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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Coconut Tarts

Well it’s MAY! Did you now that May is Celiac Awareness month? Now you do!

To celebrate the start of May and Celiac Awareness how about some cute little tarts!! Coconut Tarts that is! So break out some tart pans and get baking!

Coconut Tarts

adapted Simply Gluten Free

Ingredients

• 1¾ cups sweetened coconut flakes – use divided
• 1 cup gluten free graham style crumbs (Kinnikinnick)
• 5 tablespoons Earth Balance vegan butter, melted
• 1 – 13.5 ounce can coconut milk
• ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
• ¼ cup tapioca starch or corn starch
• ¼ teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Place 1¼ cups of the coconut on a sheet pan and spread into an even layer.
2. Toast the coconut in the oven until it is fragrant and lightly browned, 8 – 10 minutes, stirring once or twice during cooking for even browning. Reserve ¼ cup of the toasted coconut for garnish.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining 1 cup of the toasted coconut with the graham style crumbs and the coconut oil.
4. Press into four 4 inch tart pans with removable bottoms, an 8 inch tart pan or even a 9 inch pie plate, making sure to get the mixture up the sides as well as on the bottom. Place in the freezer to cool and harden – about 15 minutes. While the crust hardens, make the filling.
5. In a medium saucepan whisk together the coconut milk, brown sugar, tapioca starch and salt.
6. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens, just about 3 minutes. Stir in the pure vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg.
7. Press the mixture through a sieve if you like to make sure there are no lumps.
8. Stir in the ½ cup of coconut flakes you did not toast. Pour the mixture into the prepared tart pan(s) or pie plate.
9. Let the tart cool in the fridge until ready to serve. Garnish with reserved toasted coconut flakes.

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.

Coconut-Almond Popcorn Balls

Another tasty popcorn recipe! This coconut- almond recipe has some of the same ingredients as the Mexican Chocolate Popcorn Balls and is just as delicious! Coconut is one of my favorite flavors!

Coconut-Almond Popcorn Balls

Adapted from Food Network.com

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons vegan butter (Earth Balance)
• 1 cupconfectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• A pinch of salt
• 12 cups popped popcorn until coated
• Toasted shredded coconut

1. Bring corn syrup, vegan butter, cup confectioners’ sugar, mini marshmallows and water to a boil in a large pot over medium heat, stirring.
2. Add almond extract and a pinch of salt.
3. Remove from the heat; using a rubber spatula.
4. Stir in popcorn until coated.
5. Butter your hands, then shape into balls
6. Roll popcorn balls in toasted shredded coconut.

Don’t want to make popcorn balls? No problem. Instead of rolling the popcorn mixture into balls, spread out onto a baking pan and sprinkle shredded coconut on top. If your coconut it not already toasted, preheat your oven to 350ºF and place popcorn mixture with coconut on top into the oven until the coconut is a nice light brown.

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. 

Hoppy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! I hope your day is filled with lots of family, friends and of course an abundance of love and joy. Oh and some sweets too! Let’s celebrate with some cute bunny cupcakes that is sure to please the Easter Bunny!

Easter Bunny Cupcakes

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes: 

• 1 box Gluten Free Betty Crocker cake mix
• Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box
• 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract

For the Decorations:

• 1 container Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy vanilla or creamy white frosting (or a homemade vanilla frosting)
• 48 sticks gum in white (or other colors such as yellow, blue, green)
• 24 sticks pink gum
• 24 miniature marshmallows (white or colors)
• 24 pink candies (mini chewy sweet and tart candies)
• 1 tube Betty Crocker black decorating gel
• 2 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 drop each food color: red, green, blue, yellow

