Black Bean Chocolate Cupcakes (Gluten free)

These cupcakes are like eating a cloud of fluffy chocolate brownie cake frosted with the inside of Lindor truffles.

My dad has been sneaking into the kitchen and taking two at a time, and he usually only nibbles at the desserts I make. I can’t blame him though; I’ve lost count of how many I’ve eaten.

These cupcakes are super chocolatey, and not too sweet (though a extra quarter cup of sugar or a few drops of stevia can fix that if sweeter desserts float your boat) and the frosting tastes like the inside of lindor truffles. Really, it does! 

The cake is more creamy and dense than traditional chocolate cake and it reminds me somewhat of brownies, but that’s the only distinction I can make. There’s no bean taste whatsoever.

If you’re feeling particularly healthy, you could replace the eggs with egg whites and sugar with erythritol, but these aren’t bad as is. So relax, and eat a couple (or ten). 

Black Bean Chocolate Cupcakes

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup cooked black beans
• 1/4 cup oil
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 1/2 cup sugar (increase to 3/4 cup if you like sweeter desserts)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Blend all the ingredients in a food processor, blender, or with a hand emersion blender until smooth. The batter should be very creamy and thick — like chocolate pudding.
2. Divide into 30 mini cupcake liners.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
4. Frost, or eat plain!

Inside of Lindor Chocolate Truffles Frosting

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup coconut oil

1. Combine and microwave until melted.
2. Let sit at room temperature until spreadable, or speed up the process using an ice bath.
3. Frost the cupcakes!

Five Minute Gluten Free Pancakes!

Five minutes from now you could have seven gluten free pancakes. Seven soft, fluffy pancakes that taste just as delicious as their wheat-filled counterparts. I’m so head over heels for these pancakes that I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to make regular ones again. 

I’ve made this recipe six times in the past week — three times plain, once with chocolate chips, and twice with cocoa — and all versions received raving reviews from my parents and peers alike. Make this recipe, fall in love, and never spend more than five minutes making pancakes again.

EDIT: From an attempt to cook these pancakes on a regular frying pan, I’ve realized how important a nonstick surface is. So unless you want to make scrambled pancake, use nonstick!

Five Minute Pancakes 

(1 minute for gathering ingredients, 1 minute for blending, and 3 minutes to cook; it’s really that easy!)

• 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar (I use 1 pitted date!)
• 1 egg 
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender.
2. Blend for about a minute, or until the mixture is smooth.
3. Cook at medium-high heat on a non stick pan until golden brown.
4. Serve plain, or with syrup, jam, ice cream, or chocolate sauce.

Because I’m still pancake-crazy, come back soon for:

Gluten free chocolate pancakes!

(Pumpkin pancakes, banana pancakes, cinnamon bun pancakes are in the making too — I have grand dreams for this recipe.)

Costa Rican Banana Cake

I’ve been to Costa Rica twice. 

The first time was in 2009, when a past Spanish teacher invited some of his other former students to join a group of his current students on a trip there. Most of former students (the people I knew) couldn’t go, which left just my friend Sonia and me.

By that point, even though I had taken Spanish for three years, I would still fumble during simple conversations. My parents allowed me to go on the conditions that I would speak solely in Spanish, but considering I was there with 20 other teens and a close friend, none of whom could speak much better than I, that didn’t happen.

Instead I spent close to a week making new friends (in English) and having fun, not a total waste I think! (Though, if you ask my mom and dad, they grumble and say, “Yeah, yeah.”)

Me and Sonia in Costa Rica! 

This summer, I lived with a Costa Rican family for three weeks. My days were divided between community service and Spanish lessons, with the occasional excursion on the weekends. 

Since I visited with my friend and her sister, I wasn’t completely immersed and did speak some English, but with twenty hours of Spanish classes a week, I definitely improved my conversational skills and learned a lot.

When I’m at home, I tend to cook most of my meals myself, mostly because I’m impatient and can’t bear the lag between asking for food and actually receiving it. 

In Costa Rica, my host mother generously set out plates of food for me three times a day, and for three weeks I happily ate black beans, flavored rice, cabbage salad, and vegetables, with the occasional caramel candy or slice of cake. 

During one of the excursions, I bought a Costa Rican cookbook from a giftshop, already dreading a life without homemade rice and beans at every meal. It’s filled with recipes for savory and sweet dishes, and all the recipes I’ve tried so far have been successes.

