Purple Puree for Sneaky Celiac Chocolate Cookies -- A healthy GF and CF snack

This puree is used for Sneaky Celiac Chocolate Cookies. Both the puree and the Sneaky Cookies are adapted from The Sneaky Chef: How to Cheat on Your Man (In the Kitchen) by Missy Chase Lapine.  

This recipe makes three cups of Purple Puree. Line small plastic storage containers with Press-N-Seal with the sticky side facing UP, then measure the puree in generous 1 cup measures into these lined containers, then freeze. When solidly frozen, remove the frozen aliquots and store in a zippered bag in the freezer. 



1 lb. chopped spinach, frozen

1 lb. blueberries, frozen or fresh

- Dump frozen spinach into large, microwave-safe cassarole dish. Cover with water. Microwave 10-12 minutes on high until a bit cooked. This removes the "spinachy" smell. 

- Meanwhile, rinse blueberries with warm water in a strainer until clean and thawed. Puree in a food processer briefly, 30 sec or so. 

- Strain spinach to remove water. Rinse with cool water. When spinach is cool enough to handle squeeze all the water from the spinach that you can, until it is quite dry, and add it to the pureed blueberries in the food processor. 

-Process until very smooth. If necessary, add water by the tablespoon until the mixture processes smoothly. You want this puree to be as thick as possible. I rarely need to add any water. 

This recipe makes around 3 cups of Purple Puree. Freeze in 1 cup aliquots as directed above. 

Celiac Maniac's Mighty Muffins (Gluten-Free) Recipe

These muffins are moist and have great cell structure. They're even relatively low-fat.

The batter is very thin, so don't try to put strudel or more than a light sprinkle of sugar on top. It will fall through the muffin in a "China Syndrome" meltdown and end up on the bottom.

This easy recipe can be stirred together in a mixing bowl. I let my preschooler mix the batter together in a big bowl set on the floor with a whisk. Have been doing this for two years.

Easy substitution below also makes these muffins dairy-free (casein-free and lactose-free).

You can also add up to 3/4 cup pureed vegetables to make these more nutritious in a "Sneaky Chef" way. Pureed carrots work great.


Dry Ingredients:


1 cup Celiac Maniac's Muffin Flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg


Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons corn oil
2 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk or non-dairy liquid (soymilk or non-dairy creamer works best)
1 teaspoon GF vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray 8 cups of silicone muffin pan with GF cooking spray. (These rather low-fat muffins will stick to anything else, even paper liners. Spray 9-12 muffin cups if adding pureed veggies.)

Sift dry ingredients together to eliminate lumps onto waxed paper. Single-sift is fine.

Stir wet ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

Dump dry ingredients into the mixing bowl. Whisk or stir thoroughly. (You don't have to worry about toughening the gluten.)

Ladle the batter into the sprayed muffin cups.

Bake at 375F for 20 minutes.

If eaten right away, muffins are a little crunchy on the outside and tender in the middle. Placing warm muffins in a sealed plastic bag (like a Ziploc) will soften the crust.

Muffins stay moist in a sealed plastic bag for up to a week at room temperature, or freeze in an evacuated Ziploc bag for up to 3 months.