#it's a make raspberry oat crumble for those interested

[juliannos]

i should not be left home alone with baking ingredients

because i will attempt to make sweets that are probably abominations but sound good in my head

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

Clean Treats for Everyone by Laura Fuentes

 This book sounded interesting to me as it said that it contains healthy desserts and snaakcs made with simple, real food ingredients. That may be true for those living in the USA and other Western countries but not so much true living in Lebanon. Still, if I did live in the West, had to cook for diet restrictions mentioned in the book, wanted to make clean food for some reason and could find the ingredients I would give the recipes in this book a try.  

 The book has four parts: Basics of clean eating and baking, oven fresh treats, no-bake treats and warm drinks, smoothies and frozen treats. A suggested pantry list is provided.

 What I liked:

* The labels that all recipes had: GF, DF, NF, EF, V so it was easy to find the type of restriction appropriate recipe

* The substitutions provided for a variety of ingredients including when they would and would not work

* The photographs – gorgeous!

* Sampling the recipes mentally…some sounded like they would be better than others

* The eye appeal of the recipes

* That there is a website included for the author

* That the author helps mothers and others create clean foods

 What I didn’t like/would have liked:

* no nutritional information – would have liked this information

* Knowing that many of the ingredients were not available here in Lebanon or would be prohibitively expensive if I could find them.

 Did I enjoy this book? Yes

Would I buy it for myself? Probably not

Would I buy it for someone else? Yes

 Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing – Fair Winds for the ARC – This is my honest review.

 4 Stars

   BLURB

 Everyone is sure to love Clean Treats for Everyone, featuring accessible, healthy, and easy-to-make snack and dessert recipes for eaters of all ages. Store shelves are brimming with energy balls, protein bars, and the like, but if you’ve ever grabbed a few, you know how expensive this habit can be. You’ve also probably seen some questionable ingredients on the label (soy protein isolate anyone?) and wondered if there was a better solution. With Clean Treats for Everyone, the solution is at your fingertips. All you need are a few real food ingredients like fruit, nuts, seeds, alternative flours (almond flour, oat flour, and coconut flour) and natural sweeteners (coconut sugar, honey, maple syrup) to create delicious, wholesome treats such as:  Double Chocolate Banana Bread Pumpkin Spice Coffeecake Chocolate Mug Cake Raspberry Crumble Bars Fudgy Chocolate Brownies Apple Nachos Coconut Dip No-Bake Magic Bars  Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

All of the recipes inside are naturally gluten-free, and you’ll also find customizable options to fit the needs of your family, from dairy- and nut-free substitutions to tips for adding extra protein and fat. These guilt-free muffins, cookies, bars, balls, and classic baked goods are perfect for fueling workouts, for kids’ lunchboxes, or for a healthy snack or dessert.

[barvan51-blog]

Cardamom Cranberry Gluten-Free Coffee Cake

This sour cream gluten-free coffee cake recipe has a layer of jammy cranberries and a crispy crumb topping. Served with a cup of tea or coffee, this spiced cake makes the perfect cranberry Christmas cake.

This is the first year Zoella has been really old enough to soak in all the magic of Christmas. Her face lights up with excitement with every new holiday adventure, and it brings the magic back for me now as an adult. So, I’m diving into the season, no holds barred. We’ve pulled out the Christmas books, painted homemade ornaments, decorated sugar cookies, and started a Christmas countdown calendar with tiny trinkets. I hear the ringing of bells in my ears even when there are none. Christmas joy is alive and well in our house.

Despite my best efforts to bring the holiday cheer, Zoella matter-of-factly informed us last week, “…But it’s not Christmastime yet – because there’s no snow.”

We took her to a snow day in downtown Berkeley where they (the city? Santa?) had dumped a parking-lot full of snow. She made melty snowballs and left slightly more convinced that it was, in fact, Christmastime.

We may not ever see a white Christmas outside our house, but we do have a snowy dusting of powdered sugar on our holiday treats. The dusting of powdered sugar atop this cranberry cardamom gluten-free coffee cake is the pizzaz that dresses up the coffee cake into festive holiday territory. It’s also my a small attempt to convince my toddler that it is, in fact, Christmastime.

