Happy Celiac Awareness Day

ALL MY GLUTEN FREE PEEPS STAND UP!

YAY! Happy Celiac Awareness Day everyone!

Happy Celiac Awareness Day

I have been gluten free and dairy free for almost 3 years now! It was NOT an easy road to travel down by any means but I did it and I am healthy and happy and what more could you really ask for! (except for an entire wardrobe FILLED with Lilly Pulitzer…but I digress)

I just wanted to put up a quick post about the day and wish everyone happy healthy eating and baking today! And YES it IS Friday the 13th (ooooohhhh isn’t scary voice hear) but eating gluten free and dairy free DOES NOT HAVE TO BE SCARY! I used to think I’ll never find anything that taste good or I’ll never be able to enjoy going out to eat but that is completely false and you can live a very tasty life eating what is good for your body! Like my mom has told me when dealing with my allergies, “It will taste good for 5 minutes but the reaction will last longer so what is better?, the five minute good feeling in your mouth or the lifetime of eating what is good for you?” She’s always right (I hate to admit it but she really is)

I’ll be celebrating Celiac Awareness Day with some baked turkey meat balls, some fried plantain (my all time favorite food…seriously I could eat fried plantain all day everyday – Ghanaian style) and baked sweet potato slices with rosemary. OH and you can’t forget dessert! BROWNIES! If you haven’t tried King Arthur Flours Gluten Free Brownie mix TRY IT! SO GOOD! Top it of with a scoop of Cold-Brewed Cinnamon Coffee Ice Cream from Steve’s Ice Cream (that flavor is gluten free and vegan) and you are set!

Happy Eating!

Baked Coconut Shrimp

Over the weekend for Nick and I’s three year anniversary we decided to make dinner instead of going out. That morning Nick had gotten his daily email from allrecipes.com and it was Baked Coconut Shrimp!

Quick, easy and YUMMY!

Baked Coconut Shrimp

via allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (FRESH shrimp) You buy get it deveined with the shells on and take the shells off yourself or deveined and peeled but definitely use FRESH shrimp, not the pre-cooked stuff.
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 cups flaked sweetened coconut
• 3 egg whites, beaten until foamy

1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Rinse and dry shrimp with paper towels. Mix cornstarch, salt, and cayenne pepper in a shallow bow; pour coconut flakes in a separate shallow bowl. Working with one shrimp at a time, dredge it in the cornstarch mixture, then dip it in the egg white, and roll it in the coconut, making sure to coat the shrimp well. Place on the prepared baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining shrimp.
3. Bake the shrimp until they are bright pink on the outside and the meat is no longer transparent in the center and the coconut is browned, 15 to 20 minutes, flipping the shrimp halfway through.

These come out perfect! Plump shrimp with sweetened coconut with the hint of cayenne – nomnomnom sign me up!

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Mojito Cake

Yes. Mojito Cake. The refreshing taste of a mojito in cake form?! Sign me up!

A little throwback Thursday story before we get into the recipe. 3 years ago before Nick became my boyfriend and 2 years before going gluten free and dairy free, I went to his graduation party. For dessert was a homemade mojito cake. When I first had a slice of this cake it was amazing. It’s light yellow cake with the crisp flavor of lime and hints of rum throughout make it absolutely delightful. The rum is not an overpowering taste at all and the lime really makes the cake come alive. It’s just delicious.

Fast forward to about 3 weeks ago. Nick and I for a while have been saying “we have to make the mojito cake, we have to make the mojito cake” for months but just never did and FINALLY (after he made it for his co-workers a few times) it my turn to have a gluten free version of this cake. Now we didn’t use the King Arthur Gluten Free flour for this recipe because I can’t find their GF yellow cake to save my life! (If anyone knows were to find it PLEASE let me know!) We opted for our trusty Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix and it was delicious. It’s a Betty Crocker recipe adapted to be gluten free and dairy free. Ok even chatter, let’s make some mojito cake batter!

Gluten Free Mojito Cake

Mojito Cake

Adapted from Betty Crocker

Ingredients

For Cake:

• 1 box Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow cake mix
• 1 cup lemon-lime flavored carbonated water (my boyfriend actually found mojito flavored carbonated water and used that and it was great but lemon-lime will also work!)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup rum (your favorite) we used Bacardi which is gluten-free
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
• 2 teaspoons grated lime peel
• 3 eggs

For Glaze:

• ½ cup dairy free butter (Earth Balance)
• ¼ cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup rum

For Garnish:

• Powdered sugar
• 15 fresh mint leaves, if desired – recommended
• Extra shot of rum, if desired – I recommend it!

