I can't eat anything with cow's milk in it.  Not even the proteins.  I believe this is normal.  If so, then why on earth do some companies go out of their way to make products soy or rice or almond and leave in the casein (or whey)?  Seriously?!?  You think I eat rice cheese because I LIKE it?  There is only one vegan cheese that doesn't taste worse than cardboard, and that is Galaxy Rice Shreds. 

But it has yeast in it.  Just like Nutritional Yeast is great to make your own cheeze sauce, but it's YEAST.  If I make something with it, I eat it alone.  Poor Katie.  Normally, I'm not that selfish or desperate for it.  I put Nutritional Yeast on my popcorn because, hey, Katie can't have corn anyways.  The other day I bought myself Amy's gluten-free mac and cheeze because it was a single serving and I was going somewhere where I could heat up but not cook food.  Don't you hate having to take your own food everywhere?  Amy's products are on my list of what to buy in a pinch.






It's soy-free, too; which can sometimes be hard to find in non-dairy items.  Organic, gluten-free, egg-free, and dairy-free.  I love it.  She has 64 products that fall under gluten-free and vegan, and more than half of those are also soy-free and/or peanut-free.

My mom made this throughout my childhood.  I never really liked it then, but it is a sort of comfort food now.  I could not get enough of this recipe.

Turkey Chili Macaroni

1 t. olive oil
1 lb. ground turkey
1 t. chili powder
1 clove garlic, minced
1 3/4 c. dry gf macaroni noodles
2 1/2 c. fat free chicken broth
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp garlic salt
6 T. pecorino romano (made from sheep's milk)
1 1/2 T. dried parsely

Saute turkey in oil and garlic, drain and save juices.  Return to pan and add chicken broth, bring to a boil.  Add the macaroni and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often, until broth is almost absorbed.  Stir in remaining ingredients except 2 T. of cheese and parsley.  Simmer 10 minutes.  Transfer to casserole dish and sprinkle remaining cheese and parsely on top. 

Someone told me we put a lot of sweets up on this blog.  While that is very true, we don't always eat our desserts.  Some we make in tiny batches to enjoy.  Otherwise, they end up in the freezer or in someone else's mouth.  The freezer option drives my mom crazy, so I prefer the latter.  My stomach has been making it very clear lately that it hates sugar.  I already knew the two were enemies, but it has been harder to ignore nowadays.  It punished me on Easter for eating jelly beans and cake.  While I'll be staying away from that white goodness in the future, I can't help post some sweet treats.

I made a double recipe of these Thin Mintz, knowing anything that came from Manifest Vegan's blog is simply amazing.  I made way too many cookies, and I ended up taking them to three different get-togethers.  I conveniently left the rest at my sister's house, removing all temptation.  These were so yummy that I had "normal" people asking for the recipe.  That was why I could not trust myself with the delicious devils.


Thin Mintz

3/4 cup df margarine, cold
1 1/2-2 tsp pure peppermint extract
1 cup sugar
1 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup potato starch
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 cup almond milk
2 cups df, gf chocolate chips
1 T. shortening (optional)

Cream together margarine, peppermint extract and sugar together until creamy and smooth.

In separate bowl, sift together sorghum flour, cocoa powder, potato starch, xanthan gum and baking soda. Use your hands to thoroughly get all of the lumps out so that the flours are very well mixed with no clumps of cocoa powder remaining.

Gradually add flours to margarine/sugar mixture until crumbly. Continue mixing while adding in the almond milk. The dough will seize up and become stiff. Make sure all flour is well incorporated and knead briefly. Press into a disk, wrap loosely with saran wrap or wax paper and chill in freezer for about 15 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350 °F.
Pinch off sections of the dough to make about 3/4″ round balls.  Flatten dough ball between your palms and shape gently to form a flat cookie. (The warmer the dough gets, the easier it is to work with. Don’t let it get too warm, though.)

Place onto a parchment paper covered cookie sheet (or silpat mat) about 1 inch apart until cookie sheet is covered.  Flatten the cookies a second time until they are about 1/4″ thick.

Bake for about 15 minutes.  Allow to cool completely.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave (slowly and at a low temperature to ensure that the chocolate does not seize).  Stir in shortening.  Evenly coat each cookie with melted chocolate, putting them on wax paper until they are hardened.  I put mine in the freezer for a few minutes to help speed up the process.

