Tag Archives: Gluten Free Baking

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.

Homemade Maple Pecan Scones, Gluten Free Pastry!

**Gluten Free Maple Pecan Scone Recipe**

**Maple Pecan Gluten Free Homemade Scones**

Changing leaves, cooler weather, cozy sweaters, and this time of year makes me start baking things like these maple pecan scones. They are the perfect bit of sweet with a biscuit texture and buttery maple pecan flavor. It’s just the bit of comfort and homey cheer that says relax and put up your feet for a bit and savor the moment. I personally can’t think of scones without also thinking of a cup of tea to go with it. But that’s entirely up to you and maybe your jam is coffee or just eating it over the kitchen sink. We have family members known to do that….never me. 😉 What is your favorite tea to drink with something like a scone?

In this recipe, I used maple sugar, real butter, some natural maple flavor extract instead of vanilla and toasted pecans. They are a delicious way to treat yourself. A wonderful thing about scones is you can prep them all the way up to the point they are ready to pop into the oven and freeze some for later so you have fresh scones at your fingertips. This has come in very handy for me over the years. This recipe makes 24 scones, so you can bake them all at once, or freeze some for later. Just increase your baking time by about ten minutes from frozen.

Let’s make scones together, shall we?

Maple Pecan Scones, Gluten Free

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. and lay out two parchment lined baking sheets.

Ingredients:

3 Cups of Gluten Free Flour Blend with Xanthun Gum (I use Measure for Measure) Scooped and Leveled

2 Sticks of Cold Butter

1 Cup of Coconut Milk or Heavy Cream

4 Large Eggs

1 Cup of Toasted Pecans (toast in the oven for approximately 7 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and chop)

1/4 Cup of Maple Sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoons of Baking Powder

1 1/2 Teaspoons of Salt

1 Teaspoon of Natural Maple Flavor (it’s gluten free!)

Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon of water for brushing the tops)

Directions:

Toast the pecans first at 350 degrees F. for seven minutes. Remove them from the oven and set aside to cool. Now, reset your oven to 400 degrees F. for the scones.

In a food processor with a blade, add your flour, maple sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse until combined. Cut the cold butter into chunks and add it to your food processor. Pulse the processor until you have fine pea size crumbs. Whisk together in a separate bowl the coconut milk or heavy cream, eggs, and maple extract. Add the beaten egg mixture to the flour mixture and pulse until combined evenly. You will need to remove the top a couple of times to scrape the sides. Dump the mixture into a mixing bowl and fold in the pecans evenly. Dump the scone dough onto a floured surface, and roll out until it is a 12 inch by 8 inch rectangle and the scones are 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut the dough into 12 squares with a sharp knife. Wipe the knife as you go if you get dough stuck to it for a cleaner cut. Now cut your twelve squares into triangles by cutting them in half on an angle. Place the scones on two baking trays spaced evenly about two inches apart. Brush the scones with egg wash and sprinkle with some additional maple sugar or cane sugar.

Bake in your preheated 400 degree F. oven for 16 minutes until golden brown on the edges. Cool.

These are delightful, and I hope you love the recipe! Happy baking!!

Mint Chocolate Chunk Cookies – Gluten Free and Dairy Free

Mint Chocolate Chunk Cookies – Gluten and Dairy Free

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies are so good! In this recipe I used brown rice flour and maple sugar, and the flavor is so delicious with a lovely crumbly cookie texture.

Spring is here, although in Northern Michigan it is a bit sketchy at times, we have had some beautiful warm days, and I do find that the spring flowers blooms like daffodils and hyacinths last a very long time in the cooler climate. This is my first spring in many years up north, and having moved from Maryland last May, in my adult experience the spring flowers faded fast in the heat. That’s a big plus here, but my favorite time in spring is when the lilacs start blooming the end of May! Can’t wait for that!

This month is the anniversary of my 7th year writing this blog, and I hope the recipes and healthy living tips have been an inspiration to you! Leave me comments. I love to hear from you!

