Apple Dutch Baby

This is a really yummy cake/pancake/coffee cake. It's not overly sweet if you use a tart apple, and is nicely filling with the protein from the almond meal. It doesn't taste at all like a raisin bread, even though there is a full cup of raisins in the cake. The raisins help stabilize the cake, and add a very subtle flavor.

There are two options given for sweetening the topping. Honey is rather high in maltose, and if you opt to use honey there is over 300 mg of maltose per serving. If maltose or honey isn't an issue, either sweetener is delicious. If you have trouble with either maltose or honey, I'd recommend using the brown sugar option.


(Shown made with a mixture of Jonagold and Granny Smith Apples, brown sugar mixture used to sweeten topping)

Apple Dutch Baby

Pancake:
1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup flax seed
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 eggs
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine


Topping:
4 large apples, diced
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon cornstarch or tapioca starch
*1/2 cup honey
*2 teaspoons cold water
OR
*1/3 cup brown sugar
*scant 1/4 cup white sugar
*1 tablespoon cold water

Directions:
Preheat at 300 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, combine the almond meal, flax seed, sugar, xantham gum and baking soda. In a food processor, puree raisins and eggs. Combine raisin puree, almond mixture and milk, mix until smooth.

Place butter in a 10-in. ovenproof skillet. Heat tilt over medium heat until butter is melted, swirl pan to coat bottom and sides. Pour batter into hot skillet. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and center is cooked through. Let pancake rest at least 10 minutes before topping with apple mixture.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, saute apples in butter until lightly browned. Combine topping ingredients, add to apple mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and slightly syrupy. Set aside until pancake is ready.

To serve: Spoon topping over pancake, cut into 8 slices.

There is just under one gram of starch per serving when made with cornstarch, slightly more if you substitute tapioca starch. If you omit the cornstarch and choose to thicken the topping by simmering it for a few minutes, it is effectively starch free, though not entirely starch free as the raisins add about 4.5 grams of starch to the recipe (approximately 1/2 gram of starch per serving).

Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Muffins

4 cups almond flour
1 cup coconut flour
1 cup flax meal
2 TBSP cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 tsp guar gum
2 cups cooked or canned pumpkin
8 eggs
1 stick butter
1 cup chopped dates
2 tsp baking soda
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp vanilla


Combine eggs, vanilla, and butter. Add spices. Add pumpkin. Slowly add almond, coconut, and flax. Add dates, mix very well. Let batter rest.

While batter rests (an important step, since coconut flour needs time to hydrate) preheat oven to 300°.

Fill muffin cups (be careful not to overfill) and bake for 20-30 minutes or until done. Be sure to cool completely before serving. This makes 3 dozen muffins, but they freeze and reheat beautifully. There is less than 1/2 gram of starch per muffin.

Brownies

There are a million gluten free brownie recipes out there. Here is mine, and happily brownies are naturally low in starch without being low in decadence!

Brownies

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup oat flour
1/2 teaspoon guar gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1 cup mini marshmallows (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line an 8 inch (20 cm) square baking pan with parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Next, stir in the vanilla extract and eggs. Finally, stir in the oat flour, guar gum, salt and chopped nuts, and chocolate chips (if using).

Pour into the prepared pan and press mini marshmallows, if using, into the batter. Bake for about 30 - 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature.

Makes 16 brownies, with less than 2 grams of starch per serving.