Try not to eat them all at once!  Note: I varied the sizes of my cookies, making some larger than what they should be.  People seemed to prefer it this way.  For a picture, go here.

These don't have to be just sandwiches.  The chicken tarragon can be put in a lettuce wrap or a tortilla (rice, of course).  If you feel naughty, you can simply take a fork and eat it out of the mixing bowl.  Or, if you happen to be civilized or need to share the chicken with others, you can do the latter on plates.

Chicken Tarragon

2 1/2 lb. cooked chicken breast, shredded into size pieces
1 c. celery, diced
1 c. egg-free mayonnaise (like Vegenaise)
2 T. gf worchester sauce
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
2 T. fresh tarragon leaves, minced
1/2 c. toasted almonds
Mix the chicken and celery together.  In a separate bowl, blend all remaining ingredients except the almond.
Add mayonnaise mixture to the chicken.  Stir in almonds.  Serve whichever way fits your fancy.

We tried to make traditional dishes for our high tea party.  Supposedly cucumber sandwiches fall into that category.  I used to hate cucumbers.  A small part of me still shies away from them out of habit.  I was not so thrilled to make these sandwiches until I tried them.  They were so small and dainty, yet so addicting.

The recipe is so easy.  That is, if you can call it a recipe.  As I have mentioned before, we can eat goat cheese.  I used that instead of the traditional cream cheese.  I mixed salt, pepper, and dill weed to taste with goat cheese (I went pretty heavy on the spices).  Peel and thinly slice the cucumber.  Lay the cucumber, overlapping the slices, on gluten-free bread, and spread the goat cheese on top.  I cut the sandwich in quarters to make it more dainty.  It's that simple.

First time around Katie made these scones, I forgot to get a picture of them.  We were gone on our annual mother/daughter weekend getaway, and I valued having the scone for breakfast more than I did saving it for a photo.  Taking it home would have been dangerous anyway, seeing as our daddy also thought they were highly scrumptious.  I might have had to share it with him, and I had such an urge to enjoy it with a nice hot cup of tea.

We made these again for Katie's party.  This time I more than shared with Daddy.  There were plenty left over for me to savor some with my hot tea.  If the tea tax of 1773 had not gotten Americans to boycott tea, might we have tea time still today, as the British do?  Perhaps we could reinstate tea time?

This last time around Katie had the bright idea of using a heart shaped cookie cutter on the scones.  They were very cute and little enough you did not feel guilty eating two (or three). 

They are best eaten fresh.  They become stale quickly, so the best means of storing them is in the refrigerator. Recipe adapted from giddy up gluten free.

Chocolate Cherry Scones

3/4 c millet flour
1/2 c almond flour (finely ground)
1/2 c sorghum flour
1/2 c potato starch
1/4 c tapioca starch
¼ expandex flour (optional)
2 tsp xanthan gum
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c organic cane sugar/ agave syrup
1/2 c dairy-free butter or margerine, cold, cut into chunks
3/4 c  Almond Milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp GF vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 c dried tart cherries
1/2 c dark or milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 c powdered sugar
2 T almond milk
1/8 tsp GF almond extract

Preheat oven to 350° In bowl combine dry ingredients. Whisk until combined, sift into another bowl. Add margarine and cut in with pastry blender until mixture resemble coarse meal. In small bowl whisk milk, vinegar, vanilla, and egg. Add to flour mixture with cherries and chocolate. Stir with fork just until evenly moistened. Don’t over-mix. Scrape onto floured surface - dough will be sticky. With lightly floured hands, work into 7-in square. Cut into 4 equal squares, then cut squares in half diagonally to get 8 triangles. (These make big scones. If you want smaller scones, cut each of the eight triangles in half to make 16 triangles.) Arrange triangles 2 in apart on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until tops are just brown, 20-25 min. Let cool 10 min. Meanwhile, stir together powdered sugar, coconut milk & almond extract. Drizzle over warm scones.  Best served warm.

As I posted a little while back, Katie had her birthday.  We managed to make an almost allergy-friendly cake.  She put eggs in it (meaning I had to make my own cake, but whatever), and the food coloring and sprinkles weren't corn free.  She had dreamt up a cake that was a brighter green with orangey-red petals and gold sprinkles.  I, being the main cake decorator in the family, was not envisioning this cake working out.  But she walked me through it, and my mom was a huge help and encouragement.




