Cranberry Apple Coffee Cake

Gluten Free Cranberry Apple Coffee Cake

It is so satisfying to make a successful gluten free cake. Anyone who's experimented with GF baking knows that. I can't even count how many times I've optimistically slid a seemingly perfect GF cake into the oven, only to pull out a rubbery, half burnt/half raw cake with a 6 inch crater in the centre 45 minutes later. How Annoying! Nowadays, there's all kinds of GF cake mixes on the market, and if you're willing to pay $6 for a mix, you can probably expect decent results (although I haven't tried most of those mixes, I'm assuming they don't suck... otherwise they wouldn't sell, right?). For those of you who'd rather not buy the processed, and rather expensive, mixes, try this recipe. Yes, it's coffee cake... but it's cake and it's gluten free, so no complaining!

This version is actually pretty healthy with apples and cranberry sauce. I sometimes even eat it for breakfast (my husband is horrified... cake for breakfast!). You could easily add extra sugar, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, or icing to make it more of a traditional cake. Or instead of apples and cranberry sauce, add your favourite fruit (blueberries, raspberries, pear slices, etc). Feel free to try another one of my versions: Ginger Peach Coffee Cake.

Make sure to bake this cake until the centre feels firm. The edges will be dark, but not burnt. Otherwise your cake will have a rubbery 6 inch crater in the middle...

(makes 9x9 baking dish)
Ingredients

1 1/3 cup Light Flour Blend (see flour blends)
3/4 cup Sugar (or less if you prefer)
2 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Oil
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla (optional)
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
2  Peeled and Sliced Apples (med sized)
1/2 cup Cranberry Sauce (I make homemade sauce when cranberries are cheap and freeze it... it's really easy)
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Directions

Stir together all dry ingredients.
Beat eggs with milk and add, along with the rest of the wet ingredients, to the dry ingredients.
Pour into greased 9x9 baking dish.
Press slices of apples into batter (about 1/2 inch apart).
Spread cranberry sauce over the top (Doesn't need to cover the entire cake. It will sink in somewhat)
Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top.
Bake at 350 F for 45-50 mins (until very brown but not burning). The centre should be firm to the touch.
Let cool and cut into 9 square pieces.

Press apple slices into batter

Spread cranberry sauce over the top (you don't need quite this much... I just used all of my leftovers)

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes

Serve with coffee for breakfast, dessert, or an afternoon snack!

Enjoy Life Chewy Bars Review

I recieved some of Enjoy Life's newly designed Chewy Bars to review. Since I started working again last week, and the school is a nut free zone, I was excited to have some nut and gluten free snacks to bring in my lunches. I had a chance to try all 4 of their flavours, Cocoa Loco, Caramel Apple, Sunbutter Crunch and Very Berry. They made great, filling snacks and were only 110 calories each (excluding the sunbutter variety which was 120 calories). At $4.29 for a box of 5 bars, they are not cheap, but compared to other allergy friendly granola bars, they were reasonable.

Enjoy Life Chewy Bars: Caramel Apple and Very Berry

Enjoy Life Chewy Bars: Sunbutter Crunch and Cocoa Loco

Cocoa Loco


This was definitely my favorite flavour! They tasted like brownies, but still had 2 grams of fibre, 2 grams of protein, 3.5 grams of fat and only 110 calories. Also, 1 bar contains 10% of required daily iron. I would buy this variety again for a snack or even dessert.

Health       4 stars
Cost          3 stars
Taste         4.5 stars
Texture     4 stars

Overall Rating:  3.9 stars

 

 

Caramel Apple

 

The Caramel Apple Flavour was probably my second favorite. I liked the flavour of the bar and the fact that there were small chunks of dried apple in it. One thing I didn't enjoy is the small hard pieces in each of the last 3 flavours. I'm not sure what they are, but I found it to be hard on my teeth.

The caramel apple bar has 3 grams of fat, 2 of fibre and 1 gram of protein.

