Best gluten free banana cake EVER!

Hi Friends and Family!

A couple of weeks ago, I made the BEST BANANA CAKE  ever! ever! ever! that I have ever eaten!.......... and it was gluten free.... but you never would have known it. So if you need to eat gluten free, try this one (and even if you don't have to eat gluten free, try this one!). I got the recipe online from I know not where (more below on that).

I used a yellow cake mix from WOW Baking Company. I just discovered them a  year or so ago. Our local Bi-Mart (in Oregon) carries them  now. It is even non-GMO ingredients! And the price is so much cheaper than the "name brand" gluten free cake mixes.

Their website is WOW Baking Company  and their business is in Kent, Washington, not too far from where I live! Awesome! The package says they have recipes, but I went there to search and didn't find any. I'll have to give them a call or email, as I love recipes from the different gluten free companies.

Here's the lovely, soft, fluffy and very tasty (with just a hint of banana) cake.

Did I say it was the BEST ever???????

Of course I had to make my own home made butter cream frosting. 

Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup soft butter

Dash of salt

2 tsp vanilla

1/8 to 1/4 cup milk for desired thickness

  (I used just a splash of milk as didn't want the frosting runny)

And here is the recipe. I didn't look at the website I got it from and though the site name usually prints out on the recipe, it didn't this time, so I have no idea where it came from! I just searched for "cake mix banana cake recipe" and found several, and chose the easiest one with the least amount of ingredients (and I was in a hurry to find one, so didn't take time to write down the site). And of course, I tweaked it some.

The last 4 ingredients are their frosting, but I made mine instead. It sounds similar to mine. I added an extra cup of a gluten free baking flour mix (Pamela's), didn't add the baking soda or baking powder, as it was in the flour mix, and only added 1 large mashed banana, not 4. I think 4 would have made it too soggy. Gluten free things can't take alot of moisture.

I used an 8x8 glass pan rather than 9x13, and baked at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Gluten free usually takes a little longer.

If you use a regular cake mix like the recipe calls for, then I would probably add the baking powder and baking soda.

And voila!!!!!!!!!

 Happy Thursday all........

~Marilyn~

ALL CONTENT © PINK PAPER COTTAGE.

PLEASE DO NOT COPY MY PHOTOS AND IMAGES INTO YOUR OWN POSTS WITHOUT FIRST LINKING TO THIS BLOG AND MY NAME.

Something different......

Hubby thought he'd try something different the other day. He likes to experiment with "one dish" meals, or crockpot meals. So he decided to make a deer burger meatloaf! Ugh you might say??  Any of you who have eaten venison, know that only the best cuts are (normally) edible. I've usually only been served the steaks or backstrap of the venison or antelope (when I lived in Wyoming) and always thought the "burger" would be too wild tasting. 

Hubby grew up hunting with his dad in southern Oregon. His family practically lived on deer meat year-round. Those were the days when people hunted for FOOD... not for sport. So he's quite adept at cooking deer meat the correct way.

Well I must say... I was totally WRONG about the deer burger. The meatloaf was DELICIOUS!

It's big and round since he cooked it in the crockpot. He used 1 lb. of deer burger and 1 lb. of a mild deer sausage. My sister and her husband  hunt every year, so we pretty much always have a supply of deer meat!  There was NO "gamey" or wild taste. I think most people would have thought it was just regular hamburger. I was pretty amazed, I must admit.

In fact, we had two dinners from it and I had a meatloaf sandwich for 2 days. Who doesn't like meatloaf sandwiches? Raise your hands! They are one of my favorites.

And to top it off, this can be a Paleo meal as he didn't add any flour, crackers or bread crumbs, which are usually called for in meatloaf recipes.  We had the last of it tonight, added into some sweet and sour cooked cabbage. Yum!

Here's the recipe in case you're interested or if anyone ever offers you some deer burger (and if they do, take it!).  We both think that cooking deer burger with lots of onions really helps take away the gamey/wild taste. Also, we used some Bragg's Nutritional Yeast Seasoning which we LOVE in most dishes, and I think that helps take away any wild taste. It's great (and healthy) on everything (scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, in casseroles, fried chicken, etc.).

Ground Venison and Deer Sausage Meatloaf

And of course, be sure the burger was made and cured properly as no amount of cooking will take away that gamey taste if it wasn't processed right away and packaged right away. 

Enjoy!

~ Marilyn~

Tea and bananas......

What have I been up to lately? I'm kind of scattered it seems... can't settle down and stick to making one thing! So I've been cooking and crafting, a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

I watch a lot of You Tube... the other night I saw the cutest little tea bag holder. I'm always searching for new ways to gift tea to friends. This one was different and so cute!  Here's a tiny peek!

