Gluten Free Baking

Delicious Gluten Free Cherry Cheesecake Recipe with Lactose Free Cream Cheese

Delicious Gluten Free Cherry Cheesecake with Lactose Free Cream Cheese

Cheesecake. It is a much loved dessert here in America. There are so many variations of cheesecake and toppings. My sister had a gorgeous display of cheesecakes at her wedding when she was married. Of all the kinds of cheesecakes, I think cherry is still the most classic! So, having said that, I have an absolutely delicious gluten free cheesecake recipe for you today using lactose free cream cheese and Greek yogurt with those sensitive to dairy in mind. I made this cheesecake for a Summer picnic recently, and it was a big hit. My mother used to make the most delicious cherry cheesecake when I was a child, and although this is a different recipe, it is light and creamy like the ones I remembered eating as a young girl. One of the reasons I like this recipe so much is it is light and not overly rich. It is super creamy with just the right amount of graham cracker crust. I used frozen sweet cherries to make the topping, and the consistency to spoon on top of the cheesecake was just right. I find that using frozen cherries versus canned gives a much better flavor and texture. I also like that the bake time is quick with very little chance of the top cracking.

Delicious Gluten Free Cherry Cheesecake Recipe with Lactose Free Cream Cheese

In this recipe, I used an 8 inch springform pan, and it serves 8 to 10 people. Let’s make a cheesecake!

Gluten Free Cherry Cheesecake

For the Crust:

1 1/2 Cups of Gluten Free Graham Cracker Crumbs (I used Pamela’s Graham Crackers and made crumbs in my food processor. You could also use a zipper bag and a rolling pin to crush them.) Pre-made Gluten Free Graham Cracker Crumbs works as well.

1/4 Cup of Sugar

6 Tablespoons of Melted Butter

Filling:

2 – 8 ounce tubs of lactose free cream cheese (I used Green Valley from my local grocery store)

2 Large Eggs at room temperature

1/2 Cup of Sugar

1 Teaspoon of Pure Vanilla Extract

Greek Yogurt Topping:

1 Cup of Plain Greek Yogurt

1/4 Cup of Sugar

1 Teaspoon of Pure Vanilla Extract

Sweet Cherry Topping:

14 Ounces of Frozen Sweet Cherries

1/2 Cup of Sugar

2 Tablespoons of Cornstarch dissolved in 2 Tablespoons of Water

1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix your graham cracker crumb ingredients, and press it in the bottom and up the sides of the pan firmly. Set aside.

Now you’ll make the filling. Beat your cream cheese together with the sugar, eggs and vanilla in a medium bowl with electric beaters. Pour the filling into your graham cracker crust. Wrap the bottom of your springform pan with foil, and put it on a rimmed cookie sheet in case of any butter leakage. Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the oven, and let it rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, turn your oven up to 450 degrees F.

Now we will make the Greek yogurt topping while the cheesecake is cooling, this is the final baking step! While your cheesecake is cooling for 15 minutes, beat together the Greek yogurt topping ingredients, and spread it evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Bake at 450 degrees F. for just 10 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and cool at room temperature. Then, cover and chill in your refrigerator overnight or for 12 hours.

After it has chilled, you are ready for the last step, the cherry topping!

In a medium saucepan, cook the frozen cherries and sugar together until the sugar melts and the cherries thaw and start releasing their juices, stirring slowly and constantly over medium heat. Whisk the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl. Bring the cherry and sugar mixture to a boil and slowly whisk in the cornstarch. Cook until nicely thickened. Last of all, stir in the lemon juice and cook another 30 seconds or until it’s a nice, loose, jammy consistency. Remove from the heat, and cool for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Spread the cherry topping evenly over the cheesecake with the back of a spoon, and chill for several hours until ready to serve. Remove the ring from the springform pan before serving and place it on a serving tray. This is really pretty on a fancy pedestal serving tray for company! I like to cut the cheesecake with a sharp knife run under hot water for clean slices, wiping the knife in between pieces. It’s so good! Also, if you like blueberries, frozen blueberries would work equally well in this recipe, so feel free to substitute. You could also use regular cream cheese if you are not sensitive to dairy.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Also, if you make this recipe, please leave me a review. Thank you! Sam

Coconut Flour Cherry Rhubarb Muffins

It’s rhubarb season! I grew up eating rhubarb pies made by my Mom. They were so delicious! My dad grew fresh rhubarb in his garden, and my mom froze it so we could have rhubarb pies all year. It wasn’t until I was grown that I ever tried a strawberry rhubarb pie or rhubarb any other way but straight up!

