My youngest is often frustrated that we can't find banana milk at the shops. So, on a day when she was putting together a tea party for her sister, I offered to do a bit of research and figure out how to make some tasty homemade banana milk. This was so simple and worked just perfectly.  You can use an equivalent amount of strawberries in lieu of the bananas for a yummy strawberry milk, too.   

A tea party with homemade blueberry pancakes, blackberries, and some banana milk. I should mention neither of them like tea, so there's never tea served at these tea parties.

Banana Milk

Serves 4

Blend together until smooth and a milk-like consistency:

2 yellow bananas (a few brown spots are okay, but I find the best flavor is a nice yellow banana)

1 cup milk

1 cup cold water

1-2 Tbsp maple syrup

1/4 - 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Serve in a cute little cup and enjoy!

If you're feeling really fancy, you can add a dollop of whipped cream just for fun. 

My youngest dressed up the older (she gets brownie points for being up for these events). They break out the fancy glasses for these events. 

Not sure how she's wearing the same shirt, since these events were weeks apart, but my youngest requested banana milk alongside her Egyptian Meammar Rice for her birthday dinner.  She's definitely like her mom - thinking and brainstorming about food and what she can eat or cook next. 

Banana Milk Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

My girls whipped up some chocolate chip Easter cookies with friends over video chat! Minimal arguing, so that's always nice. We used the Cadbury mini eggs - and actually found some "micro eggs" which were the perfect size to bake in cookies, but if you use the regular ones, you can either chop them up or let the mixer crack them into smaller pieces for you. Add a couple other flavors of chips and you'll have a delicious chocolate chip cookie! Enjoy! 

Yummy Easter Chocolate Chip Cookies! 

Debating whether to give one or two cookies out - two won.

Easter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon liners. 

In a large bowl, mix together: 

1 cup white rice flour

1/4 - 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

In a mixer, cream together: 

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp brown sugar

Add and beat til frothy: 

1 egg

1/2 tsp water

1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients into the the wet ingredients, just until combined. 

Fold into the dough: 

1/2 cup Cadbury micro eggs or chopped Cadbury mini eggs

1/2 cup white or caramel chocolate chips

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Scoop 1 Tbsp scoops onto lined pans. 

No need to flatten these, as they spread nicely while baking.

Scooping the cookies out - our friends on the video chat in the background. :) 

Bake at 350 F for 7-9 minutes. Let rest a few minutes before removing to cooling racks to fully cool. Cooled cookies can be frozen in freezer ziplocs for later. Works perfectly! Enjoy! 

Fresh from the oven! Yum!

One of her favorite things to do is serve up the treats she's helped make. 

Easter Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Strawberry Mallow Cakes!

 These are so delicious - and kind of fun because they're even tastier the second day when the strawberry flavor really infuses into the biscuit bottom and chocolate topping.  I made them and plopped them on top of my daughter's birthday cake, which made for a fun decoration. These are a fun alternative to the Scandinavian Mallow Fluff Cakes recipe I posted years ago. Enjoy! 

Delicious strawberry mallow fluff cakes! Yum!

Topped her strawberry themed birthday cake with the strawberry mallow cakes. They look like little gnome hats.  

Strawberry Mallow Cakes

Strawberry & Coconut Biscuits

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

Crush in a freezer ziploc by rolling repeatedly with a rolling pin: 

1 cup freeze-dried strawberries (to make about 1/2 cup once crushed)

Mix together in a large bowl: 

3/4 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour

2 Tbsp potato starch

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

In a mixer, cream together: 

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

Add and mix in well, scraping down as needed: 

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract or bean paste

Add and stir in: 

dry ingredients from above

1/2 cup crushed freeze-dried strawberries

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

You can scoop small soonfuls directly and bake, or you can place in plastic wrap and roll into a couple 12-15" logs and freeze at least 2 hours, in order to more easily slice and bake. 

You can flatten, if desired, or leave to flatten out as they bake. Both work great.  Bake at 350 F for 7-10 minutes, until nicely browned. If you undercook, they will not be as crisp as you want for the mallow cakes.

Let rest on pans 5 minutes, then remove to cooling racks to fully cool.  

You can make larger or smaller scoops. These scoops are on the larger size.

Larger scooped cookies, out of the oven.

I prefer to make smaller scoops for smaller cookies and smaller mallow cakes. 

Nicely crisped, fresh from the oven.

Mallow Fluff Filling

In a mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk together until soft peaks form:
3 egg whites (fresh eggs are best)
1 Tbsp sugar
pinch salt

In a metal pot on the stove, combine, with very little or no stirring:
2 oz water
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat over medium heat until sugar syrup reaches 240 F - 242 F.   Remove from heat immediately.  Turn mixture to low speed and slowly pour in the sugar syrup.  Increase the speed and beat on medium-high for 8-10 minutes.   The marshmallow will puff up nicely and get light and fluffy, while also cooling down.

Marshmallow fluffing up nicely.

Prepare a large piping bag with a large star-shaped tip (or just use a large round tip).  Place marshmallow into piping bag.  Pipe big swirls on top of each of the cookies, making a nice large mound on top of each.  You can make these as short or tall as you would like, depending on the mallow to cookie ratio you'd prefer.

Let the marshmallow-topped cookies sit at room temperature to dry for 1 - 2 hours.  These won't dry well if you're kitchen is humid, so best not to make on a rainy day.

Piped onto the strawberry biscuits! Ready to let dry and then dip in chocolate. 

Covering in Chocolate

Ideally, you would want to "temper" your chocolate for an authentic Flodeboller, however, this method of covering works very nicely, too:

In a 2 cup measuring cup, fill 1 1/2 cups full with high-quality dark chocolate (or milk chocolate) chips.  Melt at 50% power in 30 - 60 second increments in the microwave, stirring regularly.  Once the chocolate is mostly melted, add an extra handful of chocolate chips into your chocolate and stir until all the chocolate is melted.  This won't "temper" your chocolate, but will help you avoid any of the bloom or swirls that can appear on non-tempered melted chocolate.  Once your chocolate is fully melted, add 1 Tbsp light olive oil or 1 Tbsp coconut oil.  This will make it a bit runnier and easier to use for dipping your marshmallow cakes!

Work quickly! One at a time, dip your cakes into the chocolate, rotating them in the chocolate and shaking to remove excess chocolate.  You can use a spoon of your fingers to get as much or little as you like on the bottom of the cookie biscuit.  Place dipped cakes onto a parchment-lined baking tray.  Immediately sprinkle on top of cakes: 

crushed freeze-dried strawberry  

Dip quickly, so your warm chocolate doesn't have time to melt the marshmallow or you'll end up with a couple upside down creations like I did. But most work out and look so cute with the freeze-dried strawberry sprinkled on top.

Just dipped and ready to chill.

Refrigerate until chocolate has set. Remove from the refrigerator and store at room temperature until ready to serve!  These didn't last more than a few days around here, but they were just as delicious a few days out as on day one.  Enjoy!

The cutest cake with these on top. 

They're all unique and all delicious.

Yum!

Strawberry Mallow Cakes Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!