Do you want to see more? Here is my finished "prototype". I would do a few things differently. The gal whose video I watched made it taller, so it would hold a small candy bar. But I found that it was too thick and wouldn't close. So I made mine not as tall, but now it's still too tall for the tea bags, as they slip down to the bottom of each pocket! I'll fix that next time.

I used some pretty pink vintage papers from Couture Creations - Vintage Rose Garden. Love those papers, but you can't see them very much in this little folder. I'd better make a gift bag to match, right? And this being a prototype, each little pocket I made was not exactly the same size as the other, so the bottoms don't line up too well. How that happens, I don't know.... when I cut the paper exactly the same size for each, and fold on the exact same score lines! A mystery to me......

I made a "belly band" to hold it closed. That top flap pops up if you don't put the belly band on it (or you can use a magnet but I couldn't find mine). Decorated it with lace and sweet little hearts, a wooden spiral "button" and a tea tag I made. I typed out the saying on some nice cream cardstock and then used my Sizzix to cut the little framelet...... inked the edges with light brown ink.

It stands up on end, all by itself. I like that... for storage reasons.

The inside pockets are where all the pretty paper is!

This will make darling gifts and I can use up some of my paper scraps and 6x6 paper pads. Here is the video link to the gal who made this: Positively Papercraft.  This is what her little folder looked like:

Now I'm sure you're asking what bananas have to do with tea??????? {smiles}

Well..... yesterday, I needed something sweet. Hubby and I are trying  failing to cut out alot of sweets and bread in our diets... due to the holiday weight gain (why does that have to happen every year?) But I can't seem to go a day without something sweet!  Does that happen to you? I"m so hooked on sweets, so I tried to make a "healthy" dessert. I found a gluten free banana bar recipe I had saved, which would have been fine if I hadn't added the cream cheese frosting............ 

It did turn out DELICIOUS! It's healthy in the fact that it has some buckwheat flour added, and applesauce, bananas (fruit right?), raisins and almonds. So healthy right???? Please say I'm right!

I only added 3/4 cup of brown sugar rather than the 1-1/2 cups called for in the recipe. Does that count as "healthy"? Yes I know... I could have added honey or stevia instead, but the consistency isn't the same with honey, and the stevia makes it taste a little bit bitter to me.

Here's my version of a recipe that was not gluten free...... I had to adjust it. I don't know where I got the recipe. The maker is a Susan Stuff from Mercersburg, PA. I think it was in a cookbook my husband got at a thrift store so I tore it out to use!

Gluten Free Frosted Banana Bars

Heat oven to 350°. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

3 tbs. soft butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1-1/2 cup ripe mashed bananas

1/2 cup unsweet applesauce

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1-3/4 cup gluten free flour mix

1/4 cup buckwheat flour (or any other kind of GF flour)

OR

Use 2 cups of a GF flour baking mix, I like Bisquick

   or King Arthur, or Krustez

1 tsp. baking soda and a dash of salt

Optional:

1 cup raisins

3/4 cup sliced almonds

I added both... add anything extra you want, like dried cranberries, or walnuts or pecans, or dried apricots, etc.

Beat butter and sugar until crumbly, about 1 minute. Add eggs 1 at a time and beat after each addition. Beat in the bananas, applesauce and vanilla. Now add the flour on top with the salt and baking soda and mix those together a little bit on top of the egg mix... then stir it all together until well blended. This calls for using just one bowl, rather than two! I like one bowl desserts! Don't overmix.

Add mix to a well greased (I use butter or coconut oil) 9x13 baking dish, The batter will be stiff but not like cookie dough.. should be like a cake mix but a little stiffer. Spread it to about 1" thickness or a little more. 

Bake 20-25 minutes. Mine was done in 20 minutes but I live at a higher elevation. Check with toothpick to see when it's done. I'd rather undercook it a little bit so that it will remain moist and heavy, like carrot cake. If you overcook it, then it's more like a cake and a little dry.  Let cool for about 1/2 hour and then frost.

FROSTING:

Blend 1 8 oz. block of cream cheese, 1/4 cup soft butter and about 2-1/2 to 3 cups of powdered sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla in a bowl. I added a little bit of milk as it was too stiff, but just 1 tbs. to start with, and then maybe a little more.

MORE COOKING.............

Oh!  And I also made some freezer applesauce from a big box of Pink Lady apples I got from my sister. A big truck had rolled over by her town and spilled all the boxes of apples!  They were signaling people to stop and telling them they could have as many as they wanted for free, so she got 2 big boxes. 

Although we live 70 miles apart, we just happened to have lunch the following day at our "in between town", so she brought them to me. Hurray.. I LOVE free stuff! I had to make chucky style as can't find my big stainless strainer that I always used to use to make applesauce. Really though, I love the chunky almost better. NO sugar added either.....

So that's what I've been doing (and eating)!!! 

Until next time...............

~Marilyn~

Coconut Flour (gluten free) Pumpkin Mug Cake - Yum!