I’ll post recipes for rice and beans soon, but they were both devoured before I could take pictures. Luckily, I snapped some shots of this banana cake in time.

This cake is denser than most banana cakes I’ve had, and the recipe called for cloves and nutmeg rather than cinnamon, but it was still delicious.

Costa Rican Banana Cake [Queque de banano]

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground gloves
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 8 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup butter, melted & cooled
• 1 1/2 cups sugar (The cake was pretty sweet so next time I would reduce the sugar to 1 cup or 3/4 cup!)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and spices.
2. In another bowl mash the bananas.
3. Add the butter, sugar, eggs milk, and vanilla.
4. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
5. Bake in a greased 9x13 pan for about 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Crustless Pumpkin Pie!

(It’s pretty ugly, I know.)

I have no clue why I like pumpkin pie so much. Technically, I think it should revolt me. I don’t like squash, can only stand sweet potato in fry form, and am I firm believer in keeping sugar and vegetables separate. I don’t even like mushy foods. 

There’s absolutely no reason why I should be obsessed with a pie that’s basically soft, sweetened squash, but considering this is my third post about pumpkin pie and I’m just approaching 50 recipes, clearly I am. It’s not even a phase! I briefly had another food blog two years ago, and even with only 10 posts, pumpkin pie made an appearance. I might have a problem.

This year, I didn’t even have cake for my birthday — I HAD PUMPKIN PIE — and I’ve been eating pumpkin pie as breakfast (and dessert) for the past three days straight. Is there a pumpkin pie eaters anonymous club I can go to? 

Please?

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

Adapted from here.

See when you’re obsessed with pumpkin pie as I, you don’t want any crust distracting you from the real goodness — the filling. So here’s a crustless pumpkin pie recipe I adore. The pie pictured was really just me throwing ingredients together so it turned out a little more custardy than I prefer, but I’ve made the recipe below several times and the pie is always perfect. I even have a picture!

• 1 can PURE pumpkin puree (15 oz)
• 1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (I just add heaps of cinnamon, and a little nutmeg, cloves and allspice)
• 1/2 cup biscuit baking mix (NOTE: For a more custardy texture, I’d reduce this to 1/4 cup, OR, I’d  do what I did for pumpkin pie first pictured and add 1/4 cup potato starch instead.)
• 3/4 cup white sugar 
• 1 teaspoon molasses (optional, but adds a great flavor)

1. Combine everything but the biscuit baking mix in a food processor. Blend until combined.
2. Add the biscuit baking mix and pulse until smooth.
3. Bake in a greased pie pan for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
4. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream!

Oh, and I forgot to say, Happy Thanksgiving! I’m still recovering from my family’s chaotic nineteen people affair. (Partially because I ate my weight in food.)

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

Unless I’m baking for a particular reason (a present, a party, to try making a new dessert), I don’t usually follow recipes. There’s something liberating about blending ingredients without any idea of what the end result will be. It’s the ultimate trial and error method for learning how ingredients interact - and I’m a trial and error sort of person (did you know I once spent 2 days making vegetarian marshmallows 3 different ways). 

For a while I would just make simple cakes and biscuits, but lately I’ve been having more fun, working quinoa and beans and oatmeal into the baked goods I make. I just throw ingredients together and scribble down in what quantities, and usually, the end result is fine! 

An example “recipe”

This method is how I somehow ended up with this gluten free pumpkin bread (which I’m pretty excited about, not gonna lie).

It wassuper easy to make, and it’s not dry NOR gummy like many gluten free baked goods tend to be. I’m already thinking about all the possible variations: chocolate cake, banana cake, carrot cake, everything cake. Yum~

I topped it with this cream cheese frosting, but I’m sure most anything would taste good.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal
• 1/4 cup gluten free protein powder
• 1/4 cup potato starch (I’m willing to bet tapioca starch would work too - and it’s easier to buy think.)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 6 ounces plain greek yogurt*
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 2 tbs syrup (maple, honey, or pancake syrup)
• 2 tbs oil
• 1 egg

*The final bread had a bit of tanginess from the yogurt. I liked it, but will probably replace with applesauce in the future.

1. In a food processor, blend the oatmeal until powdery. Add the protein powder, potato starch, baking powder, salt, and sugar, and pulse a couple times until combined. 
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, pumpkin, syrup, oil, and egg.
3. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ones. Whisk about 30 seconds.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for around 30 minutes in a greased 8x8 pan, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
5. Top with frosting, and serve.