Gluten-Free

Orange Marmalade Muffins

Ingredients

  • Nonstick spray
  • 2⁄3 cup orange marmalade
  • 1⁄2 cup + 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 3⁄4 cup white sugar
  • 1⁄2 tsp orange extract
  • 1⁄2 tsp grated orange zest
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 tbsps fresh orange juice
  • 1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
  • 1 and 1⁄2 tsps baking powder
  • 3⁄4 tsp salt
  • 4 tbsps confectioner’s sugar
  • 1⁄2 tbsp butter

Prep

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-well muffin pan (or alternatively you can use a 9×5-inch loaf pan) with nonstick spray.
  2. In a medium bowl, beat oil, sugar, orange extract, and grated orange zest together with an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs one at a time, and then beat 1⁄3 cup marmalade and orange juice into the mixture.
  3. In a small bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt). Add combined dry ingredients into the medium bowl and stir with spatula until fully combined.
  4. Pour the batter into the muffin wells and bake for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted into the loaf comes out cleanly. If using a loaf pan, bake for 45-50 minutes and allow to cool.
  5. Heat the other 1⁄3 cup marmalade in a small pot on low heat. Stir in confectioner’s sugar and butter until melted and combined. Pour warm glaze over cool muffins or loaf and allow to cool before serving.

Adapted from NYT Cooking’s Orange Marmalade Cake.

Walnut Apple Loaf

Ingredients

  • Nonstick spray
  • 3⁄4 cup GF all-purpose flour
  • 1⁄2 cup white sugar
  • 1⁄8 cup brown sugar
  • 1⁄4 tsp baking soda
  • 1⁄4 tsp salt
  • 1⁄2 cup olive oil
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Zest of 1⁄2 orange
  • 1⁄2 tsp orange extract
  • 2 red apples, grated with skin
  • 1⁄2 chopped walnuts
  • 1⁄2 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 tbsp orange juice

Prep

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
  2. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients (flour, sugars, baking soda, salt) until combined.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix wet ingredients (oil, eggs, vanilla extract, orange zest and extract) together. Mix wet ingredients into the dry ingredients in the large bowl until well combined. Add in apples and walnuts and mix by hand.
  4. Pour mixture into pan evenly. Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until a knife inserted into loaf comes out clean.
  5. While loaf is baking, prepare glaze by mixing both confectioner’s sugar and orange juice together. If glaze is too thick, add more orange juice by the teaspoon.
  6. Let loaf cool completely on a wire rack before adding glaze, allowing it to drip down the sides of the loaf.

Adapted from the Vintage Kitchen’s Glazed Walnut Olive Oil Apple Cake recipe.

Easy Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

  • 1 can LIBBY’S Easy Pumpkin Pie Mix (30 oz.)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup Carnation Evaporated Milk
  • 1 unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie crust (we always use GlutenFree Bakehouse Pie Shells)

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Mix together the pumpkin pie mix, eggs, and evaporated milk in a large bowl. Pour this mixture into the unbaked pie crust. Bake for 15 minutes at 425°F and then bake for 50-60 minutes at 350°F. Remove Cool for about 2 hours and serve (with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream, of course!) or store in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

*Recipe adapted from Libby’s® Easy Pumpkin Pie

Banana Yogurt Muffins

Ingredients

  • 3⁄4 cup GF all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1⁄2 tsp salt
  • 2 large bananas, mashed
  • 1⁄2 vanilla greek yogurt
  • 1 egg
  • 1⁄3 cup brown sugar
  • 1⁄4 cup olive oil
  • 1⁄4 cup honey
  • 1⁄2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1⁄2 cup mini chocolate chips

Prep

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put paper muffin liners in 12-cup muffin tin.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt) to combine.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk in the wet ingredients (bananas, yogurt, egg, brown sugar, oil, and honey) until well combined.
  4. Add wet mixture into the large bowl and gently stir.
  5. Pour the batter evenly into muffin cups. Sprinkle walnuts and chocolate chips on top of the muffins.
  6. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes to until a knife inserted into a muffin and comes out cleanly. After allowing tin to cool for 5 minutes, enjoy muffins warm.

