Today I have a sweet something to share: a review of Sweet Debbie’s Organic Treats: Allergy-Free and Vegan Recipes from the Famous Los Angeles Bakery, and a chance to win a copy for yourself!
Debbie Adler runs Sweet Debbie’s Organic Cupcakes, a sugar- and allergen-free bakery in LA, which boasts clientele such as Gwyneth Paltrow. All of her recipes are free of gluten, nuts, high-glycemic sweeteners, eggs, and dairy, and last fall she released this cookbook to share them with the world.
And as I polish off the last of my batch of blondies, I’m sure thankful for that. 🙂 Here’s a rundown of what you’ll find in the book:
- A guide to the different ingredients that Debbie uses and what their purpose is, as well as a resource section for the best places to buy them.
- Basics that are used in later recipes, including Debbie’s all-purpose gluten-free flour blend (which is made with whole grain flours including quinoa, millet and teff).
- Muffin recipes, such as mango buckwheat pancake muffins and sunflower butter and jelly muffins
- Brownies, blondies, and bars – including the two that I made!
- Cookie recipes including basil lemonade cookies
- Every flavor of cupcakes that you could desire, including vanilla, chocolate, red velvet, coconut, and more
- Energy bars and energy bites (acai truffles, anyone?)
- An entire chapter on donut holes (yes, heaven is a place on earth)
- A chapter on gluten-free breads
Almost every recipe includes a beautiful full-color photograph and a fun introduction from Debbie. As you can imagine from reading the list above, it was seriously difficult for me to decide what to make first (and I bought myself some time by starting with the AP flour blend). I settled on the blondies with roots.
These were a veritable crowd pleaser, and we finished off the batch in approximately 1 day. I wouldn’t describe them as chewy, but they had a great dense-ness to them without being gummy. The batter is lightly spiced with coriander and cardamom, which pairs beautifully with the chocolate chips. I used store-bought chocolate chips, but the cookbook also includes a recipe to make your own sugar-free version of those.
I wasn’t planning to make two different blondies, but I had a bunch of cooked parsnip in my fridge (#veganproblems), so I couldn’t say no to the lemon parsnippanies, a blondie made with fresh lemon flavor and parsnip puree. There’s also a recipe for lemon icing to go on top, which I omitted this time around. The parsnips added a really nice silkiness to these blondies, and the pinch of nutmeg in the batter complements the warm flavor that parsnips have. Though they tasted great, these weren’t very attractive =P.
As for the sorts of ingredients that Debbie uses in her recipes, you’ll want to stock up on a couple of things that make repeat appearances:
- Fats: Grapeseed oil and coconut oil – I tend to usually cook with as little oil as I can get away with, so these recipes were slightly out of my comfort zone in that regard. I think 1/4 c. of oil for a batch of blondies is reasonable, though. With gluten-free baking it’s important to achieve the proper fat content so that they don’t get gummy. Grapeseed and coconut are among the healthiest choices for oils, and most recipes use one or the other.
- Flours: Buckwheat and amaranth flours, & guar gum – In addition to the gluten-free all-purpose blend – which consists of millet, quinoa, teff, sorghum, and tapioca – buckwheat and amaranth also pop up a lot (though there are plenty of recipes that only require the blend). I actually substituted xanthan gum for the guar gum, but that shows up in most of the recipes too. It’s intimidating to stock your pantry with so many flours if you aren’t already making a lot of gluten-free baked goods. To buy a bag of each one of these flours will definitely set you back a few bucks, but on the other hand, stocking a pantry is inherently filled with up-front costs.
- Sweeteners: If you’ve followed my blog for a while you know that I already try to avoid refined sugar, so I was really happy with the choices in this cookbook. Coconut nectar and stevia are Debbie’s sweeteners of choice, as they don’t have an effect on blood sugar levels. This was my first time working with coconut nectar and it’s actually stinkin’ delicious. It tastes a lot like maple syrup and it’s pretty reasonably priced if you shop around a little. Usually stevia powder is called for but I was able to successfully substitute stevia extract as well.
Overall, I am definitely a fan of this book. The pictures are beautiful, the recipes that I’ve tried so far are delicious, and it’s just a great thing to have a collection of allergen-free recipes at your disposal. I have several family members who live with serious food allergies and I’m excited to make some treats for them. Plus, even if you do eat wheat and/or nuts, it’s good to break out of the mold sometimes and incorporate different grains and seeds into your diet.
If you can’t wait for the giveaway, the book is available on Amazon, and you can visit Debbie’s website to learn more. You can also find the blondies with roots recipe on Annie’s site.
Debbie and her publisher provided a review copy to me and are graciously offering a giveaway copy to 1 reader (US only, please). To enter, you can mix and match the options on the Rafflecopter below (it may take a few seconds to load).
