April 25, 2024

Gingerbread Cupcakes

2014-11-30 20.38.40

For our family’s Thanksgiving Feast (as the grandchildren call it!), we always divvy up of the different dishes that make up our spread.  This year, Robert and I are hosting the Feast at our home, so mine is the turkey to prepare (I always use Alton Brown’s Brined Turkey recipe), along with gluten-free gravy and the stuffing (see my recipe I shared here a couple of weeks ago).   My daughter, Kassia and her mother-in-law Mary Ann are divvy-ing up the sides and salads!  And we each are making a dessert…these spicy-sweet Gingerbread Mini-Cupcakes are my contribution.  Oh, they are so darling!  And just the perfect mouthful (and I mean FULL).  <Of course you certainly could make these in a standard cupcake size, too!>

For those of you who are just beginning to follow the path of gluten-free baking, try this recipe.  When I first made these cupcakes, I used a ‘gf all-purpose flour blend.’ You can pick up a box in the gluten-free section of almost any grocery store. However, if you have a pantry filled with jars of different gluten-free flours, I used ** 1/2 cup brown rice flour, 1/4 cup tapioca flour, 1/4 cup potato starch, 1/4 cup hazelnut flour).  Note that these cupcakes are dairy-free if you prepare them with coconut oil…and of course no whipped cream!

This is a quick recipe to pull together…and the mini-cupcakes only take 10-12 minutes to bake.  We will have ours with Spiced Whipped Cream (see the recipe  here).  But they are equally yummy with a cream cheese frosting or a simple buttercream frosting, too.  Enjoy!

2014-11-29 22.51.34

Mini Gingerbread Cupcakes

ingredients:
1+1/4 cup gluten-free all purpose flour blend **(see above)
1+1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature (I used coconut oil)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup boiling water

directions:

  • set out the butter (or coconut oil) and egg to come to room temperature
  • fill muffin/cupcake tins with liners (mini = 30; regular = 12)
  • preheat oven to 350
  • mix flour(s) and spices together in a small bowl
  • with mixer, cream together butter (or coconut oil) and sugar
  • add egg, then molasses; beating ‘til nice and creamy
  • microwave the water in a measuring cup ‘til boiling; remove and <carefully> stir in the baking soda; set aside to cool slightly
  • add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl, and blend for about 1 minute ‘til it all comes together
  • continue to blend while pouring in the water; beat for an additional minute or so (batter will seem thin but it very quickly thickens up)
  • fill lined cupcake tins about 3/4 full with batter
  • bake minis for 10-12 minutes (regular-sized for 20 minutes), or ‘til firm to the touch and slightly browned
  • take pan from oven and immediately remove cupcakes to a cooling rack
  • once completely cool, frost as desired

 ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥

God loves you!  ♥  (Don’t ever forget that!)

♥  coleen

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Many of you have gone on Spring Break or are anticipating taking a vacation this summer. It is a time to refresh spirit, soul, and body. Over the next couple of weeks, our faithful bloggers will be taking a ‘spring break’ from writing so that they can come back to us refreshed and freshly anointed.
However, Girlfriends’ Coffee Hour website won’t ‘go black’! We will be revisiting some of our favorite blogs and daily devotions which have blessed us in the past. We pray that each of you, our faithful friends and readers, will continue to start your day meditating on the devotionals and songblogs, and be encouraged and blessed.

Let’s give each of our bloggers a big round of applause, a hug,
and the rest they so deserve. God bless you, ladies!

2014-11-30 20.38.40

For our family’s Thanksgiving Feast (as the grandchildren call it!), we always divvy up all of the different dishes that make up our spread.  This year I was happy to prepare a side dish (Quinoa Veggie Salad w/ Orange Vinaigrette), the beverages (one <adult> choice of which was Apple Cider Sangria), and a dessert…these spicy-sweet Gingerbread Mini-Cupcakes. Oh, they were so darling! And just the perfect mouthful (and I mean FULL).  <Of course you certainly could make these in a standard cupcake size, too!>

2014-11-27 13.11.15

For those of you who are just beginning to follow the path of gluten-free baking, try this recipe.  When I first made these cupcakes, I used a ‘gf all-purpose flour blend.’ You can pick up a box in the gluten-free section of almost any grocery store. However, if you have a pantry filled with jars of different gluten-free flours, I used 1/2 cup brown rice flour, 1/4 cup tapioca flour, 1/4 cup potato starch, 1/4 cup hazelnut flour).  Note that these cupcakes are dairy-free if you prepare them with coconut oil…and of course no whipped cream!

