Nothing says “BE MINE” like baking a homemade sweet treat with someone you love. When I was a child I loved the craft of making, baking, decorating, and devouring sugar cookies with my Mom. So, now that I am a Mama too, I decided there was no time like the present to create an allergy-friendly recipe to continue that tradition with my little girl. We had so much fun making and decorating our beautiful heart shaped sugar cookies… and just in time for Valentine’s day!

I prepared the dough ahead of time and let it chill overnight. The directions below are in 3 steps for roll out cookies, but if you are looking for a simple no fuss option,  just slice 1/4″ – 1/2″ thick medallions from the chilled dough, sprinkle with colored sugar and bake as directed. Either way, this is a super sweet treat to share with someone you love, on Valentine’s Day… or any day!  Approximately 2 dozen cookies.

You will need:

STEP ONE: Make dough ahead and chill:

In a medium bowl, combine entire package of Lillabee flour blend with 2 tsp of cream of tartar. Use a whisk to combine well. Set aside.

In the bowl of your standing mixer, cream butter/margarine and entire contents of Lillabee sugar package until fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Mix until well combined.

Stir in the flour mixture by hand until well combined, taking care to not over mix.

Transfer dough to a large piece of wax paper. Use your hands to form a log shape. Wrap tight in the wax paper and twist the ends. Make sure that your dough is completely sealed inside the wax paper to prevent drying out.

STEP TWO: roll out dough, cut out cookies and bake.

Preheat oven to 375. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll dough out on floured surface to 1/4″ thick and cut into your favorite shapes. As you arrange them on your baking sheet, allow room for them to spread.

Bake 6-8 min, until the cookies is slightly golden brown around the edges. As one is baking, cut and arrange cookies on the second sheet.

STEP THREE: make frosting and decorate cookies.

To frost and decorate, we used Lillabee Dairy-Free “Buttercream” frosting  (tinted shades of pink with pureed beets) and “Lets do…Sprinkelz Gluten Free/Vegan Carnival Sprinkles”.

The beautiful possibilities are endless. Have fun!

I recently had a request from a friend for a gluten free, vegan carrot cake recipe for her son Damien’s first birthday. No gluten, no eggs, no dairy…. NO PROBLEM! Lillabee to the rescue! What a pleasure and honor it was to create this recipe. It was just 6 months ago that we were celebrating the joyous milestone of our daughter Violet’s first birthday. Being a mother has been the most amazing experience of my life. There are moments of pure joy and moments of pure terror, yet every moment has been packed with more love that I have ever known. Selena, congratulations Mama! A very happy first birthday to Damien! And thank you for celebrating with Lillabee.

You will need 1 box of Lillabee Anytime Muffin Mix

1/2 c of pumpkin puree (i used organic canned)

1/4c + 2 Tablespoons of room temp non-dairy “butter” (i used earth balance coconut spread, but their soy free buttery spread would be great too)

1/4 c full fat coconut milk (from a can, not the coconut milk beverages. i used the whole foods 365 organic)

1/2 c rice milk

2 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1 tsp gf vanilla

1 1/2 c. shredded carrots

1/4 c raisins or any dried fruit (re-hydrate by soaking in very hot water for 5-10 min)

1/4 tsp baking powder (NOT baking soda)

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 9″ round cake pan very well (soy free earth balance buttery spread or spectrum non-hydrogenated shortening).

-In a small bowl, combine coconut milk, rice milk, vinegar or lemon juice and vanilla. Set aside.

-Pour contents of the flour package from the Lillabee mix into a bowl. Use a whisk to blend in the 1/4 tsp of baking powder. Set aside.

-In the bowl of your electric mixer combine “butter” and sugar. Mix in pumpkin puree and blend until smooth.

-On low speed mix in 1/2 of the liquid mixture and mix until well combined. Mix in half of the flour blend an mix until well combined. Repeat with the remaining liquid, then the remaining flour.

-Using a spatula, mix in the shredded carrots and raisins by hand.

-Pour batter into greased pan and bake for 35-40 min. Mine took 40 min, but since all ovens are a little different it’s best to start checking it at 35 min, then every 5 min until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

This will make a single layer 9″ cake. For a 2 layer cake, use 2 boxes of Lillabee Anytime Muffin Mix and double the recipe above. It can also be made as cupcakes using a muffin pan. Note, cupcake baking time will be shorter… probably 30-35 min.

For frosting, I recommend our vegan “butter cream” frosting recipe http://lillabeebaking.com/recipes/lillabee-%E2%80%9Cbutter-cream%E2%80%9D-frosting/ . If you want you could and add 1T of pumpkin pie spice to carry the yummy spices from the cake into the frosting. Either would be fantastic.

You are probably wondering who the “Lillababee” is. At birth, our now 16 month old daughter, Violet was given the nickname “Lillababee” by our great friend and talented designer, Elizabeth Winheld of Sweet Spark Design http://sweet-spark.com/ . And what do you think the Lillababee loves? Lillabee Perfect Pancakes, of course! So, how does a Mama make them even more fun and nutritious? By adding cherries to give them a all-natural purple hue and a boost of antioxidants, along with super foods, flax and chia seeds (for additional antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, iron, potassium, fiber and more). The delicious result is The Lillababee’s Super Purple Pancakes. Go ahead, serve these on Sunday and watch the whole family gobble them down with a smile.

Follow the directions on the back of the Lillabee Perfect Pancake box. Stir 1/4 cup of sliced fresh or frozen cherries, 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds and 2 tablespoons of ground chia seeds into the batter. Pour and cook pancakes as directed on the box, and viola! Super Purple Pancakes!

For added fun, make mini-pancakes. Kids always love little things. Or pour two small pancakes and one larger pancake together to make the shape of Mickey Mouse. I usually make a few extras to freeze, then defrost later in the week for a quick nutritious snack that is great on the go.

And don’t forget, you can enjoy Lillabee Perfect Pancakes in two fabulous Boulder establishments, Centro Latin Kitchen (for Sat/Sun brunch) http://centrolatinkitchen.com/default.aspx and The Buff any morning of the week http://www.buffrestaurant.com/.

Happy Pancaking!

For Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake:

Follow directions on the back of the Lillabee Classic Yellow Cake Mix.

Reserve 1/4 of the batter and mix in 3-4 Tablespoons of cinnamon. Pour half of the yellow cake batter into an 8″ or 9″ greased. Next pour the cinnamon batter on top in 2 or 3  long strips. Now pour the rest of the yellow cake batter over top of the cinnamon strips. Use a knife to draw zig zag lines through the batter to swirl the cinnamon in the center.

Bake as directed.

For Cinnamon Crumble Topping:

In a bowl, combine 1 cup of brown sugar, 3 Tablespoons of cinnamon, a pinch of salt and 1/4 cup of melted butter or your favorite dairy free butter substitute. You could also add 1/4 cup of dried fruit, or if you don’t have any nut allergies, try 1/4 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts. (You might want to use your hands for the next part.) Add 1/4 cup of Lillabee Perfect Pancake/Waffle Mix (rice flour would work too) and mix or squeeze the ingredients between your fingers until well combined. The consistency of the topping should be in large clumps and looks crumbly. If it is a little too wet, just keep adding pancake mix (or rice flour) 1 Tablespoon at a time until you achieve the desired consistency. If it gets too dry you can always add more butter. Crumble the topping over the batter in the cake pan, then bake as directed.

Happy Baking!