Gluten-Free Almond Zucchini Mini-Muffins

Just sweet enough, gluten-free zucchini mini-muffins.

Temptation. A to Z. Almond flour and zucchini mini-muffins sweetened only with pure maple syrup. That's right. No cane sugar. Almond flour and bourbon vanilla bring their subtle, natural sweetness to gluten-free muffin recipes, so why cloak it with a heavy dose of sugar? And adding a lip-smacking kiss of ginger wakes up the zucchini (which tends to fall asleep in baking recipes, due to utter lack of commitment and verve).

I've added quinoa flakes for extra protein, and brown rice flour to round out the whole grains. And a small bit of tapioca starch- to give these whole grain based muffins some lift. Now the only hitch is, don't eat all twenty-four at once, Darling.

Tell yourself you're only going to eat one.

Well, maybe two.

Don't think about three.

Or imagine four.

Because that fourth delectable bite of nary a muffin- really, it's only a tease of a muffin- might stir your desire for a fifth. And the next thing you know, half the mini-muffin pan is empty. And you are standing, wide-eyed and innocent, brushing baby sized crumbs off your chin, when your husband swings around the corner into the sunlit kitchen and inhales, declaring, Sweet Tapdancing Buddha, it smells good in here! What did you bake?

And thinking lickity-split fast you tell him, I made a dozen almond flour zucchini mini-muffins.

Want to try one?


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Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread (and baking tips)

This Spotted Dog Irish bread is yeast-free and gluten-free.

The Mother of Invention

If I call this new gluten-free bread an Irish soda bread, traditionalists will snicker. Raisins are not at all traditional in an Irish soda bread, you see. If a soda bread has raisins in it, it's called Spotted Dog over yonder, cross the pond in the Emerald Isle (or so I'm told). I never knew this, growing up on the white clapboard wilds of the Connecticut shore. I was blithely ignorant of this quaint canine moniker, despite a hefty streak of familial Irish blood (we ate more pierogi and kielbasa than Irish soda bread and tea). And out on my own- when I started baking my tender little eighteen year old heart out- my Irish soda bread had raisins.

And why not?

When it comes to traditions, I'm the first to admit- I am an upstart. I wiggle and chafe beneath constraint and "should" like an itchy school girl with pinching new shoes. I admire traditions. From afar. At least, in theory. In an abstract, symbolic way. The meaning and the message is more interesting to me than formula. When it comes to formula, I usually prefer to wing it.

Which is why I enjoy gluten-free baking.

My skill set groove runs deep on the intuitive side.

I bake like I paint. Observing. Listening. Responding to what is in front of me. If a recipe calls for x amount of flour and I sense the dough is too wet, I'll add more flour until the dough feels "right" to me. Experience helps. No doubt about it. The process of trial and error gives you a feel for gluten-free dough, an inkling about the muffin batter and how it might behave on any given day. Which varies, I hate to tell you.

So I pay attention to elements like humidity, and room temperature. Weather.

Bread dough will behave differently on a hot and humid day than it will on a windy, cold one. Your kitchen changes with the seasons, you know. So recipes may have to change a wee bit, too. The amount of milk or brown rice flour may need to be adjusted. Tweaked a tiny bit toward wet or dry.

Baking gluten-free is more of an art than a science.

I recommend you tune in to your ingredients and learn how they behave. Learn how humidity affects flour- notice it's dampness. Or dryness. Dry flours will soak up more liquid. Damp flours are heavier, and may need less moisture. A cool and drafty kitchen may require a longer rise time than a hot and sultry one. A thin metal bread pan may bake the outside of a loaf faster than the inside can keep up. Your oven may run a tad hotter than you imagined. Or lag behind and never quite pre-heat itself (do your gluten-free baked goods end up gummy in the center?).

Gluten-free baking requires your full attention. A dash of patience. An intimacy with your ingredients. A willingness to adjust. And most of all, developing an intuition you can trust.

Even if it goes against tradition.

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Gluten-Free Turkey Meatballs + Asian Style Noodles

Gluten-free turkey meatballs with fresh herbs, ginger and lime.

I've discovered Ancient Harvest Gluten-Free Quinoa Pasta and I love the texture and flavor. This is the least starchy gluten-free noodle I've found. And the best part is (perhaps due to the higher protein content of quinoa flour?) it stands up to pan tossing for brilliant stir-fries. However any gluten-free noodle or spaghetti you prefer will work (as long as you keep it a tad al dente).

Shake up your recipe routine with ginger-lime turkey meatballs.

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Love & Kisses: (Sexy!) Gluten-Free Love Foods

Roses- iPad painting by Karina

Love Foods

Valentine's Day is upon us. A dicey day for those of us who need to live gluten-free. In spite of our pragmatism and gritty resolve to stay healthy, we crave our romance, too. We celebrate love- in all its multitudinous incarnations, right?. We champion Love (sexy) over Fear (not sexy).

Now more than ever.

So don't worry, Darling. I've got your back.

Cooking is not only about nutrition, health and nourishment, it's a sensual experience- if done with gentle attention, generous attitude and love. Is there a cook among us who doesn't understand the seductive power of a meal stirred with lust- I mean- affection? It’s no accident that our Bubbes and grandmothers instructed us with the well-buttered axiom, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Olfactory studies reveal that men prefer culinary over floral fragrances. I kid you not.

The two sexiest scents according to men submitting to a blind sniff-off?

Pumpkin pie and vanilla.

Your granny was right. So with the delicate art of seduction in mind, I thought I'd share a short list of goddess approved Love Foods to inspire us all. Because it's all about love, Babycakes.

And if- by fate or choice- you happen to be sans a honey this particular V-day season, consider treating yourself to a gorgeous meal.

True love begins at home, I always say.

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