Nutella filled Christmas Cupcakes!

Yes you read it right, Nutella filled Christmas cupcakes! An easy one bowl vanilla sponge that is light and airy, filled with Nutella and topped with vanilla buttercream and sprinkles, not even the grinch can resist these cupcakes this Christmas!

Whilst this year has had a devastating impact on every life, I am looking for the positives this Christmas, and these cupcakes are sure to put a smile on your familys faces!

They are super simple to make, and are a really fun recipe to try with your friends and family so make sure to get creative and get baking!

You may be wondering...

Do I need any special equipment for this recepie?

No! An electric or standing mixer will speed up the process but of course you can use a wooden spoon, just make sure to thoroughly mix to enable consistency throughout your mixture.

As well as this you will need bowls and piping bags ( if you don't have piping bags you can spoon on the buttercream or cut a small hole in the corner of a plastic bag and fill this with your icing instead)!

Can I make this recepie dairy free?

You could try this recipe with dairy free alternatives for the butter, milk and chocolate spread! However I have not tried these switches myself so it may take some experimenting to get it right!

Can I make this recipe vegan?

Much like the dairy free alternative I have not tried this recepie vegan, but to do so you will need to replace the dairy products listed above with dairy free alternatives and replace the egg with an egg alternative!

Is this recepie nut free?

Using Nutella it is not, however if you swap the Nutella for a chocolate spread alternative that does not contain nuts then you are all good to go!

If you have any further questions use the contact me section on this page or head over to my instagram @rubysgfkitchen and comment your question on a recent photo! xx

The Recipe

175g gluten free self raising flour

175g butter, softened

175g caster suger

3 large eggs

3 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp zanthem gum

tsp baking powder

tsp vanilla extract

150g butter, softned

290g icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon milk

green food colouring

red food colouring

Christmas sprinkles

chocolate spread

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 fan, and line a 12 hole cupcake tin with cupcake cases.

2. Beat all your cupcake ingredients in a bowl with a electric whisk until smooth (be carful not to over beat as cupcakes may be rubbery!)

3. Using a spoon or ice cream scoop evenly disrepute your batter between your cupcake cases, lightly flattening the top with a tea spoon, moving in circular motions and place in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes or until brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean ( if you have any extra batter you could do a few more cupcakes or I like to use fairy cases and make small ones!)

4. Remove the cupcakes from the tin and leave too cool. Whist cooling make the buttercream; beat the butter until soft and add the icing sugar gradually mixing all the time (I use an electric whisk as this is the easiest and most efficient)

5. Separate roughly 3 tablespoons of icing into a separate bowl and leave this white.

6. Now half your remaining icing into 2 separate bowls, colouring own red and the other green (be careful to only use a few drops, always beating until the couler is right)

7. Once your cupcakes are cool, use a nossle, or knife to take out the middle of each cupcake (carful not to take out to much as you want cake for your filling to sit on) I use a melon scoop to do this.

1. Place your chocolate spread in a piping bag and fill the centre of the cupcakes with your spread ( or you can use a small spoon for this), placing the lid of the cake back on top, repeating this with each cupcake.

2. Place each icing in a separate piping bag (I use a star nozzle for the Green), for the green Christmas trees pipe in a circle moving towards the middle building height as you go and decorate with sprinkels

3. For the Santas move in the same motion as the Christmas trees with the red icing piping a whippy affect (or you can spread this on using a spoon). Use the white to dot around the bottom Circumference and one dot at the peak of the red icing

11. Repeat this with your remaining cupcakes and enjoy!

Hope you enjoyed reading, if you do make this recepie take a photo and tag me on instagram so that I can see your creations!

Happy baking,

Ruby xx

Quick and easy gluten free granola recipe

This recipe is free from added sugar, gluten, dairy and can be made vegan! It could not be easier to make with flexible ingredients that will suite you and your taste buds. Serve this granola over the top of smoothie bowls, with yogurt or milk as a delicious breakfast option or by itself as an on the go snack. The nuts and oats will provide you with fibre that will keep you feeling fuller for longer allowing you to focus on your mourning. This granola can be made in advanced and enjoyed through the week as there is so many different ways to enjoy it I promise that you will not get bored.

As a kid I always ate breakfast, but it was never healthy or sustainable for the mourning as I knew nothing about what my body needed . As I have come to learn a little bit more about nutrition (but trust me I am no expert) I started to discover a wider range of healthier alternatives that would keep me fuller for longer and feel a lot less tired, and granola has come to be one of my favourites. I like to batch bake mine at the beginning of the week, so that through out the week I always have a quick and easy breakfast option.

This granola can be paired with a number of different ingredients to make the most amazing breakfast options, one of my favourites is to top it with fruit like raspberries, strawberries or banana and poor in some milk or top with plain yogurt. The nuts and sweeteners are flexible to provide variety with whatever you have in your cupboard. Each time I make this granola (which has come to be weekly!) I love to experiment with the nuts and sweeteners to explore a variety of textures and tastes.

This recipe is dairy free and if a vegan sweetener is used can be vegan to! I hope you enjoy this recipe and tell me how it turned out below!

Questions answered that you might have:

What other sweeteners can you use?

I have tried a variety of combinations and some of my favourites have been an even ratio of fruit syrup, honey and maple syrup. Which one you choose is based on personal preference and availability, but have fun and get creative with combinations.

