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!

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!

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. 

Gluten-Free, Grain-Free Blueberry Coffee Cake

Over the weekend we attended one of our yearly family reunions. Even in this day and age of constantly new technology, our families still get together for several different reunions every year. And as with any family holiday or event... you really go for the food. Yes?

I've been "paleo-ish" for about 7-8 weeks now, so I really wanted to make a few dishes that I could definitely eat and that would hopefully appeal to others as well. While we really need some fresh groceries, I did have a fairly well stocked pantry so I made a "paleo" blueberry coffee cake - the FIRST baked good I've made in the past few months and I also was able to find enough ingredients in the fridge to create an "anti-pasta" platter!

I have to admit I really enjoyed creating both dishes. There's just something lovely about creating foods from scratch and I really enjoyed baking the coffee cake, something I haven't done in ages.

The anti-pasta platter was fun to put together as well. It was incredibly easy and turned out very pretty by the time I was finished. My friend Pamela over at "Aseafish Out of Water" often creates dishes like this, so I was thinking of her when I put together that platter of meats, cheese, and olives.

The coffee cake is adapted from one I found on "Paleo on Main." I changed a few ingredients and added blueberries, simply because I had a bunch in the freezer. I LOVED how this coffee cake turned out. I don't know if it's because I haven't had baked goods in so long, or because I've reduced my sugar intake so much, but it tasted incredibly sweet, even though it was only sweetened with a small amount of honey and the natural sugars from the blueberries. Definitely a win!

Gluten-Free, Grain-Free Blueberry Coffee Cake
adapted by Carrie Forbes from a recipe shared by: Paleo on Main
free of gluten, grains, dairy, white sugar, and soy
printer-friendly recipe

Cake Batter Ingredients:
2 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
1 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries

Streusel Topping Ingredients:
2-3 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup crushed pecans or walnuts
3 tablespoons butter or coconut oil, optional for dotting on top

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8x8 baking dish with coconut oil or butter and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together almond flour, arrowroot starch, baking soda, sea salt, and ground cinnamon. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in the coconut milk, eggs, honey, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine into a thick batter. Fold in the blueberries. Pour into the greased baking dishes. Spread evenly throughout the pan. In a small bowl whisk together the coconut palm sugar, cinnamon, and pecans. Sprinkle over the casserole and dot the top of the casserole with butter or coconut oil if desired. Bake for 35-45 minutes until a toothpick or knife inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean the crust is golden brown. Allow to cook  REST/COOL for 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving.

Easy Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookies

I really need to keep my "good" camera around my neck at all times.. because when I don't you are forced to suffer through my terrible phone camera pictures...

But you know what's funny? I really like the imperfection of the phone camera pictures. I love the grainy quality. It's like adding some cool instagram filter, minus instagram.

At any rate, here are some cookies for you. And this imperfect, grainy picture... it's comfortably fitting for these tasty treats. They aren't amazing bakery cookies. They are easy, simple 4-ingredient cookies for a sweet tooth fix. They are low glycemic, so they won't spike your blood sugar and then send you sinking down, down, down on a Tuesday afternoon.

They are easy, kid-friendly, snack-size little gems of almond flour and coconut palm sugar... and will make you smile.

Who needs perfection? Have a cookie instead!

Easy Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookies
free of gluten, dairy, soy, grains, and easily egg-free
printer-friendly recipe

Ingredients
2 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 cup - 3/4 cup coconut palm sugar (or: honey, sugar, maple syrup, date sugar...)
1 egg (or egg replacer, 1/4 cup applesauce would work just fine)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat. In a large bowl whisk together the almond flour and coconut palm sugar. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the egg (or egg replacer) and the pure vanilla extract. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until you have a very stiff and sturdy dough. It should be stiff enough to stir into a ball. If it's too crumbly (and it could be, depending on the humidity levels where you live), add water a teaspoon at a time, until the dough will stir into a stiff ball. Scoop the dough out with a cookie scoop and place 1" apart onto the cookie sheet. I usually get about 12 medium-size cookies. Shape them with your fingers into circular cookies and flatten them slightly with your palm. Bake for 12-15 minutes until cookies are a bit puffy and are golden brown around the edges. Allow cookies to cool for 10-15 minutes before eating... if you can wait that long!

Gluten-Free, Vegan, Cane Sugar-Free, Chocolate Chunk Cookies -- Adapted from Real Sustenance

YUM, right?! They really are. I rarely get so excited about making SOMEONE ELSE'S recipe... but this time I genuinely am. And well, like with nearly all recipes, I have to tweak them and change them along the way. I'm not really sure why... I think it might have something to do with having a rebellious personality... my grandmother always called me defiant... so maybe these are defiant chocolate chunk cookies.. who knows!

At any rate, Brittany Angell... the amazing author of the blog "Real Sustenance" and books: "The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guides" (Part 1 and Part 2) shared these cookies on her blog a few days ago. They reminded me of cookies I had seen on Elana's Pantry several years ago, sort of combined with chocolate chunk cookies from Lauren of Healthy Indulgences, also quite a few years back. I've made both of those cookies as well and hubs (the cookie monster at our house) thought both versions were pretty good (not as good as THESE chocolate chip cookies) but ate them all regardless. He's really not that picky when it comes to cookies.

