It has been 30 days since my kids have gone gluten free. My oldest (who this is really the most important for) has stayed 100% all month. Not one slip. The two little guys have stayed fully GF in the house, but have had some goldfish or other gluten laden snacks at school a few times. I am worried my 3 year old will not understand why he cant have goldfish when his classmates do. So for him, I think I will just wait until next fall when the snack isn’t shared. My 5 year old gets a packed snack so for him its not an issue.
Anyway, my point is that its been a full month and I decided to make my big boy a special treat. He LOVES whoopie pies. They have some gluten free ones at our local co-op. But, because I’d rather him have something with a little less simple carbohydrate (the cake part in the store is mostly made with rice flour/tapioca/etc…), I decided to make my own. I came up with a great recipe for the cake portion of it that is totally grain free and made with coconut flour. The filling, however, is harder to alter. Its a marshmallow vanilla frosting. How in the world do you take the super high level of sugar out of that??? So for this batch I just went with it. I will be working on a healthier version of the frosting in my test lab. Stay tuned for that in the next 2 weeks. I got a cake pop pan, and the boys and I will be doing some experimenting!!
GRAIN AND DAIRY FREE WHOOPIE PIES
CAKE:
1/2 c coconut flour
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs
1/2 c maple syrup
1/4 c melted coconut oil
1 tsp chocolate extract
In a small bowl, add dry ingredients and mix until combined.
In a large mixing bowl (or kitchenaid mixer bowl), combine wet ingredients.
Wisk wet ingredients until well combined (because the eggs are cold and oil can solidify, you can get little white dots of coconut oil- don’t fret, it will melt in the oven)
Add dry ingredients to wet and blend with mixer until full blended.
Pour into whoopie pie pan (fill half way), or spoon and spread on cookie sheet lined with silicone/parchment.
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
Makes 5 whoopie pies (or 10 pieces)
MARSHMALLOW CREME FILLING
3/4 c palm shortening
3/4 c marshmallow topping (I used Toonie Moonie brand–no HFCS)
1 1/4 c confectioners sugar (I used King Arthur’s glazing sugar–no cornstarch added)
1/3 c coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
Combine all ingredients except coconut milk in mixing bowl.
Use electric mixer or hand mixer to blend them.
Add milk little by little until desired consistency is reached.
Spread between two COOLED whoopie pie cakes and enjoy!
Paleo Family Eats 