THE BEST GLUTEN FREE CAKE

by | May 24, 2017 | Gluten Free, Recipes

THE BEST GLUTEN FREE CAKE

If you are gluten free I am sure you have searched for the perfect pound cake recipe.

I am so excited to share this new lemon raspberry cake with you all! It is everything you dreamed of: light, spongy, citrusy, naturally sweet, balanced, super easy and fast to make and the glaze is dreamy. Thanks to Maskal Teff™ for sponsoring this post!!  All opinions are my 100 % my own. Thank you for continuing to support the brands who make Vanessa Musi possible!

When Maskal Teff™ reached out to me and asked me to create a Master Pound Cake recipe using their amazing teff flours, I was dreaming up ways to highlight their Ivory Teff four which is a fascinating ancient grain that has so many health benefits you wouldn’t believe it. I had baked with brown teff flour before but had not explored Ivory teff flour until my husband Erin and I discovered the most amazing Ivory Teff tortillas in the super market when we decided to go gluten free and that is how I found Maskal Teff™.

I wanted to create something new and I was inspired by the French Pastry Cakes de Voyage (travel Cakes) made with almond flour. The best recipes are those you can adapt and personalize don’t you think?

Teff is a nutritional power horse! It is an ancient grain, loaded with fiber, protein, all 9 essential amino acids, rich in calcium and iron and really a great ancient grain to add to your flour repertoire. Especially when you want to add more nutrient dense flours to your recipes. It bakes very well!

Here are my tips:  (note all opinions are mine) to use teff in your recipes use only half of the what your recipe calls for of flour: add in lighter flours like I did: such as almond flour, a gluten free flour blend (I made my own: recipe below) or use spelt or a starchy flour to lighten the teff flour. It also bakes best with moist ingredients such as buttermilk, yogurt, coconut milk, olive oil. Please note: all opinions are my own.

 

5.0 from 5 reviews
The Best Gluten Free Cake
 
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A lovely easy to make, moist, light, gluten free cake made with ivory teff flour
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 1 medium cake
Ingredients
  • Ingredients: Makes: 1 medium cake
  • 3 eggs: large, organic, pasture raised at room temperature
  • 75 grams coconut sugar, Stir Sweetener or organic cane sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ½ cup coconut oil or ghee, melted
  • ¼ cup buttermilk or almond milk
  • 50 grams almond flour
  • 80 gr Maskal Teff Ivory flour
  • 20 gr tapioca starch aka tapioca flour
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder (at high altitude use half a teaspoon)
  • optional flavors: zest of 2 lemons or 1 orange or 1 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon

  • Variations: add in ingredients: 1 cup berries: raspberries, or blueberries or cherries or mixed berries or frozen cranberries or chocolate chunks or pecans

  • To sprinkle before baking optional
  • ¼ cup raw blanched silvered almonds

  • To decorate:
  • Coconut milk powder to decorate




Method
  1. Method:
  2. Preheat convection oven to 345 F, (173 C)
  3. Grease a medium size loaf cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
  4. Sift almond flour, teff flour, tapioca flour, baking powder + salt.
  5. In a mixer with a whisk mix egg, vanilla, maple syrup, sweetener of choice at medium speed until fluffy (it won’t double in volume) add coconut oil and mix until combined. Add buttermilk or almond milk just to combine.
  6. Add the sifted flour mix and combine. Add the zest of choice or nothing and mix.
  7. Add the add in ingredients of choice (reserve a few to put on top of the cake), mix batter lightly with a plastic spatula.
  8. Pour batter onto prepared cake pan.
  9. Put the almonds on top, sprinkle some of the reserved add ins and bake until a toothpick comes out clean. Aprox 35 mins: time will depend on your pan, oven and add in ingredients. Remove from
  10. Note: you can also decorate the cake with a Millenium pink raspberry glaze:
  11. cup coconut milk powder sifted
  12. ¼ cup powdered Swerve: sifted
  13. ⅛ teaspoon vanilla powder
  14. ¼ cup crushed raspberries crushed and strained
  15. Mix in a bowl with a whisk until combined: check consistency it might need more liquid or thicken with more coconut milk powder.
Notes
Gluten Free flour blend: mix then measure what the recipe requires
¾ cup brown rice flour must be superfine (I use Bobs Red Mill)
¼ cup potato starch
⅛ cup white rice flour must be superfine (I use Bobs Red Mill)
⅛ cup tapioca starch

