Jeez, what a weekend you guys. It was the kind of weekend where you really needed to eat your feelings. You know, if that was a healthy thing to do. Still, I thought it might be a good idea to do just that. So I did! And in the process discovered a way to fashion some gluten-free Twinkies!

You see, I was on my way home from a Cornhole Tournament (true story) and I saw this ginormous sign above the Times Square of Hollywood, aka, Hollywood & Highland. All that was written was a date. Today’s date, in fact, and a 20 story-Twinkie porn shot. I’m guessing this means Twinkies are back after a brief exit from the snack food spotlight, as Hostess realized that shit just won’t fly. I got excited for a second until I remembered I can’t eat Twinkies. ‘Effing Hostess.

Which is exactly the moment I decided to make my own damn gluten-free Twinkies. And I did.

I looked at some recipes on the Internet (and was surprised by how many recipes for Twinkies were actually on the Internet), but had a serious issue with a few instructions. One was to not use butter at all (srsly?) and another was to make mini-Twinkies instead of full-sized. Screw that noise. Full-sized was the way to go. But I won’t lie. Making Twinkie boats out of aluminum foil is not an easy task. Especially not for a gal like me. So I read a couple of instructions on how to do that then experimented a bit. Finally, I wound up taking a piece of aluminum foil from the standard sized roll, and rolled it out for about 10 inches. then I folded it in three’s, and placed a spice jar in the center. I folded the edges around to make a Twinkie boat. Like so.

Even though that was challenging, it was even more challenging to get these gluten-free Twinkies golden brown. I wound up with brown on the edges and creamy white. That’s okay, because the cream filling was actually super easy, and what with my new pastry bag and a bendy straw, I could fill those suckers right up! That was fun. See?

But what is the final result, you ask?

Like so many other attempts at light and fluffy gluten-free pastry (ahem, donuts, ahem) the gluten-free Twinkie was not so light. It was much more cake-like with a cream filling that could stop a heart. So halfway like the original, halfway not. Of course, my gluten-free Twinks would never last for 30 years, unlike the original. So that’s a good thing, right? Right????

DO it.

Gluten-Free Twinkies

adapted from Leite’s Culinaria and Instructables

prep time: 30 minutes cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

Cake:

1 package gluten-free Pound cake mix (I love XO Bakery)

4 egg whites

2/3 cup milk

1 Tablespoon butter, room temperature

Filling:

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325. Make 12 aluminum foil Twinkie boats, or use a Twinkie mold. Spray liberally with baking spray (gluten-free) and set aside.

2. Beat egg whites until fluffy and slight peaks form. Add cake mix, milk, and butter and mix well. Pour in equal parts mix to Twinkie boats and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Note, you may need to spend 1-2 minutes under the broiler to get the final browning in.

3. Allow Twinkies to cool completely. Make filling while you wait by combining shortening and butter thoroughly. Then add powdered sugar to mix completely, and add vanilla. Pour filling into a pastry bag with straight tip, or into a Ziploc bag and cut off one corner to create a piping tool.

4. After Twinkies have cooled take a straw and create two holes in the cake. If you have a bendy straw, bend it to also create a hole in the cake lengthwise. Use pastry bag or Ziploc and fill up each Twinkie with mixture.

Makes: 12