Gluten free Vanilla cupcakes

Been into eating healthy these past few months. One of the things I want to delve into is eating GLUTEN FREE.

I have read about all the benefits of a GLUTEN FREE diet. 

So, I decided to buy some books and try it. One of them is THE GLUTEN FREE ALMOND FLOUR COOKBOOK by Elana Amsterdam. One thing about Almond flour is that is is low carbohydrate/high protein substitute for regular flour. )which is good because you don't get that insulin rush from carbs)

The recipe is pretty easy to make and I was actually not sure at the outcome. (more on that later)

One of the cons of eating healthier is that it COSTS a lot more for ingredients than regular "sinful" fare.
But when you are concerned with health, I think you have to  invest in your body.

VERY VANILLA CUPCAKES (with dairy free almond frosting)

2 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup agave syrup
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

preheat oven to 350F (180C). line muffin cups with paper liners

In a large bowl,whisk egg yolks until pale yellow with a handheld mixer, then whisk in grapeseed oil, agave nectar vanilla extract and lemon juice.

In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites to stiff peaks. Gently fold in egg whites to yolk mixture.

In a separate bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda. Gently fold into the egg mixture. Scoop batter into muffin cups.

Bake for 20- 30 minutes till tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool in pan for 30 mins. Frost if desired.

*to complete the health option, I used an almond whipping cream I discovered when I attended WOLFEX.

The company that sells this also sells almond flour and whole nuts. FRUITTI NUTTI - tel : 9759689, 2340872.  almond flour is about P350/pack and this small 16 oz cream is P300 (expensive eh?)

you can get grapeseed oil in SNR or healthy options. Agave syrup (about 700/bottle) is also available in healthy options. I will try to substitute SPLENDA with the agave syrup and see how it goes. (will update later on)

grapeseed oil is lower in cholesterol and is a good substitute for butter while agave syrup has a lower glycemic index than honey or sugar

The cupcake itself did not rise up too much... maybe because of the lack of gluten. I suggest you fill the muffin cups more till the top. Taste wise, it was quite good! Also, the whipped topping was better as you keep it more in the refrigerator. It was kind of hard to whip to stiff peaks. I refrigerated it to stiffen it more and found it improved the taste too. (the first time I tried the topping, I found it too "almondy"). I haven't tried piping it though. Might do so in the next attempt.

PS- I used 1/3 of the above box when I did the cupcakes, so the 16 oz one might yield you 3 batches worth of topping for cupcakes in this post.

PPS - these tasted better the next day after I baked them.!! moist and chewy! Most important is that I did not gain weight from eating TWO of them!