 

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HEALTHY OATMEAL COOKIES OF MY DREAMS

by | Mar 22, 2017 | Gluten Free, Recipes

HEALTHY OATMEAL COOKIES OF MY DREAMS

Oatmeal cookies have always been my favorite travel cookies since I started doing recipe development for Starbucks Mexico in 2001.

We made multiple recipes for that project and they were delicious but so sugar loaded that it was unreal. I have since tweaked and adapted countless recipes and now that I am 95% gluten free (except for specific recipe testing) I wanted a killer oatmeal cookie recipe that was balanced, chewy, not too sweet, not oily, not sugar coated and not dry or cardboard tasting. My goal is to give you Master Recipes that will be your go to recipes you can build upon and do your own variation. If I had a bakery this would be my cookie of choice. I have not made this cookie vegan or dairy free yet: so before you guys ask me that question: please try my vegan oatmeal cookies (those are not gluten free) or try swapping the butter for vegan butter and egg for a flax egg. The Date Lady gave me the most amazing dates that taste like caramel and this inspired me to create a turtle version using her dates, pecans, chocolate and Maldon Salt. 

4.5 from 6 reviews
Oatmeal cookies of my dreams
 
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GLUTEN FREE LOW SUGAR OATMEAL COOKIES Author: Vanessa Musi Serves: 16 cookies (made with a medium scoop size #24)
Author:
Serves: 16 medium
Ingredients
  • ½ teaspoon (2 gr) fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon (4 gr) (optional)
  • ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg or tonka bean (0.5 gr) (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda (at high altitude use ½ teaspoon)
  • 1 cup butter, unsalted (225 gr) (I love grass fed butter) at room temperature
  • 1 ¼ cups coconut sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon (5 gr) vanilla
  • 3 cups gluten free oats
  • 1 cup gluten free flour such as Bobs Red Mill GF All Purpose Flour (blue label only)
  • ½ cup The Date Lady chopped dates
  • ½ cup 70 % chocolate chopped
  • ⅓ cup chopped pecans
  • Maldon salt to sprinkle on top
  • Variations: substitute dried cherries, yellow raisins, dried apricots chopped for the dates
Method
  1. Pre heat oven to 340 F or 170 C. Line 2 baking trays with Silpats.
  2. In a medium bowl: sift flour + baking soda, salt and spices.
  3. In a mixer with a paddle attachment: beat butter + coconut sugar until combined well (the goal is just to blend: not aerate as the cookies will spread if you do so).
  4. Add vanilla and egg and mix well. Add oats and combine. Add sifted flour mix and stir well. Add dates, chocolate, pecans, or desired add ins and mix well. Shape cookies with a scoop (I use a size #24) and place onto prepared cookie sheets: I place 4 lengthwise X 3 crosswise and flatten them out lightly. Sprinkle with Maldon Salt. Bake until golden for about 8-10 mins. They should be soft and chewy in the middle. Note: as they cool on the tray they will continue to bake, so make sure you don’t over bake them!
  5. Variations: I made these cookies with: pecans, chocolate and dates from The Date Lady and loved this “turtle” combination. I also made these with dried mangos with chile from Mexico and they were awesome!
  6. I also made a mix of yellow raisins, dates, dried apricots and added “unpumpkin” pie spice from The Raw Spice Bar to the cookies and they were amazing. I added 1 teaspoon instead of the cinnamon and nutmeg.
  7. Enjoy!!
  8. Please share the love on your social media and rate the recipe when you make it.
Notes
Gluten Free flour blend: mix then measure what the recipe requires
¾ cup brown rice flour must be superfine (I use Bobs Red Mill)
¼ cup potato starch
⅛ cup white rice flour must be superfine (I use Bobs Red Mill)
⅛ cup tapioca starch

 

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CHEWY HEALTHY BROWNIES – BETTER THAN BOXED BROWNIES

by | Mar 2, 2017 | brownies, Gluten Free, Recipes

CHEWY HEALTHY BROWNIES – BETTER THAN BOXED BROWNIES

These brownies are amazing!

