Chewy Coconut Oil Granola Bars and Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake (Both Gluten Free)—The Secret Recipe Club

It’s time for my July Secret Recipe Club post and reveal!  I have a little thing to tell you—it “secretly” bugs me when the last (or one of the last few) post someone did on their blog is what someone picks for their reveal.  That said, here I am, posting one of the last things on my Secret Recipe assignment.  I AM happy to see that she has since posted a few more things, so it’s not the very last thing.  It just always makes me think that someone didn’t take the time to look throughout the blog to decide what to make.  Blah, blah, I know, silly me.  Then I saw Sarah at The Pajama Chef recently post these granola bars made with coconut oil (EASY to make gluten free) after I already made something else (the Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake) and decided I had to make them, too.  So you’re getting a twofer again, which I’m sure you don’t mind and I am SO happy to have found TWO recipes that I love!

I really don’t know which one I liked better, the granola bars or the cake.  I’m posting the granola bars first because I made them a little healthier (although both are gluten free) so I feel a little better about that. ;  )  I LOVE how chewy the granola bars are and that they are not baked—no turning on the oven in this hot, summer sun for these!  I used gluten free oats, organic brown rice crisp cereal, raw honey and coconut sugar instead of brown sugar.  Yep, these are health food.  I love the caramel-flavor from the honey and coconut sugar.  Actually, I love the chewy texture it gave to these bars as well!

Gluten Free Chewy Coconut Oil Granola Bars (Refined Sugar Free), by Katrina, Baking and Boys! (Adapted from Sarah at The Pajama Chef)

2  1/2 cups (75 grams) organic brown rice crisp cereal

1  3/4 cups (140 grams) gluten free rolled oats

1/4 cup flaxseed meal

1/4 cups chopped pecans

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (168 grams) raw honey

1/2 cup (80 grams) organic coconut palm sugar

1/3 cup (80 grams) organic coconut oil

1/3 cup (96 grams) organic natural creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup (about 3 ounces) Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with nonstick foil.  Put the rice cereal, oats, flax, pecans, sunflower seeds and salt in a large bowl.  Put the honey and coconut sugar in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium-low head.  Boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and whisk in the coconut oil and peanut butter until well combined.  Whisk in the vanilla.  Pour the wet mixture over the dry ingredients and stir to coat everything evenly.  Press into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top, then put waxed paper or parchment paper over the top and press it down evenly.  Leave the paper on as a cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.  Remove from pan and cut into bars on a cutting board.  Store in an airtight container (for up to 3-5 days) or keep refrigerated or freeze some for later (individually wrapped in an airtight container).

These are so good!  But like I mentioned, I’d already made a cake from Sarah’s blog that I was going to  share.  So here you go.  Another delicious recipe.

Sarah’s recipe for the Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake is delicious, I’m sure, but so I could have some, I made it gluten free.  Since I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, I halved her recipe and made the cake in an 8x8 inch pan.  Delicious!  I wish I wouldn’t have halved it except that I would have eaten a whole cake (not all in one sitting, but still).  I didn’t feel nearly as guilty knowing I ate an 8x8 inch cake over a number of days rather than a 9x13, but this cake would be great for company.  Dare I say, it would even be a great breakfast/coffee cake.  I MIGHT have eaten some for breakfast one day.  It was great for on-the-go, which I was one day after I’d made it, instead of making my usual oatmeal or smoothie.   Check out Sarah’s recipe on the link above!  Here’s my gluten free, coconut oil version.

Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake, Gluten Free, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

3/4 cup organic brown cane sugar

3 tablespoons  coconut oil

1/2 an egg (2 tablespoons after whisking, 28 grams)

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1  1/4 cup gluten free flour blend (I used Premium Gold ancient grains blend, found at Costco)

3/4 cup apples, peeled and chopped (1 small-medium apple), I used Red Delicious because that’s what I had

Cinnamon Sugar Topping:

1/4 cup organic cane sugar

heaping 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 tablespoon coconut oil

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Brush coconut oil in an 8x8 inch baking pan (I often just use my fingers).  In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, oil, egg, buttermilk and vanilla.  Whisk together well.  Stir in the baking soda, salt and gluten free flour.  Add the chopped apples and fold in with a spatula.  Pour batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.  In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon and coconut oil.  Mix together with a fork until all the mixture is like wet sand.  Stir in the chopped walnuts.  Sprinkle evenly over cake.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

I really loved this cake.  I will say, it was a little sweet for me.  I think it’s just because I’m not used to sugar being sprinkled on something anymore.  Next time, I think I’ll use only about half as much topping and I might even try coconut sugar, which has a lower glycemic index and is unrefined.  While I like to make myself think organic and cane sugar is unrefined, I know it’s not and is still basically refined.  So every now and then I use it, but not very often. 

I think this cake worked so well making it gluten free that I’m going to try it with blueberries instead of apple—ASAP!  Doesn’t that sound good?  Yeah, that will be happening by tomorrow!  Thanks for the great recipes and blog, Sarah!  Check out her blog, The Pajama Chef, for more deliciousness!

An InLinkz Link-up

Gluten Free Buttermilk Bread

Since going gluten free and refined sugar free last June, I have hardly had any bread (made a couple gluten free loaves before months ago) and I have been really craving bread!  Sometimes I just want a sandwich—peanut butter and honey or jam to be specific.  I couldn’t even wait to take a bite before getting a picture.