So I played. I loved that Brittany made them vegan and offered a cane sugar-free and an agave-free version... But I remembered when I tried Lauren's version I threw in a hefty few tablespoons of ground flax seeds, because I love them. Love all that extra fiber, omega-3-fatty-acid-goodness, and the tiny bit of nutty flavor they add. So I added them. And because I went a little wild and crazy with the flavor extracts (ADD the almond extract -- TRUST ME -- it doesn't make them taste like cherries, it makes them AWESOME), I had a really wet dough and decided to throw in some arrowroot starch to thicken it up.

For the chocolate, I had 70% dark chocolate (3.5 oz) Lindt bars which I chopped into chunks.(These Lindt bars do not contain gluten ingredients, and the company uses stringent manufacturing practices to avoid cross-contamination, but it is a possibility and they are honest about it -- so use the chocolate you like best, if you're not a fan of Lindt.) One bar provided about 1 cup's worth of  "chocolate chunks" so it worked perfectly for this recipe!

I've made these cookies 4 times now... and they ARE really, really, REALLY awesome. I can't believe how delicious they turn out with no eggs, no gums, and no cane sugar. Right out of the oven they have an incredible crunch on the outside and a perfect chewiness inside. I can totally see why Brittany named them "Worlds Best Chocolate Chunk Cookies" --  cuz' they TOTALLY live up to the name, especially if you are limiting sugars and trying more lower glycemic, lower carb recipes! Try Brittany's awesome recipe, try my version... either way... MAKE THEM!

Gluten-Free, Vegan, (Almost) Grain-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Adapted from Brittany Angell's recipe
free of gluten, dairy/casein, eggs, soy, and options for grain-free
printer-friendly recipe

Dry Ingredients: 
2 cups packed, blanched almond flour
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
3 tablespoons arrowroot starch
1 teaspoon baking powder (this brand is corn-free or make your own -- it works SO much better than storebought!)
2 heaping tablespoons ground flax seeds
1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients: 
3 tablespoons Spectrum Palm Shortening (or butter, if you can tolerate dairy)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons pure almond extract
3-4 tablespoons almond milk (start with 3, then add 1 more if you need additional moisture)

Add In's:
1 cup gluten-free, vegan chocolate chunks or chips (I used a 3.5 oz, 70% dark chocolate bar, chopped up)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat. In a large bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. Cut in Spectrum Palm Shortening or butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or a knife and fork until the shortening resembles very small peas evenly throughout the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the vanilla extract, almond extract, and 3 tablespoons of almond milk. Using a little elbow grease, stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until you have a very thick, batter (it might be a bit crumbly). This may take several minutes to be incorporated well. If necessary, use an additional tablespoon of almond milk. The batter WILL be VERY thick though, DO NOT add tons of extra milk, or the cookies will not turn out right. Scoop the dough into golf-ball sized mounds and place on cookie sheet about 2" apart. Flatten lightly and shape with your hands into round cookies. Bake for 12-15 minutes depending on how crispy you want your cookies. The edges should be golden brown when done. Makes 12-15 cookies depending on how large you make them. I'd tell you to store leftovers in an airtight container on the counter or the fridge for 2-3 days and then freeze them for up to 1 month.. but seriously, there won't BE any leftovers!

Carrie's Notes: 

• Almond pulp, leftover from making almond milk will NOT work in this recipe. I tried! It's just too moist and it makes a pile of mush for a cookie. You may be able to make it work with a dehydrator, but in the oven, it just didn't work. 
• You can probably use another nut flour/meal to make the cookies, but I haven't tried it, so I don't know how it works. If you don't want to use a nut flour see the note below: 
• If you are allergic to nuts, just make my regular ol' gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, they are awesome too!
• Use your favorite non-dairy milk in the recipe if you don't like almond milk -- it will work. 
• If you don't have coconut palm sugar: use regular sugar or even brown sugar. I don't know how it would work with liquid sugar substitutes, if you have agave nectar, try Elana's cookies. 

Gluten-Free, No-Sugar-Added, Chocolate Fudge Cake

really horrid phone camera pic of some seriously awesome cake.
please don't judge the book by it's cover on this one...
trust me... you want to make this cake!

Wow... it's been a while... it feels rather like when you spend a prolonged period at home or on vacation and you're not the one driving... then when you get back in the car on Monday morning to head to work it feels strange... 

I've missed you. I've missed blogging... but I'm ready to come back! 

My Dad is very, very, very slowly on the mend. We are still traveling every other weekend to see him in the hospital. And it's been a joy to see him slowly progress. Some days are better than others both physically & mentally for him. He has a very long road ahead with many, many steps of recovery along the way... and we pray the end result will eventually be a heart transplant. It will be quite a journey to that point.... but I believe in him. 

