gluten free chai tea cake with honey ginger cream cheese frosting

i have done a lot of baking since the last post and for some reason i can never find the time to post the recipes! lameous o'mally. ANYWAY i love converting gluten filled recipes to gluten free ones. it makes me feel like i am adding 1 more thing to someones arsenal that they wouldn't try on their own. when i saw this recipe on pinterest i knew it was a must make. i love spice-y cakes and i love honey even more, how could i go wrong?! so here is the converted recipe from tender crumb

1 and 1/3 cups of milk
6 chai tea bags, without added sweetner, such as Tazo
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
1 1/2 cups potato starch
2 cups of sugar
1 tsp xanthan gum
4 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 sticks butter at room temp.

Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of the pans and line with parchment paper. Grease the paper as well.

In a small saucepan bring the milk to a simmer over low med-low heat. Add the tea bags, careful not to let the paper tag fall into the milk. Remove from heat and allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes. Remove the teabags and squeeze out the milk. Let the chai milk cool completely.(i put mine in the fridge)

In a medium bowl mix the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and 1/3 cup of the chai milk. Whisk together.

Combine the flour, potato starch, sugar, baking powder, xanthan gum, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Beat on low for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining chai milk, on med-low speed.

Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg mixture in three additions scraping the between additions. Divide the batter evenly among the pans.

Bake the cakes for 26-28 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes.Remove cakes from pans and peel off parchment paper. Cool completely.

To assemble the cake place one layer flat side down a serving plate and top with 1/2 the icing. Spread to the edge and repeat with second layer. then frost sides.

Honey-Ginger Cream
2 and 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar (i increased it about 1 1/2 cups to make it thicker)
6 ounces of cream cheese at room temp.
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter at room temp.
1/2 cup of honey (any kind as long as liquid)
1/2 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger

whisk together the butter, honey, ginger and cream cheese and slowly add the sugar till whipped to perfection.

flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

so many people have been asking for this recipe as of late that i needed to post it, the thing is i never remembered to take a picture of said delicious cookies! so forgive the post without the picture but here are the best peanut butter chocolate chip cookies ever and there is NO flour and NO butter in site!

1 cup chunky salted organic peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla

mix all these together in a large bowl then add
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (if i double the recipe i add 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup butterscotch chips but it doesn't work as well with a single batch)

grease or use parchment on a cookie sheet and drop tablespoon sized dough balls on to cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. you will know they are done when they are SLIGHTLY browned on the top.

these are amazing cookies but are very dense. i calculated it out one day and it was about 120 calories per cookie, but because of all the peanut butter that is to be expected. there are the easiest cookies i have ever made and the ones i get the most requests for. i hope you enjoy them!

chocolate chip crackle cookies

i'll make this short and sweet (haha punny) these cookies were one of my favorites before going gluten free but with just a few tweaks i made them just as delicious as i remember.

chocolate chip crackle cookies
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup confectioners sugar (for rolling the dough in)

1. in a bowl sift together flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt.
2. using fingers blend in butter till the dough looks like coarse sand
3. stir in both the eggs and vanilla
4. add chocolate chips and stir until incorporated
5. spread dough in a thin layer along the sides of the bowl and pop into the freezer for 10 min to firm up the dough.
6. preheat the oven to 375
7. put powdered sugar in a bowl and once you get the dough out of the freezer take teaspoon sized dough balls and roll one by one in the powdered sugar until the dough ball looks completely covered and place on greased cookie sheet or parchment paper 2 inches apart.
8. bake for 7 to 8 min or until you see the chocolate peeking through the sugar.

maple pecan pie gluten free

one of the easiest pies to make and SO delicious! sorry my picture uploader is not working so i will be posting a picture as soon as i can.

maple pecan pie:
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter


3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (gluten free)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups pecan halves

