Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan & Special Dietary Baking

Honey & Orange Drizzle Cupcakes – Gluten Free

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Decided to try out these little beauties as I am a fan of honey in baking and they sounded lovely with the sweet, sticky topping and the mix of honey, cinnamon, spices and orange. They are so light and delicate and full of delicious flavours. Definitely worth making!

You can make them dairy free too by using a dairy free spread of your choice. You can choose to use walnuts as per the recipe or substitute with pecans or pistachios. All work really well.

They are perfect for taking on picnics, for a packed lunch and would be great sellers at a cake sale or charity event. The smell though …. oh the smell is simply divine!

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Gluten Free Brown Bread

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I recently found brown bread flour from Doves Farm. I use their flours in most of my gluten free baking. The quality is always excellent.

To make gluten free brown bread, it requires a mix of a few different flour types with lots of trials so to find one that’s been created, tested and is successful is such a joy! It’s great they have taken all the hard work out of trial and error with different flour blends and found the perfect combination!

You can find the complete Freee range from Dove’s Farm here: https://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/ 

The first time I made this recipe, I followed it to the letter and it resulted in a totally delicious and authentic brown bread. Such happiness ensued I can’t tell you! After that, I started to add my own twists and each loaf has been perfect.

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Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes

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Sometimes you don’t need extravagant, fancy bakes. You just want something simple that’s perfectly delicious without too many additions. These Vanilla Cupcakes fit the bill. I used vanilla bean paste rather than vanilla extract to get that rich vanilla flavour and as there’s so little else in the recipe, I felt it was right to get the best of the basic ingredients.

The recipes uses oil instead of butter and this gives them a great softness once baked and if you follow the instructions, then they will be perfect for you! I made a simple vanilla glaze just to spoon over the top as I didn’t want to cover them in buttercream, but for a special occasion, a whirl of buttercream will be perfect!

I’ll put the frosting recipe at the end for you 🙂

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Light & Fluffy Gluten Free Pancakes

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Pancakes are a staple of most kitchens. They work for so many occasions – breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon snack or an evening treat. Depending on the toppings, they fit so many bills.

Everyone has a pancake recipe they stand by and I’m no different but so far, the best gluten free pancake recipe I found was one using buckwheat flour and it’s a great one and works well. The only issue is that you might not get buckwheat flour as easily as plain gluten free flour. Here’s the link if you want to check it out: https://www.cozebakes.com/2016/11/04/buckwheat-pancakes-gluten-free/ – this recipe has never failed to work but I finally found one that is healthier and uses no refined sugar plus you can make it dairy free if needed.

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Chai Spice Raisin & Carrot Muffins – Low Fat, Gluten Free (regular recipe included)

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Sometimes I get absent minded while baking and make a mistake. Now and then, those mistakes turn into a new recipe that works out wonderfully and all is well again.

I wanted to make scones with a healthy twist, less sweet but full of flavour and decided to try mixing these ingredients. I used raisins as I had them but wanted them a bit plump as they can sometimes be hard to bite once baked. I covered the raisins with warm water and accidently threw the whole lot instead of draining them and it worked out ok! Suddenly the recipe turned from scones to muffins.

The mix of all spices works really well with the carrot and gives these muffins a lovely warm bite. They will last for up to 5 days in the fridge, in an airtight container and I just popped mine into the microwave before enjoying them.

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Fruity Coconut Bites – Gluten, Dairy and Wheat Free

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I love finding recipes that are both healthy and delicious while omitting refined sugars. These delicious bites of fruit and coconut uses the fruit and honey as a natural sweetener and using Brown Rice Flour brings them up another notch on the healthy snack ladder.

If you can’t find a brown rice flour, then sub gluten free rice flour. I got a some brown rice flour from my local health shop.

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Summer Berry Cake – Gluten Free Version included

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The original recipe for this cake is what the American’s call a pound cake. It’s similar to our madeira cake mixture so the result is a more dense texture compared to a traditional sponge. It has to be like this in order to hold the addition of berries but it still works out nice and light and the addition of almond extract gives it a lovely buttery flavour.

It’s from a US blog, “if you give a blonde a kitchen” – great name!! and was used as a 4th July Independence Day cake using blueberries and raspberries. I’ve reduced the sugar quantities, removed refined sugar and made mine a gluten free version. I will put both options in the ingredients below so go with your own choice.


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Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins

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Yes indeed there are such wonderful things as the perfect gluten free chocolate chip muffins and this recipe is possibly one of the best. Bragging I know but it works and it works really well.

They are light and airy just as muffins should be and with the reduced sugar quantity, still full of just the right amount of sweetness with your morning beverage or for an afternoon pick me up. Please ….. give them a try and let me know how you get on 🙂

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Lemon Curd Coconut Cups – Gluten & Dairy Free

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These little mini coconut cups filled with delicious, tangy lemon curd are just so good and make a great mini dessert for any occasion. Quick to make, just a gently bit of handling is all that’s needed and you will have a pretty impressive dessert! They are gluten free which is a bonus and if you omit the whipped cream to decorate, they are also dairy free so you’re covering everyone!

Originally from the blog, Hidden Ponies, I’ve adapted the recipe slightly and feel it’s worked out really well. I did use mini sized tins to make them but the second batch were made in a slightly bigger sized tin which I found easier to manage with less breakage but the key here is to really grease your tins well – you have been warned so don’t curse me when some of them break on removal.

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Lemon & Rosemary Loaf Cake – Gluten Free

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While browsing through Instagram, I saw this recipe on the Prima account – https://www.prima.co.uk/all-recipes/  It’s not hard to get me interested when I see lemon and then to add fresh rosemary to the mix, well it was so intriguing and interesting that I wanted to give it a try.

Originally the recipe has a higher sugar content which I’ve greatly reduced plus I decided to try and convert it to a gluten free version and hope it wasn’t noticed and what do you know, it worked! It’s impossible to tell this cake is gluten free. It’s been a big success and I love it. All the tasters thought it was plenty sweet with the reduced sugar quantity too. Other than cutting up the rosemary into teeny bits, it’s quick and simple to make so give it a go.

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Orange & Cranberry Oat Muffins – Gluten Free option included

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I really love the combination of orange and cranberry. They just work so well together and as dried cranberries are easy to get, I always have a few packets in the cupboard to add to recipes. They are naturally lovely and sweet so it helps when reducing sugar quantities in whatever you’re making.

Quick and easy to make, these healthy oat muffins are a great standby for when you’re in a hurry and need something for breakfast that will keep you going for a while but not adding high calories and bad fats to your daily intake. I find them perfect for a mid afternoon snack.

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Oat Cookies – Gluten Free Option included

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I recently bought the lovely Val Stones’ book, The Cake Whisperer and there are some great home baking recipes in it which are tried and tested over many years. I loved Val on GBBO when she said she listened to her cakes to see if they were baked through. She came across such a lovely, warm person who really loved baking and those she baked for.

This recipe is originally for Ginger & Cinnamon Cookies and I’ve made both the original version plus I’ve made a Chocolate Chip & Cinnamon version too. Both are really delicious and went down very well with everyone. I converted them to gluten free so everybody at cozebakes could enjoy them and no one noticed the difference so that’s always a good sign. I’ve put the regular and gluten free versions in the ingredients.

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