You know when you hit a pot of gold? That is what I felt creating these from scratch. I wanted to develop a chewy (better than boxed brownie) that has a crackly top and is wholesome and #lowsugar, using only premium ingredients.

I literally made hundreds of brownie recipes to develop these.

Note: These brownies are about 1 inch thick, I suggest you get the ⅛ baking tray which is lovely to bake with you can find it on Amazon.

 

5.0 from 2 reviews
GLUTEN FREE DOUBLE CHOCOLATE PECAN BROWNIES
 
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Serves: 12 small or 9 large
Ingredients
  • 95 gr organic coconut oil, melted and warm
  • 1 cup STIR Sweetener or coconut sugar
  • 5 tablespoons/ 40 gr raw cacao powder (I love Viva Naturals) or dutch process European cocoa such as Republica Del Cacao (I personally love using half raw cacao and half dutch process cocoa
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons or 10 gr vanilla
  • 1 ½ eggs, pasture raised, organic (to do this crack an egg, mix well and use only half and add the other whole egg/ the total weight is 83 gr
  • 53 gr Gluten Free Flour (see my recipe below) or use spelt flour if you are not #glutenfree
  • ¼ cup 71% chocolate, chopped (I love and use Republica del Cacao) you could also use pecans or toasted walnuts
  • Pinch of Maldon Salt to sprinkle on top
Method
  1. Lightly grease an ⅛ baking tray or an 8 inch square brownie pan with parchment paper.
  2. Pre-heat oven to 345 F.
  3. Melt oil in microwave or in a pot. Pour into a large bowl, add Stir Sweetener, mix with a whisk by hand (mixture will look very dry and crumbly (don’t worry). Add egg + vanilla, mix well. Add sifted cocoa or cacao with salt and flour. Mix until combined. Batter will be quite thick. With a rubber spatula fold in half of the chocolate chunks (reserve the rest to sprinkle on top). Put batter onto the prepared tray. With an offset metal spatula level the surface. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate and sprinkle the Maldon Salt on top.
  4. Bake for about 15 mins (in convection oven/ normal ovens take a bit longer and please note: baking times vary depending on your oven, pan, cocoa or flour used), check with a toothpick: it should come out with a moist crumb, never dry or too wet. Note: brownies will set as they cool.
  5. Remove from oven and cool for 1 hour.
  6. Remove brownies from pan by lifting the paper.
  7. Cut into 9 or 12 pieces with a sharp chef's knife or serrated knife.
  8. Brownies keep stored in a plastic container such as a recycled washed salad container for about 3 days optimally. Or freeze for longer shelf life.
Notes
Gluten Free flour blend: mix then measure what the recipe requires
¾ cup brown rice flour must be superfine (I use Bobs Red Mill)
¼ cup potato starch
⅛ cup white rice flour must be superfine (I use Bobs Red Mill)
⅛ cup tapioca starch

 

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HEALTHY BLUEBERRY STREUSEL MUFFINS

by | Jan 12, 2017 | Recipes

HEALTHY BLUEBERRY STREUSEL MUFFINS

Happy New Year friends!

This is one of my new favorite go to Muffin recipes of 2016 : so simple, so easy, adaptable and balanced.

I was lucky to find a new sweetener I really like.

