Strawberry Filled Cupcakes

STRAWBERRY FILLED VANILLA CUPCAKES

When I was little, I loved those little “Hostess Strawberry Rolls”. These cupcakes are not strawberry rolls, but better! Strawberry filled cupcakes. Light and perfect for summer. They are pretty easy to make too. Not to mention they are MUCH healthier than your typical strawberry rolls and gluten free! I mean, just look at them – delicious!

Cupcake

½ cup coconut flour
2 whole eggs
¾ cup egg white
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
½ cup stevia (or sugar)
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup almond milk
Filling
4 whole strawberries
¼ cup honey
1 Tbsp cornstarch (or tapioca starch)

• In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Mix in eggs and egg whites, vanilla and almond milk.
• Blend together on medium speed for about a minute. Don’t worry if the batter looks runny – coconut flour absorbs a lot of liquid and batter should get thicker as you mix.
• Spoon batter into muffin pan with cupcake liners. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until cupcakes are lightly brown and cooked through. Let cool for about 10 minutes.
• While cupcakes are baking, make strawberry filling. In a small blender (Magic Bullet), blend together honey, strawberries and cornstarch.
• In a small sauce pan, cook strawberry mixture until boiling. Remove from heat. Hollow out the center of the cupcake leaving just a small layer of cake on the bottom. I used a strawberry huller to remove the centers of my cupcakes and it worked great.
• Spoon in about a tsp or so of the filling into the cupcake. This recipe makes 12 filled cupcakes. If desired, top with whipped cream or your favorite frosting.

Strawberry Lemonade

What is summer without lemonade?? There’s just something about a cold glass of lemonade that makes a hot day better. We like to switch it up and add something to the lemonade. This time we tried strawberries and it was wonderful! Plus – homemade lemonade is much healthier than the powdered stuff and still easy to make.

4 lemons

½ cup stevia powder (or sugar or other sweetener)
4 strawberries
1.5 quarts of water
ice cubes

• Fill a two quart pitcher half full with ice cubes. Add in the 1.5 quarts of water. Juice the lemons and add the juice into the water. (I cut each lemon in half and juiced by hand but you could also use an electric juicer)
• Cut slices of lemon rind and add to pitcher. Cut the strawberries into quarters and add to pitcher.
• Slowly stir in stevia or other sweetener. Refrigerate for a couple of hours to let the flavors come together. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Strawberry-Rhubarb-Apple Crisp

My husband is a sucker for apple crisp and we love anything with rhubarb. I planted some rhubarb this year and had just enough to make this crisp. The fruit can easily be substituted for whatever you like: pears, peaches, any combination, etc. I’ve even added a pit of pineapple chunks to this to give it an extra flavor! This recipe is one of my go-to favorites because it is so easy and is such a good comfort food dessert.

Fruit Filling

2 cups of chopped fruit (we love strawberries, rhubarb and granny smith apples)
¼ to ½ cup of fruit juice or water (depending on how juicy you want it)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp starch (corn or tapioca)
¼ cup maple syrup or honey
Topping
½ cup GF oats
¼ cup quinoa flakes (or omit – it just gives it a little extra texture)
¼ cup coconut flour
¼ cup GF all purpose flour (I like Bob’s Red Mill)
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
¼ cup coconut oil
¼ cup brown sugar (or Stevia, or regular sugar)
·         Mix together the ingredients for the fruit filling.
·         Mix together the ingredients for the topping. It should resemble a course crumb texture.
·         Place topping mixture into a greased pie plate. Then sprinkle the crumb topping over the top of the fruit. Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 25 minutes or until bubbly and slightly brown on top.