Strawberry Shortcake Monkey Bread “Cupcakes”. (Gluten/Grain/Dairy/Sugar Free)

by Brittany on May 10, 2013

Post image for Strawberry Shortcake Monkey Bread “Cupcakes”. (Gluten/Grain/Dairy/Sugar Free)

Love Strawberries? I know I do. They are my absolute favorite fruit and this spring I haven’t been able to get enough of them. When I am especially fond of a food it starts to weave its way into every recipe idea I have. This week I dreamt of Strawberry Pancakes, Strawberry Cream Pie, Strawberry Ice Cream.. and Strawberry Shortcake Monkey Bread. The last idea was too thrilling not to act on.

Let me tell you right now these monkey bread cupcakes are OUTRAGEOUS.  So good, that was I screaming profanities after I took me first bite. I was blown away with how great they turned out, not to mention how darn cute they are. You could serve these to anyone gluten free or not and gain fabulous feedback in return. Bottom line:  You need to make them!!

If you love classic monkey bread- You’ll have to try my original recipe. Its also grain free and super delicious. This new variation is fun and tastes exactly like mini strawberry shortcakes.

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Strawberry Shortcake Monkey Bread 

 

  • 1 cup finely chopped fresh Strawberries. 
  • 2 packed cups blanched Almond Flour
  • 1/2 cup starch (potato or tapioca) *potato gives the best texture.
  • 1/4 Tsp. Salt
  • 2 Teaspoons of baking powder (I use double acting)
  • 1/2 cup of butter or shortening (dairy or nondairy)
  • A small bowl of Xylitol, Truvia Baking Blend, Erithritol (or Regular White Sugar) *I used Truvia Baking Blend.
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • Powdered Sugar *(see note in directions how to make homemade sugar free-powdered sugar)
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake tray with 10 cupcake tins. Set aside.
  2. Chop Strawberries and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl combine the blanched almond flour, starch, salt and baking powder. Cut in the butter or shortening into pea sized pieces. Stir in the eggs ever so gently until the dough holds together.
  4. Take heaping teaspoon pieces of dough and roll them in your hand with a small pinch of strawberries. (Pressing the strawberries into the dough!) (NOTE: As the strawberries and the dough sit together the dough will start to get wet and mushy- this is why I’m having you add the strawberries as you form each ball vs. just mixing the strawberries in with the dough from the start).
  5. Roll the round strawberry stuffed biscuit dough pieces in the small bowl of sugar. Place the sugar coated ball into a muffin tin. Continue this process placing 6-7 sugar crusted balls into each tin. Press down gently just to help assure they stick together.  Continue with this process until all ten cupcake liners are filled with mounts of sugar crusted strawberry biscuit balls.
  6. Place into oven and bake 30 minutes. The dough will feel cooked through and slightly golden.
  7. Drizzle with sugar glaze. Use either A) regular powdered sugar mixed with a tiny bit or water or lemon juice. or B) Make your own powdered sugar by placing granulated sugar of choice (such as xylitol, truvia baking blend etc.) into a blender or coffee grinder. Process until sugar becomes powdered. Mix powdered sugar with a tiny bit of water or lemon juice to create a glaze.

Yields ten “cupcakes”. They taste best the day they are made. However if you need to store them, place them in a sealed bag or container in the fridge to prevent the strawberries from spoiling. 

Recipe Notes and Substitutions 

  • Instead of blanched almond flour feel free to use another homemade nut or seed flour. Sunflower seed flour reacts to baking soda and powder and turns green if you surpass a certain amount of baking powder per cup of flour. (I don’t know what this exact amount is and will be toying with this in the future.) This is something to be aware of if you try using homemade sunflower seed flour,  If your not a risk taker- then try using less baking powder in the recipe than I have called for. For the best results use a mild tasting nut or seed flour.
  • To make your own Nut or Seed flour: simply run the nut or seed in a high powdered blender or coffee grinder until you have a super fine flour. (If the flour is course- the recipe might not work as well.) If you flour is course, then be aware that your biscuits may end up a little soggy.
  • Do not attempt this recipe without eggs. It won’t work. I am finishing up an ebook which will be out soon that has several grain and egg free biscuit recipes…stay tuned for that :)
  • Coconut flour or any of the starchy grain based flours will NOT work in this recipe. Only use other Nut/Seed flours.
  • Allergic t0 or out of strawberries? Feel free to use another fresh berry of choice.
  • PLEASE follow these guidelines if you would like the recipe to work! Making other changes will give you different results. Experiment at your own risk.

