Applesauce Cake

This cake is great. Not only does it taste good, but it's wheat free, sugar free, and fat free! Score!

1 3/4c unsweetened applesauce
3/4 heaping cup of agave nectar
1c. raisins
1c. chopped & peeled sweet apples
1/2t. allspice
1c. potato starch
1 1/4c brown rice flour
2t. baking soda
2T. boiling water
1c. walnuts (optional)

Mix applesauce and agave together.

Add raisins and apples. Mix well.

Stir in allspice, potato starch, and flour.

Dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Add to mix and stir well.

Stir in nuts.

Spray a 9x13" pan with Pam.

Spread mix evenly in pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

When done, let cook 30 min before serving.

This cake is so good you don't even need icing!

Best if eaten within 24 hrs and kept in the refrigerator.

This cake freezes well, so usually I will make it in 2 smaller pans. We'll eat one now and put one in the freezer for later.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These days I stay away from pre-packaged foods that are full of preservatives. If I do buy something pre-made, it's found in the all-natural section at the store, or at a health food store, which is where I got this cookie dough from.

It's gluten-free and you just pull apart the 12 pre-formed dough chunks and bake. Easy peasy!

They are a little more expensive than I would like to spend all the time, but I will buy another package to keep on hand in case someone comes over last minute or something like that. I always keep some regular cookie dough on hand for that same reason, but now I can bake up a couple of cookies for myself as well.

The best part about these cookies is that no one in my family believed they were gluten-free. They were light, moist and chewy, and until I showed Jay, Austin & Austin's girlfriend the package, they had no idea. I think that's the best compliment this company could ever get.

Banana Muffins

While I'm getting used to GF cooking/baking, the one thing I truly despise is all the different GF flours there are out there, and there are just as many websites that have recipes calling for all of them.

For starters, it's expensive buying all these different flours, plus, who wants to take up valuable pantry space with 10 different containers of flour? Not me!

Thankfully, I recently found 2 different flours that I really like. The best part is they can be used exactly as you would use regular flour in any recipe, and you don't even have to add xanthan gum (unless using yeast)! Cool beans!

In the recipe below, the recipe calls for regular flour. I used one of the GF all purpose flours, and it worked great. Even the picky eaters loved them, and in my opinion, they tasted just as great and moist as regular muffins.

GF/SF Banana Muffins

4 large very ripe bananas, mashed
1c. Splenda
1 slightly beaten egg
1/3c. canola oil
1t. baking soda
1t. baking powder
1 1/2c flour

Mix the mashed bananas, sugar, egg and oil together. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together baking soad, baking powder, and flour. Mix wet and dry ingredients together, beging careful not to over-stir.

Pour into greased muffin tins and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20min.

The original recipe called for Sugar, but as you can see, I used Splenda instead, since I prefer to keep my sugar intake as low as possible.

These muffins freeze well. Pull one out, pop it in the microwave, and it'll taste like it just came out of the oven.

You can also switch up the bananas for a can of GF pumpkin puree, and adding 1tsp. cinnamon, and 1tsp allspice. Yum!

Can't you just imagine sitting out on your porch on an sunny early morning having one of these delicious muffins?

Spice Cupcakes

I have a hard time controlling myself when it comes to sweets, which is why I like to make cupcakes. I can freeze them and pull them out one at a time to thaw for a treat when I am wanting one.

If I didn't do that, I'd eat them all at one sitting. Seriously.

I tried this mix recently, "Spice Cake Mix by Namaste Foods" because well, it was on my shelf, and when my mom was here recently organizing my pantry, she informed me it was about to expire. I'm not going to let my mom think I didn't pay attention, so there you have it.

I have become a big time skeptic when it comes to GF mixes, because some are just icky. Yes, that is the technical term for it.

I was pleasantly surprised when making these spice cupcakes. They were moist, light and oh so yummy. Yummy enough that they had to be frozen as quickly as possible.

I am fortunate that I don't really care for frosting, so that helps keep the calories down. That having been said, while I did truly enjoy these cupcakes, I probably won't make them again (unless making for a group) because they do contain more sugar than I choose to have in my diet. But if looking for an excellent treat you can whip up quickly, this one gets my vote!

Apple Muffins

I am a self-proclaimed bread snob. I love a bread that is super soft and tasty. For the most part, that is non-existent when it comes to GF breads (at least by my standards).

A while ago I found a brand of bread mixes that I thought I'd try, and while I wasn't 100% sold on the plain bread, it was much better than others I'd tasted. However, they had a banana bread mix that was superb! I couldn't believe how good it was.

That brand is Breads from Anna.

Just recently I tried another variety of hers, and it was an Apple pancake & muffin mix. I haven't made the pancakes yet, but I love the muffins. They were soft, and not heavy at all. I was very impressed. Plus, they are super easy to make. Add a few simple ingredients to the mix and you're ready to bake.

By filling the muffin tins 2/3-3/4 full I was able to make 15 muffins. Again, I was impressed. I thought maybe I'd get 6 or 8.

Check out how delicious these look!