Creamy Dairy-Free Chocolate Pudding

     Pudding is something every kid and kid at heart loves. What's not to love....creamy, delicious and satisfying. And though it can have sugar, pudding has some nutritional value with egg and milk or milk substitute in it. So, I began trying pudding recipes to see if I could come up with something dairy-free that we would enjoy. I found that we particularly liked chocolate homemade pudding with coconut milk best. This one is very creamy and a favorite at our house.

Creamy Dairy-Free Chocolate Pudding

1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. sifted cocoa
2 T. cornstarch
dash of salt
1 beaten egg
2 c. coconut milk beverage (from carton)
1/4 c. dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1 1/2 T. dairy-free margarine

In a microwave safe dish mix sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt together with whisk. Add beaten egg and 1/2 c. of the milk to dry mixture and whisk until smooth. Slowly whisk in the remaining milk. Microwave on full power for 2 min. initially and then 30 - 60 minute intervals stirring between each time. Pudding should be at a full boil and thickened when finished. Add chocolate chips and margarine. Stir until melted and combined. Stir in vanilla. Pour into a bowl and place plastic wrap over surface of pudding. Chill and serve.

Notes:
Increase sugar by 1-2 T. for a sweeter pudding.

We enjoy making parfaits with pudding, fruit and dairy-free whipped topping. We added a gluten-free cut-out cookie in this picture.







Enjoy this creamy, chocolaty pudding!

Perfect Time For Ice Cream

School is out and we have settled into summer. One thing my kids love is ice cream - a bit of a challenge without milk. Since we like the flavor of coconut milk, it works as a great alternative for cream for us. It's easy to make a simple chocolate or vanilla ice cream with coconut milk.

This recipe is a lighter version of ice cream with lots of strawberries in it. The coconut milk makes it creamy.

Dairy-Free Strawberry Ice Cream

1 1/2 lb. strawberries, frozen
1 - 14 oz. can of coconut milk
      (regular)
1/4 c. orange juice
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla

If you own a high powered blender, blend all ingredients per instructions on your machine, adding a little more liquid if needed. Mixture should hold its shape and be thick. Serve or freeze right away.

If your blender is not able to make soft serve consistency from frozen fruit, use fresh, or partially or fully thawed strawberries. You can then use an ice cream maker to freeze it or pour it into a container and put in the freezer, stirring every 1/2 to 1 hour until frozen. When using the pan method, blending the ice cream again when it's frozen but still a little soft will give it a smoother texture by breaking up the ice crystals. If the ice cream becomes too firm to blend, let it melt a little rather than add more liquid before blending it.

Notes:  If your ice cream is not as smooth as you would like, you can blend the fresh, or partially or fully thawed strawberries first and strain them to remove the seeds before adding the rest of the ingredients. This should not be necessary with a high powered blender.

More Cupcakes

A couple of weeks ago, I shared a lemon cupcake recipe. This week I want to share a recipe for cupcakes (should work for cake also) that works as a yellow/white cake mix would. And this recipe is very easy to make into a mix to have ready ahead of time. Just put all of the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk well. Store in a sealed bag or container. This recipe is an adaptation of two recipes from the same site I used a couple of weeks ago:  http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/. I used a combination of the vanilla cupcakes and orange creme cupcakes.

Vanilla Cupcakes

3/4 c. plus 2 T. brown rice flour
3/4 c. plus 2 T. tapioca flour
3/4 c. plus 2 T. sugar
1/2 t. sea salt
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. xanthan gum

1/4 c. egg whites
     (room temperature)
1 c. coconut milk
     (or other non-dairy
     milk beverage)

2 T. canola oil
1/2 T. vanilla
1/2 t. lemon juice

Whisk dry ingredients in small bowl. Set aside.

Beat egg whites in large bowl until stiff peaks form. Mix the rest of the wet ingredients in slowly just until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix on low just until blended. Don't over mix.

Fill 14 - 16 greased muffin cups or muffin papers. Smooth tops with fingers. Bake at 350 degree F for 18 - 21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool on rack. Frost if desired. Store in refrigerator for 1 - 2 days or freeze.

Note:
I use a coconut milk beverage and since it's fairly thick, I have good luck with using 3/4 c. of the milk with 1/4 c. water. Don't add water to a thin milk.

The original recipes made 12 cupcakes. I like to make my cupcakes smaller. You may prefer to make them larger.

If you like chocolate, the following frosting pairs well with this recipe.


Fudge Frosting

1 c. dairy-free chocolate chips
2 T. shortening or dairy-free margarine
5 T. dairy-free milk
1 c.. powdered sugar

Put chips, shortening and milk in microwave safe bowl. Microwave at 50% power for 1 minute. Stir. If needed, continue to microwave at 30 second intervals stirring in between until chips are melted. Whisk in powdered sugar and cool. Refrigerate to decrease cooling time if desired, but remember frosting will be stiffer when cold. When mixture is cooled and thickened, beat until fluffy, adding more milk to reach desired consistency. Spread or pipe onto cupcakes with decorator bag.

Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Fun Dessert

When Chas needed to make a dessert for Boy Scouts, he wanted something simple yet super yummy (they were being judged). He picked peanut butter and chocolate since it is a favorite combination for many including him. We came up with a simple layered bar, even using a box mix for the bottom although you could use your favorite cookie recipe. The end result was delicious even though he didn't win.

Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

One box of your favorite
     gluten-free cookie mix
     (or a favorite recipe)
1 c. creamy peanut butter
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1 T. dairy-free margarine
1/4 c. crushed gluten-free cereal
6 oz. dairy-free chocolate
3 fluid oz. coconut milk, full fat
chopped peanuts

Prepare your favorite gluten-free cookie mix or recipe according to directions. Any cookie that goes well with peanut butter and chocolate and is appropriate for a bar should work. He used Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mix.  You can use dairy-free margarine. Spread in a 9 x 13 in. pan (lightly grease bottom). Ours was just a thin layer of dough, just the thickness of the chips. Bake for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees F or until lightly browned and a little soft in the middle yet (it will depend upon the thickness and type of your cookie). Don't over bake or cookie will be dry. Let cool.

Mix peanut butter, sugar, margarine and cereal. Spread over cooled cookie. Increase ingredients proportionately if you prefer a thicker layer.

Blend coconut milk before using if it has separated. Melt chocolate and coconut milk together in the microwave at 50 % power, stirring every 30 seconds. Cool to room temperature. Stir well and pour evenly over peanut butter. Sprinkle with nuts, if preferred. Let set and cut into squares. Store in refrigerator  for 1 - 2 days or freeze.

The topping is like a peanut butter cup, so it's like eating candy. It's a great one to take to a pot luck where you'll be "sharing" with a lot of other people. Enjoy!

Easy and Creamy Non-Dairy Ice Cream

Ice cream can be a perfect treat alone, with fruit or your favorite dessert. If you cannot tolerate dairy, the choices in the store are much more limited and expensive. Coconut milk makes really good ice cream. It's super creamy with just a light coconut flavor. Besides, the fat in coconut milk has been shown to be a good fat. And if I make it myself, it's much more economical.

Easy Vanilla Non-Dairy Ice Cream

1 can coconut milk (13.5 oz.,
     regular not light)
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c. sugar

Blend ingredients well in a blender and freeze in an ice cream maker or in an 9 x 13 pan.

If using the pan, freeze 2 - 3 hours or until just a little soft in the middle. If you freeze too long, just let it warm up and soften a little. Blend again just enough to make the ice-cream smooth. It may need to be frozen again before serving.

Store in air tight container in freezer. It gets fairly hard when frozen for extended periods of time. Let thaw a little before serving.

Notes:

1. Agave may be substituted for the sugar. Use 1/4 c.
2. Try making chocolate ice cream. Add 1/4 c. cocoa to the blender in the beginning. If desired, increase your sweetener.

Enjoy!

Simply Easy GF Apple Crisp

I to like to use fruit when I can for dessert since it has some nutritional value. Apple pie is delicious, but the crust takes some time to make. While you still have to peel, core and chop the apples, making a crisp is easier and still very tasty. You can load up on the apples and skip the bottom crust.

Depending on the kids ages, this can be a fun recipe to help out with. And you might find other desserts you want to sprinkle the topping on.

I like to use half firm apples and half soft cooking apples when I make the crisp to help make liquid but still have some firmer texture. I tried replacing half of the apples with frozen blueberries last night and it turned out great.

Gluten-Free Apple Crisp                     print recipe

Topping:
1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 c. plus 2 T. gluten-free oats or quinoa flakes
1/2 c. brown rice flour
1/2 t. zanthan gum
1/3 c. ghee, shortening, or canola oil

Filling:
6 medium apples (about 7 cups), cored, peeled and chopped
1/2 T. lemon juice
1/4 c. sugar
3/4 t. ground cinnamon
1 T. cornstarch

Lightly spray an 8 x 8 x 2 inch pan or 6 - 8 individual serving dishes (oven safe) with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix together all topping ingredients in a bowl before adding ghee, shortening or oil. Mix well with fork until crumbly.

Mix apples with lemon juice to coat all apples right after chopping. Mix sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch for filling in a small cup and pour over apples. Stir until all apples are coated. Pour into pan or dishes and spread evenly. Sprinkle topping over apples and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 to 35 minutes for individual serving dishes and 35 to 40 minutes for 8 x 8 inch pan or until topping is golden brown. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Note:  Try different fruits. If the fruit is a little more sour or juicy, you made need to add a little sugar or cornstarch.

This recipe can be dairy-free if you use oil or shortening. If you are just concerned about casein or lactose and are not familiar with ghee see link for ghee.