A few weeks later our two older sisters helped throw Katie an elegant afternoon tea party for her birthday.  It was very elegant thanks to everyone BUT me.  I am not very creative.  I can do elegant on cake, but mostly I base my creativeness off others.  My sisters made it all fabulous.  The light was fading, so I put my camera down after doing a poor job on the food (as you will see). I failed to get any pictures of the actual party.

As I believe we have mentioned before, pancakes are a Sunday staple in our house.  Ever since I can remember, the first thing my daddy does when we come home from church is start the pancake batter.  They were always made from scratch.  We even ground the wheat that went into the pancakes.  His only deviation from the routine was to sometimes make waffles.  The rest of us would race to change our clothes, hoping to be the first one down to make the side dish of scrambled eggs.  The losers had to cut the grapefruit or set the table or, worst of all, do the dishes.  If you were lucky, you might also beat everyone else at grabbing the milk so you could be the one to pour it into all the glasses.  If you were extra lucky, you would even remember not to drink from your glass of milk before eating your grapefruit.

These memories developed such a love for pancakes and Sundays that I could have cried the first time I tried to make egg-less pancakes.  Not only was every food mentioned above now off limits, but now I thought I was doomed to eat gummy, flat pancakes for the rest of my life.  Eventually I found the joy of cooked flax seed and was happy for a while.  Next came my gluten restrictions.  Somehow, the gluten-free flour did not seem to work as well with the flax.  It was only recently that I realized taking the flax out and adding lots of baking powder may be my best bet.  This is my favorite recipe so far.




2 c. gluten-free flour mixture
1 t. baking soda
2 T. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
2 c. almond milk
4 T. canola oil
1/2 t. apple cider vinegar
1 T. agave syrup (optional)
2 c. fresh fruit
1/4-1/2 c. nuts (optional)

Stir flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.  In a separate bowl, mix almond milk, oil, vinegar, and agave together.  Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until ingredients are mixed.  Fold in fresh fruit and nuts.  Let sit for a few minutes until mixture is bubbly.  When ladling onto a griddle, make sure you keep pancakes on the thin side.  This helps the pancakes be evenly cooked.

My favorite are banana or blueberry-walnut.  If you want, you can add allergy-friendly chocolate chips instead of nuts because, hey, what isn't better with chocolate?

I have a good excuse (or so I like to think) for not posting a recipe yet.  My newest niece decided to make her arrival on Monday.  She is so sweet and beautiful.  I could go on and on and on about her, being the prejudiced auntie I am.  I confess I haven't spent enough time with her for this to be my main excuse, but I love to brag about her to anyone who listens.  I've always been terribly busy in other ways, but that is the only one worth telling you about.



You can't tell here how incredibly precious she is.  She was too curious to sleep when I met her right after she was born.  She kept looking at whoever was holding her, probably trying to figure out what on earth was happening.  Imagine if you woke up on Mars, with giant green men holding you and talking another language.  That is how I think babies must feel when they are born.  This picture was taken the day after, when she managed to sleep through my whole visit.  She likes to pucker her eyebrows, giving her such a cute grumpy face.  The position I am holding her in doesn't help, but I haven't seen her since to take a better picture.

ANYWAY, back to what this blog is supposed to be about. We haven't made much this week.  A friend of mine with gluten and dairy allergies had a birthday, and I was very happy I had an excuse to make some cake.  I only used a cake mix, but it was still yummy.  We made fish sticks again, too.  Those are so delicious.

Tonight Katie made a play on apple crisp using pears.  Find your favorite apple crisp recipe.  Make sure you use gluten-free oats and dairy-free butter.  Substitute the apple slices for pear slices.  We topped it with SO Delicious vanilla ice cream.


We made homemade ice cream for the boys (since they can have dairy).  It gives me a hankering for homemade coconut milk ice cream.  And homemade allergy-friendly cones.  Hmmm...

We should be back and posting regularly.  I was getting a little depressed about this blog.  Neither of us are chefs, and nine times out of ten we make a dish that is not worthy of putting up here.  We do not have the money to experiment over and over again. On top of that, I am not sure if anyone even reads our blog.

However, I do have fun cooking and experimenting.  I laugh at the mistakes, gag at the bad recipes, and rejoice when all turns out well.  I think what I miss the most is getting the chance to share our entire adventure with anyone kind enough to grace our sight.  We have a difficult task of making things allergy-friendly for ourselves, but we love a challenge.  Now the challenge is to make this blog creative and interesting.  And, I promise, we will put a recipe up soon.

