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Dessert /dɪˈzɜːt/, noun: the sweet, usually last course of a meal. These recipes will not contain dairy, eggs, gluten, wheat or hazelnuts. If we use a top 8 allergen, we will use a tag warning of its use.
Can’t Tell a Lie Cherry and Chocolate Chip Quick Bread
You know how hard it is to find a food theme for President’s Day? It’s hard. Which is why I’m using cherries out of desperation, even though I was a history major and I know that story about George Washington and the cherry tree is a crock. Despite that I decided to do it up, and make two versions of a chocolate and cherry bread dish that could be breakfast and dessert. This one is gluten free, and doesn’t have all that pesky rising and all that. I couldn’t find fresh cherries, so I used frozen ones, and was surprised at the blue tones I got in the finished dish. It’s almost like it had blueberries in it. In any case, since I’m not one who has to be gluten free, and since I’m not a gluten free baking genius, I started with a recipe from the gluten-free goddess®, and modified it a bit.
Can’t Tell a Lie Cherry and Chocolate Chip Quick Bread
1 cup of sorghum flour
1 cup of tapioca starch
1/2 cup of millet flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
3/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 cup of dark brown sugar, firmly packed.
1 cup of applesauce
1/3 cup of Canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons of Ener-G egg replacer, mixed with 3 Tablespoons of water
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 cup of Dole frozen Dark Sweet Cherries, chopped
1/2 cup of Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate chips
9 inch loaf pan
parchment paper
Preheat your oven to 350°, and line the loaf pan with parchment paper so that you can lift the loaf out of the pan in order to cool it.
Loaf Pan Lined with Parchment Paper
Place sorghum flour, tapioca starch, millet flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl (I used my KitchenAid stand mixer). Whisk together these ingredients until they are completely mixed. Add the brown sugar and whisk it into the other ingredients.
Now add the applesauce, oil, Ener-G mixture, and vanilla, and beat to combine and then continue beating the mixture on medium high until the batter is smooth.
Fold in the cherries and chocolate chips by hand with a spatula.
Folding in Cherries and Chocolate ChipsCompleted Batter
Pour batter into the parchment lined loaf pan, scraping down the sides of the bowl and smoothing out the top of the loaf.
Batter in Parchment Lined Loaf Pan
Bake for approximately 65 to 75 minutes or until you can insert a tooth pick and it comes back clean, except if you hit a chocolate chip and you have chocolate chip goo. If this happens, try again in a different place.
Baked Loaf in Parchment Lined Pan
Once done, let the loaf cool for 15 minutes or so, and then use the parchment paper to lift the loaf out of the pan and onto a wire rack. Peel down the sides of the parchment paper and let the loaf cool.
Baked Loaf on Wire Rack with Parchment Peeled Down
Once cooled to down to slightly warm, slice yourself a piece and enjoy!
Slice of Can’t Tell a Lie Cherry and Chocolate Quick Bread
This was one of my favorites when I was a kid, and it’s also really fast if you were supposed to bring something to a potluck/holiday party/family dinner and maybe you didn’t get it together because the holiday season is so crazy and if you have to find time to do one more thing you’re going to go off your head. Not that I’ve been there (repeatedly) or anything.
No Bake Cookies
1/4 cup of evaporated rice milk (there are two ways to make this at home using either rice milk or rice powder to be explained below or, if you can have and/or like soy, you can use soy creamer).
1/2 cup of crunchy peanut butter (see Nut-free sunbutter variation below)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (if you’re out of vanilla and desperate, Goslings Black Seal Rum works nicely too).
1 3/4 cups to 2 cups of quick oats (get certified gluten free if you need them gluten free).
This makes about 12 cookies about two inches across.
First, you need to make yourself some evaporated rice milk.
Method 1: You can take unsweetened rice milk (or other unsweetened alternative milk product of your choice) and measure out 1/2 a cup into a very small sauce pan. Place it over medium heat and stir frequently until it has reduced in half. (You could make more than you need and keep in the fridge for other holiday baking).
Method 2 (and the one I used): Put 1 1/2 Tablespoons of rice milk powder in a glass measuring cup. Pour boiling water into the glass measuring cup until it measures 1/4 of a cup of milk powder and water. Whisk powder and water together until well combined.
Thanks to Alisa Fleming’s Go Dairy Free cookbook for both of these options. For most baking you would need to wait for the resulting evaporated rice milk cooled, but not for this recipe.
