Category Archives: Desserts

Coconut World Banana Bread Mug Cake

Coconut Flour Baking Guide And Comparison With Nutrition Facts

In September of last year I put together a coconut flour guide highlighting 7 different brands of coconut flour. I tested each brand using my Best Coconut Flour Chocolate Mug Cake Ever. Since then I have had many people email me asking if I had tried their favorite brand. Once I got enough responses like that I knew I just had to do another coconut flour roundup.

I love testing new products and sharing my results with you all. I have been making my Low Calorie Banana Muffins for breakfast most mornings, so I decided that I would test out the new brands using that recipe. These days I only make the chocolate one on occasion for dessert as it is incredibly rich and decadent.

I originally planned to test these flours using my 108 calorie banana mug muffins, but my diet has changed and I have adapted the recipe to fit my new dietary needs.  Over the past few months I have had to cut out all added sugar and sugar substitutes. Sugar has been making my heart race and then making me incredibly sleepy until 20 minutes after consumption I’m out like a light. I believe it may be reactive hypoglycemia. If any of you have experienced this I’d love to here from you in the comments. I’m still looking for answers and gave up on doctors a long time ago.

As most of you know I have had to cut out corn products and derivatives as well. I am still learning how corn affects me and what products I can and cannot tolerate. So I eliminated my favorite stevia due to it containing dextrose and eliminated vanilla extract due to possible corn as well. If anyone has a good corn free stevia recommendation I’d love to hear it.

So, I will be making these simplified added sugar free Banana Bread Mug Muffins for this test.

Here are the brands you all asked me to compare in no particular order. Coconut World, My Elixir of Life, Nuts.com, Honeyville, Shiloh Farms, Earth Circle Organics, Yankee Trader, and Mercola. I emailed all of the companies but only got responses from the first three. I didn’t want to wait to get this information out to you guys. Here are the three companies that responded. If I get responses from the other companies I will update the post with their information and a test of their flour as well. If you have a coconut flour you would like me to test, or are interested in a comparison of any other gluten free food or product please please let me know. I love doing these tests for you guys and sharing my results!

I began with a control group muffin using my go to coconut flour Nutiva. You can see my results of my last coconut flour comparison here.

I made two cute mug muffins using the Simple Banana Bread Mug Cake recipe I eat for breakfast every day. It is quick, healthy, added sugar free, and uses few ingredients. For the rest of the testing I decided to make the mug cakes as I do every morning; in a cereal bowl. They may not be as pretty, but they take less time and effort than dirtying two mugs or microwaving two separate cakes.

All of the flours in this test came in close and tasted great. Here’s how they stacked up.

Coconut World Organic Coconut Flour

Coconut World Banana Bread Mug CakeCoconut World Banana Bread Mug Cake

2 tbsp = 14 Grams

Calories: 60

Fat: 1.5 Grams

Carbs: 9 Grams

Protein: 3 Grams

Fiber: 5 Grams

Price: Between 6 and 8 dollars.

Overall out of this test I believe Coconut World Organic Coconut flour to be the best. It has a sweeter flavor than the other brands which I consider a plus for mug cakes and added sugar free baking in general. Alan is not a big coconut flour fan. He says it is gritty. He tolerated this brand well and said it was the least gritty of the  flours in this test. I found Coconut World to have the best texture, rise, and flavor. The recipe worked with no modifications to ingredients or time.

NUTS.COM Organic Coconut Flour

Nuts.com Banana Bread Mug CakeCAM00096 

2 tbsp = 14 Grams (0.5 oz)

Calories: 60

Fat: 1.5 Grams

Carbs: 10 Grams

Protein: 2 Grams

Fiber: 6 Grams

Nuts.com fared well in my testing. In fact all of the other brands came in so close that I will be listing them in no particular ranked order.

Nuts.com was the second sweetest out of the flours I tested. It was slightly gritter than the Coconut World flour but not in a way that would negatively affect baking. The nuts. com coconut flour did not need any adjustments in ingredients although I must note that it did take an additional 30 seconds in the microwave. it was not set at the three minute mark. This flour makes a denser yet still amazingly tasty bread than Coconut World or My Elixir of Life. I can see it working well in brownies or other baked goods that need a denser less fluffy result.

My Elixir Of Life Gluten Free Organic Coconut Flour

CAM00092My Elixir of Life Banana Bread Mug Cake

2 tbsp = 18 Grams

Calories: 45

Fat: 2 Grams

Carbs: 11 Grams

Protein: 4 Grams

Fiber: 8 Grams

Price: About $9

My Elixir of Life Coconut Flour was less sweet that the other brands. It would lend itself fantastically to Coconut Flour Buttermilk Biscuits or other savory coconut flour baked goods where sweetness is not as desirable. This flour produced an edible muffin with good flavor. My Elixir Of Life flour produced a muffin that was lighter in color and did not rise as much as the other flours in this test. Alan thought out of the flours tested that this one was the grittiest. I enjoy the texture of coconut flour. While this may have been slightly grittier I still quite liked it.

