I was inspired by a recipe for Peanut-Butter and Chocolate Frosted Cupcakes from Martha’s website (isn’t the cupcake photo on her site gorgeous?!). The basic recipe is this one for Vanilla Cupcakes, but of course everything must be chocolate in this house, so there was a fair amount of cocoa involved. My changes are below (I also halved the recipe, and my list below reflects that).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Flour (I used a blend of corn and rice)
1 cup Honey
3 Eggs
3/4 cup Homemade plain yogurt, unsweetened (if you go dairy-free, just use water or nut milk)
1/3 cup Peanut butter, unsweetened
1/2 cup Vegetable or Olive oil
1/4 cup Flax seeds, ground finely in a coffee grinder
1/4 cup Cocoa powder, unsweetened
1/4 cup Cocoa nibs
2 t. Vanilla extract
1 t. Baking powder
1/2 t. Salt

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.

Line muffin tins with paper liners, or use silicone “tins” without liners.

In a medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together moist ingredients, except the peanut butter. Slowly add the blend of dry ingredients to the moist, mixing lightly until just combined.

Divide batter among muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full. Drop a small spoonful of peanut butter in the middle of each one. Bake until a knife comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

If you will be frosting, let cool before doing so. I normally don’t frost, since we try to eat dairy and sugar free, but it was A’s birthday last weekend so I did a small batch of frosted ones. Amanda over at Attempted Cooking was kind enough to email me a link to this fabulous Honey Buttercream recipe. I added some peanut butter to the buttercream, and it was delish! Thanks Amanda!

Oh, and BTW if you have any frosting questions whatsoever, you’ll probably find the answer over at Amanda’s frosting post: How many Frostings are There? Don’t they all sound amazing?!

Enjoy!

This recipe is a slight adaptation of Gluten Free Easily‘s Big and Rich Brownie recipe. It makes a small batch of rich, chocolatey brownies. I “frosted” the brownies with peanut butter.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup  Olive oil
1/3 cup Cocoa powder
2 Eggs
3/4 cup Honey
1 tsp Vanilla extract
3/4 cup Gluten free flour (I used my blend of corn and rice)
1/3 cup Nuts, if desired (I used slivered almonds)
3/4 cup unsweetened Peanut butter, if desired, for “frosting”

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.

Grease an 8 x 8 (or comparable size) glass baking dish.

Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl. The nuts can be sprinkled on top just before the brownies are put into the oven, or mixed into the batter.

Spread batter in the greased pan. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Because peanut butter is the new required ingredient for baked good in our home (I’m serious when I say this; it was a direct request), I decided to “frost” the brownies with a peanut butter frosting. I Googled recipes, and in the end decided to just do a light “frosting” of plain, natural peanut butter since the brownies themselves were so sweet.

If you don’t have such a strong sweet tooth, you may want to cut the honey in this recipe to 1/2 cup. Even A, who has a huge sweet tooth, remarked “super sweet!” upon taking his first bite.

Enjoy!

Cocoa Powder

This recipe was inspired by the Moist Chocolate Avocado Cake recipe by The Curious Baker. My substitutions were as follows:

• Corn/rice flour for teff and buckwheat flour (I can’t find teff where I live, and A doesn’t like buckwheat)
• Cashews for hazelnuts (because that’s what I had in my kitchen)
• Honey for light muscovado sugar (because I don’t bake with sugar, though I think muscovado is an excellent choice)

I also added a generous sprinkle of flax seeds and cocoa nibs inside the mix, and a bit of sesame seeds on top of the muffins, once they were in their cups. AND, a bit of natural, unsweetened peanut butter in the middle, because all baked goods in our house must have both cocoa and peanut butter in them.

Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

Enjoy, and thanks to The Curious Baker for this great recipe! Sometimes it’s hard to keep doing the same peanut butter and chocolate muffins every week, over and over again. I loved the addition of avocado for moistness.

Cocoa Powder

This is something I made one night when I had to throw something together for dinner, and had no clue what to do. I had some leftover chicken and a variety of vegetables, so I went with a chicken pie. It made for a nice, steamy fall dinner. (Sorry, I know most of you are enjoying spring now, but it’s getting chilly here.)

Ingredients:

2 Gluten free pie crusts
1 pound Chicken, cubed or shredded (you can use less chicken and more veggies if you like)
2 cups Chicken broth, homemade
2/3 cup Milk (I used powdered goat milk)
1/3 cup Gluten-free flour (I used a blend of rice and corn)
1 Onion, chopped
1 cup Peas
1 cup Vegetables (you can use carrots, celery, etc.)
1/2 t. Sea salt
1/4 t. Pepper
1/2 t. Crushed red pepper flakes
Olive oil

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C.

