Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan & Special Dietary Baking

Gluten Free Spiced Apple Muffins

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I love baking with apples and adding different spices to the recipe always makes them so irresistible and always a big hit. So I had a recipe for cupcakes with a streusel topping but as these were requested to be gluten free, I changed the recipe a bit and it worked really well.

They were made to go into the freezer so I couldn’t add any icing drizzle on top but if you would like to do this, then add apple juice and a touch of cinnamon to sieved icing sugar and mix well until you get the right drizzle consistency. (Approximate quantities in the method below)

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Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

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I love that you can make ice cream without having to use any special equipment and that it still tastes totally delicious and if you check out the Desserts section here, you’ll find some really nice ice cream recipes. All tried, tested and very much given the thumbs up!

This recipe uses the Carnation Caramel tin from Nestle for the “dulce de leche” as it’s the quickest and easiest way to achieve the thick, rich caramel. You can of course boil the traditional Carnation Condensed Milk tin if you need to.

You can freeze for 6 hours or overnight which I prefer but it means that if you make this first thing in the morning, you could serve it that evening for dessert!

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Peanut Butter Banana Bread

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When I hear a recipe has peanut butter in it, I tend to leave it as I feel it might taste too strong. Don’t get me wrong, I get a hankering for peanut butter on toast every now and then but maybe it’s those Reese Bites that have turned me off.

I saw this one on a US site and decided to give it a try as it’s gluten free too and a friend had given me a good few very ripe bananas and I just wanted to try something a bit different. I’m glad to say it was a hit and really nice. It freezes well and is perfect with tea or coffee when you want something just a little bit nice 😉

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Gluten Free Cookies

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Originally these cookies were made to be sugar cookies where you roll the dough in sugar before baking but I’m not a fan of coating biscuits in sugar. I did add some mini chocolate smarties to these, just a handful to make them look nice and as I greatly reduced the sugar content in the cookies, I thought it wasn’t too bad to add a few for flavour.

You should get about 10 out of this recipe but it will depend on what size you make them.

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Healthy No Added Sugar Banana Muffins

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There are lots of things that help make these muffins a perfect choice for breakfast or to fill that “hungry” gap we all get throughout the day.

Firstly it uses oats instead of flour which makes them a healthier option as oats are complex carbohydrates and have a slow release of energy.

You can turn them into gluten free muffins by substituting the oats and baking powder.

They are sweetened with honey instead of processed sugar or an artificial sweetener and this type of non processed sugar again releases energy slower and if you use local honey it can help with allergy problems.

There’s no butter or oil in these muffins and I replaced the milk with almond milk so they are dairy free.

So what’s stopping you!!

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No sugar, No flour, No butter Apple & Cinnamon Muffins

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Okay, I’ll start by saying the original recipe turns out lovely and it’s relatively quick and easy, all in a blender basically and produces perfectly good muffins which I have to add, taste unbelievably good! Soooo here’s where my slight fussiness comes in … I felt they were sort of a bit well, spongey? Is that a word?

I didn’t feel they were as light as muffins should be so I wanted to try a different method which I hoped would result in a more familiar muffin texture. Call me pedantic but that’s why I started this blog – to take out the guessing from baking and helping (and hoping) that your bakes turn out perfectly.

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Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins

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I tried this recipe out as I hadn’t come across it before. It’s a basic gluten free muffin recipe that you can make up and keep in labelled bags for when you need it. After that, it’s up to you how you flavour it. You can use fresh or dried fruit or leave them plain. Perhaps add some nutmeg or cinnamon just for a little flavour kick? It’s a big world out there so give it a go 🙂

I’ve converted it from US measurements and added a good few handfuls of dried blueberries to give it a sweet flavour and to compensate for the reduced added sugar from the original recipe.

I would feel a gluten free flour mix works better for this rather than just straightforward gluten free flour (that will make sense to those who regularly bake for coeliacs). I also feel that perhaps replacing about 50g of the flour mix for 50g ground almonds can only improve the lightness of these muffins and is definitely worth trying.

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No Bake Almond Butter & Oat Cookies

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These are a combination of a protein ball and a soft cookie. I used crunchy almond butter to make these and I replaced the brown sugar with coconut sugar. If you like nuts, I would add a handful of unsalted nuts to give them extra crunch!

They are basically made in a saucepan and then left to set in the fridge. You need to leave them for at least 2 hours before eating as they won’t hold otherwise. I did try to shape them into balls for easy transport but they don’t have enough sticking power so having them in a cookie shape works better.

I’ve adapted the recipe from the “eating well” site and converted it from US to European measurements.

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Gluten Free Soda Bread

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There’s something very comforting about soda bread. It’s such a traditional Irish bake and one that is so easily adaptable from sweet to savoury that everyone should have it in their baking repertoire. It takes about 5 minutes to be oven ready so it’s a great reliable recipe.

On the cozebakes Facebook group page, there’s a recipe for a Crispy Bacon Soda Bread which is really delicious and if you want to try it, here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/notes/cozebakes/crispy-bacon-soda-bread/1419741888044119/ but I’ve been trying to find a gluten free version so no one would be left out and after seeing this one on the “what the fork” website, it was worth a try.

I’ve adapted it to metric and you can add in some raisins or sultanas if you want a sweeter bake or leave it plain with no added sugar if that’s your preference.

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Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

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It’s hard to get a good gluten free biscuit recipe that tastes really good and this one seemed worth a go. I’m really glad I tried them as they are ridiculously easy to make and I also feel that the sugar quantity can be greatly reduced while still getting a delicious and decadent chocolate chip cookies to enjoy.

If you like a sweet biscuit or maybe if you are making them for a sweet tooth person then by all means use the full sugar quota but I would be happy to reduce by half. There’s quite a chocolate hit off these too which is a nice surprise as sometimes gluten free biscuits can lack in a flavour hit and all you taste is sugar.

Depending on how much you like your chocolate hit, use either milk or dark chocolate chips.

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Energy Bars – Nut Free, Gluten Free, Sugar Free

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Seeing the recipe for these Energy Bars in a Gluten Free Magazine, I wanted to give them a try as I have a few “athletes” in my house so figured these would be handy for pre or after training and for hunger pangs on the run.

What’s wonderful about them is you can make them Nut Free, they are naturally Gluten Free and if you leave out the maple syrup, they are basically Sugar Free too

I made them without the maple syrup because I wanted to see how they worked with the zest of an orange and some cinnamon to help the flavours and I felt they are lovely. If you have a sweet tooth or prefer a sweeter snack, then by all means add a good tablespoon of maple syrup.

Personally we love nuts so I did add a selection of natural nuts to give them a different flavour and if you can do that, try it as they are lovely.

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No Added Sugar Lemon Honey Oat Biscuits

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These biscuits are for when you want to be good but still want a treat and using honey instead of any processed or refined sugar helps to make these a perfect choice. Honey has a lot of advantages over refined sugar so is a good choice.

Using oats gives them great texture and if you use gluten free oats and gluten free oat flour, you can serve them to coeliacs too.

Just be aware not to use a large lemon. Only use a standard one and only zest half of the lemon and use the juice of one half only. Otherwise they can be overpowering as you don’t have the sugar to combat the tang.

Lemon and Honey just work really well together and I’ve adapted this US recipe to grams and offered a few options for ingredients.

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