You may be familiar with Julie Hasson from her cookbooks, such as Vegan Diner and Vegan Pizza, but did you know that she also has a new line of vegan gluten-free baking mixes called Julie’s Original?
Julie is a professional baker and pastry chef, and when she discovered that she was gluten intolerant, she did what any chef in her shoes would do – she created a line of incredibly delicious, easy-to-make, no-one-is-ever-going-to-believe-that-this-is-gluten-free, baking mixes. Julie and her husband Jay started Julie’s Original because they realized how difficult gluten-free baking can be. Experimenting with different types of speciality flours can be expensive and time consuming – as well as not very tasty. With Julie’s Original mixes, the trial and error work has been done for you. Each batch bakes up perfectly delicious each time with the simple addition of just a little canola oil, non-dairy milk and vanilla extract.
Julie’s Original mixes currently come in White Cake Mix and Fudge Brownie Mix. They’re made with simple ingredients such as gluten-free flours, sugar, aluminum-free baking soda, xantham gum, and sea salt, and they are free of dairy, eggs, nuts, soy, and of course, gluten. The mixes are incredibly versatile too. The white cake mix can be made into a variety of cake flavors, from coffee cake, to banana cake, carrot cake and more. I made Julie’s recipe for Cinnamon Crunch Coffee Cake with it, and I was amazed at not only how easy it was to make, but how light and fluffy the cake baked up. I can’t imagine anyone being able to guess that it was both vegan and gluten-free. Being a chocoholic, I’m especially in love with Julie’s Original Fudge Brownie Mix, which bakes up both fudgy and chewy. I added chocolate chips to mine, but you can also add ingredients such as dried cherries, fresh or frozen raspberries, peppermint extract.
More Julie’s Original mixes are on their way, including chocolate cake. Visit the Julie’s Original website for more information and to order mixes.
Julie has graciously shared her recipe for Cinnamon Crunch Coffee Cake with us!
Julie’s Cinnamon Crunch Coffee Cake
Ingredients:
1 bag Julie’s Original White Cake Mix (Follow directions on the back of the bag for making the White Cake batter.)
Then in a small bowl combine:
3/4 cup packed light or medium brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (dairy-free)
Directions:
Pour half of the batter into a greased 8-inch square pan. Sprinkle the top with half of the brown sugar mixture plus half of the chocolate chips. Drizzle the rest of the cake batter over the chocolate chips. Sprinkle the top with the remaining brown sugar mixture, and the rest of the chocolate chips. Bake the cake according to the directions on the package, about 60 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the cake comes out clean (although it may have a little melted chocolate on it). Sometimes I find that I need to bake the coffee cake for an additional 5 minutes or so. That’s it folks! You can also substitute your favorite chopped nuts for the chocolate chips, or add both.
Photos courtesy of Julie Hasson
