Lemon Pound Cake

Here's my quick, weekday, not diet friendly lemon poundcake.

1 vanilla gf cake mix (I like Pamela's)

4 eggs

12 T. cold butter, cut into chunks

1/3 c. water

2 t. oil of lemon (or 2 T. lemon juice)

Zest of one lemon

Put your ingredients in a mixing bowl and whir on low for 30 seconds (the butter will still be lumpy, but the cake mix should be all moist). Bake in a loaf pan at 350 for 60-65 minutes.

I like to glaze mine with a mixture of powdered sugar, lemon juice and rum, but that's just me. :D

 

Banana Almond Muffins

These are my go-to muffins. Easy, quick, tasty, not to sweet, and I love the texture.

1 1/4 heaping c almond flour

2 T arrowroot powder

1/4 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1/4 c. agave nectar

1 mashed banana

1/4 c. almond butter

2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 350. Mix your dry ingredients in one bowl, mix your wet in another bowl. Add wet to dry and stir. ;-) Grease your muffin tins and fill evenly. Bake for 20 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins.

Peanut Butter Cookies of Joy!

So, I love peanut butter cookies.

Love them.

I have tested a dozen recipes, played and poked, cooked and tested and I finally figured it out.

My peanut butter cookies.

:D

Maybe they're not going to be your favorites, but they taste like my mom's, so I'm going with it.

Ingredients:

1 c. peanut butter

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1/4 c. chopped peanuts (optional)

Plop everything in a bowl. Stir. Bake in 2T scoops on parchment paper at 350 for 25 minutes. Makes 15.

Ta.

Da.

Also? Yay!

Texas Sheet Cake

So, I wanted to make Texas Sheet Cake. So, I pulled out my old recipe and got to playing. This version was very very dense and fudgy -- I'm going to add my suggestions for a lighter, cakier cake in parentheses, just in case you want to try them out. Also, I'm going to experiment with putting the recipe first, then the photos. That way you can just print page one.

Ingredients:

2 c. AP gf flour

2 t. Xantham gum (I would add 1 more teaspoon for cakey-cake)

2 c. sugar

1 t. baking soda

(1/2 t. baking powder for cakey-cake)

1/4 t. salt

1 c butter

1/3 c. cocoa

1 c. water

2 eggs

1/2 c. buttermilk (or sour milk or 1 T. vinegar and soy/almond/coconut milk to make 1/2 c)

1 1/2 t. vanilla

For frosting:

1/4 c. butter

3 T cocoa

3 T. buttermilk

2 1/4 c. sifted powdered sugar

1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 c. pecans

Directions:

Spray a 9x13 pan. Get your oven going to 350.

Mix your flour, xantham gum, sugar, baking soda (and powder), and salt in a big bowl.

Mix your butter, cocoa, and a cup of water in a saucepan. Stir constantly over medium heat and bring it to a boil. Remove from heat. Mix your wet into your dry with a mixer. Add eggs, buttermilk and vanilla and beat for a minute.

Pour your batter into your pan and cook for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Make your frosting: mix your butter, cocoa and buttermilk in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat  and beat in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add your pecans.

Pour your hot frosting over the warm cake. :D :D

The Best GF Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER!

No, really. These are exactly what chocolate chip cookies used to be. :D

Ingredients:

2/3 c. melted butter

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. cane sugar

2 eggs

1 T. vanilla

2 1/4 c. all purpose gf flour

1 t. salt

1 t. xantham gum

1 1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1 bag chocolate chips

1 c. pecans (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375

Put your dry ingredients in one bowl.

Cream your butter and sugars.

Add eggs and vanilla.

Dry stuff into the wet stuff.

Now, the chips and nuts!

Tada!

I use a 2 tablespoon scoop on baking sheets with parchment paper. This makes a lot of cookies. :D (Like 24). You bake them for 14-18 minutes, depending on humidity, etc.

Pretty cookies!

Here's the best part. We cook up a few, then freeze the rest in an ice cube tray. Once they're frozen, we pop them out and store in a freezer bag. You cook them in the toaster oven just like any freezer cookie. (Or chop it up and add to ice cream for cookie dough ice cream)

:D

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Hey, y'all!

I know that in general there's not a lot of gluten in ranch. What there is, however, is a ton of sugar, salt and fat in the bottled kind.

I found out how easy it is to do homemade, and never looked back.



You need:

2 cups buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp dried chives
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp dillweed
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper



Mix together Mayo and buttermilk




Add in all your spices and whisk well.

This is important. Taste! I always end up adding more salt or pepper or dill, depending very much on the fat content of the buttermilk or the brand of mayo. Homemade mayo requires way more dill, chives and parsley, and organic mayo needs more salt and pepper than say, Helmann's

We store ours in a glass bottle in the fridge, but you can also store it in a covered bowl. This dressing will last almost two weeks depending on the freshness of your buttermilk.

Allergens: milk, egg

Penuche Frosting

As promised! Almost impossible to screw up penuche frosting. I have done everything wrong to this recipe that you can do and it comes out. Yay!

Penuche Frosting

1/2 c. butter (or Earth Balance)

1/2 c. light brown sugar

1/2 c. dark brown sugar

1/4 c. cream (or coconut milk)

pinch of salt

2 t. vanilla

2 c. powdered sugar

Melt your butter, then stir in brown sugars and bring to a boil over med. heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring all the while.

Stir in cream and salt and bring back to a boil, still stirring. Then remove the pan from the heat and let cool to lukewarm. Now add vanilla.

Pop your goo in the mixer and slowly add your confectioners sugar. Try not to overbeat. If you get too thick, thin with hot water. If it's too thin, more sugar.

Ta Da. :D