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!
Diane-Thewholegang says
Wow, those look so good. My son would love to make and eat these. He’s not supposed to eat egg yolks so I wonder if egg replacer would work for the cakes. The filling would be fine. I’ve never seen a twinkie pan. Very inventive. I’m guessing this will be on his birthday list. Thanks for all the experiments. I hope they at least tasted good along the way.
gfe-gluten free easily says
Elana–I have to admit when I heard about the twinkie molds a few years ago, I thought they were was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard of. But, now that you’ve made a healthy version, I might change my mind … well, enough to eat one for sure–got any left? LOL
Now what can you do as far as a gf Hostess Ho-Ho? ;-)
Shirley
Jessica says
i second that last question!
Jessica says
about the gf ho-ho’s :-)
Savor says
This looks like a fantastic attempt. Although I do not have coconut flour I bet my friend does (her son has celiac) so I will forward the recipe to her.
Meghan (Making Love In The Kitchen says
I’ve left you a little Blog Award along with my out of tune singing of praises. http://meghantelpnerblog.com/2009/05/17/life-loving-blogstresses/
Lauren B says
So excited about your cookbook, Elana! As soon as my textbooks sell on half.com, I’m preordering it. The twinkie looks scrumptious! I bet you could make a buttercream with nonhydrogenated shortening or coconut oil, so it wouldn’t melt away. Who knew coconut flour could be this sexy? :)
LK- healthy delicious says
whaaaa? you are awesome. genius. seriously.
Paulette says
Elana,
Those twinkies look delicious. I’d love to try them. Has anyone made them without eggs? I can’t have eggs so I’ll try using some ground flax seed and water. I may add a pinch of baking powder and see how they turn out. One never knows until one tries!! Have a great week.
alison says
These look delicious! I love that you are using coconut flour. And I had no idea there were Twinkie molds! :)
zebe912 says
I think I might try these but in a muffin tin format instead of buying yet another pan.
It really grosses me out that Twinkie Filling could last 15 years on an exterior wall. Really?
Oh, and someone asked about using Just Whites. I think as long as the directions on the can are followed, they should work just fine.
Cheryl says
These are a must make! Gluten and dairy free makes them even better as I don’t have to play around with substitutions. Thank you for all the fantastic recipes. I love trying them out on my family. They are leary of my gluten free foods and I love it when they eat something and rave about it not knowing I made it for myself!