Gluten-Free Lemon Blueberry Corn Muffins

There are a few gluten-free recipes I go to when I know people are coming over; banana bread, dark chocolate chip cookies, and vegan chocolate cake. I can make them in my sleep or awake in 10 minutes flat (not counting baking time).

lemon zestI have a new recipe to add to that list and it is delightful. I used to make these Gluten-Free Lemon Blueberry Corn Muffins for the Mar Vista Farmers’ Market and they are pretty to look at as well as flavorful and filling. They are not only gluten-free, but dairy free. If you don’t do soy, just substitute milk plus a ½ teaspoon vanilla for the soy milk.

Gluten-Free Lemon Blueberry Corn Muffins
1 ½ cup gluten free flour*
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons Xantham Gum
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon zest
½ cup canola oil
1 cup vanilla soy milk
4 beaten eggs
1 cup frozen wild blueberries

Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin pan with canola oil spray.

In a large bowl sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, xantham gum, salt, sugar, and lemon zest. Stir in the canola oil, milk, and beaten eggs until combined. Stir in the blueberries.

Pour mixture into the prepared pan and bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

If you’d like a more lemony taste or if you want the muffins to look fancy for your guests, drizzle a lemon glaze on top. 

*Basic Gluten-Free Flour Mix from the Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy

6 cups white rice flour
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapioca flour
Store leftover flour in an airtight container
 

Gluten-Free Banana Bread

After I wasn’t able to make my son’s birthday cake last week, I made his second favorite baked good: gluten-free banana bread.

This is one of my favorite recipes and one that I tweaked a few times to get just right. It doesn’t hurt that it’s really easy.

Gluten-Free Banana Bread
1 ½ cup gf flour mix *
½ cup brown rice flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons xantham gum
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 beaten eggs
1 ½ cups mashed bananas (5)
1 cup sugar
½ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8 x 4x 2 1/2 bread pan with canola oil.
Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, xantham bum, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, mash bananas. Then add beaten eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil. Mix until combined. Make a hole in dry mixture and pour in wet ingredients. Mix until combined. Should be lumpy. Bake for 55 minutes or until the a knife inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

*Basic Gluten-Free Flour Mix from the Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy

6 cups white rice flour
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapioca flour
Store leftover flour in an airtight container

Mini-Vanilla Cupcakes with Melted Chocolate Frosting

We did a lot of baking yesterday at La Casa de Condes. My kids and I wanted to make a nice Valentine’s Day treat for their teachers, and we also needed to make something with a chocolate theme for our Friday get-together with friends.

A nice chocolate-based mole sounded delightful to me, but the kids thought cupcakes were the better choice. I remembered that I had small ceramic heart-shaped baking dishes left over from last Valentine’s Day so we settled on Mini Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes Frosted with Melted Chocolate. We bake everything gluten-free here because my husband has Celiac Disease and I had a gluten-free baking business. Unfortunately, I shut the business down shortly after my last large order of gluten-free flours came in, therefore, every Friday I’m featuring a different gluten-free recipe until I’ve gone through my stash. So far I’ve made Gluten-Free Blueberry Cake, Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake, Gluten-Free Lemon Pound Cake, and Decadent Gluten-Free Brownies.

I made this week’s recipe with butter and milk, but you can easily substitute the milk for soy milk and the butter for Earth Balance Vegan Butter Sticks. The recipe makes about 48 mini cupcakes or 24 regular cupcakes.

Mini Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakesvanilla batter
2 cups gf flour mix*
½ cup garbanzo bean flour
2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons xantham gum
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter
1 ¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanillasmall cupcake liners 2 eggs
1 ¼ cup milk

Preheat oven to 350°. Line mini-muffin pan with mini cupcake liners. In medium bowl, combine flours, baking soda, xantham gum, and salt.

In large bowl, using either an electric mixer or a hand mixer, beat butter for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat for 1 minute per egg. Turn mixer to low and add 1/3 of the flour mixture

small cupcake filled

alternating with 1/3 of the milk until the flour and milk are just combined.

