Birthday Party treats

Typically I will primarily include yummy places to eat in the Willamette Valley, but occasionally I will also include some of my favorite tips to living a gluten free life.

One of the hardest things about having a kid who is gluten-free is birthday parties.  Either in attending or especially at school when other kids bring in gluten-infested treats.  Today I made a new recipe I found from the blog "Gluten free on a Shoestring".  The recipe is perfect for fall is makes pumpkin-carrot cupcakes.

Of course my cupcakes aren't as cute as hers, but my are they tasty.  It was quick to throw together (so quick I didn't get in "in-process" pictures).  I did take this picture mid way through frosting them - you could frost them all, but they are also tasty without.  This recipe could also easily be made egg free and dairy free.  Since we are ok with eggs and a little dairy, these have a cream cheese frosting.  If I was making them dairy free, I would have made a coconut frosting (google some recipes, but basically coconut oil + coconut extract + coconut milk + powdered sugar).  This recipe recommends Better Batter GF all purpose flour.  I used Bob's Red Mill GF all purpose flour.  Next time I will try GF coconut flour.

My tip is to always make cupcakes as mini-cupcakes for multiple reasons

1. less guilt when I sample 2
2. my kids only really need one (says this sugar-avoiding mama)
3. less waste if they don't eat it all
4. takes up less room in the freezer

So I make the mini-cupcakes, then frost, then pop in the freezer on a cookie sheet so they freeze completely (frosted) then scoop them up into a gallon sized freezer bag and put back into the freezer.  When we go to a birthday party, I just grab one out of the freezer and it is melted by the time cake is served and my child has a special treat.  Many other Mom's have offered to make something special for us, but honestly if you aren't used to cooking gluten free, please don't - I'm happy to bring something I know is safe.  I also take a bag of several cupcakes to school and leave in the freezer so when someone brings in treats my child gets something special too. (shhhhh don't tell her this one is packed with carrots)

What are your birthday party tips?