SPOOKtacular #GlutenFree Halloween Desserts And Mexican Catrina Cookies #Recipe – #GF #Cookbook #Giveaway

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SPOOKtacular Gluten-Free Halloween Desserts

• Paperback: 76 pages, 112 full-color images
• Publisher: Inner Splendor Media LLC; First Edition edition (October 3, 2013)
• ISBN-10: 0988964244
• ISBN-13: 978-0988964242
• Price $14.97 paperback / $4.99 Kindle

ABOUT SPOOKTACULAR GLUTEN-FREE HALLOWEEN DESSERTS

Halloween is the Barrios’ family’s favorite holiday, but the killer treats don’t fit with their healthy lifestyle. So the brother-sister duo put together a book of gluten-free, dairy-free, all-natural Halloween desserts for healthy families, SPOOKtacular Gluten-Free Halloween Desserts.

There’s a lot of gluten-free books on the market, so let me tell you what sets the Barrios family apart. The Barrios’ recipes are focused on all natural alternatives to wheat instead of these processed gluten-free flours you find in supermarkets. This is the only gluten-free Halloween book currently on the market! SPOOKtacular Gluten-Free Halloween Desserts is already in Amazon’s top ten best-selling organic cookbooks!

SPOOKtacular Gluten-Free Halloween Desserts is the solution: TO-DIE-FOR desserts that aren’t killers. This year you can give a Halloween party and feed your friends gluten-free, dairy-free treats made with all natural ingredients. Create your own Witchy Carrot Cake Cupcakes or a scary graveyard chocolate cake using alternative flours: quinoa, rice, or millet. The directions are all here. The trick is these gluten-free desserts aren’t frightful at all. They’re nutrition in disguise. They’re delicious and—SURPRISE!—they’re actually good for you!

About the Authors

Kanta Barrios, a hatha yoga teacher, and her mother, Manasi Fragoso, are both bakers extraordinaire with a passion for all things healthy and delicious!

Vidura Barrios, brother to Kanta and son to Manasi, was in charge of the editorial aspect of this project. Vidura is the founder of the popular Facebook page “I Love Halloween,” the Halloween CD series Monster’s Halloween Party, and Inner Splendor Publishing.

Here’s a recipe for Gluten-free Mexican Catrina Cookies just in time for Halloween, courtesy of SPOOKtacular Gluten-Free Halloween Desserts.

Mexican Catrinas & Calaveras Recipe

(PECAN COOKIES) (4 or 5 Catrinas and 6 Calaveras)

Catrinas are made all over Mexico and were originally inspired at the turn of the last century by the famous “La Calavera Catrina,” an etching of a skeleton decked out in elegant women’s clothing. The artwork was created by the celebrated Mexican artist Jose Guadalupe Posada and stands to this day as the most widely recognized symbol of the Mexican Day of the Dead.

Another of this holiday’s sweet symbols are Calaveras, skulls, often distributed in the form of candy but which we are creating as delicious cookies. In this recipe it is especially important to pulverize the sugar before mixing it with other ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

• • 1/2 cup raw coconut oil or butter, softened
• • 3/4 cup raw sugar (coconut or demerara sugar), pulverized
• • 1 large egg
• • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• • 2 ½ cups quinoa flour (plus extra flour for rolling the dough)
• • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• • 1 tablespoon cinnamon powder
• • 3/4 cup finely ground pecans (pecan meal)
• • Skull Template and Catrina Template and a gingerbread lady cookie cutter of a similar size

(for decorating)

• 2 batches Royal Icing (see page 6)
• food coloring in white, red, orange
• green, yellow, and black edible ink pen
• icing piping bags with #2 and #3 tips, 1 for white and another for the other colors
• edible orange sugar sparkles (plus any other color you like)
• a steady hand

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, beat the oil, sugar, egg, and vanilla until the mixture is a creamy consistency.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and ground pecans.
Add the dry mixture to the oil mixture and beat well.
Transfer the mixture to a board, and knead it just enough to make it a dough.
Sprinkle some flour on the counter, and roll the dough to ¼-inch thickness. If you are making skulls, cut out the shape using the template provided. For the Catrinas, follow the template provided or find a gingerbread lady cookie cutter of a similar size.
Place the cookies on the lined baking tray and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.
Let the cookies cool completely before icing and decorating.

To Decorate

For the Catrinas, divide 1 batch of Royal Icing, and color it white, red, green, yellow, and black. You decide how much of each color you want to have.

You have a couple of options for decorating this cookie. The first involves using the Catrina stencil (see page XX) and the writing pen. In the final Catrina, the background behind the skeleton will be the cookie itself.

Start by drawing the outline of the Catrina with her skirt, hat, bones, and head straight onto the cookie.

Pick a color for the Royal Icing (red, green, or yellow) and use that color icing in a piping bag with a #3 tip to outline the skirt and hat. Once the icing sets, fill in the skirt and hat with the same color. Let the icing set.

Using white icing in the piping bag with a #3 tip, outline the skull, vertebrae, ribs, bone arms, and fingers. Fill the eyes, nose, and mouth with the black icing, using a #2 tip.

Finish with design details on the skirt, hat, and earrings using another color or colors and the #2 tip.

The second option requires an even steadier hand and the ability to draw on the cookie with the icing.

The process is the same, except that after outlining the skirt with the colored icing, you use the black icing to outline the torso and head. Let these set, and then fill in the torso and head with black icing. Fill in the skirt using the other colors.

Once the black icing is dry, draw the hat and fill it in. Then fill in the skull and bones with white icing over the black background.

Using different colors, add the design details (as above) on the skirt, hat, and earrings.

For the Calaveras, divide 1 batch of Royal Icing, and color 5 ounces (150 grams) white and 3 ounces (90 grams) between black, green, blue, orange and any other colors you may like.

Trace the outline of the face onto the cookie using the stencil and the edible ink pen.

Outline the eyes and nose with black icing and fill them in. While the eyes are still wet, sprinkle them with the edible orange sugar sparkles.

Outline the face with white icing and fill it in.

Add details in different colors and shapes around the face and mouth. In Mexico, the traditional Calaveritas have tears running down from their eyes.

For inspiration, you can look at this picture

ROYAL ICING (covers 6 – 8 cookies)

As we’ve said, most of the cookies in this book are decorated with Royal Icing.
You can also purchase prepared Royal Icing powder and add water, but it isn’t that difficult to make the icing from scratch.

If you have concerns about eating raw egg, then you should use pasteurized egg white for this icing, as it isn’t cooked.

1 large egg white (could be pasteurized)
1½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg white for a few seconds before adding the sugar and half of the lemon juice. The icing’s consistency should be smooth and heavy cream-like. Add the remaining lemon juice (and more if you feel it’s needed) one drop at a time. You may also add more sugar to suit your liking.
Just a few drops of liquid, more or less, will alter the icing’s consistency.
We recommend a thicker icing for outlining the cookie, and thinner icing for filling out the inside.

WIN IT!

ONE winner will receive their own copy of SPOOKtacular Gluten-Free Halloween Desserts.

HOW TO ENTER. (MANDATORY)

To enter leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite gluten-free dessert is, or a dessert you’d like to learn how to make gluten-free.

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THE SMALL PRINT.

The winner will be selected using the “And the winner is” plugin. US addresses only please, no PO Boxes. This contest will end on Monday 10/28/13 at 11:59 pm est. If you’ve entered any of my giveaways before then you know that only comments containing all of the requested information will be eligible for entry. The winner must contact me to confirm they wish to receive the prize within 24 hours of my email notifying them they’ve won. Good luck to everyone!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.