If you are with me on your digestive healing journey, you will see that my recipes have evolved from being completely grain free to including some gluten free grains and flours in my baking and recipes. I have healed so much and am enjoying a much larger variety of healthy food, including some aged cheese and healthy grains. Don’t worry if you aren’t eating them, I still have plenty of recipes that don’t include them and will continue to blog those as well and more healthy living tips. Inspiring you with veggies is a passion of mine, and baking is my guilty pleasure, so I try to make versions of cookies and treats that are healthier and also delicious!

Here’s my newest cookie recipe that I think you will love! If you have never baked Mint Chocolate Chip Chunk Cookies, you are in for a lovely surprise!

Mint Chocolate Chunk Cookies – Gluten and Dairy Free

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Brown Rice Flour

1/4 Cup of Organic Shortening

1/4 Cup of Olive Oil

1/4 Cup of Maple Sugar

1 Egg

1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1/4 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

1/4 Teaspoon of Salt

1/3 Cup of Chopped Mint Dark Chocolate Bar (I used Endangered Species Forest Mint & Dark)

Directions:

In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the shortening, olive oil and maple sugar until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla and beat. In a separate small bowl, mix together the brown rice flour, baking soda and salt. Add it to your egg mixture and beat it in with an electric hand held mixer. Fold in the chopped mint chocolate bar until evenly distributed reserving a bit to press into the tops.

On two parchment lined cookie sheets, drop the cookies two inches apart with a tablespoon cookie scoop or equivalent. With damp fingertips, flatten each cookie.

Bake in your preheated oven for 12 minutes until lightly browned. Cool.

Happy healthy baking!

Makes approximately 15 cookies.

Matcha Green Tea Cookies

These gently sweetened matcha green tea cookies are a biscuit cookie delight!

They are melt in your mouth goodness with the delightful taste of matcha green tea and maple sugar and the chewy caramel flavor of chopped turkish apricots. A tiny bit of cardamom gives them an exotic twist that you will love. If you have never had cardamom in a cookie, you are in for a wonderful surprise. It’s so good in cookies! You will love these healthier cookies made with a gluten free flour blend that are not overly sweet and are dairy free! I used olive oil, the newest healthier baking trend that I have been making recipes with for a while.

My daughter tasted her first one of these cookies and said they were so buttery. They taste buttery, but in fact it is a generous amount of healthy olive oil that is the secret!

These cookies are easy to shape to into fun little rectangles by patting them out into a slab and cutting and separating them.

Let’s bake cookies!

Matcha Green Tea Cookies

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cup of Gluten Free Flour Blend. I used King Arthur Measure for Measure in this recipe. A different blend has not been tested and may give slightly different results.

1/2 Cup of Olive Oil

2 Large Eggs

1/4 Cup of Maple Sugar (I use this brand)

1/3 Cup of Dried Turkish Apricots (finely diced) I get a lot of my dried fruit and nuts from nuts.com. I used organic and they are certified gluten free)

1 Teaspoon of Matcha Green Tea (I drink matcha every morning for energy, clarity and a metabolism boost!)

1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

1/4 Teaspoon of Salt

1/4 Teaspoon of Ground Cardamom

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, matcha and cardamom.

It another medium bowl beat your eggs, maple sugar, and olive oil with an electric mixer until it’s a creamy yellow – for about one minute.

Make a well in your flour mixture, and pour the beaten egg mixture into the flour bowl. Beat with your electric mixer until well incorporated. Fold in your chopped apricots. They dough will be stiff.

On a parchment lined baking sheet, dump out your cookie dough. Place another piece of parchment on top and pat and roll the dough out into a rectangle that is approximately 10 by 8 inches. You want the dough to be on the thick side so you get a nice puffy cookie, so make sure it’s about 1 inch thick. Remove the parchment and straighten the edges into a uniform shape with your hands.

With a large, sharp knife, cut the cookies into three rows long ways, six even cuts on the short side for 18 cookies total. You may need to add a little extra gluten free flour to the edge of your knife as you cut to prevent sticking.

With an offset spatula, separate the cookies about 2 inches apart onto the baking sheet.

Bake in your preheated oven for 15 minutes. The cookies will be slightly brown but still nice and green. Cool completely on the baking sheet.

These are a fun healthy cookie for St. Patrick’s Day!