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for cupcakes, using water, oil, egg and vanilla extract. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, divide coconut among five small bowls, about 1/2 cup each. Add 1 drop of red food color to one bowl and mix with a spoon. Finish mixing using your fingers to lift and gently rub coconut. Repeat for each color to make a bowl of yellow, blue, pink, green and white coconut.
3. Prepare ears by stacking two of the same color gum sticks on top of each other; trim into bunny ears using kitchen shears. For the center of each ear, cut a pink stick of gum in half lengthwise, trim about half an inch off of the end to trim into ear shape. Use a little frosting to “glue” the pink centers to the white gum ears.
4. To ensure that the coconut sticks to your frosting, frost one cupcake then immediately turn upside down, dipping top of the frosted cupcake into coconut. Repeat frosting and dipping for all cupcakes.
5. To add the bunny features, use a toothpick to create two slits in the top of the cupcake, then insert the ears into the slits. Cut a miniature marshmallow in half. Add a dot of frosting to the cut side of the marshmallows; press onto the front of the cupcake to create the paws. Gently press a pink candy on for nose; use black decorator gel to add the eyes.

Some tips for the Betty Crocker Kitchen Experts:

• It’s best to serve these immediately, however if they must be made ahead, store them in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Gum will melt in warm or moist conditions, so covering the cupcakes at room temperature could cause your gum ears to fall.
• Before adding the eyes, gently pat down the coconut in the eye areas to give you a smooth surface to pipe onto. For “sleeping” eyes, use gel to create half circles.

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.

Samoa Cake

Love my Samoa cookie recipe? Want all those delicious flavors in a cake?! Of course you do (if you don’t think you do, after reading this recipe you will) Two separate batters, one yummy cake! (This recipe is adapted from Breakfast to Bed – THANK YOU for the inspiration!)

Samoa Cake

Ingredients

For the First Batter

• 1 stick of vegan butter, softened (Earth Balance)
• 1 cup of dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup all purpose gluten free flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut milk

For the Second Batter – This is a recipe from Hershey’s that I tweaked to make gluten free and dairy free.

• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose gluten free flour
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup coconut milk

For the Frosting

• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk or homemade sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 1/2 cups coconut or rice milk
  • 1/2 or 2/3 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons vegan butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 sticks vegan butter, softened (Earth Balance)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sweetened toasted coconut (if you don’t have toasted ones you can toast them yourself)

For the Topping

• 1 1/2 cups sweetened toasted coconut (if you don’t have toasted ones you can toast them yourself)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF The following instructions apply to both batters. (Remember you are making two separate batters
2. Beat liquids/wet ingredients on medium high (except for boiling water in the cocoa cake – that will come later)
3. Sift in dry ingredients until combined.
4. Add boiling water for cocoa cake here when making the chocolate batter.
5. Grease and flour (with gluten free flour) the bundt pan VERY WELL. You don’t want the deliciousness to be stuck in the pan now do you!? (If you don’t have a bundt pan, use a round cake pan that is the same size as a bundt pan – about an 8 inch cake pan)
6. Layer the cake pouring some of the brown sugar batter, then cocoa batter, then brown sugar, until both batter bowls are empty.
7. Tap the pan to remove any bubbles that may be in your batter
8. Bake for approximately 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
9. Let the cake cook ENTIRELY!! This is IMPORTANT! A cool cake is a happy cake. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
10. Let’s start to make the frosting!
11. If you don’t have toasted coconut flakes, toast sweetened coconut flakes on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil in the oven on 350ºF tossing occasionally until they reach a warm light brown color
12. Beat cooled condensed milk, butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla and salt for 3 minutes.
13. Add in 1 cup toasted coconut.
14. Chill for 1 hour
15. Frost cake with frosting and top with remaining toasted coconut.
16. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, place in a ziploc bag with a corner cut out about 1/4″ up from the corner, and drizzle stripes on the cake. (if you have a pastry bag, that’s even better)
17.  SERVE!

I know it seems like a LOT but the reward is delicious cake that tastes like a favorite girl scout cookie!

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.