This is a quick recipe to pull together…and only takes 10-12 minutes to bake. We enjoyed ours with Spiced Whipped Cream (see the recipe from last week’s blogpost here).  But they would be equally yummy with a cream cheese frosting or a simple buttercream frosting, too.  Enjoy!

2014-11-29 22.51.34

Mini Gingerbread Cupcakes

ingredients:
1+1/4 cup gluten-free all purpose flour blend **
1+1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
4T butter, room temperature (I used coconut oil)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup boiling water

directions:

  • set out the butter (or coconut oil) and egg to come to room temperature
  • fill muffin/cupcake tins with liners (mini = 30; regular = 12)
  • preheat oven to 350
  • mix flour(s) and spices together in a small bowl
  • with mixer, cream together butter (or coconut oil) and sugar
  • add egg, then molasses; beating ‘til nice and creamy
  • microwave the water in a measuring cup ‘til boiling; remove and <carefully> stir in the baking soda; set aside
  • add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl, and blend for about 1 minute ‘til it all comes together
  • continue to blend while pouring in the water; beat for an additional minute or so (batter will seem thin but it very quickly thickens up)
  • fill lined cupcake tins about 3/4 full with batter
  • bake minis for 10-12 minutes (regular for 20 minutes), or ‘til firm to the touch and slightly browned
  • take pan from oven and immediately remove cupcakes to a cooling rack
  • once completely cool, frost as desired

 ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥

God loves you!  ♥  (Don’t ever forget that!)

♥  coleen

Gluten free, Grain free Zucchini Muffins

Here on our At Home with GCH blog, Monday’s are always focused on healthy but oh-so-yummy! recipes.  This recipe fits perfectly into the category being it is low in fat (uses greek yogurt and a small amount of coconut oil or butter), is gluten-free, grain-free, and more than one cup of vegetables.

Have you ever used crystallized ginger?  I just love this product and try to always have some stored in the freezer.  (Hint: if you keep it frozen, it is super easy to grate up to put into your recipe.)  It is a great ingredient to add to many spicy dishes.  We especially enjoy it in Thai food!  Try adding a bit to any baked goodies that have cinnamon, or nutmeg, in them.  I buy mine in the grocery store; look for it either in the Asian food aisle, or the baking goods aisle.

Oh…just  a suggestion:  perhaps you might want to make a double batch!  Enjoy!

IMG_1556

Zucchini Muffins

makes one dozen regular-sized muffins

Ingredients:

topping ingredients:IMG_1553
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1 tablespoon sugar (I use coconut sugar)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons almond flour
2 tablespoons very cold butter, cut into little cubes

muffin ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar (I use coconut sugar)
3 eggs
3/4 cup greek yogurt
1/4 cup softened coconut oil
1+1/2 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed dry in a dish towel
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 cube frozen crystallized ginger*, grated fine
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1+1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

  • Heat oven to 325
  • Place muffin cups in muffin tin
  • Make topping ingredients first: mix all dry components of topping together; then drop in the butter cubes and quickly use your fingertips to incorporate the butter; set aside
  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together first 4 muffin ingredients until sugar is dissolved
  • Add zucchini (and crystallized ginger, if using) to the wet ingredients; stir well
  • In a separate large bowl, mix together the flours, spices, and baking soda
  • Add wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until incorporated
  • Divide batter into muffin cups evenly
  • Sprinkle on almond topping
  • Bake for 30- 35 minutes
  • After removing from oven, let cool for just a minute  and then remove to a cooling rack