Scoop cake mixture into a large Ziploc Bag and cut off 1/8 of an inch off the tip, or use a pastry bag. Squeeze cake into the cupcake liners filling ¾ full. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the tops are browned and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on a cooling rack. When they are completely cool frost with the melted chocolate.

Melted Chocolate Frosting
1 cup good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons butter

Melt chocolate chips and butter in a small saucepan on low heat until the mixture is smooth. Be careful not to burn. Let cool for 10 minutes. Stir chocolate a few times. Dip the tops of the mini cupcakes into the chocolate and place back on the cooling rack. Serve or store in an airtight container.

*Basic Gluten-Free Flour Mix from the Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy
6 cups white rice flour
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapioca flour
Store leftover flour in an airtight container

Superbowl Treat: Decadent Gluten-Free Brownies

It’s time for the Superbowl, woo, hoo. Ok, I don’t care about football. All that it means to me is that I have an excuse to eat Ruffles with french onion dip and drink beer all day.

But when you have a food allergy, Superbowl parties can be painful, literally. Pizza, burgers, and cookies are generally off the table, so if you need to do some accommodating for a gluten-free and/or dairy free guest, here is a recipe for gluten-free brownies. They are delicious, easy, and great to make if it’s your first attempt at gluten-free baking. There’s not a whole lot of flour, mostly chocolate, sugar, and butter. The recipe below includes vegan butter, but you can use regular butter if dairy isn’t a problem. Sort of obvious, but the better the chocolate, the better the brownie. Ghirardelli cocoa is gluten-free and reasonably priced.

Decadent Chocolate Brownieskid mixing brownie batter
1 stick of Earth Balance Vegan Butter
1 cup sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 cold large eggs
½ cup gluten-free flour*
½ teaspoon xantham gum

Preheat oven to 325. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. In a small bowl combine flour and xantham gum. In a large bowl combine vegan butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt. Place in microwave for 1 minute or until butter is melted. (This is the lazy version. You can also do this in a pan on the stovetop). Add vanilla. Stir in eggs one a time, mixing well after each egg. Add the flour and xantham gum. Vigorously stir for about 30 seconds.

brownie batter in the oven

 

Pour brownie mix into prepared pan. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out slightly moist. Cool on rack. Enjoy!

*Basic Gluten-Free Flour Mix from the Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy
6 cups white rice flour
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapioca flour
Store leftover flour in an airtight container

Easy Gluten-Free Blueberry Cake

Since shutting down my gluten-free baking business I haven’t done a whole lot of baking. Part of it is because I’m swamped and part of it is because I feel a little sad about it. When something turns out great, I instantly think about how I could sell it at the farmers market; until I remember that I’m not doing the farmers’ market anymore.

I felt that way with the cake I made last week. One glance at our pantry told me I need to do a lot of baking before my leftover flour goes bad so I decided to make a cake a week until it’s gone. For the first one, I googled blueberries and cake and saw a recipe from one of my favorite recipe sites, “Simply Recipes.”

It wasn’t gluten-free so I changed the ingredients and came up with this. It was delightful. So delightful that my husband, who has sampled enough gluten-free baked goods to fill a Whole Foods, had 3 pieces. I made it again when friends came over and the three of us nearly finished it off. My husband thought it would be best served as a breakfast cake, but I thought it was nice after dinner. The baking soda and the flour-sugar ratio make it an airy, sweet cake.

If you’re serving this for guests you can use a springform pan, which is what Simply Recipe’s did, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Easy Gluten-Free Blueberry Cake
1 1/4 cup gluten-free flour plus 1 teaspoon (King Arthur Gluten Free Multipurpose flour or TJ’s GF Flour
¾ teaspoon xantham gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter, softened (or Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cups blueberries, rinsed and drained or thawed frozen
1 teaspoon lime juice (or lemon juice)

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9-inch cake pan with canola oil spray.
Combine the flours, xantham gum, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine blueberries, 1 tsp. gluten-free flour, and lime juice.
Beat butter in a mixing bowl for 2 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until well blended. Add flour and mix until blended.
The batter will be a little thick, but don’t worry. Spread it evenly in the pan. Pour blueberry mixture evenly over the batter.
Bake on the middle over rack for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes. Enjoy!