Melt the Earth Balance in a 4 quart pan. Once it has melted completely, add the sugar, evaporated milk, and the cocoa powder. Stir mixture to incorporate all the ingredients completely, and bring the mixture to a boil for one minute, continuing to stir frequently. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until the peanut butter, except the crunchy bits have dissolved into the mixture. Add the oats and mix thoroughly. Cover cutting board or a cookie sheet with wax paper. Using spoon, portion out the mixture into two inch wide cookies on the cookie sheet and let them harden for at least 10 minutes. I cheat and do it in the fridge, they harden faster. Or just skip the cookie part and eat them out of the pan. I’m not here to judge.
Enjoy 🙂
NUT-FREE Sunbutter Variation!
1/2 cup soy-free Earth Balance
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup evaporated rice milk
1/2 cup crunchy Sunbutter or other sunflower seed butter
So the year before I got my allergy diagnoses, I spent time perfecting a brownie recipe. Which was, of course, based on wheat flours, and which did not, of course, translate well to gluten-free. It was my first attempt at my own gluten-free recipe — I replaced the flour in the recipe with a GF baking mix and made the first and only baked good that was not completely devoured by my office mates. It was sad; I was sad.
And yet, I kept trying because brownies are something that is almost universally loved. A very special group of my friends has cannonized my friend Michelle’s *special recipe* brownies, which I’ve added as a decadent alternative at the end of this recipe — “Book Club” Brownies should be reserved for very special occasions, and only for those who are worthy of such decadence.
And now, I bring you this recipe. I am sorry it’s not nut-free, but I have not yet found the right combination for nut AND gluten free.
I’d also like to introduce my new love, George, the best Christmas present ever. To clarify some confusion from my FB post — George is a girl, named in part after the Bugs Bunny Abominable Snowman cartoon and in part for George in the Nancy Drew books. Now that that’s cleared up, meet George!
GEORGE! I made a video, but it was really really boring.
At Last Gluten-Free Brownies
Line a square pan with parchment paper. Make sure you know if you have an 8×8 or 9×9 pan, as it will affect baking times below.
Pre-heat oven to 350F.
1 Tablespoon chia seeds, preferably white
4 Tablespoons water
Grind your chia seeds. I use a coffee grinder for spices, flax, and now chia — grind it good and fine. With a fork or small whisk, mix the ground seeds in a small bowl with 4 tablespoons of water. Set this aside — it will turn into a pretty stiff gel.
1/4 cup soy-free Earth Balance
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
Melt the oils together in a small pan. Because I wander off measuring other things, I always do this in my ad-hoc double boiler (small skillet on top of a saucepan). It’s safer for me, but feel free to do it in a pan directly on the heat or even in a microwave if you own one.
1.5 cups almond flour or almond meal (doesn’t seem to make a difference for this recipe)
1/2 cup gluten-free oat flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
2 Tablespoons quinoa flour
2 Tablespoons tapioca starch
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup brown sugar, packed
Mix all your dry ingredients together well — yes, including the brown sugar. Now, to this, add your chia gel, the melted oils, and the following:
1/3 cup almond milk
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dry ingredients with melted oils and chia gel
Mix well, adding a little more almond milk if necessary. Dough should be stiff, but not dry — more like a cookie dough than a cake batter. It should stick to the beaters, but not make it hard for them to run.
Add your mix in ingredients. The chocolate chips are not, in my opinion, optional. The nuts absolutely are.
1/2 cup allergen-free chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
Dump your batter into the lined brownie pan. It should not spread out on its own — so use your spatula to smash it down and spread it out, getting it into the corners. When it’s smooth, place a piece of parchment over the top and smooth it down onto the batter.
parchment paper topper
Bake at 350F. 8×8 pan — 35-40 minutes (my oven takes 37. It just does.) 9×9 pan — 25-35 minutes (again, 32.)
Now, and this is really really reallyimportant: DO NOT TRY TO EAT THESE BROWNIES HOT. They don’t have any structural integrity at all when they are warm. Peel the top sheet of parchment off. Cool them in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then use the parchment to lift out the brownies as a whole and set them on a cooling rack. Cool them completely. Then do your thing.
Bookclub Brownies variation
This is really guilding the lily, but it’s a tradition, so here you go.
In a double boiler (real, if you’ve got it, or fake it again), melt 2/3 cup of allergen-free chocolate chips with 3 Tablespoons of non-dairy milk. That’s it.
You could also make a frosting or even use a prepared frosting (many of Duncan Hines’ prepared frostings are allergen-free, though I don’t know about cross-contamination issues). But I find that to be more work than really necessary to get the good flavor here. Your mileage may vary.
While brownies are still warm and in the pan, pour this chocolate ganache over them and smooth it out. It won’t look like quite enough first, especially if you’re using a 9×9 pan, but it is. Taking two toothpicks, or better yet, wooden bbq skewers, poke holes all over the brownies, through the ganache. Follow through with the COMPLETE COOLING directive. Enjoy your extra fudgy magic brownies.