Impossibly Easy Coconut Pie

Hope you aren’t too full. It’s coconut pie time! Coconut is great in baked goods and pie is no exception. This coconut pie is incredibly easy with only 10 minutes of preparation time!

Impossibly Easy Coconut Pie 

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups rice or coconut milk
• 1/4 cup vegan butter, melted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Bisquick Gluten Free mix

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch glass pie plate with shortening or cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, stir together all ingredients until blended. Pour into pie plate.
3. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown and knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Store any remaining pie covered in refrigerator.

HOW EASY IS THAT!?! Easy as…pie! 🙂

ENJOY!

Coconut Banana Fritters

I know it’s almost 2 pm here on Long Island but that doesn’t mean you can’t think about breakfast! I am a breakfast and dessert gal. Any kind of cake like recipe is perfect for breakfast and can be delicious for dinner too! (Have breakfast for dinner as a treat!) These coconut banana fritters are perfect for just such occasion!

Coconut Banana Fritters

The coconut and banana flavors play wonderfully with each other for a delectable taste. Not a huge fan of coconuts? No problem! You can make these into regular banana fritters and use rice or almond milk in place of coconut milk. 

Ingredients

• Clean peanut or canola oil, for frying
• 1 cup chopped, packed ripe bananas (approximately 2 medium)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose gluten free flour (such as Better Batter or Bob’s Red Mill – both great)
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup coconut milk, plus more as needed
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Confectioners’ sugar, for serving

1. Fill a Dutch oven or cast iron pot with a few inches of peanut or canola oil and heat on medium-high until it reaches 375°F.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the bananas, flour, cornstarch, coconut, sugar, baking powder, and salt, followed by the egg yolks, coconut milk, and vanilla. Combine the mixture using a potato masher until it becomes a thick yet viscous batter, adding more milk—tablespoon by tablespoon—if necessary.
3. Using a spring-form ice cream scoop to form the fritters, carefully lower 4 – 5 dollops of batter into the hot fry oil at a time. Cook, flipping once, until the fritters are a nice golden brown, approximately 2 – 3 minutes. Remove the fritters with a slotted spoon, shaking off excess oil back into the pot, and place on a paper-towel lined sheet pan to cool.
4. Continue with the remaining batches, making sure to return the oil to 375° in between batches. Let fritters cool for 5 – 10 minutes. Sprinkle generously with confectioners’ sugar and serve warm.

Oh how I love breakfast for dinner. And breakfast for…well breakfast! Whip these up for your breakfast fanatics!
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.

Happy National Margarita Day

“Wastin away again in margaritaville
Searching for my lost shaker of salt”

Happy National Margarita Day! This post will feature some delicious margaritas to enjoy on this day. It’s may be cold where you all but it’s always sunny in Margaritaville.

Kiwi Margarita 

Enjoy Responsibly!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
• 1/3 cup gold tequila
• 1/3 cup triple sec
• 2 large kiwis, peeled
• 1 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 cups small ice cubes
• Lime wedge for rim
• Sugar for rim
• Kiwis sliced for garnish

1. Combine the sugar, tequila, triple sec, kiwis, and lime juice in a blender.
2. Fill with ice cubes and blend until smooth.
3. Wet the rims of your margarita glasses with lime wedge and then dip rims in sugar.
4. Pour blended margarita into glasses and garnish with kiwi slices.

Let’s have a margarita with a pop of raspberry! Raspberry is a great flavor that doesn’t seem to get used as often.

Sauza Raspberry Margarita

Enjoy the fruity, tangy flavor of raspberry in this summery margarita made with flowery white tequila and served on ice. Yea it’s not summer but who cares! Enjoy responsibly. 

Ingredients

Original Recipe Yield 9 servings

• 9 ounces Sauza Silver Tequila
• 3 ounces Dekuyper Razzmatazz
• 24 ounces Margarita Mix
• Lime wedge for rim garnish
• Sugar for rim

1. Combine the ingredients without ice and shake vigorously.
2. Wet the rim with a lime wedge and dip rim of glass into sugar.
3. Then just pour the mixture over ice in rimmed glass.
4. Garnish with a lime wedge.