Our snow is tastier and much less frigid – top that!

This snow-dusted cranberry cardamom gluten-free coffee cake recipe is a nod to the cranberry cake my mother-in-law made for her family every Christmas morning. Made in partnership with Simply Organic and The Feed Feed, it’s is the second in a four-part series about the joy of cooking with organic herbs, spices, and extracts. First I made gluten-free pumpkin cinnamon rolls and today I’m sharing wintry cranberry crumb cake flavored with aromatic ground cardamom.

The cardamom-spiced cake base is tender and moist with a jammy tart cranberries busting on top and a crisp crumble layer. Best savored slowly with your favorite warm holiday drink.

How to Bake a Moist and Chewy Gluten-Free Cake

This gluten-free coffee cake starts with my basic vanilla cake recipe (made as cupcakes here and as sheet cake here). Sweet rice flour binds the ingredients and gives it the chewy cake texture. Oat flour adds loftiness and a delicate whole grain cakey crumb. Millet flour balances those two characteristics out. As a trio, these three flours work to make sure the cake is moist – but not too moist – and cakey – but not too cakey.

I’ve swapped out the milk in my original gluten-free vanilla cake for sour cream to give it the classic coffee cake flavor. Sour cream creates a slightly richer and more dense cake. The fat in the sour cream makes a thicker batter that helps the cake bake up with just the right amount of moisture. This thicker batter is key because when the cranberries burst in the oven, they moisture to the batter.

Gluten-Free Cranberry Cardamom Cake Flavor

I love using dried spices to add interesting notes to my fall and winter cakes. Here I’ve added Simply Organic cardamom as a wintry fragrant spice that tastes warm and cozy against the earthy oat flour. You’ll often find ground cardamom in traditional Swedish coffee cakes or desserts.

With ground cardamom, a little goes a long way. With both sweet and savory notes, cardamom pairs well with dessert. In this cake, its aromatics play in contrast the jammy sweet tart cranberries. Cardamom is all at once spicy, herbal, sweet, with notes of pine and citrus.

Cardamom goes nicely with a cup of coffee, a chai latte, or your favorite green tea, making it the perfect holiday morning coffee cake. Serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or dollop of whipped cream for a festive holiday dessert.

Cranberry Cardamom Cake Variations

You can use either fresh or frozen cranberries in this recipe, but you could also sub in another favorite fruit. Use fresh or frozen raspberries or blueberries (do not thaw them). Sauté chopped apples with spices. You can even leave the fruit off and go with a simple powder-sugar dusted cardamom coffee cake.

And if cardamom isn’t your thing, that’s okay too. Turn the cake into a traditional spice cake using Simply Organic cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Better yet, you could even use their pumpkin spice blend for this! Alternatively, for a vanilla coffee cake add an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract and a bit of cinnamon to the crumble. Feel free to get creative and make this cranberry Christmas cake your own!

Disclosure: Special thanks to Simply Organic and The Feed Feed for providing the ingredients for this recipe and sponsoring this post! And thanks to you for supporting the companies that keep Snixy Kitchen cooking!

Yield: 1 8x8 cake, 9-12 slices

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

This sour cream gluten-free coffee cake recipe has a layer of jammy cranberries and a crispy crumb topping. Served with a cup of tea or coffee, this spiced cake makes the perfect cranberry Christmas cake. 

Ingredients

Gluten-Free Cardamom Cake

½ cup (81g) sweet rice flour or glutinous rice flour

½ cup + 1 tablespoon (68g) gluten-free oat flour

½ cup + 2½ tablespoons (95g) millet flour

1¼ teaspoon Simply Organic ground cardamom

½ teaspoon xanthan gum*

1½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ cup (165g) cane sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup full-fat sour cream

Cranberry & Crumb Topping

1¼ (5.5oz) fresh or frozen cranberries (if frozen, thaw them then pat them dry as best you can with a paper towel)

2 tablespoons (15g) gluten-free oat flour

2 tablespoons (20g) sweet rice flour or glutinous rice flour

2 tablespoons (16g) tapioca flour

¼ cup (50g) packed light brown sugar

¼ teaspoon Simply Organic ground cardamom

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper. You can skip the greasing, but it just helps hold the parchment paper in place when spreading the thick batter.