If you’d like to guild the guilding and make minty holiday brownies, top with crushed peppermint candies.
At Last Brownies, with “Book Club” variation
1 Tablespoon chia seeds, preferably white
4 Tablespoons water
1.5 cups almond flour or almond meal (doesn’t seem to make a difference for this recipe)
I think you’re an apple crisp person or an apple pie person. Or at least I am, and I fall squarely into the apple crisp camp. I can pass up apple pie anytime because unless the crust is perfect and amazing, which it rarely is, I don’t want it. It just seems like a waste of space in my stomach when I could be using that space for the good stuff. And a fruit crisp is all good stuff. And it’s a lot easier to make a crisp than a pie. So since it’s that time of year when you can get both cranberries, and lovely apples, I decided this would be a great time to post this recipe. This is also a lovely alternative to pie at Thanksgiving if you’re in a time squeeze or you just haven’t managed to perfect your pie crust technique yet, gluten free or otherwise.
Cortland Apples
As a side note, I have a problem with believing that 4 cups of cored, peeled and sliced apples can possibly equal 3-4 real apples. For some reason when I’m at the grocery store, I am compelled to buy twice as many apples as I need. So although there are 5 apples in this picture, it’s because I already cut up the 3 apples (three, count them, three) I needed to make this recipe, because I bought eight. (Eight!! What was I thinking?) So when I say 3-4 apples below, I really mean it. Good thing we like to just eat apples.
Apple Cranberry Crisp
12 oz bag of fresh cranberries (or frozen, I often pop a bag or two in the freezer at this time of year to have on hand later when you can’t get them)
4 cups of cored, peeled, and sliced apples (3-4 apples depending on size, I used Cortlands, but any baking apple will do. )
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon of lemon juice
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup quick cooking oats
½ cup of oat flour (you may need additional flour depending on humidity and whether your crumble stays together, add it 1 Tablespoon at a time until it holds together)
6 Tablespoons of Earth Balance soy free margarine
1 teaspoon of Earth Balance soy free margarine
Quartered, Cored and Peeled ApplesCored, Peeled and Sliced Apples
When peeling apples, I prefer to use a vegetable peeler rather than a knife because it cuts a thinner peel off and I lose less apple to the garbage can. I like to do varying size pieces so that some get more mushy and some are larger so you get a varying mouth feel.
Rinse the cranberries and pick out any mushy, squashed, or icky-looking berries, as well as any leaves and stems left in the package.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
Cranberries, Apples, Sugar, Salt and Lemon in BowlCranberry and Apple Mixture after mixing
Once all your apples are peeled and your cranberries are clean, combine the cranberries, apples, sugar, lemon juice and salt in a bowl. Mix the contents of the bowl well.
Cranberry Apple Mixture in Baking Dish
Grease the bottom and sides of an 8” x 8” baking dish with 1 teaspoon of Earth Balance soy free margarine. After greasing is complete, place place the cranberry apple mixture into the baking dish.
Brown Sugar, Oats, Oat Flour and Earth BalanceCutting in Earth Balance
In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, oats, and oat flour. Mix well, and then cut in the Earth Balance soy free margarine. I used a pastry blender, but you could use a fork if you don’t have one.
Apple Cranberry Crisp after baking
Cover the cranberry apple mixture in the baking pan with the brown sugar mixture. Bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes (70-75 minutes if your cranberries are frozen) or until topping is crispy and fruit tender.
Serve with your favorite vanilla dairy free ice cream or dairy free whipped topping. Enjoy!
So, one of the major bummers about a milk allergy is no more caramel. Or at least no more store bought candy with caramel. And I miss that. So by adapting a recipe that was used to make sticky buns, we developed this caramel. The first thing we used it for was to dump over a cake as shown above. (We’re not giving you the recipe for the cake because it wasn’t very good cake. Although I’m convinced that I could eat cardboard if this sauce was on it.)
It’s also very good on fruit. And might have been prettier to show you if I had remembered to pick up apples, but that didn’t happen.
Caramel Sauce over Fruit
I tried to be artistic with the fruit photo but it didn’t work out. Don’t shoot me, I’m an adult coping with food allergies, not a photographer Jim! (Yes, that was a gratuitous Star Trek reference, I’m ashamed of myself as well.) But back to the subject at hand, this freaking unbelievable caramel sauce. So in trying to figure out what I could use it for to take pretty pictures for you guys, and after Mary Kate and I had fun playing with the Vegan Creme Filled Chocolate Egg recipe a couple of weeks ago, I got my hands on some skull molds. Halloween is coming, people. And if I could have a caramel filled candy, (miss MISS Rolos) then all would be right with the world. Sort of. In an overblown and dramatic first world way. So *drumroll*, I made myself some skulls filled with caramel.
