Celebrating One Year With A NuNaturals Giveaway!

My blog is one year old today, and I am happy to be able to post my first giveaway today to celebrate that fact!

NuNaturals has given me the opportunity to provide four lucky readers with a prize pack of the company's great sugar free products, which is valued at $70.00. I have had a lot of fun using the NuStevia products from this brand recently, and you might have noticed my recipes for Double Chocolate Black Bean Muffins, Sugar Free Chocolate Black Bean Fudge and my older recipe of Black Bean Brownies. If you think any of those recipes look appealing, or if you would like to see what you can come up with on your own, then you are going to want to enter the giveaway to try to win these great products!

Double Chocolate Black Bean Muffins

 Sugar Free Chocolate Black Bean Fudge

My brother recently helped me to put together a video of me making my Black Bean Brownie recipe using NuNaturals NuStevia Simple Syrup. You can view it below.

So, go ahead and enter below to win some of these great sugar free products for yourself!

Four winners will each receive a prize pack.
The prize packs include: One bottle of Vanilla Stevia Liquids, a 50 pkt box of NuStevia No-Carbs Stevia Powder packets, a bottle of Sugar-Free Cocoa Syrup and a bottle of Sugar-Free Mint Cocoa Syrup. Each winner will also receive a free bonus item! Entire package is valued at $70.00 retail. 



a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you want you can also enter discount cod;  BLG1215  when ordering on NuNaturals' site and you will receive a 15% on your entire order. Code is good until December 31st 2015.

Good luck!
-Bethany

All opinions are my own. NuNaturals is responsible for giving out the prizes. Giveaway ends on November 15 2015. Winners will be notified via email.

One Year Blog Anniversary

One year ago tomorrow I posted the first recipe on this blog. It has been a great journey so far, and I can't wait to see this blog keep growing.

It has been fun to be able to share good gluten free recipes with everyone and to be able to learn through doing that. I have been doing more cooking and baking in this past year than ever before, and it has been great.

Here are a few of the recipes that have been the most popular on my blog during this first year.

Homemade Creamy Gluten Free Mac And Cheese

Easy Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies

Red Velvet Chickpea Cookies

And last but not least... Gluten Free Chocolate Brownie Cookies

I have discovered so many new, great foods over the past year, and I hope that everyone has enjoyed the recipes as much as I have! It has been a great year of learning, baking, cooking and eating. 

Here's to another great year of blogging gluten free foods that taste just as good as any gluten-filled foods!

-Auntie Bethany

p.s. Stay tuned for a giveaway tomorrow! Hint: it's something that you'll all love! ;)

Gluten Free/Egg Free Double Chocolate Black Bean Muffins

I have been using black beans in a lot of dessert recipes lately, and these muffins have to be one of the best things that I have made. They are moist, have just the right amount of sweetness, and are packed with chocolate.

Plus, since these have NuNatural's NuStevia Cocoa Syrup in the muffin batter instead of sugar, and black beans in place of flour, they actually aren't too bad for you, making them the perfect breakfast treat.

Don't they look good enough to eat?

I had to bite into another "just" for the sake of the picture after having had one already that day.

And it tasted just as great as the first!

Linking up to Five Friday Finds.

If you want to make these muffins completely sugar free, or vegan, then you can go ahead and skip the chocolate chips. They should have a good chocolate flavor without them, they just won't be as packed with chocolate.

Double Chocolate Black Bean Muffins

• 9 Tablespoons Water, heated
• 3 Tablespoons Flaxseed Meal
• 2 Cups Black Beans, drained
• 2 Tablespoons NuStevia Cocoa Syrup
• 2 Tablespoons Oil
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips, optional

1. Heat the nine Tablespoons of water for about 30 seconds in the microwave and add flaxseed meal to it. Set aside 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Line a 12 cup muffin tin.
4. Combine black beans, NuStevia Cocoa Syrup, oil, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in the bowl of your food possessor. Add flax-eggs to it when ready, and then puree it all until nice and smooth.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Scoop into lined muffin tin and bake for 25 to 28 minutes.