I know we have been very slack in our blogging lately, or ever.  Life is going to be a bit crazier than normal for the next month, so I decided to take some time off the blog.  When we come back, we are resolved to be more consistent.  I have a few recipes I am excited to share...

Yesterday was Katie's birthday.  She is a sweet sister and a dear friend.  She also gets some of the best presents.  Like an Agatha Christie book.  Oh, wait.  I gave her that present.  Oh, and an amazing cookbook called Free For All Cooking by Jules Dowler Shepard.  As of yet, we have not tried any of the recipes, but they still look really good.  Everything is gluten-free, and most are allergy-friendly.  They even have yeast-free bread.  I just hope I am not disappointed.

Okay, so it's Spanish Rice.  I am going to be that this is really is not Spanish.  How come America's ideas of ethnic foods (Mexican, Chinese, etc.) has little to do with the actual cuisine of that country?  At least these dishes taste better than American food.  Our cuisine is, in my opinion, the most boring.  All we have is fattening, greasy foods.

Anyway, back to the topic of this rice.  Last week while my parents were out of the country, both my sisters and their families were over partying at my house.  Well, not partying, but I am still jealous that I was at work while my sisters, nieces, and nephews were at MY house.  (What's that, Daddy?  It's your house?  You know what I mean.)  They even stayed for dinner.  And made new food.  And left as I was coming home.  It was very sad, but at least they saved me dinner.

The point of that story is that neither Katie nor I made this rice dish, but it was yummy nonetheless.  And supposedly easy to make.  It is taken from a recipe on food.com, with only a slight variation.

Spanish Rice:

10 oz. tomato puree
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
1 1/4 c. rice (my sister used a mixture of white and brown)
1 T. dairy-free butter
2 t. chili powder
3/4 t. oregano
1/2 t. garlic salt
1 t. cumin


In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.  Cover and without taking the lid off and stirring, simmer 25 minutes or until rice is done.

Normally I have Fridays off, but somehow I never end up sleeping late.  Today was no exception, as I made a mistake of making my blood work appointment early this morning.  I prefer earlier when I have to fast beforehand, especially since they normally take multiple vials of blood.  You get to eat sooner that way, right?  Unless you plan to run errands afterward.  I wasn't starving and I didn't faint, but I was glad once lunchtime rolled around and I found out we had special burritos.  Guess who savored their lunch?

I love burritos of just about any kind - regular, rice, or even oatmeal.  Some people - okay, almost everybody - do not share my enthusiasm for oatmeal mixed with refried beans.  It is almost as good as an grilled oatmeal, ham, and cheese quesadilla topped with barbecue sauce.  You really ought to try it.  Anyway, if I haven't scared you away with my strange sense of taste, then you may want to try my new favorite burrito made with black beans.
The recipe is from Bon Appetit.


Chipotle Black Bean Burritos

3 T. olive oil
1 medium-sized red onion, chopped
1 T. chili powder
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained
1/2 c. frozen corn kernels, thawed (optional)
1/3 c. plus 3/4 c. chipotle salsa (regular salsa works)
1 avacado, diced
6 T. fresh cilantro, chopped
1 c. sheep's milk feta, crumbled (optional)
4 gf tortillas (our favorite are millet and flax tortillas from Sami's Bakery)

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and chili powder, saute until onion softens, about 4 minutes.  Stir in beans, corn, and 1/3 cup salsa.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook 10 minutes to blend flavors, stirring often.  Season filling to taste with salt and pepper.

Stir together remaining 3/4 c. salsa, diced avocado, and 2 T. cilantro.

Heat tortillas if desired (I did not do so).  Spoon filing onto center of tortillas, topping each with 1 T. cheese and 1 T. cilantro, then top with avocado-salsa mixture.  Fold up and enjoy.

Often when we get a hankering for we cannot eat, Katie or I go into the kitchen to make our own allergy-friendly replica.  Half the time (okay, ninety percent of the time) the dish doesn't turn out right.  Most times it never tastes the same.  You cannot just take the main ingredients out of a dish and expect it to taste as wonderful.  Hardly ever happens.

But imagine with me for a moment if the allergy-friendly version tasted not only as good, but better than the original?  And on the first try, to top it all?   Guess no more!  Katie took a Parmesan Fish Stick recipe from Food Network's website and turned it into pure deliciousness.


