gluten free baking Archives · Rachel's Nourishing Kitchen

Who doesn’t love chocolate chip cookies?

I have lots of memories baking with my mom as a kid and eating gobs of Nestle Tollhouse cookie dough by the spoonful with my brother.

When I found today’s recipe and saw how simple it was (and how basic the ingredients were!), I had to give it a try. I welcomed the addition of peanut butter into the mix because peanut butter makes just about everything taste even better 🙂

The dough is free of refined white sugar, the usual 2 sticks of butter, and white flour in a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe, but make no mistake, even without those ingredients, these cookies are DELICIOUS, and I bet you already have ALL of the ingredients in your pantry!

I gave a fresh just-out-of-the-oven cookie to Bill, and he took one bite, gave me a look that said “holy cow these are awesome” and then proceeded to finish off the rest of cookie in a single bite! We will be making these simple cookies again and again, and I guarantee you (and your kids) will love them.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: Our batch made about 18 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter, unsalted (preferably organic)
1/3 cup honey or maple syrup (we used honey)
1 whole egg, or a flax egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 tsp vanilla extract* (I added this ingredient to the original recipe)
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (We use Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels since they are free of dairy, gluten, and soy and contain only 2 ingredients)

*As you’ll see where I starred above, I added about 3/4 tsp of vanilla extract (what cookie is complete without vanilla?!), and I think that helped to further enhance the flavor. Click here for the full recipe from The Detoxinista!

Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes with Creamy Cashew Frosting

By Rachel Druckenmiller

On June 23, 2014

In Clean Eating, Recipes

Last week, we got a big container of strawberries in our weekly produce delivery and wanted to find a creative way to use them.

Strawberry season isn’t very long, so I try to take advantage of the fresh, local strawberries while I can.

Sooo, why not make some cupcakes?!

It's strawberry season! Who wants a cupcake? :)

Strawberries and lemon pair well together in this recipe.

I was also intrigued by the creamy cashew icing, since I’ve used cashews in the past as a substitute in a lot of dairy-free recipes from paleo parmesan cheeze and nacho cheeze sauce to sour cream and caramel apple dip. Cashews are versatile and help create a creamy consistency.

I could have eaten the icing by the spoon on its own, but I did leave enough to fully ice all of the cupcakes.

These cupcakes are gluten-free yet they stay super moist, unlike most gluten-free baking recipes, so I was really happy with the outcome.

The recipe calls for coconut flour, which you can find online at Amazon or Vitacoast and at health food stores like Whole Foods, MOMs, and Wegmans, but I’ve also found it at Home Goods and Trader Joe’s JUST started selling it (for like $2.99/bag!). Since it’s becoming more popular, there’s a good chance your local grocery store will carry it in the gluten-free aisle.

The recipes for both the cupcakes and the icing are included below 🙂 I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!

Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes with Creamy Cashew Icing

It’s strawberry season! Who wants a cupcake? 🙂

Strawberry Lemon Cupcake Ingredients (Gluten-Free)

Makes 8 cupcakes

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 large eggs
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
zest of one lemon
1/2 cup finely chopped strawberries

Click here for the cupcake recipe from a fellow health coach, The Detoxinista!

Cashew cream frosting – SO creamy and delicious!

Creamy Cashew Icing Ingredients (Dairy-Free)

Makes 1 1/4 cups

3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked 2-3 hours and rinsed
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
3 tablespoons raw honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Click here for the cashew cream icing recipe.

Simply Amazing Chocolate Walnut Brownies

By Rachel Druckenmiller

On April 1, 2014

In Recipes

When I was in college, I was known by some of my friends as “Betty Crocker.” In addition to making chocolate chip cookies the size of your face, I was known for baking cookies and cream brownies on a fairly regular basis for my husband’s fraternity brothers. They were always a huge hit!

Even though I cook and bake differently today, it’s important to me that healthier baking doesn’t mean “boring” or “bland” baking. There’s no sense in eating healthy food if it tastes like cardboard, right? The goal to is to make (and then eat!) nourishing food that tastes delicious!

Last night, while Bill and I were watching The Voice, I brought him one of these chocolatey treats to sample, and he quickly gave it the hubby seal of approval. About a half hour later, he asked me if I needed him to sample another one. That was the sign I needed to know that these brownies were winners!

They are full of flavor, have a nice cakey texture, and smell amazing when they’re baking in the oven. We’ll be sharing them with our small group tonight 🙂

Chocolate Walnut Brownies (Gluten-Free!)

Prepping all of the ingredients for these yummy chocolatey brownies!

Dry Ingredients

2 cups raw walnuts (don’t have walnuts? you can use pecans instead)
1/3 cup cocoa powder (I used cacao powder)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Wet Ingredients

2 large organic eggs (if you can’t have eggs, you can try using a flaxseed egg, but I can’t promise you’ll get the same outcome!)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Click here for the full brownie recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Nourishing Meals!