Cute Pie Decorations!

I recently discovered that Pie crust cutters are the best invention ever to decorate and dress up simple pies! I can't be going back to not using pie cutters, and I won't be :P. I bought pie crust cutters on Amazon.com for $5. Here is the link to the ones I bought. They took about one and a half weeks to get here, but got here just in time for Thanksgiving! You can also use them for fruit pies and basically any kind of pie! Have fun!

Pie crust cutters!

pumpkin pie!

Cherry pie before baking :)

Cherry pie!

Homemade matcha green tea cake with matcha cream cheese frosting

This matcha cake is SO good! I would make it again in a heartbeat! It was very easy, thanks to another blogging site called Oishii Treats, "Oishii" meaning delicious in Japanese (My mother is Japanese :) ). Click on this link. All I did was put it in a round cake pan instead of using cupcake tins, and decorated with a little bit of milk chocolate ganache and some cute sprinkles (which I bought from Walmart :P). So there you go! YUM.

Gluten-free Bakery: Yummy Vanilla and Chocolate Almond Flour Muffins

I put a little too much batter in these, and didn't have any muffin liners, but if you make sure to follow recipe below and you will be fine!

Gluten-free is getting more popular now, since eating a gluten-free, or reduced gluten diet has helped people lose weight, eat healthier, and go for beneficial grains, vegetables, and fruit instead of wheat. Lately, I've been getting very into the idea of going gluten-free, and replacing wheat products and gluten with products made from nuts, fruit, or other grains such as rice, amaranth and quinoa. The only problem for me is that I can't leave out desserts from my diet. I just can't. I need that sweetness at the end of the day, or during hump day of the week, to carry me through. Luckily, there is a way to eat baked sweets but still be healthy. Thus, I will be exploring and trying out different gluten-free desserts as well as breads :).

Gluten-Free Flours:

• Almond Flour- can be bought at nearest Indian grocery for pretty inexpensive prices
• Coconut Flour- I think the brand Bob's Red Mill sells this at a pretty cheap price and you can find it at grocery stores that sell more specialty flours than just your basic flour.
• Xanthan gum- gives dough elasticity. This can also be bought at grocery stores that sell more specialty flours than just your basic flour, or online
• Tapioca Flour (same as above). 
• Costco, I have heard, has big bags of Gluten-free flour available from time to time

I have really enjoyed the blog Comfy Belly. It has a ton of low-fat, gluten-free recipes! And I love the simplicity of the recipes. The recipe I'm about to display is adapted from Comfy Belly's brownie recipe :).

Vanilla Chocolate Gluten-Free Muffins

Ingredients:

Vanilla cake:

• 1.5 cups blanched finely ground almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tblspns honey or other sweetener
• 1/3 cup butter or coconut oil (at room temperature or slightly melted)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• muffin liners

Chocolate cake:

• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tblspoons honey
• 1/4 cup butter or coconut oil (at room temperature or slightly melted)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tblspn milk
• 1 egg 
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350. 

2. Blend vanilla cake ingredients ingredients together with mixer on medium for 2 minutes or until well blended and pour up to 3/4 way into muffin pans with muffin liners.

3. Blend chocolate cake ingredients together with mixer on medium for 2 minutes or until well blended.

4.  Fill last 1/4 of each muffin tin with the chocolate mixture. You can just take a spoon and plop some chocolate cake mixture on top of the vanilla cake mixture. 

And next time...I shall post about how to make gluten-free bread!! :) So stay tuned!