Gluten free carrot cake

 https://meaningfuleats.com/gluten-free-carrot-cake/#wprm-recipe-container-15298

Very good, ate almost all of it myself!

Birthday cakes

For Roland's 6th birthday party,  he wanted a two-tier cake covered in sprinkles.

It wasn't beautiful,  but I did it! To appeal to the widest variety,  I did half yellow cake and half chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. 

I used the chocolate cake I have made many times.  I found a yellow cake recipe on the same blog - web address- and I tried making Swiss buttercream-https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/swiss-meringue-buttercream/#tasty-recipes-80765

Since I couldn't find the right size cake pan,  I just cut down the upper layer.  I had a hard time making them even! 

I made quite a mess putting on the sprinkles, but it looked great and tasted better. 

For Roland's 8th birthday he wanted vanilla cake with vanilla frosting, so I will make this:https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/new-favorite-white-layer-cake/

Carrot cookies

 I've been on a pretty strict low fat, low acid, low sugar diet for about a week and a half to combat years of "silent reflux." It's going mostly good so far but I've been craving something sweet or more dessert-like.

This recipe is in a book/cookbook for the diet I'm following.

1c GF oatmeal 

1c GF AP flour 

1tsp cinnamon 

1tsp baking powder 

1/2tsp baking soda 

1/2tsp salt

1/2c honey 

1/2c coconut oil 

1c shredded carrots 

Mix dry and wet ingredients separately before combining. Don't over mix together.

Drop tsp size dollops of dough on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 375degF.

Makes about 36-45

These turned out great, not very sweet 

GF Crepes

 https://www.mamaknowsglutenfree.com/gluten-free-crepes

I made this recipe for La Chandeleur on the lefse griddle and they were pretty good. Based on the videos I saw, I think it's easier to spread out the batter with a t-shaped tool to make them extra thin. I made do with a spatula.

We had strawberry, banana, Nutella, and peanut butter toppings.

Gingerbread Cake

 I made this cake because I wanted to 

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1026424-holiday-gingerbread-cake-with-molasses-whipped-cream?smid=ck-recipe-android-share

Used mostly Bob's Red Mill 1:1 GF flour in place of the AP flour.

It needs the whipped cream because the cake itself is not too sweet. I didn't make the cream from the recipe but had it with ice cream.

It was a little bitter, probably because it burned a little. But not sure if I'd make it again.

Macarons

 https://thebeachhousekitchen.com/chocolate-peanut-butter-macarons/#wprm-recipe-container-21486

Made these on New Year's day because Leela loves them. I had a hard time following the instructions and had a couple missteps in the egg white whipping. I missed adding the plain sugar. I added it after I whipped the egg white. Then I forgot to add the vanilla at the soft peak stage and had to keep whipping after I added it.

I probably under mixed the batter after adding the almond flour mixture because the shells were slightly hollow. Also, I baked both trays at the same time and some we bigger than others and they cooked slower than the "normal"-sized ones.

Generally, this tutorial is what I followed the first time and I think it is very informative.

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/french-macarons/

Blonde brownies

 https://www.kyleecooks.com/easy-blondie-recipe/

These turned out great. Used the King Arthur 1:1 flour 

Pecan Pie Bars

 https://natashaskitchen.com/pecan-pie-bars/

I followed this recipe, replacing the regular flour for Gluten free flour.

I'm not completely happy with the crust, so I'll have to try again, but they are still pretty good.

Gluten free lefse

 https://www.chelseajoyeats.com/gluten-free-lefse/

Made this last year and I really think it was almost the same as the wheat flour ones.

We made them first so not to contaminate the rolling mats. 

Peanut butter cookies

 https://flavorwalk.com/gluten-free-peanut-butter-cookies/#recipe

Peach cobbler and crisp

 I made these two recipes.  the kids wanted the crisp and the cobbler for me.

Crisp- https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1024392-peach-crisp?smid=ck-recipe-android-share

This needed a little more sugar, probably in the peaches. It was sour for me, so I sprinkled a little more white sugar on top.

Cobbler -https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1025843-easy-buttermilk-peach-cobbler?smid=ck-recipe-android-share

The flavor of this was good, but I tried to make it gluten free and failed pretty bad. I used Bob's Red Mill AP flour, almond flour, and a little zucchini flour. I added some Xyanthum gum to try to get it to stick together, maybe it needed an egg or two, as well. However, it crisped on the top, but underneath was a gooey mess. A tasty gooey mess, but a mess nonetheless.

I might try this again but with all AP or 1:1 GF flour.

Peanut butter frosting

 I used this recipe for frosting L's chocolate birthday cake 

https://sugarspunrun.com/peanut-butter-frosting/#recipe

Very simple and turned out great 

Pumpkin pie Smoothie

 https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/pumpkin-pie-smoothie/

Good to use up some frozen pumpkin 

Will try to add some hemp seeds next time 

R's Birthday cake 2024

R drew me a picture of a cake he wanted for his birthday. It was quite an elaborate three-layer cake with three different flavors inside.

Lemon on the bottom, chocolate in the middle and red velvet on the top. 

Because I didn't want to do everything at once and at the last minute, I made one layer at a time and froze each one to make assembly much easier 

I used half this recipe for a 9" cake pan for the bottom lemon layer 

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/lemon-cake/#tasty-recipes-66829

I used half this recipe for a 9" cake pan for the top red velvet layer 

 https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/red-velvet-layer-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/#tasty-recipes-66373

I also used the frosting recipe for the outside of the cake. 

I had some whipped chocolate ganache that also went between the chocolate layer and the red velvet layer.

Strawberry ice cream

 https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/recipe-strawberry-ice-cream/

R really likes strawberry ice cream and milk. We got an entire half gallon of strawberry milk, so I used some to make ice cream. It turned out pretty good! I definitely need to remember to start the ice cream machine before pouring in the liquid.

Maple Brown sugar cookies

 https://www.rabbitandwolves.com/wprm_print/16084

Made these for A&C. I originally wanted to make plain sugar cookies, but they were out of white sugar, so I pivoted to this. I left out the nuts in the cookies and didn't bother with the frosting. They both seem to like them, so I'll call it a win. 

Gluten free blueberry bread

 Made this for A, C, and myself. It was really delicious!

https://www.theconsciousplantkitchen.com/healthy-blueberry-bread/#wprm-recipe-container-30274

Pear and Blueberry crumble

https://www.sweetandsavourypursuits.com/pear-and-blueberry-crumble/

This was ok. I was trying to use up frozen blueberries and pears, but it wasn't very sweet. 

Grandma Mullen’s Cheesecake

 Grandma's cheescake recipe is as follows:

For the crust:
-1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
-3 tablespoons sugar
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
-4 tablespoons melted butter
Mix together and press into a spring form pan. 9” or 10”

For the filling:
-3 12oz. packages of cream cheese (36oz. usually is 4
1/2 packages of the 8oz).
-1 cup sugar
-5 eggs
-Juice of one lemon, plus the rind grated
Beat cream cheese and  sugar until it is creamy.  

Add the eggs then the lemon juice and rind. 
Pour mixture into the pan

Bake at 350 degrees for about 55 minutes--the center
should shake when it is ready

If desired:
Beat 2 tablespoons sugar into 1/2 cup sour cream. 
Spread on top of cake and return to over for 10
minutes. (I don't ever remember Grandma doing this
part, probably because she usually served it with
rasberry puree).

Pear crisp

 https://www.theseasonedmom.com/easy-pear-crisp/#wprm-recipe-container-40765