 

Health       4 stars
Cost           3 stars
Taste         4 stars
Texture     2 stars

Overall Rating: 3.25 stars

  

 

Sunbutter Crunch

 

This flavour was also enjoyable, but had the same issue with texture. I liked that it had a peanut buttery taste, but was made with sunflower seeds instead (making it safe for those with nut allergies). The sunbutter gave it a slightly higher fat and calorie content (4 grams fat and 120 calories), but I don't mind a little extra healthy fat. Each bar also contained 2 grams of fibre and 2 of protein.

 

Health      4 stars
Cost         3 stars
Taste        4 stars
Texture    2 stars

Overall Rating: 3.25 stars

 

 

Very Berry

 

This flavour was my least favorite, simply because of the taste. I didn't enjoy the berry flavour, even though I like berries (and the flavour was natural). It reminded me of a nutrigrain bar which, although I haven't had one in many years (ahem, gluten), I remember disliking as a child. I also didn't enjoy the texture with the small, hard pieces mixed in. Each bar contained 2.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of fibre and 1 gram of protein.

 

Health      4 stars
Cost         3 stars
Taste        1 stars
Texture    2 stars

Overall Rating:  2.5 stars

 

 

Thanks Enjoy Life Foods for providing these free samples for me to review. All opinions are my own

 

Granola Cookies

Gluten Free Granola Cookies

I found this recipe on pinterest the other day and just had to try it. I love that there is no sugar or sugar substitute, but it's still sweet from the mashed bananas. I made a few minor changes, but the idea is the same. This blogger called them breakfast cookies, but I decided to call them granola cookies because they are very similar to granola bars, only in cookie form. They do make a great (and healthy) breakfast on the go, and I'm sure kids would be ecstatic to have cookies for breakfast! With all the protein and fibre, they are a satisfying breakfast or snack for anyone.

(makes about 2 dozen small cookies)
Ingredients

3 Medium Mashed Bananas
1/4 cup Canola Oil
1 Egg (may be omitted)
1 tsp Vanilla

1 1/2 cups GF Oats (I used quick oats but rolled would work too)
1/2 cup Dried Coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 - 3/4 cup Dried Fruit (raisins, craisins, apricots, etc)
1/2 cup Chopped Nuts
1/4 tsp Salt
11/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg


Directions

Combine wet ingredients in a large bowl.
Add dry ingredients to bowl and mix thoroughly
Drop spoonfuls of mixture on parchment lined baking sheet and form into desired shape.
Bake at 350 for 15-20 mins until they just begin to brown.
Store any left over cookies in freezer.

Before Baking (line with parchment - unlike me)

After Baking

Granola Bars

Gluten Free Granola Bars

I love granola bars, but not many are gluten free, and the ones that are cost way too much! I love the idea of making your own. You can customise the add ins to suit your tastes or allergies. It's also much easier to avoid the added preservatives that are in most store bought granola bars. As always, make sure your oats are wheat free!

This recipe is adapted from the Looneyspoons cookbook by Janet and Greta Podleski.

makes 15-20 bars
Ingredients

2 1/2 cups GF Quick Cooking Oats
1/2 cup Coconut Flakes (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 cup Chopped Nuts or Seeds (Almonds, Pecans, Cashews, Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, etc)
1/2 cup Dried Fruit (Craisins, Apricots, Raisins, Blueberries, etc)
1/3 cup Oat Flour (grind GF oats in coffee grinder)
1/4 cup Ground Flax Seed
1 tsp Cinnamon or Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Pumpkin Puree (canned or home made) (or 3/4 cup mashed bananas)
1/2 cup Liquid Honey
1/4 cup Canola Oil, Melted Butter/Margarine, or Melted Coconut Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract


Directions

Stir together dry ingredients.
In a smaller bowl, mix together pumpkin puree (or banana), honey, oil and vanilla.
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well.
Line 9x13 baking dish (or baking pan) with parchment paper and pour in mixture. Press evenly into pan.
Bake at 350 for about 25 mins (until top begins to brown).
Let cool in pan, then transfer to cutting board and cut into granola bar shapes.
Wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze.