Okay, I have to admit that I do not have much to base my statement that these are better than the normal kind.  My experience with fish sticks are the frozen ones that probably do not contain real fish, which the overload of "breading" hides well.   Any recipe with real fish scores over those fakes.

Side Notes:  We used goat's milk Parmesan cheese and plain yogurt.  If you do not do any sort of animal's milk products, than you can obtain vegan Parmesan cheese, but I have never found a good yogurt substitute.  As for the mayonnaise, Katie often makes her own out of eggs.  I buy egg-free mayonnaise.  If you cannot have eggs or corn, you probably need to skip the sauce.  We used Mahi Mahi for the fish, but you could use salmon (or, for that matter, whatever you like best)

Fishy Sticks

18 oz. worth of Mahi Mahi  fillets, skinned (the original recipe called for one fillet about 9 by 4 in., but the kind we used needed two fillets)
1/2 c. gluten-free all-purpose flour (we like Gluten-free Mama's Almond All-Purpose)
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
3 T. ground flaxseed plus 1/2 c. water (or three egg whites)
1 c. goat's milk Parmesan
1 c. gluten-free bread crumbs (we just crumbled our staling gf bread)
Olive oil, for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Rinse Mahi Mahi fillet(s) and pat dry with paper towels.  Cut the fish (if need be) in half to make 2 fillets each about 4 by 4 1/2-inches in size.  Starting on the longest edge, slice the fillets into 1/2-inch pieces.  Lay the widest pieces, from the center, cut side down, and slice in half lengthways so all the pieces are equally about 1/2 by 1/2 by 4 1/2-inches in size.

Places the flour in a medium bowl and season with the salt and pepper.  Mix flaxseed and water in a separate bowl.  Stirring every fifteen seconds, heat the flaxseed mixture in the microwave for thirty seconds or until mixture resembles egg whites.  (If making with egg whites, beat the whites in a separate bowl until frothy, which is about 30 seconds.  Use in place of flaxseed mixture from here on out.)  Combine the Parmesan and bread in a third bowl.

Coat the fish pieces in the seasoned flour and pat to remove any excess flour.  Dip the floured fish in the flaxseed mixture and then into the Parmesan mixture, gently pressing the mixture into the fish.  Place the breaded salmon pieces on a liberally oiled baking sheet.  Drizzle lightly with the olive oil.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.


Dipping Sauce:

1/3 c. mayonnaise (see note)
1/3 c. plain goat's milk yogurt
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. chopped fresh chives

Mix the mayonnaise, yogurt, Dijon mustard, and chives in a small dipping bowl.  Serve with fish sticks.

This week we had our first real snowstorm of the winter.  Snow always puts me in the mood for soup.  Homemade soup is the best, but what about those times when you want it on-the-go or you want something that will be ready for lunch in five minutes?  A lot of canned soups either have things in them I cannot eat or simply taste bland.

But, wait, what's this?  You see soup on my pantry shelves?  YES!  Let me introduce you to Dr. McDougall's brand soups.



As long as there is a microwave and water around, you are all set.  It is so good that my sister without allergies keeps her pantry stocked these.  All his soups are vegan, hence dairy- and egg-free.  Here are the ones that are also gluten-free:

Pad Thai Noodle Soup (as shown above, my favorite)
Tortilla Chips Soup
Black Bean and Lime Soup
Split Pea Soup
Spring Onion Noodle Soup
Tamale Soup

There are also boxed soups from this brand, although I have never tried them.  For more information, go here.

The day that I made this meal was a bit of a crazy day. It was our weekly-cleaning day, and we were getting ready to have a bunch of people over after dinner. Thankfully this was a fairly easy to make (a rice cooker makes it even easier).
I apologize for not taking a picture of this dish. I was darting around the kitchen while trying to avoid stepping on my mother's mop. Also, there were shrimp tails scattered across the counter (I remembered kind of late that I would have to remove them - silly me), so I don't think you all would have wanted to see a picture of my crazy mess.
Here's the recipe, compliments Cooking Light:

2 T. fat-free, less-sodium, GF chicken broth
2 T rice wine
1 T. low-sodium, GF soy sauce
1 tsp. dark sesame oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 T. vegetable oil
2 lightly beaten eggs (poor Hannah could not enjoy this dish)
2 c. chopped green onions
1 T. finely chopped fresh ginger
5 c. cooked white rice (like I said, the rice cooker works wonderfully)
1 lb medium shrimp (cooked, peeled, and coarsely chopped)
1 package of green peas (optional)

In a bowl mix the chicken broth, rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, and black pepper together and set aside. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the eggs and stir-fry for 30 seconds or until the eggs are lightly scrambled. Now add the green onions and ginger, and stir-fry that for about a minute. Dump in the rice, shrimp, and peas. Stir-fry for 3 minutes or until the mixture is fully heated. Lastly, add in the chicken broth mixture and toss just until coated.

