Fig Cranberry Walnut Cookies

Made these cookies yesterday and they turned out great! They are perfect for breakfast and go well with tea. One thing I love about this cookie dough is that is isn't too touchy or difficult. Small adjustments don't make too much of a difference. Plus they are gluten-free! 

Fig Cranberry Walnut Cookies 

Makes about 2 dozen

6 Tablespoon softened butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed 

3 Tablespoon water 

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoon cocoa powder 

2 1/4 cup oat flour

1/2 cup oats  

1/4 cup chopped dried figs 

1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries 

1/4 cup chopped walnuts 

1) Mix softened butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth

2) Blend flaxseed until powdery then add water (let mixture sit for 5 minutes)

3) Add flaxseed/water mixture to the butter and sugar- mix until combined. 

4) Add egg and vanilla to butter/sugar and mix until combined 

5) Mix the oats, oat flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cocoa powder together 

6) Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. (Add little bits at a time and stir) 

7) Add chopped figs, cranberries and walnuts to the dough

8) Put dough in fridge for 15-20 minutes while oven preheats to 350F 

Bake for 10-12 minutes - until edges become golden grown 

*Note- if you desire, you can add 1/2 cup chocolate chips as well

GF Star Fruit Custard Tart

GF Star Fruit Custard Tart

Fine gluten-free crust recipe here: https://simplygluten-free.com/blog/

Filling:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 Tb tapioca flour
1 1/2 Tb arrowroot powder
pinch of salt
1/4 and 1/8 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 Tb butter


1) whisk egg yolks until thick and pale - set aside
2) Mix tapioca flour, arrowroot, salt, and sugar together in bowl - set aside
3) Mix milk, heavy whipping cream, and vanilla into sauce pan
4) Heat milk mixture on medium heat until steaming
5) Add flour/sugar mixture to milk mixture and stir on medium heat until bubbling
6) Slowly pour hot milk into egg yolks while stirring constantly
7) Pour eggs yolk and milk (now fully mixed together) back into sauce pan
8) Put sauce pan on medium heat and stir constantly until mixture thickens and bubbles
9) Pour mixture back into a bowl and stir in butter
10) Cover with plastic wrap and leave custard until room temperature
11) Pour room temp custard into cooked tart crust
12) Leave tart in fridge for at least 4 hours (preferably overnight), allowing custard to set
13) Decorate tart with starfruit and any other fruit of choice

(this filling recipe makes enough to fill one small tart crust - double or triple the recipe for a large tart)

GF Vanilla Orange Muffins

I absolutely love these gluten-free muffins with a big cup of darjeeling
Check out http://www.teacampaign.ca for some great Darjeeling!

GF Vanilla Orange Muffins

2 1/2 cup oat flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup cream (or milk)
1 egg
3 Tbs honey
1 Tbs olive oil (or butter)
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp shaved orange peel

1) Preheat oven to 350F
2) Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
3) Scoop a little more than 1/4 cup into each muffin tin
4) Bake for 20-25 minutes

Gluten-Free Mini Blueberry Pies

Made these adorable little pies today!

For the crust, I used my tart crust recipe which you can find here: http://lexalexrecipe.blogspot.ca

Here's the filling recipe:

Filling

4 1/2 cups of blueberries (or 3 1/2 cups blueberries, 1 cup raspberries)
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons tapioca flour
3 Tablespoons arrowroot flour

-Bake for 15 minutes at 400F
-Change temp to 350 and cook for 20-30 more minutes (until filling is bubbling)

Gluten-Free Earl Grey Tea Cookies

Yesterday I tried out a Lemon Earl Grey Cookie recipe from http://www.tastyeatsathome.com

Since I didn't have the exact ingredients, I made some alterations- and the results were beautiful!
I'm not a big fan of quinoa flour in desserts since it's more bitter. I used brown rice flour in it's place and it worked great. I also used real butter in this recipe- because what are tea cookies without butter?