In lighter news... I'm also a fan of cake. Densely, richly chocolate cake. My friend Jaime W. makes this amazing gluten-free, flour-free chocolate cake. She brings it to local gluten free potlucks and I might as well forget about portion sizes, sugar intake, or my calorie content for the day. It's all out the window if she brings that marvelous cake. 

My friend Heather invited us over for dinner the other night and I instantly wanted to make cake... which is odd since I haven't felt like cooking or baking in months... but suddenly I wanted to make cake. And I wanted a low-sugar, but super chocolate-y cake. I remember seeing a version of Jaime's cake in Paleo Comfort Foods, but it didn't contain ANY added sugar and I thought surely that must taste horrible.

But I decided to give it a go. I didn't want to use as much butter or eggs as the recipe called for... so I played and came up with the following version. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we have... it's definitely better cold (it's AWESOME cold! Richly dense and super delicious!) but almost like a sponge cake when warm... so you can pick how to enjoy it...

(Additional Note: This cake is EXTREMELY rich, fudge-y, and not very sweet. It almost has a coffee overtone (which we loved!)... but I don't think it would appeal to children because of the lack of sweetness and due to the hint of bitterness from the intense dark chocolate.) 

and another really awful phone camera pic of this marvelous
cake... I probably need to apologize to the cake...
she's truly much more stunning in person...
and strangely enough I rather like the retro feel
of these sort of 70's orangish pictures...
moving on...  :-P

Gluten-Free, No-Sugar-Added, Chocolate Fudge Cake
Adapted from the version in Paleo Comfort Foods
Free of gluten, grains, soy, and added sugar
Printer-Friendly Recipe

The Good Stuff:
1/4 cup butter or coconut oil, melted
1 bag (11.5 oz.) 60-75% dark chocolate chips

Wet Ingredients: 
5 large eggs (preferably at room temperature)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients:
1/4 cup coconut flour
* 1/4 teaspoon corn-free baking powder (optional)
* 1/2 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using a double broiler on the stove or a glass bowl in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips and butter together. In another large bowl whisk together the eggs, applesauce, almond milk, and vanilla. Very, very slowly & gently whisk in a small stream of the melted chocolate and butter into the egg mixture. If you add the hot melted chocolate too quickly it will cook the eggs, so do it very slowly and gently. Mix the melted chocolate, butter, and egg mixture until it's thoroughly incorporated. Whisk in the dry ingredients. Pour cake batter into a greased pie plate or cake pan. If you want to serve the cake on a platter make sure to line the cake pan with parchment paper so you can remove it easily. Place in 325 degree oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. The time can vary depending on the temperature of your oven and how wet the batter is. The cake will be completely done on the edges and a toothpick inserted in the middle should come out MOSTLY clean, there will be some crumbs. Allow cake to cool completely on the counter (the edges will pull away from the pie pan and look as if it's shrinking a bit -- that's okay!) before transferring to the fridge to chill overnight. Slice and serve!


Carrie's Notes: 

• I have no idea what you can use in place of coconut flour, sorry I can't offer a substitution! If you would like the full sugar version that doesn't use coconut flour, try this cake recipe. 
• I have no idea what you can use in place of the eggs in the cake... the eggs are very important here. For a dense egg-free gluten-free chocolate cake, try this one. 
• The baking powder will help the cake rise a little more, but it's not necessary if you choose to leave it out. For a homemade version of corn-free baking powder, check out this recipe. 
• Also the chili powder adds just a hint of kick to the cake, which is awesome... but if you're not into awesome, you can leave it out too! 
• I just baked the cake and served it out of a glass pie pan, which I think works well! And it's pretty!  
• I recommend refrigerating the cake overnight before serving. It will be a dense, rich, dark chocolate-y cake. 
• If you prefer it warm, it will have more of a sponge-cake type texture and is still quite good... but I personally prefer it cold!

{Paleo 101 Books} Sarah Fragoso's Everyday Paleo

This book is where my paleo journey began. When I first pondered the idea of following a paleo diet, Sarah's book "Everyday Paleo" is where I started. I actually contacted the publisher myself because I was so interested in having a copy of the book. They graciously sent me one and I have been in love with this book ever since. I actually talked about the book a little back in October 2011 and the food you see at the top of that post is a skillet meal from Sarah's book. 

Sarah helped me to learn how carbohydrates didn't have to be the base or main part of a meal. Up until I started "re-learning" how to cook with Everyday Paleo, I was stuck on using pasta, mashed potatoes, bread, etc... as the base of my meals and I didn't know how to change that. Sarah's easy one pot recipes showed me you could use zucchini, acorn squash, or tomatoes as the base of your meal. Proteins are very important on a paleo-type of diet, but Sarah showed me how to make delicious and creative meals with vegetables and proteins. Paleo isn't about just eating meat.

Some of my favorite recipes from Sarah's book are:

• Spice Rubbed Slow Cooked Chicken (I'm rather fond of anything slow cooker!) 
• "Breaded" Baked Chicken
• Better Butter Chicken
• Everyday Meatloaf (this was hubs favorite - and he liked it even better on the 2nd day!)
• Puerto Rican Beef
• Sirloin Dijon (MY FAVORITE! use kale as pasta? Who knew you could do that! I love this dish!)
• Garlic Beef Stew with Acorn Squash (serious comfort food! I loved this!) 
• Kids Love Cabbage Slaw (really awesome sweet and sour slaw! Love mango!)

