Gluten Free Vegan German Chocolate Cake Recipe

Gluten Free, Vegan German Chocolate Cake anyone? Anyone? I've made this cake twice during the past two weeks, first for a gluten free cookout with some dear friends & then for Easter Sunday. 

It was a hit. I had completely forgotten how much I LOVE German Chocolate Cake. I haven't had it in YEARS. It was memorable for me to make this cake because it was a favorite of my great-grandmother's. I miss her so much! I know she would have been proud of this cake. (Well she wouldn't have understood the point of the whole vegan thing, but that's okay! lol) 

This cake is actually quite simple to make! I simply took my favorite gluten free chocolate cake recipe and then added Susan of FatFreeVegan's German Chocolate Cake filling. I chose Susan's filling because it didn't use any artificial ingredients and I wanted a recipe that was casein free/ dairy free.

That's it! 

I did make some changes, but they were slight: 

• For a completely vegan cake, use my gluten free vegan chocolate cake recipe. 
• I used my regular gluten free chocolate cake and doubled the recipe so I would have two large layers. BUT I reduced the sugar to 1 cup total (or 1/2 cup per recipe). The german chocolate filling has so much sugar, I thought it was appropriate to lessen the amount in the cake. It worked just fine!
• For Susan's Vegan German Chocolate Cake Filling, I simply used almond milk in place of the soy milk and I cut the sugar back to 1 cup. I also used Bob's Red Mill unsweetened coconut flakes in place of sweetened coconut flakes. So I reduced the sugar in both recipes a good bit. Could anyone tell? Nope. 

That's all I changed. Everything else was the same and you can better believe I'll be making this dessert for YEARS to come! I loved making it. It was cathartic to me and very meaningful to know that I had learned how to make a gluten free version of one of the cakes my great-grandmother made when I was growing up!

I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have!

Thoughtfully,
Carrie

PS... I will be attending the Charlotte NC GF/AF Expo this weekend. If you're in the area, please stop by! Tickets are still available for $10 at the door -- a serious STEAL for the amount of programs being presented and the incredible number of vendors that will be there!!  I hope to meet you there!

Basic Gluten Free Pancakes Recipe 2.0

I originally shared this post  for basic gluten free pancakes on Tuesday February 23, 2010.  I'm proud to say this has been one of the most popular & enjoyed recipes on Gingerlemongirl! (Thanks Dad!) Today though I wanted to share a slight variation on the recipe to thicken the batter slightly without the use of gums.

Shauna over at Gluten Free Girl & The Chef has recently been experimenting with recipes that use no xanthan gum or guar gum. Here is her recent recipe for gluten free whole grain gum-free muffins! I plan on making these this week.  In 2008 and 2009 I also experimented with using little or no gums and I agree with Shauna, I think for most gluten free recipes you don't need them. I plan on creating more recipes this year without xanthan or guar gums. The biggest challenge in not using xanthan gum or guar gum is creating good tasting gluten free yeast breads, but we'll worry about that another day.

For now though... let's talk pancakes. These pancakes are great as is... but a question I've received often is how to make the batter a bit more thick. It's a thin batter because there is no xanthan gum or gluten to thicken it up. However, you can easily make this batter a bit more thick (and make pancakes just as delicious) by adding ground flax seeds that have been mixed with boiling, hot water to create a gel. This will thicken your batter -- not as much as xanthan gum would -- but enough to make a thicker batter that works great to get pancakes that are more round and have a better shape.



So if you tried these pancakes in the past, but wanted a thicker batter, here you go. The same recipe with a single addition of the ground flax seeds mixture. Please give these delicious & easy gluten free pancakes a try and tell me what you think!


Dad's Best Pancakes (Made Gluten Free)
-Or- Basic Gluten Free Pancakes
Adapted by Carrie Forbes @ Gingerlemongirl.com
(Free of gluten, casien, and soy)
(Printer-friendly recipe)

Dry Ingredients
3/4 cup brown rice flour -or- millet flour -or- sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
3 tablespoons gluten free rolled oats -- really adds some great thickness to the batter 
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
1 tablespoon canola or grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds + 2 tbsp. boiling hot water = mix & set aside for 5 min. to gel - then add to wet ingredients.

Directions:
In a medium sized bowl add all dry ingredients and whisk together thoroughly. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the vanilla, an egg, 1 cup of non-dairy milk, and the oil. Whisk wet ingredients together with dry ingredients until thoroughly mixed. You will have a very wet, but slightly thick batter that will cling to the whisk. Brush skillet or non-stick pan with olive oil or non-stick spray. Heat pan on medium high heat until it's hot enough to make a drop of water sizzle. Pour a few tablespoons - 1/4 cup of batter per pancake. Cook until bubbles form on the top and pop and the edges are slightly dry. Flip and cook the opposite side for 1-2 minutes. Serve piping hot with casein free margarine or ghee and real maple syrup!

