Gluten Free Peanut Butter Banana Biscuits

I got this great recipe from Sia's Cooking Blog - she started out just doing lactose-free, then added gluten free and even some Paleo.

Her recipe: peanut butter banana biscuits

I had to use brown sugar since I had no honey around. I tasted them before cooking and decided I wanted more sweetness, so I sprinkled some extra sugar and cinnamon on top before putting them in. Also, this oven (not my oven, we're still not living back at home) is pretty powerful and I took them out after 13 minutes.

Yummy gluten free peanut butter banana biscuits

Birthday Party Cake

Me and the Little Man

The Little Man had his little Autistic Birthday Party this weekend. With the exception of a younger sibling of one of the kids and my friend's kid, it was all autistic boys. Which went pretty much as I expected - worse than herding cats! lol


One kid could have climbed the ceilings; he never actually stopped moving. Another one ran around a bit and then threw up. (Kudos to the staff and the daddies for the prompt clean up.)
The Little Man did not eat his cake (until today, in peace), he just blew out the candles and then went to play by himself somewhere (it was at a party gym).

BUUUUT, while we had some tears, anxiety and pouts, no one had a full meltdown. Success! And I had no mess to clean up afterwards!

Would I go there again? Maybe yes, maybe no. It might have been better to just let the kids go wild. The entertainer, bless her heart, seemed to think it would be possible to get these kids to listen and follow instructions. My son does, but he is a stickler for rules. If you show him how to do something one way once, he will do it that exact way every single time after that, no exceptions. He is detail oriented, methodical and rigid, just like his mother. He will probably loosen up with age, like I did to some extent, but it does come in handy doing certain types of work/jobs, so it's not all bad. It's interesting to watch though.

The big thing everyone wants though is the recipe for the cake, which was nut free, gluten free and vegan so that EVERYONE could eat it. Whew!

la pièce de résistance!

So here it is:

Vegan Brownie Recipe
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups flour (or gluten free flour blend)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1/4 vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything with a fork until blended. Pour into a greased pan. Bake at 350 for 22-25 minutes.

Vegan Buttercream Icing
(This recipe came from The Kitchen Magpie)
1 cup vegan margarine (Becel makes one. I used Earth Balance coconut spread though)
3 tsp vanilla
4 cups icing sugar
1-3 tsp rice milk (I did not need it)

Use a mixer to beat margarine until fluffy. Slowly add vanilla and icing sugar. Check for consistency. If you need to add milk, do just a bit at a time.
Place in fridge until you are ready to decorate.

Gluten Free Baking Tips

If you've been following us for a while, you'll know we went mostly gluten free last November. I am the most hardcore out of everyone in the family because my gut just feels so much better.
I promised many people I would continue to update and give more tips, so here's some help with baking (because I loves my cakes and cookies, oh yes!)

When you're just starting out, it makes sense to buy gluten free flour mixes. This saves you time and brain cells, but it is more expensive than mixing your own.

If you buy a GF flour mix, you are usually good to go, though some recipes may have you add extra xanthan gum. You have to create the right balance of starch and grain flours - I can't remember what the actual proportions are, but I now make my own flour-blend (cheaper that way) based off this recipe:

http://glutenfreegobsmacked.com/my-gf-flour-blend/

This is the best! Also, check out her pull-aparts bread recipe - it's amazing. We found it can also be used as pizza crust. It's the closest thing to gluten-based bread in terms of texture.

The only real downside to GF baking is you have to add more fat or eggs to compensate, so it's not the healthiest. You can get away with apple sauce or bananas maybe instead of eggs, then use some oil. It's a lot of experimentation. Also keep a close eye on your baking because starches burn quickly - you usually can reduce baking time by about 5 minutes or so. (You'll start to smell it)

Also, if you buy rice flour, make sure you get "fine ground" or "stone ground" because it's really gritty otherwise and you'll notice.

Don't expect too much at first - it does create a different texture and you'll get used to it in time. But I have a recipe for vegan brownies (also GF now) that NO ONE WOULD EVER KNOW are GF. They are sooo good. I use the GF blend from the link above and then make the recipe like normal.
Here it is! Enjoy!

Vegan Gluten Free Brownies

3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups GF flour blend
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla

You can mix all these ingredients directly in a 9 inch greased square pan (saves on dishes!) and bake at 350 degrees for about 22-25 minutes.