thank you dad

This one goes out to all the dads out there! What would we do without them? I know I would be lost without my dad. He is my rock and my hero. Some say we have identical personalities: short Italian temper, quirky humor, engineers… the list goes on. I am me because of my dad. He always stressed the importance of school and learning, thus allowing me to pursue my college education. He was the one that initially encouraged my fit and healthy lifestyle. I grew up going to the gym with him; even when I was way too young to actually workout, I still went to the gym and watched.

I first starting experimenting with my baking and recipes because we were both on dairy-free diets and later, he became aware of his gluten intolerance. Because of this, I learned to work with gluten-free and vegan ingredients and I loved the challenge and creativity that developed in my cooking and baking. So last year for Father’s Day, of course I wanted to make one of his favorites gluten-free for him: Cinnamon Streusel Cake!

Ingredients:

For Crumble Topping:

♦ ¹/3 cup Bisquick™ Gluten Free mix

♦ ½ cup packed light brown sugar

♦ 2 tsp ground cinnamon

♦ ¼ cup firm butter

For Cake:

♦ 1¾ cup Bisquick™ Gluten Free mix

♦ 3 Tbsp Stevia or other natural sweetener

♦ ²/3 cup of milk or water (I used water)

♦ 1½ tsp vanilla

♦ 3 eggs

♦ 1½ Tbsp cinnamonPre-heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9 inch round or square baking pan.

In a small bowl, mix all of the crumble topping ingredients (minus the butter) together. Cut in the butter with two forks or a pastry blender until all of the ingredients are combined, crumbly, and you can no longer see the white butter color.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine all of the cake ingredients together until nicely blended. Feel free to add more cinnamon; I did, it’s my dad’s absolute favorite! We add cinnamon to everything!

Pour mixture into your baking dish. I added even more cinnamon…

Top evenly with the crumble topping.

Place in the oven and bake for 25-27 minutes.

E N J O Y

I served this to my dad for breakfast to enjoy with his morning coffee and gave him my homemade card, because no Father’s Day is complete without a handmade card out of good ol’ construction paper. (Who says college kids can’t still craft…)