The piña colada is a popular cocktail. Let’s turn those flavors on their head an make a coconut margarita.

Coconut Margarita

Ingredients 

• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice, plus 2 tablespoons for glasses (about 5 limes)
• 3/4 cup Coco Lopez or cream of coconut
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons tequila
• 1/4 cup Cointreau or other orange liqueur

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss coconut with the salt. Spread on sheet; toast in oven, stirring frequently, until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool, then crush with your hands until crumbly.
2. Pour 2 tablespoons lime juice into a shallow dish. Place coconut mixture in another dish. Dip rims of two cocktail glasses in lime juice, then in coconut mixture, coating well.
3. Combine remaining ingredients with 1 cup ice in a blender; puree until smooth. Divide evenly between prepared glasses, and serve immediately.

I hope you all enjoy your day margaritas in hand or without! You can also enjoy fantastic mocktails on this National Margarita Day. I have posted the link under related articles. Remember ALWAYS DRINK RESPONSIBLY!

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.

Related articles

• Raise.Your.Glass! (21nogluten.wordpress.com)

Toasted Coconut Marshmallows

I was thinking about taking a trip to Azure Chocolat sometime this week because I need some marshmallows dipped in chocolate. They MAKE their own marshmallows! MAKE THEM FROM SCRATCH! Why the caps? BECAUSE THEY ARE DELICIOUS! AND DIPPED IN CHOCOLATE! Made from scratch marshmallows with a hint of rose dipped in delicious chocolate. But, if you don’t live on Long Island and cannot get to Azure Chocolate (I’m sorry), you can make your own marshmallows. Marshmallows are pretty easy to make and they can be a vehicle for a lot of great taste. While I may not make them as good as they do at Azure Chocolat, these can come pretty close.

Toasted Coconut Marshmallows

Ingredients 

• 3 packages unflavored gelatin
• 1 1/2 cupsgranulated sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
• 7 ounces sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

1. Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and allow to sit while you make the syrup.
2. Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.
3. With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin. Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.
4. Sprinkle half the toasted coconut in an 8 by 12-inch nonmetal pan. Pour in the marshmallow batter and smooth the top of the mixture with damp hands. Sprinkle on the remaining toasted coconut. Allow to dry uncovered at room temperature overnight.
5. Remove the marshmallows from the pan and cut into squares. Roll the sides of each piece carefully in confectioners’ sugar. Store uncovered at room temperature.

Now you have delicious marshmallows perfect for hot chocolate, cupcake topping, cakes, cookies or just to pop one by one in your mouth! 🙂

ENJOY!

Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp

Thai food is one of my new favorite because a lot of the dishes are make with rice noodles which are gluten free. I have been to a few great Thai places and I always get something I enjoy. Shrimp is one of my favorite seafoods and if you add a little coconut and some spices, it becomes an instant interesting dish!

Thai Coconot Curry Shrimp

The sweetness of coconut milk which compliments the spiciness of the red curry paste in this simple dish. Serve this over jasmine rice for a complete meal. If you’ve never used fish sauce before, don’t let the smell fool you. It blends with the other flavors and really adds to this dish

Ingredients: 

• 1 tsp oil
• 4 scallions, whites and greens separated, chopped
• 1 tbsp Thai red curry paste
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 6 oz light coconut milk
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro,chopped
• salt to taste

1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil on medium-high.
2. Add  scallion whites and red curry paste and sauté one minute.
3. Add shrimp and garlic,season with salt and cook about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add coconut milk,fish sauce and mix well.
5. Simmer about 2-3 minutes, until shrimp is cooked through.
6. Remove from heat, mix  in scallion greens and cilantro.
7. Serve over jasmine rice (my favorite!) or a side of rice noodles.

ENJOY!