Gluten Free Cinnamon Honey Cookies

These cakey cookies have warming cinnamon and honey in them with a drizzle of dark chocolate on top! The cookies are just sweet enough and made healthier with less sugar in the form of honey. Half the fat used is olive oil.

These are made with gluten free brown rice flour only which gives the cookie a cakey texture.

This recipe will make a batch of 14 cookies. Let’s bake healthier cookies!

Gluten Free Cinnamon Honey Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Ingredients:

1/3 Cup of Honey

2 Tablespoons of Ghee

2 Tablespoons of Good Olive Oil

1 Egg

1 Cup of Brown Rice Flour

1 Teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1/4 Teaspoon of Salt

1/4 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

——————————————————————-

1/4 Cup of Dark Chocolate Chips for drizzling on top

Directions:

In a medium bowl with an electric hand mixer, mix together the honey, ghee and olive oil until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix again until incorporated.

Sift together the brown rice flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda, then add it to the honey mixture. Blend with the mixer on medium speed until thoroughly blended, about one minute.

With a tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the cookies onto two parchment lined cookie sheets spaced two inches apart. Flatten the cookies slightly with the tips of your fingers.

Bake for ten minutes in your preheated oven. Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on the cookie sheet for a half an hour. In a double boiler, melt 1/4 cup of dark chocolate. Alternately, you can use a microwave by microwaving on high, stirring every ten seconds until just melted. If you take it too far, the chocolate will seize and not drizzle.

When the chocolate is melted, using a fork, scoop up some of the chocolate and drizzle it evenly over all the cookies. Let set until the chocolate dries. Store the cookies covered up to 3 days at room temperature. They also freeze very well.

Gluten and Dairy Free Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

These heart healthy muffins are filled with antioxidant rich blueberries and sweetened lightly with honey. I used sprouted quick oats in the recipe and soaked them for a few minutes in a homemade buttermilk made from oat milk and lemon juice before mixing them into the muffin batter. They bake up in just 18 minutes!

The fat used in this muffin recipe is one of my favorites for keeping cholesterol in check, heart health, and for it’s overall health benefits…..Olive Oil. It works wonderfully in baking. This recipe makes 16 muffins that have a beautiful blueberry cinnamon aroma as they bake, and these will make your kitchen smell very inviting! My teens love these muffins. I always take that as a very good sign I’m on track.

If you are eating for digestive health or to prevent a SIBO relapse, go here to get a free download of Dr. Jacobi’s new The Vegetarian SIBO Bi-Phasic diet. Although I am not a vegetarian, a lot of people are and have a need for a diet plan without meat that is balanced. I am interested in expanding food choices for people with less restriction and helping them maintain their digestive health in a way that coincides with their dietary preferences. Her new vegetarian plan includes sprouted or soaked oats as well as some other gluten free grains. You should always listen to your body, because we are all individuals, and we all respond differently to different foods.

I think you will love this healthy and delicious muffin recipe! It has a wonderful, homey character, is lightly sweet and has a great whole grain texture that is hearty and good!

Gluten and Dairy Free Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Quick Oats (I like One Degree’s Organic Sprouted Oats)

1 Cup of Oat Milk (if making gluten free this brand has clean ingredients)

1/2 Cup of Quinoa Flour

3 Large Eggs

1/4 Cup of Runny Honey

1/3 Cup of Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon of fresh Lemon Juice

2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon of Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1 1/2 Cups of Frozen Blueberries

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange 16 Muffin liners into two muffin pans and set aside.

Stir the lemon juice into the oat milk to create a dairy free buttermilk. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the 2 Cups of quick oats with the oat milk mixture. Let sit for ten minutes to let the oats absorb the liquid and soften.

While the oats are soaking, in a large mixing bowl with a hand held electric mixer, beat your eggs, olive oil, vanilla and honey together until creamy. Then, add in your quinoa flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt and beat until thoroughly blended. After the oats have soaked for ten minutes, spoon them into your batter and mix until thoroughly incorporated. The batter will be nice and thick. Finally, fold in your frozen blueberries just until combined so you don’t get blue streaks.

With a muffin scoop or 1/4 cup measure, scoop the muffin batter evenly into your prepared muffin cups. Bake in the preheated 400 degree F. oven for 18 minutes or until they spring back. 400 degrees is a higher heat, so make sure you don’t let them go too long.

