Gluten and Dairy Free Pumpkin Muffins

It's the classic treat we all love, pumpkin muffins! (Ok, so maybe I love them a little too much; I can't get enough pumpkin!) I used sweet apple cider and canola oil to make them extra moist; you won't miss the butter or milk (or buttermilk :P), I promise.

Thank you for bearing with the occasional typos on my recipes, and for pointing them out! I don't know what it is with me, but sometimes when I'm typing out a recipe, I forget an ingredient (and we all know that one ingredient makes or breaks the recipe!).

Here's another thing that happens: I tend to bake on a whim, my kitchen is always a mess when I'm coming up with a recipe. This is Sophie-style baking: a million and one gluten-free flours crowd the kitchen counter, and (despite having been chided for this many times in my youth) I've left the refrigerator door open yet again (as I've probably done with the carton of cider or milk that I've left out for too long). Of course, I bet I've even filled the sink with eggshells (and maybe there's a bit in the mixing bowl :P)... you get the picture.

And when it comes to writing down the recipe, that's another story... with fingers covered in sticky dough, I usually grab the lonely scratch piece of paper stuck to the bottom of a molasses jar. Then what happens? I'll write half of the recipe on one side then jot down the rest on the top left corner of the not-so-sticky side. This has got to change. :P

So what does this have to do with pumpkin muffins? Well, my hubby was kind enough to make these muffins tonight (and a few nights before); he tested out the recipe a few times to make sure that I really did write down all of the ingredients and necessary steps :). You can be sure this recipe will yield tasty gluten and dairy free pumpkin muffins! Yay!

Date & Cranberry Quinoa and Yellow Cupcakes with Pink Strawberry Frosting

Happy Easter to all!

...Taking a quick break from preparing tonight's mini Easter dinner to share a few recipes. The first is for a quinoa salad that is so so good! I found this recipe and changed it up just a bit to end up with a date and cranberry quinoa side dish that is flavorful and puts plain old rice to shame (who gets tired of having rice as a side every day? I DO!)

Date and Cranberry Quinoa:
1 cup quinoa
1 2/3 cup water
1 tsp garam masala
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup cranberries
1 1/2 celery stalks, chopped to 1/4 in. pieces
1/2 large bell pepper, chopped to 1/4 in. pieces
1 1/2 large dates, chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped white sweet onion
2 1/2 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSp canola oil

First make sure you rinse the quinoa well, to remove the bitter saponins. I usually spend about 3 minutes rinsing it, just to make sure they're all gone.

Next, add the quinoa to a small pot with the water, salt, dates and garam masala. Cook over a medium flame, stir occasionally and keep covered until water is evaporated and quinoa is somewhat translucent (cooked).

When the quinoa is done, remove it from the pot. Now add the remaining olive oil and canola oil to the pot.

Allow the oil to get hot, when the oil is hot (check by sprinkling with a bit of water, it should sizzle), put the flame on high and add the onion, caramelize the onions but keep stirring.

When the onions just begin to darken, put the flame on medium and add the chopped celery and bell pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes, then add the cranberries. Cook covered on low for about 3-5 minutes.

Lastly, mix in the quinoa while the flame is still on low and then turn off.

And how about cupcakes for dessert? Here are 2 dozen mini gluten-free yellow cupcakes that are topped off with a NATURAL pink frosting. No food coloring here! I've seen a few of you cleverly incorporate jello into your strawberry cake recipes. I basically took that idea and applied it to frosting. I used an all-natural strawberry jello that I purchased from Whole Foods awhile ago; that pink color you're seeing is from beets! Watch out, though, the frosting is super sweet, which is why I just made enough of it to coat the cupcakes with a very thin layer of it. Double the frosting recipe if you like a thick, sweet frosting. (Click here to see the 'jell dessert' I used in this frosting; it is also gluten free/vegan.)

Gluten-Free Hawaiian Bread Biscuits (quick and yeast-free!)

Say goodbye to dry gluten-free bread and crumbly biscuits. This gluten-free Hawaiian Bread is moist and tender! So moist that I didn't even have to cut the biscuits with a knife before diving in! Check out the picture in the recipe card, that is one biscuit, not two!

The baking soda and baking powder worked wonders on these biscuits, they rose beautifully and I didn't even have to use yeast! I just wasn't in the mood to wait around for a couple of hours before having my carb craving satisfied, so I chose to make these with lovely leaveners, the magic ingredients that work wonders in minutes instead of hours :D.

These are fresh outta the oven, enjoy!