Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

Basically a dessert, but I'm still going to call it a muffin.  It's a fine line sometimes between cupcake and muffin, especially since these are pretty decadent.  Filled with a variety of chocolate chips and made with a dark cocoa powder, they're delicious!  Enjoy!

Chocolate Chocolate Muffins made with an extra brute dark amber cocoa powder

Chocolate Chocolate Muffins made with a lighter cocoa powder.  

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins - Gluten Free

Makes 12-18

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line 12-18 muffin tins with muffin liners.  This recipe makes 12 larger muffins or 18 regular-sized muffins.

Mix together, then set aside:
1/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder

Mix together:
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp white rice flour
3 Tbsp arrowroot starch OR cornstarch
2 Tbsp potato starch
2 Tbsp tapioca starch
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Mix in briefly:
2 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream (I love the lactose-free sour cream - can't use sour cream - an unsweetened, dairy-free yogurt will work, too!)
1/3 cup milk (any variety will work)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened

Add and beat 2 minutes, scraping occasionally, until smooth:
Cocoa/water mixture from above

Stir in chocolate chips:
1 - 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (any combination of dark, semi, milk, white, or some of each!)

Scoop into 12 - 18 lined muffin tins.  These are fine resting on the counter 20-30 minutes before baking.  (It's not necessary, but sometimes it can help avoid any sinking in the center of your muffins, although I've tried these both ways (waiting before baking and baking right away) and both ways have worked out nicely).

These muffin liners are a bit larger than the normal ones, so these would look more like 2/3 full with a regular muffin liner.  

Bake at 350 F for 15-17 minutes for smaller muffins and 19-20 minutes for larger muffins.  Remove from pan and cool on cooling racks.  These are delicious still warm.  Leftovers can be frozen and warmed when you want to serve/eat.  Enjoy!!!

Fresh from the oven, before removing to the cooling rack. 

Very happy with her after school snack.

Eating with a fork to avoid spilling on her favorite Calvin & Hobbes comics.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Banana Sunshine Upside Down Cake!

Obviously, you have to like banana to enjoy this cake.  More importantly, you have to like cooked banana - like banana bread.  This Banana Sunshine Upside Down Cake is a fun treat when you want something a little fancier than ordinary banana bread.  Although, I have to say we do love the coconut banana bread with a lemon glaze around here - this is right up the alley with that one as far as how much we enjoy it.  This cake was dreamed up after realizing I could combine two favorite ideas into one new recipe, the Pear Ginger Upside Down Cake (which we love) and my Sunshine Muffins, which we also love.  The result: Banana Sunshine Upside Down Cake!  Enjoy!

Banana Sunshine Upside Down Cake, just after being flipped onto the serving tray. Yum!

Banana Sunshine Upside Down Cake

In a large oven-proof frying pan, melt:
1/4 cup butter

Remove from heat and mix in:
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp corn syrup (optional, but can help avoid any crystallization)

Arrange 2-3 fresh, sliced bananas on top of the sugar/butter mixture.  I like to use bananas that are yellow, but not covered in brown spots, for the top bananas.  They will hold their shape better, and don't add more sweetness to the top.

In a large bowl, mix together:
2 overripe bananas, mashed
3 oz canned crushed pineapple (with juice) (canned in pineapple juice, not syrup)
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup plain yogurt
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup sweetened or unsweetened coconut  
1 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 - 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Spread the batter gently over the bananas.

Bake at 350 F for ~35 minutes, until nicely browned.  Let pan rest 5 minutes on a wire rack.  Carefully flip the cake onto the serving tray.

Letting rest 5 minutes before flipping onto serving platter.

This is on a plate - it's just a clear, glass platter.  

Once flipped, it's ready to eat!  You can serve this hot, warm, or cooled.  We love it warmed best!  Enjoy!

Because we love fruit-filled cakes, I may have made two at once.  A Banana Sunshine Upside Down Cake and a Pear Ginger Upside Down Cake.  Mmm...

Banana Sunshine Upside Down Cake Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Jewish Apple Cake 8" x 8" pan

Jewish apple cake, baked in an hour! Here's the recipe, Dad!  Jewish apple cake is one of our favorite desserts, but also tends to take a long to cook, meaning we don't make it very often.  The version I've posted previously, our family favorite Jewish Apple cake is what I've made for years, but this new, updated recipe is great because it bakes in only 1 hour (and has a bit less sugar and ends up being a little lighter and fluffier overall)!  This weekend when we made it, we doubled the recipe so we could bring one cake to a family dinner and have the other as leftovers for home eating! Yum! Enjoy!

A slice of Jewish Apple Cake served with vanilla ice cream. Yum!

Fresh from the oven - made with the help of my 8 year old and 13 year old!  Bakers in the making. 

Jewish Apple Cake - Gluten Free

Makes 8 x 8 pan

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line an 8" x 8" pan with parchment paper.

Ideally, make this with a friend -- one can prepare the apples while the other prepares the batter, so they're all ready to assemble at approximately the same time.  If you're cooking on your own, I usually prepare the apples first and then whip up the batter.  

Prepare apples:
In a large bowl, mix together:
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 apples, peeled, cored & thinly sliced (I like using Honeycrisp or Cortland apples best.  You can also use Bosc pears - making it into a pear-apple cake.)

Prepare batter:
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients:
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch OR arrowroot starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger

Add and mix with a spoon or spatula until smooth:
2 eggs
1/4 - 1/3 cup orange juice OR 1/4 - 1/3 cup milk (plus 2-3 drops wild orange essential oil, optional)
1/2 cup oil (I like using either avocado oil or olive oil, or a mix of both)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

The batter should be fairly thick, but you adding a little more orange juice or milk will make your cake a little fluffier overall.  Add an extra tablespoon or two of liquid if you're worried it might be too thick.  *If your batter is too thin, the fruit will sink during baking.

Layer batter and fruit together, making as many thin layers of batter as you can.  I like to scoop a few spoonfuls of batter into the pan, then use an apple slice to spread around, before adding more apples to make a thin layer.  Add a few more spoonfuls of batter, then use an apple slice to spread around, repeating until you end with a nice layering of apples on the top of your cake.

We made a double batch this time around.

My fabulously dressed helper - she spread out batter and then the thin layer of apples, and repeated until we finished both cakes! 

Bake at 350 F for one hour.  Remove from oven and put pan on cooling rack.  You can let it cool and serve from the pan, or remove after it's cooled 20-30 minutes.  Best served warm.  We love it served warm with vanilla ice cream.  Enjoy!

Not too shabby for a cake made by an 8 and 13 year old!

This is actually a picture from another baking day, made almost completely by my 13 year old.  He used a mix of Bosc pears and Honeycrisp apples.

Jewish Apple Cake 8 x 8 pan Gluten Free Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!