Lately, my husband has been on a recipe kick... searching the internet and cooking sites for paleo and "ketogenic" recipes, that are also gluten free for me. 

In between my busy life and some travelling I've done lately, I just HAVE to take time now and then to bake a little bit. And that evening, I was really craving something sweet, and yet fairly healthy,.... and quick!

As I flipped through the recipes he had printed for me, I found this Coconut Flour Paleo Pumpkin Mug Cake on LowCarbYum that looked interesting to me, as I love pumpkin! So I tried it. All I can say is YUM... QUICK... FAST....EASY... NO MESS... AND YUM!

I mean in probably 8 minutes I was savoring that sweet, soft, cake-a-licious treat! I gathered the ingredients (not that many).... beat the eggs in a little bowl.... dumped them and everything else in the mug, mixed with a fork, and popped it into the microwave for 3 minutes! Done! let cool a few minutes, dump out, sprinkle with powdered sugar........... and eat! YUM.

Mix it up............

Nuke it.............

Pop it out of the mug............

It was good! Did I already say that? The texture was exactly like a cake... moist, spongy and very tastey. And what did I have to clean up? One small bowl....a fork and spoon... and the mug. 

I cut it in half and was going to be good and only eat half........ well, that didn't last very long. It was all gone within a half hour!  I didn't happen to have coconut flour, so I used a gluten free flour mix that I usually have on hand. It would be great with coconut flour too. And no oil or butter in it!

Two hefty morsels.............

Here's the recipe from lowcarbyum.

COCONUT FLOUR PALEO PUMPKIN MUG CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

3 tbs pumpkin puree (you could probably use smashed bananas or applesauce-it called for only tbs of the pumpkin but I used 3 tbs)

2 tbs coconut flour (I used a gluten free flour mix)

1 egg beaten

1 tbs coconut milk

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp Sweet Leaf Stevia extract

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I added some extra cinnamon too)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Beat the eggs and milk in a small bowl. Then add them with all other ingredients into a mug or ramekin and blend well with a fork. (I used a larger than normal/heavy duty mug).

Microwave on HIGH for about 1-1/2 to 2 minutes until toothpick placed in center comes out clean. (I had to nuke mine for 3 minutes)

Remove from the mug if desired.

Serve warm with whipped topping or powdered sugar. (coconut cream makes it paleo friendly).

Calories: 89

Total fat: 5.1 gr

Cholesterol:  82 mg

Sodium: 49 mg

Dietary fiber: 3.2 g

Sugars: 1.6g

Protein: 4.1 g

I'm going to also try this with applesauce. My hubby doesn't care for pumpkin, so will try applesauce for a nice little spice cake.

Try it! You'll love it!

Thanksgiving pumpkin treats.... yum!

Here you go..... just in time for Thanksgiving!

I got this recipe from BettyCrocker.com. There is an entire gluten free section of the most appetizing recipes!  I always have boxes of Bisquick gluten free baking mix and gluten free cake mixes around, so wanted to make some pumpkin goodies that were quick and easy. 

I did use Bob's Red Mill gluten free Vanilla Cake mix this time, as didn't happen to have the Bisquick cake mix.  You could always use a regular cake mix if you don't need to eat gluten free. I like gluten free desserts as they usually don't have as much sugar in them.

I added a cup of raisins and a cup of chopped pecans.

My mouth was watering already.

Fresh out of the oven with some cream cheese frosting.... one for hubby, one for me.

These were SO moist and delicious. Try one with whipped cream on top, rather than the frosting - or try one with both! These are fairly low in sugar which I like (except for the frosting of course). And, naturally, they are already gone! We don't waste our time when it comes to desserts!

Here's the recipe:

This is going to be one of my FAVORITES, any time of the year! Hope you try them. Let me know if you do.

I think my next experiment will be some pumpkin cheesecake....... sigh.

 

Healthy gluten free apple cinnamon protein bars!

Who doesn't want a quick and healthy "snack" for breakfast? I do! I'm always looking for a good gluten free protein bar recipe... one for a healthy, sugar-free (but yummy) bar I can grab in the morning to snack on while I drink my daily cup of herbal tea. 

By jove, I think I found a really good one! My husband is an avid collector of recipes he finds on the internet, and sometimes I'll try one of his recipes just out of curiosity.  

He has a (huge) 3 ring binder of recipes. I was browsing through his binder today, and saw one he printed out from a website called Anabolic Cooking. It's a website by a guy named Dave Ruel, who is quite the muscle builder (or used to be), dealing with ways to eat for building muscle mass... hubby is always looking for ways to build his muscles so he tends to save alot of high protein and muscle building recipes.

