Happy Tuesday.

We did not venture out too far over the weekend. The amount of snow we had was ridiculous. Who would have thought it was more or less Spring?! Our weekend back up plan, then was to stay indoors and do some gluten-free baking.

{You may already know, but if not my Daughter has just recently been diagnosed with the Coeliac Disease}.

She finds that a lot of the gluten-free treat recipes in the shop are not as nice as the ones that she is used to eating with gluten. I have tried to make some of her favourite treats gluten-free. Read on for the results.

Gluten-free cakes and treats are crazy expensive in the shops too. So experimenting with homemade recipes is worth a go. I have yet to find a bargain in the treat aisle which is Gluten free.

She finds home baked cakes and biscuits a lot nicer.

Over the weekend we made lots of her favourite recipes and experimented how to make them gluten-free.
We made traditional pancakes, which we found to be a lot thinner consistency. However with extra cooking time still turned out the same. Oat pancakes were a lot thicker and she said she thought they were both tasty.

We also made yummy flapjacks for lunch box treats and some cupcakes too. We found out that using gluten-free products in our baking turned out almost the same. So I was well chuffed with that. Result!

Yummy homemade cakes and biscuits 1 point. Shop bought cakes and biscuits 0 points ;) Ha!

I can now make her yummy lunchbox treats in bulk on Sunday knowing they will last the week out. More importantly, She enjoys the taste, She doesn't feel left out and I save a few quid on the Gluten Free cake shop prices.

Here are the gluten-free recipe version but you can make the same recipe up with rolled oats and margarine of your choice if you do not need to be gluten-free.

All these recipes are bursting with flavour thanks to Ocean Spray® who sent us some of their tasty Ocean Spray® Whole Berry™ To Review earlier last week. Thankfully I managed to nip out before the snow arrived to buy some more as we drank the first 2 cartons straight away.

Firstly we made some flapjacks. Perfect for lunch box treats.

How To Make Gluten Free Cranberry And Oat Flapjack Bars:

Makes 12

Ingredients:

75ml Ocean Spray Cranberry, Blueberry, Raspberry & Strawberry juice
100g Dairy and gluten-free olive spread
100g Golden caster sugar
2 Tablespoons of Golden syrup
200g Gluten-free rolled oats
125g Dried cranberries

You Will Also Need:

20cm square baking tin
Greaseproof paper
Extra olive spread for greasing the baking tin

How To Make Gluten Free Cranberry And Oat Flapjack Bars:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160°C (fan) gas mark 4

2. Grease a 20cm square cake tin and line with greaseproof paper.

3. In a medium-sized span melt the olive spread, golden syrup and golden caster sugar together over a low to medium heat. When it has all melted add the cranberry juice and stir well. Remove from the hob, stir in the oats and dried cranberries until all combined nicely.

5. Transfer all the mixture into the prepared greased proof lined baking tin.

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

8. Allow cooling in the tin for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes cut into 12 pieces and leave to cool completely.

9. Once cooled remove from the tray and serve or store in an airtight container. Eat within a few days.

Gluten Free Cranberry and Oats Flapjack Bars

One of our favourite treat recipes is homemade cupcakes. They are so quick and easy to make and always taste delicious.

Here is a selection I made for my Daughter on Friday as a surprise weekend treat. She loved them and they tasted delicious. Yes, I did help her eat one or two :)

Easy Peasy Gluten Free Cranberry Cupcake Selection:

Makes 12

Preparation Time: 10 Minutes
Cooking Time: 20 Minutes

Decoration Time:10 Minutes

Ingredients:

150g Dairy and gluten free olive spread
150g Golden caster sugar
150g Gluten-free self-raising flour
3 Medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extracts
3 Tbls of Ocean Spray Wholeberry Cranberry juice

Iced Topping for 6 Cupcakes:

100g Icing sugar
2 Tablespoons of Ocean Spray Wholeberry Cranberry juice
A few dried cranberries ( optional)

Buttercream Icing:

25g Dairy and gluten free olive spread
100g Icing sugar
1 Tablespoon of Ocean Spray Wholeberry Cranberry juice

How To Make Easy Peasy Gluten Free Cranberry Cupcake Selection:

Cupcakes:

Pop the olive spread, caster sugar, sifted gluten-free self-raising flour, eggs, vanilla extracts and cranberry juice into a large mixing bowl.
Preheat oven to 180c fan oven.
Place 12 cupcake cases into a muffin tray.
Mix all the ingredients well with an electric mixer.
Scoop the mixture into the 12 cupcake cases.
Bake for around 18 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and pop onto a wire rack to cool.

Once cool store in a cake tin until you are ready to top.

Iced Topping:

Simply mix 100g Icing sugar and 2 Tablespoons of Ocean Spray Wholeberry Cranberry juice together and spoon onto the 6 cupcakes.
Sprinkle with a few dried cranberries (optional).

Buttercream Icing:

Mix 25g Dairy and gluten free olive spread with 100g Icing sugar and add 1 Tablespoon of Ocean Spray Wholeberry Cranberry juice for a fruity flavour.
Cut a round circle off the top of cakes and cut each circle into 2. Spoon some buttercream into the hole of the cupcake and add 2 half circles to look like wings.