Apple Crisp ~ Gluten Free and Dairy Free

I've made numerous gluten free apple crisp recipes and none of them have tasted any good until the one I made today. My husband and I both loved it. I found this recipe on the spunky coconut originally posted by Iris from The Daily Dietribe. I apologize for my lack of great photography with my iphone.

Apple Crisp (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
An original recipe by Iris Higgins
Ingredients:
4 cups peeled, sliced apples (about 4-5 large apples)
1 tablespoons coconut sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/4 cups blanched almond flour
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1/3 cup pecans (I omitted)
1/4 cup coconut oil (at room temperature)
10 dates
2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4-1/2 cup sliced almonds (my addition)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Toss apples in a large bowl with the cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of coconut palm sugar. Place apples in an 8 x 8 inch glass baking dish.
Blend the rest of the ingredients in a food processor for 30 seconds. Spoon mixture evenly over apples.

Sprinkle sliced almonds on top of the apple crisp
Bake for 30 minutes or until apples are cooked through. Check after 10 minutes and place tinfoil over the topping if it starts to brown too much on top.

Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes ~ gluten free goddess

www.glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com


These are her instructions from her website. Purple writing is what I did. Non-dairy version in green. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cupcake tin with paper or parchment liners.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together: 

1 cup sorghum flour or brown rice flour (I used Bob's Red Miill sweet sorghum flour) (1/2 cup brown rice flour & 1/2 cup sorghum flour)
1 cup tapioca starch 
1 cup organic cane sugar 
1/2 teaspoon sea salt 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1 teaspoon xanthan gum 

Add in: 

1 cup vanilla soy, rice, coconut, or almond milk (used vanilla almond milk) (1% regular milk)
1/4 cup organic free-range eggs, beaten or Ener-G egg replacer (equivalent to one large egg, which I used)
3 tablespoons coconut oil (melt before adding or it will be clumpy) (unsalted butter softened)
1 tablespoon bourbon vanilla extract 
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice 

Beat with a mixer until the cake batter is smooth. Do not over-beat. 

Using an ice cream scoop, plop the batter into the twelve liners (The first time I made these dairy free, I used 12 liners/cupcakes and there was too much batter. When I made them non dairy the second time, I did 18 cupcakes and the cupcakes turned out better) Smooth out the tops with wet fingers. 

Bake in the center of a preheated oven until firm and dome shaped. For me this took about 15-18 minutes at sea level but they may take up to 20 to 22 minutes, depending upon your particular oven and altitude. (It took me 20 minutes)

Cool the pan on a wire rack briefly, then gently pop out the cupcakes and continue cooling on a rack (this avoids steaming the bottoms). 


I used the Pillsbury Strawberry icing (gluten free). I froze the rest of the cupcakes for Kaitlyn's Birthday. I am doing most things ahead of time since I work this weekend. 

Gluten Free Nanaimo Bars (Dairy Free too!)

These bars are named after the town in Canada: Nanaimo, British Columbia. Yes I grew up in Canada and ate these bars at Christmas time. 12/22/11 I tried to make these corn free but the vanilla custard powder has cornstarch in it. Then I tried to make my own confectioner's sugar with sugar and potato starch  but then I could taste the sugar crystals in the middle layer. I needed to make these dairy free because I cannot tolerate dairy so it made the bars more expensive. You can use butter in place of the vegan butter. These are not cheap to make if making them dairy free but I wanted them so bad!
12/23/11: Made these with the cornstarch! Oh such a difference instead of trying to make my own. So much creamier (picture below)
WARNING: These bars are very rich and fatty and very filling. This is the picture of what I made today updated 12/23/11

The picture of the above ingredients is what I used. I found them at Harmons (yes I went to the expensive store but I know they carry everything I would need)
Nanaimo Bars
Adapted from Madcap Cupcake

Bottom layer
1/2 cup earth balance (or other vegan margarine)
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tbsp flax meal
3 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups crushed gluten-free graham crackers or crumbs
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I used unsweetened)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (I omitted)

Middle layer (I find this layer to be quite thick, you could problem decrease to 3/4 of it)
1/2 cup earth balance (or other vegan margarine)
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
4 tbsp vanilla custard powder
6 tbsp plain almond milk (I used vanilla almond milk)

Top layer
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (I used enjoy life brand because they are dairy free)
1 tbsp earth balance (or other vegan margarine)

Assembly:

To make bottom layer: Grease a 9-inch square cake pan (I used an 8x8 glass pyrex pan). In a small bowl, beat flax meal and water together until frothy, set aside. In a saucepan over low heat, combine 1/2 cup earth balance, sugar, cocoa, and vanilla. Add flax mixture and stir constantly until mixture thickens.

Add graham crackers crumbs, coconut, and chopped nuts, stirring to combine. Press the mixture into the greased pan.

To make middle layer: In a large bowl, beat together earth balance, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla custard powder and almond milk until creamy. Spread custard mixture over graham cracker base in pan. Refrigerate until firm, at least one hour.

To make top layer: Melt semi-sweet chocolate and one tbsp earth balance. Pour over chilled bars and spread over top. Return to refrigerator to chill until firm (at least one hour).

Recipe from : http://thecopycatcook.wordpress.com/2010/05/30/gluten-free-dairy-free-egg-free-nanaimo-bars/

Garbonzo Bean Chocolate Cake (from Amy)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (Amy uses dark chocolate chips too)
1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
4 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan. 
2. Place the chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl. Cook in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds after the first minute, until chocolate is melted and smooth. If you have a powerful microwave, reduce the power to 50 percent. 
3. Combine the beans and eggs in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Add the sugar and the baking powder, and pulse to blend. Pour in the melted chocolate and blend until smooth, scraping down the corners to make sure chocolate is completely mixed. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan. 
4. Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.


**Amy says her whole family loves this **