Being on a gluten-free diet obviously limits one’s baking options—sometimes it can be hard to think beyond Rice Krispie Treats. I’ve been a baker since my freshman year in high school. When I found out I had Celiacs, I was working as the Head Baker at a local store, I tried to find easy and simple ways to make gluten free baked goods. C’mon, who wouldn’t miss those fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookies?
My solution: Prepared mixes. If you really wanted to, you could buy expensive gluten free flours and make things from scratch. However, when you find yourself in need of that chocolate cake fix, mixes are the way to go.
Before I share one of the easiest recipes for fall, let me tell you really quickly what it’s like to bake with gluten-free items. When baking from scratch: you will need to over-mix, as gluten-free products do not rise as much as “normal” foods containing wheat. Another tip: you can take any recipe you want and just substitute g-f flours for the white/wheat flour and you will get a similar outcome. Pretty great news for those of us on gluten-free diets! I used to see delectable recipes for goodies like pumpkin espresso bread recipe online and think “I’ll never be able to eat this…” but by replacing the flour, voila! My taste buds and cravings are satisfied.
I was home in Columbus this weekend and made a Costco run, where I found a giant package of g-f spice cake mix. Since Saturday was the first day of autumn, I knew I needed to put the mix to good use right away! Furthermore, being a busy college student I needed to make it easy and quick. You can’t get much easier than three ingredients: a 29 oz pumpkin puree, 2 bags of spice cake mix, and 2 eggs. That’s it.
I added dark chocolate chip chunks and walnuts (and later on a marshmallow/cream cheese glaze), but all you need are three main ingredients. After mixing by hand (you don’t even need a mixer for this!), separate the dough into a lined cupcake pan (though this might be difficult to find in some dorms since dorm kitchens can be notorious for disappearing items) and bake them for 27-30 minutes. This mix produces an abundance of muffins: I made 24. It’s easy, and you’ll have muffins to last you a while! However, keep in mind that they will dry out, so store them in the freezer if you have one and just heat them up when you’re craving something sweet.
Have a great beginning of fall, collegiettes! Stay warm and enjoy your morning autumn snacks!