Note: For nut free (and school friendly) granola bars, use sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds only. For the granola bars pictured, I used 1 bag of Enjoy Life Not Nuts seed and fruit mix in place of the nuts and dried fruit.

Dry ingredients

Granola Bar Mixture

Press mixture into baking pan

Bake until golden brown 

Let cool and cut into granola bar shapes

Mmmm...

Great for snacks or lunch on the go!

Enjoy Life Not Nuts Seed and Fruit Mix Review

ELF not nuts Seed and Fruit Mix

A little while ago I received 2 bags of the not nuts seed and fruit mix from Enjoy Life Foods to review. As always with Enjoy Life products, this seed and fruit mix is free of the most common allergens, including wheat/gluten. I had the opportunity to test the Beach Bash flavour (with sunflower kernels, pineapple, pumpkin seeds, cranberries and apricots) as well as the Mountain Mambo variety (containing sunflower kernels, pumpkin seeds, raisins, apples, chocolate chips and cranberries).

Although I am able to eat nuts, many people have a very serious nut allergy, and it's nice to see Enjoy Life Foods providing nut alternatives. Because nut allergies are so prevalent, most schools (at least in Saskatoon) are nut free zones. My husband is a teacher, so it's nice to have nut free snacks he can take in his lunch.

Gluten Free Granola Bars made with ELF Seed and Fruit Mix

I made some homemade nut free granola bars using the Beach Bash seed and fruit mix for snacks and lunches on the go. Instead of adding the dried fruit and nuts called for in the recipe, I just dumped the entire bag of seeds and fruit (1 cup worth) into my mixture. They turned out great and I will be posting the recipe shortly.

If I had to choose a favourite, I guess I would have to go with the Mountain Mambo (because of the chocolate chips:) ), but I also really liked the dried pineapple in the Beach Bash flavour. They are both winners in my opinion. The texture was great, with the crunchy seeds and chewy fruit. I found the mixture to be a little too salty, but I know some people like their trail mix salty. To each his own. The price on their website is 4.29 for a 170 g bag of seed and fruit mix. I find this to be a little on the expensive side, but it is an easy, healthy and mobile snack.

Health      5 stars

Cost         2.5 stars

Taste        3.5 stars

Texture    4.5 stars

Overall Rating:  3.9 Stars

Thanks Enjoy Life Foods for providing these free samples for me to review. All opinions are my own.

Quinoa Casserole

Gluten Free Quinoa Casserole

I have a humongous Costco bag of quinoa in my pantry. I wanted to start using quinoa more (for the health factor) and was feeling inspired by the recipe I tried for quinoa brownies (which seems to be quite the hit on pintrest). The problem is, I don't really know what to do with it other than make brownies. I am thinking it would be unwise to make brownies out of the whole bag... although I am tempted...

My friend found this recipe on pintrest and recommended it to me. I altered it a bit, but used the same general idea. I was surprised at how good it was! Sooo filling with a flavour resembling pizza (as the original recipe suggests). It uses cooked quinoa, so you don't have to worry about ratios of liquid to quinoa. It also allows for endless substitutions of veggies, meat, sauce and whatever else you can think of. Another fun version of this casserole would be to do it in individual ramekins and let each family member choose their own veggies, etc... kind of like a personalised pizza, only in casserole form.

Hope you enjoy!