While I haven't cooked my way through the entire book, this is a cookbook that is often on my kitchen counter when I'm trying to find something quick for dinner. Many of the dishes are skillet meals and are easy to prepare. One of the things I like about this book in comparison to other paleo cookbooks is that you can make most of the meals with very simple kitchen equipment such as a good knife and a heavy cast iron skillet. No ice-cream makers. No high-end blenders needed. Keep it simple. Keep it fresh. 

Other reviews and thoughts on Sarah Fragoso's first book, "Everyday Paleo": 

• Video review of Everyday Paleo by WellDoneChef (Potty Mouth Alert - parents only!) 
• PaleoDietLifestyle's Review
• The Clothes Make the Girl's Review
• FreetheAnimal's Review
• Lexie's Kitchen's Review

Gluten Free Almond Flour Lemon Muffin/Cake Recipe

Almond flour lemon muffins - this was my favorite flavor.

The past two weeks I've been slowly working towards making all of my meals and snacks paleo (basically no grains, sugar, legumes, or dairy).  I feel so much better when I eat less sugar, less grains, and less baked goods... however... I just can't help it. I love to bake. (Although admittedly, not really as much as I used too... I'm starting to think I like cooking more than baking now... what is happening to me? lol!)

So a few weeks ago I made an amazing lemon cake for a friend's birthday. It was SO good. Especially since I made it using Meyer lemons which are just wow. So I wanted "lemon" something else. I couldn't decide between cake or muffins and honestly, they aren't that different... so the recipe I'm sharing today could be used either as cake or a muffin. You pick. Don't you like it when you get to pick?

Just pretend you don't notice the stray cathair on the up front cupcake. No, you don't see it. And if you want to make that nut-butter frosting, here you go:  http://www.whole-body-detox-diet.com/sugar-free-carrot-cake.html

This cake is lower in sugar than most gluten free cakes. For the main sweetener I used coconut palm sugar. If you don't like coconut palm sugar or can't find it... just use plain ol' white sugar. It will work just as well. I also used lemon gelatin in this cake for flavor. I've tried in the past to use a lot of citrus and/or lemon juice in cakes and it never goes well. SO I'm sorry if you're opposed to lemon gelatin... if you come up with another alternative let me know! All I know, is I made a vanilla version of this cake minus the lemon gelatin and I didn't like it nearly as much... so apparently I like the lemon gelatin. I'll pretend it's paleo.

I also used liquid stevia in this recipe. I used the "NOW" brand, but there are many different brands available. The cake would probably taste fine without it and honestly I wasn't a fan of using the stevia in the plain vanilla version... so take it or leave it... again, you pick. See how easy this is?

I'm including the vanilla variation at the bottom of the recipe, but I will tell you, it wasn't my favorite. ALSO... the almond flour batter is heavy... therefore it rises better as muffins or cupcakes. They are taller, prettier, and much less dense as cupcakes than it is as a cake. SO... you pick. :-)

Gluten Free Almond Flour Lemon Muffins or Cake, with a Vanilla Variation
free of grains, soy, dairy/casein, and gluten (also low in processed sugar)
created by Carrie Forbes of Gingerlemongirl.com
printer-friendly version

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups blanched almond flour, gently packed in the cup
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 baking soda
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons lemon gelatin (about half of a 3 oz. package)

Wet Ingredients:
1 teaspoon lemon extract
10-12 drops liquid stevia
3 large eggs
1/2 cup almond milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin/cupcake pan with paper liners -or- an 8" cake pan with parchment paper on the bottom and grease pan with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil. In a large mixing bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl whisk together all wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients  and whisk until thoroughly combined. Pour batter into lined muffin/cupcake pan or cake pan. For cupcakes/muffins bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cake comes out clean. For one-layer cake bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack until completely cool. For cupcakes frost with your favorite frosting or you can use a low sugar/low glycemic nut frosting such as this one.

Vanilla Variation -- If you want plain vanilla cake/muffins instead of lemon simply use 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract in place of the lemon extract and leave out the lemon jello. You may want to leave out the stevia in a vanilla version as I felt you could really taste the stevia since the cake was so plain. Using vanilla paste or the seeds from a vanilla bean might really improve the flavor of the plain cake. If you try it, please let me know what you think!

gluten free coconut flour vanilla cupcakes

See that?

Light, fluffy, airy, moist (but not TOO moist), gluten free cupcakes!! AND... wait for it... 

They are low glycemic, lower carb, and made with coconut flour, coconut oil, real vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, some baking soda, and agave nectar. (I know there's a big debate on whether or not agave's good stuff or bad stuff... you don't have to fight it out here) Soooo...since they are full of fiber, healthy fats, and yummy ol' protein-filled eggs, I'm declaring them kind of good for you! ;-)

But it's not my recipe. It's Elana's. She is a coconut flour and almond flour genius. Seriously. genius.