Coconut Flour Cherry Rhubarb Muffins – Gluten Free, Grain Free

I’ll admit that an unadulterated just rhubarb pie is my favorite, because it has a lot of sentimental meaning and brings back delightful childhood memories of the gorgeous Michigan summers. But, I have come to appreciate the fact that it compliments other fruit desserts, and that some people appreciate it when it is combined with other berries and stone fruits like this cherry rhubarb muffin recipe I am going to share, which is delicious!

I inherited four of my father’s rhubarb plants from our family homestead, and they are thriving after the second year with big juicy stalks and huge rhubarb leaves. (The leaves are poisonous, so you must discard those). I make sure to amend the plants in the spring with a nice amount of manure and compost blend. Rhubarb is a beautiful plant, and I think it makes a pretty and useful addition to a yardscape.

Fresh Picked Rhubarb

This recipe is grain free and gluten free. It makes eight delicious, moist muffins with a balance of equal amounts chopped rhubarb and cherries. I hope you enjoy them!

Coconut Flour Cherry Rhubarb Muffins

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:

1/3 Cup of Coconut Flour

1/2 teaspoon of Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of salt

a pinch of Nutmeg

Wet Ingredients:

3 Eggs, Whisked

1/4 Cup of Butter, Melted

1/4 Cup of Honey, runny or melted if not runny

2 teaspoons of lemon juice

1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Fruit Ingredients:

1/2 Cup of Fresh Rhubarb, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 Cup of Frozen or Fresh Cherries, sliced in half (this can be dark cherries or tart or a combination)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Put 8 muffin liners in a muffin tin.

In a bowl, mix together the eggs, melted butter, honey and vanilla extract with a hand held mixer. Don’t mix in the lemon juice yet.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and blend with the hand held mixer. The coconut flour will be runny at first and then thicken as it absorbs the wet ingredients.

Now beat in two teaspoons of lemon juice. This adds a nice tartness and activates the baking soda.

Fold in the chopped rhubarb and sliced cherries. Scoop the batter into eight muffin cups.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until the centers spring back when touched.

Coconut Flour Cherry Rhubarb Muffin Batter

These muffins are a healthy way to enjoy rhubarb this summer!

Gluten Free Cherry Macadamia Nut Cookies, The Benefits of Kindness and Connection, Sunshine and a Safer Swap Tip For The Dryer

Hi Friends!

How are you doing so far in the new year? I was personally thankful to get a good solid three days of full sunshine here in Northern Michigan in January! I have a picture below of me at the lake where the ice was just beginning to freeze over it. I have found since moving back to my childhood state of Northern Michigan from Maryland, after living on the East Coast for 32 plus years, I did not know or even realize that there is less sunshine in the winter here by 25%. The plus side of that is we have more sunshine and daylight hours here in the Summer, and the weather is gorgeous, plus the air is so fresh all the time. I wanted to share a new grain and gluten free cookie recipe with you today that is tasty and has no refined sugar (sweetened with Maple Syrup).

Gluten Free Cherry Macadamia Nut Cookies (Grain Free and Dairy Free Also)

These cookies come together easily with a hand mixer.

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Macadamia Nuts (ground in the food processor to a nut flour)

1/2 Cup of Cashew Butter

1/4 Cup of Coconut Oil

1/4 Cup of Dried Cherries

1/4 Cup of Pecans (coarsely chopped)

1 Egg

2 Tablespoons of Maple Syrup

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

1/4 Teaspoon of Salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a food processor, grind the macadamia nuts until they are fine like almond flour. Add the remaining ingredients except the dried cherries and pecans. Blend until completely combined, scraping the sides of the bowl half way through. Remove the blade from the food processor and stir in the cherries and pecans.

Scoop onto parchment lined cookies sheets with a tablespoon cookie scoop. Press down until they are an even height with your fingertips, and then bake in the preheated oven for 14 minutes.

