Gluten Free Safari: Recipes: Desserts
Creative Commons image credit, below.
Yum! Desserts don't have to be chock-full of sugar. Some of my favorite dark chocolate is flavored very nicely with just vanilla bean (See the post, here). Nevertheless, a little bit of sweetness never hurt anyone! For those who can't have refined sugar or must eat low-glycemic foods, there are many alternative sweeteners such as Stevia and applesauce. Enjoy the recipes below; feel free to substitute lower glycemic choices if you wish!
Black Bean Chocolate Chili Cherry Cookies (happily shared by Sarah Britton, founder of "My New Roots" website)
Copyright, Sarah Britton, 2011, all rights reserved.
Makes nine 3” cookies
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups black beans, very soft (or one 15 oz. can)
2 Tbsp. coconut oil (or ghee)
1/3 cup organic cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/3 cup maple syrup (or honey, agave)
2 Tbsp. chia seeds (or use 2 Tbsp. ground flax seeds OR 2 eggs)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate (80% or higher)
1/4 cup chopped dried cherries (optional, or use dried cranberries)
Directions:1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. Mix chia seeds, maple syrup, and vanilla in a bowl and set aside. If using eggs, skip this step.3. Place drained and well-rinsed beans, coconut oil, cocoa, salt and cayenne in a food processor and blend until well combined. Add maple syrup and chia mixture (or eggs) and pulse to incorporate. The batter will be quite liquid-y, but still hold together. Remove blade from the food processor and add chopped chocolate and cherries. Fold to incorporate. 4. Spoon cookie batter onto lined baking sheet. Using the back of the spoon, flatten top of cookies slightly, as they will not spread when baking. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt (important!). Bake for 15 minutes until the edges are browning. Cool and eat. Store in the fridge.
Recipe and photo: Copyright, Sarah Britton, 2011, all rights reserved.
The story behind this recipe! I stumbled onto a great website out of Australia; and, through that, I found "My New Roots" (click here) -- Sarah's website -- and this great recipe! Sarah was nice enough to offer to share it. "My New Roots" is amazing and inspirational! When you mix these cookies, make sure that the black beans are very, very soft!
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups black beans, very soft (or one 15 oz. can)
2 Tbsp. coconut oil (or ghee)
1/3 cup organic cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/3 cup maple syrup (or honey, agave)
2 Tbsp. chia seeds (or use 2 Tbsp. ground flax seeds OR 2 eggs)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate (80% or higher)
1/4 cup chopped dried cherries (optional, or use dried cranberries)
Directions:1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. Mix chia seeds, maple syrup, and vanilla in a bowl and set aside. If using eggs, skip this step.3. Place drained and well-rinsed beans, coconut oil, cocoa, salt and cayenne in a food processor and blend until well combined. Add maple syrup and chia mixture (or eggs) and pulse to incorporate. The batter will be quite liquid-y, but still hold together. Remove blade from the food processor and add chopped chocolate and cherries. Fold to incorporate. 4. Spoon cookie batter onto lined baking sheet. Using the back of the spoon, flatten top of cookies slightly, as they will not spread when baking. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt (important!). Bake for 15 minutes until the edges are browning. Cool and eat. Store in the fridge.
Recipe and photo: Copyright, Sarah Britton, 2011, all rights reserved.
The story behind this recipe! I stumbled onto a great website out of Australia; and, through that, I found "My New Roots" (click here) -- Sarah's website -- and this great recipe! Sarah was nice enough to offer to share it. "My New Roots" is amazing and inspirational! When you mix these cookies, make sure that the black beans are very, very soft!
The GF Orange-Almond Cake Recipe that went around the world
Creative Commons image credit, below.
January 19th: One of my friends and big inspirations for this site is Mike. He's been unflagging in sending me loads of gluten free news as he runs into it -- and he doesn't even have to eat gluten free! So, a few days ago he sent me a link to a yummy-sounding almond-orange cake recipe. Soon I was linking to a website in Australia, which credited yet another Aussie website with the recipe. It sounds marvelous; I think I've either made it or heard of it before. Here's the link:
Click: Orange Almond Cake, from Taste.com.au.
Click: Orange Almond Cake, from Taste.com.au.
