I hate it when I read the words, "There really are no words to describe…" My reaction is always, "Really? Really Ms. Writer? No words? That is your job. Go and find the words. When you do, report back to the rest of us. Thanks!"

Well, when I took my first bite of these whoopie pies, I heard myself saying, "Oh my! There are no words." A snack cake rendering me speechless? You know that is one amazing snack cake. I'll try to describe this luscious cake with the admonition: Once you've read the description you must, you must(!), go and bake a pan for yourself.

This is a classic whoopie pie. It's made up of two moist, flavorful, chocolately cakey-cookies held together with sweet, cloud-light icing. If you've never seen a Whoopie Pie (they are popular in the Northeast, especially Maine.) they look like an Oreo Cakester. However, an Oreo-cakester would take one look at these whoopie pies and hide itself in shame. An Oreo-Cakester is a pale, pale imitation of a Whoopie Pie.

The cake recipe contains brown sugar. I know that is a bit surprising. I don't often think of the earthy flavor of molasses as a complement to chocolate. Yet, it works. The molasses flavor fades into the background, adding just a base note and, somehow, amping up the chocolate flavor. You could eat these cakes on their own. But why would you want to? The icing, lovingly, borrowed from the Twinkie Recipe in my cookbook, puts this recipe over the top. WAY over the top. It is sweet and soft with just the slightest hint of vanilla.

Not only are these Whoopie Pies swoon-worthy, they are also easy to make. So, what are you waiting for? Go and find the ingredients and make some Whoopie (Pie)! . . . keep reading

Several months ago I was listening to NPR (National Public Radio). An author was being interviewed who, I thought, had written a book entitled, "Indemnity Slays the Dragon." I could not get my mind around how the heck "indemnity" could slay anyone. I was intrigued.

After a few minutes, I realized the host had said the title was "Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon." Ah! That made sense. Of course an Aunt Dimity could slay a dragon. But indemnity? Now that was crazy!

I kept thinking about the book and, finally, found it at my local bookstore. Turns out "Aunt Dimity" is a series of books written by Nancy T. Atherton. So, instead of starting with "Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon", I picked up the first book in the series, "Aunt Dimity's Death."

Throughout the book (which was a really fun read) oatmeal cookies are mentioned. I won't tell you why but let's just say that I wanted these cookies! Tucked away on the last page was "Beth's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies." (To find out who Beth is and why she made cookies, you will have to read the book.) This recipe just begged me to make it gluten-free! . . . keep reading

Occasionally a recipe wildly exceeds my expectations. This Lemon Chiffon cake is one of those recipes. Chiffon cakes, if you've never tried one, are a cousin to angel food cakes. (Unlike Angel food cakes, Chiffon cakes use egg yolks along with whipped egg whites.) A good chiffon cake should moist and ethereally tender.

This recipe, if I do say so myself, is all of those things and more. It produces a cake that is fair better than any gluten-filled chiffon cake I've ever eaten. The cake is so wonderfully tender and flavorful! My husband said, "It is as light as a cloud." To which I replied, "I don't think clouds are this light. It is lighter than a cloud."

When one starts comparing a recipe to clouds, you know they are in love. . . . keep reading

When I first started baking gluten-free, about 11 years ago, I never would have imagined that gluten-free eaters would be including oats in their diets. Boy have things changed! Now gluten-free oats are available and companies are starting to use oats in gluten-free products. During the recent Price Chopper event in Lake George, one of the vendors handed me a box of "Glenny's Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin" cookies and said, "Try these I think you will like them."

It always makes me a little nervous when people "think" I will like something because, honestly, they often miss the mark. (With the exception of my husband. He knows pretty well what foods I will enjoy.)

I accepted the box of cookies . . . keep reading

The box of "Glutino Gluten Free Vegetable Crackers" had been sitting on my desk for some time. For some reason, I wasn't moved to tear into the box. Perhaps it was the three tomatoes pictures on the front cover. Tomato-flavored crackers? Hmmm, I wasn't sure if they would be any good. So on my desk they sat.

Finally, I opened the box. . . . keep reading

This recipe is for Kyle. After I posted Laurie's Almond Poppy Seed Bread recipe, Kyle asked me for a recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin. He told me that Lemon Poppy Seed muffins were his favorite breakfast treat prior to his diagnosis.

This recipe makes wonderfully moist, sweet muffins with a "pop" of lemon flavor. Kyle has already tried the recipe and loves it! I hope you do too! . . . keep reading

As I've mentioned before, my baking is inspired by many different things. This recipe was inspired by my desire to create a small batch recipe for cupcakes. I realize that cupcake recipes that yield 24 cupcakes might be too large for some members.

