gluten-free banana bread muffins

Today, was one of those days. I woke up knowing I had SO much stuff to work on, and that is never a good start to any day. I skipped my workout which didn't help either. Since it's the end of the school year for me {2.MORE.WEEKS.}, I'm jamming as much as I can into every single day. Exhibit A) Today, I did a science test, an english quiz, a geography quiz, 2 science lessons, an english lesson, a geography lesson, 2 bible lessons, about 5 algebra lessons, and read a couple of chapters of my book for English. I didn't even finish everything I need to, but when your clock reads 4 o'clock and you've been working since 6:30, I think it's a sign to shut the computer and go talk about muffins instead. On the computer. AHHMEHHLIFE.

Anyways, yesterday, my family was gone for the day, so I decided to have a friend over to bake with! I'm going to be honest, I really don't like baking with people. Ever since I was little, I've always loved being in the kitchen alone. Cooking and baking is my stress-reliever. Having people around just doesn't help. I remember going to a friend's house when I was little and baking cookies and we got in a fight over who was going to mix the batter. From then on, let's just say I'm a WHISKINGPOWERHUNGRYBEAST. Just kidding. {?}

 We had a blast baking and chatting and singing and dancing  and stuffing our throats with muffins. Ah, what fun. I did the math to see how many calories are in each muffin, and according to my calculations {I'm stroking my imaginary beard. LOOK, GUYS!}, they're about 80 cals each. Yes, this is real life. Turns out, using GF flour is the way to go. It smashes all those calories and says "You're not the boss of me!" … Kinda like me in the kitchen! ha. Along with the muffins, I made some gluten free brownies. They were awesome, but I have some work to do before I post a recipe :)

I was so happy with how these muffins turned out! I was worried when I read that gluten-free baked goods can sometimes have a weird gummy texture and odd flavors. Seriously, the night before the day I planned to make these, I had nightmares that they turned out like little hockey pucks. Yum. these muffins tasted exactly like my regular banana muffins and had a great texture. They didn't turn out gummy at all, but were super dense and moist. AND for like a quarter of the calories which means you can eat three and that's a breakfast under 250 calories! WIN!

gluten-free banana bread muffins

4 ripe bananas, mashed

1 c. plain yogurt

3/4 c. dark brown sugar 

2 tbsp. honey

2 tsp. vanilla

1 large egg {at room temperature}

1 c. favorite gluten-free flour {The stuff I found at the store was a mix of corn flour, brown rice flour, tapioca flour, and xanthan gum}

1/2 c. almond meal {or almond flour. Mine was pretty coarsely ground so there were some chunks.}

1 c. gluten free oats

1 1/4 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400ºF. In a large bowl, combine bananas, yogurt, egg, honey, vanilla, and brown sugar. Stir in flour, almond meal, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Scoop batter into a greased muffin tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool a couple minutes before removing from pan with a knife to a wire rack. 

coconut almond cranberry granola

Whoa.

I've made a lot of granola in my day. And I mean a lot. But any recipes I've made in the past have nothing on this. {"They got nooooothin' on YOUUUUU, baaabay. Nothin' on YOUUUUU babayyy."}

For the span of my 15 years, I've been on the journey of looking for the perfect granola recipe that would yield a chewy, crunchy texture. Of course all the other recipes are awesome!

But this one is awesomer.

Thanks to the generous amount of honey, I got JUST the perfect texture- sticky, chewy, and a little crunchy with the addition of almonds. Top it off with some ice cold milk {I used soy milk} and be prepared to go into a granola-coma. Especially if you eat half the batch in a day which I may or may not have done. 

I blame it on stress.

When I'm stressed, I make food. When I make food, I eat food. When I eat food, I eat a lot of food. When I eat a lot of food, I feel bad about it. It's a vicious cycle, I tell you!

Thank goodness for my wondrous justifying skills. 

I shouldn't feel bad about it though, because granola is supposedly healthy. Although I'm not really sure if that applies when you eat approximately 10.75 servings. 

Huh.

I'm totally thinking I should have made a bigger batch of this stuff. Sure it yields about four and a half cups of granola, but let's be real. I could eat half a batch, 10 days a week.

You have been warned.

coconut almond cranberry granola 

1 1/2 c. oats

2 tbsp. oil {canola or olive is fine}

3/4 c. honey

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/4 c. desiccated coconut

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 c. dried cranberries

1/2 c. almonds, roughly chopped 

Preheat oven to 375ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine oats, coconut, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add honey, olive oil, and honey. Stir until combined. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake, mixing around every 3-5 minutes. Once it's been in the oven for 15-20 minutes, remove from oven and add cranberries and almonds. Bake for another 5-10 minutes or until golden brown. 

Strawberry Almond Layered Cake with Almond Buttercream

 Alright peoples. This is THE surprise. In'it purty? I think so too. I've gotten better at making layered cakes so I feel more confident baking one… There's WAY a lot of good recipes out there and ideas that I'm so excited to try out!

THIS cake is amazing. Pretty, delicious, {pretty delicious.} moist, and fluffy. My mom said it tasted like her grandma's cake! Which is an awesome comment from what I hear. AAAANNNNDDDDDDDD! the best part? It's tinted pink. I'm sure you ALL know I'm obsessed with the color pink. Have you seen the new design? ha. It smells pretty dang delicious too. {the cake not the design} When it was baking in the oven, my house smelled like what I imagine Strawberry Shortcake's cute little strawberry house would smell like. YUM.

Since being in Africa, we've had trouble finding fresh berries. Part of it could be that we're actually in WINTER here {although it's totally getting Africanly hot now. YUCK}, so they're technically not in season. I'm REALLY hoping that when summer rolls around, there will be a better selection of berry-liciousness gracing the shelves. The strawberries at the store of gotten cheaper, bigger, and better lately. So when we were grocery shopping, I grabbed a container having nothing specific in mind.

I told you all last weekend, when we reached 300 followers {YEAH!}, I would umm… reward you I guess? I had a cake in mind. So it was no doubt I would man up and brave the layered cake this week. My mom said we had company coming today, so I would have someone to EAT it all up. WIN!

Today's been one of those days… One of those days where I didn't get dressed, shower, brush my teeth, ya da ya da ya da, until like 2:00. If company wasn't coming over, I probably wouldn't at all. Gross, I know. Forgive me! We're friends right? 

Good. Then go run to your kitchen. Make this. And thank me later. 

Strawberry Almond Layered Cake with Almond Buttercream 

Strawberry Almond Cake


1 cup {2 sticks} butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for pans
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 cup low-fat strawberry yogurt
2 c. fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and chopped

Almond Buttercream

1/2 c. butter, softened
6 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. almond extract
a drop of red food coloring {optional}

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour two 8-by-2-inch cake pans, tapping out excess flour. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time and add in the almond extract. Mix in the strawberry yogurt until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until combined.Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. Bake until cakes pull away from sides of pans, 32 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pans 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto a wire rack. Let cool completely. Place one cake, bottom side up, on a cake stand. Tuck strips of parchment paper underneath. Prepare the frosting by mixing all of the ingredients together until smooth. Add more powdered sugar or milk as needed. Spread around the frosting on the first layer of cake. Repeat the same process with the next layer.

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