Holiday Treat #8: Gluten Free Cake Pops

This recipe is part of this year's Holiday Treat Extravaganza!  To see all the recipes, click on the page tab of the same name located at the top of the blog.  To submit a recipe or a request, send a message to celiacbaby@hotmail.com.

I found a cake pop pan one day without really looking for it, and bought it on a whim.  It's not one of the fancy electric ones, it's one that goes in the oven like a muffin tin.  The tin came with 12 cake pop sticks, but the batter makes more than 12, so buy some additional sticks at a store that sells bake ware, like a Michael's or a Bulk Barn.

I prefer these to the "make a cake, smash and mix with icing" method because they're not as sweet and wet, and they are uniform in size. 

Gluten Free Cake Pops

Ingredients  (For decoration ingredients, see below)
Yield: 3-4 dozen, depending on mix

1 Gluten Free Cake Mix (I made these with Betty Crocker Devil's Food Cake Mix, and Pamela's White Cake mix.  They both turned out, but the Pamela's mix was a bit dry, making it more difficult to get the sticks to stay in.  Still delicious, though.)
Eggs as called for in mix, plus 1 extra egg
Substitute milk (or substitute) for the amount of water called for in recipe
1 Pudding Dry Mix
Small amount of chocolate or candy melts to adhere sticks to cake pops, set aside

**Most cake pop recipes call for using half the amount of liquid called for in the recipe, but I found that with gluten free mixes, the pops come out too dry if I cut the liquid in half.  I keep the original proportions.


Directions

1- Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and beat according to cake mix instructions. 

2- Spoon batter into bottom half of cake pop pans, not quite to the fill line.  Put on lid and attach fastening clips.  Bake in a 350F oven for approx. 15 minutes.  Check that they're done by poking a toothpick through the hole at the top.  When it comes out clean, they're done.

4- Allow pans to cool before removing lid.  Don't worry about any batter that has puffed through the holes at the top.  Loosen pops around the edges with a plastic knife. 

5- Melt a small amount of coating (chocolate or candy melts) and dip sticks in them.  Push into cake pops and then place in freezer for a few minutes to harden.  

(I forgot to take a picture of the vanilla batch with the sticks, so I've attached a photo of the chocolate ones, in case you're wondering why my vanilla pops are suddenly chocolate!)






Decorating Cake Pops

While the pops are in the freezer, prepare decorations.  You will need approx. 2-3 cups of melted chocolate or candy melt to coat the pops, or you could use 1 container of regular frosting.  When they come out of the freezer, I remove them from the tin and put another batch in the oven while I'm decorating.

1- Melt coating in a glass or ceramic bowl and set aside.

2- Lay out sprinkles, coloured sugar, or other decorations that will be used to coat the pops.    Set up a cake pop drying stand.  Cheap ones can be purchased at baking supply places or you can make your own using the hard foam used for flower arranging. 

3- Remove the pops from the freezer.  Take a cake pop out of the tin, and brush off any crumbs.  This will make the coating adhere more evenly.  Coat the pop with the melted candy, and allow excess to drip off before rolling it in any additional decorations. 

4-Stand in drying stand and allow to harden.  






Best stored in the refrigerator of they are not going to be eaten within one or two days.  Place in sealable freezer bags in a single layer.

Holiday Treat #7: Gluten Free Butter Tarts

This recipe is part of this year's Holiday Treat Extravaganza!  To see all the recipes, click on the page tab of the same name located at the top of the blog.  To submit a recipe or a request, send a message to celiacbaby@hotmail.com.

I love a full sized butter tart, but for the holidays I like the idea of mini ones because so often holiday spreads are a collection of bite sized desserts.  These will fit right in on any holiday tray. 

If you've read my blog before, you'll know that I walk the line between convenience and homemade, preferring to make things myself when it's convenient, but not above using a shortcut when I feel it's warranted.  This is one of those times.  Preparing gluten free pie crusts can be frustrating sometimes, and the rest of the butter tart is so easy to put together that it doesn't make sense to me to prepare the pastry from scratch.  If it's your thing, go for it. 

Gluten Free Butter Tarts

I used a frozen pie crust from Kawartha Bakery, defrosted it in the fridge, and worked with it while still cold.  I am very happy with the results.  The pastry was easy to work with, cooked evenly and was nice and flaky with great flavour.
Yield: Approx. 12 large or 16 mini tarts

Ingredients

1 prepared pie crust
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup raisins (check ingredients list, you'd be surprised how many packs contain gluten)

Directions
Preheat oven to 400F
Use a muffin tin or a mini muffin tin, lined for easy cleaning.

