I’ve been on a quest this week for gluten-free, dairy-free healthy Twinkies and after several attempts (make that 7) I seem to have come up with a good approximation of this infamous Hostess treat.
Whenever the subject of Twinkies comes up in our house a certain Twinkie vandalism story is told (of which I was not a part!). My husband likes to talk about the time (in his college days) when he and a buddy were coming home from a night out. His friend had the munchies and procured a Twinkie. Apparently his friend was feeling artistic/vandalistic/Keith Harringesque, and using his Twinkie wrote the initials “JS + NA” inside a heart on the outside wall of a building on campus.
Fast forward a decade and a half to their 15th college reunion. The initials written in Twinkie were still there 15 years later.
Gluten-Free Twinkies
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs, separated
- ¼ cup grapeseed oil or palm shortening
- ¼ cup agave nectar or honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 6 tablespoons coconut flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whip egg whites to stiff peaks, then set aside
- In a medium bowl, whip egg yolks until pale yellow, then whip in grapeseed oil and agave
- Whip vanilla and lemon juice into egg yolk mixture
- In a medium bowl combine coconut flour, baking soda and salt
- Blend flour mixture into egg yolk mixture, then whip ingredients together until smooth
- Gently fold egg whites into yolk-flour mixture
- Spoon batter into Twinkie molds until they are half full (you will get 8 Twinkies)
- Bake at 350°F for 11-12 minutes
- Remove from oven and allow Twinkies to cool
Dairy-Free Twinkie Filling
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites
- ¼ cup agave nectar or honey
Instructions
- Whip egg whites to stiff peaks
- Blend in agave and re-whip until stiff peaks form again
- Place filling in Twinkie filling injector
- Place cooled Twinkie flat side up and inject filling into Twinkie in 3 spots on its flat (bottom) side
- Serve
Yes, this filling recipe includes raw egg whites and yes, my family and I eat raw egg on a fairly regular basis. If that’s not your thing, then you could fill the Twinkies with agave sweetened whip cream, which I think would taste delicious.
Be sure to fill your Twinkies just before eating. Why? The sponginess of the Twinkie cakes quickly absorbs the filling. When I left mine over night, all of the filling was absorbed into the cake.
Disclaimer: it is challenging to get a ton of filling into the Twinkie. If you are striving to obtain the amount of filling in the photo above, please don’t. That photo is food-styled (by me) with extra Twinkie cream. In any event, happy Twinkie time!
…And now for the winner of last weeks Friday Freebie (an Elana’s Pantry tote bag made of 100% recycled cotton)…merav! Congratulations!
CoconutGal says
Holy moly!! You have outdone yourself Elana.
And after 7 tries, are you sick of them yet?!
These sound so tasty and it just goes to show what the original Twinkie is made of if it’s still on the wall today… yuck!
Hannah Handpainted says
Wow…I didn’t see this recipe coming! Congrats. Hehee. I saw a thin mints recipe on 101 Cookbooks which I thought was clever–this is really neat.
:)
Jessica says
HA what an awesome and disturbing story. I’m dying for sweets but can only have stevia right now and no agave as I’m on the candida diet. Are there any recipes with stevia as the only sweetener?
Thanks! I always enjoy your blog!
Michele says
Hello! I am diabetic & have had a lot of success with Elana’s recipes by substituting the agave with liquid stevia to taste and a variety of liquid-replacing ingredients.
For example, in the Pumpkin Pie Muffins, I simply used another 1/2 cup of pumpkin. In the pancakes, I used yogurt to replace the agave liquid.
The trick is to figure out what the agave liquid is doing in the recipe, other than adding sweetness. Is it just for wetness, or is it helping the ingredients to bind together? Also, your substitution should flow well flavor-wise with the rest of the recipe.
I am going to try her chocolate chip cookies today using eggs to replace the agave, with stevia to taste, because I think the agave in that recipe is a binder.
For this twinkie recipe, I would probably try substituting yogurt + stevia to taste for the agave in the cake, since the acid in the yogurt would help it be even fluffier. Not sure about the filling… I haven’t tried my trick with frosting or fillings yet, but I will give it a whirl and get back to you.
Carol says
This sounds like an awesome treat. I read a suggestion that to avoid the expense of buying a twinkie form and injector a person could use a jelly roll pan for the cake, then spread the filling on top and top that with another layer, cutting them in smaller portions than the usual cake serving, of course. Can anyone tell me what size jelly roll pan the batter might fill?
Lilly says
Brilliant. I can’t wait to try. Back before i found I was gluten intolerant, I used to love these wonderful “Hostess” cupcakes from a bakery in Brooklyn…Now I want to experiment!
sandy says
Yummy, looks great. Makes me wonder if I can use to same filling recipe to put into chocolate cupcakes to try the whole “hostess cupcake” thing???
Meagan from Mutritious Nuffins says
What a brilliant idea. I think of Twinkies every once and a while, and about how bad they are for you! I loved your story. Another great recipe Elena!
Kim says
I can’t eat eggs or almonds, so most of your recipes don’t work for me – but I always LOVE seeing what you come up with! Great inspiration. This is fantastic, admirable work! Twinkies have texture and flavor all their own, I’m impressed with your ingenuity, as always. Thanks for sharing!
Kim – affairsofliving.blogspot.com
Kimi @ The Nourishing Gourmet says
Oh, my! You topped it off today, as I have to admit that even I never thought of trying to reinvent twinkies! You go, girl! These look delish!
Gabrielle Dodd says
Hey! I’ve just recently started reading your blog and have become addicted to reading it. My mom who has celiac’s as well is using me as the test subject to try some of your stuff. ^.^
Anyway, this twinkie made me want a donut. I know that’s weird, but I was thinking of those amazing little chocolate donuts that are always sitting next to the twinkies in the store. The only gluten free donuts I’ve ever seen is from kinnikinnick. Have you come up with a recipe or know of one?
It’s my birthday today so I’m gunna make myself a treat! ^.^
Debra E says
I use a chocolate donut recipe at cookingtf.com. It uses coconut flour I think.