In a medium bowl, sift together the sweet rice flour, oat flour, millet flour, ground cardamom, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar over medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.

With the mixer on low-speed, add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each one.

Add the vanilla extract, mixing until just combined.

Keeping the speed on low, slowly add the dry ingredients in two batches, adding the sour cream in between, mixing until just combined. Your batter will be very thick.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and use a rubber spatula to spread it into an even layer.

Sprinkle the cranberries evenly over the top.

In a separate medium bowl, make the crumb topping. Mix the oat flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca flour, light brown sugar, and ground cardamom together. Add the melted butter and mix until it comes together when pinched with your fingers.

Top the cranberries with the crumb topping, creating some small and some large crumbles by pinching the crumbs together.

Bake for 45-55 minutes until the edges of the cake springs back when pressed and a toothpick comes out dry or with a few moist crumbs.

Remove from oven and let cool for at least 10 minutes in the pan. Use the parchment paper to lift the cake out of the pan to a cooling rack to cool.

Once cool to the touch, use a sifter to sprinkle powdered sugar over the top, cut into 9 slices and serve.

Notes

*You can leave out the xanthan gum if needed, but the result is a slightly gummier more dense cupcake.

Source: https://www.snixykitchen.com/cardamom-cranberry-gluten-free-coffee-cake/

[consulting-celiac-in-the-tardis]

15 Healthier Gluten Free Desserts for Summer

New blog post! Since summer is right around the corner and it's officially the start of Celiac Awareness Month this May, I thought it would be a good time to revisit one of my popular posts from last year (8 Healthier Gluten Free Desserts for Summer) and share 15 of my favorite gluten free desserts at the moment that are a bit on the healthier side.

Now, I'm all about eating full-fat vegan ice cream and sugar-filled chocolate. But since I do have a pretty strong sweet tooth, I try to sneak in healthier options where I can. The best part? All of the products I'm sharing may be a little healthier...but they still taste pretty dang tasty! (And just as a FYI, this post is totally unsponsored, though I did receive a few of these products as samples or prizes from giveaways. And while many of the products I'm mentioning are certified gluten free, some are not and I always encourage people to do their own research to determine what products are the right fit for them!). So without further adieu, let's celebrate summer (and Celiac Awareness Month) by digging into some very tasty gluten free desserts!

1. Dessert Chickpeas from Saffron Road and The Good Bean

My first introduction to sweet chickpeas was The Good Bean's cinnamon chickpeas. They're crunchy, lightly spiced and kind of taste like a healthier, crunchier version of a churro. If you want even more dessert-y options, check out Saffron Road's certified gluten free dessert chickpeas. My personal favorites are the chocolate-coated ones - there's just something so addictive about a rich chocolately shell around a light, crunchy chickpea!

2. Alter Eco Coconut Clusters

If you like coconut, you'll love Alter Eco's certified crunchy chocolatey coconut clusters, which are certified gluten free, soy free, non-GMO and free of artificial flavors. All three flavors feature dark chocolate, but one has cherry and almond butter and another has some seeds for extra crunch. My favorite part is definitely how light and crispy these clusters are!

3. Taza Chocolate's Chocolate Covered Nuts

Not an almond fan? You can still enjoy some dangerously delicious chocolate-coated nuts thanks to Taza Chocolate! All of their dark chocolate covered nuts are certified gluten free, soy free, vegan and organic. Let me just say that dark chocolate takes hazelnuts to a whoooole new level.  

4. Sejoyia Coco-Thins and Coco-Roons

These gluten free, healthy cookies are definitely not your Grandma's recipe...but that doesn't mean they're not delicious! They offer thick, chewy Coco-Roons and thin, crispy Coco-Thins.  My hands-down favorite flavor is Salted Caramel, though I haven't found a flavor I haven't liked. Besides being certified gluten free, these healthy cookies are also paleo and vegan.