Prepare pie crusts according to directions. Line the bottom of a pie dish with one crust, and set the second aside.

If using raw chicken (I used leftovers), cook in a saucepan, along with vegetables (peas, carrots, celery, etc.). Remove from heat, and set aside.

In a second saucepan, cook onions in olive oil over medium heat until softened. Add salt, pepper, broth, and milk. Stir in gluten free flour, mixing well. Simmer until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat, and set aside.

Add the chicken mixture to the pie dish, then pour the sauce on top. Cover with second crust, sealing the edges. Cut slits into the top crust to allow steam to escape.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until top crust is golden brown.

Enjoy!

We needed some new bread around the house, but I felt like doing something different, so I went with savory muffins instead. These are so nutty and yummy, I love them!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Vegetable oil (or olive oil)
2 Eggs
2 cups Flour (I used the usual corn and rice blend, but more corn than rice this time)
1 t. Sea salt
1/2 t. Baking soda
1 t. Baking powder
1/3 cup Flax seeds, plus more for decorating the tops of muffins
1/3 cup Pumpkin seeds, plus more for decorating the tops of muffins
1/4 cup Peanuts

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line muffin pan with cups.

Mix together moist ingredients. Separately, mix dry ingredients, then add dry to moist, mixing gently until combined. Divide among 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle extra pumpkin and flax seeds on top.

Bake for 17 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

300 ml. Water
3 cups Rice/Corn flour
5 T Extra virgin olive oil
3 t. Yeast
1/4 cup Flax seeds
4 Green onions, diced and sauteed in olive oil
1 t. Sea salt

Preparation:

Add all ingredients to the pan in your bread machine, yeast last. I use the “super fast” cycle on the machine. It makes a small loaf in just under an hour. Yummy! And fast.

Enjoy! Can you see the green onion in there? And the flax seeds?

This bread smells amazing and tastes even better! This is a twist on the old bread machine classic. It’s moist and flavorful, and better yet, gluten free!

Ingredients:

270 ml. Water
3 cups Rice/Corn flour
4 T Extra virgin olive oil
3 t. Yeast
1/4 cup Sesame and flax seed mix
1/3 cup Shredded cheese (I used manchego sheep cheese)
2 small Onions, sliced into thin circles and sauteed in olive oil
1 t. Sea salt

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup Flour (I used a blend of rice and corn)
1/2 cup Cocoa nibs
1/2 cup Sunflower seeds
1/2 cup Almonds, crushed
1/2 cup shredded Coconut
1/2 cup Puffed amaranth seed
1/2 cup “Multi seed” (I use this blend from a health food store that is called “Multisemilla,” which is a mix of organic crushed sunflower, sesame, and flax seeds)
1/2 cup Honey
1 t. Cinnamon
2 t. Vanilla
1 Egg, beaten
1/2 cup Vegetable oil
1/2 t. Sea salt

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325°F/165° C).

Lightly grease a cookie sheet, or use a Silpat (I used a greased sheet, thinking these were too thick for using the Silpat, but next time I’ll use it).

In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients.

Lightly press mixture into the prepared sheet, spreading it out evenly.

Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting into bars. Let bars cool completely in pan before removing or serving.

Enjoy! These bars are amazingly delicious, and very healthy!

Keep in mind you can also add dried fruit or oats, if you like.

One change I’ll make next time is to add 1/2 teaspoon or so of xanthan gum. They’re very soft, and on the verge of falling apart.
Dried Coconut

Ingredients:

2 cups Rice flour
1/2 t. Baking soda
3 t. Baking powder
1 cup Carob flour
1/4 cup Amaranth seed
1/4 cup Mixed crushed nuts
1/4 cup Mixed sesame seeds
1/4 t. Salt
2/3 cup Vegetable oil
3 cups Honey (these are pretty sweet, you can do a 1/2 cup less if you prefer)
4 Eggs
1 1/2 t. Vanilla extract
3/4 cups Milk (I used powdered goat milk, which we digest easily; otherwise use water if you can’t do dairy at all)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C.

Line muffin tins, or grease them. Mix together dry ingredients in one bowl, and moist ingredients in a separate one. Add the two mixes together, and combine well.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Frost if desired.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

270 ml. Water
2 cups Rice flour
1 cup Corn flour
5 T Extra virgin olive oil
2 T. Powdered goat milk
3 t. Yeast
1/4 cup Amaranth and flax seed mix

Enjoy!