Category Archives: Desserts

Desserts

Gingerbread Skeleton Cookies, Gluten-free

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Let me start out by saying that I am not a big Halloween fan.  I don’t like horror movies, I don’t like feeling scared, I don’t like corn mazes, and I don’t like candy corn.  

That being said, I do like some of our family traditions for Halloween.  One of my favorite memories is while growing up we would go to my grandparents’ houses to trick or treat.  My Grandma and Grandpa B would ALWAYS dress up.  Even after us kids were older and had stopped dressing up ourselves, they were still dressing up.   I just have to share these pictures. 

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You can see why my Papa called Grandma his ‘Little Woman’

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A recent tradition is when the family gets together we have for a ‘themed’ dinner.  We have Pumpkin Guts (pumpkin chili…recipe to follow soon), Salad with Juicy Bugs (cranberries), Goblin Eyes (Olives or grapes), Witches Brew (homemade root beer), etc. 

We typically get pumpkin pies for dessert, but there are those in the family that don’t like it, or can’t have it because of eggs, dairy, and gluten. I usually do a cookie, and this year, I decided to make some gingerbread cookies and decorate them in a way befitting of the season.  

Gingerbread Skeletons
Yields 36
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Ingredients
  1. 1/4 cup tapioca starch
  2. 1/2 cup potato starch
  3. 1 cup sorghum flour
  4. 3/4 cup teff flour
  5. 1 teaspoon xanthum gum
  6. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  7. 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  8. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  9. 1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
  10. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  11. 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  12. 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  13. 3/4 cup sugar
  14. 1/2 cup vegan margarine (e.g. Earth Balance)
  15. 1/4 cup molasses
  16. 3 tablespoons non-dairy milk
  17. Powdered sugar
  18. Additional sorghum flour
  19. Favorite dairy-free buttercream frosting (I just use a Wilton recipe and substitute non-hydrongenated shortening for the butter)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375˚F. In a medium bowl sift together dry ingredients (tapioca starch through nutmeg). Set aside.
  2. In a larger bowl, cream margarine, sugar, and molasses together until combined. Divide into two portions and wrap each portion with plastic wrap, flatten slightly, and refrigerate for about an hour.
  3. Mix together 1/4 cup of sorghum flour and 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Sprinkle a portion of this mixture on a piece of parchment paper. Unwrap one of the dough portions and place on the parchment paper, sprinkle with additional flour, and top with another piece of parchment paper. Roll out to about 1/8" thick, remove top sheet of parchment paper and cut with a gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet and bake for 7-9 minutes, or until set. Let cool on pan for 3-5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining dough.
  4. Place the frosting in a piping bag (or a ziploc bag) with a #4 tip. Pipe the bones on the gingerbread men (this isn't an anatomy class, have some fun with it!).
Notes
  1. Best part about gluten-free dough? It's not a big deal to re-roll the dough. With 'regular' dough if you roll it and re-roll it, the cookies get tough because of the gluten developing. No issue with gluten-free dough!
One Fine Tomato http://onefinetomato.com/
Desserts

Put the Lime in the Coconut Cupcakes (Gluten-free)

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Two flavors that to me say spring like no other is citrus and tropical.  I was in the mood to try out a new cupcake when I thought about making a coconut cupcake.  To take it one step further in the spring flavor department, I figured a filling would be good.  That brought to mind a song I heard once when I was only 6: “Put the Lime in the Coconut.”  There was my answer for the filing: lime curd.   

I know I am completely biased, but these cupcakes really are delicious.  The people I have given them to are shocked when they find out they are gluten-free, egg-free, and dairy-free.   Consequently, I felt it was worthy of entering into the So Delicious and Go Dairy Free Spring Fling Dairy-Free Recipe Contest

