I’ll look for excuses to make frosting, and they’re not that hard to find.

Cakes are great to make and frost when there’s a birthday, a party, or… a birthday party. But when it’s the weekend and you just want something sweet and fast for me, myself, and I, frosted brownies are the best way to go. 

My favorite brownie recipes are always on the traditional side. Forget about expensive olive oil and pine nuts; sweetened shredded coconut is in every grocery store and adds just as interesting a flavor and richness. Finish with some good vanilla and you’re good to go. 

What makes these brownies special besides the shredded coconut and spoon-licking frosting? Absolutely nothing, so if you want to use a quick gluten-free or regular boxed brownie recipe and fancy it up with shredded coconut and this frosting recipe, go right ahead–everyone will be too busy eating to mind.

Gluten-Free Coconut Brownies

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 8 x 8 pan):

• 3/4 cup oat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup butter
• 7 oz bittersweet baking chocolate, divided OR 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup water

For the frosting

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon milk
• 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together the oat flour, salt, cocoa powder, and baking powder and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, melt together 4 ounces of chocolate or a scant 1/2 cup chocolate chips with the butter.
4. While the chocolate is melting, beat together the eggs, sugar, shredded coconut, vanilla, and water.
5. Slowly pour the melted chocolate and butter into the egg/sugar mixture while whisking until fully incorporated. Don’t go too fast so that the raw eggs don’t cook upon contact.
6. Add the chocolate mixture in with the dry ingredients and mix completely.
7. Pour the batter in a greased 8 x 8 pan.
8. Sprinkle the top with the remaining chocolate and gently press it into the batter.
9. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. Let these cool completely before frosting.
10. With a beater, beat together the butter, sugar, and coconut until smooth.
11. Spread gently and generously over the pan of brownies.
12. Slice the brownies into even squares and serve within a couple days of baking. 

Some weekends I don’t want to cook a thing.

I want to go out to eat for every meal, forget I have a blog, and never pick my camera up.

Maybe it’s guilt, or maybe it’s sensibility. Maybe it’s something in between. I’ll inevitably find something to make, for myself or a friend, and at the end I’ll be happy I have something delicious that’s homemade, that I can call my own, and that cost a quarter as much as if I got it somewhere else.

I baked these brownies reluctantly, took photos of them frantically, and shared them happily. Sometimes the best push to cook something comes not from doing it for yourself, but from doing it for others. Do yourself a favor and bake some brownies for someone else.

Oat flour is more crumbly than regular flour and even other gluten-free flours. When baking with it, make sure to grease your pans liberally and add a dusting of powdered sugar on top before frosting to keep the top intact.

Bailey’s Frosted Brownies

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 8 x 8 pan):

For the brownies:

• 3/4 cup oat flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4oz bittersweet baking chocolate
• 1/3 cup Irish cream

For the frosting:

• 6 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons Irish cream

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together the oat flour, salt, cocoa powder, and baking powder and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, melt together the chocolate and butter.
4. While the chocolate is melting, beat together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and Irish cream.
5. Slowly pour the melted chocolate and butter into the egg/sugar mixture while whisking until fully incorporated. Don’t go too fast so that the raw eggs don’t cook upon contact.
6. Add the chocolate mixture in with the dry ingredients and mix completely.
7. Pour the batter in a greased 8 x 8 pan.
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. Let these cool completely before frosting.
9. To make the buttercream, beat the powdered sugar, butter, and Irish cream heavily until it’s entirely mixed. Add a touch more buttercream if it’s too dry at first.

Last weekend I tried to make gluten-free pumpkin cupcakes; the result was a little disappointing and I’ll have to try again to come up with a recipe that isn’t. But what can never disappoint is frosting.

Although there texture was a little rough, the cupcakes still tasted fine so I went ahead and frosted and served them. Frosting can fix just about any cake disaster. Instead of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, pumpkin pie spice gives the perfect earthy flavor for Fall. You could easily pair this with a yellow or chocolate cupcake and it’d be just as good.

You can easily make this recipe non-dairy by using a dairy-free margarine and non-dairy milk. Don’t go too heavy-handed with the spice because the sugar really turns up the flavor.

