Monday, February 1, 2016

Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake....Yummy to the tummy!

Wow. All I can say is that the Holidays are a blur, and I am so grateful we aren't having a Winter like last years here in our area. So much had happened in our family in 2015, not good things, or pleasant things, and I am ready to try and move on with life as I now know it...
 
Looking forward to this brand new year I hope to be more active on the blog once again, and I am up for trying new recipes and flour mixtures. Oh by the way ALL my gluten free cookies I gave as gifts for Christmas were a hit! Half of my family didn't even know they were all gluten free. Now that is a compliment I will take any day of the week.
 
This past week I had to rush my 19 year old kitty Angel to the veterinarian hospital twice  as she started having seizures. Now for those cat lovers who are reading this, you will know how my heart is breaking. She is like a child to me. A companion, a friend...She has been started on a seizure  medicine three times a day and my heart is breaking...Since I have to administer the medicine every eight hours around the clock I will never be to far from home so I will have a lot more time to test and re-test recipes for the blog while keeping a close watch on her.
 
I absolutely love coffee cake and its been sometime since I have found a gluten free recipe where the cake stays moist for days, but here it is! I think it has something to do with the use of almond flour, as whenever I use it things seem to be softer and moister in texture. Also, since the cake is topped with loads, and loads of Pecans you are not really noticing the nutty taste of the cake itself so much.
 
I hope you will like it as much as we do and give it a try...After all, according to Punxsutawney Phil's perdition on Ground Hog Day tomorrow, we just might or might not be in for six more weeks of Winter!!! YUCK!!! Come on little guy.....enough is enough already!!!!!!!
 
 
Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake:
 
Ingredients:
1 cup almond flour
¾ cup coconut flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
½ cup almond milk
¼ cup melted coconut oil
½ cup honey
½ teaspoon vanilla
 
Topping:
1 cup pecan halves, toasted and chopped
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
¼ cup coconut oil
2 Tablespoons honey
Preheat oven to 350°. Line the bottom of a 9 inch round cake pan with parchment paper. Lightly grease the paper and sides of the pan with coconut oil.
  1. Combine the topping ingredients and set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In a small bowl, use a fork to beat together the eggs and milk.
  4. Add the egg/milk mixture, coconut oil, honey, and vanilla to the mixing bow. Beat with an electric mixer for a couple of minutes until ingredients are well combined.
  5. Spoon into the cake pan and spread out evenly. Spoon the topping evenly over the entire cake. (I use my fingers to sprinkle the nuts around evenly.)
  6. Bake for about 35 minutes or until it is set in the middle and a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Cool in the pan about 5 minutes. Invert onto a plate or rack, remove the parchment paper if stuck to the cake, and invert again onto a serving plate.
 

Monday, January 11, 2016

You can't judge a cookie by its FLOUR....Or a brownie made from beans...

Hi everyone. Sorry to have been away from the blog for what seems like forever....The Holidays were so busy here with baking, decorating, and entertaining, not to mention this is the 3rd time I have been sick. Ugh!!! With that said I am off and running. This post might be pretty lengthy as I am in a gabby mood, and no one home to talk to, so please forgive if I ramble on.

This year ALL my Christmas cookies were made with my gluten free flour mixture even though I wasn't sure my family would enjoy them as much as I do. Each of my three daughter's and their family's got a large tin of these assorted treats. From no bakes, rolled sugar cookies, drizzled peppermint chocolate chips, to nut cups and more. I even made buckeye candies for the very first time ever.

Being of a curious nature I was really determined to see if my family really enjoyed them. As I mentioned awhile back I am the only one in my family who eats strictly gluten free, and I really hate to put time and effort into something that isn't appreciated...Therefore last week I sent a text out to each receiver of the cookies and asked that they be honest about whether they ate and enjoyed the cookies. My first reply back was that the whole tin had been devoured....well the cookies, not the tin. :-)  The second reply was that over half of the cookies had been eaten, and they had no idea they were all gluten free! This was great news for me so I guess next year's baking is a GO!

Also recently my oldest daughter and I went to a craft fair at a local church. Front and center was a lady selling privately published cook books that just happened to be gluten free....Am I lucky or what? For those of you who are just beginning this gluten free journey it is a nice book to have. The Authors name is Joan Welsh and you can reach her at   jmmr61@gmail.com   to request a copy. The title to the book is NO Gluten, No Problem!

 In the book was a brownie recipe using NO flour, but black beans.. Well, I have seen recipes posted everywhere for no flour brownie recipes using these beans, and I have avoided them like a plague....Well that is up until now. She actually had samples of the brownies to try which were iced with one of the icing recipes in her book. I actually have to say they were really tasty, nothing like I had imagined they would be. The recipe turns out to be something I will definitely make in the future. (Recipe to follow below)

Another product I use quite often is Annie's gluten free microwavable mac n cheese. Love, love, love this product! I enjoy eating this with a side of slice beets, and applesauce. Well I do have a different view on eating than most people as you can see...LOL. You can get more information about  Annie's other products to try at  www.annies.com This tastes so much like the mac n cheese we grew up on that even my husband didn't know it was gluten free.

Well my phone keeps ringing off the hook so I will close this post and start my day. Until next post I hope you have a blessed gluten free day. I have included the brownie recipe below for you to try and enjoy.
Sharon


No flour brownies:

15oz can black beans
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 T vegetable oil or canola oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (optional)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8 X 8 inch baking pan with a non stick cooking spray. Rinse and drain the beans. In a blender, combine the beans, eggs, vanilla, oil, cocoa, sugar and salt. Blend until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips with a spatula and pour mixture into the prepared pan. Bake about 30 minutes, or until the top is dry and edged begin to pull away from sides of pan. Ice with your favorite icing, or leave plain. Either way these are delish!!!



 

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