You know the saying: when the student is ready, the teacher appears, well this was similar in the sense that after 23 years I was so ready to find a sweetener that fulfilled all my needs: and quite honestly I had used them all and they all had their imperfections. I wanted something naturally sweet, with benefits, easy to use, easy to love: no after taste, no weird ingredients, no adapting recipes, no bitterness. Something better than sugar both for health and in baking: same texture, taste and overall chemistry.

So these killer Muffins are made with Stir Sweetener a coconut sugar blend which I love because it has 37% fewer calories than sugar, has a gram of prebiotic fiber per serving, is a 1:1 replacement for sugar, is suitable for diabetics and tastes so much better than any sweetener I have used in 23 years.

 

BLUEBERRY STREUSEL MUFFINS
 
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Serves: 9
Ingredients
  • 1¾ cup Spelt flour: such as Bobs Red Mill
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder: such as Rumford (note: at high altitude use half)
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 large egg, organic preferably
  • ¾ cup Stir Sweetener
  • ½ cup greek yogurt, unsweetened
  • ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
  • ⅓ cup almond milk
  • 1½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries, wild or conventional
FOR THE STREUSEL:
  • ¼ teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon
  • ¼ cup Spelt flour
  • ¼ cup Stir Sweetener
  • ¼ cup almond flour
  • ¼ cup melted butter
  • 1 generous pinch fine sea salt
  • Zest of ½ lemon
Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 375° F.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and lemon zest (if using).
  3. In a separate large bowl, mix together the egg, vanilla, Stir Sweetener, yogurt, and oil.
  4. Add the dry ingredients and the milk (alternating) to the wet ingredients, mixing to combine with each addition.
  5. Fold in the blueberries with a gentle hand.
MAKE THE STREUSEL:
  1. Combine the cinnamon, salt, lemon zest, flours, salt and Stir Sweetener in a small bowl.
  2. Add the melted butter and mix to form clumps.
ASSEMBLE THE MUFFINS:
  1. Scoop the batter into muffin cups or a greased muffin pan until ¾ full. Top with the streusel.
  2. Bake for about 20 minutes (start checking at 12 minutes) and remove when muffins are golden brown and the berries are bubbling with juice.
  3. Let cool, then remove muffins from the pan and onto a cooling rack or perforated tray.
  4. These muffins keep max for 2 days in a plastic container such as a recycled pre-washed spinach container.
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THE BEST WHOLESOME CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES EVER

by | Nov 24, 2016 | Gluten Free, Recipes, Vegan

THE BEST WHOLESOME CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES EVER

Seriously. I am NOT exaggerating. We all have a claim to fame recipe for sure. But really I have made many and have gone through my fair share of chocolate chip cookie recipe testing for bakeries and for my personal classes,  even for Starbucks Mexico. I always dreamed of a “killer” chocolate chip cookie that I could eat. I imagined the chewy but crispy texture and the perfect balance of sweetener, salt, chocolate.. And I was challenged by the fact that these had to be: gluten free, vegan and low sugar. My sister says I was born savoring the world: and every day this makes more sense to me.

So to make a LONG story short and not dwell into too much information or details and get straight to the recipe/ the way I like blogs to be. I have not been eating gluten, sugar or dairy (or at least striving to) due to my psoriasis and a leaky gut I developed after my hip replacement and so many  antibiotics. Did you know that a leaky gut is connected to auto inmune disorders? I have been seeing the documentary called Betrayal which I highly recommend.

This inspired me to create more gut friendly recipes: gluten free, (some grain free) dairy free, vegan, low sugar, soy free for so many people who are have auto inmune disorders, have food allergies or have gut problems.

After 10 recipe trials, a lot of wasted premium ingredients, so many greasy and flat cookies thrown into the garbage, major baking frustration (the kind that does not let me sleep). I was determined to nail this recipe no matter what. More than a craving this was and is my ultimate obsession. And after my Bday trip to NYC last week (and tasting Levain Bakery’s cookies: which sadly were not my favorite at all: way too sweet and I felt terrible after eating just a small piece) I came home and rushed to my test kitchen to challenge the satus quo. I hope you’ll love them as much as I do: because I do believe this recipe is worth GOLD. I couldn’t stop taking photos and really feel ready for my cook book!!