Gluten Free Chocolate PB2 Protein Cake

Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter PB2 Protein Cake

I love Pb2 and found it on sale at our local Big Lots of all places. I had never tried the chocolate flavor and found this to be the perfect opportunity to to grab a jar. I usually mix Pb2 and coconut oil to use as a dip for bananas. If you haven’t tried it it is divine.

I know the combination of chocolate, peanut butter and bananas is a popular one so I tried my fave snack with the chocolate PB2. I found the chocolate PB2 to be less peanut buter flavored and not as chocolatey as I thought it would be.

I knew I needed to use it up as I hate to waste ingredients. I started out attempting brownies, but ended up with an amazing protein packed chocolate peanut butter cake. I have tried protein cakes before and not cared for them as they were gritty, chalky, dry or wierdly flavored. This has all of the protein of a whole jar of PB2 and all of the flavor of rich chocolate peanut butter. The chocolate flavor really blossoms when more PB2 is used.

This recipe only has 1/4 cup of sugar in the whole thing. I still found it to be quite sweet for me and am sure the sugar amount could be decreased to 2 tablespoons if you like very lightly sweet desserts. Continue reading

Gluten Free Monkey Bread

Gluten Free Cinnamon Pull Apart Monkey Bread: Better Than Cinnamon Rolls

Alan’s mom buys pre-made monkey bread on a regular basis. Being the sweetheart that he is he never eats it. Not that he isn’t tempted to, he just values my kisses more than gluten filled treats. I have attempted to make gluten free monkey bread before, and it was Delicious. It just wasn’t blog worthy monkey bread. That version used all tapioca flour and was too chewey. So I had put monkey bread making into the back of my brain and moved on.

A few days ago I found Hodgson Mills Gluten Free Xanthan Gum in individual packets at Walmart. I had never attempted Xanthan Gum based breads because I found it too costly. I don’t have a large refrigerator in my RV either. I was just afraid to buy that large thirteen dollar bag of gum and possibly have it go bad before I used much of it. That is why I was so excited to find it in yeast sized packets for 48 cents a piece. That 48 cent packet opened my eyes to a new world of bread making. I still wasn’t quite ready to dive into making sandwich loaves quite yet. So I picked up my favorite new gluten free flour blend by Gluten Free Cafe. I can also find this at my Walmart for 4.88 for 2 pounds. Also incredibly reasonable!

I figured it was time to revisit the sticky sweet caramely goodness that is monkey bread. The recipe may seem complicated but it comes together quickly and is really fun to make. This recipe is much easier and gives tastier results that any gluten free cinnamon roll recipe I have tried too. The butter can be subbed out for coconut oil and the milk for non dairy milk to make this a dairy free treat if needed. I have not tried an egg substitute, but if you do please let me know how it turned out by leaving a comment. You may also omit the buttermilk powder if you do not have it. I don’t think that will make or break the recipe.

This monkey bread came out perfect! We ended up eating half of the loaf in under four minutes. I had to force myself to stop eating it so we can have some with coffee in the morning. This treat is not low fat or low calorie, but it is ok to indulge on occasion. Especially when it tastes this darn good.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Pull Apart Monkey Bread: Better Than Cinnamon Rolls
 
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Author:
Recipe type: breakfast/dessert
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • For the dough:
  • ⅔ cup warm milk (110 - 115 degrees)
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 pack Red Star Yeast
  • 1½ tsp Xanthan Gum
  • 2 eggs beaten
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil (can substitute butter)
  • 1 tbsp buttermilk powder
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1½ tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • 1¾ cups Gluten Free Cafe All Purpose Flour Blend (or a similar blend that includes sorghum flour)
  • 1¼ tsp cinnamon
  • For the caramel topping:
  • 1 stick of melted butter OR 8 tbsp melted coconut oil
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • slivered almonds for sprinkling (can be omitted)
Instructions
  1. Start by adding the one teaspoon sugar and the yeast to the warm milk. Let those sit while you prepare the rest of the dough.
  2. Beat the eggs, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, and vanilla for about 1 to 2 minutes.
  3. Mix in buttermilk powder, xanthan gum, salt, flour, cinnamon, and yeast mixture. Mix until dough comes together.
  4. In a separate bowl combine the brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon for the topping mix.
  5. Leave the melted butter or oil in second separate bowl for dipping the dough balls into.
  6. Spray your loaf pan with your favorite spray grease.
  7. Dip a tablespoon into the melted butter or oil. Use that tablespoon to scoop a tablespoon of dough. Drop the tablespoon of dough into the butter . Roll the ball in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Drop the ball in the pan. Repeat until the bottom of pan is full. Sprinkle a layer of slivered almonds across the dough balls if you like nuts.
  8. Continue making, dipping, rolling, and dropping balls in pan until you run out of dough.
  9. Add another layer of nuts if you would like.
  10. Mix remaining butter and sugar together and drop/crumble over balls in pan.
  11. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes.
  12. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  13. Bake uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes or until toothpick can be stuck in the center and comes out clean.
  14. let cool for 5 to 10 minutes and then invert the pan onto a plate. Scrape any remaining caramel from the pan and drizzle over you monkey bread.
  15. Gobble like a maniac!

