This gluten & dairy free Decadent Lava Cake is the perfect dessert for any holiday or date night. As our pregnancy is almost half-way (whaaaaaaaat? crazy!), we've been scheduling many date nights. .

When it comes to date nights & culinary delights, I try to cook up a special dinner and bake something delicious that is gluten-free and dairy-free, (and when I can, refined sugar free) because it’s hard to go out with a limited diet. My husband and I usually stay in and have a picnic by the fire and then go out to do something fun like catch a movie, go to the arcade or check into to a local resort for a weekend staycation. For tips on how to have an affordable getaway, check out my post on budget-friendly retreats.

This amazingly delicious gluten and dairy free lava cake has a delicious and warm ooey-gooey surprise inside and looks extra fancy when topped with a light sprinkle of confectioners’ sugar.

Serve warm with a side of dairy-free vanilla ice cream, fresh organic berries or a glass of bubbly champagne.

INGREDIENTS
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4 oz. dairy free dark chocolate
2 tbsp. honey
½ tsp organic vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 tbsp. almond flour
3 tbsp. coconut oil
1 tbsp. sugar-free cocoa powder
dash of sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease four small ramekins with dairy-free butter or coconut oil spray and give a light dusting with cocoa powder. Melt dairy-free chocolate with coconut oil in a small sauce pan and set aside.
In a medium sized bowl mix eggs, honey, vanilla and sea salt. Add almond flour and cocoa powder and fold ingredients together until smooth. Divide the batter among the ramekins and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes and serve warm.

I’m currently snacking on these tangy little morsels as I type this. Crumbs trailing from my plate to the keyboard. And I don’t even care.​

And P.S. they are DE-LIGHTFUL with a mug of hot tea. It’s been quite rainy and overcast here in Arizona lately, so I’ve been trying to bake and cook up some sunny recipes to entice Spring to kick into full gear. I love this time of year, when it’s still a little cool and you can picnic and go hiking before the state turns into a 115 degree inferno.

It’s a funny story how I stumbled upon making these cookies. I was grocery shopping the other day and I came across an ADORABLE ceramic berry basket. It was a cheerful shade aqua blue, (one of the primary colors of my kitchen) and I had to have it. A total impulse buy. But when I got it home I realized I didn’t have any berries to put in it so I filled it with lemons. Lemons that had no set plan for where they would end up, as I’m usually not big on citrus. Squeezed over a grain-free chow mein dish perhaps? Added to a smoothie? And then, as I was up late writing last night I got an intense craving for COOKIES.

And the fruit had found it’s home. It took some experimenting as I turned my kitchen into cookie bake-off central. I used various flours to try to find the right combination and in the end my gluten-free oat flour took the cake… er, cookie.
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The end result is a soft, zesty cookie that is naturally sweet with a citrus kick. If you like your cookies crunchy, pop them in the fridge to set for a while before enjoying.

INGREDIENTS
1 Cup Gluten-Free Oat Flour
3 Tbsp. Fresh Organic Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp. Fresh Organic Lemon Zest
¼ C. unsweetened coconut flakes
3 Tablespoons of softened dairy-free, soy-free butter
Dash of Sea Salt
½ Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Organic Egg (or flax egg for vegan)
¼ C. Raw Honey (I used Bee Free Apple Honey if you want to go vegan)
1 Tsp. Organic Vanilla


INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. (This step is crucial because the cookies are thin!)

Mix all ingredients in a medium sized bowl until well mixed. A spoon should suffice.

If batter is too thin, add more flour, although 1 C. was plenty for me.

Drop batter onto cookie sheet with a teaspoon and spread to make a circle. It should be thin but not to where the batter becomes transparent. You want them to be able to bake up a little in the center.

​Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden.

Let cool and gently remove from parchment with a spatula.
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Enjoy soft from the oven or refrigerate for a crispy cookie.