The cupcakes I made are the yellow cupcakes from Elana's newest cookbook: gluten free cupcakes cookbook! Elana also shares basically the same recipe (minus the strawberries) with this post.

I also slathered them with Elana's vegan chocolate 'buttercream" frosting (also in that lovely little book). Drool.

I suggest making them. soon. It's a really good thing these are being eaten at a work shower today... because really I just want to eat all of them!

The only change I made to Elana's recipe is I used melted coconut oil instead of the grapeseed oil called for. And that was only because it's what I had on hand.

So try them out. Let me know what you think... and let's chat about it here on the blog! And go give Elana some comment love!

vegan banana peach "ice-cream"

The past few months I've been cutting back on my processed sugar intake. So less baked goods, more fruit! I allow myself to have 1-2 servings of fruit a day. Lately, I've been "saving" my fruit servings to use as dessert after dinner.

For years I've heard about people making one ingredient ice-cream in their vitamix or blendtec blenders by simply pulverizing frozen bananas. To be honest, I kinda laughed at the idea. For one, I've never been a HUGE banana fan. Secondly... it just sort of sounded impossible.

But then I tried it. (Here's a quick little video to show you how.) 

And it was another "foot in mouth" moment. It's seriously delicious... and strangely enough -- because it's so cold, it tastes more like ice-cream than bananas! Now generally I have to add about 1/4 cup of almond milk in with my frozen fruit to get my machine to process the "ice-cream" smooth enough -- I think it's because my vitamix is an older refurbished model (I still love him). But that's all I do!

I usually mix one frozen banana with a handful for frozen strawberries or peaches. Sometimes blueberries. Sometimes a generous sprinkle of cinnamon. Sometimes a tablespoon of vanilla. I never have to add sugar. It's completely sweet enough just as it is.

On last night's serving I drizzled a little honey on top. Honestly, it was just for the picture. It absolutely didn't need the additional sweetness.

Have you made "one-ingredient" banana ice cream? What are your favorite combinations? Let's chat! Right here on the blog. If you look over to the left you'll see a blue box just for you. Talk with me. I want to hear about how you would make your banana ice cream.

{Recipe Review} The Gluten Free Homemaker's Zucchini & Sausage

When Linda of The Gluten Free Homemaker posted her recipe for "Zucchini & Sausage" on Monday, I knew I had to make it! (So much for my menu plan this week! lol!) This is the kind of recipe I love. Super simple, one dish, and really it could be a meal all in itself!

I actually didn't change a thing to Linda's recipe (really, I didn't! I promise! lol). I even had fresh basil in the yard that I threw in at the last minute. This recipe makes me wonder why in the world we don't eat sausage for dinner more often. My husband and I both love fresh summer zucchini and the sausage (we buy locally made fresh sausage since we live in a major pork producing area) is just an incredibly flavorful addition.

Honestly, this might be my favorite way to eat zucchini now. We actually had three perfectly sized zucchinis from our backyard garden this year (not surprisingly about the only thing that survived the summer heat and crazy weeds -- I think zucchini plants would survive a nuclear blast... lol)

We served the zucchini & sausage with fresh corn and slices of a beautiful home-grown, vine-ripened tomato from a good friend who has a much greener thumb than I do! lol

Linda, thanks for such an easy and delicious recipe for summer! We loved it!

{Gluten Free Review} Barney Butter (Almond Butter)

The first person to really introduce me to the joys of almond butter was Heather of "Heather Eats Almond Butter." After seeing the gorgeous pictures on her blog of oat bran drizzled with almonds butter, muffins made with almond butter, cookies made with almond butter, etc... I really wanted to try almond butter. I probably started reading her blog about 3 years ago and ever since if I see a new brand of almond butter on the shelf I have to try it.

At Food Lion not too long ago I saw Barney Butter on the shelf. I picked up a jar and brought it home. Since I have about 5 OTHER jars of  almond butter that are slowly being eaten, I really didn't want to open it up. But curiosity got the better of me and I tried it out.

This a very creamy almond butter. The texture is like JIF peanut butter. Personally it wasn't my favorite brand of nut butter. The texture was so smooth it seemed very processed. My favorite brand thus far (and one that's very easy for me to find) has been Maranatha almond butter. Justin's nut butter is also a favorite if I feel the need to be decadent!

I think this would be a great alternative for kids who are used to the very processed texture of JIF peanut butter and they can't have peanuts anymore. I think this brand is probably geared more towards a child's palate than adult palates. It is not overly sweet, but it does contain evaporated cane juice to give it just a hint of sweetness (again very similar to Peter Pan or JIF peanut butter brands). To create such a smooth texture this brand also contains palm oil -- which I am not against -- I love baking with palm shortening... but personally I enjoy the texture of all natural brands better.

I do LOVE that this brand is clearly marked gluten free and is processed in a completely peanut-free facility which is really important for those with peanut allergies!

What's your favorite almond butter? Do you ever drizzle it on oatmeal or ice-cream? If you don't you're missing out!