If you want to try more recipes using the awesome Gluten Free Cafe All Purpose Gluten Free Flour, check out my Gluten Free Italian Anise Cookies, and these amazing Peanut Butter Cookies.

Easy Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Easy Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies ~ Gluten Free Cafe All Purpose Flour

The holidays are often a time of rushing around to get things done. I wanted to create a peanut butter cookie recipe that was simple but more sophisticated than my Easy Low Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies. I came across Gluten Free Cafe All Purpose Flour at my local Walmart. It contained sorghum flour which I know adds great texture and chew to gluten free baked goods. I searched the internet and realized that this flour had no recipes created using it that I could easily find. I took this as a challenge to make a few tasty cookie recipes with this awesome blend. I made these easy peanut butter cookies and Gluten Free Italian Anise cookies as well. Both exceeded my expectations on the first try. I am excited to try this flour in more recipes and see how well it turns out. This flour bend works very well for cookies and I will be using it as long as the price stays low (four bucks for two pounds!). I tend to use the least expensive ingredients that I can find and usually do not use premade flour blends because of high prices. I was extremely happy to find such a good deal on Gluten Free Cafe All Purpose Flour and that it worked better than some of the more expensive blends I have tried. If you cannot find this blend, I would try another blend that contains sorghum flour as an ingredient.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Easy Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies ~ Gluten Free Cafe All Purpose Flour
 
Prep time
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Author:
Recipe type: Cookie
Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • 3 cups Gluten Free Cafe All Purpose Flour (or other sorghum containing blend)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 2 sticks of softened butter
  • 1½ cup white sugar
  • ¾ cups packed light brown sugar
  • 1 cup good quality peanut butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1½ tsp of vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. In a medium sized bowl mix flour, baking soda, and salt.
  2. In a separate bowl mix butter and both sugars and vanilla until creamy about 2 minutes.
  3. Mix in peanut butter and eggs.
  4. Slowly mix in flour mixture until well combined.
  5. Drop cookies by the tablespoonful onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
  6. Flatten with fork to make crisscross pattern.
  7. Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes.
  8. Center will be soft and edges will be just beginning to turn golden.
  9. Let cool before moving to containers or your mouth.

 

Gluten Free Italian Anise Cookies

Gluten Free Italian Anise Cookies ~ Gluten Free Cafe All Purpose Flour

I never thought I would like anise until I moved to Pittsburgh. Many of my friends were Italian and made the most wonderful cookies. I fell madly in love with Italian anisette cookies and could’t wait for the holidays to savor the wonderful sweet and slightly licoricey flavor. I was diagnosed celiac and left Pittsburgh around all in the same year. When Christmas came around this year I knew I had to figure out a gluten free  version of my now most favorite Christmas cookie. I had been having trouble finding anise flavoring in my local grocery stores, until one day I came across a bottle of anise emulsion at my local Ross. Emulsion and extract or anise flavoring will all work interchangeably in this recipe.

I wanted these cookies to be easy without any complicated mixing of flours. I also knew I wanted them to be soft chewy and cakey. I went to my local Walmart and looked at the gluten free flour blends that they had available. I spotted one I had never heard of before Gluten Free Cafe All Purpose Mix. I liked the fact that it contained sorghum flour which I know gives baked goods a great chew and consistency. I decided to give it a whirl. It is now my new favorite all purpose cookie flour. I created two recipes that I love so far using this flour; this recipe and a fantastic  gluten free peanut butter cookie. If you like anise then these cookies will soon be your favorite too. The flavor is strong enough that I did not feel these needed the sugary icing that the original Italian version has. They stand alone well. If you feel like icing them anyways a simple glaze made of confectioners sugar, milk, and anise can be easily made.

Gluten Free Italian Anise Cookies ~ Gluten Free Cafe All Purpose Flour
 
Prep time
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Author:
Recipe type: cookie
Ingredients
  • 2 cups Gluten Free Cafe All Purpose Flour
  • ¾ cup white sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp butter melted
  • 6 tbsp eggs beaten (about 1 and a half eggs)
  • 1½ teaspoons anise emulsion, extract, or flavoring
Instructions
  1. Mix together dry ingredients.
  2. Mix together wet ingredients.
  3. Add wet to dry and mix until well combined.
  4. Chill dough until firmer about 30 minutes.
  5. Roll dough into teaspoon sized balls.
  6. Place balls 1 to 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheet.
  7. Place any extra dough balls back in fridge to chill.
  8. Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes.
  9. Cookies will be soft and need to cool completely before being moved off of the tray.
  10. Makes 2 batches of 24 cookies.

