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Desserts

Recipe: Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 1 Comment

According to this website, February 27, 2010 was National Chocolate Cake Day. Sounds good to me. Give me a reason to make chocolate cake & I will jump on it! Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting – moist cake with a super creamy fudge frosting…sounds like heaven to me!

One chocolate cake that really stands out in my mind is the the Pamela’s Chocolate Cake Mix. I always follow the directions on the side of the package that use sour cream in the mix. This cake turns out so moist. It is awesome as a 2-layer cake with extra fudge frosting in the middle. Pamela’s Products can be found on Amazon.com or in most grocery stores.

Betty Crocker’s Gluten-free Devil’s Food Cake is another great chocolate cake mix. This mix only makes 1 layer unless you pour less into 2 small, 8-inch pans. This still makes a nice cake. You can see a recipe here for Chocolate Oreo Cake using this mix. You can find Betty Crocker’s gluten-free mixes in most grocery stores or on Amazon.com.

There is a wonderful recipe for Everyday Chocolate Cake on Ginger Lemon Girl’s blog. Carrie has some great recipes on her blog. This cake came out wonderfully. I frosted it with the Chocolate Fudge Frosting:

Hershey’s Chocolate Frosting

**From the Hershey’s Cocoa Can

  • 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), melted
  • 2/3 cup cocoa
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/3 cup milk (I used 1%)

And, last, but not least, my newest favorite – Glazed Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake. This cake was originally found on Eatingwell.com. I modified this to be gluten-free and the results were nothing short of spectacular.

Glazed Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Makes 16 servings

  • 1 3/4 cup gluten-free flour mix*
  • 1 3/4 tsp. xanthan gum
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, (not Dutch-process) *I used Hershey’s Special Dark
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (I used 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 3/8 tsp nutmeg & 3/8 tsp of all spice)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup nonfat buttermilk
  • 1 15-ounce can unsweetened pumpkin puree
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 large egg white, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup light corn syrup (I used Agave Nectar)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

GLAZE & GARNISH

  • 1/2 cup packed confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 tablespoon nonfat buttermilk
  • 2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips, or toasted chopped nuts

Prep:

  1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray your bundt pan with Pam or other cooking spray.
  2. Whisk together all the dry ingredients, except the brown sugar; set aside.
  3. Mix 1 cup buttermilk, pumpkin puree and brown sugar in a large bowl with an mixer on low speed. Beat in egg and egg white. Stir in oil and agave nectar. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mixing just until combined. Pour into the bundt pan.
  4. Bake in the oven for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
  5. Let cool on wire rack for about 15 minutes and then remove from the pan and let cool for another 1 -2 hours. I put the plate that I wanted the cake on upside down over the pan and then turned upside down to limit the chance of any breakage.
  6. Stir together the ingredients for the glaze & drizzle over the cake. Add the chocolate chips and/or nuts before the glaze hardens.
  7. Enjoy!

How did you celebrate National Chocolate Cake Day?

Recipe: Gluten-Free Apple Squares

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Do you have that one favorite food item from your childhood that you miss? There is one that my mom used to make for my sister and I that we absolutely loved. Apple Squares. They weren’t something that we had often, so it was really a treat when we did have them. The squares are made with a cookie base that is baked until lightly browned and then topped with seasoned apples and placed back in the oven. Then a glaze is drizzled over the top, finishing off the squares. Just a little bit of heaven in each bite.

Once my son and I had to go gluten-free, there were many old favorites we were upset about not having anymore, but this was one of the ones I was the most upset about. Well, being the wonderful mother that she is, my mom created a gluten-free version of the Apple Squares. It was really just a matter of using gluten-free flour in place of the all-purpose flour.

Gluten-Free Apple Squares Recipe

Cookie Layer:

  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) softened butter
  • ¼ cup shortening
  • ¾ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 and ½ cups gluten-free flour (use 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum) or flour mix
  • 1 egg

Cream together butter, shortening, egg, and sugar. Blend in flour. Pat on bottom of ungreased 10 X 15 inch jelly roll pan. (Cookie sheet with sides.) Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned.

Apple Layer:

  • 2 or 3 peeled apples, chopped to measure 2 cups (Use a sweet apple like Delicious)
  • ¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter (margarine)
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • ½ tsp. grated lemon peel (Could substitute 1 tsp lemon juice if no lemon peel on hand.)
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 and ¾ cup gluten-free flour or flour mix
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt

Melt butter in saucepan. Remove from heat. Blend in brown sugar, apples, lemon peel, beaten egg, and vanilla.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into apple mixture. Spread evenly over the cookie layer. Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Cinnamon Glaze:

  • 1 and ½ cup powdered sugar
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
  • 2 to 3 tbsp. milk

Combine powdered sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir in the milk as needed for glaze consistency. Blend until smooth. Glaze top of apple layer while still slightly warm.

After glaze sets, cut into bars. Makes about 4 dozen bars.

These bars are perfect alone or topped with some vanilla ice cream.

Recipe: Easy Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 4 Comments

I am not a great cook, or baker, and certainly not that adventurous in the kitchen, as my blog readers know! But when I find a good recipe, an easy recipe, I will use it over and over again, and share it with everyone that will listen! These peanut butter cookies are so easy it is crazy, and they are so delicious! I make them for the Annual Boulder County Celiacs cookie exchange because we bring several dozen cookies each, and these are nice and easy to make.

