Mini Pumpkin Cakes

Fall is in the air and at the moment it feels great!  I wish we could bottle this temperature for several months!  I saw this recipe posted on Facebook  which lead me to Picky Palate and had to try it.  I do love her blog and have tried many of her recipes.  For the first time ever, I did not have any ice cream in my house, but still wanted to try these.  I just used heavy cream instead.  They turned out really well, which only means that doing it with melted ice cream must be amazing! I also do not have a doughnut pan, so I just made mine in my mini bundt pan.  This recipe made 10 mini pumpkin cakes.  Would definitely double it next time.

Mini Pumpkin Cakes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup GF featherlite flour 

½ tsp xanthan gum

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix

3/4 cup vanilla ice cream (measured before melting) (I used heavy whipping cream)

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream (you may need a couple tablespoons more if too thick)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray mini bundt pan or doughnut pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Place flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, sugar, pumpkin, egg, vanilla and pudding mix into a large mixing bowl.

3. Place ice cream into a microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds or until just barely melted. Pour into mixing bowl and combine with other ingredients until well combined. Scoop batter into prepared doughnut or mini bundt pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until baked through. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

4. To prepare the glaze, place powdered sugar and cream into a bowl, whisking to combine. Add more cream if needs thinning out. Dip tops of donuts or mini cakes in glaze and serve!

Makes 9-11 donuts or mini bundt cakes

Brazilian Cheese Rolls - Pao de Queijo

I can't remember how I came across this recipe, but I am so glad I did!!  It comes from Our Best Bites.  I have made two batches in two days and my sister has made 4 batches just today they are that yummy.  It takes a little less than 30 minutes to make a batch and the finished product is so light and fluffy that it will be hard to eat just one, or two or maybe even three!

Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls {Pao de Queijo} 
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup light olive oil/avocado oil
1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch) no substitutions
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 C grated cheddar cheese (preferably medium or sharp)

** I also add 1/4 C parmesan cheese, a heaping TBSP of garlic and diced green chiles...

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place egg, milk, oil, tapioca flour, and salt in blender and blend until smooth. Add cheeses and pulse 2 times. Immediately pour batter into a mini muffin tin (if your muffin tin isn’t non-stick, spray lightly with non-stick spray first), filling each well about 3/4 full, or just slightly less.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes before removing rolls from pan. Serve warm.  These actually don’t re-heat well so I recommend making and eating fresh.

Yield: anywhere from 16-24 rolls, depending on how full you fill your muffin pan. I fill mine pretty full (a good 3/4 full) and I generally get about 16-18.

Basic Muffin Mix

This recipe here is the basic muffin mix from http://www.eatingglutenfree.com/ . These are a hit with my kids and my husband! I added blueberries as well another batch with poppy seeds. They freeze well and I like to make mini ones as well for they are great to pack for road trips or for a snack at the park. These are the lemon poopy seed muffins. Two are topped with a lemon and powdered sugar glaze, leaving the third plain. They are very tastey either way.
For Christmas morning breakfast I made the lemon muffins only I made them in mini bundt pans and they turned out so cute!


Basic Muffin Mix
½ c. butter or margarine
1 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp salt.
¾ tsp xanthan gum
½ tsp lemon juice
½ c. sour cream
1 ½ c. featherlight mix
½ c. GF mix
½ c. milk

Topping:
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 375°. Grease muffin pans.
In a bowl whip butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each. Add vanilla, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum, lemon juice and sour cream. With a rubber spatula fold in half the flour and half the milk, repeat until all the flour and milk has been used. Sprinkle the topping on top of each muffin.

Bake 15-20 minutes for mini muffins, 25-30 minutes for regular muffins. They should be golden brown and springy to the touch.

** I used the featherlite mix to make the 2 C (That recipe can be found under the Label Flour)

**To make blueberry muffins I added about 1/3 package frozen blueberries. I did not put topping on.

**To make Lemon poppyseed muffins, I added about 1 – 1 ½ TBS poppyseed.
For the glaze:
2 TBS lemon juice
1 C powdered sugar