy using coupons to buy shampoo/conditioner/toothpaste/deodorant, etc... I've always wanted to learn how to make my own and go the "no (sham)poo" route with my hair. So I've made different homemade "lotions & potions" for shampoo, conditioner, and deoderant. I've been doing this about 3 weeks with fairly good results. It definitely takes some experimenting to find the right recipes that will work for your own personal body and hair, so I've learned a lot along the way. I'll share more of these homemade beauty product recipes once I feel confident they have been successful for me. 

• Frugal gluten-free bread: I found this recipe for gluten-free sourdough bread online and have been experimenting with it for several weeks. I've made 3 batches of bread with really good results. However this week something happened with my starter. It began to smell rather vinegary and not very sourdough-y, so I tossed it just in case it came in contact with some sort of bad bacteria or something. I am starting a new batch this weekend and I hope by next week I'll be able to make gluten-free sourdough again. The best thing about this bread is that if you can make it successfully, you don't need store-bought yeast (the wild yeast rises the bread), eggs, or milk. The bread is naturally vegan, frugal to make, and really delicious! 

• Frugal probiotics: A few years ago I tried making kombucha on a regular basis. Yeah, I'm kinda hippy dippy like that, and I do believe in the power of probiotics and their role in gut health. However, I just couldn't keep up with kombucha. It's kind of an involved process where you have to brew tea, let it cool to the right temperature, use the right types of sugar and tea and allow the tea to ferment for a week or so and then store it properly... and it's kind of like taking care of a baby... and this is probably a good reason I don't have kids! lol (Cats thankfully are pretty self-sufficient and are more than happy to tell me when they are hungry!) So enter water kefir. I liked the idea of water kefir and was willing to try it. I liked that it wasn't milk/dairy based and it sounded relatively easy to care for. You simply "feed" 1/4 cup of kefir grains about 3 tablespoons of brown sugar. Add enough water to fill your jar (I use a quart jar) and allow the kefir grains to ferment for 24-48 hours. (The longer you ferment, the less sweet the finished product will be.) Strain out the kefir grains and voila, you have water kefir. It's kind of like a slighly deflated soda and you can add different flavors such as lemon juice or lime juice or even fresh fruits and allow it to ferment longer to infuse the flavor of the fruits. A personal favorite combination for me is lime juice and ginger. This link will give you easy-to-follow, yet very detailed instructions on how to make water kefir. I bought my grains from amazon (since you really can seemingly buy EVERYTHING on amazon these days.) I've been fermenting the grains for about 3 weeks now and my grains have multiplied beautifully and are producing a very nice tasting water kefir. It sounds kind of strange, but it's a great way to get probiotics at a fraction of the cost of pills. Have you ever tried water kefir? I'll write a more detailed post about it later. 

What have your frugal accomplishments been this month? 

**These posts are inspired by my friend Carrie's monthly frugal accomplishments on her blog, "With all that I've been given" Please check out her wonderful blog and leave her some comment love! **