The ingredients are very easy to remember, so much so that they are dubbed “cuppa cuppa egg” by many people. You need:

  • 1 Cup of Peanut butter
  • 1 Cup of Sugar
  • 1 Egg
  • (1 Hershey Kiss per cookie)

I usually make these in big batches. Three cups of peanut butter, three cups of sugar, and three eggs, makes enough batter for about 4 dozen cookies (2 cookies sheets of 24 cookies).

They don’t run when you bake them, so you can place the cookies pretty close to each other and get a lot of them on one cookie sheet. You have to get your hands dirty here, but luckily when you mix the ingredients well (using just a spoon is fine) it won’t stick to your hands too badly. Roll the dough in to balls about 1 inch in diameter or the size of a small ping-pong ball, and place them on the lightly greased cookie sheet (I use spray Pam). If you have a Silpat that would would great, and if you don’t know what that is check it out! I only have one, and I make two cookie sheets at a time, so I don’t use it for these cookies.

Next place a thumb print in to the top of the cookie, which is where the Hershey’s Kiss will later go. Since the cookies don’t spread out as they bake, be aware of the shape the outside of the dough makes as you make the thumbprint. If the dough cracks, then the cookie will be cracked, and will be more likely to fall apart when it cools. It is best to make these slightly smaller, and make the thumbprint more shallow, so as not to crack the dough and cause the cookie to later fall apart.  Bake cookies for 10 minutes at 350 degrees, pull them out, top each cookie with a Hershey’s Kiss, and put back in the oven for another 5 minutes (this will not melt the Hershey’s Kiss, but will set them to the cookie). Allow them to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes for trying to move them to cooling rack. If you want to try something different, top the cookies with a pecan, some other candy, or wait for the cookies to cool and with jelly!

I have no idea who came up with this recipe first, so I don’t know who to credit with the information. I know I have heard this recipe from coworkers and friends, people who aren’t gluten-free and just like how easy it is. I have seen a lot of versions of this cookie, gluten-free versions, that call for gluten-free flour and other stuff. Why do all of that extra work? These are easy and taste great! They are super sweet and rich, so you can’t eat too many! Enjoy!

Recipe: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 5 Comments

With pumpkins in abundance this time of year, there are so many fun items to be made, and eaten! Smaller pumpkins, called pie pumpkins, or sugar pumpkins are the best to use for eating.  These pumpkins can be used in many tasty treats including pies, cookies, bread, cakes, and soup.  This weekend I baked a pumpkin pie, but still had leftover pumpkin, so I decided to make some cookies.

Roasting a pumpkin and getting it ready to use in recipes is relatively easy.  Set the oven to 375’F, and cut the pumpkin in half or a few big chunks, whichever is easier to manage, since some pie pumpkins can be quite big.  Scoop out the insides and seeds (now you have more seeds for roasting!)  Place them in a shallow baking dish covered with foil, face down with a bit of water.  Cook for about 50 min or until tender.  Allow the pumpkin to cool and peel.  Discard the skins and mash the pumpkin with a potato masher.

If you don’t want to go through the work with the real pumpkin, or the stores are out of stock, you can always use canned pumpkin with equally yummy results.  The cookies have a soft, fluffy texture and will convert even the skeptical gluten-eater.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies*

  • 1  stick of butter, melted
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 2/3 cups of gluten-free flour mix (I used Whole Food’s 365 brands, All-purpose gluten-free flour)

* Always confirm all of your ingredients are gluten-free.

  1. Preheat oven to 350’F
  2. In a large bowl, combine butter and brown sugar.  Mix in the egg and vanilla.
  3. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.
  4. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, in the large bowl, until blended.
  5. Drop heaping tablespoon mounds of batter on parchment-lined cookie sheets, and bake for about 12 minutes, or until springy to the touch.

Cool completely on a cooling rack, if you are able to wait.  Makes about 2 dozen.

Enjoy!!

Recipe: Gluten-Free Peaches and Cream Ice Cream

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff

It isn’t overly difficult to find ice cream that is gluten-free in the stores, but if you want a good tasting ice cream, you are probably going to need to make it yourself. If you like peaches, here is a gluten-free recipe that was submitted to us and quickly became popular in our household.

If you’d like to check out other recipe ideas, check out our gluten-free recipes page!

Gluten-Free Peaches and Cream Ice Cream Recipe

Ice Cream Ingredients:

  • 4 large very ripe peaches, peeled, cut into chunks (about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 pounds)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup peach juice (or 3 tbsp juice and 1 tbsp peach schnapps)
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup whipping cream (35% fat)
  • 1/2 cup sour cream (full fat)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp lemon juice

Ice Cream Directions:

  1. Place the peaches, water, juice and schnapps in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cover and cook until the peaches are soft, stirring a few times.
  2. Transfer peaches, along with the liquid, into a non-reactive bowl. Stir in the sugar and let the peach mixture cool, uncovered, to room temperature.
  3. When the peaches have cooled, add the cream, sour cream, vanilla and lemon juice. Puree with an immersion blender until blended but bits of peaches remain.
  4. Cover and chill the mixture thoroughly in the fridge. (You can put in the freezer towards the end to make it extra cold.)
  5. Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.