Food Challenges

Apple Ginger Muffins

2 cup almond meal
4 pieces crystallized ginger, finely diced
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 apple, organic finely diced
3 egg whites, free range organic
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp raw honey
3 Tbsp canola oil


Peal and core the apple. Dice into small pieces. Sauté the diced apple with the water in a small frying pan until tender. Set aside to cool. Add the chopped, crystallized ginger.


Combine the almond meal, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well.
Combine the vanilla, honey, and oil. Mix well.
Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Fold in the beaten egg whites.
Place a spoonful of the batter into each of 12 paper muffin cups in a muffin tin.


Bake at 325F for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot or cold.


Nutritional Information per muffin:


The advantage of this muffin is that it contains no starch of any kind. It is suitable for anyone following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Although this muffin appears high in fat, there are no transfats or cholesterol and what fat there is, is considered “heart smart”. They are moist and delicious, as well as very satisfying.


Calories 144
Dietary Fibre 2.3 gm
Fat 11.4 gm

Starry Starry Night Cookies

I recently had this email from my sister in New Zealand. She also eats a gluten free diet. I wanted to share this with everyone because they look fabulous! I can’t wait to try them out myself. If you have a gluten free recipe that you would like me to post, please send it along with a photo and I’ll include it in “What’s Cooking?” You can find an email contact there.

Hi Liana,

Thought I’d better take a picture before I ate all of these new FAB cookies!

I first discovered the recipe in the author’s baking biography and then watched her Internet video of how to prepare them. The only changes I made was I only had a local quality chocolate bar in the pantry (72% cocoa) so used it instead of Lindt. I also used all honey instead of sugar so that’s ¼ cup + 2 Tblsp honey but did use sugar to roll them. I got 40 small cookies.

I felt the dough wasn’t thick enough nor hard enough after chilling so added a bit more ground almonds & melted chocolate. Next time I’ll cut back on the butter; maybe just use 1 Tblsp as the 3 seemed to create too thin a chocolate mixture. This may have been the fault of not using Lindt. Otherwise it was an easy recipe to make up. You just need to plan ahead to make then; then chill, then roll, freeze, roll again & bake. As I rolled them in my hands, I don’t have a cookie scoop; I got Jim to roll them in sugar ~ sure helped. I now have about 25 in the freezer to bake anytime and baked about 15 in my toaster oven. They are divine! Slightly crunchy on the outside and so soft inside they are morish!

Starry Starry Nights 180C 10 mins (turn tray after 5 mins) 40-60 mini cookies

2 large eggs
¼ cup plus 1 Tblsp caster sugar (additional for dipping)
1 Tblsp honey
235 g chocolate – bittersweet Lindt
3 Tblsp butter
175 g ground almonds
½ tsp salt
1 Tblsp cocoa powder

Using electric beaters combine eggs, sugar & honey in a bowl. Beat on high until mixture reaches a thick ribbon stage, about 5 minutes on fairly high speed (she said use whisk attachment, I don’t have one).

Melt chocolate & butter together & cool slightly.

Toss almond flour, salt & cocoa in a bowl until combined; add to chocolate and mix until fully combined.

Add a quarter of whipped egg mixture to the chocolate to lighten. Stir until no egg is visible. Fold the rest of the egg mixture into the chocolate until well combined, being careful to keep aerated.

Cover & chill until very firm, at least 1 hour.

Place a few tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl. Using smallest cookie scooper (melon baller size, tsp size spoon) scoop cookies, create dense, solid balls & dip into sugar, place on parchment lined tray. Freeze uncovered until very hard, an hour or two, until they are rock solid! Can keep in freezer & bake another day!

Just before baking dip each cookie into sugar again. Bake 10 minutes, turning tray around after 5 mins to ensure even baking. Cookies should be slightly cracked but the sugar shouldn’t be browned.

Gesine Bullock-Prado recipe from “Confections of a closet master baker” 2009.

Triple Chocolate Pecan Cookies

1 cup gluten free flour ( 1/3 quinoa, 1/3 almond, 1/3 tapioca )
1 cup pecan meal
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 Tbsp gluten free cocoa powder (Green & Blacks)
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup milk chocolate chips
½ cup soft butter
½ cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg


Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.


Combine the dry ingredients: gluten free flour, pecan meal, xanthan gum, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, pecans and chocolate chips. Mix well.


In a stand mixer, using the paddle, whip the butter and honey together until they are smooth. Add the egg and continue to whip until it is well incorporated. Add the honey and vanilla. On a slow speed, gradually add the dry ingredients a bit at a time until the mixture forms a well blended cookie dough.
Note: This can be done in a standard mixing bowl with spoon or with a hand mixer.


Drop the cookie dough onto the parchment paper by the spoonful. Leave some space in between for them to expand. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes on the middle rack in the oven.


Remove to a cooling rack. The cookies are tender when they first come out of the oven so treat them gently. They will firm up as they cool.


Makes 2 dozen delicious cookies

Ice Cream Season

I know it’s ice cream season because:
A) the trees now have leaves
B) we have harvested rhubarb from the garden
C) it’s hot enough to put on the air conditioner
D) the robins have nested in the gazebo
E) all of the above!

I’ll bet you didn’t guess I was a teacher, did you? Seriously, it is the time of year when I want something cold and refreshing. It seems to me that ice cream would be an excellent vehicle for bringing fresh fruit to my lips. So, I have begun to give the whole ice cream topic a bit of consideration. Continue Reading…

Cooking Can Be Fun!

My mother recently sent me a recipe that she had received from a friend in an email. It sounded like so much fun, I just couldn’t resist trying it. Of course I had to covert it to a gluten free recipe, but that was easily accomplished by exchanging the wheat flour for almond flour or meal. It was such a huge success that I shared it with family and friends. It’s quick and easy. You cook it in the microwave. From beginning to end the entire process takes about five minutes! Just imagine yummy chocolate cake ready in minutes. Continue Reading…

Delectably Decadent

Definition: decadent – in a state of moral or cultural decay; self indulgent. Oh yes! That’s how I feel about good chocolate. Chocolate that’s so rich that it makes your taste buds moan with ecstasy. Chocolate that’s so divine it causes riotous rushes of endorphins to stampede across your brain in total abandon. Now that makes life worth living! Continue Reading…

Tackling the Sweet Tooth

© Liana Brittain 2008

I confess. I have a sweet tooth. I want a little something sweet at the end of a meal. When I’m working and want a quick break, I crave something sweet. I’m not talking about half a layer cake, an entire tub of ice cream, or a whole bag of cookies. I mean a square of chocolate or a hard candy: something small, something sweet. If it’s also decedent, so much the better. Continue Reading…