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Spray bottom only of 13×9 inch pan with baking spray with flour.
2. In large bowl, beat cake ingredients (except the carbonated water) with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Slowing stir in the carbonated water, scraping the bowl occasionally until all the water is incorporated into the batter. Pour batter into pan.
3. Bake as directed on box for 13×9-inch pan. Cool 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, mix glaze ingredients.
5. Heat to boiling over high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium; continue to boil 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until glaze has thickened slightly.
6. Poke warm cake every inch with a fork. Pour glaze slowly over cake. Cool completely, about 1 hour. **EXTRA STEP**  My boyfriend’s co-worker suggested that after pouring the glaze over the cake and the cake completely cools, add ANOTHER shot of rum. JUST ONE. If you want a little extra rum kick when you first bite into the cake, definitely add the extra shot – totally up to you!
7. Garnish cake with powdered sugar, mint leaf and shredded lime peel. Store loosely covered.

The corner pieces are the best parts (they soak up all the yummy glaze). The whole cake honestly is scrumptious and you may be craving this cake after it’s finished for a while. I know I was!

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chips Cookies

On National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day (which is May 15th so mark your calendars!) I wanted to celebrate. Armed with my new found favorite King Arthur Gluten Free Cookie Mix, we (my boyfriend and I) set out to make cookies. Then I said, oooh we should make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie and Nick said “Sure, I think we can do that”. Nick is REALLY good at baking so he figured out the PERFECT amount of peanut butter to make these cookies just AMAZING! The perfect amount of peanut butter and the perfect amount of chocolate chips makes a very happy cookie! (and a very happy me!)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 Box King Arthur Gluten Free Cookie mix
• 1 Egg
• 7 – 8 Tbls dairy free butter (Earth Balance is the best)
• ½ C smooth peanut butter
• ¼ c brown sugar
• 2 Tsp vanilla (gluten free of course)
• 1 Tbls water
• 1 Cup mini chocolate chips (Enjoy Life)

1. Cream together butter and egg as best you can
2. Add King Arthur Gluten Free Cookie Mix
3. Cream together butter and egg mixture with the dry as best you can.
4. Add in water, vanilla, peanut butter, and brown sugar.
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Roll into 1-inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. (REMEMBER – they are small, it will only take 10 minutes. Do not over bake!)
8. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool for 10 – 15 minutes.
9. Enjoy off the rack or a la mode! (HELLO So Delicious Vanilla “ice cream”)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches with Steve’s Ice Cream in Cold Brewed Coffee Cinnamon!

Fresh on the Rack!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies with a hint of peanut butter…oh yea! J These are one of my FAVORITE cookies now. If you have been searching for a great GF mix for cookies that is delicious, King Arthur’s Gluten Free mix is perfect for any mix in. Try adding your favorite mix-ins to this recipe. Sweetened shredded coconut? SURE! Nuts, go crazy!

Happy Baking!

Related articles

• King Arthur Goes Gluten Free! (21nogluten.wordpress.com)

King Arthur Goes Gluten Free!

I’m back! It’s been a LONG time since I have posted anything but I am back and ready to rumble! (and BAKE OF COURSE)

I have to talk about my new favorite line of gluten free products from King Arthur Flour! King Arthur Flour is a big name brand in the baking industry so when I came across their gluten free product line I had to try it.

King Arthur Flour’s gluten free products

IF YOU HAVE NOT TRIED THE KING ARTHUR GLUTEN FREE FLOUR LINE GO TRY IT NOW!
Seriously.

Don’t get me wrong. Betty Crocker has a good gluten free line but King Arthur’s line take the cake! (Literally…ahh see, see what I did there 🙂 )

I have tried the cookie mix, brownie mix, chocolate cake mix and pancake mix and love them all. My boyfriend and I make the chocolate cake (paired with a DELICIOUS homemade peanut butter frosting) for his family reunion and until we told people, no one would have guess the cake was both gluten and dairy free. It is that good.

The mixes are very easy to use and the batter tastes good (which my boyfriend always tells me that is very important when it comes to baking).

I have yet to make something with the All-Purpose Gluten Free flour that they have so that is my next challenge.

So if you are looking for a new gluten free line of mixes to try because you are new to the gluten free game, are unhappy with what you are using now or just want to switch it up a little bit, I highly recommend the King Arthur Gluten Free line!

Go forth and bake up some tasty goodies! (see if you can fool your non-gluten free friends and family!)