Menehune-Brownies

The menehune are small persons believed to inhabit Hawaii. In Europe they call them “brownies”. Or hobbits, or gnomes. 

These are just delicious.  Gluten free, dairy free, soy free, egg free goodness, and the menehune here just love them. 

• 1/2 C potato flour
• 1/4 C brown rice flour
• 1 C sugar
• 6 T cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 C palm shortening
• 2 eggs <replaced with flax and hot water>
• 2 tsp vanilla

Stir, put in oiled 8 x 8 pan. Sprinkle 1/2 C chocolate chips on top. Bake at 350 for 25- 30 minutes.

Yummy Breakfast Muffins

Muffins for breakfast, with a little bit of fruit.  Perfect.

 Oh, who am I kidding.. these are good anytime of day. Snacks on the run now covered. These freeze well too, so make a big batch. : )

• 1/2 C palm shortening
• 2 eggs – (replaced with 2 T flax meal and hot water)
• 3/4 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C brown rice flour
• 3/4 C potato starch
• 1/4 C tapioca starch
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/9 tsp nutmeg
• 1 C coconut milk/hemp milk
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
•  1 C mini chocolate chips
• Optional: 1/2 C unsweetened coconut flakes

Bake mini-muffins at 350 for about 10 minutes.

Two Layer Pink Cake

The birthday girl has put in an order for cake this year:

• one layer of chocolate
• one layer of vanilla
• pink frosting

It sounds pretty. But can I do it all, gluten-free, egg-free? Yes. I think. Maybe. I hope.

• Note take out half of the batter as the “vanilla” portion, before adding the cocoa to the other 1/2.

1/2 and 1/2 Cake

• 1/3 C palm shortening
• 1 C sugar
• 2 eggs – (replace with flax meal+HOT water, or 3 T pear sauce + 3 T unflavored gelation solution**)
• 1 carton of Cascade Fresh plain yogurt
• 1 T water (more or less as needed)
• 3/4 C potato starch
• 3/4 tsp soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp vanilla

At this point split the batter into two portions. One portion is the vanilla layer. (Another option would be to put in some vanilla batter into the baking pan, and then pour in some of the chocolate, then swirl the two together for a swirly cake. That’s fun too.)

• Add 2 T cocoa powder to the CHOCOLATE portion of the batter in the other bowl.

Bake the layers at 350. Depending on the size of the pans, 20-40 minutes. Cool completely. Assemble cake with pink frosting. Decorate and serve to the birthday girl.

**NOTE: To make “EGG” with unflavored gelatin: Mix one packet of gelatin with 1 C HOT water, Mix. Use 3T for an equivalent to one egg.

 

****UPDATE****

 WOW. This is a GREAT cake. We ended up swirling the vanilla and chocolate portions. We let the layers cool, and frosted, then decorated it. After that, we left it in the refrigerator, covered with plasic wrap overnight. This is the best cake EVER. Seriously.  I highly recommend it for every occasion. Moist and tasty. Better than any bakery cake I have ever had. Here’s what it turn out looking like after it was decorated with fudge hearts as candle holders. mmmmmm

Cake Mix

Mix ahead for a quick mix that makes four Vanilla or Chocolate cakes.

I make a batch of the “basic mix” and store it in pint jars in my pantry. Dump a mix in a bowl and *poof* you have cake in a flash. Just like Betty Crocker, only no wheat or other poisons.

Basic Mix:  Mix this and store for quick cakes.

• 5 1/4 C gluten free flour mixture (I used potato starch, rice flour and tapioca starch)
• 2 +2/3 C sugar
• 8 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp soda
• 4 tsp xanthan gum
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 T egg replacer powder
• 1 T unflavored gelatin powder

To make a vanilla cake:

• 2 C of the basic mix (listed above)
• 2 eggs (replaced with flax meal + hot water)
• 2 T oil
• 3 T pear sauce (1 container of baby pears)
• 1/2 C rice or hemp milk

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes in an 8 x 8 pan.

