Apple and Cinnamon Apricot Muffins
This fantastic recipe comes from my guest recipe blogger the Curious Baker. As many of you know I am completely baking challenged so always welcome recipes from those that do it well. The Curious Baker publishes wonderfully delicious gluten-free recipes so be sure to check out the Curious Baker blog.
So let's take a moment and meet the Curious Baker:
OK the about me stuff, I never know what to say in these things...well I’m the Curious Baker, been gluten intolerant for forever and a day, I’m technically a Londoner but have lived abroad a lot so I tend to lay hat in many wonderful countries. I love French patisseries, Arabic food and have an (un)healthy obsession for chickpeas which I have no intention of curing any time soon! I have quite the sweet tooth so my blog mainly consists of sweet gluten free treats, I also strongly believe that anything involving almonds and dark chocolate might as well be classified under heaven so don’t be surprised if you run into a more than a couple of chocolate recipes on my blog AND....well that’s kinda it, nice meeting you all, drop by some time for a cuppa tea...in a cake! Yep I went there....Ciao for now!
I used apple and apricot purée, mainly to add moisture and natural sweetness so don’t worry about subbing it another of your preferred fruit purée flavours.
Here’s what you’ll need:
1 cup/140g brown rice flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsps cinnamon
4 tbsps natural yoghurt
8 tbsps/100g salted butter
½ cup/100g light muscovado sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup/50 ml apple and apricot purée
Let’s get prepping:
Preheat oven to 170ºC/ 325ºF
Let’s get cooking:
Whisk together brown rice flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon. In a separate, large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, yoghurt and purée and mix together well till all ingredients are combined. Sift the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Divide the mixture into the 6 muffin cases. Bake for 25 minutes or until dark brown (but not burnt) and crunchy on top.
Makes 6 muffins
So let's take a moment and meet the Curious Baker:
OK the about me stuff, I never know what to say in these things...well I’m the Curious Baker, been gluten intolerant for forever and a day, I’m technically a Londoner but have lived abroad a lot so I tend to lay hat in many wonderful countries. I love French patisseries, Arabic food and have an (un)healthy obsession for chickpeas which I have no intention of curing any time soon! I have quite the sweet tooth so my blog mainly consists of sweet gluten free treats, I also strongly believe that anything involving almonds and dark chocolate might as well be classified under heaven so don’t be surprised if you run into a more than a couple of chocolate recipes on my blog AND....well that’s kinda it, nice meeting you all, drop by some time for a cuppa tea...in a cake! Yep I went there....Ciao for now!
I used apple and apricot purée, mainly to add moisture and natural sweetness so don’t worry about subbing it another of your preferred fruit purée flavours.
Here’s what you’ll need:
1 cup/140g brown rice flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsps cinnamon
4 tbsps natural yoghurt
8 tbsps/100g salted butter
½ cup/100g light muscovado sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup/50 ml apple and apricot purée
Let’s get prepping:
Preheat oven to 170ºC/ 325ºF
Let’s get cooking:
Whisk together brown rice flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon. In a separate, large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, yoghurt and purée and mix together well till all ingredients are combined. Sift the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Divide the mixture into the 6 muffin cases. Bake for 25 minutes or until dark brown (but not burnt) and crunchy on top.
Makes 6 muffins
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe comes from Kati one of GFM’s friends on Facebook. The recipe is from her Aunt Denise G. I look forward to trying these out this weekend as I love, love, love chocolate and peanut butter. This recipe looks super easy so of course, I am a fan. Here is a little bit about Kati:
I've been GF for just over 2 months, after "accidentally" discovering that I might have a gluten intolerance. I self-prescribed the diet without going into the doctor, just to try it out. I've had digestive issues for pretty much all 29 years of my life and since I've gone on the GF diet, I have never felt better - a complete night-and-day difference! :) I'm blessed to have a support system in place to help me in figuring out what foods are "safe" and swapping recipes - one of my cousins has dealt with Celiac his entire life (though I had never actually heard the word "Celiac" until I started researching the diet a few months ago), as well as a few close friends and family members who have been diagnosed with gluten intolerance over the last few years.
Thanks for the recipe Kati and Aunt Denise.
Here is what you will need:
2 cups plain peanut butter (Skippy)
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar (C&H)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda (Arm & Hammer)
1 bag (11-12 oz) Nestles Mini-Chocolate Chips
Let’s get prepping:
Preheat oven to 350. Now that was simple.