Enjoy!

Thoughtfully,
Carrie

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe - Take 2

Sometimes even a great recipe needs a few changes.

These cookies were one of the first successful gluten free recipes I created. This recipe was originally posted in November 2007. The recipe has since won a gluten free baking contest, sparked chocolate chip cookie debates on the Gluten Free Recipe Swap Group, and been a great conversational dessert for gluten eating friends.

Yet, despite how good the cookies are, I have received quite a few emails from readers who had trouble making them. A few of the problems people have encountered:

- the cookies spread
- some people do not want to use Crisco for nutritional reasons
- the cookies turned out too gooey in the middle
- the cookies did not puff up, etc…

So... I’ve made some changes.

I’ve worked with this recipe for over 2 years and I’ve changed an ingredient, updated the technique of forming the cookies and I hope I’ve come up with a recipe that will bake up beautifully for you!

The original recipe is still the base. As a matter of fact I’ve only changed one ingredient. BUT… the method of baking is slightly different.

• When spooning the cookie dough onto the baking sheet only use about 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie. It doesn't sound like much, but the cookies will spread just enough to make a round 1"-2" cookie.

• When you are baking these cookies I highly recommend using a silpat mat or a sheet of parchment paper. Unfortunately no matter how you create them… gluten free baked goods just stick. Parchment paper (or a silpat mat) not only prevents the cookies from sticking, but it helps them to spread into their proper cookie shape.

• I also leave the cookies undisturbed on the parchment paper or mat after baking for about 20 minutes before putting them on a wire rack to finish cooling. This helps the cookies to cool into their shapes and helps the cookie structure “stay put.”

As far as the ingredient change, I started using Spectrum Palm shortening as the “fat” in the recipe. Unlike Crisco, the Spectrum Palm oil is completely free of trans-fats. Spectrum is organic and is 100% expeller pressed palm oil. I’ve found (after making these cookies many times) that you only need half the amount of palm oil compared to the Crisco. So while Spectrum Palm Shortening is more expensive, you’ll only use half as much!

Are you ready to try the *new* best gluten free chocolate chip cookies ever? I want to hear about your results!! Please email me at gingerlemongirl (at) gmail (dot) com or post a comment below!




The Best Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Created by Carrie @ http://www.gingerlemongirl.com
(Free of gluten, casein, and soy)

Wet Ingredients:
1/4 cup Spectrum Palm Shortening
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients:
1/2 cup tapioca flour -or- arrowroot starch (lately I've only been using arrowroot)
1/2 cup sorghum flour -or- millet flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. xanthan gum (optional)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Add In's:
6 oz. gluten free or allergen free chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl: cream butter with sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix together flours, salt, xanthan gum (opt.), baking powder, and baking soda. Slowly add flour mixture to butter and sugar mixture. Lastly, mix in chocolate chips. Place tablespoon sized dough portions 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat mat. Bake 7-9 minutes or JUST UNTIL edges are light brown.

(The cookies WILL NOT look completely cooked when you pull them out of the oven! That's what you want! That's part of the secret to these awesome cookies! DO NOT overbake them!)

Allow cookies to cool undisturbed on parchment paper or silpat mat on the cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes. Then move cookies to wire baking rack to continue cooling. Store cookies in an airtight container on the counter.

This recipe doubles easily.

(Printer-friendly recipe.)


Carrie's Cooking Notes:

• Xanthan gum is completely optional in this recipe, but I think adding just a tiny bit makes for a chewier gluten-free cookie and helps the cookie to retain its proper shape!

• Egg Free option: If you cannot have eggs, simply use 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds mixed with 3 tablespoons of warm water to replace the egg in this recipe. It still makes fantastic gluten free (egg free!) chocolate chip cookies!

• Sorghum flour -or- millet flour: I love both of these gluten free flours. Some people detect a bitter taste in sorghum flour, if that is the case for you, I definitely recommend using millet flour. It does not have a distinct taste and works beautifully in these cookies! The only downfall to using millet is it may create a very slight "grainy" texture in the cookies.

• Use of other "sugars" in this recipe: I don't recommend using a different type of sugar in this recipe. The basic white granulated sugar and brown sugar are very important for the structure of these cookies. Other sugars such as turbinado, demerera, or date sugar may not work correctly in the cookies when baking.
  

• Other fats: You can use other fats in this recipe such as 1/4 cup coconut oil, or butter... but you may not get the same crisp results as you get with the Spectrum Palm Shortening. I recommend trying the cookies with the palm shortening first.
  

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