To make a chocolate cake:

• 2 C of the basic mix (listed above)
• 3 T cocoa powder
• 2 eggs  (replaced with flax meal +hot water)
• 2 T oil
• 3 T pear sauce
• 1/2 water, or coca-cola

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes in 8 x 8 pan.

I heart Brownies

Brownies.  Seriously, they should be a food group all to themselves. I suppose if you lump them in with “cake” on the food pyramid then that would be okay too.

But these brownies come with a secret. What? Nutrition in brownies? get out!

Yep… hidden  away in the chocolatey goodness is butternut squash, pears, and high protein brown rice flour. Whoaaaaaaaaa there! Nutrition. And don’t get me started on the part that this is a VEGAN recipe too. You can hide lots of veggies if they are pureed and sauced. -yummy.

Let them eat cake. Even if it’s good for them. HAHAHA – what they don’t know will benefit them. Seriously.

Brownie Bites- no egg, no wheat, no gluten, no soy

• 1/2 C safflower oil
• 1/2 C water
• 1/2 C veggie or fruit sauce, or a combination (pear, apple, butternut sqaush)
• 1/2 C potato starch
• 1/2 C brown rice flour
• 1/2 C cocoa powder
• 2 T arrowroot starch (tapioca works too)
• 1 C sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp soda
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 T vanilla

Optional: Add some mini choc chips to the batter, or sprinkle some on top before baking.

Frosting on the brownies once they have been baked, and cooled is also recommended.

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Bake at 325.

times vary – watch the brownies to see when your oven thinks they are done. In my oven, for mini pans, it’s about 15- 18 minutes

Cupcakes 20-25 minutes

 Your mileage may vary.

If it looks like cake….

If it looks like cake, smells like cake, tastes like cake. Then it must be cake. Seriously.

I live with people who think that a daily ration of wheat is a necessary part of life and that to be denied wheat products is just somehow criminal. It’s not. My food (wheat free/gluten free and also egg free) is looked at as something to be suspicious of more often than I can count.  At some point they will just be jealous. Why they never ask about the eggs just kills me. So concerned that they might miss out on an opportunity to eat wheat. Oh pah-leesze.

 ”Is this real cake or fake cake?” Are you kidding me? 

It’s cake. Eat it.

Chocolate Birthday Cake

• 1/3 C palm shortening (Spectrum brand)
• 1 C sugar
• 2 eggs (replaced with flax meal +hot water*see note)
• 1 carton of GLUTEN FREE plain Cascade Fresh yogurt
• 1 T water (more or less)
• 1/4 C cocoa powder
• 3/4 C potato starch
• 3/4 tsp soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum

Bake at 350. 

9 inch pan = 40-50 minutes

(6) -3 inch pans = about 20 minutes

Note about the EGGS: to replace two eggs, I add 2 tablespoons of golden flax meal to 5 tablespoons of HOT water and add a tsp of shortening. Step two is to whip it to a complete froth with the stick blender. Not only is this mixture the “right color” for eggs, it seems to always work, where the egg replacer powder doesn’t always quite do it.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Chocolate-Coffee Brownies

You will never go back….. mmmmm brownies.

This recipe is vegan. Can you stand the excitement? I am surrounded by people that insist that being vegan subjects you to boring food. Not.

These are better than anything I have ever had with eggs in them. And since eggs are out forever here… these will do just fine. Thank you very much. They are good just out of the oven.. but EVEN BETTER the next day. They are moist, and cakey and fab.

Warning: the coffee ingredient may be too much for little kids. Exchange water for the coffee in the recipe- so they won’t zoom around the house after having dessert.
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Choc.-Choc.-Coffee brownies.

• 1/2 C oil
• 1/2  C coffee
• 1/2 C pear sauce (this is two gerber baby foods) 
   
• 1/2 C potato starch
• 1/2 C brown rice flour
• 1/2 C cocoa powder
• 2 T arrowroot starch
• 1 C sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp soda
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 T vanilla
• mini choc chips (Enjoy life brand is gluten free) 
   

Bake in mini muffin tins for 12 minutes at 325
I also tried it in a 9 x 7 baking pan – about 1/2 the recipe… turned out just like brownies.. mmmmmm

The kids like the mini muffin ones better.