5. Tosi's SuperBites

Do you like trail mix? Granola? A healthy dessert with a good crunch? Then you'll love Tosi's SuperBites, which are organic, gluten free and vegan. They're made with ingredients like nuts, seeds, cane sugar and cassava syrup. And while they are definitely sweeter than traditional trail mix or granola, these SuperBites have the same satisfying crunch.

I could seriously eat Tosi SuperBites straight out of the package, but I loved crumbling them on dairy free yogurt or smoothie bowls. The SuperBites come in a variety of flavors, but I've so far just tried the traditional Cashew and Almond SuperBites, and loved them both. Of course, that doesn't mean I wouldn't be 1000% game to try out the blueberry, dragonfruit, peanut, peanut chocolate, and cashew coconut flavors. ;) 

6. Lillabee Grain Free Brownie Thins

Thin mints and crunchy brownies just got a paleo makeover with these gluten free cookies. These cookies are high in protein, and while they don't taste exactly like Girlscout Cookies or Thin Mints, they are definitely a satisfying and crunchy chocolate treat. I got to try their Classic Chocolate Brownie, Salted Caramel and Chocolate Mint flavors and they all got two thumbs up from me! I also just recently learned that these gluten free cookies are now being made in a dedicated gluten free facility (and in the process of changing their packaging to reflect this), which is always good news.

7. Skinny Dipped Almonds

Would you believe that before my celiac disease diagnosis, I rarely (if ever) ate nuts or seeds? Now they're some of my favorite snacking and dessert material...especially when they come in flavors like dark chocolate raspberry, dark chocolate cocoa, dark chocolate peanut butter, dark chocolate mint and dark chocolate espresso. Which brings us to Skinny Dipped Almonds!

These are gluten free (though they do contain dairy, soy and are processed in the same plant as peanuts), high in protein and fiber and make for a yummy sweet snack...or a healthy dessert.

8. Lily's Sweets Chocolate

I actually got my first taste of Lily's Sweets chocolate thanks to my monthly gluten free Love with Food box (I'm an ambassador, FYI!). In it, I got a Sour Cherry Double Chocolate Crunch bar...and within a few months of opening the box, it was gone! I loved the small cherries and extra chocolate chips scattered throughout the chocolate bar, and it had the perfect level of sweetness, despite being sweetened with sugar instead of stevia. Lily's Chocolate is also certified gluten free, and they offer a variety of (vegan) dark chocolates and milk chocolates. And if you're interested in checking out Love with Food so you can get the same kind of delicious, monthly surprises, click this link for 40% off your first box --> Gluten Free Box 40% Off First Box Purchase.

9. Mint Chocolate Ketobars

Technically, Ketobars are a gluten free and vegan snack bar, but these seriously taste like thin mints to me. They’re refined sugar free and made with only ingredients: Chocolate, Almonds, Coconut, Erythritol, Cocoa, Salt, Stevia and Peppermint. Note that they do contain artificial sweeteners so steer clear of those aren’t your tummy’s thang! In terms of taste, though, Ketobars are unlike any other gluten free energy bar I’ve ever tried. (And if you’ve read my snack bar reviews...you know I’ve eaten quite a few!). They have a dense, crumbly and melt-in-your-mouth texture and taste super rich and chocolatey. Ketobars also come in serval other flavors, but this is the only one I’ve tried so far!

10. Emmy's Organics Coconut Cookies

Another awesome healthy dessert for coconut lovers is the organic, certified gluten free, and vegan coconut cookies from Emmys Organics. These definitely don’t taste like “traditional” cookies but I love how dense, slightly sweet and almost “buttery” these treats are. They come in tons of different flavors - from chocolate chip (a personal favorite) to matcha to dark cacao. If you like coconut and soft textures in your desserts, you should definitely add these gluten free cookies to your shopping list. Plus, Emmy’s Organics just released new chocolate-coated bites, which are described as “bite-sized pieces of cookie dough covered in rich, dark chocolate.” I have yet to try any of these but considering how much of a chocoholic I am, I’m definitely keeping an eye out for them!