Just kidding.  I did get a few pictures, but I bit right into this slice as soon as I could.

This bread is perfect for toast.  Though even Kevin, who doesn’t eat gluten free, had a slice untoasted with some jam and said it was pretty good.  I just can’t tell you how happy I am to eat toast!

I received the Apricot Jam from a friend for Christmas.  She purposely made some with agave instead of sugar so I could eat it.  So nice.  And the jam is so good.  Tastes like fresh, slightly tart apricots.  Thanks, Jackie!

I got a bread machine cookbook from our friend, Bob, for Christmas and it has a couple gluten free bread recipes in it.  I took one of the recipes and totally changed it up, then didn’t bake it in my bread machine, so here’s my take on a gluten free bread.

I’ve noticed in the few times I’ve made gluten free bread, it doesn’t come out the prettiest and rise as nice and high as regular bread, but it tastes great.

Gluten Free Buttermilk Bread, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 cup low fat buttermilk

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly melted

3 tablespoons raw honey

4 large egg whites, beaten until frothy

4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 cup whole grain sorghum flour

1  1/2 cups brown rice flour

3/4 cup arrowroot powder

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

Put the buttermilk and water in a microwave safe dish and heat until warm, about 25-40 seconds on half power.  Add the vinegar, slightly melted butter and honey with the buttermilk and water and whisk to combine.  Whisk the egg whites until frothy in a separate bowl.  Add to the wet ingredients and whisk together.  Pour into a stand mixer (of course, you can do it all by hand) and add the yeast.  In another bowl, combine the sorghum flour, brown rice flour, arrowroot, tapioca flour and xanthan gum and whisk together.  With the dough hook attached to the mixer and set at low speed, add half a cup of the dry ingredients at a time.  Add more as it mixes until all combined.  Cover the bowl and let sit in a warm place for 30-45 minutes.  Stir mixture with a wooden spoon, then put it into a greased 9x5 inch bread pan (I used coconut oil).  Let rise for about 30 minutes, just until it starts to come up over the pan.  During the last rise, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown on the top.  Let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes.  Remove from pan (it took a little prying with a knife, but it really wasn’t stuck anywhere.)  Cool on a wire rack.

Happy me!  Now if I could just get over this nasty cold that is knocking me for a loop.  Welcome to winter, happy new year!

Corn Fritters with Green Chile Buttermilk Dip—Cooking from The New Midwestern Table Cookbook

Don’t you hate it when you make something, it’s really good, you snap a few photos for your blog before the family devours it, THEN find out when it’s too late that the photos were pretty bad.  Sigh.  Yep, I hate that.  I did that with this recipe. 

The corn fritters from Amy Thielen’s book, The New Midwestern Table, 200 Heartland Recipes were our groups’ pick for today.  I made them a couple days ago and realized the photos are not good.  Well, it is what it is.  What is really important is that the corn fritters with the spicy buttermilk dip were delicious.  What more, I changed the recipe a bit (okay, quite a bit) and made them gluten free and instead of deep frying them in oil, I fried them in a shallow amount of coconut oil (which is why they are flat and not round like fritters should be).

I’m telling you, if you don’t have this book yet and enjoy collecting cookbook and trying new recipes, you need this one.  It’s great.  Because of my current diet changes, I changed a number of things from the recipe. 

For instance—the recipe called for green banana peppers or poblanos—I used jalapenos.  Instead of regular sugar, I used an organic natural cane sugar (the recipe only had one teaspoon).  I also changed from using basil in the dip and tarragon in the fritters to using cilantro in both.  The recipe called for 3-4 ears of corn, since corn is no longer in season, I used frozen/thawed corn and blended up about 1/4 cup of it to get that corn “milk” that was supposed to be from scraping the corn cobs.  I know, brilliant of me. ;)  I used a gluten free flour rather than all purpose flour.  I used Club Soda instead of light beer.  And finally—I fried the fritters in about 1/2 an inch of organic Spectrum brand coconut oil instead of deep frying them in canola oil.  So there, it’s almost not the same recipe, but it is for the most part.  I never would have done any of this without following the recipe. 

I changed a lot of the recipe, but we as a group decided not to post the recipes so you’ll want go buy Amy’s book.  So do it.  And really, if you want MY recipe as I made it, let me know and I’ll get it to you.  These were very tasty.  I wasn’t even able to fry all the batter, so I poured the rest into a round 8-inch baking pan, poured the remaining coconut oil over the top (which was just a couple tablespoons) and baked it for 15-20 minutes.  It was like one big fritter!  I forgot to take pictures of it, but reheated in the oven it was just as good and crispy as the fried ones and we sliced it like a pizza.  The jalapeno buttermilk dip, which also has sour cream is delicious and would be a great dressing for a salad or a dip for corn chips or even crackers, also as a sauce for tacos, ooh, fish tacos.  I will make the dip again for sure.  Just a few simple ingredients blended up in the blender.

Yes, I hurried and snapped this photo under the lights just as I was serving dinner, so it’s got too much light.  You see, I know my photos stink, but I just don’t have the time I’d like to spend making everything so pretty and perfect.  So there. ;)

I was so happy to be able to taste this since I made it gluten free and used a healthier oil. 

If you missed my first post from this book, check out the Fried Onion Dip with Homemade Potato and Sweet Potato Chips.