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I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
Kelsey says
I’m vegan, my husband’s not, and we went gf about 2 months ago for him. I need to find more stuff we can both eat! I love Babycake’s blondie recipe and I make pb cups, but that’s about all we can share in the sweets department so far… this book would be amazing! Not really any tips so far, except that tamales make great gluten free, vegan (or not) food that isn’t too weird or gluten-free-ish.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Love the tamales idea! I live in a split-diet household as well, and those would work great for customizing our own fillings but still enjoying a meal together. 🙂
Shari W. says
I discovered your cupcakes through my twitter feed and am so intrigued to try your recipes. They look scrumptious. I also switched to grapeseed oil as per your suggestion and have really enjoyed tge flavor that it adds to my salad dressing as well as stir fry. THANK YOU.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Debbie’s recipes are awesome! Good luck in the giveaway!
Saniel says
Now if I could get someone to make these for me that would be great! Keep the vegan meals coming. Sanielj@gmail.com
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I know how you feel =P
The Peace Patch says
“Naturally Sweet & Gluten-Free” and “Sweet Freedom” by Ricki Heller might interest you too! 🙂
http://www.rickiheller.com/cookbook/
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I will add those to my list! Thank you! So many good cookbooks 🙂
rika@vm says
Great giveaway! I’ve been into desserts and pies lately! Raw cashews and Coconut oil are versatile ingredients to make a yummy pie!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Rika, I don’t know if i will ever get tired of using raw cashews in stuff! 🙂
sarah says
vegan brunch! love that cookbook!
Lydia Claire says
I don’t have any tips that are better than the ones already out there. I am really excited to have found your blog and I am following along on Bloglovin in addition to FB and Twitter. =)
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Aw shucks! Thanks for entering and for following! 🙂
Adam says
I’ve been doing more gluten free baking lately due to intolerances by a few friends, and books like these are great helps. A tip I would give is to always measure by weight when possible. Baking is a science, and especially when gluten free baking, ingredient measurements are very important. I love when cookbooks offer both volume and weight measurements.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Adam, that’s a great tip! This cookbook doesn’t use weight measurements, but the author addresses very specifically how she measures out her flour, so that readers can still mimic the amounts properly. I agree it would be ideal if the weights were included. And yeah, I learned the hard way not to reduce the fat content of gluten-free baked goods..
Ashley Trail says
Hi !! This is a great giveaway , my cousins are vegan and I am also dabbling in new healthy ways to eat. This is great , thanks for the chance !
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thanks for entering!
Kari @ bite-sized thoughts says
This book sounds great! Don’t enter me in the give away given I’m not in the US, but I’m pretty sure I’d like all of the products 🙂
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Aw, sorry you can’t enter, Kari. The book is great! I hope to do an international giveaway soon =]
Cynthia P says
I have learned so much over the past several years about cooking for people with allergies, especially those who cannot tolerate gluten. In my own case (as a celiac) I have discovered that, besides grains which knowingly contain gluten, I can also no longer tolerate corn in any form. And carageenan is also a big no-no for me! And she keeps on learning . . . . .
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Oo, I actually can’t handle carageenan very well either. I read that more people are developing corn allergies/intolerance because so many foods have some form of corn added to them – a little scary! Yep, learning every day 🙂
Holly E says
Thanks for the giveaway. I am gluten free and also looking at reducing my intake of foods that can cause inflammation.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Ah, I only know a little about anti-inflammation diets, so I can’t say if these recipes are friendly to that, but I am sure you can tweak them to your needs!
Willow says
I am vegan and gluten free. I have mainly found recipes from Vegetarian Times and online. I have done any baking.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Vegetarian Times has some great recipes for sure! I think this book would work fine for a beginning baker, there is lots of info about what to pay attention to with gluten-free baking.
Chelsea Ortiz says
I’m vegan, so all the desserts I make are free of eggs and dairy, but I haven’t really experimented too much with gluten-free desserts.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
It’s definitely fun to experiment! Thanks for entering!
Kelly O'M says
Hello 🙂 I eat only organic foods and love the idea that a cookbook would explain the “reason” for certain ingredients. I would love to learn more about organic ingredients and new recipe ideas for my family 🙂
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I appreciate when cookbooks do that, too. I am trying to work my way toward eating mostly organic – I’m hoping that once I get my own garden that will help!
Kelly G. says
I’d like to try some gluten-free vegan baking, since it’s not an area I’ve really delved into yet!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
It’s great to try it out! Good luck!
Jennifer M. says
Hi! I am new to gluten free and I appreciate this giveaway. My 2 children and I all have Celiac disease.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thank you for entering!
Sara says
These look so good! I want to check this book out!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I was seriously impressed with the blondies!
Kat says
Hi and thanks for the giveaway!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thanks for entering!
Jenny says
Hello and thanks for hosting the giveaway! The book looks great. I also love the book Allergen-Free Baking by Cybele Pascal
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I’ll have to check that out!
Becca F says
I own about 3 or 4 gluten free and vegan friendly cookbooks
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Nice! This is my first gluten-free cookbook… I hope to get a few more 🙂
Kate says
This book looks amazing! It would be a great addition to anyone’s shelf! I’m not gluten free or sugar free, but the idea of trying allergen-free cooking and baking sounds great! 🙂
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
It’s always good to experiment! 🙂
Deb says
I think it would be fun to try gluten-free recipes, haven’t done that before really.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
It’s definitely fun to try them out!
Laura @ the gluten-free treadmill says
This sounds like an amazing cookbook – I’d live to try it!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Good luck to you 🙂