The Anabolic Cooking website promotes the cookbook Dave Ruel wrote, called The Anabolic Cooking Cookbook. I just wanted to try this one recipe for Apple & Cinnamon High Protein Muffins. It sounded pretty easy to make, had no sugar in it, and lots of other healthy things, like oats, oat bran, flax oil, protein powder, eggs and applesauce. hum.m.m.m.m sounds good don't ya think?.... plus looked quick and easy.

I'm not into muscle building(!) but would rather have a high protein, healthy snack in the morning with my first cup of tea, rather than a high carb bowl of cereal or something like that, and that's what this recipe sounded like.  So off I went to the kitchen!

So here's my take on these Apple & Cinnamon High Protein Muffins. Of course, they weren't gluten free, which is all I can eat, so I changed them up somewhat, and I made bars rather than muffins (as much easier to wash a baking dish than muffin tin - I HATE washing muffin tins for some reason!).

GLUTEN FREE HEALTHY APPLE-CINNAMON-OATMEAL-RAISIN PROTEIN BARS

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

If you don't have to eat gluten-free, then you could use "normal" oats and regular flour, etc.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of gluten free oatmeal (I use Bob's Red Mill)
1/4 cup of oat bran (I didn't have any, so used some ground up gluten free rice krispies)
1 tbs. gluten free coconut flour (plus an added 1/8 of a cup as the batter seemed too thin to me)
4 eggs (it called for 6 egg whites, but I used 4 whole eggs instead)
1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder (I used "Pure Protein" 100% Whey Protein Powder - it does contain a very small amount of sucralose, which I don't like but it's all I had)
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Dash of salt
1 tbs. organic Agave sweetener (it called for Splenda but I didn't want any artificial sugars in my bars-yuk)
1 tbs. Virgin olive oil (I added maybe another tbs. as I wanted them to be a little more moist)
2 tbs. softened butter (my own addition for moistness)
4 tbs. unsweetened apple sauce
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 peeled and diced apple
1/2 to 1 cup raisins (optional, but they do add some sweetness)
1/2 to 1 cup nuts (optional)

Directions:

1.  Blend all dry ingredients. I used a whisk. Then add wet ingredients (do not add apple pieces or raisins, nuts, etc. until everything has been blended with the mixer) and mix very well with an electric mixer. Then add apple, raisins and nuts.

2.  Add the apple pieces, raisins and nuts and mix in with a spoon.

3.  Poor batter into a buttered or oiled 9x9 baking dish.

4.  Cook for approx. 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Check with toothpick at about 25 minutes so you don't overcook.

You could make muffins if you wish. Also, I think these bars or muffins would freeze well, and then microwave one when you want a quick snack.  (NOTE TO SELF: Make a double batch next time as 2 days later, they are already gone!)

The original recipe from Dave Ruel can be found HERE.

Don't these look pretty yummy? And they WERE! Hubby and I just had to try them, right?

Perfect to have with my cup of tea in the morning.... and here's a note.. if you've never tried Stash Tea's Meyer Lemon tea, you HAVE to try it! If you love the taste of lemons, then this tea is just the most awesome lemon tea I've ever tried, and I've tried alot of them.

Well.. that's my excitement for the day...... I'm already looking forward to my tomorrow morning cup of (lemon) tea with a super healthy protein bar!

Enjoy!


 

Pumpkin Spice Cookies - Gluten Free! and WW 2 points only!

In my last post, I showed a picture of some yummy gluten free pumpkin spice cookies that I made. I love anything pumpkin, and actually saw these made on a YouTube video, and just HAD to try them.

And oh boy were they good! I got the recipe off of You Tube, from  Hectanooga1.  Here is a link to her video for these WW 2 point cookies. Her channel is wonderful, with MANY cooking videos and MANY crochet tutorials. 

One of my followers requested the recipe so here it is:

The above recipe is a JPEG file, so if you want to print it out, hover over it, right click, and then "save as" to whatever folder you want it in.. and then go to the folder and print it. You could also try just right clicking on the recipe photo and depending on the program you are using, print it right from there.

Here are a few pictures to describe the process. Below is about the size you want (about 1 tsp) and use an ungreased cookie sheet. My cookie sheet is very well worn loved.

Your dough should be soft and a little bit sticky, but not too much.

Smash them down with a wet fork as they don't spread much.

Make your glaze.

The glaze should be runny (and oh so yummy!)

Fresh out of the oven... you can sneak a few without the glaze - just to sample them!

And voila! with glaze and nuts sprinkled on top. I used walnuts but pecans would also be delicious.

My recipe is gluten free as I absolutely CANNOT eat any form of wheat or gluten. My hubby loves them! If you want to make these little morsels with regular wheat flour, just use wheat flour instead of the gluten free mix or GF flours, and don't add the Xanthan Gum, and you'll need to add baking powder per the above recipe.

If you need the recipe in a larger size and/or can't print or save it, let me know and I'll be glad to email it to you.

Hope you try these and enjoy them as much as we did! I'll definitely be making more.