1- Dough should be refrigerated before use.  Lightly dust working surface with gluten free flour, and roll out dough using a piece of plastic wrap between the rolling pin and the dough. 

2- Using a cup, cut out circles for the tarts.  Press into muffin tins, removing any excess from the tops.  Repeat process until all tins are filled.  Place in refrigerator while preparing the filling.  I use a spatula to lift them easily without breaking the circles.

3- In a bowl, mix together egg, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter & vanilla.  When completely mixed and sugar is dissolved, add raisins and stir to incorporate.  
***The ratio of brown sugar to corn syrup can be adjusted as desired.  I like the texture the corn syrup gives it, but it could be reduced and the brown sugar increased if desired.

4- Remove tart shells from fridge, and fill with raisin mixture. 

5- Bake at 400F for 10-12 minutes or until pastry is done.  Let cool, remove and eat.  If storing, place a piece of waxed paper between layers. 





I made mine in a mini-muffin cooker because I was curious to give it a try.  They came out fine, but I had to make two batches because of space constraints and the clean-up was more work than it was worth.  I would recommend regular muffin tins, lined for ease of clean-up.

Holiday Treat #3 Gluten Free Sugar Cookies & Glaze

I first posted this recipe last year at Christmas, but since sugar cookies are such an iconic Christmas treat, I thought it was only fitting to include it again in this year's holiday treat extravaganza.  I've updated the recipe and added photos of the process.  I've also included the recipe for the cookie glaze, which is simple to prepare.  Store bought cookie icing works great too, especially for adding sprinkles. 

 

Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Recipe   
Makes approximately 48 cookies

Ingredients
2 cups white rice flour    
1/2 cup gluten free all-purpose flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
3/4 cup butter (I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks).  Should be at room temperature.  
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs (at room temperature).  You can use just the yolks if you prefer, but I use the whole egg.
1 tsp. vanilla extract
 1/4 tsp. salt

 

 

 

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F only after refrigeration of dough is
complete.

1- In a mixing bowl, stir together white rice flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum.  Put aside.   

2- In a separate mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Add in eggs and vanilla extract and beat until mixed through.   






3- Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and beat until mixture is smooth.  This can be done with a mixer, but I just did it by hand.

4- When thoroughly combined, roll dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.  I made half a batch of cookies after one hour in the fridge, and the other half after refrigerating overnight.  The cookies turned out roughly the same, but the dough was much easier to work with after being chilled overnight.   

5- Lightly flour the counter, and place a piece of plastic wrap over the dough to roll it out.  Roll the dough to desired thickness.  For crispy cookies, roll quite thin, and for chewier ones roll thicker.  They will rise a bit, but not too much.  Cut into desired shapes or roll into balls and flatten.  

To cut perfectly round cookies, roll dough into a log before refrigerating and then just cut into rounds when ready to bake.   







6- Place on a greased cookie sheet and place in oven for 6-8 minutes.  Take out when edges begin to brown.  





7- Place on a cooling rack and gently life bottoms from cookie sheet, then allow to cool completely before decorating.  Decorate with icing and sprinkles, or eat plain.
These cookies will hold their shape well and don't crumble.  To change the flavour, substitute a different extract for the vanilla extract.

 

 



 

Simple Cookie Glaze

This glaze only has three ingredients, and is really easy to make.  The only part to pay attention to is the consistency.  The glaze should be thick enough to work with and not drip everywhere, but thin enough to drip from a spoon.  For a flavoured glaze, add a few drops of extract: vanilla, almond, lemon, mint, or try a bit of liqueur to taste.  The glaze can also be coloured using a few drops of food colouring.  I suggest making the glaze first, and then mix a bit of food colouring in last.

Ingredients

1 cup confectioner's sugar (check that brand is GF)
2 tablespoons warm water
1 tablespoon corn syrup (I used dark, but use light if you want to avoid darkening the glaze.)

Directions

1- Add the ingredients to a glass bowl and stir until the mixture is smooth using a spoon.  It should be thick, but not so thick that it can't run from a spoon in one smooth motion.
Done. 