Let’s get cooking:
In bowl combine first 4 ingredients until blended. Stir in mini-chips. I let it set a little while so the sugar softens into the peanut butter. The bowl will seem to be about half dough and half chocolate chips. Drop by the teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheets (you can use a small cookie scoop, like an ice cream scoop that levers them out). If they are too big, they will not cook all the way through. Do Not Flatten!
Bake for 9-10 minutes or until cookies are puffed and golden. Let them cool on the cookie sheets for at least 5 minutes as they are very soft and need some time to firm up and cooling helps. They will still just slide off the cookie sheet even if completely cooled. When completely cooled and chips have firmed up again they can be stored in an airtight container or frozen.
It is best to hide them, since they are so yummy! This will make about 100 cookies. If you don’t have time to make them all, you can store the batter in the fridge and bake when cold… the cooking time may be extended according to your oven.
I've been GF for just over 2 months, after "accidentally" discovering that I might have a gluten intolerance. I self-prescribed the diet without going into the doctor, just to try it out. I've had digestive issues for pretty much all 29 years of my life and since I've gone on the GF diet, I have never felt better - a complete night-and-day difference! :) I'm blessed to have a support system in place to help me in figuring out what foods are "safe" and swapping recipes - one of my cousins has dealt with Celiac his entire life (though I had never actually heard the word "Celiac" until I started researching the diet a few months ago), as well as a few close friends and family members who have been diagnosed with gluten intolerance over the last few years.
Thanks for the recipe Kati and Aunt Denise.
Here is what you will need:
2 cups plain peanut butter (Skippy)
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar (C&H)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda (Arm & Hammer)
1 bag (11-12 oz) Nestles Mini-Chocolate Chips
Let’s get prepping:
Preheat oven to 350. Now that was simple.
Let’s get cooking:
In bowl combine first 4 ingredients until blended. Stir in mini-chips. I let it set a little while so the sugar softens into the peanut butter. The bowl will seem to be about half dough and half chocolate chips. Drop by the teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheets (you can use a small cookie scoop, like an ice cream scoop that levers them out). If they are too big, they will not cook all the way through. Do Not Flatten!
Bake for 9-10 minutes or until cookies are puffed and golden. Let them cool on the cookie sheets for at least 5 minutes as they are very soft and need some time to firm up and cooling helps. They will still just slide off the cookie sheet even if completely cooled. When completely cooled and chips have firmed up again they can be stored in an airtight container or frozen.
It is best to hide them, since they are so yummy! This will make about 100 cookies. If you don’t have time to make them all, you can store the batter in the fridge and bake when cold… the cooking time may be extended according to your oven.
White Chocolate Irish Cream Cheesecake
This fantastic dessert is the second from Mark, a Celiac chef in the United Kingdom. On the menu this time is a decadent white chocolate cheesecake. I made this the other day and it was out of this world good. Again, both metric and standard measurements are provided but just look on most packaging to find the gram measurement.
Here is what you will need:
Filling
200g white chocolate (7.025 oz., about 2 bars, I am a chocoholic so used 3)
275ml of double cream (just a bit more than 1 cup)
1lb. of cream cheese
Juice of 1 orange
Zest of ½ lemon
50-75ml Bailey’s (around ¼ cup), adjust to your preference. I made it without as I did not have any one hand and it was still super delish.
4 leaves of gelatin soaked in water for 2 minutes (in lieu of leaves you can use one packet unsweetened gelatin)
Crust
100g salted butter (1 stick)
200g your favorite gluten free cookies (about 1 cup when crushed) I used a great chocolate cookie I like
45g sugar (3 tbsp.)
Let’s get prepping:
Take the cream cheese out to soften in a large mixing bowl. Zest the ½ lemon and juice the orange, combine with the Bailey’s and set aside. To make the crust, simply finely crush the cookies then mix in the sugar and melted butter. Press the mixture into your baking pan to form a crust. Set aside.
Let’s get cooking:
In a double boiler, begin to melt the chocolate. Once it begins to melt down add most of the double cream but reserve about ¼ cup. In a separate pot, warm the cream and add the gelatin. Wisk until completely dissolved. Set aside. Once the chocolate and cream are completely combined and smooth add the lemon zest, orange juice, and Bailey’s mixture. Whisk until you have soft peaks. Add the mixture to the cream cheese and fold together until well combined. Pour the mixture into your crust and let it set 4 hours (refrigerator worked fine for me).
Here is what you will need:
Filling
200g white chocolate (7.025 oz., about 2 bars, I am a chocoholic so used 3)
275ml of double cream (just a bit more than 1 cup)
1lb. of cream cheese
Juice of 1 orange
Zest of ½ lemon
50-75ml Bailey’s (around ¼ cup), adjust to your preference. I made it without as I did not have any one hand and it was still super delish.
