101 Recipes for Gluten-Free Microwave Mug Cakes ~ Review and Giveaway

***GIVEAWAY CLOSED***

Do you have someone that you know who is on a gluten-free diet? I do. I know alot of people, actually. If you do, then you will like this next review!!!

I was contacted by Stacey Miller regarding doing a review and giveaway of her cookbook, "101 Recipes for GLUTEN-FREE Microwave Mug Cakes" and I happily accepted! I have friends who are gluten intolerant and knew that their food options are very narrow...and that is just for every day food, let alone dessert. I feel badly for people who have to live like this, and am really happy about this cookbook that gives them freedom to make sweets!

So, what is a Microwave Mug Cake anyway? That is simple!! A Microwave Mug Cake is simply a cake, baked in a mug of your choice, in your microwave! Sound easy? IT IS!!!

Here is a little bit about the book itself and why it was written...

We began creating microwave mug cakes to satisfy our craving for quick snacks that wouldn't inflict a week's worth of leftovers on us. Thus, the original 101 Recipes for Microwave Mug Cakes: Single-Serving Snacks in Less Than 10 Minutes was published, and the adventure began.
And now the adventure continues.

Our readers' enthusiastic reactions to our microwave mug cakes motivated us to reach beyond the original concept. We sensed a theme. Readers kept saying, "These recipes are wonderful, but are there more healthful alternatives? And is it possible to bake gluten-free microwave mug cakes?"

Our response to our readers' suggestions is 101 Recipes for GLUTEN-FREE Microwave Mug Cakes: Healthier Single-Serving Snacks in Less Than 10 Minutes. The book offers a wealth of delicacies that nearly everyone (exempting true kitchenphobes) can easily and quickly prepare.
All you need is a microwave oven, a mug, a saucer, and a mixing bowl.

The book provides a mix of recipes, that, in addition to being gluten-free, include snacks that may have one or more of the following properties: no added eggs, no added dairy products, no added sugar, or no added oil.

Gluten-free microwave mug cakes-the ultimate healthier single-serving snack!

I got together with a friend of mine this past week and we had ourselves a Microwave Mug Cake baking day! I am not on a gluten-free diet so most of the ingredients I did not have. So, I sought out one of my friends who is gluten-free, showed her the book and she was RAVING about how yummy all the recipes looked. I told her that it would be fun to get together and do some baking and she was soooo excited!

One thing that she mentioned that is really great about this cookbook is the specific brand-name ingredients. Having that really helps someone who is new to a gluten-free diet when it comes to purchasing their ingredients. (As always, check with your doctor if you are unsure about a certain ingredient...don't just trust the name brand!). They don't really have to guess. I did notice the ingredient list but didn't really notice the brand names that were listed.

There was one confusing thing with this cookbook though. The specific recipe we made had a "no added eggs" icon on the corner of the page, meaning there were no eggs listed in the ingredients. However, when we read through the directions, we came across this sentence: "Beat egg first with a spoon and mix in the other liquid ingredients". I was like, "What egg?? There is no egg in the ingredient list!" My friend then told me this...sometimes people mix flaxseed meal (which was on the ingredient list) with water to make an egg-like consistency to add to recipes. I didn't know this, but she did (thankfully!) because she makes gluten-free recipes! So, we ended up making two different mug cakes from this recipe...one with egg and one with the flaxseed meal/water mixture. It worked out great because we had two different outcomes and they both were great! One other thing was that the recipe says to use one mug and fill it halfway. BUT, there is too much batter for just one mug. So, we were able to get two mug cakes out of one recipe (which was awesome...we each had one to eat!!!).

So, here is the recipe that we made...

Chocolateberry Microwave Mug Cake

INGREDIENTS:

1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. flaxseed meal

2 Tbsp. Beech-Nut Apples & Blueberries baby food

5 Tbsp. milk

2 Tbsp. Yoplait Blackberry Harvest yogurt

2 Tbsp. oil

1/8 tsp. McCormick vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. Argo baking powder

1/2 tsp. guar gum, xantham gum, or tapioca flour

1/2 tsp. McCormick ground cinnamon

4 Tbsp. Domino light brown sugar

1 Tbsp. gluten-free coconut flour

3 Tbsp. gluten-free brown or white rice flour

4 Tbsp. gluten-free sorghum flour

2 Tbsp. potato starch

2 Tbsp. HERSHEY'S semi-sweet chocolate chips

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Prepare your microwavable mug by coating the inside lightly with PAM Original cooking spray.

Mix the ingredients in a small bowl. Beat egg first with a spoon and mix in other liquid ingredients. Then, add dry ingredients and mix until you've removed all the lumps.

Pour batter into the mug (do not fill more than halfway) and smooth the top with spoon. Thump mug firmly on tabletop six times to remove excess air bubbles. Place mug on top of a microwavable small plate or saucer

Bake for 3-4 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the middle of the microwave mug cake and removing the toothpick. If the toothpick is dry, the microwave mug cake is done.

Wait 2 minutes, then run a butter knife along the inside of the mug, and tip the cake onto a plate. Position the mug cake so that the slightly rounded surface is on top. Your microwave mug cake will now look like a slightly overgrown muffin.

At the bottom of the recipe, there are frosting options as well. We chose to frost our cakes using powdered sugar, butter and vanilla.

These tasty cakes were SO good!!! The difference between using an egg or not using an egg is the density of the cake. The microwave mug cake that had the egg in it was denser and richer. The microwave mug cake that had the flaxseed meal/water mixture and no egg was lighter. We were thrilled with the way ours turned out and the flavor...OH MY...it was YUMMMMMMY!!!

So, in my opinion, "101 Recipes for Gluten-Free Microwave Mug Cakes" recipe book is a wonderful resource for anyone looking to eat better, or for someone who is on a special diet and needs something sweet! This cookbook is definitely a winner in my opinion!!!Stacey has offered to give away one of these cook books to one of my readers! What a great gift! And microwave mug cakes are wonderful for those of us who aren't on a special diet!!! Here is how you can enter to win...

Mandatory Entry:

Visit the Microwave Mug Cake website and leave a comment telling me which of their two cookbooks you would like the best. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but you must leave a valid email where you can be reached should you win. Leave your email in EACH COMMENT. This giveaway is open to US residents and will end 11/20 at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be chosen using random.org and will be notified by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond.

Extra Entries:

1. Become a follower of My Opinion. Leave a comment to let me know that you did/ do. 1 entry

2. Follow me on Twitter. Leave a comment to let me know that you did/do. 1 entry

3. Tweet about this giveaway. Leave a comment with the link. 1 tweet per day. 1 comment per day.

4. Do a post regarding this giveaway. Leave a comment with a link. 2 entries, so 2 comments.

5. Enter one of my current giveaways that you have NOT previously entered. Leave a comment letting me know which one you entered. 1 entry

Disclaimer: I received no monetary compensation for this post. I did receive a "101 Recipes for GLUTEN-FREE Microwave Mug Cakes" cookbook for review purposes. All quotes are from the Microwave Mug Cake website or email. All thoughts and opinions are mine.