Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Pie Bars!

Happy October everyone! There are a couple of reasons that I am really excited about this post. For one, I am obsessed with pumpkin. I absolutely adore indulging in all things flavored with this wonderfully seasonal fruit. This is very clearly illustrated on my Instagram. The second reason that I'm excited about this post is because it's my first recipe post that is completely gluten, dairy, egg, soy, and peanut free! As I have mentioned briefly on my blog before, I have these five food intolerances, which makes enjoying many common foods impossible. Since I found out about my dietary restrictions about seven months ago, I've been on the look out for substitutions and replacements for my favorite foods. I've found some wonderful alternatives to some of them, but I've been a little bit worried about completely missing out on this fantastic pumpkin season. Last time I was at Trader Joe's, I picked up some pumpkin butter (surprisingly not made with any dairy at all) and a couple cans of pumpkin purée, having every intention to make the effort to add pumpkin to my diet this way, despite the fact that I can't have pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll, pumpkin bread, etc. So when I found this recipe in my Living Without's Gluten Free magazine, I thought, What a perfect way to kick off my pumpkin spree! I made a couple of adjustments to the recipe, based on what I had available to me in the house, but I think they came out great! I hope that even if you don't necessarily have food restrictions that you still give them a try. They are healthy and yummy and easy to make. So without further ado, here we go!





Pumpkin Pie Bars

Makes 8 Bars

1/2 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup maple syrup, honey or coconut sugar
1 tablespoon coconut oil, organic margarine or grape seed oil
3/4 cup pure pumpkin purée
1 cup gluten-free oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon ground chia seeds or flax meal
2 tablespoons amaranth flour
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8X8-inch pan or line it with parchment paper.

2. In a food processor, combine dates, syrup, oil and pumpkin. Pulse until mixture forms a paste.

3. In a medium bowl, place oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, amaranth flour, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Stir until well combined.

4. Add date paste to dry ingredients and blend thoroughly.

5. Press mixture evenly into prepared pan.

6. Place in preheated oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes.

7. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan completely before cutting.

Recipe taken from Living Without's Gluten Free magazine, August/September 2014 issue.







For this first time around, I used maple syrup and flax meal. I replaced the oil with dairy, soy-free butter substitute, and used all-purpose gluten-free flour in place of amaranth flour. I also used chopped hazelnuts in place of pumpkin seeds. Again, this was purely because of what I had on hand. Next time, I absolutely want to use the ingredients that are listed in the recipe, and I think I'll try honey in place of the maple syrup. Overall, though, I think they are delicious and a wonderful way to have my lovely pumpkin while still keeping within my dietary limits.







Let me know if you try them and what you think! Do you have any food restrictions? What kinds of substitutions do you make?

Cupcakes Cupcakes!

A couple of weeks ago at the beginning of the semester, we invited all of the new theatre students to join the scholarship students (that's me!) and the faculty and staff of the Cleveland State University Department of Theatre and Dance for a little welcome gathering so that we could all meet and get to know one another. I thought, what's a party without something sweet? So I made cupcakes, and lots of them.



I had seen an idea on Pinterest to use ketchup cups to make mini cupcakes, and since we had those on hand, I thought it would be a great way to test the idea. Plus they are just so cute! They ended up being the perfect size, even if it was a little bit tricky to figure out the best way to open them. Some people were treating them like jello shots until we realized that you could pull the rim apart and it would fall right out. I think that their size also allows them to bake better than regular sized cupcakes, because they were especially fluffy.

Our school color is green, so I used green edible glitter to decorate the cupcakes, as well as both silver and gold shimmer. I also use my Cricut (the most awesome crafting machine ever) to make little signs to stick in the tops of the treats, just to add a little something extra.





I opted to do both yellow and chocolate cupcakes, but I used the same frosting on both. It's my homemade buttercream, and it gets RAVE reviews. I have perfected it over time, but at the core, it's just the basic Wilton buttercream recipe:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Cream the butter and shortening together to start. I have found that this is tremendously easier if the butter is at room temperature. If you don't have an electric mixer (hand mixers work better for this than stand mixers), you can use a hand whisk, but it takes a lot (and I mean A LOT) of work, especially if your butter is still cold. It is possible, however. I've done it.

Once they are well combined, add the vanilla and mix well.

Gradually add your sugar, one cup at a time. Again, electric mixer beats whisk any day. The frosting should be stiff at this point. Don't worry about that, it's normal, and even necessary for your final consistency.

Once all your sugar had been added and mixed well, gradually add milk until you get the consistency that you want. Stiffer is better for piping and detail work, while a little bit of a softer consistency makes frosting a cake super quick and easy. If you add too much milk, it can easily be fixed by adding more sugar.

Voilà!

I don't really use this recipe any more because I have found which measurements work better for me. However, I couldn't tell you what they are because I don't actually measure anything. I have gotten the hang of how much sugar is enough and then how much milk is enough. I go slowly adding my ingredients because the consistencies tell me everything. I come out with great frosting every time! If you're not quite ready to let go of those measuring cups yet, this recipe is absolutely smashing when followed to the t. Also, I have made it with all butter, rather than half butter and half shortening, and it's much richer, but still delicious. You can also substitute different extracts to get different flavors. For example, I have used almond before to get an almond-flavored frosting. I also used almond milk and it was just delightful! This recipe is so simple that you can play with it and tweak it. So fun!





My family liked them so much in fact, that I was asked to make them again for our Labor Day get-together! So I used the rest of our ketchup cups and got to work. This time I decorated them all with orange glitter. It was a little bit less fancy, but still just as festive, and my family went nuts over them.

These cupcakes were an absolute hit! Everyone, from staff members to students to my own family, was saying how they were the best cupcakes they'd every had. I encourage you to go get some ketchup cups and try this!



What's your favorite thing to bake?