Pumpkin Spice Buttercream

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes enough for about 10 cupcakes):

• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1-3 teaspoons milk(optional)

Method:

1. Beat together the room temperature butter, powdered sugar, and pumpkin pie spice until the frosting has an even consistency.
2. If your frosting is on the thick side, add milk by the teaspoon until it’s at an easier consistency to work with.
3. Make sure to use the frosting within 2-4 hours of preparing.

Hopefully I’ll get the cupcakes right. Eventually. For now eating the frosting is just fine.

I saw a lot of carrot cake recipes last week leading up to Easter while I was planning to make one for yesterday, too. I’d forgotten it’s sort of an Eastery dessert. Easter is also the time I celebrate my birthday with my extended family and carrot cake has always been one of my favorite cakes. It’s kind of an odd choice(or so I’m told), but I love it. I even asked to have it as my graduation cake after 6th grade when everyone else was choosing chocolate and chocolate fudge; it’s their loss.

I haven’t had carrot cake since eating gluten-free a few years ago and have been meaning to make this for months. Of course, when I did decide to make it things started going wrong. I realized Friday night I only had one cake pan, so a layer cake was out. I also didn’t have a grater so I had to peel and chop the carrots. I completely forgot to add the pineapple I bought just for this, and as I went to add in the walnuts I remembered my aunt’s allergic to walnuts, so I swapped in some pecans at the last minute. Still, this was one of the best carrot cakes I’ve ever had.  

This recipe makes one cake layer. You can double it to make more for a layered cake. To make the cake dairy-free, use a vegan cream cheese substitute. I’d recommend something organic since vegan cream cheeses tend to have odd ingredients.

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts(or any other nut)
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 4 eggs
• 6 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 8oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-2 Tablespoons milk or cream

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix together the carrots, raisins, walnuts, coconut, almond flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3. Mix in the maple syrup, eggs, and coconut oil until the batter is even.
4. Pour the batter into a 12-inch cake pan and spread out evenly.
5. Bake for 40 minutes until the cake rises and the center has cooked through.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before frosting.
7. To make the frosting, sift the powdered sugar into a bowl with the cream cheese.
8. Add in the extract and milk and beat until completely mixed.
9. Spread on top and around the sides of the cake.
10. Garnish with extra nuts if desired.

I’ll always have a soft spot(and empty stomach) for carrot cake. Since there are vegetables and fruit in this I’m going to go ahead and say it’s fine to eat the leftovers for breakfast, too.

I really love lemon desserts. Unfortunately they tend to disappear in the winter. Why is that? We still have lemons. I guess their flavor is too bright when it’s cold and you want something warm and comforting. But now it’s Spring and we can eat all the lemons we want.

To make these cupcakes, I took my favorite paleo vanilla cupcake recipe and added lemon. Pretty simple, huh? There’s also a lemon buttercream because—of course—you can’t really have too much lemon. They’re perfect for a lightly flavored dessert, and I would bet even better with some lemoncello.

This recipe uses coconut flour. There really isn’t any substitute for it. It’s a high-fiber, starchy flour that simulates the binding properties of gluten in wheat really well. I’d consider it a must-have for any gluten-free bakers.

Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients(Makes a dozen cupcakes):

• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons coconut flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup cane sugar
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• Zest from one lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a dozen cupcake holders.
2. Combine all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and mix until it forms an even batter.
3. Scoop equal amounts of the batter into each cupcake well.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are firm to the touch.
5. Remove from the oven. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting them.

Lemon Buttercream

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup room temperature butter
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice OR 1/2 Tablespoon lemon extract and 1 Tablespoon cream
• Lemon zest for garnish(optional)

Method:

1. Beat together the butter, 1 1/2 cups of sugar, and the lemon juice until mix. Slowly sift in the extra sugar until it’s all used up.
2. Scoop the frosting into a Ziploc bag and snip off one edge. Squeeze the frosting through the cut out corner onto cupcakes in a swirling motion.

Who else is excited for Spring?