Adapted from this recipe.

Enjoy! I know I did. :)
-Bethany

Although NuNaturals sent me the products, all of the opinions and the recipe are by me.

Gluten Free/Egg Free Pumpkin Butterscotch Chip Cookies

Kimberly from Just Add Sprinkles always has such great recipes on her blog, and when I saw that she had posted a recipe for Pumpkin Butterscotch Chip Cookies I knew that I needed to give them a gluten free twist.

I took these cookies and made them gluten free, egg free and with a bit less cinnamon than the original recipe called for (since that's my personal preference.) They turned out really great. Chewy, moist and packed with butterscotch chips. These are the perfect Fall treat!

This is one of those recipes that you are going to have to be patient on or make ahead of time (since the dough has to chill in the freezer for 2 hours or more) but it is so worth it. My nieces and nephew loved them.

Gluten Free/Egg Free Pumpkin Butterscotch Chip Cookies

• 1 1/2 Tablespoons Water
• 1/2 Tablespoon Flaxseed Meal
• 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 3/4 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons White Rice Flour
• 1/4 Cup plus 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 3 Tablespoons Pumpkin Puree
• 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon (add a bit more, or some pumpkin spice, if desired)
• 3/4 Cup Butterscotch Chips (make sure they are gluten free)

1. Heat the water in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Add the flaxseed meal to it and set aside for about 10 minutes.
2. In a bowl, measure out the rice flour, cornstarch, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Whisk to combine.
3. In the bowl of your mixture combine the butter, sugar and brown sugar. Cream together.
4. Add the flax-egg and vanilla extract to the butter mixture and beat to combine. Add the pumpkin puree and cinnamon and beat again.
5. Slowly add in the dry ingredients, beating until thoroughly combined.
6. Fold in the butterscotch chips. 
7. Freeze dough for 2 hours or more.
8. Once ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and thaw dough for 10 minutes.
9. Scoop onto parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes.
10. Allow to cool and enjoy (or, if you can't resist them, eat them hot like me and risk a burned tongue.)

Adapted from this recipe.

Happy Autumn!
-Bethany

Gluten Free Brownie Bites

Brownies are my favorite.

I love how chewy, chocolate-y, soft, moist, decadent, sweet and delicious they can be. I love them frosted. I love them plain. I love them warm. I love them standing in the rain, on a train...

Anyways...

Brownies are amazing in any form, but when baked into perfect, little bit size pieces? They are the best. I brought these brownies to my brother's graduation party in June and they disappeared quickly. I even got asked for the recipe.

These brownies are super cute and they taste even better than they look.

Yum. I need another one of these, like right now.

These brownies are especially good when topped with a rich, chocolate frosting (recipe below). Go ahead and make them and fall in love with them, yourself.

Gluten Free Brownie Bites

• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2/3 Cup Cocoa
• 1/2 Cup Brown Rice Flour
• 1/4 Cup Cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/3 Cup Butter, melted
• 3 Tablespoons Water, hot
• 1 Tablespoon Flaxseed Meal
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tablespoons Milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat the water and add the flaxseed meal to it, letting it sit for 10 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl measure the sugars, cocoa, brown rice flour, cornstarch, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the remaining ingredients. Stir well.
5. Scoop tablespoonfuls into a well greased mini muffin pan and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan. Makes 20 - 24.

Frosting

• 3 Tablespoons Butter, softened
• 3 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Light Corn Syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• A pinch of salt
• 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Milk

1. Combine the butter, cocoa powder, corn syrup and vanilla in the bowl of your mixer and beat until combined.
2. Add the milk and powered sugar and beat again.
3. Fill piping bag and pipe onto the brownies.

Frosting from here.

Enjoy!
-Bethany