Gluten Free Light & Lovely Angel Food Cake Recipe

I remember a few times in high school when either mom or dad brought home a store-bought angel food cake and I simply ripped off pieces of it in pure sugary bliss! Soft, airy, and simply delicious. I had honestly forgotten how much I enjoyed angel food cake.

I think I even made it once or twice in my gluten filled years and it's a really beautiful cake to make. Angel Food cake is allowed to be messy. It doesn't have to be perfect. It seems a bit scarred with patches of crust scattered all over the cake and the pan. No frosting is needed. Maybe a sprinkling of powdered sugar for company... but this golden crusted gem of a cake doesn't need to be dressed up. Another fun thing about gluten free angel food cake? No gums are needed. The protein in the whipped egg whites is all you need for stability and great texture.

There are endless variations you could make with angel food cake. If you'd like it to be chocolate add a few tablespoons of cacao powder to the dry ingredients. For a lemon cake, add the zest of 1 large lemon.  If you want the cake to simply be studded with chocolate, fold in 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips right before pouring into the pan. It's so easy. Please make this gluten free cake. Tell me how you made it. Tell me that you loved it!

Gluten Free Light & Lovely Angel Food Cake
Adapted from this recipe by Natalie of Gluten Free Mommy
Free of gluten, dairy/casein, soy, corn, potato, and gums
Printer-friendly recipe

1/2 cup brown rice flour (75 gm, 2 5/8 oz.)
1/2 cup arrowroot starch (57 gm, 2 oz.)
12 egg whites, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
**For a reduced sugar cake use: 
1/2 cup sugar (99 gm, 3 1/2 oz.)
3 teaspoons powdered stevia (NuNaturals is my favorite brand) -- add to dry ingredients!
**For a regular cake use: 
1 cup sugar (198 gm, 7 oz.)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an angel food tube pan with non-stick cooking spray, or oil and then dust it with brown rice flour. To prevent further sticking at the bottom of the pan, you could line it with cut pieces of parchment paper. In a small bowl whisk together brown rice flour, arrowroot starch, and powdered stevia (if you are using it). In the bowl of your stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, whip egg whites until they are foamy (see notes below). Add in the cream of tartar and continue to mix until soft peaks form. Beat in the sugar a little at a time until stiff peaks form and the egg whites will look slightly glossy. Stop the mixer and remove the whisk attachment. Using a hand whisk slowly fold in the vanilla. Continuing to use the hand whisk, slowly fold in the flour mixture about 1/4 cup at a time. Slowly pour the cake batter into the greased and dusted tube pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, the sides of the cake will also pull away from the pan. Allow the cake to cool for 10-20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake and turn out onto a cake plate. Serve plain, with whipped cream or ice-cream, and since it's strawberry season... make sure to place a few slices strawberries on top! :-) Enjoy!

Carrie's Kitchen Notes:

• Whipping Egg Whites: If you are not familiar with whipping egg whites and what each "stage" looks like, here is a good guide: http://www.baking911.com/howto/egg_whites_beat.htm. Scroll to the bottom to see pictures of the foamy stage, soft peak stage, firm peak stage, etc... 
• Brown rice flour/arrowroot starch: This cake is so adaptable you can use any whole grain you like. SO if you can't have rice, use sorghum, millet, or whatever pleases your palate! Simply make sure to use the same weight of flour. As with the brown rice flour, you can use whatever starch you prefer, EXCEPT potato starch. Potato starch is quite heavy so I would recommend either corn starch, tapioca starch, or even sweet rice flour. ADDITION: A reader wrote in and said she has never had any issues using potato starch in gluten free angel food cake. In my personal experience I've found potato starch to be a very heavy starch for baking purposes (and I do mean the starch not potato flour). Use your own judgement though, if it works for you that's fantastic!
• Sugar: I made this lovely cake with less than half the sugar used in the original recipe and it still tastes quite sweet to me, especially with the addition of powdered stevia. Feel free to add additional sugar if you want a really sweet cake, or lessen it further. You do want a little sugar in the cake because it helps with the caramelization/ browning of the crust. I am not sure how well alternative sugars would work in this cake. 
• Eggs: Sorry, you have to use egg whites... they are the base of this cake!
• Variations: See notes in the post above for possible variations on this simple vanilla cake! There are so many wonderful flavors you could use! I'd love to know what you come up with! My favorites would be adding lemon zest, using almond extract, mini-chocolate chips, or even a lightly spiced angel food cake with cinnamon and nutmeg! 
• Folding Techniques: When you're adding in the flours & the vanilla extract (or any flavor variation ingredients) use a whisk to SLOWLY fold in the ingredients. You whipped the eggs whites so they would have a wonderful texture & rise in the cake. You don't want to defeat all that hard work you did! If you quickly hand whisk/ fold in the last ingredients you can easily deflate your egg whites... and end up having a cake that doesn't rise well. So please take your time! Enjoy the process. And go make this cake!! 