Pumpkin bread/cake

O M G

Stop whatever you were doing and make this.

This is a keeper. I actually think it’s BETTER than the wheaty-gluten-filled version. Oh yes. It’s good by itself, it’s good with jam on top, and I think I may try a choc chip version as well….. ahhhh fall foods make me happy.

• 1/4 C safflower oil
• 3/4 C pumpkin paste (also known as canned pumpkin)
• 3/4 C brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 C chilled coconut milk (so that it’s thick and creamy)
• 1 egg (replaced with egg replacer)
• 1 TABLESPOON baking powder
• 1/2 tsp soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 cup of rice flour mixed with potato starch (I used 1/2 and 1/2)

Mix it all up. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. I used an oiled 9 x 7 cake pan (heavy ceramic -LeCruset) and it was perfect. Time in the oven may depend on what pan you have. Glass pan- probably 30-35 minutes. I suppose that cupcakes would work too, but bake them for a shorter amount of time.

Let them eat cake. Update.

The Let them eat cake entry from before didn’t include the frosting option … silly me.

Frosting at my house used to have powdered sugar as an ingredient… but for the reason known only to those who manufacture powdered sugar they add corn starch to it, (actually they add it in to keep it from clumping and to keep it free-flowing). I have also seen wheat starch instead of corn starch. They just add whatever gets the product to the consumer as cheaply as possible I am sure. And most consumers don’t care what’s in it as long as it acts like powdered sugar. Come to think of it… most people probably just buy the ready made frosting in a can. That’s even worse. I figure if I can’t pronounce the ingredient or don’t know how it’s arrived at, then I shouldn’t eat it. Like, what is BHT and why is it in my food? For an entertaining afternoon sometime, take your favorite “off the shelf” food item, like canned frosting, and do a google search on some of the listed “ingredients”. Then decide if you want to continue to eat them. Just saying.

The only option I know of at this point is to replace powdered sugar with super fine “baker’s sugar”. It’s pure sugar, no corn.  It is not powered, but you could whirl it in a coffee grinder and pulverize it I suppose. I don’t. 

The recipe is more of a ratio than amounts, because it all depends on how much you need to make. A couple of muffins doesn’t require as much frosting as a double layer cake.

The newest version replaces rice milk with chilled coconut milk. It’s yummy. Putting the mixture in the fridge overnight does tend to “even out” the texture a little. It’s good, but the unitiated family members thought it was gritty. It’s not gritty- it’s sugar.  Some people like to taste their food… some people apparently are more about the texture. Whatever.

Frosting

• 3 parts Baker’s sugar
• 1 part spectrum shortening (palm oil shortening)
• 1 part cocoa powder (or more depending on how chocolatey you want it)
• small pinch of salt
• 1 tsp of GF vanilla
• + chilled coconut milk or rice milk added to the consistency of frosting that you want. It was close to 1 part for my frosting.

The bottom line is that if you want cake, you should have cake. Cake with frosting? Even better.

Let them eat cake.

Let them eat cake. Seriously.

Fine. no wheat + a million other things. Whatever!

I insist on cake. Cake is an essential food group, not to mention it’s breakfast food potential.

This is my main recipe. I make mini-donuts out of it in little, cute, pans I got at Target. Love it.

Today as a special celebration of my new TOTAL no-gluten life…. I added chocolate chips.

The madness continues.

Brownie Mini-donuts.

• 1/2 C sunflower oil
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 2 eggs <replaced with 2 T ground flax and 4T HOT Water>mix and let stand a few minutes before adding.
• 2 C gluten-free flour mix ( I used rice, potato and tapioca blend)
• 1/2 C cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (grown on corn and I don’t care)
• 1 1/2 tsp soda
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 C grated zuchini ( I used 5 little zuchini and blenderized them to a pulp-which reduced the volume)
• 2 tsp vanilla

Mix it all up and put in mini donut pans. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

I added 1/2 cup Enjoy life choc chips to the second 1/2 of the batter.. mmmmmmmm.. *poof* yummy.