Gluten Free Red Velvet Cake Pops

Ingredients
For the Cake:

• 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Coconut Flour
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 heaping tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (Hershey’s is great!)
• 1 1/2 cups canola oil
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature (or rice milk with 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar)
• 5 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 ounces red food coloring
• 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Frosting

• 1 cup frosting – Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker frostings are gluten free (make sure you read the labels or you can make your own frosting
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons vegan butter (Earth Balance)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (more or less to acheive thick consistency)

For the coating:

• 2-3 packets Wilton Candy Melts (in color/flavor of your choice). For red velvet, Try red, chocolate mint, and white chocolate for great results!! Be creative! You can find Wilton Candy Melts at craft stores like Michael’s (LOVE Michael’s!)
• Sprinkles, decorations of your choice

For the assembly:

• lollipop sticks or wooden skewers (6 inch skewers) (You can’t make cake pops without the sticks!)

Let’s get started!

1. For the cake, preheat oven to 350ºF and generously grease 12 inch cake pan with vegan butter.
2. In medium bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa and salt.
3. In large bowl add oil, eggs, buttermilk (or rice milk), vinegar, pure vanilla extract, food coloring and beat on low with electric mixer until blended. (Or just beat by hand)
4. Slowly add dry mixture and continue to beat until batter is smooth.
5. Pour mixture in cake pan.
6. Bake for about 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out dry when inserted in top.
7. Cool on wire rack, remove from pan and cool completely.
8. Time to make the cake pops! This part is a lot of fun! Make sure you hands are nice and clean AND DRY and break up cake with your hands (or you can use a large spoon if you don’t want to use your hands but where is the fun in that) and put in mixing bowl. Continue to crumble with hands in the bowl until very crumbly. Discard any crusty or corner pieces. (Dry pieces aren’t the best for cake pops)
9. For frosting, beat half and half and sugar with electric mixer until smooth. Add vegan butter and pure vanilla extract and continue to beat until mixture forms soft peaks.
10. Add one cup of frosting into cake crumbs and mix well with hands.
11. Scoop out handful, about 1 1/2 ounces, form a round ball, and place on tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat until mixture is used up.
12. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for a minimum of 6 hours (preferably overnight). If you’re in a rush, you can place in freezer for about 40 minutes. This step is important to prevent cake pop from crumbling during the coating process.
13. When ready to coat, prepare the candy melts according to package directions.
14. Dip tips of sticks in the chocolate to coat top inch and let harden for a couple minutes. With the covered end, insert into cake ball, making sure to not go all the way through. Inserting about halfway is the best.
15. To coat, tilt bowl with left hand and dip and twirl the top of the pop into chocolate. Rotate for an even coat. You’ll get the hang of it after you do a couple.
16. Sprinkle the top with topping of your choice and place upright in a holder (like styrofoam) until dry.

Toffee Cookies  
Ingredients

• ½ cup vegan butter, softened (Earth Balance)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoon rice milk
• ¾ cup white rice flour
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 2 tablespoon potato starch
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup Heath Bits

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, spray with vegetable cooking spray and set aside
3. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar till smooth.
4. Add egg and beat until fluffy. Add vanilla and milk and beat well.
5. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients, except Heath bits.
6. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, and stir until combined.
7. Stir in Heath bits.
8. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto your prepared cookie sheet.
9. Bake 10 – 12 minutes, until lightly browned.
10. Cool completely on a wire rack

Gluten Free Soft Pretzels

If you want thick pretzel sticks, just cut your dough into the pretzel rods that you wand instead of forming the pretzel shape.

Ingredients

• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 
1-1/2 cups hot water
• 
1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 
Dash salt
• 
2 cups brown rice flour
• 1 cup tapioca starch
• 
1 cup potato starch
• 4 teaspoons xanthan gum
• 
1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 
1 cup vegan butter, melted (Earth Balance)
• 3 tablespoons sea salt or kosher salt
• Vegetable oil
• Waxed or parchment paper

1. In a large bowl, mix together the yeast, hot water, brown sugar and the dash of salt. Allow the mixture to rest for about five minutes.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch and xanthan gum. Add half of this mixture into the yeast mixture.
3. Using an electric mixer on a low speed, blend all the ingredients together until mixed. Combine the remaining flour mixture. Blend until combined, but try not to over mix.
4. Use the vegetable oil to lightly coat a bowl. Transfer the dough to the coated bowl and rub a bit of oil all around the dough. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for about an hour.
5. Preheat your oven to 550ºF.
6. In a small, shallow bowl, mix the baking soda with 1/2 cup of warm water.
7. Divide the dough into eight equal pieces and lay out a sheet of waxed or parchment paper. Use your hands to roll each piece of dough into a rope. The dough will be fragile. If it falls apart, gently piece it back together.
8. Shape the rope into a pretzel. If the dough of the pretzel feels dry, use a few drops of the water/baking soda mixture to moisten it.
9. Gently dip each pretzel into the water/baking soda mixture; then place them on a lightly coated baking sheet.
10. Bake for about seven minutes until the pretzels are lightly tanned (not brown).
11. Use a pastry brush to gently brush the butter on each pretzel. Sprinkle with the salt and serve immediately.

Want cinnamon-sugar pretzels?! When the pretzels come out of the oven, coat with a generous helping of cinnamon-sugar!

Gluten free Tofee Cookies

Toffee Cookies  
Ingredients

• ½ cup vegan butter, softened (Earth Balance)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoon rice milk
• ¾ cup white rice flour
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 2 tablespoon potato starch
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup Heath Bits

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, spray with vegetable cooking spray and set aside
3. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar till smooth.
4. Add egg and beat until fluffy. Add vanilla and milk and beat well.
5. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients, except Heath bits.
6. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, and stir until combined.
7. Stir in Heath bits.
8. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto your prepared cookie sheet.
9. Bake 10 – 12 minutes, until lightly browned.

10. Cool completely on a wire rack

Gluten Free Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Adapted from Java Cupcakes

Ingredients

For the Cookie Dough Filling:

 

• 3/4 cup gluten free flour
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted vegan butter, melted (Earth Balance)
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons coconut or rice milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

For the Chocolate Cupcakes:

• 1 cup gluten free flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Cookie Dough Frosting:

• 12 tablespoons unsalted vegan butter (Earth Balance)
• 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup gluten free flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut or rice milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Garnish 

• Mini chocolate chips
• Chocolate chip cookies (optional)

Let’s get baking!! First make your cookie dough filling.

1. In a small bowl, sift together the gluten free flour, baking soda and salt.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, sugars, milk and vanilla until smooth.
3. Whisk in the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips until smooth.
4. Refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes or until firm.
5. Scoop out dough into 12 balls. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.
6. While your cookie dough balls are in the freezer, make your cupcakes.
7. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners.
8. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt.
9. Add the water, oil, egg and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are combined.
10. Fill each cupcake liner 1/2-2/3 full.
11. Take your cookie dough balls out of the freezer and gently press a one ball into the center of each cupcake, only submerging the ball 1/2 way.
12. Bake the cupcakes for 19-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake portion of the cupcake (not tested through the center where the dough is), comes out fairly dry. Chunks/pieces of cake are okay, just not moist batter.
13. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.
14. To make your frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy.
15. Add the flour, milk and vanilla and beat on high until well combined.

Assembly Time!!

1. Pipe swirls of frosting onto each cupcake.
2. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top!