I used Scottish Earl Grey Tea from http://www.craftoftea.com/
I highly recommend this tea- it is a lovely blend flavored with bergamot

Earl Grey Tea Cookies

1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup tapioca flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoon of earl grey tea leaves (crushed up)
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 1/2 or 2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1) Mix all dry ingredients (rice flours, tapioca flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, salt, tea leaves) together in a bowl
2) Mix softened butter and sugar in a mixing bowl (on medium speed) until completely combined
3) Add egg and vanilla to butter/sugar, mix until combined
4) Add lemon zest and juice to the wet ingredients and mix until combined
5) Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients while mixing on low
6) Mix all ingredients on low until combined
7) Place dough in fridge for 30 minutes
8) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake cookies for 10 minutes (until golden brown on edges)

GF Lemon Blueberry Muffins

These gluten-free lemon blueberry muffins are seriously the best muffins I've made in quite a while! A while back I made lemon poppyseed muffins which turned out...awful. I also made blueberry muffins a few months ago and they came out super dry. These, on the other hand, are magical. They are so moist and delicious!


If you love lemon and blueberries then you will love this recipe whether you are gluten-free or not!

GF Lemon Blueberry Muffins 

6 1/2 tablespoons softened butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons milk (or almond milk)

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 lemons zested 

1 1/4 gluten-free all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1 cup of frozen blueberries 

(you will also want one more lemon for zest on top of the muffins) 

preheat oven to 350 degrees

line cupcake tin with liners 

1) whip the butter and sugar in a mixer until smooth

2) add in egg, vanilla, sour cream, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest

3) combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients

4) lightly stir in blueberries until just combined (or else all your batter will be blue!)

5) Spoon batter into cupcake tin 

Bake for 20-25 minutes 

sprinkle lemon zest on the top of the muffins once cooled

Lemon Cake

Yesterday I just had a longing to bake a cake. I ended up making this delicious gluten-free lemon cake.

Here's the recipe that I followed: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes
The only thing I did different was add a teaspoon of vanilla! I pretty much put vanilla in everything.

I rarely make gluten-free cakes but I love how this one turned out. It's very soft and spongy- which is rare for a gluten-free cake. Normally gluten-free cakes are super dense.

Gluten-Free Lemon Bars

For Mother's Day I made these delicious gluten-free lemon coconut bars. I didn't have all the ingredients I needed to follow an exact recipe so I decided to wing it-and it turned out wonderful!

Gluten-Free Lemon Coconut Bars 
(Adapted from this recipe: http://www.greenkitchenstories.com)

Crust

5 tablespoons of melted coconut oil
3 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
2 cups shredded coconut
3/4 cup almond meal/flour
1/4 cup all purpose gluten-free flour (I used Trader Joe's blend)
2 egg whites (save the yolks)

Filling

3 eggs and the 2 egg yolks
7 tablespoons maple syrup
1/3 cup and 2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons gluten-free all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sweet rice flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour

Crust: Preheat the oven to 350. Mix all the ingredients together until fully combined and press into a small pan (I put parchment paper underneath so the bars came out easily). Bake for 10-13 minutes.

Filling: beat the eggs until foamy and then add the rest of the ingredients. Beat all the ingredients for two minutes. Pour the filling onto the crust. Bake for about 18 minutes (on 350) until the filling is set (not liquid).

Let bars cool and then cover with powdered sugar. I suggest keeping the bars in the refrigerator after they cool.

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake

For Easter this year I made a simple (but delicious!) Gluten-Free Carrot Cake.

I based this recipe off a recipe for carrot-cake cupcakes which you can find here: http://www.yammiesglutenfreedom.com

Gluten Free Carrot Cake

*Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a small cake pan (I used a spring form pan)
*If you want to make this a layer cake then you'll need to double the recipe

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/2 cup white sugar (I used a little less than this)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter (melted)
1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour (I used Trader Joe's mix)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of cloves
1/8 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup of finely shredded carrots

1) Mix together the eggs, sugar, butter, coconut oil, and vanilla
2) Mix together the dry ingredients
3) Combine the wet and dry ingredients
4) Mix in the shredded carrots
5) Pour your batter into the greased cake pan
6) Place pan in your preheated oven for about 30 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean)

Frosting

5 oz cream cheese (softened)
1 tablespoon butter (softened)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar

*Put ingredients into a mixer and mix on high until everything is well combined
*Add more sugar or cream depending on the sweetness or texture you desire

Frost the cake and sprinkle chopped walnuts on top to finish!