-Brittany- 

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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }

stephanie May 10, 2013 at 11:57 am

Hi Brittany! Love your recipes. I was wondering if you or (maybe some of your readers) have a particular brand of double acting baking powder to use? I need to avoid corn products & all the baking powders I find have corn starch in them. Anyone know of a corn-starch free one? Thanks

Reply

Brittany May 10, 2013 at 2:53 pm

I’m not aware of a corn free double acting baking powder. However I feel totally confident recommending the use of whatever your favorite corn free brand is. Even without the ” double” they will still taste great.

Reply

Juniper Rain May 11, 2013 at 2:39 am

Hainz baking powder is corn free. They use potato starch. Also you can make your own by doing 1 part baking soda, two parts cream of tartar. I do this all the time in brittany angells recipes and it works great!

Reply

Rebecca May 10, 2013 at 5:47 pm

Thanks so much for this recipe Brittany, I am so excited to make these for Mother’s Day. Stephanie, I make my own baking powder from Ali Segersten’s Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen recipe book (one of my favorite books!). It is easy and CORN FREE! I have used it for 2 years and haven’t had any problems with it.

Corn-free (grain-free) Baking Powder
From Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen Cookbook
1 part baking soda
2 parts cream of tartar
2 parts starch

Reply

Shannon May 10, 2013 at 8:23 pm

Featherweight is a corn free baking powder. Hit and miss as to effectiveness.

Reply

Karen May 10, 2013 at 8:32 pm

Brittany,
I haven’t made these yet but they are next on my baking to-do list. I just bought organic strawberries at a local farmer’s market and can’t wait!
I must say you get a A+++++ for the beautiful photography involved in this post. The pictures are gorgeous.The way you did all this with the pointy star-like cupcake liners is a work of art. Great food plus artistic presentation = perfection.
Thank you!

Reply

Kathryn May 10, 2013 at 9:30 pm

Can I use arrowroot starch instead of potato or tapioca?

Reply

Juniper Rain May 11, 2013 at 2:44 am

I substitute arrowroot in a lot of the time in brittany angells recipes using arrowroot in place of the many starches she recommends and everything normally comes out beautifully. Although I must tell you I haven’t tried this particular recipe.

Reply

Brittany May 11, 2013 at 12:00 pm

Arrowroot technically will work but it’s wont provide quite the same texture. It tends to make baked goods a bit more chewy. I prefer potato starch in this particular recipe as if gives the ” cupcakes” a biscuity texture.

Reply

Juniper Rain May 12, 2013 at 5:51 am

That’s awesome I didn’t know that!! I can’t wait to see the results tomorrow!

Reply

Juniper Rain May 11, 2013 at 2:42 am

I really want to make these for Mother’s Day!!!! We shall see if I have the time. Things have been crazy! I miss being in the kitchen. But I think it’s time and this is the perfect recipe to do it!! :)

Reply

Sarah May 14, 2013 at 6:20 pm

I have a quick question please. I have a couple autoimmune diseases and also I believe candida. I have a nutritionalist trying to help with my diet. She mentioned Xyilitol that I noticed you use in some of your recipes, can also feed yeast. That I should avoid it. I know you have been fighting candida also. Has this sugar substitute affected you and/ or the yeast in your body? Thank you for any help!

Reply

Brittany May 14, 2013 at 7:41 pm

Xylitol is totally safe on the candida diet. In fact ( as far as I understand) it actually helps to clear yeast out. I have eaten it the whole time I’ve been on the diet without any flair ups.

Reply

Sarah May 16, 2013 at 5:20 pm

Thank you soo very much!! :)

Reply

Jenn May 15, 2013 at 12:14 am

This looks stunning! I will be making these little beauties very soon. One question though, do you think coconut oil could be substituted in place of the butter or shortening or would that alter the desired texture?? I love using coconut oil as much as possible! I also wonder how toasted slivered almonds would taste sprinkled in between the balls of dough/on top of the cupcake.

Reply

Brittany May 15, 2013 at 1:15 am

You can try.
I used a hard ” shortening” as it holds up far better in biscuit recipes.

Reply

Marisa May 17, 2013 at 12:01 am

These were awesome! I’ve already eaten two and they just came out of the oven 30 min ago. I’d love to add more strawberries. Do you think it would make them too moist?

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Marisa May 29, 2013 at 1:38 am

I wanted to make something savory so I used this recipe (minus the sugar and berries) and added cooked ground sausage and dried herbs. It was fantastic! I’ve been looking for a biscuit recipe and this satisfied my craving. Thank you so much!

Reply

Stacey July 8, 2013 at 7:43 am

Made these yesterday, and they were amazing! Sister-in-law had just gone strawberry picking, and we benefited greatly from her efforts. I immediately thought of this recipe. Thank you so much for this one!

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