Adapted from NYT Cooking’s Whole Grain Banana Yogurt Muffins recipe.

Veggie Lasagna

Ingredients:

  • 8 pieces of Tinkyáda Organic Brown Rice Pasta Lasagne*
  • 10 ounces of frozen chopped spinach, thawed**
  • 1 cup broccoli, chopped
  • 1 cup asparagus, chopped
  • 24 ounces of marinara sauce
  • 8 ounces part skim ricotta cheese
  • Mozzarella cheese, grated
  • Italian spices
  • Olive oil
  • Salt

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the lasagna in a large pan of boiling water for approximately 10 minutes, allowing the lasagna to cook. Add spinach, broccoli, and asparagus to another pan; add olive oil, Italian spices, and salt to the veggies. Allow to them cook for approximately 5 minutes. Layer a large rectangular dish with marinara sauce followed by 3 pieces of lasagna. Make sure the lasagna completely covers the surface area of the dish. Then add half of the prepared veggies and spread evenly. Add half of the ricotta and spread evenly. Repeat the layering: add sauce, followed by 2 pieces of lasagna, veggies, and ricotta. For the last round of layering, add a thin layer of sauce, 3 pieces of lasagna, the remainder of sauce, and mozzarella cheese to cover the sauce. Bake the lasagna for 30 minutes.

*I have been using Tinkyáda lasagna for many years and have made many delicious lasagnas! However, feel free to use any brand of gluten-free lasagna that is to your liking

**You can also use fresh spinach if you desire

Chocolate Coconut Slices

Ingredients:

  • 6 ounces milk chocolate, melted
  • 4 1/2 ounces desiccated coconut
  • 4 ounces caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 325°F. Pour melted milk chocolate into a foil-lined 7 inch square tin. Beat egg and add coconut and sugar. Mix well. Spread evenly over chocolate. Top with cranberries.  Bake for 25 minutes. Allow the chocolate slices to cool. Lift out of tin and slice.  Enjoy!

This delicious recipe is by courtesy of Mary, Rosie’s lovely mom from Cow House Studios in Wexford County, Ireland.

Mozzarella + Tomato Bites

Ingredients:

  • 1 package fresh Mozzarella cheese
  • 3 medium tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp. parsley flakes*

Slice the mozzarella and tomatoes to  approximately 1/2 inch slices. Add salt, pepper, and parsley to the olive oil and mix well. Arrange the mozzarella slices on a plate, place a tomato on each mozzarella, and drizzle the olive oil concoction over the the mozzarella and tomato bites.

*Use fresh parsley if available

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Georgetown Cupcakes

Question: What do you think of when you think of Georgetown?

A) A beautiful harbor with cozy restaurants and cafes

B) A spectacular view overlooking the Potomac and the Kennedy Center?

C) Clusters of Hoyas sporting blue and gray near Georgetown University’s campus

D) The award-winning, gourmet cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes

Answer: It’s a no brainer – Georgetown Cupcakes, of course!

You can’t visit Georgetown without stopping by Georgetown Cupcakes. It would nearly be a crime. Scratch that. It would be a crime. Do you remember watching the Food Network on a late summer night and seeing the hit series DC Cupcakes? It made you salivate so much that you wanted to eat half a dozen cupcakes right then and there? Well, hopefully it rings a bell because the stars of the show are none other than the creators of Georgetown Cupcakes!

Alright, let’s get right to it. Hands down some of the best gluten-free cupcakes I’ve ever tasted. Not all the cupcakes are gluten-free, but everyday, Georgetown Cupcakes offers one freshly baked gluten-free cupcake flavor (and one vegan flavor). The gluten-free varieties include lava fudge, chocolate salted caramel, strawberry lava fudge, chocolate birthday, and peanut butter fudge. I’ve had the pleasure of trying the lava fudge, strawberry lava fudge, and peanut butter fudge – and I will vouch for them all! What excites me the most about Georgetown Cupcakes is that just because the cupcakes are gluten-free, the complexity of the flavors are not compromised. In other words, with most cupcakeries, you won’t be so lucky to find gluten-free cupcakes, and if you are lucky, cupcakeries with gluten-free options typically offer a vanilla or chocolate cupcake.You might get cream cheese icing if you’re lucky. Gluten-free flavors tend to be very standard flavors, they aren’t usually the adventurous flavors. And Georgetown Cupcakes truly defies that notion. The strawberry lava fudge has a delicious strawberry icing and a soft chocolate cake base that melt in your mouth with a gooey, rich, chocolatey “lava-like” filling just flowing out of the cupcake. It’s a work of art.

