What does Dad get for his retirement? Gluten free Nutella strawberry cupcakes!!

I love the holidays! Its the time of year when families come together and we are reminded of all the blessings we have. My brother came in to town (as he has for many christmas's now) and is with us for 2 weeks. I love the weeks we have together and cherish them since I know it will be many months before I see him again. 

This year he bought the kids gingerbread houses to put together. They had a great time making their little village with Uncle Josh. 

Except for Ally, who's a ham and always smiles.

We had a fantastic Christmas filled with lots of great gifts and lots of great food! 

One of the great foods is these fantastic gluten free strawberry nutella cupcakes! 

I'll start by telling you that my mom and dad came in to town today. We had a mini retirement party for my dad and in lieu of a cake I made these. My mom has celiac sprue so I had to make something that everyone could enjoy. In my hunt for good gluten free food, I've made some really gross stuff. In fact, Ally and I attempted a different cupcake recipe that was just too dense and didn't have a lot of flavor. 

SO, I decided to stick with a tried and true Ree Drummond recipe and turn it gluten free. The finished product tasted almost exactly like the original gluten filled recipe. (that is amazing by the way). I'll give you my gluten free version and also the regular recipe. 

2 sticks (1 cup) butter (I used country crock because I've run out of butter)

4 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup hot water.

melt butter in a saucpan, whisk in cocoa powder until smooth, add water and boil for about 30 seconds then remove from heat. 

In a seperate bowl (or mixer) 

1 1/2 cup Domata Flour (this already has the xantham gum added), for the original recipe, use 2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1/4teaspoon salt

mix together. 

Add in the cocoa butter mixture and mix until almost all combined.

In a seperate bowl (or a big measuring cup) mx together...

1/2 cup butterilk

2  eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder.

Add this to the flour mixture.

 

At this point you can either make a cake (fill 2 9inch pans) or you can do like I did and make cupcakes.) This made 18 cupcakes, filled 3/4 of the way full with batter.

Bake at 350 for about 17 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

When they are cool, spread a little Nutella on top, add some mascerated strawberries. (to mascerate strawberries, hull and slice strawberries and toss with some sugar (about 1/4 cup of sugar for 2 pints of strawberries).  Top with a little Cool Whip or homemade Whipped Cream. 

For homemade whipped cream:

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Mix together until soft peaks form. 

If you are making these in advance, I wouldn't reccomend adding the strawberries and whip cream until right before serving. I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as we do. Thanks again, Ree Drummond for another fantastic food!!