Remove the muffins from the oven and cool five minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Dig in. They are great warm too!

Chocolate Chocolate Cookies with Quinoa and Banana Flour

Chocolate Chocolate Cookies 4

I created this new cookie recipe to be nut free, gluten free, dairy free and gum free and it uses just two flours, Quinoa and Banana. These two combined I find make a nice cookie.

Chocolate Chocolate Cookies 5

These cookies taste chocolately delicious, and are sweetened with natural maple sugar.

Chocolate Chocolate Cookies 1

I usually freeze them after I make them because, 1. It keeps them fresh longer and 2. It helps resist temptation to eat too many at once. But, I have to say, they are good right out of the freezer, so that doesn’t always work well. 🙂

Chocolate Chocolate Cookies 2

This recipe makes a dozen cookies. I don’t think there is ever a time of year when chocolate isn’t on the list of cookie flavor favorites. But, they are especially cozy when the weather gets cooler and you can grab a hot cup of something to go with them curled up with a blanket and a good book.

Here’s the recipe.

Chocolate Chocolate Cookies with Quinoa and Banana Flour

1/4 Cup of Banana Flour

1/4 Cup of Quinoa Flour

1/4 Cup of Cacao Powder

1/4 Cup of Olive Oil

1 Egg

1/4 Cup of Maple Sugar

1/3 Cup of Chocolate Chips

1/4 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

1/8 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a medium bowl, beat the olive oil and maple sugar together. Add the egg and beat for one minute. Add the quinoa flour, banana flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and vanilla and beat until creamy. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Scoop onto a parchment lined cookie sheet using a tablespoon cookie measure. Flatten the cookies with damp fingers. Bake in your preheated oven for 10 – 11 minutes. Remove from the oven, and cool on the cookie sheet.

Chocolate Chocolate Cookies Gluten, Dairy and Nut Free

*This post has affiliate links in it. I receive a very small commission if you purchase through my links. The small commission helps cover the cost of maintaining this blog.

Cranberry-Orange English Muffins – Grain Free

Cranberry Orange English Muffins Gluten Free Dairy Free

Reducing your grain consumption or eating grain free, whether for health reasons, or because you are eating a lower carb diet, doesn’t mean you have to be without English Muffins!!!

English Muffins, I have missed you so!

Cranberry Orange English Muffins are one of my favorites! You can make these English Muffins in a little over 30 minutes. They are like a warm hug. Slather them with your favorite spread. The ones shown here are topped with American Spoon Blueberry Spoon Fruit. They always list allergens on their jams, spreads and products, and almost everything is gluten free.

This recipe makes 4 English Muffins. To make these a Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin, substitute raisins for the cranberries, omit the orange zest, and add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Cranberry Orange English Muffins Grain Free

Cranberry-Orange English Muffins – Grain Free

Preheat your oven to 350° F.

Spray four English Muffin Rings with cooking spray and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. I used Avocado Oil Spray.

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup of Coconut Flour

2 Eggs

1/4 Cup Avocado Oil or Olive Oil

4 Teaspoons of Ground Flax

2 Tablespoons of Fresh Orange Juice

1/2 Teaspoon of Orange Zest

1 Tablespoon of Honey (may substitute maple syrup)

1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Powder (here is my recipe for corn free baking powder)

1/4 Cup of Dried Cranberries (I used apple juice sweetened)

Directions:

Beat together eggs, honey, orange juice, orange zest and avocado oil until creamy. Add in the coconut flour, ground flax, sea salt and baking powder. Beat until thickened. Fold in the cranberries.

Fill the four English Muffin Rings evenly. Using the back of a wet spoon, smooth the batter to the edges of the rings evenly. Re-wet the spoon as needed. No sticking this way!

Mist the tops of the English Muffin batter lightly with more cooking spray. Bake in your preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until the edges are turning golden brown and the center are baked through. Remove from the oven, and cool for five minutes. Remove the rings. If they stick a bit, run a knife around the edges. Cool completely. Split the English Muffins carefully with a bread knife. Enjoy!