 

Gluten Free German Chocolate Frosting

Gluten Free German Chocolate Cake Frosting

It was a few days before Christmas and I was out of my favorite corn free (corn lite actually) powdered sugar. There was no way I was driving the 30 minutes to whole paycheck to get some during the height of last minute Christmas shopping craziness. I needed a tasty frosting to ice my Betty Crocker Devil Food Cake Mix cupcakes that I planned to have as part of our Christmas eve calorie fest. I decided to try my hand at german chocolate frosting as no powdered sugar would be necessary. I drove the 2 minutes to the local Food Lion and grabbed the pecans and coconut shreds. The line was fairly short and the whole trip took less than the 30 minute drive out to whole foods would have. Yay! I had never made german chocolate icing before. I had always been the girl who grabs the convenient tub of Dunkin Hines and applied it liberally to cakes and cupcakes. Easy peasy. Of course with my new intolerance to corn that is no longer an option. I was surprised at how fantastic this frosting was. I couldn’t quit eating it by the fingerful. If you love coconut and pecans this frosting will amaze you too.

This recipe makes a lot of frosting. That left a bunch leftover to freeze,or eat by the spoonful or better yet slather on my Best Coconut Flour Chocolate Mug Cake Ever. I like that I can pull out premade frosting from the freezer for those unexpected “crap I need to bring a dessert” moments.

Gluten Free German Chocolate Cake Frosting
 
Prep time
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Ingredients
  • 1 15 or 16 oz can of full fat evaporated milk
  • 2 cups packed light brown sugar
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 2 sticks butter
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups chopped pecans
  • 2 2/ cups shredded coconut
Instructions
  1. Combine the first five ingredients in a large pan over low heat.
  2. Stir constantly until thickened which will take about 10 minutes.
  3. Mix in coconut and pecans and stir.
  4. If you want the icing to make pretty dribbles down the sides of your cake ice the cake before the icing cools. To ice cupcakes or for a thick easily spreadable icing wait until icing is completely cool before use.
  5. This will ice a two layer cake. It freezes well for later use if you have too much or you can eat it with a spoon.

Gluten Free German Chocolate Frosting

Just look at that delicious gluten free German chocolate goodness

Coconut Flour Mug Cake Showdown Comparison

The Ultimate Coconut Flour Guide: Which Coconut Flour Is Best For Baking? 7 Coconut Flours Compared

I love coconut flour. I bake with it as often as I can and eat it at least once every day. Some people would call me obsessed. Low calorie, high protein, low carb, high fiber, this flour has amazing benefits! What’s not to love? I have tried my fair share of coconut flour recipes from other food bloggers. Most worked out fantastically, but some flopped. After reading a bajillion comments on those recipes the common consensus was that the brand of flour may be the reason for the recipe failure. Coconut flour absorbs a ton of water. Coconut flours differ in how finely they are ground and how much fat they contain as well. I really wanted to figure out which flours worked best and why. Continue reading

Coconut Flour Molasses Spice Muffins with Golden Raisins ~ Gluten Free Grain Free

Do you ever find yourself with an ingredient that you bought once a while back and never used again? Before we moved into our RV, I would just let those items hide out in the backs of cabinets and linger on top of the refrigerator. Sometimes those ingredients would get lucky and I would need them for a recipe before they expired, sometimes they ended up being tossed out during spring cleaning only having been used once. Our RV is only rated to hold 1483 pounds worth of “stuff”. When I began weighing out the items in my life, I realized just how much stuff I had. I was amazed to find I had around 35 pounds of weight just in flour and another 20 pounds in spices. Continue reading

Gluten Free Carrot Cake Using Mrs. Glee's Ginger Snap Mix

Gluten Free Fat Free Carrot Cake Using Mrs. Glee’s Molasses Cookie Mix

I love all things ginger. I was super excited to see Mrs. Glee’s Molasses Ginger Snap Cookie Mix arrive in my box of items from Mrs. Glee’s. I was in the mood to bake and immediately thought of making this mix as ginger snap cookies. I asked Alan if he liked ginger snaps and I was met with a resounding NO! I did not want to have the temptation of eating all of those cookies with no help, so I started the wheels turning in my head. Continue reading

Gluten Free Coconut Flour Banana Bread

Grain Free Coconut Flour Banana Bread Gluten Free and Paleo

Who doesn’t love banana bread? I confess I can eat a whole loaf in one day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That is not usually a healthy or diet friendly thing to do. Continue reading