1.stir syrup, brown sugar, corn syrup and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves.
2.increase heat and boil for 1 minute
3.cool till lukewarm (about 45 min, wait to start #4 till cooled)
4.preheat oven to 350
5.whisk eggs, vanilla and salt in a medium sized bowl.
6.gradually whisk maple syrup mixture into egg mixture.
7.stir in pecan halves
8.take strips of foil and cover edges of pie crust, leave on while baking until about ten minutes before it's done
9. pour mixture into unbaked pie crust.
10.bake for 40-55 min depending on oven heat, watch for a slightly puffed area around the edges and the center to be set.
11.cool completely and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream
enjoy!

apple crumble pie gluten free

hands down my favorite pie. the yummy crumbly top, the sweet cinnamon-y apples and the flaky crust. the only thing that makes this pie better is some vanilla icecream, i hope you all enjoy it as much as i do!

apple crumble pie:
filling:
6 cups of thinly sliced apples (i use 4 granny smith and 4 fuji apples)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons corn starch
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

crumble topping:
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup corn starch
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter, cold

1 unbaked pie shell (see previous post for super easy pie crust recipe)

1.preheat oven to 375
2.place sliced apples in a large bowl (if you haven't already done so)
3.sprinkle with lemon juice and mix
4.sprinkle with sugar and mix well
5.sprinkle with corn starch and mix well.
6.sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well. set aside

crumble top:
1.in a small bowl mix together brown rice flour, corn starch and brown sugar
2.cut stick of butter into small pieces into the flour mixture.
3.using your fingers incorporate the butter until the mixture looks like course sand.
4.pour apple mixture into unbaked pie crust
5.sprinkle crumble mixture over apples
6.loosely cover pie with foil
7.bake in preheated oven for 25 min, remove foil and bake an additional 25 to 30 min until top is golden brown.
8. let cool completely before cutting.

a little bit of work but totally worth it!

pumpkin pie gluten free

since thanksgiving is just a few days from getting us all stuffed more than the bird in the oven, i thought i would post these pie recipes for all to enjoy. i used the super easy gluten free pie crust recipe with all the pies that i am going to post. first is the thanksgiving favorite pumpkin pie. not even someone with celliac should miss out on the deliciousness so here it is.

pumpkin pie gluten free:
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon (and to be perfectly honest i always use more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground ginger (again more to taste)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs

1 unbaked pie shell (see previous post for super easy gluten free pie crust)


1.preheat oven to 425
2.combine all the ingredients together, blending until smooth
3.before putting batter into the pie shell take foil and cover the edges of pie, i find if you don't do this the crust gets to brown while the middle is still soft. you can take this foil off 10 min before taking the pie out of the oven.
4.bake at 425 for 15 min, then lower oven temp to 350 and continue to bake for another 30-40 min or until pie is firm. do not over bake.

enjoy!

SUPER easy gluten free pie crust recipe

i don't know about you but pies are something that i usually leave to martha stuart and marie calanders. they are a little temperamental, a whole days worth of work and the difference in taste from the ones you get at the store is well, slim to none. that is until i found the easiest, most perfect pie crust recipe. pie filling generally is not that difficult to put together but the crust, is too much dang trouble. well set your worries aside and get a load of this. there are only 4 ingredients. that's right 4! 3 if you use wheat flour. you have to admit that sounds pretty amazing. i will keep you in suspense no longer.

gluten free crust: (makes 1 pie shell, double if you need a full top and bottom crust)

4oz full fat cream cheese softened to room temperature
1 stick salted butter softened to room temperature

whip together in mixer until very creamy and fully mixed (switch attachment from whisk to beater) then add:

1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (for those who eat wheat omit the xanthan gum and use regular flour)

mix thoroughly then add:

1 cup brown rice flour until a ball forms on the beater

put a little brown rice flour on your hands and work the ball till it's flat
*note: gluten free dough is difficult to roll out, the best way i have found is to flatten as much as possible and then in a greased pie pan place the dough in the middle and work it with your fingers till it starts working up the sides and fills the pan. i did this today and it worked like a charm!

use with any of your pie recipes and enjoy the buttery flaky easy crust!
p.s. pictured here is my pumpkin pie that i will be posting shortly.