Gluten Free Whole Grain Teff Muffins Recipe

At a recent local gluten free support group meeting one of our wonderful members presented a program on different gluten free flours and how to use them. She brought a delicious batch of gluten free teff muffins from a Bette Hagman cookbook. The muffins were incredible. Deeply rich and distinctly tasted like the whole wheat bran muffins I remembered from my gluten days.

I decided to try the muffins this morning with my own personal revisions (since apparently it's impossible for me make ANY recipe as is... lol)

I am so impressed with these muffins. The only type of teff I could find locally was a bag of whole teff grains. The are TINY grains -- I believe they might be considered the smallest grains in the world. I pondered what exactly to do with them and then realized I could probably grind them in my vitamix since they were so small! I poured about 1 cup of grains into the vitamix and ground them slowly for a minute or two. The end result was a soft, slightly grainy flour.

It worked! I made a large batch of muffins so I could take them to work this week for breakfast. the texture of these muffins is incredible. It really does remind me of bran muffins by texture and taste! I am low on eggs at the moment, so I used Ener-G Egg Replacer and additional oil in place of eggs. It made the muffins not rise quite as high as they would have otherwise, but it didn't affect the flavor one bit! I also left gums out of these muffins and added my favorite ground flax seeds which means additional healthy fiber and omega-3's!

I've also started measuring my flours by weight in addition to volume for those of you who prefer to measure ingredients by weight. I'll always be a cup & teaspoons girl myself, but it is fun to see how much the different flours each weigh separately. I hope this will be a helpful addition my recipes.

Gluten Free Teff Muffins
free of gluten, dairy/casein, soy, corn, gums, potatoes, eggs
adapted from a Bette Hagman recipe from, "The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods"
(I made a large batch so that I could take these for breakfast this week)
Makes 18 regular sized muffins
printer-friendly recipe

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups (228 gm) teff flour
2/3 cup (80 gm) arrowroot starch
1/4 cup (28 gm) ground flax seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup (102 gm) sugar

Wet Ingredients:
4 eggs -OR- 1/2 cup (145 gm) warm water + 2 tbsp. EnerG egg replacer whisked together
1/2 cup (95 gm) oil
1 cup (240 gm) non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)

Optional Add In's:
1/2 cup chopped nuts (55 gm) -- I used chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins (76 gm)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cupcake/muffin pans with paper liners or spritz with non-stick cooking spray. (I was able to make 18 of them). In a large bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl mix together all wet ingredients and pour into dry ingredients. Mix just until thoroughly combined. Fold in chopped nuts or raisins. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with muffin batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the muffins comes out clean. The muffins with be dark brown -- almost "chocolately" in appearance. If you use eggs the muffins will have tall domed tops, if you use egg replacer as I did, they will just reach the top of the muffin liner and have a flat top -- either way they are still delicious!! Allow muffins to cool 10-15 minutes before eating. If they are not allowed to cool properly they will have a taste slightly gooey.

Nutrition Information Per Muffin using egg-replacer (18 Muffins):
171 calories, 9 grams fat, 2 grams fiber, 2 grams protein

Carrie's Ingredient Notes:

• Flours: I used teff flour as my main whole grain in this recipe. The flour gives these muffins the distinct bran-like flavor they have, but feel free to use the same amount of your favorite whole grain flour, although know they will have a slightly different taste. I use arrowroot starch exclusively as my starch of choice, although you could easily sub this with cornstarch, potato starch, or white rice flour.
• Sugar: In this initial recipe I used regular white sugar. You could also use brown sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar etc... feel free to use the sugar you like best. You could also reduce the sugar by a 1/3 in this recipe without having a big difference in the flavor of the muffins.
• Oil: I generally use canola oil or olive oil in my recipes. Feel free to use the oil of your choice. It should not adversely affect the texture or taste of these muffins. You could also use 1/4 cup oil + 1/4 cup applesauce to cut back on both fat content and calories.
• Ground Flax Seeds: These serve several purposes in this recipe. First they add a nuttiness and a lot of healthy fiber to the recipe. Secondly when ground flax seeds are introduced to a liquid they start to gel slightly, so they take the place of using xanthan gum for texture in this recipe. I don't advise leaving them out of the recipe. You could use 2 tbsp of ground chia seeds in place of the flax if you prefer.
• Non-Dairy Milk: Use regular milk or your preferred non-dairy milk. I always use almond milk since I can find it locally.

Gluten Free Almond Flour Double Chocolate Brownies Recipe

Here's a quick lower glycemic chocolate treat for you. I made these last night and was really impressed at how well they turned out! If you can tolerate almonds & eggs, I highly recommend these tasty little brownies. They are very fudgy & chocolately without a lot of sugar or simple carbohydrates.

Since I'm seriously watching my "sweets" intake, I ate one of these little brownies and wrapped the rest of them up and froze them. Michael loved them and took 2 to work with him. I don't feel bad about him eating these little brownies because they are full of healthy fats & just a little bit of sugar.