Let cool, and enjoy.

Gluten Free Cherry Macadamia Nut Cookies Recipe

Here’s the photo of me at the lake in the sunshine. It’s very cool to skip stones across the thinly frozen ice. It makes a type of musical sound. The benefits of sunshine are numerous including better sleep, increasing vitamin D levels for immunity, brain and bone health. Exposure to sunshine also helps with Seasonal Affective Disorder and low mood.

Up North Michigan in the Sunshine

On another note, the world today seems a little more serious and impatient than is was five years ago, and I want to encourage you to make sure to find time to enjoy your life, have some fun, and find things that make you laugh.

Inspirational Quote

Kindness circles back to you. The more you send it out into the world, by the words you speak, the better the world will become.
Here’s an example. Have you ever made someone’s day just by speaking kind words to a check out clerk at the store? They noticeably perk up, and then as you leave, you hear them greet the next person in line with a happier more animated tone? I have. That’s what kind words do. They start this whole effect of paying it forward. Kindness increases people’s faith in humans in general and creates a ripple effect. It’s like a tiny seed you plant every time you speak. It grows, creates new plants and then more seeds you may never see, but they are happening and making the world a better place.


The added benefit of these small connections is you feel happier, healthier and more positive as you feel a little more connected to other humans. Those casual connections are important. The next time you are in line at a store and get to the cashier, ask them how their day is going.

Swap out Dryer Sheet for Wool Dryer Balls

Now I have a healthy living tip to share. Swap out dryer sheets and fabric softener for wool dryer balls.

Wool dryer balls can be used over and over and over and don’t release toxic chemicals onto your clothing that you then put on your skin! They are eco friendly and great for fluffing up your clothes and preventing wrinkles too.

Dryer sheets are from synthetic polyester, with toxic chemicals which release to target the electrostatic charges. Dryer sheet manufacturers typically list only some of the ingredients on the dryer sheet box, but others don’t list any ingredients at all. Dryer sheets are a sneaky single-use plastic, designed to be used once then tossed out, where they will persist in the environment forever. Instead try 100% Wool Dryer Balls, which not only reduce static – but reduce drying time, too! If you want an added scent, add a few drops of your favorite Essential Oil. Here’s the wool dryer balls I use.

I hope you love the new recipe, tips, encouragement and inspiration. I love to hear from you. Drop me a comment anytime.

Sandra Shields, Health Coach

Gluten Free Apple Bread with Streusel Topping

Apple bread is obviously good all year round, but it is especially enticing during the fall when apples are available locally and the leaves are changing color and crunchy beneath our feet, and we start thinking about bringing out the buffalo plaid, flannel and light scarves and vests when we go outside

I am particularly fond of seasonal food. It gives us a reason to celebrate every season as it comes and goes. This apple cake uses grated apple, so there is apple throughout without the big chunks, and there is a scrumptious streusel topping. I’m telling you the wonderful aroma in the kitchen whilst it is baking will make your family happy with anticipation.

Here’s the recipe:

Gluten Free Apple Bread with Streusel Topping

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan well.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 Cup of Gluten Free Flour Blend with Xanthan Gum (I use King Arthur Measure for Measure)

1/2 Cup of Apple Butter

1/2 Cup of Plain Greek Yogurt

3 Large Eggs

1 Cup of Peeled and Grated Apple (about 1 large apple)

1/3 Cup of Cane Sugar

1/4 Cup of Olive Oil

1 1/2 Teaspoons of Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon

1/8 Teaspoon of Nutmeg

1/2 Teaspoon of Salt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For Streusel Topping:

2 Tablespoons of Butter, melted

3 Tablespoons of Gluten Free Flour Blend

1 Tablespoon of Light Brown Sugar

1/8 Teaspoon of Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of Cinnamon

a pinch of Nutmeg

Directions:

Grate your apple and set aside.

Mix together the crumb topping ingredients in a bowl with a fork, and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat the eggs, yogurt, apple butter, vanilla, sugar and olive oil.

In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients you just blended. Fold in the grated apple, and then add the batter to your prepared loaf pan. Smooth the batter evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle the top with your streusel mixture. Bake in your preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then, run a knife around the pan before removing the loaf to cool completely on a cooling rack.

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