I really love lemon desserts. Unfortunately they tend to disappear in the winter. Why is that? We still have lemons. I guess their flavor is too bright when it’s cold and you want something warm and comforting. But now it’s Spring and we can eat all the lemons we want.

To make these cupcakes, I took my favorite paleo vanilla cupcake recipe and added lemon. Pretty simple, huh? There’s also a lemon buttercream because—of course—you can’t really have too much lemon. They’re perfect for a lightly flavored dessert, and I would bet even better with some lemoncello.

This recipe uses coconut flour. There really isn’t any substitute for it. It’s a high-fiber, starchy flour that simulates the binding properties of gluten in wheat really well. I’d consider it a must-have for any gluten-free bakers.

Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients(Makes a dozen cupcakes):

• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons coconut flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup cane sugar
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• Zest from one lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a dozen cupcake holders.
2. Combine all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and mix until it forms an even batter.
3. Scoop equal amounts of the batter into each cupcake well.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are firm to the touch.
5. Remove from the oven. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting them.

Lemon Buttercream

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup room temperature butter
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice OR 1/2 Tablespoon lemon extract and 1 Tablespoon cream
• Lemon zest for garnish(optional)

Method:

1. Beat together the butter, 1 1/2 cups of sugar, and the lemon juice until mix. Slowly sift in the extra sugar until it’s all used up.
2. Scoop the frosting into a Ziploc bag and snip off one edge. Squeeze the frosting through the cut out corner onto cupcakes in a swirling motion.

Who else is excited for Spring?

I really love oatmeal raisin cookies. It always surprises me to learn that so many people hate them, and hate even more biting into one of them thinking it’s chocolate chip only to find out it’s oatmeal raisin. I actually think I prefer oatmeal raisin to chocolate chip any day; they’re just better.

I love the cinnamon in the dough, the saltiness complimenting the sweet fruit, and the chewiness of the oats. I don’t make gluten-free cookie recipes often since they can be a hassle and a disaster, but these seemed worth it.

Make sure the oats you buy are tested gluten-free if serving these to someone with allergies.

Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 1/2 dozen):

• 1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free oats
• 1/2 cups raisins
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup milk or water

Method:

1. Mix together the brown rice flour, oats, raisins, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
2. Mix in the eggs, butter, and liquid and mix completely.
3. Refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes until it sticks to itself.
4. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
5. Spoon about an ounce of dough into a small mound on a non-stick baking tray leaving about 3-inches apart for the cookies to spread. Repeat with all the dough.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the centers of the cookies are form. Remove from the oven and let cool before lifting off the tray.

When these first came out of the oven, they were a little cakey but once they cooled the texture got chewier.

After I made my first batch of gluten-free thin mints, I still had half the batter to bake and no chocolate chips left to coat them with. All I had was a white chocolate baker’s bar, so I used that. And I’m really happy I did.

Typically I’m skeptical of white chocolate. I don’t like it most of the time, but I think there’s something about pairing it with mint that makes it much more palatable. Coating the white chocolate onto the cookies is a little more challenging because where it’s too thin you can see the cookie part coming through; but I don’t think this is really a problem. If anything it adds to the homemade quality of the cookies.

I provided a link in the ingredients to the recipe for the chocolate cookies I used but you can use any that you prefer, or even store-bought cookies. 

White Chocolate Thin Mints

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 24 cookies):

• 24 chocolate shortbread cookies such as these or your preferred thin mint cookie recipe
• 12oz white chocolate
• 1/2 teaspoon mint extract

Method:

1. Gently melt the white chocolate in a microwave or over a double boiler.
2. When the chocolate has melted, mix in the extract until it is smooth and incorporated.
3. If you’re baking the cookies from scratch, be sure to let them cool to room temperature before coating in chocolate.
4. Dip the cookie into to chocolate, coating both sides. Smooth with a knife if necessary.
5. Put the cookie on a non-stick surface and repeat until all of the cookies and chocolate are used up.
6. Keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

I can’t believe I’m saying this but I actually preferred these to the dark chocolate Thin Mints. The white chocolate added a butteriness to the cookie that was missing in the others. 

I’m a huge fan of Reese’s. I don’t think there’s anything they make which I don’t like. Well, besides the inside out peanut butter cups. And the white chocolate peanut butter cups. Seriously, what were they thinking? Well, we all make bad decisions.

Anyway, any true Reese’s fan can tell you that the holiday edition items are the crème de la crème. Whether it’s the trees, eggs, or hearts, the peanut butter-to-chocolate ratio is so much more perfect.

Why make regular peanut butter cups when you can make delicious(and festive!) eggs? You wouldn’t. These were just as easy to make as regular cups, and I think I liked them more. I used peanut butter that was just peanuts and salt, but no-stir peanut butter should work as well. You could even use white chocolate instead of the semi-sweet chocolate, but I will judge you slightly(Just kidding… sort of).

Homemade Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 7 eggs):

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 4oz semi-sweet chocolate

Method:

1. Melt the butter and mix in the peanut butter and powdered sugar until there are no clumps(If you’re using no-stir peanut butter, you might want to melt that, too, so it’s easier to mix together).
2. Refrigerate the peanut butter mixture until it’s mostly solid.
3. While the peanut butter is chilling, melt the chocolate until smooth and silky. Let the chocolate sit at room temperature for 10 minutes once melted to cool slightly, but keep it hot enough so that it doesn’t reharden.
4. To shape the eggs, take about an ounce of chilled peanut butter dough and roll it in your palm into a log. Then press down slightly on both sides to flatten. If the dough gets too soft during this process, stick it back in the refrigerator or freezer for 10 minutes to make sure that it’s solid before touching the melted chocolate.
5. Drop the egg into the melted chocolate. Flip it using a spoon or a fork and spread the chocolate around the sides. Move the chocolate-covered egg onto a piece of parchment paper.
6. Repeat with all of the peanut butter and chocolate.
7. Refrigerate the eggs until the chocolate coating has hardened. Keep chilled for up to 2 weeks.

Just take my advice and double the recipe. 7 will hardly last a day.

Something hit me when I was browsing TasteSpotting a couple weeks ago: I haven’t had a cookie cake in ages. I decided right then I wanted a cookie cake at my birthday party this year, because clearly I’m 20 going on 12. But then I figured why wait? I could bake a cookie cake for any occasion.

Of course I made mine gluten-free using one of my favorite flours: Almond flour. It also just happens to be dairy-free because I was low on butter that day. The peanut butter helps to act as a binder, makes the cake richer and adds a nutty flavor. You could substitute in almond butter to work around a peanut allergy.

I liked mine slightly under-baked because it kept the inside moist and gooey almost like eating cookie dough. If you like your cookies a little crustier, I would recommend adding a few minutes onto the baking time and watching it carefully.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond flour
• 6 Tablespoons cane sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup water
• 6 Tablespoons chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix together the almond flour, sugar, and baking powder.
3. Beat in the eggs, peanut butter, oil, vanilla extract, and water.
4. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Grease an 8-inch cake pan. Pour the batter in and spread it around the bottom into an even layer.
6. Bake for 20 minutes until the outside is firm and bounces back to the touch.
7. Let cool slightly before cutting in.

I thought this could have used a little more sugar, but that’s probably because I love things sweet. If you’re making this for adults, it’ll be fine the way the recipe is. If you’re making this for little children or me, I would add a 1/4 cup of sugar to the recipe.