Almond Flour Double Chocolate Brownies
free of gluten, dairy/casein, and soy
created by carrie forbes of gingerlemongirl.com
printer-friendly recipe

Dry Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups (252 grams) blanched almond flour
1/4 cup (26 grams) cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup sugar -or- palm sugar (I used palm sugar)

Wet Ingredients:
1/4 cup canola oil  -or- your favorite oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons applesauce
1/2 teaspoons liquid vanilla stevia (optional -- but adds a bit more sweetness!)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Optional Add In's:
1/2 cup allergen free chocolate chips like Enjoy Life

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13" baking dish with parchment paper or spritz with non-stick cooking spray or oil. Whisk all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In another bowl whisk together all wet ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and finally fold in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared 9 x 13" baking dish and spread evenly throughout with a spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out (mostly) clean - you may run into chocolate chips, so there may be a little on the toothpick, or until the brownies, spring back just a little when you gently touch them. Allow to cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then cut into 24 brownies with a sharp knife. Eat one or two slowly and enjoy them! They are filling since they are made with almond flour! Wrap the rest & freeze! Pull one out when you need a chocolate fix!

Carrie's Notes:

• I added the weight measurements for the flours in this recipe for those that weigh their ingredients. If you don't use weight measurements, please note I pack almond flour in a cup much like you would brown sugar. 
• I used palm sugar in this recipe to lower the overall white sugar content and glycemic index. Feel free to use the sugar or sugar substitute of your choice.
• Egg-Free - I'm fairly confident this recipe would work using a flax seed or chia seed egg substitute if you are intolerant of eggs. Here's a handy Vegan Egg-Free Baking Substitutes Chart. 
• I used canola oil, because it's what I keep on hand... but use the oil you like best! 

{Gluten Free One Pot Meals} Ground Turkey & Quinoa Skillet Meal Recipe

Okay, I know this isn't the most appetizing meal you've ever seen. And the lighting in my kitchen at 8:30pm in the winter kinda stinks... but the one pot meal? Very good, very quick, and even husband friendly!

I'm starting a new series this week entitled, "Gluten Free One Pot Meals." I think I deserve a sticker for originality.

So the concept isn't anything new. But whether you work full time, commute an hour to work, stay home with your kids, dinner time can often be tough to figure out.

Last summer we addressed this issue with Gluten Free Quick & Easy Meals. A number of wonderful gluten free bloggers helped me out by sharing their favorite quick and easy meals.

This time I'm hoping to post a "One Pot Meal" once a week. I don't plan on having a time frame for this series. One pot, easy meals are needed year round.  "One pot" can meal anything from my dutch oven, to the pizza pan, to the frying pan, to a wok, etc...

This week's one pot meal uses my favorite large skillet. It's a 12" non-stick pan I received when Michael & I got married. It's still one of my favorite pans. These recipes will not be meals that are set in stone. Make them with the ingredients you have on hand. If you don't have any quinoa, or if it scares you, or if you have picky eaters... then use brown rice -or- gf pasta -or- gf bread cubes -or- cooked potatoes. Go crazy and try your own variations!

Ground Turkey, Vegetable & Quinoa Skillet Meal
- a gluten free recipe template by Carrie @ Gingerlemongirl.com -
free of gluten, dairy/casein, soy, and eggs

1 lb. ground turkey (or ground beef, or ground pork, etc...)
1 med. sweet onion, finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
2 cups fresh button mushrooms (or baby bella mushrooms) stems removed, and sliced
3 carrots, sliced thinly diagonally
1 cup uncooked quinoa, that's been rinsed with fresh water (or 3 cups cooked quinoa, rice, diced potatoes, etc...)
Olive oil

Directions: In your skillet add 2 cups water and the dry quinoa. Bring the water to a simmer and cook covered for 10-12 minutes until quinoa is fluffy and very little water remains. (A great tutorial on cooking quinoa). Remove the cooked quinoa from the pan, place in a bowl & set aside. Add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan. Brown ground turkey. Add onions, and cook for 5-10 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add remaining vegetables and cook for about 10 - 15 minutes until they are soft. Stir the cooked quinoa into the mixture. (Alternatively, you could served the cooked vegetables & meat mixture over individual servings of quinoa.) Now, if you're not feeling up to a highly flavored meal you could eat the meal as is. But if you want some flavor variations for your one pot meal, here are some ideas you could use:

For an Asian Inspired Meal: 

• 1-2 tbsp. soy sauce (or soy sauce sub)
• a splash of sesame oil
• a few shakes of roasted sesame seeds
• a splash of rice vinegar
• a splash of fish sauce

For an Italian Inspired Meal:

• Add 1/2 cup of diced tomatoes to the skillet 5 minutes before serving
• 1 teaspoon dried basil (or 3 tablespoons julienned fresh basil)
• 1-2 teaspoons dried oregano
• splash a bit of extra virgin olive oil on each serving, right before eating!

For a Mexican Inspired Meal:

• Add 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa to the skillet 5 minutes before serving
• Add 1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro
• Serve with diced avocado or avocado slices
• 1-2 tsp. chili powder
• 1-2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. adobo seasoning

What flavorings/seasonings/add in's would you use? 

What types of skillet/one pot meals would you like to see featured?