11. Undercover Quinoa’s Crispy Quinoa Snacks

This is another healthy dessert I won in an Instagram giveaway, and oh my golly goodness - Undercover Quinoa makes some dang delicious gluten free desserts. I’d compare these snacks to chocolate bark, since the quinoa definitely gives them a crunch, but they are a lot less dense since the base is quinoa instead of chocolate. The quinoa snacks come in a variety of flavors, including Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate + Blueberry, Dark Chocolate + Seeds, Milk Chocolate + Currants and Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt. The last flavor was definitely my least favorite since the salt tasted very prominent, but I loved all the others and highly recommend these treats if you want a light, crispy dessert.

12. Zhuzh! It Up Cookies

This may not be the easiest cookie to pronounce (apparently, it's zhoozh "oo" as in "good"), but it is one of the tastiest healthy cookies out there. Besides being certified gluten free, Zhuzh! cookies are vegan, peanut free, full of added probiotics and made with healthier flours like sprouted beans, grains and seeds. (FYI - one of those grains is oats, so if you can't tolerate gluten free oats, these cookies aren't the right choice for you). 

I only enjoy a little of each cookie at a time because I can't tolerate gluten free oats in large amounts...but even small bites made it clear how good every flavor was! All the cookies are a lil' crumbly, a lil' chewy and very addictive. My hands-down favorite flavor was Double Chocolate because...well...chocolate! And I'm a big fan of the big chocolate chunks used in that flavor and my second favorite, regular Chocolate Chip. The biggest surprise, though, was the Gingerful flavor. Well-spiced, extra crumbly and a big two thumbs up from me.

13. Prana's Superfood Chocolate Bark

What happens when you combine superfoods like maca, matcha and chia seeds with organic chocolate bark? You get something crazzzy delicious, of course! I'm a BIG chocolate lover, so when Prana reached out to me with some samples, I couldn't say no. I love how their chocolate bark contains crunchy components like coconut chips, puffed rice and almonds. Plus, their barks are certified gluten free, organic and vegan. You can't go wrong!

14. Superseed Well Donuts

Donuts...that are also paleo, vegan, preservative-free and a decent source of protein and fiber? Dreams can come true! Superseed Well's gluten free donuts are made with a mix of seven different seeds, and while they definitely don't taste like a traditional light, fluffy, fried donut...they are a yummy paleo dessert. They are very dense, moist and remind me a bit like a homemade energy ball or fudge. I'm a big fan of the Chocolate Glazed donuts but also enjoyed the Wild Blueberry donuts.

15. Globe Trekker Trail Mix from Foods Alive

And since I've already mentioned trail mix enough times to make my stomach growl...it seems fitting to end this post on my fave trail mix from another company I'm an ambassador for: Foods Alive. As with all of Foods Alive's products, this trail mix is gluten free but it is also vegan, raw, organic and non-GMO. It features jungle peanuts, cacao nibs, goji berries and white mulberries, and if you love a chocolate and peanut butter combo...you'll really love this combo of chewy, chocolately and peanuty! I often eat it straight out of the bag but as anyone who follows my Instagram knows, it also makes a delicious topping for vegan ice cream and yogurt.

The Bottom Line of Enjoying Gluten Free Desserts this Summer

I don't know about you, but summer is a season full of delicious foods. Berries are finally in season, it's warm enough to enjoy smoothie bowls and ice cream without a heater and my culinary secret weapon - AKA, zucchini - is always on sale.

So whether you try any of the healthier gluten free desserts I've listed above or not...I hope you DO eat something gluten free and delicious, and enjoy a happy mix of healthy and unhealthy treats. And if you do need some inspiration or ideas of what gluten free desserts to try next - well, that's what this blog post is for! In case you need even more ideas, though, check out my posts 8 Healthier Gluten Free Desserts for Summer and 45 Healthier Gluten Free Dessert Recipes for Valentine's Day. What's your favorite "healthier" dessert? Tell me in the comments! via Blogger http://bit.ly/2WlkEwI