Apple Cinnamon Zeppole

Who can resists zeppoles?! Little bites of fried dough deliciousness. I found a great zeppole recipe that I wanted to share with you!

Apple Cinnamon Zeppole

Adapted from Simply Gluten Free

Ingredients

• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• ½ cup canola oil or vegetable oil 
• 1 cup coconut milk – shake can well before measuring
• 1 pinch kosher or sea salt
• 1 cup sweet rice flour
• 1 large or 2 medium apples, peeled cored and grated (about 1 ½ cups) – Fuji apples have got to be my favorite apples to bake with/cook with but you can use your favorite apple.
• Cinnamon Sugar – for dusting
• Powdered Sugar – for dusting

1. Crack the eggs and yolk into a liquid measuring cup or pitcher.
2. In a medium sauce pan, combine the oil, coconut milk, ¼ cup sugar, salt and ground cinnamon and bring just to a boil over medium heat. Stir to try and incorporate the oil into the coconut milk.
3. As soon as the mixture comes to a boil turn the heat down to medium-low and dump in the sweet rice flour all at once. Stir quickly and in one direction with a wooden spoon. The liquid will start absorbing the flour and will form into a ball. Continue cooking and stirring for 1 or 2 minutes. You will see that some of the oil is separating out from the dough, don’t worry. That is ok.
4. Dump the dough (separated oil and all) into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat the dough for about 1 minute on medium speed to cool it off slightly. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. Continue mixing until the dough is uniformly smooth, thick and shinny, about 3 – 5 minutes. Stir in the grated apple.
5. Line a plate with paper towels. Heat about 1 ½ inches of oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven to 325 degrees. Drop the dough into the hot oil using a small ice cream scoop or two spoons, about 1 tablespoon of dough per zeppole.
6. Do not over crowd the oil, depending on the size of your pan only fry about 6 at a time to keep the oil temperature even. Turn the zeppole over in the hot oil a few times with a slotted spoon for even browning. Fry for about 4 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.
7. Remove zeppole to paper towel lined plate with slotted spoon to drain while finishing the rest. Sprinkle generously with the cinnamon sugar and powdered sugar and serve immediately.

 ENJOY!!

Kwegyirba Croffie is a freelance Associate Producer at News 12 Connecticut and a Special Events/Event Planning and Social Media Intern at College Lifestyles (TM). She is a Quinnipiac University alumni and a sister of Alpha Delta Pi. She enjoy cupcakes,Broadway musicals, Forever 21 ,giraffes, peacock feathers, orchids, lillies and anything Disney.

Homemade “Oreos”

Granted I am NOT a huge Oreo fan. I’m definitely a cookie girl but not Oreos. BUT, I recently saw a recipe I wanted to try that called for Oreo cookies. Well, since I cannot pick up a package of Oreos and I am picky about my gluten free cookies, I decided to make my own. Here we go.

Oreos

Ingredients

For the cookies:

• 80 grams sweet rice flour (3/4 cup=70 grams + 1/8 cup=10 grams)
• 60 grams white rice flour (5/8 cup=60 grams)
• 35 grams teff flour (1/3 cup=25 grams + 1/8 cup=10 grams)
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (we used Dagoba organic)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons room-temperature, unsalted vegan butter (Earth Balance)
• 1 large egg

For the creamy filling:

• 1/2 stick room-temperature, unsalted vegan butter (Earth Balance)
• 4 tablespoons vegetable vegan shortening (Earth Balance)
• 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preparing to bake. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

Making the cookie dough. Put the sweet rice flour, white rice flour, and teff flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a whisk, stir the flours together to combine and aerate them. Add the xanthan gum, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Turn the mixer on and let everything combine in motion. While the mixer is running on low speed, add large pieces of the butter until they are all incorporated. Add the egg and mix well. (At this point, you might think the dough will be too dry. Trust. Keep mixing. It will come together.)

Baking the cookies. Scoop a rounded teaspoon of batter (literally. scoop just more than a teaspoon’s worth) and form a ball. Gently, flatten the dough in the palm of your hand. After you have flattened, smooth the edges of the cookie dough disk to make it evenly rounded. Place the dough disks onto the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. (These will not spread, but you do not want them to touch each other.)

Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 5 minutes, then turn the baking sheet 180ºF. Bake until the cookies are crisp on the edges with just a touch of softness in the center, about 5 more minutes. Take the cookies out of the oven. After a few moments, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely.

Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Making the creamy filling. Put the butter and vegetable shortening into the bowl of the stand mixer. (Clean the cookie dough out first!) Whip them up together, then add the sugar and vanilla extract. Beat the filling on high until it is fluffy frosting, about 5 minutes. (Be sure to turn off the stand mixer and scrape down the sides occasionally.)

Assembling the cookies. If you have a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch round tip, you can pipe tiny dots of filling onto a cookie. We couldn’t find ours, so we used a teaspoon measure and our fingers to spread the blob of creamy filling toward the edges but not entirely there. Gently, press the second cookie down onto the filling and watch the filling reach the edges.

Continue until all the cookies are little chocolate sandwiches with a creamy filling. Homemade Oreos. There you go!

Now, wanna know what that recipe was that called for some Oreo cookies? Frozen Reese’s Peanut Butter Pie!!! YAY! Up next on TwentyOne No Gluten!