Gluten-Free Pecan Pie Cupcakes

No need to wait for Thanksgiving to enjoy pecan pie. This pecan pie is in the form of a delicious cupcake topped with a whipped cream cheese frosting. One bite and you will be hooked. They are moist, delicious and full of incredible rich, sweet flavor. Let's face it - these are perfect for winter, summer, spring or fall!

I recently purchased my first e-book and wouldn't you know it, it is a cupcake cookbook. But better still, it is a gluten-free cupcake cookbook and it is filled with incredible and easy to make heavenly sweet recipes.

This recipe is perfect for you if you love the taste of pecan pie but prefer something less gooey and not as tooth-achingly sweet. And if you are like me, a cupcake addict, that it is a perfect way to feed that addiction.

My new fave cookbook is Gluten-Free Cupcakes by Elena Amsterdam.

I have her original cookbook too, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook and love it to bits but I think this one may top it! So many wonderful recipes to choose from. I decided to test out the pecan pie cupcake recipe even though it listed one ingredient I simply didn't have on hand: Yacon Syrup. So instead I substituted molasses and maple syrup. The combination worked!

Yesterday I made her Strawberry Cupcakes, or rather used it as a base recipe and then really changed things around resulting in Blueberry Cupcakes with Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting. That recipe used solely coconut as its GF flour. This one though uses mostly almond flour with a couple of tablespoons of coconut flour. Luckily I did have almond flour on hand. I always do.

A few other changes: I halved her cream cheese frosting recipe because her 11 cupcakes ended up being 8 for me. I figured less cupcakes = less frosting and I was right. I also added Whip It to the whipped cream part of the frosting to ensure it stabilized properly and didn't separate after piping. Sure enough, it stood up to the test of time.

LET'S GET STARTED!

RECIPE:
*adapted source recipe: Pecan Pie Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, Gluten Free Cupcakes by Elena Amsterdam

WHAT YOU NEED

CUPCAKE

1 cup almond flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup pecans, chopped

FROSTING

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 tablespoon Whip It! whipping cream stabilizer
4 oz cream cheese at room temperature
2 tablespoons honey (feel free to add an extra tablespoon if you like a sweeter frosting)

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350F
LINE 8 muffin cups with paper liners

IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together first 4 cupcake dry ingredients
IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together remaining ingredients except pecans
POUR WET ingredients into dry ingredients and mix on MED speed with handheld electric beater until thoroughly combined
FOLD in chopped pecans
WITH ICE CREAM SCOOP fill each liner 3/4 full with batter
BAKE 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with only a few moist crumbs
REMOVE immediately from pan
LET COOL completely at room temperature
FROSTING

IN MEDIUM BOWL, combine cream and Whip It!
WITH HAND HELD ELECTRIC BEATER, whip until stiff peaks form
IN SEPARATE BOWL, beat cream cheese and honey until smooth and no lumps are remaining
ADD whipped cream into cream cheese mix and fold gently until combined
PIPE onto cupcakes

SPRINKLE frosted cupcakes with chopped pecans or cinnamon

Elana sprinkles the finished tops with chopped pecans.
I liked the look and flavor of sprinkled cinnamon instead.
So there you have it - Pecan Pie Cupcakes!

Also seen here:

Gluten-Free Raised Donuts with Honey Glaze

These beauties are gluten-free, yeast-raised and deep fried. They have a lovely texture, great taste and are finished with a simple honey glaze that sets wonderfully letting you indulge without having your fingers coated in sticky sugary icing.

The source recipe can be found in my newly purchased, and deeply loved cookbook, Doughnuts - Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home by Lara Ferroni.

I took Lara's recommendation to use Chia Flour (ground chia seeds) as she states it adds a slight chewy texture to these donuts which mimics that of a regular raised donut. She was right! These have the taste and texture we all love in our gluten-based deep fried donuts.

You can find ground chia flour in nearly every health food store now. If you strike out, feel free to substitute 1:1 with brown rice flour.

I did adjust Lara's recipe as I went along by adding a few more spices and reducing the yeast somewhat because I didn't want an over-powering yeast flavor which sometimes can happen with raised donuts. When you reduce the yeast you also need to increase the proofing time so I did that as well.

The glaze is nothing more than 1 cup of sifted powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon of honey and 3-4 tablespoons of milk.

I highly advise you use a stand mixer with dough and paddle hook attachments for this recipe. Mixing by hand would be a challenge but could be done if you really wanted to go that route.

To begin, you will first need to combine the following ingredients which will serve as your basic gluten-free donut baking mix. I combine all the ingredients in a large Ziploc bag, give it a good shake, use what I need and store the rest in the fridge.

• 1 cup potato starch
• 1/4 cup potato flour or sweet sorghum
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup sweet rice flour

Now let's get started !

RECIPE:
altered source recipe: Doughnuts - Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home by Lara Ferroni

WHAT YOU NEED

1/3 cup chia or brown rice flour
2 cups GF baking mix (see above)
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon guar gum
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup milk warmed to 110F
1/4 cup lukewarm water
3 tablespoons fine granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or vegetable shortening at room temperature
Canola Oil - enough to fill a dutch oven with 2 inches of oil

In addition to the basics, you will also need a dutch oven, doughnut cutter or biscuit cutters in large and small sizes, oil/candy thermometer, steel spatula used for frying donuts and a non-terrycloth dishtowel

GLAZE

1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons of honey
3-4 tablespoons of milk

MAKE IT

IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together first 7 ingredient which I will refer to as "flour mixture"
IN LOW LYING BOWL ( I used my soup bowl), sprinkle 1 1/4 teaspoons of yeast over warm milk. Allow to sit 5 minutes then gently stir with fork until yeast is mostly dissolved
ADD 1/8 cup (20 grams) of flour mixture and stir well until a paste forms
COVER with cling wrap and let sit 15 minutes
IN BOWL OF STAND MIXER, fitted with paddle attachment, stir together remaining yeast and water
ADD flour/yeast paste, sugar and salt
STIR MED speed until smooth
BEAT in eggs, egg white, vanilla and vinegar
MIX IN 1/2 cup of flour blend on MED speed for 30 seconds
CHANGE to dough hook attachment
CONTINUE adding flour mixture , 1/4 cup at a time (until remaining flour mixture is used up) kneading shortly after each addition until dough finally starts pulling away from sides.
COVER bowl with cling wrap and let sit 30 minutes

FLOUR work surface with some gluten-free (GF) baking blend
ROLL out dough to 1/2 inch thickness
CUT OUT with donut cutter
PLACE donuts and holes and a baking tray lined with a linen dish towel sprinkled with GF flour
COVER with cling wrap and let rest 35-40 minutes until risen with rounded tops

WHILE DONUTS ARE PROOFING, heat oil in dutch oven to 350F
WITH SPATULA, ADD 2-3 donuts at a time or 5 donut holes at a time to hot oil
TURN after 1 minute, fry additional minute
REMOVE to a baking rack covered in a few sheets of paper towel
CONTINUE frying remaining donuts

LINE a cookie sheet with waxed paper and place a baking rack on top of waxed paper. This will make clean-up after glazing a breeze!
IN LOW LYING BOWL, whisk together glaze ingredients until smooth
DIP tops of donuts into glaze and submerge donut holes entirely in glaze
PLACE donuts and holes on a baking rack and let sit 10 minutes for glaze to set
FEEL FREE to double dip too. After initial 10 minutes just re-dunk the donuts in the glaze a second time

DIG IN !

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