Original Recipe from Food Doodles Blog can be found here

(makes 9x9 square baking dish or other shapes of similar size)
Ingredients

3 1/2 cups Cooked Quinoa (cook like you would rice)
2 Italian Sausages (make sure they're gluten free)
1/2 Chopped Green Pepper
1/4 Chopped Onion (I used red onion)
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce (pasta sauce or pizza sauce works best)
3 cloves Chopped Garlic
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Basil
1/2 tsp Thyme
1/2 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar (other vinegars would work)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (or other flavours)

Directions

Cook quinoa and place in baking dish.
Remove casings of sausages and fry, along with veggies, in olive oil until cooked through (5-7 mins)
Add oregano, basil, thyme, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper to frying veggies and sausage after 2 mins.
Mix cooked veggies and meat with quinoa in baking dish.
Add tomato sauce and stir.
Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 for about 1/2 hr (until cheese is bubbly)

cook quinoa and place in baking dish

Mix veggies and meat with quinoa

Mix with tomato sauce and top with cheese

Bake at 350 for 30 mins and serve

Enjoy Life Foods Crunchy Cookies Review

Crunchy cookies from Enjoy Life

Enjoy Life was kind enough to send me some of their new gluten-free crunchy cookies to review. I received the 4 flavours: Double Chocolate, Vanilla Honey Graham, Chocolate Chip and Sugar Shortbread (also known as Sugar Crisp on their website). I expected to favour the chocolate, but I actually preferred the sugar shortbread and graham cookies. Altough I am a big chocolate fan, I loved the simplicity and familiar taste of the graham and sugar cookies. I also tend to prefer my chocolate chip cookies chewy rather than crispy. I found the general texture of the crunchy cookies to be a tad on the gritty side (they all use roughly the same flour blend), but I really enjoyed their flavour.

A box of 14 crunchy cookies retails for about $4.29 (179-198 grams per box depending on flavour). I think this is quite reasonable for a nice, easy and very portable snack. I would definitely buy these to take on a vacation or a long road trip.

I am pleased with the quality of this product in comparison to other gluten free boxed cookies that I've tried. As an added bonus, these cookies are also free of milk, peanuts, tree nuts, mustard, sulfites, egg, soy, fish, crustaceans, shellfish and sesame.

Ratings:
(I will leave out a health rating, because these are not really meant to be healthy and it would only bring the rating down)

Double Chocolate and Vanilla Honey Graham

Double Chocolate Cookies

These cookies weren't as flavourful as I expected them to be, but they were still good. As mentioned before, I didn't enjoy the slightly gritty texture and prefer my chocolate chip cookies soft and chewy. I think this cookie would make great ice cream sandwiches or blizzard type milkshakes if crushed up (similar to Oreo). This wasn't my favourite flavour, but I will still enjoy eating them!

Cost: 4.5 stars
Taste: 3 stars
Texture: 2.5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.3 stars



Vanilla Honey Graham Cookies

The flavour of these cookies really surprised me. I had completely forgotten what a graham cracker tasted like, and enjoyed revisiting this taste of childhood (I didn't eat gluten free until the age of 12). While the gritty texture was still present in this cookie, I didn't mind it as much because that is sort of how I would expect a graham cracker to be. These cookies would make great crusts for individual servings of pie or pudding. They could also be crushed up and formed into a graham cracker crumbs in many dessert recipes. They are also great dipped in a simple glass of cold milk.

Cost: 4.5 stars
Taste: 4.5 stars
Texture: 3.5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.2 stars

Sugar Shortbread and Chocolate Chip

Sugar Shortbread Cookies

I loved the light, crunchy, buttery taste of these cookies. I would have to say these are my favourite. They taste like sugar cookies and are even topped off with a little sprinkle of sugar. I still found the texture to be a little gritty, but I like my sugar cookies crunchy.
If you wanted to get creative, these cookies could be decorated with a little icing or even dipped in chocolate. I thought they were perfect eaten plain alongside my afternoon coffee.

Cost: 4.5 stars
Taste: 5 stars
Texture: 3.5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.3 stars


Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies were similar to the double chocolate, but without the extra cocoa in the dough. I usually prefer my chocolate chip cookies chewy, so I wasn't a huge fan of the gritty, crunchy texture, but the taste was good. Like the double chocolate flavour, I think these would make great ice cream sandwiches. They are also good with a glass of cold milk.

Cost: 4.5 stars
Taste: 3.5
Texture: 2.5

Overall Rating: 3.5



Thank you Enjoy Life for providing free samples for me to review!

All opinions are my own.