Gluten-Free Halloween Treats

Are you looking for some fresh ideas on Gluten-free Halloween treats?  Here are a few ideas for you...

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BRAINS         (15 macaroons)

(COCONUT MACAROONS)

These are delicious—and they really look like brains!

3 egg whites

1 cup raw sugar (coconut or demerara sugar), pulverized

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 ½ cups dry unsweetened coconut flakes

(for decorating)

8 ounces (240 grams) good quality chocolate

2 ounces (60 grams) Royal Icing

red food coloring

knife

icing piping bag with #2 and #3 tips

Preheat the oven to 325F (162C).

Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.

Add the sugar and vanilla and beat to combine well.

Carefully fold the coconut flakes into the egg mixture.

Using a tablespoon, drop the batter onto the lined baking tray, making sure that each cookie has an oval shape.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes.

Let the cookies cool completely before decorating.

To Decorate

When the cookies have cooled, melt the chocolate in a bowl, over simmering water.

Using the back of a knife, draw a line down the center of each cookie. (Make sure you don’t cut all the way through the cookie to the bottom.)

Color the Royal Icing a deep red, put it into the piping bag, and, using the #3 tip, draw a red line in the indention at the cookie’s center.

Now, put the thinner (#2) tip on the piping bag and replace the icing with the melted chocolate. Trace little squiggles across the top of the cookie to replicate the brain.

Once the cookies are dry, they’re ready to eat!

ROYAL ICING (covers 6 – 8 cookies)

As we’ve said, most of the cookies in this book are decorated with Royal Icing.

You can also purchase prepared Royal Icing powder and add water, but it isn’t that difficult to make the icing from scratch.

If you have concerns about eating raw egg, then you should use pasteurized egg white for this icing, as it isn’t cooked.

1 large egg white (could be pasteurized)

1½ cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg white for a few seconds before adding the sugar and half of the lemon juice. The icing’s consistency should be smooth and heavy cream-like. Add the remaining lemon juice (and more if you feel it’s needed) one drop at a time. You may also add more sugar to suit your liking.

Just a few drops of liquid, more or less, will alter the icing’s consistency.

We recommend a thicker icing for outlining the cookie, and thinner icing for filling out the inside.

WICKED WITCHES

(CARROT CUPCAKES)

8-12 cupcakes

Wicked Witch is our theme for these cupcakes, which we deck out in three distinct forms: the witch’s legs, her hat, and her broom.

1 cup quinoa flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon powder

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/3 cup raw coconut oil or softened butter

½ cup raw sugar (coconut or demerara sugar)

2 table spoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

4 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs or 3 medium eggs

1 ½  cups raw, grated fresh carrots

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans

(for decoration)

Cream Cheese Frosting (see recipe below)

thin-bladed knife

For fondant other materials needed, see each set of decorating instructions.

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).

Line a muffin pan with paper cupcake cases.

Sieve the flours, baking soda, salt, and spices into a bowl; mix; and set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat the oil or butter, sweeteners, lemon juice, orange juice, and vanilla until the mixture is light and creamy.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture in batches, alternating with the eggs.

Stir in the carrots and nuts. Mix well.

Pour the batter into the cupcake cases, filling each ¾ full.

Bake 15 – 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter, softened (1/2 stick)

6 ounces (170 grams) cream cheese, softened

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until the mixture is silky. Add the sugar and vanilla, and continue beating. Don’t stop until frosting is perfectly smooth.

To Decorate

Once the cupcakes are cool, frost them. The decorating instructions below cover 4 cupcakes for each of the variations, but if you make your cupcakes big, you may have only 8 to decorate. Then you’ll have to decide.

For the Witches’ Brooms, you need to assemble these materials:

2 ounces (60 grams) brown fondant

4 ounces (120 grams) orange fondant

4 lollipop sticks

Begin making the brooms by dividing the brown fondant into 4 pieces with a little left over. Roll and smooth one of these pieces of brown fondant around a lollipop stick. Divide the orange fondant into four pieces, roll one of them out in a thin rectangle. With a knife, cut strips to about a ½ inch from the edge of the rectangle.

Wrap the orange fondant “brush” around the covered stick and—like magic!—it’s a broom. Wrap a little strip of brown fondant around the base of the broom for detail.

For the Witches’ Hats, you will need to have on hand

5 ounces (150 grams) black fondant

2 ounces (60 grams) orange fondant

Divide the black fondant into 6 pieces, and then shape one of these into a circle and another into a cone. Cut the cone in half and place at the center of the circle. Fold the circle in half. Use the marzipan to add a band around the base of the hat.

Keep a few strips of the orange fondant you used for the broom. Use these on the cupcake as the witches’ hair.

For the Witches’ Legs, to decorate 4 cupcakes, you will need

8 lollipop sticks

2 ounces (60 grams) orange fondant

2 ounces (60 grams) purple fondant

4 ounces (120 grams) black fondant

purple sugar glitter

Roll two long, thin strips in two different colors. If you like, you can add sugar glitter for extra magic.

Wrap the strips tightly around the lollipop sticks. Now you’ve got the legs in their stockings.

Shape the boots with black fondant and put them on the ends of the 4 sticks, Wet the boots a little and sprinkle on the glitter for some added va va voom!

The Barrios family has published the first gluten-free dessert book using all natural ingredients: SPOOKtacular Gluten-Free Halloween Desserts. The book has been well received and has debuted at #3 for Halloween cookbooks on Amazon.

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