A new idea to experiment with...

After the chewy-factor of the cupcakes I made the other day, I have decided that base would work really well for STICKY BUNS! It just seems so perfect. I am going to try it out with some cinnamon and some orange sticky buns next week. I am VERY optimistic on this one! It is a little thin for a dough, so I'll probably have to do a cake pan or cupcake pan for the cooking vessel, but it should work out really well. :-D

Orange Party Cupcakes

If you are like me and have family members who don't like much chocolate *gasp*... then this might be the cupcake for you/them.


Orange Cupcakes

1 1/3 C self-rising flour mixture
1 1/4 C sugar
1 tsp (extra) baking powder
1/2 C apple sauce
1/4 C canola oil

2 units egg replacer (I used 3 tsp ener-g)
1/2 C rice milk
2 Tbsp canola oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange extract
* 2 drops yellow and 1 drop red food coloring... just adds a slight color to look more "normal".


Mix flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl. Wisk together egg replacer, rice milk, and 2 Tbsp canola oil in a small bowl.

Add "egg" mixture, apple sauce, remaining oil, vanilla, orange, and food coloring to the flour mixture and stir well.

Spoon into cupcake pan/shells (I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup and it turned out perfect). Makes 12 cupcakes.


Bake at 375F for 25 mins or until toothpick comes out clean...

Cool and frost with your favorite allergen-free frosting or make a simple whipped frosting yourself (powdered sugar, shortening, rice milk, and vanilla) if you are going no-soy.

** It might be a good sweet bread too if left unfrosted and the sugar reduced a little. The texture is a little chewy like a bread and not crumbly like most cupcakes. I'll work on that.

Decorating Easter cookies...

I made some of my sugar cookies and flavored some with lemon extract, some with cocoa powder, and some with soy nut butter! I even flavored the icings to match the colors. heh

Very basic cookie dough base...

Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 cups GF flour mixture
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp egg replacer
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup dairy-free margarine
1/4 cup veg shortening
3 Tbsp agave nectar (or rice syrup, or just use 3/4 cup sugar total and up the rice milk to almost 1/3 cup )
1/4 cup rice milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
* 1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Mix dry ingredients well in a large bowl. Cut in margarine and shortening until well blended. In a separate bowl mix together the vanilla, rice milk, and agave nectar and pour over dough mixture. Mix well. Either refrigerate and prepare like a refrigerator dough, or spoon out into very small dough balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and press a little bit flat (but still fairly thick).

Bake at 350F for 8-12 mins (very soft - very crisp)



Chocolate Chip Cookie variation:

1 1/3 cups GF flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp egg replacer
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine
3 Tbsp agave nectar
1/4 - 1/3 cup rice milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dairy-free/vegan chocolate chips

Bake at 400F for 9-11 mins.



Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie variation:

1 1/4 cups GF flour
1/4 cup corn flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp egg replacer
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine
2 Tbsp agave nectar
1/3 cup rice milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dairy-free/vegan chocolate chips

Bake at 400F for 9-11 mins.

Fun with PIES!

I spent the morning baking pies!!!!

Jack will never eat any because I used some coconut milk, and he HATES coconut milk... but sometimes mom and dad just want PIE! ;-)

I used Jack allergen-safe Jell-O bake and serve pudding mixes cooked with 2 parts rice milk and one part coconut milk instead of cow's milk. Make sure to read the labels, because some have "modified food starch" which is a BIG no-no. Others have just corn-starch, and luckily Jack isn't allergic to corn like many allergic toddlers are.

I made one vanilla with banana slices (we are starting to reintroduce banana into MY diet to see if he is getting less sensitive to it, but he refuses to try any himself). I'll call it "banana coconut cream pie." The other pie was with chocolate pudding mix, so I'll call that one "chocolate coconut cream pie."

My basic pie crust is as follows:

For sweet pies:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/3 cups gluten-free flour mixture (detailed in a previous entry)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup room temp allergen-free margarine
3 Tbsp veg shortening
1/4 cup water

For savory (pot pies, meat pies, etc.):
1/8 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/4 cups gluten-free flour mixture
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup room temp allergen-free margarine
3 Tbsp veg shortening
1/4 cup water


Mix dry ingredients and cut in margarine and shortening until in very small dough chunks. Sprinkle water over the top and mix dough together with your hands.
I just press it into pie pans and stab a few small holes in the bottom to prevent bubbling up... or roll balls and press thin and round for small cookie sheet "pies" (I made "meat pies" with sausage, potatoes, and carrots last night for dinner). However, for rolling out into sheets, just flour the pin and surface with more GF flour mixture making sure to not over-dry the dough.
Bake at 400F for 12-15 mins or until done.

Then let cool and fill as directed... OR if you are cooking with a fruit filling or a baked-in filling, just bake as directed in most other pie recipes. The 12-15 minutes still seemed to apply for my "meat pies" since the filling I made for them was pre-cooked.

not too sweet Pumpkin Muffins

Today I decided to revisit my breakfast muffin recipe and make them a little more mild, spongy, and bread-like. I ate 3 right away! lol



Pumpkin Muffins (revisited)

2 C rice flour
1/2 C potato starch
1/4 C tapioca flour
1/4 C buckwheat flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 C sugar
2 *units* egg replacer (I used 3 tsp ener-G powdered egg replacer)
1 Tbsp ground flax seed
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 C pumpkin
2/3 C canola oil
2/3 C apple juice

(raisins or nuts can also be added)


Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Mix the dry ingredients well and then mix in the wet ingredient. Stir/mix until very well blended.

Portion into greased muffin tins.
Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Makes approx. 18 muffins

Raspberry Chocolate Mini Cupcakes

Ok.. I admit it. I have a SERIOUS sweet-tooth and am a total choco-holic!

Raspberry Chocolate Mini Cupcakes

1 C self-rising flour mixture (detailed in previous post)
2 Tbsp buckwheat flour
1/4 C cocoa
1 C sugar
1 *unit* egg replacer (I used 1 1/2tsp ener-G powdered egg replacer)
1 tsp baking soda

1/2 C applesauce
1/3 C canola oil
1/4 C rice milk
2 tsp raspberry extract
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Mix the dry ingredients well and then mix in the wet ingredient. Stir/mix until very well blended.

Grease mini muffin pan (or line with paper mini muffin cups) and fill the cups mostly full with the cake batter.

Place on the middle oven rack and back for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Makes 2 dozen super moist, not too strong, not toooo sweet, super fluffy mini cupcakes. (or one cake, 1 dozen cupcakes, etc...)