My husband is a huge fan of all things blueberry, so my girls and I wanted to come up with something fun for his birthday.  We decided to make little blueberry banana cakes that we topped with a dollop of cream cheese frosting and homemade blueberry jam sauce.  It was a hit!  You can, of course, make these in cupcake tins, but one of my favorite purchases has been a couple square shaped cupcake-style tins.  These are delicious! Enjoy!

Served up for a birthday treat!

Very happy eaters at this house.

Mini Blueberry Banana Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Blueberry Sauce

Makes 24 cupcake-size cakes

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Butter 24 muffin-sized square or round tins. 

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: 

1 1/2 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

In a mixer or bowl combine:

3 overripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup milk

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup oil

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

In a small bowl, toss together:  *(This helps the blueberries from sinking in the batter, keeping them nicely suspended)*

1 - 1 1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries

2 Tbsp Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.   Carefully fold in the blueberries, just until evenly combined.  Divide the batter evenly between the 24 buttered tins.   

Ready to bake!

Bake at 350 F for 17-20 minutes, until nicely golden.  Remove from oven, let rest 2-3 minutes, then remove the cakes from the pan onto a cooling rack to fully cool.  

Fresh from the oven.  Resting 2-3 minutes before removing from pans.

We enjoyed these. Yum!

They were so pretty. 

Top each cooled cake with a small piping of cream cheese frosting and a generous spoonful of blueberry jam sauce. 

Blueberry Jam Sauce

In a medium saucepan, bring to a boil over medium heat, let simmer for 10-15 minutes: 

2 cups frozen wild blueberries

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

If you'd like it a little thicker (I do!), mix together in a small bowl: 

1/4 cup water

1 - 2 Tbsp cornstarch

Mix in just enough of the cornstarch to thicken the sauce to desired consistency.  Aim for a looser consistency, since it will thicken more as it cools.  Transfer to a glass dish and let cool at room temperature.  You can refrigerate any leftovers. 

Blueberry jam, just cooling before serving!

Cream Cheese Frosting

This makes a light amount of frosting.  If you'd like more, double the recipe here. 

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 - 2 Tbsp butter, softened

2 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat until nice and fluffy.  If you find you'd like it thinner, you can add a little milk to use it more as a drizzle than a frosting.   Transfer cream cheese frosting into a freezer ziploc bag, snip the end, and pipe over cooled cakes.  

Topped with cream cheese frosting!  So cute!

Mmm... 

Ready to serve! Yum!

Gluten Free Blueberry Banana Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Blueberry Jam Sauce by Successfully Gluten Free! 

 My dad makes these all the time and they're such a big hit with everyone.  He's become quite the expert at whipping them up.  He sent me a picture of the ones he made just the other day (along with some yummy looking crabcakes).  I love the little bite that the bit of cayenne adds to these to counteract the sweetness of the coconut.  They're a tasty summer meal!  Enjoy! 

Tasty coconut shrimp served with rice and vegetables tossed in a Asian-style sauce (note: most of those are gluten-free, but please check the labels)

Picture of my dad's meal of coconut shrimp, crab cakes, salad, bread, and fruit.  He always makes it look so pretty! He served the shrimp with a bang-bang sauce and Thai chili/peach preserves sauce (mix 1/2 and 1/2 of each for a nice topping).  A homemade tartar sauce was made for the crab cake (mayo, dill relish, salt, pepper and dried or fresh dill).  Great job, Dad!

Easy Coconut Shrimp

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Defrost and drain:

1 bag large frozen shrimp, peeled, deveined with tails on

In a wide low bowl, mix together: 

1/4 - 1/3 cup corn flour (white corn flour is ideal in this recipe - it's texture is between cornmeal and cornstarch)

1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne powder

1/4 tsp salt

In another wide, low bowl, whisk until frothy (just whisk with a fork for a minute or two, it just needs to have some froth but not be like soft or stiff peaks, just bubbly): 

3 - 4 egg whites

In a third wide, low bowl, place: 

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (more will likely be needed, but start with this and add more if necessary so you don't waste coconut)

Dip each shrimp in the corn flour mixture, then dip it in the frothy egg whites, and finally dip it in the shredded coconut.  Place on the parchment-lined pan.  *Make sure you use parchment paper, or they'll stick.*  Repeat with all shrimp.  You can always mix up more of any of the three dips, if you find you're running out.  

Shrimp dipped and ready for baking!

Bake shrimp at 400 F for 10 minutes.  Carefully flip each shrimp, then bake another 8-10 minutes.  

It always ends up looking a little messy, but that's just because the shrimp get flipped.  

These are really tasty served with a sweet chili sauce.  You can mix the Thai chili sauce with peach preserves for a nice, sweet sauce accompaniment.  I find most brands are gluten-free, which is great!  Enjoy! 

Easy Coconut Shrimp Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

 We've been so lucky to be able to pick a bunch of fresh raspberries this year.  Big, delicious raspberries - we've been throwing them in smoothies, eating them raw, and baking them into raspberry pie.  My husband reminded me of how well chocolate and raspberry go together, which resulted in these yummy dark chocolate and raspberry muffins! This recipe makes a lot, so feel free to make a half batch.  Enjoy! 

These  muffins were just so pretty. 

We went on some family raspberry picking adventures - we ended up with so many beautiful berries.  I had to make a raspberry cream cheese pie, too! 

Raspberry Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 30-36 muffins

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line 30-36 muffin tins with paper liners. 

In a small bowl, mix together and set aside: 

1/2 cup boiling water

1/2 cup dark cocoa powder

Rinse and set aside to drain: 

12 oz fresh raspberries, rinsed and drained

In a mixer, combine: 

1 cup brown rice flour

3/4 cup white rice flour

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp arrowroot starch OR cornstarch

1/4 cup potato starch

1/4 cup tapioca starch

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 Tbsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Add and mix in briefly: 

4 eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

Add and mix in, beating for 2-3 minutes, until nice and thoroughly mixed: 

cocoa/water mixture from above

Fold in: 

2 cups dark chocolate chips

12 oz fresh raspberries, from above

Divide batter into 30-36 muffin tins lined with paper liners. 

Folded in chocolate and raspberries, ready to scoop out!

Scooped into muffin tins - this recipe makes a lot so feel free to bake in phases or make a half batch.

 Bake at 350F.  Smaller sized muffins can be baked in 16-17 minutes, whereas larger muffins will take more like 18-19 minutes.  Let rest in the pans several minutes before removing muffins to cooling racks.  Enjoy!!! 

Just out of the oven!

Pretty Raspberry Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins! 

Raspberry Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins by Successfully Gluten Free!