And I didn't want to stop there. Sure a small batch is fine but, remember, I wrote the book on Easy Gluten-Free Baking (bad pun. sorry!). So not only did I want the recipe to be small; I wanted it to be easy. And it doesn't get much easier than this recipe. "How easy is it Elizabeth?" I hear you asking. This recipe is so easy that it doesn't even require an eclectic mixer. That's right! You can dump all the ingredients into a bowl and mix them together with a wooden spoon.

Now I don't want you to think these cupcakes are only for folks, like me, who don't have big families. These cupcakes are for everyone who loves cupcakes. They are delicate with a fantastic vanilla flavor.

And if you have a big family, you can always double the recipe!

By the way, my husband loves these cupcakes iced with chocolate icing. What icing do you like on vanilla cupcakes? Let's talk about it in the discussion forum. . . . keep reading

It might seem odd that I am posting a recipe for Brown Sugar Maple Cupcake Bites in March. Many people associate the flavor of maple with fall. Not me. Maple is one of those flavors that I love all year long. In fact, I find myself thinking about maple in the spring more than any other season.

As I drive around my community, I see lots of Sugar Maple Trees with plastic tubes and buckets attached to their bases. Why? People are collecting sap! It is a wonderful sign of spring. While I have never collected sap myself, my husband and I had a chance to see sap running the other day. During a walk, we heard "drip, drip, drip." Now it hadn't rained for days. As the sound grew louder we both spied a tree dripping sap from a broken limb. (Sadly we had a terrible ice storm this year that destroyed lots of beautiful trees.)

After that walk, the thought of maple was fresh in my mind. It is amazing to me how clear sap becomes wonderfully sticky, fragrant syrup. I decided that I wanted to create a recipe to honor this time of the year.

I headed into the kitchen and made delightful brown sugar cupcake bites with a maple brown sugar glaze. The cake is so tender; it almost melts in your mouth. I'll admit these cupcakes don't pack a huge maple punch. More like a whisper of maple. I guess this is like the fresh sap that runs in March , not yet full bodied but just enough to delightfully carry you along. . . . keep reading

I thought it was time that gluten-free eaters got in on the fun! So, for the next week, I am celebrating "Cupcake Days" at GlutenFreeBaking.com. I'll be bringing you new, easy and delicious gluten-free cupcakes.

I'm kicking off "Cupcake Days" with a light spring-themed cupcake: Lemon Cupcakes with Lime Icing. The cupcakes are really easy to make. Simply whisk together the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and, boom, you've got a cupcake!

The icing is a nice change of pace from plain vanilla buttercream. I've used lime flavoring (you can use lime juice if you have it on hand) to create a "sweet tart" icing. Just for fun, I added a few drops of green food coloring. Of course, you don't have to do this! Either way, these cupcakes will look and taste delicious!

. . . keep reading

And, for me, even more so. This was one of my favorite desserts from childhood. Whenever my mom made it, I would sneak to the refrigerator for a "taste."

As much as I loved this dessert as a kid, it had been years since I enjoyed it last. Then my birthday arrived. We weren't celebrating on my actual birthday because of family commitments. And, really, who wants to celebrate on a Wednesday night? Since it was my birthday, I decided I wanted to make myself something special for dessert.

As I thought about it, I mentally rejected several dessert options. Cake? We'd have it on Sunday night at my party. Cookies? Didn't feel festive enough. Pie? See cookies.

Then I thought about Rice Custard Pudding. Oh my goodness! How could I have forgotten about my beloved childhood dessert? I asked my mom for the recipe. After making a few changes (I didn't like how the original recipe made the custard.) I popped the custard into the oven right before dinner.

When dinner was over, my husband and I enjoyed warm rice-custard pudding. Heaven! Happy birthday to me! . . . keep reading

It all started with Lilli and Loo--that great, gluten-free friendly restaurant in NYC. One day, while waiting for a meeting with my publisher, my husband and I grabbed a quick lunch at Lilli and Loo. Greg ordered Pad Thai. At the risk of sounding like a culinary-bore, neither of us had ever eaten Pad Thai. It was one of those dishes that we kept meaning to sample but never got around to actually eating.

Finally, the opportunity to eat Pad Thai presented itself. This is a wonderful dish, made with rice noodles, chicken, eggs and a flavorful sauce. From the first bite, Greg thoroughly enjoyed it. (It goes without saying that I sampled a few, okay, several, bites of Greg's lunch. I had to agree, it was tremendous.)

I headed home and attempted to make homemade Pad Thai. My results were good but, honestly, it was a bit of a pain to make from scratch. I made it a few times, mostly on a Sunday night, and then forgot about the dish.

One day, at Price Chopper, I noticed Thai Kitchen's Pad Thai Mix boldly proclaiming that it was "Gluten-Free." I put the box in my cart. Now I had to find out if it was any good. . . . keep reading

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