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So, how do you get your hands on these cupcakes? Well, Georgetown Cupcakes can be found in Georgetown, Bethesda, NYC, Boston, LA, and Atlanta. If you can’t make it in person, don’t fret. They deliver all across the country! I once received a dozen gluten-free cupcakes from here via mail as a surprise present to cheer me up – take my word for it, your family and friends will love you forever if you ship them some of these cupcakes!

Cheers,

Anika

September 2015: KIND Healthy Grains Bars

“Things that are bad always taste good”

I’m sure many of us have experienced this phenomenon in our daily eating habits: foods that taste good are not good for you. However, that is not the case for KIND Healthy Grains Granola Bars. These wonderful square bars are packed with 5 super grains and 18 to 22g of whole grains. The traditional KIND Healthy Grains Bars come in five flavors: Oats & Honey, Maple Pumpkin Seeds with Sea Salt, Dark Chocolate Chunk, Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate, and Vanilla Blueberry. Having tried all of the varieties, I can say they are all delicious. They are a lighter alternative to KIND Bars as they are granola-based and not nut-based; each KIND Healthy Grain Bar is 150 calories or under compared to KIND Bars that are 190+ calories. There are also two coffee-infuse KIND Healthy Grains Bars: Caramel Macchiato and Dark Chocolate Mocha. I haven’t yet been able to get my hands on these flavors, but as a coffee lover and KIND Bar enthusiast, I imagine these will be my new favorites! Finally, KIND Healthy Grains has popped bars with Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate Sea Salt varieties. This is next on my to-buy list; I imagine they would taste like flavored popcorn, which is enough to convince me to try these bars. For anyone with dietary restrictions, these bars are the perfect snack! And even if you don’t have any dietary restrictions, these bars are little squares of deliciousness and sweetness that aren’t just “a good snack considering they are gluten-free”. Hope my fellow northeasters are surviving Jonas!

Cheers,

Anika

August 2015: Cheerios

Hello, it’s me.

Attempting to channel my inner Adele… anyways, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it? I do apologize for my rather lengthy hiatus. Fall of senior years is never what you expect; you never know exactly what you’re in for uni you’re in it. But I’m back and I’m back for good. I’m going to try to make up for lost time over these next few weeks… and before we know it, it’ll be the New Year!

Moving on, I don’t know if this resonates with any of you, but before I was diagnosed with Celiac, Cheerios was one of my childhood favorites. It’s a classic cereal. I can’t quite articulate why I chose that adjective but it just feels right. Originally made from whole grain oats that were contaminated by wheat, rye, and barley grains (remember, oat in and of itself is gluten-free, however is often times contaminated in production by gluten-containing ingredients), Cheerios has now officially GLUTEN-FREE having removed these contaminants. I was almost leaping with joy when I heard this news! For those of you who have been eating gluten-free Cheerios for a little awhile like me, you know why I’m raving about this. For those of you who are just learning about this, this warrants a trip to the grocery store.

My brother attests to the fact that the taste has not changed– its the same old, great Cheerios just gluten-free so we, gluten-free foodies, can enjoy too! I personally enjoy the taste of original Cheerios– it certainly beats Glutino’s Apple Cinnamon Rings and all other wannabe Cheerios. However, I do like to jazz up my Cherrios: topped with Craisins in vanilla almond milk is a delicious way to start the day. You can also top with  bananas, blueberries, strawberries, chopped pecans, walnuts, and brown sugar. Or add your Cheerios to your favorite yogurt. Or even make a trail mix with Cheerios, raisins, cashews, and chocolate pieces. Pick up a box in the local grocery store and share in the comments how you are eating your (gluten-free) Cheerios! Welcome back to your childhood!

Cheers,

Anika