If using different coloured food colouring, separate the glaze into small glass or ceramic bowls before adding different colours.  To glaze the cookies, spoon the glaze into an icing bag (or a small re-sealable bag with a corner cut off) and outline the cookies first, filling in the middle later with glaze.

Allow the glaze to dry completely before stacking cookies.  It won't dry rock hard like cookie icing, so be gentle.  If you press too hard on the glaze, it will indent under the pressure.




  

Holiday Treat #2: Marshmallow Pops

This recipe is a great one to do with kids, and can be modified to be casual and fun or as sophisticated as you want.  We do variations on this theme for every major holiday, but they are especially festive this time of year.   Set up everything before melting the chocolate or candy coating to facilitate the process.


Some tips before making:

1- Lollipop or cake pop sticks can be purchased at stores like Bulk Barn or Michael's.  They are inexpensive.  If you don't want to buy sticks, these can be displayed in mini cupcake holders or on a pretty plate or tray.  The larger the marshmallow, the easier to handle.

2- If you are not using sticks, consider just dipping the top of the marshmallow to make them easier to handle.  If you are using sticks, you will need a place to stand them to dry.  I bought a cardboard cake pop drying stand for less than $5 at Bulk Barn to stand them in while drying, but a piece of foam that is used for arranging flowers works too. 

3- A small amount of candy or chocolate coating goes a long way.  You can dip marshmallow directly in melted coating, or use a spoon to drizzle.  Experiment with a few and decide what works for you.  I set up the sprinkles or sugar in cupcake holders to make it easy to roll marshmallows..

4- The ingredient list is pretty ambiguous because it will depend on what you choose to use, whether you are completely coating the marshmallows and the size of marshmallows you choose. 


Ingredients:

24 marshmallows (I usually make 2 dozen at a time, but make as many as you want )
1 cup melted chocolate (1 bar) or candy coating (if you are using different colours, consider working with one at a time so that they don't begin to harden.)

Assorted toppings such as coarse sugar, sprinkles, crushed candy canes.  The smaller the sprinkles, etc., the better they stick.  Larger heavy ones tend to drip off.  Also, coloured sugars show up better against white chocolate.

***Be sure to read ingredients and make sure that everything you use is gluten free.  Beware when buying in bulk from bins.  Cross-contamination occurs easily in these environments.

Directions:

1- Melt chocolate or candy coating according to directions.  I melt chocolate in a glass or ceramic bowl in the microwave in 1 minute increments, stirring after each minute until completely melted.

2- Skewer marshmallow in lollipop stick, or on toothpick if not making pops.  Dip marshmallow in coating, and then in desired additional decoration, such as sprinkles or coarse coloured sugar. 

4- Stand to allow excess to drip off and allow to dry.






Storage:  Once dry, store in the fridge in sealed freezer bags.   They will last up to two weeks in the fridge.  They will last a few months if frozen.

Enjoy!







Gluten Free Holiday Treats

Welcome to Celiac Baby's 1st Holiday Treat Extravaganza!

Holiday baking is a tradition that has been in my family for as long as I can remember.  Every year, my mom would choose a weekend to bake up all the Christmas cookies that we would have on hand all season for whenever people stopped by or when we were invited to a party or gathering.  Since my son has gone gluten free, I've had to rethink recipes that I had been using for years in order to make them safe for him.  As a result, I've changed my approach to holiday baking.  I still make many things from scratch using recipes that I've modified to make safe for my son, but I've added some mixes to my repertoire  when it comes to things like cupcakes.  I've also started preparing more no bake treats, which tend to be easy for my three old to help me prepare. 

Decorating sugar cookies

Beginning on December 1st (tomorrow!), I'll be sharing a recipe or a an idea for a holiday dessert on the blog each day except Sundays (when the menu plan goes up).  I am looking forward to sharing some of what my family will be enjoying this December.  I will also be sharing a few that come from family, friends, and readers, so please send me your recipes and ideas, and I'll try and feature them on the blog over the next month.

Who said gluten free food had to be boring? 

I find new and inspiring food ideas all the time that taste great and are safe for my son to eat.  The holidays are a great time to share what I know to be true about the potential for gluten free food to be delicious with those around me, and what better way than with desserts prepared with love? 

Snowball with Grated Coconut

Have a recipe you'd like to share and see featured on the blog?  Send me an email at celiacbaby@hotmail.com or a message @CeliacBaby on  Twitter and tell me what you'd like to share or a recipe you would like to see featured.

Here's to a delicious holiday season ahead!