4 leaves of gelatin soaked in water for 2 minutes (in lieu of leaves you can use one packet unsweetened gelatin)
Crust
100g salted butter (1 stick)
200g your favorite gluten free cookies (about 1 cup when crushed) I used a great chocolate cookie I like
45g sugar (3 tbsp.)
Let’s get prepping:
Take the cream cheese out to soften in a large mixing bowl. Zest the ½ lemon and juice the orange, combine with the Bailey’s and set aside. To make the crust, simply finely crush the cookies then mix in the sugar and melted butter. Press the mixture into your baking pan to form a crust. Set aside.
Let’s get cooking:
In a double boiler, begin to melt the chocolate. Once it begins to melt down add most of the double cream but reserve about ¼ cup. In a separate pot, warm the cream and add the gelatin. Wisk until completely dissolved. Set aside. Once the chocolate and cream are completely combined and smooth add the lemon zest, orange juice, and Bailey’s mixture. Whisk until you have soft peaks. Add the mixture to the cream cheese and fold together until well combined. Pour the mixture into your crust and let it set 4 hours (refrigerator worked fine for me).
Delectable Chocolate Brownies
This is the first recipe in my Guest Chef series of recipes. This fantastically decadent recipe comes from Mark, a chef in the United Kingdom, who also happens to have Celiac disease. Now I am not a baker so when Mark offered up some dessert recipes I jumped at the opportunity to feature them. I converted the measurements into U.S. customary units (rounded) but am also including the original metric measurements for my international guests.
I made these brownies last night and they are quite possibly the best I have ever had and well worth the effort of making them from scratch.
What you will need:
550g 70% chocolate (19 oz./2 ½ cups) most packaged chocolate also lists grams
565g salted butter (19.8 oz./2 ½ cups) (Iused approx. 4 sticks)
500g unsalted butter (17.6 oz./2 cups) (I used approx. 3 sticks)
800g caster sugar (28.1 oz./3.5 cups)
300g all purpose gluten free flour (10.5 oz./1 ½ cups) I used Hodgson Mills brand multi-purpose
10 eggs
115g ground almonds (4 oz./ ½ cup)
250g small marshmallows (8.8 oz./1 cup)
2 tsp. vanilla essence
1 tsp. salt
Let’s get prepping:
No real prep for this one so let’s get cooking, well baking.
Let’s get cooking, well baking:
Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler and once melted whisk in the sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat eggs into the mixture 2 at a time. Fold in the flour. Pour mixture into a greased brownie pan and bake at 160 degrees Celsius/325 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 minutes. I omitted the almonds and marshmallows but the almonds should be mixed in and marshmallows place on top. I found that baking time will vary depending on the size of the pan you use. I used one very large pan so needed to double the cooking time. I also upped the temperature to 350 degrees. The recipe make a lot of batter so using a few smaller pans is probably the way to go. I think these would be perfect in small ramekins of molds for individual treats to impress your guests.
I made these brownies last night and they are quite possibly the best I have ever had and well worth the effort of making them from scratch.
What you will need:
550g 70% chocolate (19 oz./2 ½ cups) most packaged chocolate also lists grams
565g salted butter (19.8 oz./2 ½ cups) (Iused approx. 4 sticks)
500g unsalted butter (17.6 oz./2 cups) (I used approx. 3 sticks)
800g caster sugar (28.1 oz./3.5 cups)
300g all purpose gluten free flour (10.5 oz./1 ½ cups) I used Hodgson Mills brand multi-purpose
10 eggs
115g ground almonds (4 oz./ ½ cup)
250g small marshmallows (8.8 oz./1 cup)
2 tsp. vanilla essence
1 tsp. salt
Let’s get prepping:
No real prep for this one so let’s get cooking, well baking.
Let’s get cooking, well baking:
Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler and once melted whisk in the sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat eggs into the mixture 2 at a time. Fold in the flour. Pour mixture into a greased brownie pan and bake at 160 degrees Celsius/325 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 minutes. I omitted the almonds and marshmallows but the almonds should be mixed in and marshmallows place on top. I found that baking time will vary depending on the size of the pan you use. I used one very large pan so needed to double the cooking time. I also upped the temperature to 350 degrees. The recipe make a lot of batter so using a few smaller pans is probably the way to go. I think these would be perfect in small ramekins of molds for individual treats to impress your guests.