This is our new family favorite, and apparently the dog's favorite, too, since we came home to an empty 9x12 pan the first time I made it. She went to the trouble of taking it off the counter and removing the lid from the pan, so it must be worth the effort!

It was based on my carrot cake recipe, but with some modifications to make it a bit healthier, so I can call it a snack and eat it more often. It's easy peasy to make, and puts all of that zucchini to good use if you are sick of zucchini bread.

Ingredients:


1 1/2 cups organic sugar

1 cup coconut or sunflower oil

4 organic eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups grated zucchini

3 cups Bob's All Purpose gluten free four (or your preferred mix)

1/4 cup raw cocoa powder (of course you can use regular, but the raw has more minerals and iron)

1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp gluten free baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 bag of  chocolate chips (CF for those making this dairy free)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the sugar and oil. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and wisk to mix. Add the zucchini and flour mixture, a cup at a time, alternating each and mixing well. Add chocolate chips and stir. Pour into a greased and floured 9x12 pan (use cocoa for the flour and you won't get white specks on your cake) and bake for around 35 minutes. Use a toothpick to test.

I don't frost it, but you could dust it with powdered sugar, or frost if you are going for a traditional cake. I skip the extra sugar so I can eat extra cake!

Breakfast is our favorite meal; we like it so much, we not only have it every morning, we also have it on Friday evenings! We call it backwards night, and it evolved when pizza Fridays became less desirable after going both gluten and dairy free. Our favorite breakfast food? Waffles, of course! It took a lot of tinkering to come up with a recipe that was both gluten and dairy free but tasted like a normal waffle. We make this recipe so often that I keep a mix of the flours in a jar in the pantry, speeding up the whole baking process. Want to try it?

Mix:
3 cups white rice flour
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
3/4 cups corn flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour

Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
1 3/4 cups rice or coconut milk (or soy, or almond, or even the real thing)
4 TBS. melted Earth Balance spread
1 TB baking powder (make sure it says gluten free!)
1 TB sugar
pinch of salt

Directions:
Beat the egg whites. While they are beating, combine 2 cups mix with the ingredients listed above (yes, include the yolks). Gently fold in the egg whites. Spoon into hot waffle iron and bake until golden and crispy on the outside.

I have found that rice milk makes a thinner, crisper waffle and coconut milk makes a softer, fluffier one. I like them both. I have not used the other milks, since we are allergic to them, but I'm sure they would work just as well. these taste so much like a wheat based waffle, if you fed them to your family without telling them, they would never know the difference! I have tried many other recipes, some with a higher ratio of more protein or fiber filled flours, but they would usually come out heavy, or with that particular gluten free flour after taste. Not this one! If you try it, I'd love to hear what you think!