Also please forgive my delay in updating this blog! I spent literally 21 months traveling to almost 30 cities: teaching over 3,000 bakers from NYC to Cancun: and doing all the logistics of the classes by myself! A MAJOR project. So after that intensity and having 2 websites: I made some huge decisions. 1. I closed my group on Facebook (that took soo much time out of my baking) 2. I decided to change ALL this website (new website coming in 2017) and I will have only an English website and focus all my energy into a blog that is consistent and strong 3. I hired a PR firm and we are working on my healthy baking school and a few projects that I am so excited about. 4. I began working with the new sweetener featured in this recipe that I am IN LOVE with: it’s so easy to use, bakes so well, has NO after taste, is naturally sweet, has a great shelf life and is low glycemic.

So these killer chocolate chip cookies  are made with Stir Sweetener a coconut sugar blend which I like because it has 37% fewer calories than sugar, has a gram of prebiotic fiber per serving, is a 1:1 replacement for sugar, is suitable for diabetics and tastes so much better than any sweetener I have used in 23 years.

Stay tuned for more exciting recipes!

This recipe was inspired and adapted a ton from the original chocolate chip recipe from Leila Arcieri, CEO of Stir Sweetener.

THE BEST WHOLESOME CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES EVER!
 
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Author:
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of my gluten free flour: (mix: ½ cup gf oat flour, ¼ cup brown rice flour, ⅛ cup millet flour + ⅛ cup Bobs Red Mill all purpose flour (blue label only)
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda (at high altitude: use ⅛ teaspoon)
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 80 grams organic coconut oil (do not melt/ use the oil in it's firm stage)
  • 1 cup  Stir Sweetener (made with coconut sugar + fiber)
  • 1 flax egg: mix tablespoon (8 grams) freshly ground golden flax seeds) + 3 tablespoons warm water: mix until a thick paste
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla paste (such as Nielsen Massey) or vanilla extract
  • 80 gr 71 % chocolate chopped into chunks (I love and use Republica del Cacao or if you want to lower the glycemic index: I love the 85 % from Milkboy Swiss chocolate
  • Maldon Salt to sprinkle on top (just a few flakes per cookie)
Method
  1. Prepare cookie dough preferably several hours before (please don't skip this stage so that cookies can hydrate, and maintain their shape when baking, if not they will expand!).
  2. In a small bowl: whisk: flours, salt and baking soda.
  3. In a bowl: mix coconut oil, Stir Sweetener, flax egg, vanilla with a whisk by hand. Add the flour and mix until combined. Add the chocolate and mix well. Shape cookies with a #24 scoop and place onto a lined cookie tray with Silpat (I use a half sheet perforated baking tray/ it bakes better, faster). Place cookies with enough space in between. Do not flatten. Freeze for 1 hour or refrigerate for at least 4 hours, alternatively you can shape cookies into balls (with this scoop) and put into ziplock bag) and freeze or chill over night then bake as is the next day.
  4. Bake in a preheated oven (convection preferably) at 345 F (170 C).
  5. Bake for aprox 8-10 mins it will depend on your oven, baking sheet, how thick the cookies are, and how chewy/ crispy you want them. Remember: they will continue to bake as they cool on the baking tray. So you can test one out to see the exact time. I like mine chewy and believe these must be so. Cookies must be golden, soft in the middle, crispy on the outside edges.
  6. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 mins on the tray. Remove cookies with a cookie spatula and if you take out the Silpat your perforated tray becomes a cooling rack! Let cool completely and then store in a cookie tin or a recycled salad container (you know the one in the Supermarkets that has pre washed spinach). Cookies will keep very well up to 4 days optimally at room temperature. Enjoy!!! Please let me know when you make them!
Notes
Share the love and spread the word!
Happy Thanksgiving friends! Love you all!

 

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