No, it doesn't mean crazy.  It's a Bolivian stew.  It is simple, healthy, and oh so good.



I love ethnic food.  Adore it.  American food it... well, boring.  And gross.  I have had this dish every year for my birthday ever since some friends from Bolivia made it for us five or so years ago.  My dad banned it from the house any other time of year.  Last month, on my birthday, my mom got my dad to try it one more time.  The next day I caught him taking some of the Locro to work.  He reluctantly admitted he now likes the stew.  Maybe I can make it more often.


Locro

2 T. olive oil
2 medium onions, cut in larger chunks
2 T. minced garlic
2 lbs. acorn squash, pealed and cut in squares
1/4 t. pepper
1/4 t. cumin
2 t. Kosher salt
1 1/2 c. frozen corn
4 red potatoes, cut in large chunks
1 jalapeno, chopped
Sheep's milk feta (or Queso fresca if you can have dairy, or forget the cheese altogether if you can't have sheep's milk)

Put oil in a pot over medium high heat.  Stir onions for three minutes, add garlic, and stir for 2 more minutes.  Stir in squash, pepper, cumin, and salt.  Fill water to cover all the vegetables and let it cook over medium heat for 30 minutes.  Stir occasionally.  Use a blender (immersion blenders work great!) to blend everything.  Then add the potatoes, corn, and jalapeno.  Cook for about 20 more minutes or until potatoes are soft.  Serve hot and top with the feta cheese.

This Monday I had to say goodbye to Christmas vacation and settle down into the work world (which isn't so bad when you get to take care of three wonderful kids).  I am pretending that this weekend it is still Christmas while I enjoy more pepperminty sweets.

Actually, Katie was making chocolate cupcakes for a party.  She ignored the rule of thumb when cooking allergy-friendly (especially gluten-free): never bank on your experiment recipe being the final product.  The cupcakes were slightly edible.  I decided to show her the right way to cook... by doing my own experimental cooking.  I found a recipe from Manifest Vegan boasting of candy cane in chocolate cupcakes.  We had some leftover corn-free candy canes, so why not?  Oops, I had read it wrong.  The icing had peppermint in it, not the cake part.  My mind was set, though.  Chocolate peppermint sounded so yummy. I changed the recipe to my liking, more than happy that Katie took yummy treats to her party tonight.




Peppermint Chocolate Cupcakes

1 c. sugar
3/4 c. Willow Run (or any dairy-free) margarine, melted
1/2 c. Gluten-free Mama's Almond Flour Blend (or your favorite gluten-free flour blend or sorghum flour)
1/4 c. potato starch
1/4 c. tapioca starch
1/2 c. dark cocoa powder
1 t. xanthan gum (or guar gum)
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. almond milk (or your favorite non dairy milk)
3 T. vinegar
3/4 t. peppermint extract
1/4 c. crushed corn-free peppermints (optional)


Preheat oven to 350 °F

In large mixing bowl, combine sugar and margarine together until smooth.

In separate, smaller bowl, combine sorghum flour, cocoa powder, potato starch, cornstarch, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt. Slowly incorporate flour mix into sugar mixture along with the non dairy milk, alternating between additions. Stir in vinegar, one tablespoon at a time.  Add peppermint extract and crushed peppermints.  Batter will be very sticky.


Filled lined cupcake tins halfway.  Bake for 25 minutes or until done.  (I bake mine almost to the point of being overdone in order to help with any gumminess.) After cupcakes have cooled, ice using the recipe below.



Creamy Peppermint Icing

1/4 c. shortening
1/4 c. dairy-free margarine, softened
1/4 t. peppermint extract
1/4 t. vanilla extract
2 c. organic powdered sugar
1 T. almond or other non dairy milk

Cream together shortening, margarine, and the extracts.  Slowly incorporate powdered sugar.  Add almond milk.   NOTE: sometimes a little bit more powdered sugar or almond milk is needed in order to get the right consistency.