Quarter Cup Muffins

Oatmeal muffins reinvented, using one bowl and two measuring utensils. There are a lot of things you can personalize about these low fat, low sugar muffins. Change up the sweetener or the nuts, add a small apple, finely chopped, or leave out the cinnamon or raisins. Basically, a very nice, hearty muffin that makes a lovely breakfast or snack. If you don't have parchment liners, you might want to either use oil instead of apple sauce, or grease the muffin tins instead of using paper. (the muffins will stick to regular paper liners because they don't have any oil in them.)

1/4 cup sweetener (xylitol, Splenda, white or brown sugar, Stevia)

1/4 cup all purpose Gluten Free flour blend

1/4 cup almond flour

3 x 1/4 cup quick oats

1/4 cup coarsely chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans are nice)
1/4 raisins

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 x 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 x 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3 x 1/4 cup milk (I use dairy free almond milk)

1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce (or vegetable/ Canola oil)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

Measure ingredients into a medium sized bowl in order given, then mix very well. Actually, mix the heck out of it, then let it stand for 1/2 hour to give the flours time to soak up the liquid and thicken up, while the oven preheats to 350* F. 

Using parchment muffin papers, line 9 muffin cups, then divide the batter between them. Bake for 30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned, and the top bounces back when pressed, and when a toothpick inserted into the middle of one comes out clean.

Cool completely before storing in an airtight bag or container. Can be frozen or stored in the fridge to last longer.

I like these eaten with Becel Vegan margarine and honey or marmalade, or with slices of goat cheddar.

Makes 9 medium sized muffins.

Agave Holiday Cookies

It's holiday time, and with Christmas just around the corner, the baking has begun. We have several ingredient issues in our family; This Sister can't eat sugar, That Son can't eat dairy, This Blogger can't eat gluten, soy, or dairy, and it wouldn't hurt her to avoid sugar as well. SO, when my friend asked if I had a sugar free sugar cookie recipe that she could make with her grandkids, I was more than motivated to see what I could find. 

I scoured all my allergy-friendly cookbooks before turning to my new Almond Flour (by Beverly Lynn Bennett) cookbook. With some tweaking, Cut-Out Sugar Cookies has become "Agave Holiday Cookies". They are good plain, with frosting, with a dusting of sugar sprinkles (that and frosting kind of defeat the purpose... but...) and with a candy cane window. They roll out well, and bake up nicely. If you, or someone you love, has dietary issues, I'd encourage you to try these cut-out cookies. 

2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Becel Vegan margarine
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Whisk together almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot starch and salt. With a silicone spatula, mix in margarine, agave nectar and vanilla. Mix well. When all ingredients are well combined, divide into 2 parts and wrap each with plastic wrap. Refrigerate about an hour to chill.

Meanwhile, cover your cutting board over with plastic wrap and preheat the oven to 325*F. When dough is chilled, place half at a time on wrapped cutting board, cover with a second large piece of plastic wrap and roll between the plastic with a rolling pin to 1/4-1/2 inch thickness. Make shapes with cookie cutters. Transfer to parchment lined baking sheet with a flat silicone lifter. Decorate with coloured sprinkles, raisins or nuts if desired.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on thickness, until light golden brown. Let stand on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes before removing to wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

* To make candy cane windows, cut a smaller shape in the centre of a large cut-out cookie. Fill the smaller shape with crushed candy canes or crushed clear, coloured hard candy. Fill the window generously as the candy shrinks when melted. Bake as directed above.

Coconut Cookies

My Mom made some (apparently) really good coconut cookies that I was supposed to get the recipe for.  When I went to try making them, I decided to go for a gluten-dairy-free version to see if He-Who-Requested-The-Cookies would notice.  They turned out pretty good, but not as good, of course, as the wheat flour/buttery biscuits. The second time around I tried a few things, and came up with a much better cookie than my first attempt.  It's a flaky, rich biscuit with big coconut flavour, and no dairy, no gluten. I'm interested in trying them with agave nectar instead of sugar... I'll let you know how that goes if I get around to it. These are seriously nice cookies. All the taste testers agree that you'd never know they were allergy friendly. If you don't have xanthan gum (or guar gum)on hand, I'd try without it. I feel like they might hold together just fine without the added gum. 

1 cup coconut oil, unmelted; chipped and packed into measuring cup

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 cup coconut

1 cup oatmeal

Mix coconut oil together with sugars, egg and vanilla until well combined. Add dry ingredients and mix until mixture holds together. It should be a little sticky, but not too sticky, and not too stiff. (*if it feels too sticky, and if a test cookie doesn't hold it's shape/spreads way out, add a little more oatmeal and coconut flour- equal amounts, a Tbsp at a time.) 

Make 1 Tbsp balls of dough, and space them out on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet. To be allergy-safe, I use parchment paper. Flatten cookie balls with a fork, and sprinkle with a little granulated sugar. Bake at 350*F for 10 minutes. Let rest on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool  completely. Store in a sealed bag or container.

Made 3.5 dozen cookies. 

Gluten, Diary, Soy Free Banana Cake With Cream Cheese Icing

This is the Banana Cake recipe from the Purity Cook Book- mine is a lovely copy I found at a second hand bookstore a few years back. I've employed the "normal recipe minus 1/3 of the flour" technique, increased the amount of mashed banana so the oil and sugar can be reduced a bit, and discovered the glories of Daiya non-dairy cheese! It's a delicious cake and it keeps well in the fridge for about a week. No one will know it's gluten and dairy free. Enjoy!

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups gluten-free flour blend
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Wet Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1/3 cup oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 well beaten eggs
1/4 cup non-dairy milk soured with 1 tsp vinegar/cider vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk/beat together the wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry, and beat together until completely incorporated and very well mixed. Let stand for 30 minutes, (batter may seem runny, but as it stands the flours will absorb the liquid and it will get thicker).

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350*F and lightly grease or line with parchment paper, one 9" square pan or two 8"round layer pans. (I found the 9" square pan made a very high cake. I preferred the height I got using a 9 x 13" baking pan.).

After 30 minutes, pour/divide batter into pan(s). Bake for 50-55 minutes for a square/rectangle cake, 30-35 minutes for a layer cake. Test for doneness with a toothpick inserted in the middle. Cake is done when the toothpick comes out clean, cake bounces back when lightly touched and is nicely browned.

Let cool completely before removing from pans and frosting.

Faux Cream Cheese Frosting:

3 oz (which is 125g/@1/2 cup)  Daiya Plain Cream Cheese Style Spread
1/4 cup  Becel Vegan Margarine (or other non-dairy butter-like spread)
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups icing sugar

Beat together until smooth, creamy and of spreadable consistency. Spread evenly over cake, or between layers and on top.