Can I use different nuts in the recipe?

You can use just about any nut that you enjoy, personally I love a mix of walnuts, almonds and cashews! If sunflower seeds are not your presence then feel free to switch them out for another nut or seed that you prefer.

Is this recipe gluten free?

Off course, just remember to use gluten free oats!

Why choose this granola recipe?

1. It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and can be done in one bowl with no special equipment needed

2. Granola is such an amazing breakfast choice as it super filling and will keep you energised until lunch time

3. There's only 7 simple ingredients!

4. Since its homemade you know exactly what goes inside and the way that is prepared unlike store bought granola and cereal which can be full of sugar

5. Its delicious and can be served with a wide variety of different foods

Is this recipe vegan?

Yes if a vegan sweetener is used like the ones listed above.

Is there added sugar or flour in this recipe?

No flour or added sugar, no need to buy any gf flour for this one! The sweetness of this granola comes from the sweeteners, if you wish for a more sweet and salty granola just add a bit more salt than what the recipe instructs but be careful not to overdo it!

I don't have enough of the ingredients, can I half this recipe?

Off course you can, whatever suits you best!

If you make this recipe be sure to tag me on instagram, I'd love to see how it turned out!

Thank you for reading,

Ruby x

Quick and easy gluten free granola recipe

makes: 10-15 servings

prep time: 10 minutes

cook time: 20 minutes

cool time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup of coconut oil, plus extra to grease baking trays

6 cups of gluten free oats

1 cup of sunflower seeds

1 cup of chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans etc)

A pinch of salt

1 teaspoon of mixed spice

1 cup of honey (see above recipe for possible substitutions)

Equipment:

baking paper

whisk

bowl

wooden spoon

small pan/ microwavable bowl

2 large baking trays

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 300f/150 fan, line two large baking trays using coconut oil and a base of baking paper that sticks up out of the side of the trays as this is easier to get the granola out ounce it is baked.

2. Melt your coconut oil in the microwave or on the stove in a small pot on a low heat until it is fully melted.

3. Add your oil to a bowl along with the mixed spice, salt and honey, whisk these until fully combined.

4. Mix in your oats and nuts using a wooden spoon, until evenly coated, if the mixture looks dry add a little bit more coconut oil and honey ( the more coated the mixture the more clustered the granola is).

5. Spread the mixture out evenly on your baking trays and place in the oven for 10 minutes, then take them out give the granola a stir, re spread and bake for another 10 minutes until the granola has browned on top.

6. leave the granola to cool off the trays for 10 minutes, ounce firm use a spoon or your hands to mix and break up the granola, place in a sealed container or add to a bowl and enjoy as a delicious breakfast.

Gluten free chocolate and banana crepes

Looking for a quick easy breakfast that's gluten free, easy to make and taste delicous? I give you...crepes! A large thin pancake covered and filled with your favourite toppings - whether its yogurt and fruit or ice cream and sprinkles crepes are so easily versatile to compliment whatever food mood your in!

Only 3 simple ingredients are needed to make this perfect breakfast option, great for a lot of people all wanting different things - each can choose there own toppings and flavours to compliment there crepe. Whether its fruit or chocolate these are so easily changed from day to day to create a whole new breakfast so that you don't get bored of the same thing every day (no offence to anyone who has the same every day- do whatever works for you).

One of my faveriote combos is chocolate and banana with a squirt of whipped cream - don't want to eat chocolate in the mourning? I love to use the @sweetfreedomuk choc shot as this gives you the perfect chocolate flavour without being full of sugar.

This recipe is not originally dairy free but a substitute milk can be used to make it dairy free ( your results may differ from mine in the photos) and the whipped cream would need to be left out or a dairy free

substitute cream used . This recipe does use eggs so is not originally vegan but you could experiment with egg substitutes and see how It turns out- tag me on your photos on instagram I'd love to see how they go!

These crepes have no refined sugar and are of course gluten free!

Serves : one

Ingredients:

1 egg

100 g gluten free plain flour

150 ml milk

A large knob of coconut oil

Toppings:

1 banana, chopped into penny shapes

Chocolate spread or chocolate variation (see above for recommendation)

A squirt of whipped cream

Method:

1. Whisk all your ingredients together in a large jug aside from the coconut oil and toppings ( if the batter is thick and does not easily pour of of a spoon add a dash of water to loosen it up)

2. Heat a pancake pan to a medium heat and add a small knob of your coconut oil (not all of it)

3. Spread the oil over the pan and let it simmer for a moment

4. Pour a thin layer of pancake batter into the pan evening it out by picking up the pan and moving it in circular motions until the pancake batter has formed an evenly layered circle

5. Let this cook for a minute or until browned lightly, then loosen the edges with a spatula. Bring the spatula underneath moving it sideways to loosen the pancake. Using the spatula flip the pancake and cook on the other side for a minute or until lightly browned. Place onto a plate and repeat for the rest of the mixture.

6. To serve spread over your choice of chocolate sauce, chopped banana and finish with a squirt of whipped cream. You could fold your pancake in a number of ways for example rolled, halved or in a triangle! Get creative, have fun and enjoy!

Tag me in your posts of your crepes I'd love to see what you do with the toppings and flavours!

Ruby xx