Cranberry-Orange Grain Free English Muffins

Carrot Cake Quick Loaf – Grain Free

Moist and delicious Carrot Cake Quick Bread? Yes, please! This quick bread recipe is grain and dairy free and lower in carbs. It has chopped crystallized ginger sprinkled on the top, raisins in the batter, and is sweetened with pure maple syrup! There are plenty of carrots and the warm spices of classic carrot cake! I like to snuggle up with a piece of this and a good book or my favorite Netflix series!

Carrot Cake Quick Loaf

The batter blends up quickly in a food processor, so there is no need to grate the carrots, which can be tedious. Line your baking pan with parchment to lift the loaf right out of the pan and have an easy clean up!

Carrot Cake Quick Bread Loaf

sliced carrot cake loaf

Carrot Cake Loaf

Preheat your oven to 325º degrees. Grease a 5″ x 7″ Loaf Pan and line it with parchment. I like to cut a piece to fit the long sides of the pan with some extra over the edges so I can simply lift it out of the pan. See photo below.

Ingredients:

3 Cups of Chopped Raw Carrots

6 Eggs

1/2 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons of Coconut Flour, scooped and leveled (I use this brand )

1/4 Cup of Apple Butter

1/2 Cup of Raisins

1/3 Cup of Avocado or Coconut Oil

1/4 Cup of Pure Maple Syrup

1 Teaspoon of Pure Vanilla Extract

2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon of Ground Ginger

1/4 Teaspoon of Mace or Nutmeg

1/4 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

1/4 Cup of Candied Ginger, Chopped (omit for very strict Paleo as there is a bit of sugar here)

Directions:

Using a food processor with a blade, chop the carrots, processing until they are a crumble consistency. Add the eggs and blend until pureed with the carrots. Add the Coconut Flour and remaining ingredients, except the crystallized ginger for the top, and process for about two minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl a couple times with a rubber spatula. The coconut flour will start absorbing the liquid and be a nice cake-like batter. With a rubber spatula, scrape all the batter into your prepared loaf pan, and rap the pan on your counter a couple times to level the batter somewhat. Take your crystallized ginger and sprinkle it on the top of the batter. Bake in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes keeping a close eye on the bread at the end. It is done when the loaf springs back in the center when touched with your finger.

Remove from the oven, and cool for ten minutes in the pan. Then, remove the loaf from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Enjoy!

Grain Free Carrot Cake Loaf - Grain Free with Raisins, Maple Syrup and Crystalized Ginger! Paleo, Gluten and Dairy Free

Cashew Lemon Cookies

Cashew Lemon Gluten Free Cookies

Light Lemon Cookies made with Raw Cashews and Flaked Coconut are perfectly delicious! The best part is they have good for you ingredients and no dairy or grains in them. In fact, I am liking all these ingredients so much, I am having a hard time not giving the green light to eat these for breakfast!

Cashew Lemon Cookies Dairy Free Grain Free

Cashew Lemon Cookies

Preheat your oven to 350º degrees F. Lay out parchment lined cookie sheets.

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Raw Cashews

1/4 Cup of Coconut Flour (I used this)

1/4 Cup of Olive Oil

3 Tablespoons of Pure Maple Syrup (substitute honey for SCD Legal)

1 Pastured Egg

1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Zest of one Lemon

1/4 Cup of No Sugar added Finely Shredded Coconut (like this)

Directions:

In a food processor with a blade attachment, add the Raw Cashews and pulse until you have fine crumbs. Add the coconut flour. Pulse again until you have a flour consistency. Add in the Maple Syrup, Olive Oil, Egg, Vanilla, Lemon Zest, Salt and Baking Soda. Blend until you get a creamy dough that starts to form a ball in the processor.

Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the dough into balls. Roll the balls in shredded coconut, pressing the coconut into the balls of dough. Flatten each ball onto your cookie sheet until they are approximately 1/2 inch thick. Bake in the oven for 11 minutes or until the edges are turning golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack.

Yummy. I love Lemon!!!

Cashew Lemon Cookies - Light Delicious Grain, Gluten and Dairy Free Cookies Rolled in Coconut. So delicious with ingredients nourishing enough for breakfast!!!