Gluten-free Banana Bars with Salted Caramel Frosting

Last week, it was my close friend's wedding reception. When she asked me to make her wedding cake, I could have not been happier. The only catch was that the cake couldn't contain gluten or chocolate (she is allergic to both).

But I was up for the challenge. Due to my intolerance to wheat and dairy, I have had plenty of experience baking all sorts of gluten-free/dairy-free sweet treats in the kitchen. (Not a lot of gluten-free wedding cakes, though.)

I ended up making a vanilla gluten-free wedding cake with a peanut butter filling and a salted caramel frosting. It turned out to be quite beautiful. Definitely one of my favorites: click here for more of my wedding cakes.

Long story short, I had plenty of leftover salted caramel frosting. And what do you do when you are overrun with overripe bananas? Banana bars of course. The combination sounded perfect!

Gluten-free Banana Bars

1 cup white sugar

1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (about 2 large)

1/3 cup vegetable oil (or coconut oil)

2 eggs

1 cup gluten-free flour mix (I prefer 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill GF all purpose and 1/2 cup white rice flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder (GF certified)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

a pinch of xanthan gum

1. Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease bottom and sides of 9x13-inch glass baking dish, with shortening (or coconut oil). In large bowl (or your stand mixer), mix together sugar, bananas, oil and eggs. 
2. Stir in the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the xanthan gum. Spread in pan.
3. Bake the bars for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely and then top with salted caramel frosting.

Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter (I used dairy-free margarine), softened

1/4 + teaspoon salt (add more to your liking)

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon milk (if needed)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon rum extract

1/4 teaspoon coconut extract

1. In a bowl whip butter for 10 seconds. Beat in powdered sugar, until blended. Add the extracts (and milk) and beat until smooth and creamy.
2. Spread onto banana bars.

Coconut Curry Noodle Soup

Tonight was so much fun.

Because...

1. Devin and I only spent 1 hour at the store buying groceries, rather than the 2 hours we wasted last week. Go us!
2. I made a really good coconut curry soup for dinner.
3. Devin loved it, and ate 3 bowls of it. Score.

As you can see, my night was quite wonderful :)

Oh, and did I mention that we ate by candlelight?

Hahaaa...what can I say? We are hopeless romantics? (or at least Devin is)

Coconut Curry Noodle Soup

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped shallots (or onions)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon Thai curry paste (yellow or red or Panang) 
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon Thai hot chili sauce
• 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1 cup (1/2-inch cubes) peeled red-skinned sweet potato
• 1 cup (1/2-inch cubes) red potato
• 1/2 pound rice stick noodles
• 1 skinless boneless chicken thigh, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1 cup (coarsely chopped) red bell pepper
• 1 cup (coarsely chopped) green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic; stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in curry paste, curry powder, and sweet chili sauce. Add 1/2 can coconut milk. Stir until thick and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add remaining coconut milk, broth, fish sauce, and sugar; bring to a boil. Turn off heat, but leave a lid on to keep warm.
2. Cook diced sweet potato in a pot of boiling water (or in the microwave) until soft. Strain water and set aside in a separate bowl. Now cook the diced red potato in that same pot of boiling water (or in the microwave) until soft. Strain water and set in the same bowl as the sweet potato. Use that same pot to boil the rice noodles for about 3-5 minutes (until barely tender). Strain water from noodles and set aside.
3. Bring coconut broth to low boil. Add chicken, bell peppers and sliced onion. Place lid on saucepan and cook on medium to medium-low heat, until chicken is cooked through (about 10 minutes). Add sweet potato, red potato, and rice noodles; stir to heat through, about 1 minute. Divide noodles among bowls. Garnish with green onions and cilantro. Eat up!

**Inspired by this recipe.

apple cinnamon pancakes (gluten-free & dairy-free)

Good morning!

Today I woke up with a goal: I was going to eat apple cinnamon pancakes for breakfast, no matter what. My life depended on it.

When I looked in my fridge, I found this delicious pancake batter, just begging to be cooked up. Already-made pancake batter? How did that get there? 

[Okay, so actually I made these pancakes for dinner last night. They were so good that I dreamed about them. Yes, I had sweet pancake dreams. And just so you know, pre-made pancake batter is like the best thing in the world, because it makes life so easy. And life should be easy sometimes. Well at least I think so.]

Isn't this just the greatest sight in the whole world? Pancakes--delicate, bubbling, lovely golden pancakes. It's hard for me to wait until they're done. Sometimes I try to pick them up with my hands and I burn myself. Apparently I never learn because I do it every single time. [I'm pretty pathetic.] 

I thought that by adding apples, the pancakes would be underdone and all gross with soggy apples. Boy oh boy, was I ever wrong.

Brown sugar, apples, and cinnamon? You can't have one without the others. It's impossible, I tell you.

Two? Only two? You have got to be kidding me. You will need at least 5 more to be satisfied.

That's much better.

I was inspired by this recipe to make these.
My version is better, of course :)
Just  kidding, but really...mine is better.


Apple Cinnamon Pancakes (gluten-free & dairy-free)

• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1 cup white rice flour
• 1/2 cup corn starch (or potato/arrowroot starch)
• 5 tablespoons cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups almond milk (or soy/coconut/rice milk)
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 apple, cored and chunked

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl (but leave out the apple pieces). Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ones. Stir with a whisk, for about 30 more seconds. Set aside the batter. (Note: if your batter is looking too thick: add more milk; if it is too thin: add a shake of xanthan gum or a bit more rice flour.)
2. Heat up a griddle/skillet on medium-heat. Spray griddle with oil. Use a 1/4 measuring cup to make your pancakes. Once you pour the batter on the griddle, lay apples pieces on each pancake, sprinkle them with brown sugar, and then shake on some cinnamon (sparingly).  
3. Let the pancakes cook until you see bubbles forming on the outside. Once more bubbles form, flip the pancakes immediately. Let them cook on the opposite side (apple side) for only about 1-2 minutes. 
4. Remove them from the griddle, top them with butter (or margarine), and drizzle them with pure maple syrup.

After your first bite, you will feel like you have died and gone to heaven.
Plus your house will smell like autumn, cinnamon, apple pie, and all things good.
And who doesn't want that?

autumn fall awesomeness

Do you love autumn?
I do.
And if you don't, you should.
Why?
Because there are so many things to be grateful for!

family, friends, school, the crunchy colorful leaves, the feel of the crisp morning air, smoke billowing from houses, the smell of pumpkin goodies in the kitchen, scarves, boots, long socks, hot apple cider...

Have I mentioned that I LOVE autumn?

The other day I was browsing along, looking at other blogs like usual, and I found something spectacular...this little thing called the 30 Day Photo Challenge.

Basically how it works is that for each day in November, you take a picture of something you are grateful for. That's it. What a neat way to document what you cherish in life :)

I found this on a blog called: Positively Present

Click on the link below to see the post on the 30 Day Photo Challenge...

http://www.positivelypresent.com/2011/11/zoom-in-on-gratitude-30-day-photo-challenge.html

I think it's a really cool idea.
That's why I decided to participate.
And you should too!

Click here to see my daily pictures!
On Flickr...
Or Pinterest...
Whatever floats your boat.

Here are a few of my pictures, however I am not going to post all of them until the end of the challenge (AKA the end of November).

 Day 6: Books

 Day 8: Favorite Color

Day 4: Leaves

Join the fun!
It will be well worth it.