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Put the Lime in the Coconut Cupcakes
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Cake
  1. 2/3 cup sorghum flour
  2. 1/3 cup millet flour
  3. 1/2 cup potato starch
  4. 1/3 cup tapioca starch
  5. 1 teaspoon xanthum gum
  6. 1/2 teaspoon salt
  7. 2 teaspoons baking powder
  8. 1/4 teaspoon soda
  9. 4 tablespoons non-hydrogenated vegan margarine (such as Earth Balance)
  10. 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
  11. 1-1/4 cups sugar
  12. 1 teaspoon coconut extract
  13. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  14. 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, mixed with 1/3 cup applesauce
  15. 1 cup So Delicious Original Culinary Coconut Milk.
Filling
  1. 1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  2. 1/3 cup lime juice
  3. 1/2 cup So Delicious Coconut Milk, unsweetened
  4. 1/3 cup sugar
  5. 3/4 teaspoon lime zest
Frosting
  1. 1-1/2 teaspoons coconut extract
  2. pinch of salt
  3. 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated vegan margarine (such as Earth Balance)
  4. 1/2 cup shortening (non-hydrogetnated preferred)
  5. 1 pound powdered sugar
  6. 3 tablespoons So Delicious Original Culinary Coconut Milk
  7. Toasted coconut (for garnish)
Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a cupcake tin with liners and set aside. In a small bowl, combine flours, starches, xanthum gum, salt, baking powder, and soda. In a large bowl, beat together margarine, coconut oil, and sugar until combined. Mix in extracts and applesauce mixture.
  2. Add half of coconut milk, then mix in half of the dry ingredients. Repeat with remaining coconut milk and dry ingredients, mixing until fully combined. Fill lined cupcake tins 3/4 full and bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in pan and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Filling
  1. In a small bowl, stir together lime juice and cornstarch until cornstarch is dissolved. In a saucepan, bring So Delicious Coconut Milk and sugar to a boil. Slowly pour in cornstarch mixture, whisking continuously, until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in lime zest. Let cool slightly, then transfer mixture to a piping bag fit with a large round tip.
Frosting
  1. In a large bowl cream together coconut extract, salt, margarine, and shortening together. Slowly beat in powdered sugar. Add coconut milk and beat until nice and creamy.
Assembly
  1. There are two ways that I have assembled these cupcakes. With one way, I take an apple corer and remove a portion of the center of the cupcake (being sure to not to go through the bottom). Fill cupcakes with lime curd. The second way, I put a large round tip on the end of a piping bag, insert the tip into the center of the cupcake a little over halfway down. Squeeze in a small amount of filling while pulling the tip up.
  2. Frost with coconut frosting. I find using a piping bag is easiest. Top with toasted coconut and lime zest if desired.
One Fine Tomato http://onefinetomato.com/
 You have to admit, that any time you hear someone say the phrase “Let it Go,” you starting singing (whether in your head or out loud) the popular song from Frozen.  For me, whenever I hear someone say “Now let me get this straight,” I think of this song and video and it makes me chuckle every time (not only because the lyrics are ridiculous, but because the dance is equal in ridiculousness). For everybody’s sake, the video has been shortened significantly.

I figure since this is over 20 years old, the people in the video are likely unrecognizable so I hopefully won’t get in trouble for posting it (especially since my uncle is wearing parachute pants).

Desserts

Lemon Snickerdoodles

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Springtime has finally arrived in my neck of the woods.  The blossoms are popping on one of my favorite trees, the Spring Snow Crabapple.Spring Snow Crabapple

When spring finally rolls around, one of the first flavors I go after is lemon.  One of my family’s favorite recipes is Snickerdoodles.  I remember a family friend once making a lemon version using lemon extract, so I figured to improve on that by using lemon zest not only in the dough, but also in the rolling sugar.  These gluten-free lemon snickerdoodles are sure to become a favorite of yours.

Lemon Snickerdoodles
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Ingredients
  1. 1 cup sorghum flour
  2. 1/2 cup brown rice flour
  3. 1/2 cup potato starch
  4. 2/3 cup tapioca starch
  5. 1-1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum
  6. 1 teaspoon baking soda
  7. 1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  8. 1/2 teaspoon salt
  9. 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated vegan margarine (Earth Balance), softened
  10. 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
  11. 1 cup sugar
  12. zest of one large lemon
  13. 1 tablespoon ground flax seed mixed with 2 tablespoons hot water
  14. 3 tablespoons applesauce
  15. 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
  16. 2/3 cup sugar
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, starches, xanthum gum, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
  2. In a large bowl, beat together margarine, shortening, and sugar until creamy. Mix in lemon zest, flax seed mixture, and applesauce until combined.
  3. In a small bowl combine 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest and 2/3 cup sugar. Use fingertips to really mix them together.
  4. Using a cookie scooper, form the dough into balls and roll in the lemon sugar. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges are set. Let cool on pan for 3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
One Fine Tomato http://onefinetomato.com/