So to begin, first the sauce. (Although if you’re going to use this for the skulls and/or other molded chocolate, do the skulls first and get them all ready. It’ll make it much easier.)
Stir ingredients over low-medium heat and stir until all ingredients dissolve.
Caramel Sauce when ready
Sauce will thicken and it is ready when it coats the back of a metal spoon and drips off it in long slow drips. Do not let it get too hot or have it on the heat for too long or it will begin to sugar back out. Ask me how I know.
1 2/3 cup(s) of Vegan chocolate chips, more or less depending on size and thickness of chocolate shells
Chips and Shortening in Double BoilerMelted Chocolate
Place chocolate chips and shortening in double boiler. Melt over low to medium heat and mix thoroughly.
Painting Molds with ChocolatePainted Molds
You then paint the molds with the chocolate, place them in the freezer until hard and repeat until you have a thick enough chocolate layer. To do these skulls, I repeated the process 4-5 times.
Large Skull Half filled with caramel
Once the molds are complete and the caramel is cool enough, you need to fill the cavities with caramel. Place the molds back in the freezer until they are completely cold.
Skull Halves removed from Mold
Once they are completely cold remove them from the molds. I used chocolate as glue to stick the skull halves together and then put them back in the molds in the freezer until they cemented together. Voila!
Completed SkullCaramel Sauce on Apples – MK made the sauce and took a photo after I drafted the post 🙂
Do you feel you’re missing out on the sugar that makes Halloween special, given that everything is chock full of allergens? You won’t after these cupcakes.
This entire recipe is an excuse to play with marshmallow fondant, honestly, in my favorite baked goods format: the cupcake. Since gluten-free baking is still pretty new to me, I rely on other people’s recipes, and this is from one of my favorite cookbooks ever: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (and well they could), by Isa Chandra Moscowitz and Terry Romero. The fondant is from sparecake — this version isn’t necessarily vegan, but can be — find vegan marshmallows, and check the sourcing of your powdered sugar.
Chocolate Gluten Freedom Cupcakes (from Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World)
Preheat oven to 350F and line a tin for 12 cupcakes.
In LARGE mixing bowl (trust me here), combine the following and mix on medium speed to combine
1 cup rice milk
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (or more vanilla)
Add the following and mix until flour is dissolved and mixture is well emulsified:
1/4 cup tapioca flour
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
Add and mix on high for about 2 minutes — don’t worry about over-mixing gluten-free baked goods — there is no gluten!
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Fill tins about 3/4 full. Bake 20-25 minutes — test with a toothpick. Cool thoroughly on a rack.
Marshmallow Fondant
You need:
1/4 cup water
1 bag of marshmallows
2+ lbs. of powdered sugar
frosting dye (I used AmeriColor gels)
First, totally fail to read all these directions and go forth blindly. Or, if you want to be smarter than me… you can follow the link above for the easy way. I ended up buying regular marshmallows. I also don’t have a microwave. So the recipe as linked above isn’t quite how I ended up doing things. I did two batches, and I’m only telling you what worked below.
To a large sauce pan, add 1/4 cup water. Set heat at the high end of low.When the water is hot, add 1 bag of marshmallows (10 oz). Melt over low heat. A silicone spatula seems to work best for this.
When the marshmallow is fully melted, add your coloring. Go for darker than you intend, as you are about to add an unbelievable amount of powdered sugar to this. Mix the color in thoroughly.
Now add powdered sugar. Add a cup or so at a time (no real need to measure here, just dump it in — you’re likely to use the whole bag). Mix the powdered sugar in until you start to get a dough that pulls away from the sides of the pan.
Figure out what you’re going to knead on — I used a large pizza pan — and grease it GENEROUSLY (I’m serious, don’t skimp) and grease your hands. Dust your work surface with a good swath of powdered sugar, and dump your fondant dough in the middle of it. Now get in and knead. You will get a dough that isn’t (too) sticky, and that’s when you’re done. There are no pictures of this step. My camera is covered in enough powdered sugar.
Wrap your dough ball in plastic wrap and set it aside for half an hour. Now clean up your mess and, if you need another color, do it all over again!
When your dough is rested and your cake is at room temperature, roll out your dough, just like any other dough. My technique needs work, but it worked out. Dust your counter and rolling pin with powdered sugar, and pick up and unstick the dough several times. Then cut out fun things and “glue” them to your cake! Standard practice is to use a buttercream as glue, but there was no way I was making frosting just for glue, and a little bit of water seems to have done a great job.
And you have: Bat Signal cupcakes! Not perfect, not even close, but pretty good for a first try, I think. I would love to figure out how to get the powdered sugar “‘dust” off better — I brushed it off with a marinade brush, but it still looks a little dusty.
